4 88 LETTERS TO DR. SCHWEINFURTH. 



stroyed by the Negroes, just as the men were at last starting 

 to march to Lado. The Major in command at Lado had not 

 thought of sending a single soldier to Bor, in spite of all my 

 orders ; but after the disaster had occurred, he despatched 

 about two hundred men there in a great hurry, without my 

 permission, and forgetting that that number would be far 

 from sufficient. They had reached Bor safely, and recovered 

 a quantity of ammunition, &c, but, instead of being satis- 

 fied with this and returning, they had advanced northwards, 

 probably at the Major's desire, had been beset by swarms of 

 Negroes on the Bahr-el-Zaraf, and thoroughly dispersed in 

 a panic, without having fired a single cartridge. Only forty- 

 three men out of a hundred and eighty have returned up 

 to the present time. The immediate consequence of this was 

 that the Bari naturally revolted, having perceived our weak- 

 ness. On October 4, in the early morning, Lado was attacked 

 on all sides at once by the Bari, Dinka, Shir, and Nyam- 

 bara combined, but the attack was repulsed. It is now be- 

 sieged, and I must send troops at once to relieve it. My old 

 friend Befo, of the Belinian mountains, is at the head of the 

 movement. 



On October 19 some more men arrived here from Kabrega, 

 led this time by my old travelling companion and Dragoman, 

 Msige. His instructions were to see if the chief of the Turks 

 were really Kabrega's old acquaintance, Emin Effendi, and, if 

 so, to put himself under his orders ; but if it were another 

 man, to return at once, for Kabrega would not have anything 

 to do with the Government. The men were sent off in great 

 haste, and had not been able to bring with them sufficient 

 cloths or other things for sale. The Arabs had prepared a 

 quantity of wares to send, bat Kabrega told them they had 

 better wait until Msige returned with his report, and then, 

 if the road were safe, they could go with their goods. 

 Msige brought four letters, two from Kabrega, one from 

 Abd-er-Rakman-bin-Abeid-bin-Hamis-el-Habeshi, a relation of 

 Said-Bargash, and one from my old Uganda acquaintance,, 

 Masudi-bin-Abeid-bin-Hamis. Kabrega's letters contained the 

 usual tales about the outrages the Turk had formerly com- 

 mitted in his country, and the cool request that I should 



