FIR E A ND SW O R D

T H E SU D A N
H
— ’

21 D e ts o na l m atra tiv e of afi g b ttn g anb S e r v i n g the E e r vi s b es

1 8 79 —
1 895

R U D O LF c
C O L O NE L I N T H figp AR
'

E EG Y PT I A N
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O R M E R LY HR
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F G O VE R N O R A N D C O M M A N D A NT OF T E T O O PS I N D A R R FU

g r a n s ta fe b b p
CO LO NEL F
. R . W I NG AT E C , . B .
,
R A . .

DI R EC T O R OF M I L IT A RY I N T E L L I G EN C E, EG Y PT I A N A R M Y

W IT HAM P S A N D I L L U ST R AT IO N S

P OF UL A R E D I TI O N

ED WARD A R NO LD
'

LO ND O N NEW Y O RK
3 7 BED FO R D ST R EET 7 0 F I FT HV A EN UE
 M OST G R ACI O U S MA JE ST Y
T HQ
E U EEN O F G R EA T B R T A N A ND I R EL A ND
z
I I
A ND

EM P R E SS O F I ND I A
W HH
O AS E VE R SH D P LI CI UD
OW N EE SO T E FO R A ND GR ACI O US
S YM PAT H HH U P A P
Y W IT T E E RO E N I
R S O NE R S

H U DA IN T E S N

T H
I S R EC O R D OF H IS L I FE IN CA T P IVI Y T

IS B Y P M I I H U M LY E
ER SS ON B D D IC A T ED BY H ER MAJ ES T Y S ’

M OST D V D E O TE A ND G R TE F U
A L

RUD OL F C . SLA T I N .
FIRE AND SWO RD SUD AN .

Th e Octa v o Ed i ti o n ,
As o r ig i n a lly i ssued , 21 5 . n et
.

Th e Po pul a r and Re v i s e d Ed i t i o n ,
C r o wn 8 0a . 63 .

ED W A R D A R NO L D , L O ND O N YO R K .
 P R E F A C E

P RO MPT E D by the earne s t entreatie s of my friend s r athe r

th a n by any W i s h of my own to relate my expe r ience s I ,

have written the s e chapters .

The few month s W hich have elap s ed s ince my e s cape

“

h ave been s o much occupied in re s uming my o ffi c ia l dutie s ,

compiling report s and s ati s fying the kindly intere s t di s played

,

by a large numbe r of peo ple in my s trange fate that any ,

attempt at quiet and s teady literary work h a s been almo s t

impo s s ible .

During my captivity I wa s unable to make any no t e s or

keep any diarie s in writing therefore the following page s
, , ,

I have been dependent en t irely on my memory W hil s t the ,

W hirl of the bu s y European world and the con s tant inte r

,

r u pti o n s t o which I have alluded have give n me little t ime

,

to collect my s cattered thought s .

W hen therefo r e afte r having been debarr ed fo r s o man y

, ,

year s from intercours e W i t h out s ide affair s and entirely out

,

of practice in w r iting down my idea s I fi n d my s elf u rged

,

to lo s e no time in publi s hing an accoun t of my adven t u r e s ,

I must beg my readers t o excus e the many defect s they

may notice .
vi P REP A C E

My e x perience s h ave no pretence to being of any lite r ary

or s c ie n ti fi c value and the per s onal epi s ode s I have de s c ribed
,

can lay claim to little importance I have merely attempted

'

to give to tho s e inte r e s ted in Sudan a fla i r s a true and faithful

account of my life whil s t fi g h tin g and s erving the Mahdi s t s .

R U D O LF S LAT I N .

LO ND N O ,

Octo ber , 1 8 95 .

’
A U T H O R S NO T E
ON T HE P O P U LA R E D IT I O N .

ON the e v e of a further advance into the Sudan the ,

publi s her h a s reque s ted me to prepa r e an edition available

for s ale in a cheaper and more popular form t h an the original
work I have t h erefore s hortened th e book by s triking out
.

much of the hi s torical matter and many detail s which may ,

not be of intere s t to th e general reader and have co n fi n e d ,

thi s volume a s far a s po s s ible to a narrative of my per s onal

, ,

experience s W hil s t therefore I hope that in i ts pre s en t

.
, , ,
'
form F ire and Sword in th e Sudan will be more acce s
,

s ible to the general public I would s till recommend the ,

larger edition to the peru s al of all tho s e de s irou s of making

them s elve s fully acquainted with th e more detailed hi s tory
of the s omewh at complicated event s which have brought
about the pre s ent s ituation in the Sudan .

R U D O LF S L AT I N .

C AI R O .

