Startling disclosures--The last hope seems gone--The Bari chief's
advice--Hoping for the best--Ho for Central Africa!
We were to start upon the following Monday. Mahommed had paid me a
visit, assuring me of his devotion, and begging me to have my baggage
in marching order, as he would send me fifty porters on Monday, and we
would move off in company. At the very moment that he thus professed,
he was coolly deceiving me. He had arranged to start without me on
Saturday, while he was proposing to march together on Monday. This I did
not know at the time.
One morning I had returned to the tent after having, as usual,
inspected the transport animals, when I observed Mrs. Baker looking
extraordinarily pale, and immediately upon my arrival she gave orders
for the presence of the vakeel (headman). There was something in her
manner so different from her usual calm, that I was utterly bewildered
when I heard her question the vakeel, whether the men were willing to
march. "Perfectly ready," was the reply. "Then order them to strike the
tent and load the animals; we start this moment."
The man appeared confused, but not more so than I. Something was
evidently on foot, but what I could not conjecture. The vakeel wavered,
and to my astonishment I heard the accusation made against him that
during the night the whole of the escort had mutinously conspired to
desert me, with my arms and ammunition that were in their hands, and to
fire simultaneously at me should I attempt to disarm them. At first
this charge was indignantly denied, until the boy Saat manfully stepped
forward and declared that the conspiracy was entered into by the whole
of the escort, and that both he and Richarn, knowing that mutiny was
intended, had listened purposely to the conversation during the night;
at daybreak the boy reported the fact to his mistress. Mutiny, robbery,
and murder were thus deliberately determined.
I immediately ordered an angarep (travelling bedstead) to be
placed outside the tent under a large tree. Upon this I laid five
double-barrelled guns loaded with buckshot, a revolver, and a naked
sabre as sharp as a razor. A sixth rifle I kept in my hands while I sat
upon the angarep, with Richarn and Saat both with double-barrelled
guns behind me. Formerly I had supplied each of my men with a piece of
mackintosh waterproof to be tied over the locks of their guns during the
march. I now ordered the drum to be beaten, and all the men to form in
line in marching order, with their locks TIED UP IN THE WATERPROOF. I
requested Mrs. Baker to stand behind me and point out any man who should
attempt to uncover his locks when I should give the order to lay down
their arms. The act of uncovering the locks would prove his intention,
in which event I intended to shoot him immediately and take my chance
with the rest of the conspirators.
I had quite determined that these scoundrels should not rob me of my own
arms and ammunition, if I could prevent it.
The drum beat, and the vakeel himself went into the men's quarters and
endeavored to prevail upon them to answer the call. At length fifteen
assembled in line; the others were nowhere to be found. The locks of the
arms were secured by mackintosh as ordered. It was thus impossible for
any man to fire at me until he should have released his locks.
Upon assembling in line I ordered them immediately to lay down their
arms. This, with insolent looks of defiance, they refused to do. "Down
with your guns thus moment," I shouted, "sons of dogs!" And at the sharp
click of the locks, as I quickly cocked the rifle that I held in my
hands, the cowardly mutineers widened their line and wavered. Some
retreated a few paces to the rear; others sat down and laid their guns
on the ground, while the remainder slowly dispersed, and sat in twos
or singly, under the various trees about eighty paces distant. Taking
advantage of their indecision, I immediately rose and ordered my vakeel
and Richarn to disarm them as they were thus scattered. Foreseeing that
the time had arrived for actual physical force, the cowards capitulated,
agreeing to give up their arms and ammunition if I would give them their
written discharge. I disarmed them immediately, and the vakeel having
written a discharge for the fifteen men present, I wrote upon each paper
the word "mutineer" above my signature. None of them being able to
read, and this being written in English, they unconsciously carried the
evidence of their own guilt, which I resolved to punish should I ever
find them on my return to Khartoum.
Thus disarmed, they immediately joined other of the traders' parties.
These fifteen men were the "Jalyns" of my party, the remainder being
Dongolowas--all Arabs of the Nile, north of Khartoum. The Dongolowas
had not appeared when summoned by the drum, and my vakeel being of their
nation, I impressed upon him his responsibility for the mutiny, and that
he would end his days in prison at Khartoum should my expedition fail.
