The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-25 00:00:00

THE SOURCE OF THE EILE,

The following letters have been handed to us by
Captain Speke, who, in his communication which
accompanies them, confirms what Mr. Baker says
of the system carried on by the White Nile traders.
Captain Speke informs us the Vakeel alluded to took
from him three rifled carbines as an honorarium,
and faithfully promised to take Mr. Baker up the
Nile as far as his ivory station, whence the Luta
Nzi;e River Lake could have been reached without
much difficulty.
Captain Speke further informs us that the Baron
von Heug-in, in giving an account, dated May 10,
of his movements, and th ;se of a party of Dutch
ladies near the Bahr el Ghazul, says he " had pro-
ceeded on a preliminary tour as far as the Dor
country, in 8 degrees north latitude, and then
le turned to L:ke RA, whence the whole of the ex
pedition, inclu -ing the ladies, were to start about
the 12th of May. Mr. Petherick paid them a visit
at Lake Rek on the 4th of May, atter having, on
his journey from Gondokoro, had the misfortune to
lose nearly all his provisions, goods, and outfit, to
the value of about £3,000, according to his own
estimate. He intended to go up the Sobat River."

Captain Speke supposes from this that Mr. Pethe-
rick has abandoned the trading post at N'Zambara,
60 west of Gondokoro, and will therefore find it
very inconvenient to keep his promise to Mr.
Baker of sending up a vessel to Gondokoro next
January.

" Gondokoro, March 17. 1863.

"My clear Speke,—l am still here ; all my Khartoum
scoundrels mutinied when the boats were fairly gone, and
they thought my retreat cut off.
" Their idea was to settle down at Gondokoro until next
year, at high wages, and doing nothing.
"Never have I seen such utter villains as these people,
The Vakeel of Debono, who brought you here, and who had
faithfully promised to give me porters, decamped suddenly
one evening wi'h his people, sending me a message that no
more English spies should visit his camp.'
" I therefore prepared to start with my transport animals,
leaving many of my things behind. My men then all muti-
nied, and refused to proceed.
"I then had my horses and a swift dromedary prepared,
intending to make a dash through the Bari with my only
faithful man (a negro), taking the sextant, &c., a few light
rifles and ammunition, and a few copper bracelets and beads
on the dromedary ; at the same I took very determined
measures with my mutineers.

" Just as I was preparing to be off alone they got fright-
ened, and 1 got them in hand again; but they mutinied
again when I wanted to take Petherick with me, who was
helpless, his men having all mutinied and deserted him.
They declared that if Petherick joined me not a man would
more from Gondokoro,

"I cannot attempt to prophesy the end of this. I have
written to Colqub.oun by this opportunity to beg him to get
stringent orders sent by the Egyptian Government to the
Governor at Khartoum that all these mutineers shall be
punished to extremity on return to Khartoum. Otherwise,
all travelling and exploration will be at an end from this
bide. I wish you would move mterests in England in this
direction.
" I shall get on.if it is possible, and I trust to be off to-
morrow with light loads, animals and all,
" Trusting you and Grant are reaping your laurels, and
with kind regards to him, ever very sincerely yours,
" SAM. W. BAKER. "

" Gondokoro, March 25, 1863.

"My dear Colquhoun,—Still here I My men again in
open mutiny, holding forcible possession of the arms and
ammunition belonging to me, and having conspired to
shoot the Vakeel and desert me, and to shoot me likewise
should I attempt to take the guns from them.
"Gondokoro is a perfect bell. Not a day passes without
natives coming to me with tales of their wives and children
being carried off, their cattle stolen, the defenders mur-
dered, &c. The traders' establishments here are full of
slaves, women in fetters, &c.
The whole of the traders who now infest Gondokoro and
the neighbouring country are Egyptian subjects, with the
exception of Andrea Debono. No trader (I make no excep-
tions) can carry on his trade without stealing cattle, which
entails the murder of the proprietors.
" Is the Egyptian Government to be allowed to blink the
fact that such atrocities are committed wholesale ? Should
,t the Government be compelled to keep a Bey and 500
troops in Gondokoro to enforce order if the White Nile
trade is permitted, or should it not be altogether prohibited?
" Travelling and exploring are at an end. The traders
can always excite discontent, or frighten the escort of a
traveller, and thus keep him out of the country.
" I enclose you a copy of an official letter that 1 ad-
dressed to Petherick to-day upon my affairs.
" You will remember that I applied for troops as escort
from the Egyptian Government, and was refused, although
the Baronne de Capellane had soldiers given her.
"I therefore engaged my present escort in Khartoum, all
of whom are Egyptian subjects, and their names were regis-
tered at the Divan of Khartoum before my departure.
" These men were specially engaged for my expedition to

the sources of the Niie, and even the idea of meeting Speke
and Grant was explained to them, that there should be no
discontent upon so long a journey, and that the difficulties
of the undertaking should be fully understood previous to
their engagement.
" Upon this understanding they received five months' pay
in advance at Khartoum,

