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  A: So what did you do?

  R: (A long pause). I went to Basle.

  #

  From the Rabbi's Journal, 25th December, 1904

  Basle was wrapped in a cold blanket of snow, and all the windows were lit from inside. Christmas Day, and I thought of red blood on white snow and hoped it was too cold for pogroms.

  The death of the king. That is what it was about. Renewal. As the year closes, the new year needs to be brought in, to be teased and tempted and conjured out of the ashes of the old year, until the sun reappears and warmth and life return. He was dead now, since July, when he contracted pneumonia, swiftly, unexpectedly, and forever. But his essence still lived on, and I was still compelled by him, by ties I could not easily shake, and so I walked the cold streets of Basle and thought of him, and of a life that comes from death.

  Greenberg was younger than I expected. He looked tired but pleased, like a man whose hard work was finally done. We sat in his small office. A map was spread on the table before us.

  "I just got out of the committee meeting," he said. "We signed the contract. The expedition is leaving tomorrow." He fiddled with a pen. On the map, mountains and valleys, rivers and lakes were reduced to lines of ink. "I want you to leave with them."

  I nodded. I had brought a small bag with me and was ready to leave. I had closed off my operations in Paris for the time being. The shop, too. It never had too many customers. The basement was full of the immobile statues of mythical creatures designed to fight, now peaceful.

  "There are three men," he said. "Major Alfred St. Hill Gibbons will lead the expedition. He's an old Africa hand."

  I nodded. I had read his Through the Heart of Africa from South to North. He was a well-known explorer. I dimly wondered if we'd met before, but decided we hadn't.

  "The second man is Professor Alfred Kaiser, a Swiss. He's also had some experience in East Africa, and was a scientific advisor to the North West Cameroons Co."

  I waited.

  "The third man is the only one of our own. We felt it was judicious to include at least one Jew in the expedition." He smiled. "Young Wilbusch. He's Russian, an engineer–comes from a family of Zionists. Never been to Africa before, though."

  "There's always a first time," I said.

  "Quite." He fell silent. Then, "This is important, Rabbi. More than you perhaps realise. The Russian Jews are being slaughtered. No one knows how long we have left in Europe before another wave of repression attempts to sweep us away. We're aliens here."

  "You could say the same for wherever Jews go," I said. "You will be no less of an alien in East Africa."

  "Perhaps," he said. "But to have one's own land – the way the French do, the way the Germans and the British and the Swiss do – that makes all the difference. A place to call your own. This place – this Uasin Gishu Plateau – it could become a Jewish homeland, the first in two thousand years. We need to know." He laughed; it was a tired sound. "What we really need is a good report back. Anything else will kill the Uganda Plan." He saw my expression and shrugged. "I know it's not Uganda, but that's what everyone is calling it. The Uganda Plan. I don't care. Let them call it what they will, as long as the report is favourable and the British carry it through. We need a miracle."

  "I don't do miracles," I said. He laughed. "I've arranged tickets for you, money and as much as I know of Gibbons' itinerary, which is bound to change in response to circumstances."

  I nodded. I took the documents and the money from him.

  "There is a lot of hostility to the idea of a Jewish colony in East Africa," he said. "Particularly amongst the white farmers already there. They're calling it Jewganda. You might have to watch out in case they try anything."

  "You want me to act as a bodyguard to the expedition?"

  "Oh, no," he said hurriedly. "I'm sure Gibbons is capable of taking care of things. Nevertheless..."

  "Yes."

  "Spiritual backup."

  "Right."

  When we bid each other farewell with a handshake he smiled again, wistfully, and said, "I wish I could go with them. With you."

  "I will see you in two months," I said, and stepped into the cold outside. He closed the door behind me without speaking further.

  I'm sitting in my hotel room writing this, while the snow beats against the window and it seems as though the new year will never come, that the old year's corpse will remain frozen on the ground until there is nothing left alive. Morbid thoughts; I would be glad to leave Europe again.

  #

  To read of this beautiful land of perennial streams and no fevers being reserved for foreign Jewish paupers is enough to make one wish for a big nose and a name like Ikey Moses.

  Letter to the African Standard, November 19th, 1904.

  #

  A: So then you left Basle.

  R: In the morning. I went to Trieste.

  A: That's where the ship left from.

  R: Right. The S.S. Africa.

  A: Did you meet the others?

  R: I saw them. Greenberg showed me photographs so I could recognise them. Gibbons, Kaiser, and Wilbusch. But I didn't make any contact with them. Not then.

  A: How long did the journey take?

  R: You know all this. Why do you keep asking me these questions?

  A: Humour me.

  R: (A long pause). Two and a half weeks.

  A: To Mombassa?

  R: To Mombassa.

  A: Tell me about Wilbusch.

  R: (Unintelligible).

  #

  The following is from a microfilm of the book published by Wertheimer, Lea and Co., of London, in 1905: Report on the work of the commission sent out to examine the territory offered by H.M. Government to the Zionist Organization for the purposes of a Jewish settlement in British East Africa.

  This extract is from Wilbusch's diary.