[ un e 30 , 1 8 97 .
 I NT R O D U C T O RY NO T E

F ATH E R D ON JO SE P H O II R W A L D ER ,
—

Hf
1
LA TE PR IE ST OF T E M ISSI O N
A J S T R IA N STAT IO N D LE N
AT E ,

IN K D FA N, A ND E S C A T I VE
HM AH D I S C M
OR O FO R TEN Y AR A P
’
IN T E A P .

T Hjoy at meeting my dea

E friend and former comrade in g

captivity Slatin Pa s ha in Cairo after h i s miraculou s e s cape

, , , ,

w a s indeed great ; and it i s W ith extreme g r a ti fi c a ti o n that

I comply with the wi s he s of t h o s e friend s who are intere sted
in h i s experience s to preface t h em wit h a few remark s .

To have been a fellow s u fferer with h i m for man y year s

-
,

during which the clo s e s t friend s h ip exi s ted between u s a —

friend s hip which owing to th e circum s tance s of our captivity

, ,

wa s nece s s arily of a s urreptitio u s nature but w h ich inter , ,

r upte d a s i t wa s mutually helped to alleviate our sa d lot

-
,

i s I think a s u ffi c i e n tly good rea s on for my friend s to urge

, ,

that I s hould comply with their wi s he s .

Apart however from the s e purely pers onal motive s I

, , ,

need only refer to t he fac t that the s mall s crap s of informa

tion which from time to ti m e reached the out s ide world
regarding Slatin Pa s h a excited the deepe s t s ympathy for
h i s sa d fate ; what wonder then that t h ere s h ould have , ,

been a genuine outbur st of rej oicing when he at length

v iii IN TR OD UC TOR Y N O TE
e s caped from the clutche s of the tyrannical Khalifa a n d ,

emerged s afely from the dark Sudan

It i s mo s t natural t h at all t h o s e intere s ted in the weal d
woe of Afric a s h ould await with deep intere s t all that 8 1
Pa s ha can tell them of a ffair s
which only a few s hor t year s ago w a s con s idered the s t arting
point for the civilization of the Dark Continent and wh ich ,

now fallen ala s ! under the de s potic r ule of a barba

, ,

tyrant form s th e chief impediment to the civilizing i n flue

,

so vigorou s ly at work in all other part s of Africa .

Slatin Pa s h a plead s with perfect ju s tice that dep r ive dall

,

the s e year s of intellectual intercour s e he c a n not do ju stice

,

to the s ubject neverthele s s I con s ider that it i s h i s b o ur de n

l
,

duty to de s cribe wit h out delay h i s s tran ge e xpe r i e n ce s la n d ,

I do not doubt that whatever literary defect s there m a ybe

,

in h i s work the s tory of h i s life cannot fail to be bot h of

,

intere s t and of value in helping tho s e concerned in the future

of thi s va s t country to realize accurately i ts pre s ent s ituation .

It s hould be remembered that Slatin Pa s ha held high

po st s in th e Sudan ; h e h a s travelled throughout the length
and breadt h of the country and a perfect ma ster of the
, ,

language he h a s had opportunitie s which few others have

,

had to accurately de s cribe a ffair s s uch a s they were in the

la s t day s of the Egyptian Admini s t r ation ; whil s t h i s ex
p e n ce s during h i s cruel captivity place him in a perfectly
e r i
unique po s iti o n a s t he h ighe s t aut h ority on the ri s e progre s s
, ,

a n d wane of that great religiou s movemen t which wrenched

the country from i ts conqueror s and dragged it back into

,

an almos t inde s cribable condition of religiou s and mo r al

decadence .

Thrown into contact with the principal leader s of the

r evolt unwillingly forced to appea r and live a s one of them
, ,

he h a s been in the po s ition of following in the clo s e s t manner

eve ry s tep taken b y the Mahdi and h i s s ucce s s or the Khalifa
, ,

in the admini s tration of their newly founded empire -

.

Sad fate it i s true th r ew me al s o in t o t he s wirl of t hi s

, ,
 IN TR OD UC TOR Y N O TE
great movement ; but I wa s merely a captive mi s s iona r y ,

who s e very exi s tence w a s almo s t forgotten by the rulers of

th e country w h il s t Slatin Pa s h a w a s in the vortex it s elf
,

of thi s mighty whirlpool which s wamped one by one the

Egyptian ga r ri s on s and s pread fa r and wide over the enti r e
,

Sudan .

If th e r e fo r e th e r e s hould be any di s crep ancie s b et ween

‘

, ,

the account publi s hed s ome three year s ago of my captivity

and the pre s ent work th e reader may s afely accept Slatin
,
’
Pa s ha s conclu s ion s a s more correct and accurate than my
own ; the O pinion s I expre s s ed of the Khalifa s motive s and
’

intention s and of the principal event s which occurred are

, ,

rather tho s e of an out sider wh en compared to the intimate

knowledge whic h Slatin Pa s ha w a s enabled to acquire by ,

rea s on of h i s po s ition in continuou s and clo s e proximity to

Abdullahi .

