We Were Told
That Some People Had Suggested That We Might Possibly Have Gone To
Zanzibar, But The General Opinion Was That We Had All Been Killed.
At
this cold and barren reply, I felt almost choked.
We had looked forward
to arriving at Gondokoro as to a home; we had expected that a boat would
have been sent on the chance of finding us, as I had left money in the
hands of an agent in Khartoum - but there was literally nothing to
receive us, and we were helpless to return. We had worked for years in
misery, such as I have but faintly described, to overcome the
difficulties of this hitherto unconquerable exploration; we had
succeeded - and what was the result? Not even a letter from home to
welcome us if alive! As I sat beneath a tree and looked down upon the
glorious Nile that flowed a few yards beneath my feet, I pondered upon
the value of my toil. I had traced the river to its great Albert source,
and as the mighty stream glided before me, the mystery that had ever
shrouded its origin was dissolved. I no longer looked upon its waters
with a feeling approaching to awe for I knew its home, and had visited
its cradle. Had I overrated the importance of the discovery? and had I
wasted some of the best years of my life to obtain a shadow? I recalled
to recollection the practical question of Commoro, the chief of Latooka,
- "Suppose you get to the great lake, what will you do with it?
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