Ismailia

It is almost needless to add that, upon arrival in Egypt, the Prince of Wales, who represented at heart the principles of Great Britain, took the warmest interest in the suppression of the slave trade.

The Khedive, thus supported and encouraged in his ideas of reform, concluded his arrangements for the total abolition of the slave trade, not only throughout his dominions, but he determined to attack that moral cancer by actual cautery at the very root of the evil.

I was accordingly requested to draw up a plan for the proposed expedition to Central Africa.

After some slight modifications, I received from the Khedive the following firman:—

"We, Ismail, Khedive of Egypt, considering the savage condition of the tribes which inhabit the Nile Basin;

"Considering that neither government, nor laws, nor security exists in those countries;

"Considering that humanity enforces the suppression of the slave-hunters who occupy those countries in great numbers;

"Considering that the establishment of legitimate commerce throughout those countries will be a great stride towards future civilization, and will result in the opening to steam navigation of the great equatorial lakes of Central Africa, and in the establishing a permanent government . . . . We have decreed and now decree as follows:—

"An expedition is organized to subdue to our authority the countries situated to the south of Gondokoro;

"To suppress the slave trade; to introduce a system of regular commerce;

"To open to navigation the great lakes of the equator;

"And to establish a chain of military stations and commercial depots, distant at intervals of three days' march, throughout Central Africa, accepting Gondokoro as the base of operations.

"The supreme command of this expedition is confided to Sir Samuel White Baker, for four years, commencing from 1st April, 1869; to whom also we confer the most absolute and supreme power, even that of death, over all those who may compose the expedition.

"We confer upon him the same absolute and supreme authority over all those countries belonging to the Nile Basin south of Gondokoro."

It was thus that the Khedive determined at the risk of his popularity among his own subjects to strike a direct blow at the slave trade in its distant nest. To insure the fulfilment of this difficult enterprise, he selected an Englishman, armed with a despotic power such as had never been intrusted by a Mohammedan to a Christian.

The slave trade was to be suppressed; legitimate commerce was to be introduced, and protection was to be afforded to the natives by the establishment of a government.

The suppression of the slave trade was a compliment to the European Powers which would denote the superiority of Egypt, and would lay the first stone in the foundation of a new civilization; and a population that was rapidly disappearing would be saved to Africa.

To effect this grand reform it would be necessary to annex the Nile Basin, and to establish a government in countries that had been hitherto without protection, and a prey to the adventurers from the Soudan. To convey steel steamers from England, and to launch them upon the Albert Lake, and thus open the resources of Central Africa; to establish legitimate trade in a vast country which had hitherto been a field of rapine and of murder; to protect the weak and to punish the evil-doer, and to open the road to a great future, where the past had been all darkness and the present reckless spoliation—this was the grand object which Ismail, the Khedive of Egypt, determined to accomplish.

In this humane enterprise he was firmly supported by his two Ministers, Nubar Pacha and Cherif Pacha (an Armenian and a Circassian). The young princes his sons, who are well-educated and enlightened men, took the greatest interest in the undertaking; but beyond these and a few others, the object of the expedition was regarded with ill-concealed disgust.

Having received full powers from the Khedive, I gave orders for the following vessels to be built of steel by Messrs. Samuda Brothers:—

No. 1. A paddle steamer of 251 tons, 32-horse power.

No. 2. A twin screw high-pressure steamer of 20-horse power, 108 tons.

No. 3. A twin screw high-pressure steamer of 10-horse power, 38 tons.

Nos. 4, 5. Two steel lifeboats, each 30 ft. by 9—10 tons each.

These vessels were fitted with engines of the best construction by Messrs. Pond & Co., and were to be carried across the Nubian desert in plates and sections.

In addition to the steamers were steam saw mills, with a boiler that weighed 8 cwt. in one piece—all of which would have to be transported by camels for several hundred miles across the Nubian desert, and by boats and camels alternately from Alexandria to Gondokoro, a distance of about THREE THOUSAND MILES.

