110 SPEKE AND GRANT DEPART TO KHARTOVM. [ c h a p . n .
in dépôt at Gondokoro, in case I should be driven back
from the interior, in the event of which, without a
supply in dépôt, utter starvation would have been the
fate of my party. Mr. Petherick accordingly despatched
one of his boats to the Shir tribe down the
White Nile to purchase corn in exchange for molotes
(native hoes). The boat returned with corn on the
11th of March.
On the 26th February, Speke and Grant sailed from
Gondokoro. Our hearts were too full to say more than
a short “ God bless you !” They had won their victory ;
my work lay all before me. I watched their boat until
it turned the corner, and wished them in my heart all
honour for their great achievement. I trusted to sustain
the name they had won for English perseverance, and
I looked forward to meeting them again in dear old
England, when I should have completed the work
we had so warmly planned together.
CHAPTER III.
G U N A C C ID E N T .
A d a y before the departure of Speke and Grant fr'om
Gondokoro, an event occurred which appeared as a bad
omen to the superstitions of my men. I had ordered
the diahbiah to be prepared for sailing : thus, the cargo
having been landed and the boat cleared and washed,
we were sitting in the cabin, when a sudden explosion
close to the windows startled us from our seats, and
the consternation of a crowd of men who were on the
bank, showed that some accident had happened. I
immediately ran out, and found that the servants had
laid all my rifles upon a mat upon the ground, and
that one of the men had walked over the gun a ; his foot
striking the hammer of one of the No. 10 Reilly rifles,
had momentarily raised it from the nipple, and an
instantaneous explosion was the consequence. The
rifle was loaded for elephants, with seven drachms of