INTRODUCTION. 



This volume contains a collection of letters, and extracts from 

 journals, which Emin Pasha has sent to various correspondents 

 in Europe during his residence in the Egyptian Sudan. 



As I have had the pleasure of personal acquaintance with 

 Emin Pasha, and the advantage of travelling through a con- 

 siderable portion of the country he has so long ruled, and 

 have also been in continuous correspondence with him for the 

 past nine years, the task of writing an introduction to the 

 book has been entrusted to me ; and although this is a 

 pleasant duty, it is yet an arduous one, for I find it difficult 

 to say all I wish with regard to my illustrious friend, and yet 

 at the same time to write in such a way as may be acceptable 

 to him. 



It must be borne in mind that Emin Pasha has no idea 

 that these letters are being published in their present form. It 

 may be well to explain here the reason for their publication. 

 Until last year, Emin Pasha was a comparatively unknown 

 man. A few scientists in Germany and in England alone 

 knew of his existence and of the work in which he was 

 engaged; but when, in the end of iS 86, I received and pub- 

 lished letters from him, saying that he still held the Equatorial 

 Province of Egypt, and requesting help to enable him to main- 

 tain his post, interest was aroused in him, and his fame rapidly 

 spread throughout the whole of the civilised world, 



Help, too, was soon forthcoming. I proposed that an expe- 

 dition should be sent to his relief, and the Koyal Scottish 