In concluding the r efore the s e remark s I will add an

, , ,

earne s t hope that thi s book will arou s e a deep and wide
s pread intere s t in the fate of the unhappy Sudan and will ,

help tho s e concerned to come to a right and j u s t deci s ion a s

to the s tep s which s h ould be taken to re s tore to civilization
t h i s once happy and p r os perou s country .

That the r eturn of Slatin Pa s ha from s o to s peak a living

, ,

grave s hould bring about thi s re s toration i s the fervent p r ayer

of h i s old comrade in captivity and devoted friend ,

D ON JO S E PH O H
R W ALD E R .
 ’
T RA N S L AT O R S NO T E

IN preparing th e edition in Engli s h of Slatin Pa s ha s ’

p e r i e n c e s in the Sudan I have follow

, e d the s y s t em adopted

’ ’ ’
in F ather O h r wa lde r s Ten Year s Captivity in the Mahdi s
’
Camp .

F R . W I N G AT E .

L ON DON ,

Octo ber , 1 8 95 .
 C O N T ENT S

C H A PT E R I .

INTROD CTOR ‘ Y

A
U .

P GE

My Fir t J r y t th Sud R t rn
s o u ne ri M y S nd o e an —
e u to A us t a— e co

J r y C rr p ti n in th S d n A pp int d G v rn r f
'

ou ne —
o u o e u a —
o e o e o o

D r Z b ir P h
a a— d hi S S l im n T h
u G ll b
e as a an s on u e a —
e e a as

J l in d D n g l
aa , an a a a

C H A PTER II .

R E SI D E N CE I N D A RF U R , A ND E A RLY HIS T O R Y OF T H R O I N CE
E P V .

A rri va l at Om Sh a ng a— M a tr i m ni l o a D i ffi c u l ti e s— A Sud a n e se

Fl a s ta ff— D e sc ri p ti n o of El F h r as e —
I ta k e up m y D ut i es at

r
H
Z o g a l B e y th e Sub — G o e vr r
H
un d e rt k p i gn
Da a— no —
I a e a Cam a

ag i a n s t Su ta n l r
a u n — Ni u r n i a ,
’
a r un s Str gh l d in J b l
on o e e

H f l N b k D th f
M rr th e Ra h ad
'

a a— I de eat Su ta n at en a a —
ea o

run
a —
M y M e e t n g w th i i Dr . Fe lk i n an d th R W il n e ev . so

M y B o y Ka ps un —
Go r ’
do n s L e tte r fr o m A by i i ss n a I I —
32

C H A PT ER I II .

VE N M E NT O F D A R U R T H E GO R F .

Go v r m
e n t A d m i i tr ti
en i D r M y V i i t to Kh rtum
n s a on n a a— s a

A rri v l f G ai i Kh rtu m I r tur W t w i th B i h p

o e ss n a —
e n es s o

Go m b i
G ene

B d y t Ar b
e e
d F th r O h w ld
ra l f D rfur
o n

a I pr
o
an

ti l i ti
a
Am
b tw
pp int d G v r r
ath
d t th B d y t C untr y Str ng
s—
a

M h i
e

d
—
H
o ce e
os
r a

o
es
er—

e
e

e
ee n

e
a

a
o

o
e
e

—
o

ar a
e

a
no

an

f th B d y a t S l h D
H
M n r a d Cu t m
ne s an ku
s o d th e s o e e e —
a e on sa a n

g li k T r
e Th C r m y f T ki g th O th f Fid l i ty
ee— e e e on o a n e a o e

R tur e t El F h r
n T r ubl
o a t Sh kk d D a th
as f e —
o es a a an e o

E m i l i a ni I l a v f D ra —
e e or3 a 2— 44
xi i CO NTE NTS
C H A PTER IV .

T H HALI
E K F AS P’
E R SO N A L A CC O U NT OF T HR IS E E OF T HM AH D I
E
A
.

P GE
Ea rly L if e of re l i g i u T i k
M o h a m m e d A h m e d th e M a h d , i —
Th e o s ar as

H l w i th h i R l i gi u Sup ri o r
H
'
—
M h m m d A h m d qu
o a e e arre s s e o s e

i r fu d F o rgi v
e s e se d j in R i v l Sh i kh i
e n e ss , a n o s a a e —
e s

j o i d by A b d ull h i t T i h i T h M a h d i
ne a r tly t ll a aa s — e se c e e s

A b d u ll h i Fa i l ur t
H
f hi
a D ivi oM i io n Th s i ze ne ss —
e e o se

A bb I l nd T h M h d i
H
M h m m d Ah m d
o a e e jr t
on a s a —
e a
’
s e a o

j b
e l G ed i r e m i t h
—
i K h l i f T h D
e no f t f R h d
na es s a a s— e e ea o as e

d Yu f P h Sh ll li Eff t f th M h d i V i t ri
’
B y e an se as a e a —
ec o e a s c o es

in K rd f T h M a h d i Intri gu wi th th Inh b i t nt f
o o an —
e
’
s es e a a s o

R l O b id F u ti l i ty f th
e —
St p t k n by th G v rnm e nt to o e e s a e e o e

c o p e w i th th R v lt e e o 44
—
70

C H AP TE R V

H
.

