The answer of Dr. Delange was not long delayed, and the following
morning he announced his intention of joining the expedition. This
result might have been foreseen, for, when a journey is in question,
hesitation exists at the moment of departure alone. When fairly on
the road, vacillating characters lose their indecision, and bear
testimony to the truth of the proverb, "_Il n'y a que le premier pas
qui coûte_." Ties hard to break are formed amongst the travellers;
services rendered by one to another create new duties for each,
_amour-propre_ enters into the calculation, no one member of the
community wants to be under an obligation to another, nobody will
give way whilst his neighbour holds out, and each one would blush for
a desertion which would be condemned by all.
Again, in dangerous undertakings such as that we are discussing,
gratitude as well as _amour-propre_ has somewhat to say. A very
serious kind of treaty, a treaty of life and death, is entered upon
by the various components of the caravans—"I was almost lost to-day
when you saved me; to-morrow it will be my turn to save you." In this
way Dr. Delange, having rescued M. de Morin from the Bedouins of El-Bejaz,
scored the first game. M. de Morin had just won the second;
the conqueror had to be played, and the Doctor, like the thorough
gambler that he was, did not care about leaving the _partie_
undecided.
And now that we are speaking of gambling, we ought to mention that M.
Delange had by no means given up the parties prescribed by his
contract. Only, because M. de Morin had of late shown himself
disinclined both for baccarat and écarté, the Doctor, not to drive
him to desperation, had offered him credit for a few weeks, on
condition that he would wipe off the score later on. They were
already twenty _parties_, of a thousand francs each, behindhand, and
that alone held out to M. Delange an agreeable prospect for the
future; for, adding these twenty to the one per diem agreed upon, he
saw before him a gambling horizon of stupendous proportions. Africa
and its dreaded tribes disappeared, and he only saw cards, nothing
but cards, strewing his onward path. They smoothed away all the rough
places, and levelled all the precipices on the road. And we may as
well add that the exploration fever, confessed to by so many others,
had seized upon him, and had awakened in him the hitherto lalent
instincts of a traveller.
MM. de Morin and Périères were consequently accompanied by Dr.
Delange, when, on the following day, they betook themselves to Madame
de Guéran. She had herself summoned to the conference Miss Beatrice
Poles, and the Dinka Nassar, who had brought her the letter from her
husband, as well as the two Arab interpreters, whose devotion had
been so conspicuous during the first portion of the expedition. The
trusty Joseph, also summoned, responded to the call. It had been
vainly expected that he would have resolved upon returning to France,
but he persisted in being one of the party with an obstinacy, of
which Miss Poles, who could not bear the sight of him, had divined
the real motive.
Joseph hoped to make a rapid fortune in Africa, and to find an
opening for two branches of industry—ivory and slaves. In his idea,
these two businesses were inseparable; ivory and slaves were one and
the same thing. He had read that a few pieces of copper, or a yard or
two of calico, or a packet of needles, would, in certain regions, buy
a young girl, about fifteen, who would be easily exchanged in another
tribe for an elephant's tusk. The copper, calico, or needles
represented a value of four or five francs, whereas tusks would be
sold in Europe at a rate of from five hundred to seven hundred and
fifty francs. The business, conducted on a large scale, was therefore
magnificent, and Joseph did not feel inclined to forego it. In
addition to this, he was rather pleased with the idea of becoming for
some time the proprietor of a certain number of slaves, and he
proposed, by means of them, to relieve himself of a portion of his
work, and to enjoy all the advantages of a servant free from all
expense, and a master who had nothing to do.
Our European colony thus retained its original dimensions, and
required merely an escort and the proper complement of bearers. A
consultation was held on this point, the inconvenience of a large
following having been confessed by every traveller. Large caravans
have the credit, at all events, of spreading terror along their
route, and of assuming an attitude of open hostility against the
native population, still in a state of barbarism, it is true, but
free, nevertheless, to put their veto on the inroad of armed people
into their territories. Why should we do in Africa what we should not
allow anybody to do in Europe? Should we allow armed negroes to march
from one end to the other of France or England? Livingstone, Mungo
Park, Major Laing, René Caillié, Grant, Speke, Cameron, Barth, Vögel,
and plenty of other travellers never dreamt of pursuing their
explorations with a countless escort.
Nevertheless, these reflections are not quite as just as they seem to
be, for the travellers, whose names we have mentioned, were content
to travel slowly, ever temporizing and substituting tact and patience
for force. They often remained entire years at the mercy of the chief
of some petty tribe? What did it matter to them? It only gave them
greater opportunities for studying the country under every aspect and
condition, to the manifest advantage of all branches of science. And,
at the same time, the tribes amongst whom they lived became familiar
with their manners and customs, and were improved in consequence, the
explorers in this way becoming apostles and missionaries. But our
caravan had another end in view; their object was to recover an
explorer, a bold pioneer, lost, or strayed, or, perhaps, in imminent
danger of his life. They had no time to lose, and could not brook the
delays incidental to a scientific expedition or an apostolic mission.
Moreover, if we do not allow armed strangers to wander through
France, we, at least, offer them certain guarantees against danger
which we can scarcely find in Africa. When that country shall have
provided itself with railways, gendarmes, sergents-de-ville, or
policemen, we shall no longer require armed and costly escorts.
