an a short "God
bless you!" They had won their victory; my work lay all before me.

_II.--Perils of Darkest Africa_

My plan was to follow a party of traders known by the name of "Turks,"
and led by an Arab named Ibrahim, which was going to the Latooka country
to trade for ivory and slaves, trusting to Providence, good fortune, and
the virtue of presents. That party set out early in the afternoon of
March 26, 1863. I had secured some rather unwilling men as drivers and
porters, and was accompanied by two trusty followers, Richarn and a boy
Saat, both of whom had been brought up in the Austrian mission in
Khartoum. We had neither guide nor interpreter; but when the moon rose,
knowing that the route lay on the east side of the mountain of Belignan,
I led the way on my horse Filfil, Mrs. Baker riding by my side on my old
Abyssinian hunter, Tetel, and the British flag following behind us as a
guide for the caravan of heavily laden camels and donkeys. We pushed on
over rough country intersected by ravines till we came to the valley of
Tollogo, bounded with perpendicular walls of grey granite, one thousand
feet in height, the natives of which were much excited at the sight of
the horses and the camels, which were to them unknown animals. After
passing through this defile, Ibrahim and his "Turks," whom we had passed
during the previous night, overtook us. These slave-hunters and
ivory-traders threatened effectually to spoil our enterprise, if not to
secure the murder of Mrs. Baker, myself and my entire party, by raising
the suspicion and enmity of the native tribes. We afterwards found that
there had been a conspiracy to do this. We thought it best, therefore,
to parley with Ibrahim, and came to terms with him by means of bribes of
a double-barrelled gun and some gold.

Under his auspices our joint caravan cleared the palisaded villages of
Ellyria, after paying blackmail to the chief, Legge, whose villainous
countenance was stamped with ferocity, avarice and sensuality. Glad to
escape from this country, we crossed the Kan[=i][=e]ti river, a
tributary of the Sobat, itself a tributary of the White Nile, and
entered the country of Latooka, which is bounded by the Lafeet chain of
mountains. In the forests and on the plain were countless elephants,
giraffes, buffaloes, rhinoceroses, and varieties of large antelopes,
together with winged game. The natives are the finest savages I have
ever seen, their average height being five f