He had run away from his master in Egypt, and
had been vagabondizing about in Khartoum in handsome clothes,
negro-like, persuading himself that the public admired him, and thought
that he was a Bey. Having soon run through his money, he had engaged
himself to Koorshid Aga to serve in his White Nile expedition.
He was an excellent example of the natural instincts of the negro
remaining intact under all circumstances. Although remarkably superior
to his associates, his small stock of knowledge was combined with such
an exaggerated conceit, that he was to me a perpetual source of
amusement, while he was positively hated by his comrades, both by Arabs
and blacks, for his overbearing behaviour. Having seen many countries,
he was excessively fond of recounting his adventures, all of which had
so strong a colouring of the "Arabian Nights," that he might have been
the original "Sinbad the Sailor." His natural talent for geography was
really extraordinary; he would frequently pay me a visit, and spend
hours in drawing maps with a stick upon the sand, of the countries he
had visited, and especially of the Mediterranean, and the course from
Egypt and Constantinople to England. Unfortunately, some long story was
attached to every principal point of the voyage. The descriptions most
interesting to me were those connected with the west bank of the White
Nile, as he had served some years with the trading party, and had
penetrated through the Makkarika, a cannibal tribe, to about two hundred
miles west of Gondokoro.
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