THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 215 



"At this cold and barren reply I felt almost choked. We had 

 looked forward to arriving at Gondokoro as to a home ; we had 

 expected that a boat would have been sent on the chance of find- 

 ing us, but there was literally nothing to receive us, and we were 

 helpless to return. We had worked for years in misery, such as 

 I have but faintly described, to overcome the difficulties of this 

 hitherto unconquerable exploration ; we had succeeded and 

 what was the result? Not even a letter from home to welcome 

 us if alive I As I sat beneath a tree and looked down upon the 

 glorious Nile that flowed a few yards beneath my feet, I pondered 

 upon the value of my toil. I had traced the river to its great 

 Albert source, and as the mighty stream glided before me, the 

 mystery that had ever shrouded its origin was dissolved. I no 

 longer looked upon its waters with a feeling approaching to awe, 

 for I knew its home and had visited its cradle. Had I overrated 

 the importance of the discovery? and had I wasted some of the 

 best years of my life to obtain a shadow? I recalled to recollec- 

 tion the practical question of Commoro, the chief of Latooka 

 * Suppose you get to the great lake, what will you do with it? 

 What will be the good of it? If you find that the large river 

 does flow from it, what then?' " 



VISITED BY THE PLAGUE. 



THE plague had broken out among the natives at Gondokoro, 

 and as they fell victims they were dragged to the edge of the 

 cliff and thrown into the river, and the stench which arose from 

 the festering bodies was absolutely stifling. Baker therefore 

 determined to depart from this frightful place at all hazards. 



It chanced that there was an open boat lying at the wharf, 

 that had come up to take a cargo of ivory to Khartoum, but as 

 none was offering, he chartered the vessel for $200. It was a 

 desperate alternative, because several men had died of the plague 

 on the boat during her trip up, so that a visitation of the dreadful 

 disease promised to terminate the difficulties of the entire journey. 

 But he ordered the boat to be thoroughly scrubbed with boiling 

 water and sand, after which it was fumigated by burning several 

 pounds of tobacco in the cabin. 



