144 
TRAVELS IN CENTRAL AFRICA. 
It will be seen^ with reference to dates^ tbat I have followed up 
this subject irrespective of their order of succession^^ and to dispose 
of it I must beg to continue in the same manner as far as other 
subjects are concerned_, and now retrace my steps to 1863. 
The hue and cry that had been raised against me vanished 
on my return to Khartoum_, and I had no difficulty in procuring 
men for the equipment of the Kathleen for Baker^ and two 
other boats for the requirements of my trade. When all prepara- 
tions had been organized and the men prepaid,, some new regulation 
on the part of the Egyptian Government for the future conduct of 
the White Nile trade were unexpectedly issued. They were de- 
signed,, it was stated, “for the better suppression of the slave 
trade ; but, in reality, as it was evident to every one conversant 
with the subject and the ways and means of the Egyptian Govern- 
ment, the design was to monopolize the ivory and “ ebony trade, 
and by the exclusion of private traders from the locality, to secure 
for the Egyptian Government total exemption from the occasion- 
ally troublesome supervision of what were termed “ meddling 
Europeans. 
These measures, under the name of Werko (poll tax), were so 
directly opposed to the stipulations of the International Commercial 
Treaty, that in conformity with my instructions as British Consul, 
and my interest as a trader, I could not assent, but to the utmost 
of my power opposed them. It was in vain that, in order to make 
matters smooth, I offered, under protest, to comply with the arbi- 
trary demands of the Egyptian Government, and to remit the 
subject for the consideration and decision of a superior authority. 
Nothing would do but my immediate personal obligation for the 
amount due in taxes on my men, a written statement that the 