It was decided, therefore, that attention should only be paid, within
certain limits, of course, to the advice of single travellers, and
that the number of soldiers and bearers should be reduced, as far as
possible, consistently with the expedition being strong enough to
force its way in case of necessity, to inspire respect, and repulse
any attack. Nassar and the two interpreters received orders to engage
fifty experienced soldiers who had already accompanied expeditions to
the south, and from this escort Arabs were to be excluded on account
of their always being prone to look upon the districts to be explored
as conquered countries, continually maltreating the inhabitants, and
exciting quarrels. In default of Dinkas, Nubians were to be chosen,
not for any courage or habits of discipline that they possess, but
because they are good shots, inured to the climate, and expert
pioneers. Neither were they likely to desert, because they would
leave their country with the caravan, and would naturally be
interested in returning with it. The leaders of the expedition,
indeed, could not, without grave imprudence, engage any people
belonging to the tribes they were about to visit, lest, when they
arrived at their own homes, they should be tempted to remain there.
Thanks to all these precautions, the small force of soldiers was
rapidly recruited, made up of good material, and armed with excellent
carbines purchased in France and brought to Khartoum by the Nile from
Cairo, whence they had been forwarded with all the other heavy
baggage three months previously. As soon as the ranks of the escort
were filled up, it was placed under the command of Nassar, who was,
however, not to adopt any measure of importance without previous
consultation with MM. Périères and Delange, his immediate chiefs. All
these men were duly enlisted at the Divan, and signed an agreement to
pay implicit obedience to the Europeans, who were at the same time
invested with the power of punishment or reward, according to
circumstances. According to the custom in vogue in the districts of
the White River, five months' pay was handed over in advance, the
remainder to be paid on the return of the expedition.
The question of bearers was quite as serious, but, thanks to the
assistance of the Egyptian authorities, contracts were entered into
with ivory merchants, holders of stations (seribas) in the southern
districts. These traders undertook, as soon as the expedition,
leaving the river, advanced by land, to furnish from one hundred and
fifty to two hundred men as porters, to carry the baggage, presents
of all kinds, such as glass beads, copper, and cotton goods, and,
more important than all, the provisions necessary for so numerous a
body.
The escort settled, the three Parisians, assisted now by Madame de
Guéran and Miss Poles, turned their attention to laying in a stock of
brandy, tea, coffee, compressed vegetables, and spices. To the
various articles brought from France to serve as presents or
exchanges, they added a large quantity of English calico and coarse
check, called _troumba_. Finally, an ample stock of ammunition—
powder, bullets, lead, and cartridges was laid in, and packed in iron
cases, with locks and keys, for it must be remembered that the
negroes are very much given to waste on a large scale, and it is
prudent to take precautions to prevent their habit of firing in the
air now and again for amusement. All this immense paraphernalia was
by degrees put on board the four vessels purchased by the Europeans,
the neggher or noggor which had brought them from Berber to Khartoum,
and three decked boats known on the Nile under the name of dahabiéh.
One of the latter was fitted up for the conveyance of a few donkeys
and ten horses, destined for the use of the Europeans, their
interpreters, and their executive officer, Nassar.
The whole flotilla was to be towed for a portion of the way, as far
as the Gazelle River, by a steamer, belonging to the Government and
ordered to proceed to Gondokoro, in search of Baker, whose military
mission would expire on the 1st April, 1873.
The preparations were all completed by the end of January. There was
nothing then to detain our European colony at Khartoum, and it was at
liberty to commence that terrible journey which for so long a time
took such hold of both Europe and America.
* * * * * *
"My dear Pommerelle and Desrioux, for, as you say you always meet to
read our letters, this one is addressed to you both. I write to you
in my own name, and those of de Morin and Delange, who are too much
occupied with our final preparations for departure to say good-bye to
you as they could have wished.
"We hope to embark in an hour's time, if we can manage to collect our
sailors, escort, and servants, the whole lot having been
undiscoverable and unmanageable ever since they handled their five
months' pay, and are evidently bent on leaving their last piastre in
the purlieus of Khartoum.
"I have, in my former letters, posted you both up fully as regards
our projected plans, which have not been altered in the least. We are
going to bear in a straight line southward as far as the seriba,
where Nassar states he entertained M. de Guéran. There we shall
endeavour to hit upon and follow up the track of our
fellow-countryman; but it is evident, as far as de Morin and I are
concerned, that if we had known in France as much about the Baron as
we have learnt in Khartoum, we should have mapped out a very
different plan of operations.
"In reality, if M. de Guéran has succeeded, as he seems in his letter
to expect, in crossing the frontier of the Monbuttoos and making
either Lake Albert Nyanza or Lake Tanganyika, we are simply going to
follow in his footsteps, without any chance of overtaking him. If, on
the contrary, we had started from Zanzibar, by way of Kazé, in a
north-westerly direction, we might have met him actually coming
towards us, and, in any case, we could have reached, from that side,
the unknown countries he proposed to visit just as easily as by the
Monbuttoo territory. If we could begin de novo, we should therefore
start from Zanzibar. But these reflections are futile and all regrets
superfluous.
"Good-bye, then, my dear friends, from all of us. Do not quite forget
us, take our part against those who call us fools, and if you never
hear from us more, say to yourselves that we died thinking of you and
our beloved France."
END OF VOL. I.
End of Project Gutenberg's A Parisian Sultana, Vol. I (of 3), by Adolphe Belot