There was a difficult pass through the mountains of
Ellyria, which it would be impossible to force; thus my
small party of seventeen men would be helpless. It
would be merely necessary for the traders to request
the chief of Ellyria to attack my party to insure its
destruction, as the plunder of the baggage would be
an ample reward.
There was no time for deliberation. Both the present
and the future looked as gloomy as could be
imagined; but I had always expected extraordinary
difficulties, and they were, if possible, to be surmounted.
I t was useless to speculate upon chances; there- was
no hope of success in inaction ; and the only resource
was to drive through all obstacles without calculating
the risk.
Once away from Gondokoro we should be fairly
launched on our voyage, the boats would have
returned to Khartoum, thus retreat would be cut
off; it only remained to push forward, trusting in
Providence and good fortune. I had great faith in
'presents. The Arabs are all venal; | and, having
many valuable effects with me, I trusted, when the
proper moment should arrive, to be able to overcome
all opposition by an open hand.
The day arrived for the departure of Koorshid’s
people. They commenced firing their usual signals;
the drums beat; the Turkish ensign led the way; and
•they marched at 2 o’clock p .m ., sending a polite
message, “ daring ” me to follow them.
I immediately ordered the tent to be struck, the
luggage to be arranged, the animals to be collected,
and everything to be ready for the march. Richarn
and Saat were in high spirits, even my unwilling
men were obliged to work, and by 7 p .m . we were
all ready. - The camels were too heavily loaded, carrying
about seven hundred pounds each. The donkeys
were also overloaded, but there was no help for it.
Mrs. Baker was well mounted on my good old Abyssinian
hunter “ Tetel,” * and was carrying several
leather bags slung to the pommel, while I was equally
loaded on my horse “ Filfil t in fact, we were all
carrying as much as we could stow.
We had neither guide, nor interpreter. Not one
native was procurable, all being under the influence
of the traders, who had determined to render our
advance utterly impossible by preventing the natives
from assisting us. All had been threatened, and we,
perfectly helpless, commenced the desperate journey
in darkness about an hour after sunset.
“ Where shall we go ? ” said the men, just as the
order was given to start. “Who can travel without
* “ Hartebeest.” t | Pepper.”