home without having done something to recompense him
for the trouble and expense he had incurred in getting
up his large expedition. Of course I told him how disappointed
I had been in not getting a sight of the Little
Liita Nzigd I described how we had seen the Nile
bending west where we crossed in Chopi, and then, after
walking down the chord of an arc described by the river,
had found it again in Madi coming from the west,
whence to the south, and as far at least as Koshi, it was
said to be navigable, probably continuing to be so right
into the Little Luta Nzigb. Should this be the case, then,
by building boats in Madi above the cataracts, a vast
region might be thrown open to the improving influences
of navigation. Further, I told Baker of my contract with
Kamrasi, and of the property I had left behind, with a
view to stimulate any enterprising man who might be
found at this place to go there, make good my promise,
and, if found needful, claim my share of the things, for
the better prosecution of his own travels there. This
Baker at once undertook, though he said he did not want
my property; and I drew out suggestions for him how
to proceed. He then made friends with Mahamed, who
promised to help him on to Faloro, and I gave Mahamed
and his men three carbines as an honorarium.
I should now have gone down the Nile at once if the
moon had been in “ distance” for fixing the longitude; but
as it was not, I had to remain until the __ 26th,* livinog with
Baker. Kfirshid Agha became very great friends with
us, and, at once making a present of a turkey, a case of
wine, and cigars, said he was only sorry for his own sake
that we had found a fellow-countryman, else he would
have had the envied honour of claiming us as his guests,
and had the pleasure of transporting • us in his vessels
down to Khartiim.
The Kev. Mr Moorlan, and two other priests of the
Austrian Mission, were here on a visit from their station
at Kich, to see the old place again before they left for
Khartum; for the Austrian Government, discouraged by
the failure of so many years, had ordered the recall of
the whole of the establishment for these regions. It was
no wonder these men were recalled; for, out of twenty
missionaries who, during the last thirteen years, had
ascended the White river for the purpose of propagating
the Gospel, thirteen had died of fever, two of dysentery,
and two had retired broken in'health, yet not one convert
had been made by them.
The fact is, there was no government to control the
population or to protect property; boys came to them,
looked at their pictures, and even showed a disposition to
be instructed, but there it ended; they had no heart to
study when no visible returns were to be gained. One
day the people would examine the books, at another
throw them aside, say their stomachs were empty, and
run away to look for food. The Bari people at Gondo-
koro were described as being more tractable than those of
Kich, being of a braver and more noble nature; but they
were all half-starved—not because the country was too
poor to produce, but because they were too lazy to cultivate.
What little corn they grew they consumed before
it was fully ripe, and then either sought for fish in the
river or fed on tortoises in the interior, as they feared
they might never reap what they sowed.
The missionaries never had occasion to complain of
these blacks, and to this day they would doubtless have
been kindly inclined towards Europeans, had the White
Nile traders not brought the devil amongst them. Mr
Moorlan remembers the time when they brought food for
sale; but now, instead, they turn their backs upon all
foreigners, and even abuse the missionaries for having
been the precursors of such dire calamities. The shell of
the brick church at Gondokoro, and the cross on the top
of a native-built hut in Kich, are all that will remain to