S RE P AD OF T E RE VO LT I N SO U T H ER N D RF U RA .

rri v r p a tc h of an

H O fii ce r to Sh a kka rn to
I a e at Da a— D es —
R e tu
E1 F
r I m k D r my
a sh e -
d q u rt rs T h Po w
a e a a ea a e — e e r of a

Sh i k h M d i b b
W n T ngu th r t n
H kk
’
om a s o Sh e —
e a o ea e s a a

C w rd ly C nd u t f M n ur
o a l m i I pr d t h i A i t
o c o a s e —
o ce e o s ss s

a n ce — I m m n m y C m p i gn
co g i t th So u th rn A r b
e ce a a a a ns e e a

H
T ri b Ni gh t A ttac k o C mp M n ur
’
Th es —
M dib b e n a o s a a s

l m i c w rd ly R tr t fr m Sh kk C o ur g u C o ndu t
e
’
s o a e ea o a a— a eo s c

of A li A gh a J um a 7 0— 77

C H A P T E R VI .

T HSI E E G E A ND F ALL OF E L O EID

B .

i
Sa d P a s h a , Go v rno r G n r l
r f n p r p re to d f nd
e -
e e a of Ko d o a , e a s e e

R l O b i d T h M h d i tt c k th T w
e —
b ut i r p u l d w i th
e a a a s e o n ,
s e se

H
G r t Lo T h M i i o na ri t D le f ll int th M h d i
HH
'
ea s s— e ss es a e n a o e a s

nd T h Si g a d Fa ll f B ra T h
a s— e rr r f th Si g
e e n o a —
e o o s o e e e

o f E l O b id S i d P h i f r d to urre nd r
e i I nt r v i w
a

H as a s o ce s e s e e
— —

wi th th M a h d i i E x uti o n
e —
77 s ec — 84

C H A P TE R VII

HT I D E
.

V AI N E FF O RT S T O S TE M T E OF M AH D IS M I N D RF U R A .

I ad v n a ce o n Sh a kk a— T h e B a tt l e of Cm W a r a ga t i g d in th
—
Bes e e e

Z ri b ro ugh th En m y ntry ’
a a —
M y R e tre a t on Da ra th e C e s ou

Th e I lln e ss and D e a th o f G o ttfri d R o tt I e —

de s p a tc h Se c re t
Em i ri ss a es to Ko d o fa n —
r T h e R v o l t o f th e e M i rn a A rb a s— I
 CO NTENTS
PA G E

l r
ea n o f th e F a ll o f E1 O b id e —
T h e D e a th of Sh ei kh A fi fi M y —

C m p i gn a g i t th
a a d Kh w a b i a ns c e Mi rn a a n a r Ar b aDi v ry
s— s o e

of P l o t m ng t th e T r p s i D ra
3 . a M y O ffi
o d Me
s oo n a —
ce r s a n n

a cri b e o u D f ts t th F t th a t I m C h ri s ti a n I d c i d e —
s r e ea o e ac a a e

t n m i
o lly d p t th M h m m d n R l igi n I d ide to
o na a o e o a e a e o -
ec

d Z g l B y t R I O b id M y C a m p ig
H
s en o a g in t th e B ni
e o e —
a n a a s e

lb B h i B y k D a th d fi d i t G ra v i ty o f th e
e a —
es ar e se e s e an n s —

Si tu ti n in D rfur
a o a 84 K

C H AP TER V II I .

HI C KS PA S H A S
'
EX E D IT IO N
P .

Sp re a d o f B l i f in th M h de D i v ini ty Sh i kh S
e u i i
e ff r da i s —
e enn s s o e e ,

b ut r fu th e P i ti f M h d i Kh l i f T h M h d i b gin
’
e se s , os on o a s a a— e a e s

t o orga n i z h i G v rnm t T h e S pr d f th R v l t in th
e s o e en —
ea o e e o e

G z i ra C ri ti i m
e —
j th A tti tud f th E g y p ti n G v e rn
c s s on e e o e a o

H
m nt T h D p tch f O m n D i g
e —
e t th E
es t rn Sud n
a o s a na o e as e a

i k P h E xp d i ti nt r K rd f n I id nt
c
’
s as a s th e
e on e e s o o a —
nc e s on

M rch G ll try f C l
a —
l F rquh r T h D i rie f F
a an o o one a a —
e a s o ar

q u h a d
arV i t ll y T h
n D r ti n f G u
z e e t v K l t Th —
e e se o o s a oo z —
e

M h di t h r
a ths s E x p d i ti o n a Th Fin l A tt k th
a ss e e — e a ac on e
‘
d m d Sq u r E x tr t fr m O D D i ry
’
oo e a e
a —
Th ac s o onov n s a — e

M h d i T ri u m p h l E try i t E l O b id
a
’
s a 3 n n o e 1 2 —
1 35

C H A P T E R IX

HF
.