The boy Saat and Richarn now assured me that the men had intended to
fire at me, but that they were frightened at seeing us thus prepared,
but that I must not expect one man of the Dongolowas to be any more
faithful than the Jalyns. I ordered the vakeel to hunt up the men and to
bring me their guns, threatening that if they refused I would shoot any
man that I found with one of my guns in his hands.
There was no time for mild measures. I had only Saat (a mere child)
and Richarn upon whom I could depend; and I resolved with them alone
to accompany Mahommed's people to the interior, and to trust to good
fortune for a chance of proceeding.
I was feverish and ill with worry and anxiety, and I was lying down
upon my mat when I suddenly heard guns firing in all directions, drums
beating, and the customary signs of either an arrival or departure of
a trading party. Presently a messenger arrived from Koorshid Aga, the
Circassian, to announce the departure of Mahommed's party without me,
and my vakeel appeared with a message from the same people, that if I
followed on their road (my proposed route) they would fire upon me and
my party, as they would allow no English spies in their country.
My last hope seemed gone. No expedition had ever been more carefully
planned; everything had been well arranged to insure success. My
transport animals were in good condition, their saddles and pads had
been made under my own inspection, my arms, ammunition, and supplies
were abundant, and I was ready to march at five minutes' notice to
any part of Africa; but the expedition, so costly and so carefully
organized, was completely ruined by the very people whom I had engaged
to protect it. They had not only deserted, but they had conspired to
murder. There was no law in these wild regions but brute force; human
life was of no value; murder was a pastime, as the murderer could escape
all punishment. Mr. Petherick's vakeel had just been shot dead by one of
his own men, and such events were too common to create much attention.
We were utterly helpless, the whole of the people against us, and openly
threatening. For myself personally I had no anxiety; but the fact of
Mrs. Baker's being with me was my greatest care. I dared not think of
her position in the event of my death among such savages as those around
her. These thoughts were shared by her; but she, knowing that I had
resolved to succeed, never once hinted an advice for retreat.
Richarn was as faithful as Saat, and I accordingly confided in him my
resolution to leave all my baggage in charge of a friendly chief of the
Baris at Gondokoro, and to take two fast dromedaries for him and Saat,
and two horses for Mrs. Baker and myself, and to make a push through the
hostile tribe for three days, to arrive among friendly people at "Moir,"
from which place I trusted to fortune. I arranged that the dromedaries
should carry a few beads, ammunition, and the astronomical instruments.
Richarn said the idea was very mad; that the natives would do nothing
for beads; that he had had great experience on the White Nile when with
a former master, and that the natives would do nothing without receiving
cows as payment; that it was of no use to be good to them, as they had
no respect for any virtue but "force;" that we should most likely be
murdered; but that if I ordered him to go, he was ready to obey.
I was delighted with Richarn's rough and frank fidelity. Ordering the
horses to be brought, I carefully pared their feet. Their hard flinty
hoofs, that had never felt a shoe, were in excellent order for a gallop,
if necessary. All being ready, I sent for the chief of Gondokoro.
Meanwhile a Bari boy arrived, sent by Koorshid Aga, to act as my
interpreter.
The Bari chief was, as usual, smeared all over with red ochre and fat,
and had the shell of a small land tortoise suspended to his elbow as an
ornament. I proposed to him my plan of riding quickly through the Bari
tribe to Moir. He replied, "Impossible! If I were to beat the great
nogaras (drums), and call my people together to explain who you are,
they would not hurt you; but there are many petty chiefs who do not
obey me, and their people would certainly attack you when crossing some
swollen torrent, and what could you do with only a man and a boy?"
His reply to my question concerning the value of beads corroborated
Richarn's statement: nothing could be purchased for anything but cattle.
The traders had commenced the system of stealing herds of cattle from
one tribe to barter with the next neighbor; thus the entire country was
in anarchy and confusion, and beads were of no value. My plan for a dash
through the country was impracticable.
I therefore called my vakeel, and threatened him with the gravest
punishment on my return to Khartoum. I wrote to Sir R. Colquhoun, H.M.
