The arrival at Gondokoro was a grateful relief from the marshes and lowlands through which our friends had travelled for nearly a thousand miles. As they approached this point they saw mountains in the distance, and found the little settlement on a bluff, or high bank, ten or twelve feet above the river. Frank hoped they had said farewell to the swarms of mosquitoes that had been pestering them for many days, but the Doctor brought him no grain of comfort in replying that the mosquito had the whole of Africa for his domain, and they could only be rid of his presence by leaving the country.
Frank asked for the history of Gondokoro, and received the following information, which he duly recorded in his note-book:
"Gondokoro is in the territory of the Bari negroes, and on the right bank of the White Nile; it is in latitude 4° 54' north and longitude 31° 46' east, and in a hot and unhealthy country. It was formerly a station of the ivory traders, and was occupied only two months in the year, during their annual visits to the Upper Nile valley. The tropical rains last about three-fourths of the year, and render the air very moist and the vegetation vigorous. The grass is so luxuriant that the buffaloes are concealed by it, and the reeds on the banks of the lagoons near the river grow to a height of twenty-five or thirty feet.
"It was formerly an important depot of the slave-traders, and when Baker Pacha came up the Nile to abolish their traffic he took possession of Gondokoro in the name of the Khedive, and annexed the country to Egypt."
"Yes," said Abdul, to whom Frank read the notes he had made, "the ceremony of annexation was very interesting.
"Baker had decided to change the name of the place to Ismailia, in honor of the Khedive, and the ceremony was fixed for the morning of May 26, 1871. A tall flag-staff had been erected for supporting the Egyptian colors on the highest point of land overlooking the river, and all the trees and bushes were cleared away, so that the ground was as smooth as a lawn.
"The troops, to the number of twelve hundred, marched from their quarters at six in the morning and formed a square near the flag-staff, one side consisting of a battery of ten guns, ready to fire a salute.