INTRODUCTION. xvii 



had been sent from Khartum to Lado, and only six of these 

 had carried supplies. 



From the 8th of October 1878, the day on which I first met 

 Emin Pasha, up to the present time, my admiration and respect 

 for him have steadily increased. It is impossible to become 

 thoroughly acquainted with any one in a very short time, but 

 perhaps the best chance of getting to know a man's character 

 quickly is afforded by a meeting such as I experienced with 

 Emin Pasha in the heart of Africa, and shut off completely 

 from the civilised world. Under such circumstances, if they 

 possess any points in common, men are rapidly drawn together ; 

 and there is certainly a wonderful keenness of enjoyment in 

 such intercourse, contrasting as it does so completely with 

 the isolation, often experienced for months or years together, 

 by men whose work lies in such remote regions as that which 

 Emin Pasha has made his home. 



Perhaps the thing that struck me most about Dr. Emin 

 during my stay with him was the genuine interest he took 

 in scientific work. Headers of this volume will not have 

 turned over very many pages before they discover that he 

 thought no amount of trouble too much, in order to find some 

 new plant, or make a fresh discovery about the growth of a 

 tree or the habits of an animal. Marvellous minuteness and 

 accuracy characterise all his work, and are shown not least in his 

 letters, which are written in elegant language, with exquisite 

 neatness, and in an almost microscopic hand. He is a born 

 naturalist, and a scientific spirit seems to pervade all his 

 doings. 



He never allowed his favourite studies interfere in any way 

 with his official duties, and was often obliged to forego the 

 pleasure of completing an observation or investigating some 

 interesting fact, because of the imperative calls of duty. 



It is this high sense of duty which has prevented his 

 solving many riddles in African geography. It may have been 

 thought that, with all his undoubted opportunities, he would 



b 



