第23章

”ArrivedatthestationofAbouKookahat10。25A。M。，havingtravelledbadlyagainstthestrongsouthwind，andourbottomdirty。At3。10P。M。weleftAbouKookah，andat9。50P。M。wearrivedattheforest，closetothedesertedmissionstationofSt。Croix，wherewehaltedforthenight。Therewerevastherdsofcattleandmanynativesontheeastbank。”

CHAPTERVII。

ARRIVALATGONDOKORO。

AftertheusualvoyageupontheWhiteNile，duringwhichwepassedtheBohrandtheShirtribes，andhadexcellentsportinantelopeshootingwhenthesteamerstoppedatforeststocutfuel，wearrivedoppositetheoldmissionstationatGondokoroonApril15，1871。

Ifoundagreatchangeintheriversincemylastvisit。Theoldchannel，whichhadbeenofgreatdepthwhereitsweptbeneaththecliffs，waschokedwithsand-banks。Newislandshadformedinmanyplaces，anditwasimpossibleforthevesselstoapproachtheoldlanding-place。Wethereforedroppeddownthestreamtoaspotwherehighgroundandafewtreesinvitedustotheeastbank。Atthisplacethetradershadfoundedanewsettlementthatwasnowwithoutinhabitants，andwasrepresentedbyhalf-a-dozenbroken-downoldhuts。”Thecountryissadlychanged；formerly，prettynativevillagesingreatnumbersweredottedoverthelandscape，beneathshadyclumpsoftrees，andthelandwasthicklypopulated。Now，allisdesolate：notavillageexistsonthemainland；theyhaveallbeendestroyed，andtheinhabitantshavebeendrivenforrefugeonthenumerouslowislandsoftheriver；thesearethrongedwithvillages，andthepeoplearebusilycultivatingthesoil。”Isentforthechief，Allorron，who，uponarrivalwithsomeothernatives，explainedthathiscountryhadbeendestroyedbytheattacksofthepeopleofLoquiaattheinstigationofthetraders。IpromisedhimprotectionifheandhispeoplewouldreturntothemainlandandbecometruesubjectstotheKhedive。AtthesametimeIinformedhimthat，inreturnforprotection，hispeoplemustcultivatecorn，andbuildthehutsrequiredforthetroopsuponarrival。Thishepromisedtodo，andI

arrangedthatheshouldsummonageneralmeetingoftheheadmenandtheirpeopleto-morrow，orassoonaspossible。”IatonceclearedasmallplotofgroundandsowedsomegardenseedsonthenewsoilnowannexedtoEgypt。Mysoldierstookagreatinterestintheoperation，andaswecoveredtheseedswithlightearth，weconcludedthesowingwiththeusualejaculation-’Biamillah！’(inthenameofGod)。”Iwalkeduptotheoldmissionstation。Notonebrickremainsuponanother——allistotallydestroyed。Thefewfruit-treesplantedbythepioushandsoftheAustrianMissionariesremaininatangledwildernessbytheriver’sbank。Thebeautifulavenueoflargelemontreeshasbeendefacedbythedestructionofmanyboughs，whilethegroundbeneathisliterallycoveredbymanythousandsofwitheredlemonsthathavefallenneglectedfromthebrancheswithoutahandtogatherthem。Thenativeswillnoteatthem，thusthedeliciousfruithasbeenwasted；perhapssixtyoreightybushelshaverottedontheearth。ItrustthattheseedsIhavealreadysownwillhaveamoreusefulresultthanthelostlabouroftheunfortunatemissionaries。Itwouldbeheartbreakingtothemcouldtheyseethemiserableterminationofalltheirgoodworks。

April16——ThemileagefromthejunctionoftheBahrGiraffeIhavecalculatedat364tothispoint(Gondokoro)；butIdeduct10percent。，aswetookseveralwrongturnsoftheriver。Thedistancemaybeabout330miles。

FromBahrGiraffe，junctiontoGondokoro330milesUpperNilejunctiontoDubbaonBahrGiraffe48milesDubbatoLowerNilejunction300milesLowerNilejunctiontoSobat38milesSobattoKhartoum693miles1，409milestoGondokoro。”

ThechiefAllorronarrivedwithanumberofhispeople，andaskedfor”arakiandcognac！”Heisabigandsavage-lookingnakedbruteofthelowestdescription，hisnaturalviceshavingbeenincreasedb

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