Gondokoro
Encyclopedia
Gondokoro was a trading-station on the east bank of the White Nile
in Southern Sudan
, 750 miles south of Khartoum
. Its importance lay in the fact that it was within a few miles of the limit of navigability of the Nile from Khartoum upstream. From this point the journey south to Uganda
was continued overland.
The Austrian Catholic missionary Ignatius Knoblecher
set up a mission there in 1852. It was abandoned in 1859. Gondokoro was the scene for the arrival of John Hanning Speke
and James Augustus Grant
after their two years and five months long journey through Central Africa from Zanzibar. They arrived exhausted on February 13, 1863 and expected to be met by the British consul John Petherick
and his rescue party. As Petherick was away, hunting in the countryside the two explorers instead were welcomed by Samuel Baker
and his wife Florence, who greeted them with a cup of tea.
A passage from Alan Moorehead
´s The White Nile (p. 61) describes it thus: "The sportsman Samuel Baker and his wife had come up the Nile to look for them, and there had been others as well who had arrived at Gondokoro on the same mission, three Dutch ladies, the Baroness van Capellan and Mrs and Miss Tinne, but they had been forced to return to Khartoum through sickness. ...
'Speke', Baker says, 'appeared the more worn of the two: he was excessively lean, but in reality he was in good tough condition; he had walked the whole way from Zanzibar, never having once ridden during that wearying march. Grant was in honourable rags; his bare knees projecting through the remnants of trousers that were an exhibition of rough industry tailor's work.'"
The site of Gondokoro is near to the modern-day city of Juba
. 4°49′30.61"N 31°36′38.94"E Other neighboring famous historical places are: Lado and Rejaf
(Rageef).
White Nile
The White Nile is a river of Africa, one of the two main tributaries of the Nile from Egypt, the other being the Blue Nile. In the strict meaning, "White Nile" refers to the river formed at Lake No at the confluence of the Bahr al Jabal and Bahr el Ghazal rivers...
in Southern Sudan
South Sudan
South Sudan , officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country located in the Sahel region of northeastern Africa. It is also part of the North Africa UN sub-region. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city; the capital city is planned to be moved to the more...
, 750 miles south of Khartoum
Khartoum
Khartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...
. Its importance lay in the fact that it was within a few miles of the limit of navigability of the Nile from Khartoum upstream. From this point the journey south to Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
was continued overland.
The Austrian Catholic missionary Ignatius Knoblecher
Ignatius Knoblecher
-Life:He studied at the secondary school in Rudolfswerth , at the lyceum and the theological seminary in Laibach , and at the College of Propaganda in Rome...
set up a mission there in 1852. It was abandoned in 1859. Gondokoro was the scene for the arrival of John Hanning Speke
John Hanning Speke
John Hanning Speke was an officer in the British Indian Army who made three exploratory expeditions to Africa and who is most associated with the search for the source of the Nile.-Life:...
and James Augustus Grant
James Augustus Grant
James Augustus Grant, CB, CSI, FRS, FRGS was a Scottish explorer of eastern equatorial Africa.Grant was born at Nairn in the Scottish Highlands, where his father was the parish minister, and educated at the grammar school and Marischal College, Aberdeen. In 1846 he joined the Indian army...
after their two years and five months long journey through Central Africa from Zanzibar. They arrived exhausted on February 13, 1863 and expected to be met by the British consul John Petherick
John Petherick
John Petherick , Welsh traveller in East Central Africa, was born in Glamorganshire, and adopted the profession of mining engineer....
and his rescue party. As Petherick was away, hunting in the countryside the two explorers instead were welcomed by Samuel Baker
Samuel Baker
Sir Samuel White Baker, KCB, FRS, FRGS was a British explorer, officer, naturalist, big game hunter, engineer, writer and abolitionist. He also held the titles of Pasha and Major-General in the Ottoman Empire and Egypt. He served as the Governor-General of the Equatorial Nile Basin between Apr....
and his wife Florence, who greeted them with a cup of tea.
A passage from Alan Moorehead
Alan Moorehead
Alan McCrae Moorehead OBE was a war correspondent and author of popular histories, most notably two books on the nineteenth-century exploration of the Nile, The White Nile and The Blue Nile . Australian-born, he lived in England, and Italy, from 1937.-Biography:Alan Moorehead was born in...
´s The White Nile (p. 61) describes it thus: "The sportsman Samuel Baker and his wife had come up the Nile to look for them, and there had been others as well who had arrived at Gondokoro on the same mission, three Dutch ladies, the Baroness van Capellan and Mrs and Miss Tinne, but they had been forced to return to Khartoum through sickness. ...
'Speke', Baker says, 'appeared the more worn of the two: he was excessively lean, but in reality he was in good tough condition; he had walked the whole way from Zanzibar, never having once ridden during that wearying march. Grant was in honourable rags; his bare knees projecting through the remnants of trousers that were an exhibition of rough industry tailor's work.'"
The site of Gondokoro is near to the modern-day city of Juba
Juba, Sudan
Juba is the capital and largest city of the Republic of South Sudan. It also serves as the capital of Central Equatoria, the smallest of the ten states of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and functions as the seat and metropolis of Juba County.- Population :In 2005, Juba's...
. 4°49′30.61"N 31°36′38.94"E Other neighboring famous historical places are: Lado and Rejaf
Rejaf
Rejaf, also Rajjāf or Rageef, is a community in Central Equatoria State in South Sudan, on the west bank of the White Nile.The Lado Enclave was an exclave of the Congo Free State that existed from 1894 until 1910, leased by the British to King Leopold II of Belgium for the period of his lifetime...
(Rageef).