Village heading his men had advanced on Richarn and seized his gun; - at
the same time the chief called to his men to kill him. Richarn drew his
knife to release his gun; seeing which, the chief relaxed his hold, and
stepping a pace back he raised his lance to strike; - at the same moment
Richarn pulled the trigger and shot him dead. The natives,
panic-stricken at the sudden effect of the shot, rushed away, and
Richarn, profiting by the opportunity, disappeared in the high grass,
and fled. Once in the interminable sea of grass that was almost
impenetrable, he wandered for two days without water: hearing the
distant roar of the Nile, he at length reached it when nearly exhausted
with thirst and fatigue; - he then followed up the stream to Karuma,
avoided the M'was, - and knowing the road thence to M'rooli that we had
formerly travelled, he arrived at Foweera. His ramrod had been broken in
the struggle when the chief seized his gun, and to his great
astonishment I now showed him the piece that we had picked up on the
pool of blood. He had made an excellent loading-rod with his hunting
knife by shaping a sapling of hard wood, and had reloaded his gun; thus
with a good supply of ammunition he had not much fear of the natives.
Kamrasi had evidently heard the true account of the affair.
Late in the evening we heard from a native that the whole of Kalloe's
cattle that he had driven from Foweera had been captured by the enemy on
their way to the river island, and that one of his sons and several
natives who had driven them were killed; - this was the result of his
precipitate flight.
The M'was followed up their advantages with uninterrupted success,
overrunning the entire country even to the shores of the Albert lake,
and driving off the cattle, together with all the women that had not
taken refuge upon the numerous islands of the Victoria Nile. During this
time, Kamrasi and his wives, together with his principal chiefs, resided
in the misery of mosquitoes and malaria on the river; great numbers of
people died of disease and starvation.
M'Gambi appeared frequently at our camp in order to procure corn, and
from him we received reports of the distress of the people; his
appearance had much changed; he looked half starved, and complained that
he had nothing to drink but Nile water, as they had neither corn, nor
pots in which they could make merissa, and the M'was had destroyed all
the plantains, therefore they could not prepare cider.
Among other losses my two cows were reported by M'Gambi to have been
stolen by the M'was, in company with the cattle of Kamrasi, with which
they had been driven from Kisoona. I did not believe it, as he also told
me that all the luggage that I had left at Deang had like wise been
stolen by the enemy. But I had heard from Bacheeta that the natives of
that neighbourhood had carried it (about six loads) direct to Kamrasi's
island; thus it was in his possession at the same time that he declared
it to have been stolen by the M'was. I told him, that I should hold him
responsible, and that he should pay me the value of the lost effects in
a certain number of cows.
A few days after this conversation, my cows and the whole of my luggage
were delivered to me in safety. Kamrasi had evidently intended to
appropriate them, but being pressed by the M'was and his old enemies on
the east bank of the Nile (the Langgos), who had made common cause with
the invaders, the time was not favourable for a quarrel with either me
or the Turks.
On the evening of the 19th September, a few days after this occurrence,
intelligence was brought into camp that Ibrahim and a hundred men had
arrived at Karuma Falls at the ferry by which we had formerly crossed
the river to Atada. I immediately despatched ten men to investigate the
truth of the report. In about two hours they returned in high spirits,
having exchanged greeting with Ibrahim and his party across the river.
Kamrasi had despatched boats to another ferry above the Falls to
facilitate the passage of the entire party on the following morning, as
he wished them to attack the M'was immediately.
Not being desirous of such an encounter, the M'was, who had witnessed
the arrival of this powerful reinforcement, immediately retreated, and
by sunrise they had fallen back about twenty miles on the road to
M'rooli.
On the morning of the 20th Ibrahim arrived, bringing with him the Post
from England; that being addressed to the consul at Khartoum had been
forwarded to Gondokoro by the annual boats, and taken charge of by
Ibrahim on his arrival at that station last April with ivory from the
interior. My letters were of very old dates, none under two years, with
the exception of one from Speke, who had sent me the Illustrated London
News, containing his portrait and that of Grant; also Punch, with an
illustration of Punch's discovery of the Nile sources. For a whole day I
revelled in the luxury of letters and newspapers.
Ibrahim had very kindly thought of our necessities when at Gondokoro,
and had brought me a piece of coarse cotton cloth of Arab manufacture
(darmoor) for clothes for myself, and a piece of cotton print for a
dress for Mrs. Baker, in addition to a large jar of honey, and some rice
and coffee - the latter being the balance of my old stock that I bad
been obliged to forsake for want of porters at Shooa.
