Thereliterallywasnotonevesselreadyforthevoyage，inspiteofthepositiveinstructionsthathadbeengiven。AtthesametimeIfoundthatthegovernor-generalhadjustpreparedasquadronofelevenvessels，withseveralcompaniesofregulartroops，foranexpeditiontotheBahrGazal，whereitwasintendedtoformasettlementatthecopper-minesonthefrontierofDarfur。Thisexpeditionhadbeenplacedunderthecommandofoneofthemostnotoriousruffiansandslave-huntersoftheWhiteNile。Thisman，KutchukAli，originallyoflowextraction，hadmadeafortuneinhisabominabletraffic，andhadaccordinglyreceivedpromotionfromthegovernor；thus，atthesametimethattheKhediveofEgypthademployedmetosuppresstheslavetradeoftheNile，agovernmentexpeditionhadbeenintrustedtothecommandofoneofthemostnotoriousslave-hunters。
Iatonceperceivedthatnotonlywasmyexpeditionunpopular，butthatitwouldbeseriouslyopposedbyallparties。ThetroopshadbeenquarteredforsomemonthsatKhartoum；duringthistimetheofficershadbeenintimatewiththeprincipalslave-tradersofthecountry。AllwereMohammedans——thusacoalitionwouldbenaturalagainstaChristianwhocommandedanexpeditionavowedlytoannihilatetheslavetradeuponwhichKhartoumsubsisted。
Itwasa”housedividedagainstitself；”theKhediveinthenorthissuedordersthatwouldbeneutralizedinthedistantsouthbyhisownauthorities。
AsintheUnitedStatesofAmericatheopinionoftheSouthuponthequestionofemancipationwasopposedtothatoftheNorth，——theoppositioninSoudanwasopenlyavowedtothereformbelievedtohavebeensuggestedtotheKhedivebyEngland。
Theseasonwasalreadyfaradvanced。ThereisnoweaponsofatalasdelayinthehandsofEgyptians。Iknewtheintentionsoftheauthoritiesweretoprocrastinateuntilthedepartureoftheexpeditionwouldbecomeimpossible。Itwasnecessarytoinsistupontheimmediatepurchaseofvesselswhichshouldhavebeenpreparedmonthsbefore。