" Having inquired sully into the character of the country,
and having heard that no porters could be hired without
cattle, and that the cattle could not be of tained without
robbery, I brought here, in three vessels, at a greatexpense,
camels, horses, and asses. By great personal attention on
my part all these arrived here in good order —thus I can
start at an hour's notice, without a single porter, my animals

being sufficient for the purpose of transport. In fact, my
expedition was in perfect order, and I was capable of going
anywhere had the men been faithful. The men are there-
fore responsible, as Egyptian subjects, for the whole of my
expenses from Khartoum, and these I intend to recover, if
possible, as a large sum of money is not only entirely wasted
through their mutiny, but they have themselves receiv&l
fiv,±, months' wages in advance, and nevertheless they have
not moved a step from Gondokoro.

" March 26.

" I have picked out a few of my men, making a weak
escort of 17, including servants, and with these I start to-
day, intending to explore the east towards the river Sobat,
as I cannot get a man to move south from Gondokoro, and
I am determined not to be beaten back from this point
before I have completed an exploration of some of this
hitherto untrodden land.

" I start thus suddenly, as I take advantage of a trader's
armed party of 80 men, who are going to a depot in that
direction (east), and I will follow close to their heels with
my weak party through the east country, until I get into
undisturbed tribes. I have no time to write home, as I
must pack immediately. If I lose this chance lam done
entirely. Please let Speke know (or the Geographical So.
ciety) of the state o► affairs. He will know that I have done
my best, and, D.V., although driven from my path, I will
nevertheless bring home some information. _ _

"Dr. Murie, who accompanied Petherick, and the lad
Foxcroft are returning to England. The former will give
you some curious information of manners and customs, &c.
" Petherick is to send me a boat and corn, to be here in
January next, for which I have paid him £64. I trust there
will be no mistake, or I shall be in an extremity.--I am,
&c., " S. W. BAKER."

" Lat. 4 24 N., 101 miles S.E. from Gondokoro,
Aprill2, 1863.

" My dear Colquhoun,—After every exertion made by my
own men and the slave hunting parties of Gondokoro to
prevent my progress, I have nevertheless got ahead by fol-
lowing in the wake of a trader's band, who refused to allow
me to accompany them, However, I soon passed them on
the road, and subsequently by a golden key I opened the
heart of the leader, and I now have him at my service.
_ _

" On the road (my escort comprising only 17 men, includ-
ing servants) three of my men deserted with my guns and
ammunition, and joined another slave hunting party be-
longing to a Syrian named Chenovda, who resides at Khar-
toum. A few days later this party attacked a village on the
mountains, within 12 miles of this spot, for the purpose of
stealing cattle and slaves. The natives fought splendidly,
and annihilated the whole party with the exception of about
a dozen, who eseaped ; 95 of the trader's men were killed on
the spot, in spite of their being well armed, and nearly 200
blacks, their allies in the attack, were also killed. My party
or escort is now reduced to 14 by the desertion of three, but
two of these have already met their reward, having been
killed in the fight with their new friends.
It is utterly useless for me to dwell upon the atrocities of
these Khartoumers ; you have had enough of that in former
letters. _ _

-----
" The rainyscason is now just commencing here,and I have
camped among the tribe of Gatookas,' hitherto unknown,
The trader's party, under whose wing my slender escort
delight to shelter itself, belongs to Koorshid Aga. I shall
leave all my heavy baggage in their charge, making this
(their depot) my headquarters. The head man returns to-
morrow to Gondokoro, and he will take this letter to his
master, who will return to Khartoum shortly-
The head
man will bring reinforcements from Gondokoro in about
three weeks, his force here being now 85 men,'which with
my party form 100, in case of any necessity of defence. I
leave tomorrow for a country two days from this, where
there is a great variety of game,—there I shall hunt for a
few weeks, and then return. After that I shall continue east
to the river Sobat, but, there being no water on the road; I
must wait till the rains have set in thoroughly.
"All my animals behaved well, arriving here as fresh as
paint, not one having a sore back, owing to my personally
superintending saddles, pads, &c., in Khartoum ; but one of
my camels has since died from eating a poisonous plant.
However, I am well away, thank God I from Gondokoro,in-
stead of being beaten back to Ithartoum,and I can now pro-
cure provisions, porters, and all I require for beads and
copper, of which I have a large supply. I intend to pass