  1904

  December

  24 Berlin

  Started by Basle Express.

  25 Basle

  Arrived.Present at Committee Meeting. Contract signed.

  26 Milan

  Left Basle at 7 o'clock in the morning by express. Arrived at Milan 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Saw sights of the town. Left by Venice Express in the evening.

  27 Venice

  Saw the sights. Left in the evening by Trieste Express.

  28 Trieste

  Received Theodolite through the post.Embarked on board S.S. Africa at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

  29-31 Adriatic Sea

  Continuation of voyage on board S.S. "Africa".

  1905

  January

  1 Mediterranean

  Continuation of voyage.

  2 Port Said

  Voltameter, etc., received through post. Passed through Suez Canal.

  3 Suez and Gulf of Suez

  Continued voyage from Port Said to Aden.1,397 knots.

  4-5 Red Sea

  Continuation of voyage.

  7 Aden

  Arrived in the morning.Re-embarked in the evening.

  8-12 Indian Ocean

  Continuation of voyage.

  12 Kilindini

  Arrived in Kilindini in the afternoon (the port before Mombassa – from Aden to Mombassa, 1,611 nautical miles).

  13 Mombassa

  Day–86° F. Hot and sultry. Left the boat in the morning.

  #

  From the Rabbi's Journal, January 14th, 1905

  The heat was like an old, comfortable hat, misplaced for some time but not lost. The old year had departed, the new year had come, and the sun did rise again. Here, it had never set.

  Low European houses stretched inland from the harbour. In the distance you could hear the whistle of a train, the voices of porters from the harbour and of sellers in the market. Yet, compared to Europe, it was quiet; there was a stillness in the air, and a sense of massive distances, of a gulf that had been growing as we crossed the ocean until it stretched across half the world and now separated us from everything we knew.
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  I observed Wilbusch this morning, following behind as he and Kaiser strolled through the market and Gibbons was kept busy elsewhere, engaging a headman, personal servants, and porters for the journey ahead. Wilbusch has been quiet, and seems a little overawed by his experience, though he tries to hide it. I do not think he and Gibbons get along very well.

  I am writing this on the train. The expedition had boarded what they call the Uganda Railway–the train to Nairobi–and I followed them. They have ten porters with them. We are passing the Kaptu and Athi plains as I write this. There are numerous herds of antelopes and zebra outside.

  #

  From Wilbusch's diary

  1905

  January

  16 Nairobi

  Day 85° F. 9 p.m. 72° . Bearable heat.

  Went with Mr. Kaiser to see Mr. Marcus. In the afternoon saw town and market with Mr. Kaiser and Mr. Marcus, and had a long conversation.

  #

  From Major A. St. H. Gibbons' report (Wertheimer, Lea and Co., 1905)

  Caravans composed entirely of up-country boys frequently proved unreliable, and by desertion or perversity might subject the Commission to serious delays--a risk which, having a view to the limited time at our disposal, I did not feel disposed to take. At Nairobi I engaged a further thirty-five porters, and all arrangements were completed in time to catch the first train westward, leaving on the morning of the second day after our arrival.

  #

  From the Rabbi's Journal, January 16th, 1905

  Following them, I am struck by how different the three men are. First, there is Gibbons: a bluff, hearty man, used to command, British to his core, a man at the apex of humanity, for whom all others are by default subordinate. Not a bad choice for leader, but I can see he and Wilbusch, if they hadn't done so, would clash. Wilbusch: pale (though his skin will soon tan in this African sun), a little frightened. There is little he recognises here, and once we are past Nakuru and the farmlands...

  Kaiser, the Swiss, is cool and composed. He gets along well with both, but seems more interested in his instruments. The three are surrounded by porters and servants until it sometimes seems they are going not on a voyage of exploration but one of colonization; they could start a nation of their own, or one each and fight amongst themselves.

  The thought makes me smile as I observe them. We are waiting in Nakuru, a small town with a railway station and not much else. There appears to have been a delay with some of their equipment. Meanwhile, Gibbons has sent the porters ahead to prepare their base camp. From here on, we will be entering the Uasin Gishu territory.

  #

  From Wilbusch's Diary

  1905

  January

  17 Nairobi-Nakuru

  Conversation in the morning with Mr. Marcus and the Jewish farmers–Messrs. Solsky and Bloch. Started 11 a.m. on the Uganda Railway; passed the Kikuyu territory, the only locality were we saw a numerous population and fertile agricultural land. Reached Nakuru at 7:30 p.m. Our luggage left behind in Nairobi.

  18 Nakuru (448 miles)

  Day 75° F. Evening and mornings about 52° F. 5 p.m. Moderate rain.

  Kept waiting because of the absence of luggage and scarcity of porters. Visited the mountains with Mr. Kaiser in the morning, and the NjoroRiver, where the water fluctuations could be observed in the afternoon.

  19 Nakuru

  4-7 p.m. Rain.

  Again kept waiting on account of absence of luggage and scarcity of porters. Visited NjoroRiver with Mr. Kaiser in the afternoon.

