If Not, My Entire Time,
Labour, And Expenditure Will Have Been Wasted, As I Throw Sport Entirely
Aside For The Sake Of This Exploration.
Were I to think of shooting in
preference to exploring, I could have excellent sport on the Atabbi
river
During the dry season, as also on the Kanieti, in the vicinity of
Wakkala; but I must neglect all but the great object, and push on to
Kamrasi's capital, and from thence to the lake. My great anxiety lies in
the conduct of Koorshid's party; should they make razzias south, I shall
be ruined, as my men will be afraid to advance through a disturbed
country. I MUST keep on good terms with the chief of the party, as I
depend upon him for an interpreter and porters.
"My plan is to prevail on Ibrahim to commence an ivory trade in
Kamrasi's country that might be legitimately conducted, instead of the
present atrocious system of robbery and murder. 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.
"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.
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