From the book W.N.McMILLAN’S EXPEDITIONS AND BIG GAME HUNTING IN SOUTHERN SUDAN, ABYSSINIA & EAST AFRICA by H.H.JESSEN, C.E., F.R.G.S.

Printed by MERCHANT SINGER & CO, 1906 (for private distribution only)

OUTLINE OF THE MAIN EXPEDITION

In the autumn of 1902 Mr. McMillan, who had then returned from England, began to equip his Expedition.

Three steel boats, built in sections, were ordered, and all the necessary paraphernalia was bought and shipped to Adis Abeba.

As the country along the Blue Nile was unkown, and it was impossible to tell how time it would take for the boats to reach Roseires, and they could only carry a limited supply of stores, it was decided to build s small steam launch, 40 feet long, which was to be sent up the Blue Nile from Khartoum as far as possible in order to relieve the Expedition coming down. This secondary Expedition was given in charge of the writer, and as I had to proceed on my journey ahead of the main Expedition I of course knew nothing of their exploits until afterwards, and will therefore give only a rough outline of of it here.

Everything had gone first rate and the Expedition members had started of from Djibouti through the Donekil country towards Adis Abeba. The Expedition at the time only consusted of Mr. McMillan, Mr. Brown, Mr. De Bois, correspondent to the newspaper Figaro, William Marlow, Mr. McMillan’s servant, some Somalis and Abyssinians.

On the road through the Donekil country Mr. De Bois strayed away from the caravan, and was foully murdered and mutilated by the treacherous Donekils. The murderer was caught after considerable trouble, taken to Harrar for trial, and finally hanged. This, however, delayed the Expedition a month, but finally Adis Abeba was reached. Here the Expedition was joined by Dr. Koreander, Captain Fairfax, Mr. Lang, a mining engineer, and Mr. Clark of the British Legation.

After an arduous journey through very mountainous and difficult country the Blue Nile was reached in safety at last, and preparations were at once begun for the downwards journey to Khartoum. The boats were put together, a rather difficult task as the joints would not fit, loads were assorted, and the caravan made ready for the journey back to Adis Abeba. The river was very low, and looked anything but promising, and as it was full of small cataracts and very crooked, great care had to be taken in navigating the boats.

A party was sent down the river some miles to report on its navigability, and as they returned and reported it was possible a start was finally made. For the first few miles everything went well, but then a bad cataract, curving into an S shape around rocky points, was encountered, and here the Expedition came to grief. One boat upset and the other sank, thus depriving the Expedition of all their stores and most of their ammunition, making it of course impossible to proceed any further. There was for them to eat but one chicken and some flour, and as the caravan had been sent back, and there were no villages near, they were rather in hard straights.

Messengers were at once sent after the caravan to bring it back, while a camp was made among the boulders on the beach. To cap the climax a storm came on that night, in the middle of which one of the Somalis was caught by a crocodile and dragged towards the river. Luckily he was saved just in the nick of time, but his hand had been crushed and his head was badly lacerated and torn, and on the whole it was a marvel he escaoed with his life.

The caravan was fortunately stopped and brought back, after which the whole party returned to Adis Abeba, where they split up for their separate destinations. The doctor, who had with him a lot of money and valuables, lost all he had in that wreck, but was refunded fully later through Mr. McMillan’s generosity.

It will be seen that they had a very hard time of it, and had accomplished but little of the actual work contemplated, but great experience had been gained, and consequently Mr. McMillan, nothing daunted by his first failure, promised to return the next year to try again with better boats.

This is, of course, a very brief outline only of the main part of the Expedition; a detached description has been written by one of the members, which may be published separately.

Excellent read. It is a shame there still does not exist such a mythical place, a place which challenges all the ingenuity of man.

This past July, I took a day trip to the blue Nile, I believe, northeast of Adis where a Chinese company is building a new bridge. I was impressed by how little water was in the river then. I can see why the expedition had trouble with boats.