468 ARRIVE AT GONDOKORO. [chap. xvii. 
luxuries, and the post from England. Never had the 
oxen travelled so fast as on that morning;—the flag 
led the way, and the men in excellent spirits followed 
at double quick pace. “ I see the masts of the vessels !” 
exclaimed the boy, Saat. “ El hambd el Illah !” (thank 
God!) shouted the men. “ Hurrah!” said I—“ Three 
cheers for old England and the Sources of the Nile! 
hurrah! ” and my men joined me in the wild, and to 
their ears, savage English yell. “ Now for a salute ! Fire 
away all your powder if you like, my lads, and let the 
people know that we’re alive !” This was all that was 
required to complete the happiness of my people, and 
loading and firing as fast as possible, we approached 
near to Gondokoro. Presently we saw the Turkish 
flag emerge from Gondokoro, at about a quarter of a 
mile distant, followed by a number of the traders’ 
people, who waited to receive us. On our arrival, they 
immediately approached and fired salutes with ball 
. cartridge, as usual advancing close to us and discharging 
tlieir guns into the ground at our feet. One of my 
servants, Mahomet, was riding an ox, and an old friend 
of his in the crowd happening to recognise him, imme¬ 
diately advanced and saluted him by firing his gun 
into the earth directly beneath the belly of the ox he 
was riding ;—the effect produced made the crowd and 
ourselves explode with laughter. The nervous ox, 
terrified at the sudden discharge between his legs, gave 
a tremendous kick, and continued madly kicking and 
plunging, until Mahomet was pitched over his head, and 
lay sprawling on the ground;■—this scene terminated 
the expedition. 
Dismounting from our tired oxen, our first inquiry 
was concerning boats and letters. What was the 
reply ? Neither boats, letters, supplies, nor any intel¬ 
ligence of friends or the civilized world ! We had long 
since been given up as dead by the inhabitants of 
Khartoum, and by all those who understood the difti- 
• culties and dangers of the country. We were told 
that some people had suggested that we might possibly 
