I explained to them
that I should not only resist any attack that might be made upon
Kamrasi, but that I should report the whole affair to the Turkish
authorities upon my return to Khartoum; and that, should a shot be fired
or a slave be stolen in Kamrasi's country, the leader of their party,
Mahommed Wat-el-Mek, would be hanged.
They replied that they were not aware that I was in the country; that
they were allies of Fowooka, Rionga, and Owine, the three hostile
chiefs; that they had received both ivory and slaves from them on
condition that they should kill Kamrasi; and that, according to the
custom of the White Nile trade, they had agreed to these conditions.
They complained that it was very hard upon them to march six days
through an uninhabited wilderness between their station at Faloro and
Fowooka's islands and to return empty handed. In reply I told them, that
they should carry a letter from me to their vakeel Mahommed, in which I
should give him twelve hours from the receipt of my order to recross the
river with his entire party and their allies and quit Kamrasi's country.
They demurred to this alternative: but I shortly settled their
objections, by ordering my vakeel to write the necessary letter, and
desiring them to start before sunrise on the following morning.
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