74 
ARRANGE TO EXPLORE THE L VTA N’ZIGE. [chap. ii. 
Such was the information most kindly written by 
Speke, which, in addition to a map drawn by Captain 
Grant, and addressed to the Secretary of the Royal 
Geographical Society, was to be my guide in the 
important exploration resolved upon. I am particular 
in publishing these details, in order to show the per¬ 
fect freedom from jealousy of both Captains Speke and 
Grant. Unfortunately, in most affairs of life, there is 
not only fair emulation, but ambition is too often 
combined with intense jealousy of others. Had this 
miserable feeling existed in the minds of Speke and 
Grant, they would have returned to England with the 
sole honour of discovering the source of the Nile ; but 
in their true devotion to geographical science, and 
especially to the specific object of their expedition, 
they gave me all information to assist in the com¬ 
pletion of the great problem—the “ Nile Sources.” 
We were all ready to start. Speke and Grant, and 
their party of twenty-two people, for Egypt, and I in 
the opposite direction. At this season there were many 
boats at Gondokoro belonging to the traders’ parties, 
among which were four belonging to Mr. Petherick, 
three of which were open cargo boats, and one remark¬ 
ably nice diahbiah, named the “ Kathleen,” that was 
waiting for Mrs. Petherick and her husband, who were 
supposed to be at their trading station, the Niambara, 
about seventy miles west of Gondokoro ; but no accounts 
had been heard of them. On the 20th February they 
suddenly arrived from the Niambara, with their people 
and ivory, and were surprised at seeing so' large a party 
of English in so desolate a spot. It is a curious cir¬ 
cumstance, that although many Europeans had been as 
far south as Gondokoro, I was the first Englishman 
that had ever reached it. We now formed a party of 
four. 
Gondokoro has a poor and sandy soil, so unpro¬ 
ductive, that corn is in the greatest scarcity, and is 
always brought from Khartoum by the annual boats 
for the supply of the traders’ people, who congregate 
