A HOPEFUL FUTURE. 509 



given me extreme pleasure, and have richly repaid me for many 

 of the sorrows and hardships I have undergone. I could never 

 have believed that I, a stranger, and my poor people, could 

 have received such generous thoughts, and that any one would 

 be ready to make such sacrifices for us. If, however, the people 

 in Great Britain think that as soon as Stanley or Thomson 

 comes I shall return with them, they greatly err. I have passed 

 twelve years of my life here, and would it be right of me to 

 desert my post as soon as the opportunity for escape presented 

 itself? I shall remain with my people until I see perfectly 

 clearly that both their future and the future of our country is 

 safe. 



The work that Gordon paid for with his blood, T will strive 

 to carry on, if not with his energy and genius, still according 

 to his intentions and in his spirit. When my lamented chief 

 placed the government of this country in my hands, he wrote 

 to me : — " I appoint you for civilisation and progress' sake." I 

 have done my best to justify the trust he had in me, and that 

 I have to some extent been successful and have won the confi- 

 dence of the natives is proved by the fact that I and my hand- 

 ful of people have held our own up to the present day in the 

 midst of hundreds and thousands of natives. I remain here 

 the last and only representative of Gordon's staff. It therefore 

 falls to me, and is my bounden duty, to follow up the road 

 he showed us. Sooner or later a bright future must dawn for 

 these countries ; sooner or later these people will be drawn 

 into the circle of the ever-advancing civilised world. For 

 twelve long years I have striven and toiled, and sown the 

 seeds for future harvest — laid the foundation-stones for future 

 buildings. Shall I now give up the work because a way may 

 soon open to the coast ? Never ! 



If England wishes really to help us, she must try, in the 

 first place, to conclude some treaty with Uganda and Unyoro, 

 by which the condition of those countries may be improved 

 both morally and politically. A safe road to the coast must 

 be opened up, and one which shall not be at the mercy of the 

 moods of childish kings or disreputable Arabs. This is all we 

 want, and it is the only thing necessary to permit of tire steady 

 development of these countries. If we possessed it, we could 