In the description of this enterprise, which terminated in the suppression of the slave trade of the White Nile and the annexation of a large equatorial territory to Egypt, I shall be compelled to expose many abuses which were the result of misgovernment in the distant provinces of Upper Egypt. It must be distinctly understood that his Highness the Khedive was ignorant of such abuses, and that he took prompt and vigorous measures to reform the administration of the Soudan immediately upon receiving information of the misgovernment of that extensive territory. Throughout the expedition his Highness has exhibited a determination to succeed in the suppression of the slave trade in spite of the adverse opinion of the public; therefore, when I expose the abuses that existed, it must be accepted without hesitation that the Khedive would have been the foremost in punishing the authors and in rectifying such abuses had he been aware of their existence.

As a duty to the Khedive, and in justice to myself, I shall describe the principal incidents as they occurred throughout the expedition. The civilized world will form both judge and jury; if their verdict be favourable, I shall have my reward. I can only assure my fellow-men that I have sought earnestly the guidance of the Almighty in the use of the great power committed to me, and I trust that I have been permitted to lay a firm foundation for a good work hereafter.

CHAPTER II

ENGLISH PARTY

The success of an expedition depends mainly upon organization. From my former experience in Central Africa, I knew exactly the requirements of the natives, and all the material that would be necessary for the enterprise. I also knew that the old adage of "out of sight out of mind" might be adopted as the Egyptian motto, therefore it would be indispensable to supply myself with everything at the outset, so as to be independent of support hereafter.

The English party consisted of myself and Lady Baker; Lieutenant Julian Alleyne Baker, R.N.; Mr. Edwin Higginbotham, civil engineer; Mr. Wood, secretary; Dr. Joseph Gedge, physician; Mr. Marcopolo, chief storekeeper and interpreter; Mr. McWilliam, chief engineer of steamers; Mr. Jarvis, chief shipwright; together with Messrs. Whitfield, Samson, Hitchman, and Ramsall, shipwrights, boiler-makers, &c. In addition to the above were two servants.

I laid in stores sufficient to last the European party four years.

I provided four galvanized iron magazines, each eighty feet long by twenty in width, to protect all material.

Before I left England I personally selected every article that was necessary for the expedition; thus an expenditure of about 9,000 pounds was sufficient for the purchase of the almost innumerable items that formed the outfit for the enterprise. This included an admirable selection of Manchester goods, such as cotton sheeting, grey calico, cotton and also woollen blankets, white, scarlet, and blue; Indian scarfs, red and yellow; handkerchiefs of gaudy colours, chintz printed; scarlet flannel shirts, serge of colours (blue, red), linen trowsers, &c., &c.

Tools of all sorts—axes, small hatchets, harness bells, brass and copper rods, combs, zinc mirrors, knives, crockery, tin plates, fish-hooks, musical boxes, coloured prints, finger-rings, razors, tinned spoons, cheap watches, &c., &c.

All these things were purchased through Messrs. Silber & Fleming, of Wood Street, Cheapside.

I thus had sufficient clothing for a considerable body of troops if necessary, while the magazines could produce anything from a needle to a crowbar, or from a handkerchief to a boat's sail. It will be seen hereafter that these careful arrangements assured the success of the expedition, as the troops, when left without pay, could procure all they required from the apparently inexhaustible stores of the magazines.

In addition to the merchandise and general supplies, I had several large musical boxes with bells and drums, an excellent magic lantern, a magnetic battery, wheels of life, and an assortment of toys. The greatest wonder to the natives were two large girandoles; also the silvered balls, about six inches in diameter, that, suspended from the branch of a tree, reflected the scene beneath.

In every expedition the principal difficulty is the transport.

"Travel light, if possible," is the best advice for all countries; but in this instance it was simply impossible, as the object of the expedition was not only to convey steamers to Central Africa, but to establish legitimate trade in the place of the nefarious system of pillage hitherto adopted by the so-called White Nile traders. It was therefore absolutely necessary to possess a large stock of goods of all kinds, in addition to the machinery and steel sections of steamers.

I arranged that the expedition should start in three divisions.

