Before
Daylight On The Following Morning The Drum Beat; The Lazy Soldiers,
After Stretching And Yawning, Began To Load The Animals, And We Started
At Six O'clock.
In these climates the rising of the sun is always
dreaded.
For about an hour before sunrise the air is deliciously cool
and invigorating, but the sun is regarded as the common enemy. There is,
nevertheless, a difficulty in starting before sunrise-the animals cannot
be properly loaded in the darkness, and the operation being tedious, the
cool hour of morning is always lost. The morning was clear, and the
mountain of Belignan, within three or four miles, was a fine object to
direct our course. I could distinctly see some enormous trees at the
foot of the mountain near a village, and I hastened forward, as I hoped
to procure a guide who would also act as interpreter, many of the
natives in the vicinity of Gondokoro having learnt a little Arabic from
the traders. We cantered on ahead of the party, regardless of the
assurance of our unwilling men that the natives were not to be trusted,
and we soon arrived beneath the shade of a cluster of most superb trees.
The village was within a quarter of a mile, situated at the very base of
the abrupt mountain; the natives seeing us alone had no fear, and soon
thronged around us.
The chief understood a few words of Arabic, and I offered a large
payment of copper bracelets and beads for a guide. After much discussion
and bargaining, a bad-looking fellow offered to guide us to Ellyria, but
no farther. This was about twenty-eight or thirty miles distant, and it
was of vital importance that we should pass through that tribe before
the trader's party should raise them against us. I had great hopes of
outmarching them, as they would be delayed in Belignan by ivory
transactions with the chief. While negotiations were pending with the
guide, the trader's party appeared in the distance, and avoiding us,
they halted on the opposite side of the village. I now tried
conciliatory measures, and I sent my vakeel to their headman Ibrahim to
talk with him confidentially, and to try to obtain an interpreter in
return for a large present.
My vakeel was in an awkward position - he was afraid of me; also
mortally afraid of the government in Khartoum; and frightened out of his
life at his own men, whose conspiracy to desert he was well aware of.
With the cunning of an Arab he started on his mission, accompanied by
several of the men, including the arch-mutineer Bellaal. He shortly
returned, saying, "that it was perfectly impossible to proceed to the
interior; that Ibrahim's party were outrageous at my having followed on
their route; that he would neither give an interpreter, nor allow any of
the natives to serve me; and that he would give orders to the great
chief of Ellyria to prevent me from passing through his country." At
that time the Turks were engaged in business transactions with the
natives; it therefore was all important that I should start immediately,
and by a forced march arrive at Ellyria, and get through the pass,
before they should communicate with the chief.
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