T E ALL OF D A RF U R .

Da ra be i g d A Str g E xp d i nt f c n a l ing L tt r A
s e e —
an e e e or o ce e e s— n

A rm i ti c pr p d d a cc p t d b e tw n M y l f d th
s e o o se an e e ee se an e

B i g r l I r s rt t Str t g m t ga in T i m e
es e e s— Z g l w ri t
e o o a a e o — o a es

fr m E1 O b id d d ri b th An ih i l ti n f th R l i f
o e , an e sc es e n a o o e e e

E x p e d i ti n I re v i w th Si tu ti n
o d d c i d e to Surr nd r
—
e e a o an e e e

Th
H M h d i ts nt r D r M di b b a d h i W d ru m —
e a s e e a a a o n s ar- s

o rri bl T rtur i fli t d o
e th Inh b i ta nts wh h a d
o es n c e n e a o co n

al d M n y d F ll f E 1 F h r L tt r fro m
H
ce e T h Si g o e —
e e e an a o as e —
e e s

Egy p t T h D r a d fu l F t
—
f M j r e m ad Th Fa ll o f
e a e o a o a a —
e

B h r l G h a z a l I le v f
a e R l O b id —
36 a e or e 1 — 1 53

C H APTE R X

HSI E
.

T E G E A ND F AL L OF K H A RT UM .

r
G o do n r turn
e s to th e Sud a n — Th e S ig e e r
of j o in th
Kh a tum — I e

Ma h d i at Ra h a d —
I n t rv i we e s an d F ir t I m pr i n f th
s e ss o s o e

Ma h d i —
T h e O a th o f A ll g i n e a ce — D e cri pt i o n o f th Kh a l i fa
s e
xi v CON TE N TS

Th e A
s
rri v l a

io n T h A d m t f th Sud n pr l i m d Incid t
—
e
ofH in
ri ti i m o G rd n s M i
bn n n
a o
uss e

e
Pa sh a
o
—

e
C
a
c s s

oc a
n

e
o

—
o
'

en
s

s
P AE
C

H
i V ri u P r t f th Sud n T h A rri v l f O l i v i r P a in —
n a o s a s o e a e a o e

i M i i n I ll
s a d D
ss o th A rri v l ut i d Kh rtu m
, I
n e ss , n ea —
a o s e a —

w ri t t G rd o n I
e m o rr t d d th r w int C h i
o —
a a es e an o n o a ns

In id t d uri g m y I m pri o m t T h e Surr nd r f O m d u

c en s n s n en —
e e o r

D l y B ri ti h E x p e d i ti n Kh rtum i
H
m an Th —
f th e e a o e s o —
a s

a tt k d ac d t k e G rd o
’
an d i br ugh t to ma en —
o n s ea s o e

A c c unt f th L t D y
o f Kh rtum
o Ma er d A tr i ti
as a s o a —
ssa c e s a n oc es

a ft r th e F ll T h R tr t f th B ri ti h E xp d itio T h
e a —
e e ea o e s e n— e

R i g ur f m y I m pri nm
o s o t i cr d My C m r d i C p so en n e a se —
o a e n a

ti i ty
v Fr n k L u p t n W
,
b th r l d I t r th
a o —
e are o e e a se —
en e e

Kh l i f B d y gu rd I lln th f th M h d i Kh l i fa
’
a a s dD o - a —
e ss a n ea o e a -
a

A b d ull h i s u c d h i m a Th R ul a d O rd ina nce

c o f th
ee s —
e es n s e

Ma h d i
H
1 54 2 34
—

C APT E R XI
H
.

E R A LY RU LE OF K ALI F A A D LLAHI B U .

Ex e c ut o

to
in
Ab u
of

H D arho—
r z p i m pra c ti bl T h
a a —
S ig
My P
e es of

l an s
Se nn r
o f E s ca
a and Ka ss a
e
l a— My j
ca e
ou

—
rne y
e

Kh l i f a t m w i th
a W i f M u ti y f B l c k So l d i rs t
pr n e se s e a e— n o a e a

Rl O b id D th f th e E m i r M h m ud A b u A nga
e —
ea iz o a —
se es

Kh l d d th r w h i m i to C h i C m p i gn in th N ub o s a n s—

H
a e an n a a e a

M o unt in L up t n in D i fli ul ti
a s— w rk in th Kh r o c es— e o s e a

tum D c k y a rd D i fli c ul ti
o b gi n w i th A by inia D th o f
—
es e ss —
ea

H
Klo o tz 2 3 4— 2 46

C A P TE R X I I

VE NT I N VA R I O U S PA RT O T H
.