Six steamers, varying from 40 to 80-horse power, were ordered to leave Cairo in June, together with fifteen sloops and fifteen diahbeeahs— total, thirty-six vessels—to ascend the cataracts of the Nile to Khartoum, a distance by river of about 1,450 miles. These vessels were to convey the whole of the merchandise.

Twenty-five vessels were ordered to be in readiness at Khartoum, together with three steamers. The governor-general (Djiaffer Pacha) was to provide these vessels by a certain date, together with the camels and horses necessary for the land transport.

Thus when the fleet should arrive at Khartoum from Cairo, the total force of vessels would be nine steamers and fifty-five sailing vessels, the latter averaging about fifty tons each.

Mr. Higginbotham had the command of the desert transport from Korosko to Khartoum, and to that admirable officer I intrusted the charge of the steamer sections and machinery, together with the command of the English engineers and mechanics.

I arranged to bring up the rear by another route, via Souakim on the Red Sea, from which the desert journey to Berber, on the Nile, N. lat. 17 degrees 37 minutes, is 275 statute miles.

My reason for this division of routes was to insure a quick supply of camels, as much delay would have been occasioned had the great mass of transport been conveyed by one road.

The military arrangements comprised a force of 1,645 troops, including a corps of 200 irregular cavalry, and two batteries of artillery. The infantry were two regiments, supposed to be well selected. The black or Soudani regiment included many officers and men who had served for some years in Mexico with the French army under Marshal Bazaine. The Egyptian regiment turned out to be for the most part convicted felons who had been transported for various crimes from Egypt to the Soudan.

The artillery were rifled mountain guns of bronze, the barrel weighing 230 lbs., and throwing shells of 8-1/4 lbs. The authorities at Woolwich had kindly supplied the expedition with 200 Hale's rockets—three-pounders—and fifty snider rifles, together with 50,000 rounds of snider ammunition. The military force and supplies were to be massed in Khartoum ready to meet me upon my arrival.

I had taken extra precautions in the packing of ammunition and all perishable goods. The teak boxes for snider ammunition, also the boxes of Hale's rockets, were lined and hermetically sealed with soldered tin. The light Manchester goods and smaller articles were packed in strong, useful, painted tin boxes, with locks and hinges, &c. Each box was numbered, and when the lid was opened, a tin plate was soldered over the open face, so that the lid, when closed, locked above an hermetically sealed case. Each tin box was packed in a deal case, with a number to correspond with the box within.

By this arrangement the tin boxes arrived at their destination as good as new, and were quite invaluable for travelling, as they each formed a handy load, and were alike proof against the attacks of insects and bad weather.

I had long waterproof cloaks for the night sentries in rainy climates, and sou'-wester caps; these proved of great service during active operations in the wet season, as the rifles were kept dry beneath the cloaks, and the men were protected from wet and cold when on guard.

All medicines and drugs were procured from Apothecaries' Hall, and were accordingly of the best quality.

The provisions for the troops were dhurra (sorghum vulgare), wheat, rice, and lentils. The supplies from England, and in fact the general arrangements, had been so carefully attended to, that throughout the expedition I could not feel a want, neither could I either regret or wish to have changed any plan that I had originally determined.

For the transport of the heavy machinery across the desert I employed gun carriages drawn by two camels each. The two sections of steamers and of lifeboats were slung upon long poles of fir from Trieste, arranged between two camels in the manner of shafts. Many hundred poles served this purpose, and subsequently, were used at head-quarters as rafters for magazines and various buildings.

The No. 1 steamer of 250 tons had not arrived from England. I therefore left instructions that she was to be forwarded across the desert upon the same principles as adopted for the transport of the other vessels.

I had thrown my whole heart into the expedition; but I quickly perceived the difficulties that I should encounter in the passive resistance of those whose interests would be affected by the suppression of the slave trade. The arrangements that I had made would have insured success, if carried out according to the dates specified. The six steamers and the sailing flotilla from Cairo should have started on 10th June, in order to have ascended the cataracts of Wady Halfah at the period of high water. Instead of this, the vessels were delayed, in the absence of the Khedive in Europe, until 29th August; thus, by the time they reached the second cataract, the river had fallen, and it was impossible to drag the `steamers through the passage until the next season. Thus twelve months were wasted, and I was at once deprived of the invaluable aid of six steamers.

