296 



EMIN PASHA. 



was at that time in difficult straits, owing to 

 the non-arrival of the promised stores, and had 

 received reports of Stanley, stripped of men 

 and supplies, hemmed in between the Maboda 

 country and the Albert Nyanza, as also of his 

 change of march in an unknown direction, 

 owing to conflicts with the Matongora and 

 Mino tribes. Advices from Emin, bearing date 

 September and November, 1887, gave no ti- 

 dings whatever of Stanley, though he himself 

 headed in November a reconnoitring party to 

 find him. In a letter to Dr. Felkin, published 

 in the ''Scotchman" of April 11, which bore 

 date Sept. 3, 1887, in allusion to the Congo 

 route, Emin said : " I know the almost impass- 

 able swamps, the number of rivers with float- 

 ing vegetation, from personal observation, and 

 I know well enough the difficulties which a 

 traveler will have to surmount in marching 

 from the Congo here." And yet this route 

 through unexplored territory was deemed safer 

 by the explorer than the more direct one 

 through hostile Uganda. 



Whether, as was asserted by Mr. Jameson, 

 second to Maj. Barttelot in command, Tippoo 

 Tib awaited news of the arrival of the advance- 

 guard before sending carriers, or it arose from 

 remissness in fulfilling his contract, a whole 

 year was consumed in collecting the porters, 

 who finally did not reach the appointed num- 

 ber. The severity of Maj. Barttelot had been 

 severely commented on ; officers and men were 

 alike dissatisfied. Tippoo, it is said, vainly re- 

 monstrated against his treatment of the men. 

 On June 10 he left the camp with a force of 22 

 Soudanese, 110 Zanzibaris, and 430 Manyemas, 

 under command of a native Arab chief, Muni 

 Somai. His intention, expressed in a letter to 

 Mr. Mackinnon, was to follow Stanley, and, if 

 possible, to find him, and, failing this, to reach 

 Emin Pasha; and, if further search by them 

 both were deemed futile, to place his forces at 

 Emiu's disposal. On July 19 he was assassi- 

 nated by the Manyema force, who deserted, 

 and on return to camp, Maj. Jameson pro- 

 ceeded to Stanley Falls, to organize another ex- 

 pedition. But his death at Bangala, August 17, 

 put an end to all hopes of the kind. Capt. 

 Van Gele, a Belgian officer of the Congo, de- 

 nies that Tippoo Tib was accessory to the 

 death of Barttelot, and that chief, who was 

 absent on an exploring party with Lieut. Baert, 

 Belgian resident at Stanley Falls, south of Kas- 

 songo, expressed great regret, declaring lie 

 would have given half his fortune to avert the 

 catastrophe, and repeated that he had warned 

 Maj. Barttelot. These details are all that so far 

 has been learned of the relief expedition. Maj. 

 Bonny is in command of the Aruwimi camp, 

 and it is said he was lately reached by a rumor 

 that Stanley was proceeding at the back of the 

 great oil rivers, under the British flag, and that 

 the natives were friendly. 



As regards Emin and his companion, C.-isati, 

 who was left in November, 1886, with a de- 

 tachment of soldiers at Unyoro, letters to Capt. 



Camperio from the latter, of date Sept. 1 and 

 24, 1887, say that he had been taken prisoner 

 by King Traxiore, whom he finally persuaded 

 to become friendly to Emin, and who eventu- 

 ally charged him with a mission to negotiate 

 an alliance. Emin's position in the beginning 

 of April was reported hazardous. Two native 

 messengers, who had been delayed by capture 

 by Ugarda tribes, said, on August 1, at Zan- 

 zibar, that a summons to surrender had been 

 received from the Mahdi at Khartoum, threat- 

 ening attack, as also a letter from Sufton Bey 

 (which Emin considered a forgery), urging as- 

 sent to the surrender, in order to avert a massa- 

 cre of Europeans at Khartoum and Wadi-lai. 

 Outposts confirmed reports of the Mahdi's ad- 

 vance, alleging appearance of armed vessels at 

 the confluence of the Nile and Sobat, and Emin 

 had decided to advance with the bulk of his 

 troops by the left bank of the Nile, and en- 

 deavor to surprise the Mahdi, compensating for 

 lack of provisions by the rapidity of his attack. 

 He was sorely troubled by the non-arrival of 

 Stanley. Provisions were scarce, and the 

 troops beginning to become discouraged. There 

 have been reports of the arrival of Stanley at 

 Wadelai early in January and of the concerted 

 action of him and Emin, but these are denied. 



In reply to a request of Gen. Grenfell for 

 news of Stanley, Osman Digma furnished at 

 Suakin the news received in a letter from the 

 Khalifa Abdulla, of the surrender of Emin and 

 a white traveler in chains by the officers and 

 troops of the former to Oman Saleh, command- 

 ing a steamer expedition to the equator, which 

 reached Lado on October 11. Oman Saleh 

 found a quantity of feathers and ivory. He 

 reported that a white traveler sent to Emin, 

 named Stanley, brought orders from the Khe- 

 dive to accompany him, offering the remainder 

 of the force the option of going to Cairo or 

 remaining. They refused to enter Turkish 

 service, and welcomed Oman. Another trav- 

 eler had visited Emin and was gone, but he 

 was making search for him. In proof of the 

 capture, Osman Digma sent Snider cartridges, 

 alleged to have been taken from Emin, and Dr. 

 Junker says that Emin was provided with 

 Snider arms. But the date on these was 

 twenty years old, and the weight of evidence 

 lies with the letter of the Khedive, the exist- 

 ence of which, being a state secret, is with 

 difficulty explained, and renders it impossible 

 to regard the whole as a strategem to secure 

 the surrender of Suakin in exchange for the 

 lives of the white prisoners. If Stanley re- 

 turned alone to Bongala, as is said in advices 

 of December 21, leaving Emin in possession of 

 plentiful stores of ivory, with numerous oxen, 

 and in health but for a slight affection of the 

 eyes, he may have escaped the fate of Emin, 

 should the latter prove indeed a captive. 



A second expedition for the relief of Emin 

 has been for some time under discussion at 

 Berlin, to be commanded by Lieut. Wissman, 

 and it is expected to set out in February, 1889. 



