He Told Me That
All My Effects That I Had Left At Obbo Had Been Returned To Gondokoro,
And That
My two men, whom I had left in charge, had returned with them
to Khartoum, on board the vessel that
Had been sent for me from that
place, but which had joined the traders' boats on their return voyage.
Ibrahim had assured the captain that it was impossible that we could
arrive during that year. It was thus fortunate that we had not pushed on
for Gondokoro after April in expectation of finding the boat awaiting
us. However, "All's well that ends well," and Ibrahim was astounded at
our success, but rather shocked at our personal appearance, as we were
thin and haggard, and our clothes had been so frequently repaired that
they would hardly hold together.
On the 23d September we moved our camp, and took possession of a village
within half a mile of the Victoria Nile. Kamrasi was now very valorous,
and returned from his island to a large village on the banks of the
river. He sent Ibrahim an immense quantity of ivory, in addition to the
store that had been concealed by Eddrees on our departure from Kisoona;
this was sent for, and in a few days it was safely deposited in the
general camp. Ibrahim was amazed at the fortune that awaited him. I
congratulated him most heartily on the success of the two expeditions -
the geographical, and the ivory trade; the latter having far more than
fulfilled my promise.
Kamrasi determined to invade the Langgo country immediately, as they had
received Fowooka after his defeat, and he was now residing with the
chief. Accordingly, eighty of Ibrahim's men were despatched across the
river, and in three days they destroyed a number of villages, and
captured about 200 head of cattle, together with a number of prisoners,
including many women. Great rejoicings took place on their return;
Ibrahim presented Kamrasi with a hundred cows, and in return for this
generosity the king sent thirty immense tusks, and promised a hundred
more within a few days.
Another expedition was demanded, and was quickly undertaken with similar
success; this time Fowooka narrowly escaped, as a Turk fired at him, but
missed and killed a native who stood by him. On the return of the party,
Kamrasi received another present of cattle, and again the ivory flowed
into the camp.
In the meantime, I had made myself excessively comfortable; we were in a
beautiful and highly cultivated district, in the midst of immense fields
of sweet potatoes. The idea struck me that I could manufacture spirit
from this source, as they were so excessively sweet as to be
disagreeable as a vegetable. Accordingly I collected a great number of
large jars that were used by the natives for brewing merissa; in these I
boiled several hundredweight of potatoes to a pulp. There were jars
containing about twenty gallons; these I filled with the pulp mashed
with water, to which I added yeast from a brewing of merissa. While this
mixture was fermenting I constructed my still, by fixing a jar of about
twelve gallons on a neat furnace of clay, and inserting the mouth of a
smaller jar upon the top; the smaller jar thus inverted became the dome
of the still. In the top of this I bored a hole, in which I fitted a
long reed of about an inch in diameter, which descended to my condenser;
the latter was the kettle, sunk by a weight in a large pan of cold
water.
My still worked beautifully, and produced four or five bottles of good
spirit daily; - this I stored in large bottle gourds, containing about
four gallons each. My men were excessively fond of attending to the
distillery, especially Richarn, who took a deep interest in the
operation, but who was frequently found dead asleep on his back; the
fire out; and the still at a standstill. Of course he could not be
suspected of having tried the produce of his manufactory! I found an
extraordinary change in my health from the time that I commenced
drinking the potato whisky. Every day I drank hot toddy. I became
strong, and from that time to the present day my fever left me,
occurring only once or twice during the first six months, and then
quitting me entirely. Not having tasted either wine or spirits for
nearly two years, the sudden change from total abstinence to a moderate
allowance of stimulant produced a marvellous effect. Ibrahim and some of
his men established stills; several became intoxicated, which so
delighted M'Gambi, who happened to be present, that he begged a bottle
of spirit from Ibrahim as a sample for Kamrasi. It appears that the king
got drunk so quickly upon the potent spirit, that he had an especial
desire to repeat the dose - he called it the maroua (cider) of our
country, and pronounced it so far superior to his own that he determined
to establish a factory. When I explained to him that it was the produce
of sweet potatoes, he expressed his great regret that he had never
sufficiently appreciated their value, and he expressed a determination
to cultivate whole districts. Ibrahim was requested to leave one of his
men who understood the management of a still, to establish and undertake
the direction of "King Kamrasi's Central African Unyoro Potato-Whisky
Company, unlimited."
Ibrahim had brought a variety of presents for Kamrasi: fifty pounds of
beads, a revolver pistol, cotton cloths, blue glass tumblers,
looking-glasses, &c. These donations, added to the pleasure afforded by
the defeat of his enemies, put his majesty into excellent humour, sad he
frequently came to visit us. On one occasion I gave him the portraits of
Speke and Grant: the latter he recognised immediately; he could not
understand the pictures in Punch, declaring that he (Punch) was not an
Englishman, as he neither resembled me nor Speke; but he was exceedingly
pleased with the Paris fashions in the Illustrated London News, which we
cut out with a pair of scissors, and gave him as specimens of English
ladies in full dress.
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