In addition to this difficulty was the fact of inevitable delay necessitated by the festivities attending the opening of the Suez Canal. The Khedive, with his accustomed hospitality, had made immense preparations for the reception of visitors, and every available vessel had been prepared for the occasion.

A train of forty-one railway waggons laden with sections of steamers, machinery, boiler-plates, &c., &c., arrived at Cairo, and were embarked on board eleven hired vessels. With the greatest difficulty I procured a steamer of 140-horse power to tow this flotilla to Korosko, from which spot the desert journey would commence. I obtained this steamer only by personal application to the Khedive.

At length I witnessed the start of the entire English party of engineers and mechanics, together with Mr. Higginbotham and Dr. J. Gedge. The steamer Minieh, towed the lone line of eleven vessels against the powerful stream of the Nile. One of the tow-ropes snipped at the commencement of the voyage, which created some confusion, but when righted they quickly steamed. out of view. This mass of heavy material, including two steamers, and two steel lifeboats of ten tons each, was to be transported for a distance of about 3,000 miles, 400 of which would be across the scorching Nubian deserts!

The first division of the heavy baggage had started on 29th August, 1869, with the sloops, to ascend the cataracts direct by river to Khartoum. I dared, not trust any portions of the steamers by this dangerous route, lest by the loss of one vessel with sections I might destroy all hope of success.

It was a relief to have started the main branches of the expedition, after the various delays that had already seriously endangered the chances of the White Nile voyage. For that river all vessels should leave Khartoum early in November.

On 5th December, 1869, we brought up the rear, and left Suez on board an Egyptian sloop of war, the Senaar. In four days and a half we reached Souakim, after an escape from wreck on the reef of Shadwan, and a close acquaintance with a large barque, with which we nearly came into collision.

The captain of our sloop was a most respectable man, apparently about eighty years of age. The first lieutenant appeared to be somewhat his senior, and neither could see, even with the assistance of a very greasy and dirty binocular. The various officers appeared to be vestiges from Noah's ark in point of antiquity; thus a close shave with a reef and a near rub with a strange vessel were little incidents that might be expected in the Red Sea.

We anchored safely in the harbour of Souakim; and landed my twenty-one horses without accident.

I was met by the governor, my old friend Moomtazz Bey, a highly intelligent Circassian officer, who had shown me much kindness on my former expedition.

A week's delay in Souakim was necessary to obtain camels. In fourteen days we crossed the desert 275 miles to Berber on the Nile, and found a steamer and diahbeeah in readiness. We arrived at Khartoum, a distance of 200 miles by river, in three days, having accomplished the voyage from Suez in the short space of thirty-two days, including stoppages.

Khartoum was not changed externally; but I had observed with dismay a frightful change in the features of the country between Berber and the capital since my former visit. The rich soil on the banks of the river, which had a few years since been highly cultivated, was abandoned. Now and then a tuft of neglected date-palms might be seen, but the river's banks, formerly verdant with heavy crops, had become a wilderness. Villages once crowded had entirely disappeared; the population was gone. Irrigation had ceased. The night, formerly discordant with the creaking of countless water-wheels, was now silent as death. There was not a dog to howl for a lost master. Industry had vanished; oppression had driven the inhabitants from the soil.

This terrible desolation was caused by the governor general of the Soudan, who, although himself an honest man, trusted too much to the honesty of others, who preyed upon the inhabitants. As a good and true Mohammedan, he left his territory to the care of God, and thus, trusting in Providence, he simply increased the taxes. In one year he sent to the Khedive his master 100,000 pounds in hard dollars, wrung from the poor peasantry, who must have lost an equal amount in the pillage that accompanies the collection.

The population of the richest province of the Soudan fled from oppression, and abandoned the country; and the greater portion betook themselves to the slave trade of the White Nile, where, in their turn, they might trample upon the rights of others; where, as they had been plundered, they would be able to plunder; where they could reap the harvest of another's labour; and where, free from the restrictions of a government, they might indulge in the exciting and lucrative enterprise of slave-hunting. Thousands had forsaken their homes, and commenced a life of brigandage on the White Nile.

