On the following morning we entered the
town.
Souakim is a considerable town; the houses are all built of coral. The
principal dwellings, and the custom house and Government offices are
situated on an island in the harbour. We were received with much
attention by the Governor, Moomtazze Bey, who very kindly offered us a
house. The heat was frightful, the thermometer 115 degrees F and in some
houses 120 degrees F.
There is no doubt that Souakim should be the port for all exports and
imports for the Soudan provinces. Were a line of steamers established
from Suez, to call regularly at Souakim, at a moderate freight, it would
become a most prosperous town, as the geographical position marks it as
the nucleus for all trade with the interior. At present there is no
regularity: the only steamers that touch at Souakim are those belonging
to the Abdul Azziz Company, who trade between Suez and Jedda. Although
advertised for distinct periods, they only visit Souakim when they think
proper, and their rates are most exorbitant.
There was no steamer upon our arrival. After waiting in intense heat for
about a fortnight, the Egyptian thirty-two gun steam frigate,
Ibralaimeya, arrived with a regiment of Egyptian troops, under Giaffer
Pasha, to quell the mutiny of the black troops at Kassala, twenty days'
march in the interior. The General Giaffer Pasha, and Mustapha Bey the
captain of the frigate, gave us an entertainment on board in English
style, in honour of the completion of the Nile discovery. Giaffer Pasha
most kindly placed the frigate at our disposal to convey us to Suez, and
both he and Mustapha Bey endeavoured in every way to accommodate us. For
their extreme courtesy I take this opportunity of making my
acknowledgment.
Orders for sailing had been received, but suddenly a steamer was
signalled as arriving: this was a transport, with troops. As she was to
return immediately to Suez, I preferred the dirty transport rather than
incur a further delay. We started from Souakim, and after five days'
voyage we arrived at Suez. Landing from the steamer, I once more found
myself in an English hotel. The spacious inner court was arranged as an
open conservatory; in this was a bar for refreshments, and "Allsopp's
Pale Ale" on draught, with an ice accompaniment. What an Elysium! The
beds had SHEETS and PILLOW-CASES! neither of which had I possessed for
years.
The hotel was thronged with passengers to India, with rosy, blooming
English ladies, and crowds of my own countrymen. I felt inclined to talk
to everybody. Never was I so in love with my own countrymen and women;
but they (I mean the ladies) all had large balls of hair at the backs of
their heads! What an extraordinary change! I called Richarn, my pet
savage from the heart of Africa, to admire them. "Now, Richarn, look at
them!" I said. "What do you think of the English ladies? eh, Richarn?
Are they not lovely?"
"Wah Illahi!" exclaimed the astonished Richarn, "they are beautiful!
What hair! They are not like the negro savages, who work other people's
hair into their own heads; theirs is all real - all their own - how
beautiful!"
"Yes, Richarn," I replied, "ALL THEIR OWN!" This was my first
introduction to the "chignon."
We arrived at Cairo, and I established Richarn and his wife in a
comfortable situation, as private servants to Mr. Zech, the master of
Sheppard's Hotel. The character I gave him was one that I trust has done
him service: he had shown an extraordinary amount of moral courage in
totally reforming from his original habit of drinking. I left my old
servant with a heart too full to say good-bye; a warm squeeze of his
rough, but honest black hand, and the whistle of the train sounded, - we
were off!
I had left Richarn, and none remained of my people. The past appeared
like a dream-the rushing sound of the train renewed ideas of
civilization. Had I really come from the Nile Sources? It was no dream.
A witness sat before me; a face still young, but bronzed like an Arab by
years of exposure to a burning sun; haggard and worn with toil and
sickness, and shaded with cares, happily now past; the devoted companion
of my pilgrimage, to whom I owed success and life - my wife.
I had received letters from England, that had been waiting at the
British Consulate; - the first I opened informed me, that the Royal
Geographical Society had awarded me the Victoria Gold Medal, at a time
when they were unaware whether I was alive or dead, and when the success
of my expedition was unknown. This appreciation of my exertions was the
warmest welcome that I could have received on my first entrance into
civilization after so many years of savagedom: it rendered the
completion of the Nile Sources doubly grateful, as I had fulfilled the
expectations that the Geographical Society had so generously expressed
by the presentation of their medal Before my task was done.
APPENDIX
COMPUTATION OF MR. BAKER'S OBSERVATIONS.
HEIGHTS OF STATIONS ABOVE THE MEAN LEVEL OF THE SEA DETERMINED
BY BOILING-WATER OBSERVATIONS BY S. W. BAKER, Esq.
COMPUTED BY E. DUNKIN, Esq. OF GREENWICH OBSERVATORY. Feet.
Tarrangolle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2047
Obbo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3480
Shoggo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3770
Asua River . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2619
Shooa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3619
Rionga's Island . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3685
Karuma, below falls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3737
Karuma, south of falls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3796
South of Karuma, at river level. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3794
M'rooli, river level, junction of Kafoor . . . . . . . . . . . 3796
West of M'rooli, on road to Albert lake . . . . . . . . . . . 4291
Land above lake, east cliff . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 4117
Albert N'yanza, lake level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2448
Shooa Moru, island of Patooan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2918
Gondokoro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 1636
The above heights will be found to differ considerably from those given
by Mr. Baker in his letter written from Khartoum in May, 1865, and
published in the TIMES newspaper in June.
