"You have only to issue your commands," exclaimed M. de Morin. "As for me, I thought that I had only to say good-bye to my friends, pack my portmanteau, and provide myself with plenty of money."
"Well, you have only made three mistakes, my dear sir. Say good-bye, if you like, but at the same time make your will, and leave it with your lawyer, who, by-the-way, may soon have to open it. I do not want to damp your ardour, but you, apparently, look upon this voyage as a pleasure trip, and I must undeceive you. Neither is it a question of one portmanteau, but of many, and they must be packed as I direct."
"There you surprise me," remarked M. Périères, "for I always understood that in countries where railways are unknown, the less luggage the better."
"Instead of railways we shall have to put up with boats, bearers, and camels. As for money, it has not, in most African territories, the value which we give it. All sorts of cloth goods, glass beads, brass wire, copper rings, sometimes even shells, called kourdi or koungona, but generally cowries, are far more appreciated as current coin than gold would be. All these things have their market prices, just as a bank note or a railway share has in France. So, you see that, up to the very moment of our departure, a great portion of your time will have to be given up to important purchases. All this business, of course, you will transact on behalf of our community; and, whilst on this subject, had we not better elect a cashier?"
"Certainly," replied M. de Morin, "let us choose a cashier, or rather, will you appoint one of us to the post, for I hope you will not object to our raising you to the dignity of commander-in-chief of the expedition?"
"I accept the post, gentlemen, and I trust that I shall prove myself worthy of the confidence which you repose in me. In immediate virtue of my office, then, I appoint M. Périères to be our cashier, and I also direct him, after our purchases are made, to arrange for the despatch of all our baggage to Cairo, where we will meet it."
"Oh!" said the new cashier, "then we are going to attack Africa from the Egyptian side. And here have I been devoting myself for the last eight days to the study of Tripoli, Tunis, St. Louis, Sierra-Leone, Zanzibar—in short, all the customary points of departure for such expeditions."
"Then you had better devote yourself now to Egypt, which leads to
Nubia, the first region we have to traverse."
"Nubia?" exclaimed M. de Morin. "It has ever been one of my dreams!
And afterwards?"
"I am not quite sure about the afterwards."