"Even In Obbo, I Believe That Printed Calicoes, Red Woollen Shirts,
Blankets, &C. Would Purchase Ivory.
The elevation of this country being
upwards of 3,600 feet, the nights are cold, and even the day
Is cold
during the wet season; thus clothing is required; this we see in the
first rudiments of covering, the skins of beasts used by the natives;
the Obbo people being the first tribe that adopts a particle of clothing
from the Shillook country (lat. 10 degrees) throughout the entire course
of the White Nile to this latitude (4 degrees 02 minutes). Kamrasi's
tribe are well covered, and farther south, towards Zanzibar, all tribes
are clothed more or less; thus Obbo is the clothing frontier, where the
climate has first prompted the savage to cover himself, while in the hot
lowlands he remains in a state of nakedness. Where clothing is required,
English manufacturers would find a market in exchange for ivory; thus
from this point a fair trade might be commenced.
"From Farajoke, in the Sooli country, lat. 3 degrees 33 minutes, up to
this date the most southern limit of my explorations, the lake is about
nine or ten days' march in a direct course; but such a route is
impossible, owing to Debono's establishment occupying the intervening
country, and the rules of the traders forbid a trespass upon their
assumed territory. Koorshid's men would refuse to advance by that route;
my men, if alone, will be afraid to travel, and will find some excuse
for not proceeding; from the very outset they have been an absolute
burthen upon me, receiving a monthly allowance of two pounds of beads
per head for doing literally nothing, after having ruined the
independence of my expedition by their mutiny at Gondokoro."
"AUG. 23d. - My last camel died to-day; thus all my horses and camels
are dead, and only eight donkeys remain out of twenty-one; most of these
will die, if not all. There can be no doubt that the excessive wet in
all the food, owing to the constant rain and dew, is the principal cause
of disease. The camels, horses, and donkeys of the Soudan, all thrive in
the hot dry air of that country, and are unsuited for this damp climate.
"Had I been without transport animals, my expedition could not have left
Gondokoro, as there was no possibility of procuring porters. I had
always expected that my animals would die, but I had hoped they would
have carried me to the equator: this they would have accomplished during
the two months of comparative dry weather following my arrival at
Gondokoro, had not the mutiny thwarted all my plans, and thrown me into
the wet season. My animals have delivered me at Obbo, and have died in
inaction, instead of wearing out upon the road. Had I been able to start
direct from Gondokoro, as I had intended, my animals would have
delivered me in Kamrasi's country before the arrival of the heavy rains.
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