CHAPTER I. CONQUEST OF THE SOUDAN. Project of Mehemet Ali—Khartoum—Meeting of Baker, Speke, and Grant at Gondokoro—First Explorers of the Upper Nile—Ismailia, and expedition of Baker against Fatiko slave-traders—Exploration of the Bahr-el-Ghazal and discovery of the Welle by Schweinfurth —Zeribas on the Bahr-el-Ghazal—Ivory trade and kidnapping— Gordon's government—Europeans at the King of Uganda’s court —Gessi Pasha on Lake Albert—Conquest of Darfur, Shekka, and Dar-Fertit—Revolt of Suleiman Bey—The Egyptian Soudan—De position of Ismail Pasha and Recall of Gordon—Raouf Pasha at Khartoum. At the date of the earliest events which it is the purpose of this book to narrate, M. Louis Vossion, then French Vice-Consul at Khartoum, wrote the following description of the place :— “ Khartoum, the capital of the Egyptian Soudan, stands on the left bank of the Blue Nile, just at its junction with the White Nile. “ Any traveller arriving at the town for the first time could not fail to experience much surprise. After passing what is called the Ras-el-Khartoum at the confluence of the two streams, a low tract