”ArrivedatthestationofAbouKookahat10。25A。M。，havingtravelledbadlyagainstthestrongsouthwind，andourbottomdirty。At3。10P。M。weleftAbouKookah，andat9。50P。M。wearrivedattheforest，closetothedesertedmissionstationofSt。Croix，wherewehaltedforthenight。Therewerevastherdsofcattleandmanynativesontheeastbank。”

　　CHAPTERVII。

　　ARRIVALATGONDOKORO。

　　AftertheusualvoyageupontheWhiteNile，duringwhichwepassedtheBohrandtheShirtribes，andhadexcellentsportinantelopeshootingwhenthesteamerstoppedatforeststocutfuel，wearrivedoppositetheoldmissionstationatGondokoroonApril15，1871。

　　Ifoundagreatchangeintheriversincemylastvisit。Theoldchannel，whichhadbeenofgreatdepthwhereitsweptbeneaththecliffs，waschokedwithsand-banks。Newislandshadformedinmanyplaces，anditwasimpossibleforthevesselstoapproachtheoldlanding-place。Wethereforedroppeddownthestreamtoaspotwherehighgroundandafewtreesinvitedustotheeastbank。Atthisplacethetradershadfoundedanewsettlementthatwasnowwithoutinhabitants，andwasrepresentedbyhalf-a-dozenbroken-downoldhuts。”Thecountryissadlychanged；formerly，prettynativevillagesingreatnumbersweredottedoverthelandscape，beneathshadyclumpsoftrees，andthelandwasthicklypopulated。Now，allisdesolate：notavillageexistsonthemainland；theyhaveallbeendestroyed，andtheinhabitantshavebeendrivenforrefugeonthenumerouslowislandsoftheriver；thesearethrongedwithvillages，andthepeoplearebusilycultivatingthesoil。”Isentforthechief，Allorron，who，uponarrivalwithsomeothernatives，explainedthathiscountryhadbeendestroyedbytheattacksofthepeopleofLoquiaattheinstigationofthetraders。IpromisedhimprotectionifheandhispeoplewouldreturntothemainlandandbecometruesubjectstotheKhedive。AtthesametimeIinformedhimthat，inreturnforprotection，hispeoplemustcultivatecorn，andbuildthehutsrequiredforthetroopsuponarrival。Thishepromisedtodo，andI

......

购买会员看全站小说，或者下载APP免费观看所有作品 点击立即下载，搜索"Ismailia",免费读到尾