Consul-General for Egypt, which letter I sent by one of the return
boats, and I explained to my vakeel that the complaint to the British
authorities would end in his imprisonment, and that in case of my death
through violence he would assuredly be hanged. After frightening him
thoroughly, I suggested that he should induce some of the mutineers,
who were Dongolowas (his own tribe), many of whom were his relatives, to
accompany me, in which case I would forgive them their past misconduct.
In the course of the afternoon he returned with the news that he had
arranged with seventeen of the men, but that they refused to march
toward the south, and would accompany me to the east if I wished to
explore that part of the country. Their plea for refusing a southern
route was the hostility of the Bari tribe. They also proposed a
condition, that I should "LEAVE ALL MY TRANSPORT ANIMALS AND BAGGAGE
BEHIND ME." To this insane request, which completely nullified their
offer to start, I only replied by vowing vengeance against the vakeel.
The time was passed by the men in vociferously quarrelling among
themselves during the day and in close conference with the vakeel during
the night, the substance of which was reported on the following morning
by the faithful Saat. The boy recounted their plot. They agreed to march
to the east, with the intention of deserting me at the station of a
trader named Chenooda, seven days' march from Gondokoro, in the Latooka
country, whose men were, like themselves, Dongolowas; they had conspired
to mutiny at that place and to desert to the slave-hunting party with
my arms and ammunition, and to shoot me should I attempt to disarm
them. They also threatened to shoot my vakeel, who now, through fear of
punishment at Khartoum, exerted his influence to induce them to start.
Altogether it was a pleasant state of things.
I was determined at all hazards to start from Gondokoro for the
interior. From long experience with natives of wild countries I did not
despair of obtaining an influence over my men, however bad, could I once
quit Gondokoro and lead them among the wild and generally hostile tribes
of the country. They would then be separated from the contagion of the
slave-hunting parties, and would feel themselves dependent upon me
for guidance. Accordingly I professed to believe in their promises to
accompany me to the east, although I knew of their conspiracy; and I
trusted that by tact and good management I should eventually thwart all
their plans, and, although forced out of my intended course, should be
able to alter my route and to work round from the east to my original
plan of operations south. The interpreter given by Koorshid Aga had
absconded; this was a great loss, as I had no means of communication
with the natives except by casually engaging a Bari in the employment
of the traders, to whom I was obliged to pay exorbitantly in copper
bracelets for a few minutes' conversation.
A party of Koorshid's people had just arrived with ivory from the
Latooka country, bringing with them a number of that tribe as porters.
They were to return shortly, but they not only refused to allow me to
accompany them, but they declared their intention of forcibly repelling
me, should I attempt to advance by their route. This was a good excuse
for my men, who once more refused to proceed. By pressure upon the
vakeel they again yielded, but on condition that I would take one of the
mutineers named "Bellaal," who wished to join them, but whose offer I
had refused, as he had been a notorious ringleader in every mutiny. It
was a sine qua non that he was to go; and knowing the character of the
man, I felt convinced that it had been arranged that he should head the
mutiny conspired to be enacted upon our arrival at Chenooda's camp in
the Latooka country.
The plan that I had arranged was to leave all the baggage not
indispensable with Koorshid Aga at Gondokoro, who would return it to
Khartoum. I intended to wait until Koorshid's party should march, when I
resolved to follow them, as I did not believe they would dare to oppose
me by force, their master himself being friendly. I considered their
threats as mere idle boasting to frighten me from an attempt to
follow them; but there was another more serious cause of danger to be
apprehended.
On the route between Gondokoro and Latooka there was a powerful tribe
among the mountains of Ellyria. The chief of that tribe (Legge) had
formerly massacred a hundred and twenty of a trader's party. He was an
ally of Koorshid's people, who declared that they would raise the tribe
against me, which would end in the defeat or massacre of my party. 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. It 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.
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.
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 a guide? No one knows the road." The moon was
up, and the mountain of Belignan was distinctly visible about nine miles
distant. Knowing that the route lay on the east side of that mountain,
I led the way, Mrs. Baker riding by my side, and the British flag
following close behind us as a guide for the caravan of heavily laden
camels and donkeys. And thus we started on our march into Central Africa
on the 26th of March, 1863.