MohammedWat-el-MeksonofthekingwasthemanwhohadfirstdiscoveredandopenedupthecountriessouthofGondokoro。ThispersonwasacuriousbutusefulcharacterthatIhadalwayswishedtoemploy，ashehadgreatpowerwiththenatives，andhekneweverynookandcornerofthecountry。
Ihadknownhimduringmyformerjourney，anditappearsthathehadalwayswishedtoservemeinthepresentexpedition。Theslave-tradersofKhartoumhadbeendeterminedtopreventWat-el-Mekfromcommunicatingwithme；thus，whenIhadarrivedinKhartoum，thisimportantpersonagewasactuallythere；buthewasquicklysentbyAbouSaoodundersomefrivolouspretextuptheBlueNile，tokeephimoutoftheway。
OnarrivalatGondokoro，hehadstudiouslybeenretainedonthewestbankoftheriver，andhisnamehadbeenkeptsosecret，thatIhadneverhearditmentioned。Thus，althoughbothatKhartoumandatGondokoroWat-el-Mekhadbeenwithinafewhundredpacesofme，IhadalwayssupposedthathewasinCentralAfrica。
AbouSaoodnowdeclaredthatWat-el-MekhadstartedmanydaysagofromFatikotoKoshi；butIsubsequentlydiscoveredthathehadonlyleftFatikoonthemorningofmyarrival，andthathewaskeptwaitingatFabbostation，onlytwenty-twomileswestofFatiko，forseveraldays，whileIhadbeentoldbyAbouSaoodthathehadgonetoKoshi。
MohammedWat-el-MekwasthesonofapettykingfarawayuptheBlueNile，beyondFazokle。