chap, ii.] SPEKE AND GRANT DEPART TO KHARTOUM. 75 
there from the interior, in the months of January and 
February, to deliver the ivory for shipment to Khar¬ 
toum. Corn is seldom or never less than eight times 
the price of Khartoum ; this is a great drawback to the 
country, as each trading party that arrives with ivory 
from the interior brings with it five or six hundred 
native porters, all of whom have to be fed during their 
stay at Gondokoro, and in many cases, in times of 
scarcity, they starve. This famine has given a bad name 
to the locality, and it is accordingly difficult to procure 
porters from the interior, who naturally fear starvation. 
I was thus extremely sorry that I was obliged to 
refuse a supply of corn to Mr. Petherick upon his appli¬ 
cation-—an act of necessity, but not of ill-nature upon 
my part, as I was obliged to leave a certain quantity 
in depbt at Gondokoro, in case I should be driven back 
from the interior, in the event of which, without a 
supply in depot, utter starvation would have been the 
fate of my party. Mr. Petherick accordingly de¬ 
spatched one of his boats to the Shir tribe down the 
White Nile to purchase corn in exchange for molotes 
(native hoes). The boat returned with corn on the 
11th of March. 
On the 26th February, Speke and Grant sailed from 
Gondokoro. Our hearts were too full to say more than 
a short “ God bless you !” They had won their victory ; 
my work lay all before me. I watched their boat until 
it turned the corner, and wished them in my heart all 
honour for their great achievement. I trusted to sustain 
the name they had won for English perseverance, and 
I looked forward to meeting them again in dear old 
England, when I should have completed the work 
we had so warmly planned together. 