E E SU DAN S S F .

M a d i b b s Qu rr l w i th K E x cuti o n o f M d i b b
’
o m l la a e C p ara a —
e a o — a

tur o f C h rl e
e N uf l d M y I te rv ie w w i th h i m A rri v l f
a s e e —
n —
a o

A b u A ga A rm y in O m d urm n D tru cti n f th G h é a

’
n s a —
es o o e e n

T ri b A b u A ng C m p i gn i A by ini a S k o f G nd r
’
e— a n ss ac o a
—
a s a

—T rri bl F t f th C p ti v D th o f Sul ta n Yu f
e e a e o e a e s— ea se

In t nc f th Kh l if T yra nny B ui ld ing o f th M h di

H
' ’
s a es o e a a s — e a s

T o m b L tt r fro m — om D e th o f m y M o th e r D e th o f
e e s e— a —
a

Lup to n

H
247 —
2 64

C A PTE R X III .

T HA E BY SSI N IA N C A M AI N P G .

Ba ttl e of Ga ll b t
a a — D e a th of K ing j h n o — Th e Re vo l t of Ab u G e m
ma iz a — De f a ts
e of th e Ma h di t D s s— e a th o f Ab u G e m m a i z a
 CO NTENTS XV

PAE G
P r pa r ti o gy p t E x cuti n f Si x ty
fo r th e Inv i n as o of E
H e o o
—
e a ns

se v n B t hi
e Ar b M r Le tt r fr m
a a n m M y F m i ly
a s— o e e s o o e— a

se nd th Kh l i f Dr e ing b g fr m Vi nn I m m igr ti n o f
a a a e ss -
a o e a— a o

th T i h
e T ri baa s Th y ttl i a th N i l V ll y N j um i
e— e se e n e e a e — e

dv i t E gy pt B ttl f T ki I id nt d uri g th a e o os nc

H e s n e
—
a a n ce s n o —

G r t F m in
ea T h F ll o f I b r h i m A d l
a e— i E x u ti n e a a an— s ec o

Th Kh l i f m i tru t m
e a I f ll int S ri u D
a s gr Ib s s e— a o e o s an e —
e

th e unw i ll i g R i pi t f th Kh l if s F v ur ’
co m e n ec en o e a a a e s

C H A P TE R X I V .

D ISSE N SI O N A ND D IS CO R D .

Re vo l t Fl i gh t f F th r O h
of th e A s h a f— r o a e r w a ld e r and th e
Tw Si t r Th
o Kh l if r v ng
s e h im lf
s— rf e a a e e es se on th e A sh a

S iz r d E x e ti n M h di l Z ki ’
Th u
e e cu f th e U an o o e a s n c es —
e

T mm l R t rn t O m d rm n l d n w i th ty Kh l i fa
’
u u a u s Be o a a e oo —
a

Sh ri f rr t d
e W h e r th r i
a es eF i th r i Sm k e e e s no re e e s no o e

I h ng m y Q
c a u rt r Sa d N w fr m A u tri a T h Kh l i fa
e a e s— e s o s —
e a

f ll i 11 Th S t ry o f th e B i rd m
a s —
ng r Th F ll f Z k i
e o - e sse e —
e a o e

T um m l T h B ttl a f A g rd t T h C p tur
—
e f K l a e o o a —
e a e o a s sa a

Th C o ng Fr
e Sta t in Eq u t rio d Bah r el Gh a z l I
ee e a o a an a —

re fuse to m a rry th Kh a l if C us in
’
2 84 e a s o —
3 08

C H APT ER XV .

M IS CE LLA NEO S U RE MA R K S .

Th e Pe r on
s and Cha r a c te ri tis cs of Kh a l if a A dub ll h i a —
Th e F a te

HH
of
‘
th e r i l r Th
Ma h d c io f D rfu
st Th Ch on c e — e P r in e s se s a r —
e

Kh l i f F m i ly L if r m T h O rga ni z ti n f h i
’
a a s i a e— s a e —
e a o o s

B d y g u rd Enfo r d A tt d
o -
a a t th
—
M qu Th Po t l ce en a n ce e os e— e s a

Sy t m M i l i t ry P r d
s e —
E l v ti n f th W t rn A r b
a a a e s— e a o o e es e a s

an d O pp r i n f th R i v r T rib T h M il it ry Si tu ti n
e ss o o e e e s— e a a o

an d Str ngth G un d A m m uni ti n R v nu

e —
d E xp s an o —
e e e an en

d i tu C o ur g
re— a e 3 8 0 —
332

C H A P TE R X V I .