This was the state of the country when I arrived at Khartoum. The population of this town, which was about 30,000 during my former visit, was now reduced to half the number. The European residents had all disappeared, with the exception of the Austrian Mission, and Mr. Hansall the Austrian Consul; also an extremely tough German tailor, who was proof against the climate that had carried off his companions.

I had given the necessary orders for vessels and supplies six months previous; thus, I naturally expected to find a fleet ready for departure, with the troops and stores waiting for instructions. To my surprise, I discovered that my orders had been so far neglected, that although the troops were at hand, there were no vessels prepared for transport. I was coolly informed by the governor-general that "it was impossible to procure the number of vessels required, therefore he had purchased a house for me, as he expected that I should remain that year at Khartoum, and start in the following season."

There literally was not one vessel ready for the voyage, in spite of the positive instructions that had been given. At the same time I found that the governor-general had just prepared a squadron of eleven vessels, with several companies of regular troops, for an expedition to the Bahr Gazal, where it was intended to form a settlement at the copper-mines on the frontier of Darfur. This expedition had been placed under the command of one of the most notorious ruffians and slave-hunters of the White Nile. This man, Kutchuk Ali, originally of low extraction, had made a fortune in his abominable traffic, and had accordingly received promotion from the governor; thus, at the same time that the Khedive of Egypt had employed me to suppress the slave trade of the Nile, a government expedition had been intrusted to the command of one of the most notorious slave-hunters.

I at once perceived that not only was my expedition unpopular, but that it would be seriously opposed by all parties. The troops had been quartered for some months at Khartoum; during this time the officers had been intimate with the principal slave-traders of the country. All were Mohammedans—thus a coalition would be natural against a Christian who commanded an expedition avowedly to annihilate the slave trade upon which Khartoum subsisted.

It was a "house divided against itself;" the Khedive in the north issued orders that would be neutralized in the distant south by his own authorities.

As in the United States of America the opinion of the South upon the question of emancipation was opposed to that of the North,—the opposition in Soudan was openly avowed to the reform believed to have been suggested to the Khedive by England.

The season was already far advanced. There is no weapon so fatal as delay in the hands of Egyptians. I knew the intentions of the authorities were to procrastinate until the departure of the expedition would become impossible. It was necessary to insist upon the immediate purchase of vessels which should have been prepared months before.

None of the steamers from Cairo had passed the cataracts. The fifteen large sloops upon which I had depended for the transport of camels had actually given up the attempt and returned to Cairo. Only the smaller vessels had mounted the cataracts, and they could not arrive at Khartoum for some months.

The first division, consisting of all merchandise that I had sent from Cairo, had arrived in Khartoum under the charge of a Syrian to whom I had given the command. I heard that Mr. Higginbotham, accompanied by Dr. Gedge and the English party, together with all the Egyptian mechanics, was on his way across the desert in charge of the steamers and machinery, carried by some thousand camels. The third division, brought up by Mr. Marcopolo, arrived from Souakim a few days later than ourselves, thus every arrangement that had been intrusted to my own officers was well executed.

After some pressure, the governor began to purchase the vessels. It may be imagined that a sudden necessity gave a welcome opportunity to certain officials. Old vessels were purchased at the price of new, and the government agent received a bribe from the owners to pass the vessels on survey. We were now fitting out under difficulties, and working at a task that should have been accomplished months before. Sailcloth was scarce; hempen ropes were rarities in Khartoum, where the wretched cordage was usually obtained from the leaves of the date-palm. The highest prices were paid for everything; thus a prearranged delay caused an immense expense for the expedition. I studiously avoided any purchases personally, but simply gave the necessary instructions to be executed by the governor. It is only fair to admit that he now worked hard, and took great interest in the outfit of the flotilla. This governor-general, Djiaffer Pacha, had formerly shown me much kindness on my arrival at Souakim, during my first journey in Africa. I had therefore reckoned upon him as a friend; but no personal considerations could palliate the secret hatred to the object of the expedition.