Chapter 1 - Sudan: the Place for Adventure, Trade and Science

Summary

Destination: Sudan

On paper, Africa in the middle of the nineteenth century represented a mishmash of ancient kingdoms in decay (in the Congo regions so far known, Nubia and Darfour), some colonies (South Africa, Sao Tomé, the coastal areas of Angola and Mozambique), a huge blank spot in the centre as well as alongside the coasts.

On the west coast, some European countries had created establishments running along the entire coastal area from Gabon to Benguella (nearly 2000 miles) that carried on trade with the inlanders. Until 1869 explorers, traders and missionaries only incidentally rounded the Cape of Good Hope. North Africa could always easily be reached from Europe; East Africa was to become accessible after the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869. For explorers, Egypt with its Nile and Sudan with its White Nile and its unknown sources was far more interesting and intriguing than attempting to reach the innerlands of Congo from the western side. Compared with other parts of the continent – for example, Africa's southwestern coast with its Portuguese properties but largely unknown hinterlands – Sudan was an extensive region where one could travel around seemingly freely. However, the Nile and its extension, the White Nile, were not as easily navigable as they seemed. Already far above Khartoum, cataracts forced the traveller to make a detour of some 300 miles through the Nubian desert. In 1769, it was here that James Bruce branched off to march on to Abyssinia, where he arrived a year later as the first European to behold the source of the Blue Nile. Frédéric Cailliaud was in the neighbourhood of Khartoum in 1821 (which then still had to be built) and described the ruins of Méroé in the kingdom of Sennār. Other Europeans (Werne and d’Arnaud, who will be introduced below) traversed two decennia later the same desert in order to be able to continue their journey on the Nile just above the town of Berber, until new and larger rapids above the 4º latitude finally forced them to run ashore.

In this story of the Bahr el-Ghazal expedition, we will be coming across several names of lesser known explorers and traders. Well-known names such as Livingstone and Stanley do not figure in our story.