M ISC E L L A NE O fI S R E M R KS A
( co n ti n ued
) .

A dm i i tr ti n f J ti
n s a o o us ce — Re ligi n in tho e Sud a n —
E nf rc o ed Pi l
gri m g t th M h d i m b Lim it i pir
'
a e o e a s To —
s of th e Ma h d st Em e
—
Ca ra v a n R d oa s— T rd da e an Co m m rc T h S l v T r d
e e— e a e a e

Th e Sl a v e M rk a e t— Ind u trie s s— I m m o ra l i ty U np o pul ri ty —

a of
xv i CON TE N TS

H r l y H ri v t
P A GE
th e Kh a l if a— I gn r n
is o a ce a n d C ue t —
is P a e A pa r t
nt ri
Hrr r t Z ki
i p l il ing in r n ri p i n
me s— P nc a Bu d s O m du m a — D es c t o of th e
C t iy —
Th e P ri n so and i ts o o s— D ea h of e T um m al

and i
Ka d A h m e d 33 2 —
35 7

C H A P T E R X VI I .

PL AN S FO R ESC E AP .

Eu o r p n C pti ve in O m d urm n A rtin th e W tch m a k r

ea a s a —
, a e

Fri nd i C ir Eff rts f m y F m i ly to h e l p m — D i fii

e s n a o— o o a e

o f C m m uni ti o n
H
B a b k r A b u Se b i b
’
c ul ti es o Fa i l u ca —
a a s re

Eff r t o f B r n
o id l r d th E gy ptia Int ll i g n D
s a o e e an e n e e ce e

tm t C n t nt F i l u r O h ikh K
Hrr r A b d rr h m n —
o en a a s a e a a e s— s e a
p ar —

m tur ah i Pl esp
_I qui t m y ut n ve r t re turn
d F r s

H
M y P l a n to g in T i m
a n s—

e 35 7
o

o
es an ea s— a e

—
37 2

C H A P T E R X V III .

MY F LI H T G .

I e s ca p fre n by Ni gh t M y G uide s Z e k i B e l a l a d
o m th e T o w
H
—
, n

M o h m m d A S re 3 M il i T w e nty f ur ur Ou
H
— -
a e —
ca 1 0 es n o o s— r

C m l b re k d o wn
a e s iding i th G ili f M unta in P ca u
a —
n e o s— re

ti o n
—
g i t Surpri e A rri v l f Fr h C m e l O u J urne y —
s a a ns s a o es a s— r o

t th Ni l
o Th C r
e i g Fri nd ly Sh i kh Na rro w E c p
e e o ss n —
e e s— s a e

fr m a l rg A rm d P rty f M h d i t D i fi i c ulti e wi th m y
H
o a e e a o a s s— s

G uid s m d G
e h h th
—
Am
a b i O u t f D a n ge r A s
e ar os e ra —
o —

su n at l
a t C gr tul ti n
as d W l co m e— A rri v a l in C iro
—
on a a o s an e a

M e e ting w i th O ld Fri d s 372 en —

40 1

C H A PT ER X IX .

CO N C L SI O N U .

A fric Pa st and P r e s e n t— T h e Sud a n

H Pa st and P re se nt R i
— se
a , , ,

P r gr o e ss , and W a ne of Mah d i sm —
l ng i ll
ow o w it l t
as

Th e Kh a lif a s
’
P r e se n t Po s t ii o n— Eu r p n nr o ea E c o a ch m e n t

W h i te s ’
i n th e B a h r el Gh a z l I m p rt nt Stra te gi ca l
a —
o a Po s i
t in
o r vi
of th e P o n ce — T mé i and i
T de w a t fo r i no Man —
I
re co v e r m y l ng l o o -
st Sw o d r 40 1
—
41 2

I ND E X 4 1 3
—
4 1 6
F IR E A ND SW O R D IN T HS E UDAN

C fi APTER I .

I N T R O D U C T O RY .

My Fi r t j
s rney t
ou th e Sud a n Ro e t urn to A u tri a M y
—
S e c o nd s —

J urne y C rrup ti o n in th Sud n App int d G v rno r f D a ra

o —
o e a —
o e o e o .

— Z ube i r Pa h a a d h i s S Sul e i m a n T h G e lla b a J a l in d

s n on —
e s, a , an

D an a gl a

HH
.

IN July 1 8 7 8 when s erving a s lieute nant in

, ,
I t he . . .

