I Like Koorshid, As He
Is A Bold-Spoken Robber Instead Of Acting The Hypocrite Like The Other
Traders Of
Khartoum; thus, as he was the only man that was civil to me,
I would do him a good turn
Could I establish an honest trade between
Kamrasi and himself; at the same time, I should have the advantage of
his party as escort to the desired country. The case commercially lies
as follows: -
"Kamrasi's country, Unyoro, is a virgin land, where beads are hardly
known, and where the king is the despotic ruler, whose word is law. All
trade would be conducted through him alone, in the shape of presents, he
giving elephants' tusks, while, in return, Koorshid would send him beads
and various articles annually. Koorshid would thus be the sole trader
with Kamrasi according to White Nile rules, and the abominable system of
cattle robbery would be avoided.
"The great difficulty attending trade in a distant country is the want
of means of transport, one tribe, being generally hostile to the
adjoining, fears to afford porters beyond the frontier. If I can prove
that the Lake Luta N'zige is one source of the Nile with a navigable
junction, I can at once do away with the great difficulty, and open up a
direct trade for Koorshid. The Lake is in Kamrasi's own dominions: thus
he will have no fear in supplying porters to deliver the ivory at a
depot that might be established, either on the lake or at its junction
with the Nile. A vessel should be built upon the lake, to trade with the
surrounding coasts, and to receive the ivory from the depot. This vessel
would then descend from the lake to the While Nile, to the head of the
cataracts, where a camp should be formed, from which, in a few days'
march, the ivory would reach Gondokoro.
"A large trade might thus be established, as not only Unyoro would
supply ivory, but the lake would open the navigation to the very heart
of Africa. The advantage of dealing with Kamrasi direct would be great,
as he is not a mere savage, demanding beads and bracelets; but he would
receive printed cottons, and goods of various kinds, by which means the
ivory would be obtained at a merely nominal rate. The depot on the Luta
N'zige should be a general store, at which the vessel ascending from the
station above the cataracts would deliver the various goods from
Gondokoro, and from this store the goods would be disseminated
throughout the countries bordering the lake by means of vessels.
"The only drawback to this honest trade would be the general hatred of
anything honest by the Khartoumers; the charms of cattle razzias and
slave-hunting, with the attendant murders, attract these villanous
cut-throats to the White Nile expeditions, and I fear it would be
difficult to raise the number of armed men required for safety, were
legitimate trade the sole object of the ivory hunter.
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