  20 Nakuru

  Kept waiting on account of scarcity of porters. Luggage received and tent pitched.

  21 Nakuru

  Kept waiting on account of scarcity of porters.

  #

  A: Tell me about the journey into the territory.

  R: I knew where their base camp was, so I didn't follow directly. It was forty-one miles from Nakuru to the Eldoma Ravine. There were some Jewish farmers there, mainly South Africans who heard of the plan and were eager for it to succeed. I stayed with one of them, London, after they had stayed with him. I...ran some tests.

  A: What sort of tests?

  R: I'm not sure you'd understand.

  A: Try me.

  R: I took a measurement of the–the feeling, you could say, of the place. There is a way to (unintelligible) the vibrations of the sephirot.

  A: What did you find?

  R: Nothing I could put my finger on, at the time. Something odd. Like a place that is familiar though you've never been there before? But also, like a place that was more than once place, as if the sephirot somehow overlapped there. Reminds you a little of Safed. We call it a place close to the skies. (Laughs). You can call it mumbo-jumbo.

  A: Did you speak to this farmer? London?

  R: A little. I understood Wilbusch had a long conversation with him the night before. London said he got the impression Wilbusch was a little out of his depth–also that he did not get along with the Major.

  A: Did he say what their mood was? Regarding the expedition?

  R: It was still in the early days. We hadn't even reached the territory proper yet. I'd say they were cautiously optimistic, but there were some concerns.

  A: What were they?

  R: Wilbusch was worried about water. Kaiser about arable land. I think Gibbons was mainly worried about more practical aspects–namely, being attacked by a local tribe. I know he arranged for some guns–some Snider rifles–and also some Masai guides through Foaker, the Collector of the district.

  A: Tell me about the approach to the territory.

  R: (Unintelligible).

  #

  From Gibbons' report

  The ravine station, which stands on top of a small steep hill four miles north of the Equator, has an altitude of some 7,000 feet above sea level and commands a magnificent view of the Kamasia range of mountains, over which we were about to travel en route for the plateau beyond. These mountains are almost entirely covered with dense primeval forest and extend from the south-eastern corner of the prospective territory, first in an easterly, then in a northerly direction. A well-cut path, suitable for pedestrian traffic only, leads for the first day's journey through a belt of undulating and rapidly rising forest land similar in character to that surmounting the Elgeyo escarpment, which forms the eastern boundary line of the suggested settlement. Amid the great entanglement of rope-like vines, creepers, giant thistles, and other underscrub, huge trees--some of them many feet in diameter--rise to a height of eighty feet and upwards.

  #

  From Wilbusch's Diary

  1905

  January

  28 Camp in territory between Nesoi and Kinjuno (about 0°7' N lat.

  35°35' E long.)

  5.30 a.m. 43° F. 3 p.m. 72° F. 9 p.m. 54° F. 8 p.m. Rain.

  Marched about 10 miles NNW: almost the whole of the road through dry and desert plains.Traces of small trees and bamboo. No timber, no pasturage, no game, no people. Only one spring, at the fourth mile.

  29 In the territory.

  #

  From the Rabbi's Journal, January 29th,

  The land changes as I move through it, over it. In the distance I can see smoke rising from camp fires, but otherwise there is no sign of humanity. I am camped in the forest while they are camped nearby, near the source of the SamabulaRiver.

  It is a beautiful land. A man could become lost here and live the rest of his life as a nomad and not see enough of this place. The forest spreads away from me, dark and full of secrets. The undergrowth whispers in a language I can almost understand. Some of these trees are ancient, their spirits slumbering inside the vast trunks. I do not dare awake them. There was fog in the morning–Africa is at its most beautiful in the morning, when the fog wreaths the hills in crowns and the sun begins to open, like a flower, across the horizon. The place is teeming with invisible life. Animals live a secret life in the forest, and I have seen the prints of elephants and zebras and lions. It is like coming home.


  I feel as if Paris never existed. Basle, London, all the cold and dreary cities of Europe disappear, and all that remains is this vast expanse of land, open to the skies, the trees its arms and the rivers its arteries. I fear for this place, I realise; if we came here we would cut the trees for timber and houses, and we would chain up the rivers to power our factories, and we would hunt down the lions and keep the zebras in a zoo. Something of this already lies, superimposed, on the land beyond my eyes. when I close them I think I can see it, this old-new land of Herzl's, this Altneuland.

  I have hunted for hare and, having eaten, I write this in the light of the fire. They won't see me from their camp, though I think the Masai suspect my presence. Tomorrow, I think, the expedition will split up, and each will go in a different direction.

  So will I.

  #

  From Wilbusch's diary

  1905

  January

  30

  Dispatched the mail in the morning. 22 men went to the ravine. Took surveys of the mountains with the Theodolite in the forenoon. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon I separated with 10 men for 6 days. I have drawn up this small itinerary at the request of Major Gibbons, for the latter said that we ought to meet at the end of that time on the Sirgoi to proceed from there to the Elgon. Went 4 miles NNW, saw a few antelope in a valley. Nothing but dry grass plains all round. No water.