’
Crown Prince R udolph s regiment the 1 9 th F oot on the , ,

Bo s nian frontier I received a let t e r from General Gordon

,

invit ing me to come t o the Sudan and take s ervice with t he

Egyptian Government under h i s direction , .

I had previou s ly in 1 8 7 4 undertaken a journey to t he

, ,

Soudan travelling by A s s uan Koro s ko and Berber and

, , , ,

had reached Khartum in th e month of October of that yea r

thence I had vi s ited the Nuba mountain s and had remained ,

a s hort t ime at Delen where a s tation of the Au s trian Roman

,

Catholic Mi s s ion had j u s t been e s t abli s hed F rom here I .

explored the Goli an N aima and Kadero mountain s and

H
,

would have made a longe r s tay in the s e intere s ting di s trict s

but the revolt of the a wa z m a Arab s broke out and being , ,

merely a traveller I received a s ummon s to return forthwith

,

to R I Obeid the chief town of Kordofan The Arab revolt

, .
,

which had ari s en ove r t he collect ion of t he e x ce ss ively high

 FIR E A ND S WO R D I N T HS UD E A N
t axe s impo s ed by the Government wa s s oon s upp r e s s ed ; ,

but under the circum s tance s I did not thin k it worth while
, ,

returning to the Nuba di s tr i cts a n d therefore decided to ,

‘

tr avel in Darfu r .

At that time the Governor General of the Sudan I s mail -

,

Pa s ha Ayub w a s s taying at El F a s her the capital of

, ,

Darfur and on reaching Kaga and Katul I found to my

, ,

great di s appoin t ment that an order had j u s t been i s s ued

,

prohibiting s tranger s from entering the country a s it had ,

been only recently s ubj ugated and w a s con s idered un s afe ,

for traveller s I returned therefore without further delay

.
, ,

t o Khartum where I made th e acquaintance of Emin Pa s ha

,

(_t hen Dr E min

.
) who had arrived a few
, day s previou s ly
from Egypt in company with a certain Karl v o n Grimm '
.

A t that time General Gordon w a s Governor General of -

the Equatorial Province s and w a s re s iding at L ado s o to , ,

him we wrote a s king for in s truction s Two month s after .

ward s the reply came inviting u s to vi s it L ado but in the ,

meantime letter s had reached me from my family in V ienna

urging me to return to Europe I had been s u ffering con .

s i de r a b l from fever and be s ide s I w a s under the obliga

y , , ,

tion of completing my military s ervice the following year .

I therefore decided t o comply with the wi s he s of my family .

’
Dr Emin however accepted Gordon s invitation and he
.
, , ,

s tarted s oon afterward s for the s outh while I left for the ,

north Before parting I begged Emin to recommend me

.
,

to General Gordon which he did and thi s int r oduction , ,

eventually re s ulted in my receiving the le t ter to which I

have already refe r red three year s later , .

Emin it will be remembered wa s s oon after h i s a r rival

, , ,

at L ado granted the rank of Bey and appointed Govern or

, ,
’
of L ado ; and on Gordon s departure he wa s nominated
.

Governor General of Equatoria in which po s ition he r e

-
,

mained until relieved by Mr Stanley in 1 88 9 .

, .

I returned to Egypt by the B a yud a De s ert Dongola and , ,

W adi Halfa and reache d Au s tria to ward s the clo s e of 1 8 7 5

,
.

’
Gordon s let t er r eceived i n the mid s t o f the Bo snian
,
. t
 IN TR OD U CTOR Y J

campaign deligh t ed me I longed to return to the Sudan

,
.

in s ome o ffi c i a l capacity ; but it w a s not till December ,

1 8 7 8 when the campaign w a s over and my battalion had

, ,

gone into quarte r s at Pre s s burg that I received permi s s ion

, ,

a s an o ffi ce r of the R e s erve to s e t out once mo r e for Africa

, .

My brother Henry w a s s till in Herzegovina s o remai n ,

ing only eight day s in V ienna to bid the re s t o f m y fafi i ily

‘

farewell I left for Trie s te on 2 1 5 t December 1 8 7 8 little

, , ,

dreaming that nearly s eventeen years would elap s e and ,

that I s hould experience s uch s t range and terrible a dv e n

t ure s before I s hould s e e my home again
,
I w a s t hen .

twenty two year s of age

- .

O n arrival in Cairo I received a t elegram from G ie g le r

,

Pa s ha from Suez ; he had ju s t been appointed In s pector

,

General of Sudan Telegraph s and w a s on h i s way to

H
,

Ma s s awa to in s pect th e line between that place and

,

Khartum e invited me t o t ravel with him a s far a s

.

Suakin and I gladly availed m y s e lf o f h i s kind o ffer W e

,
'
.

parted at Suakin he proceeding by s teame r to Ma s s awa

, ,

while I made prepar at ion s to cro s s the de s ert t o Berber

on camel s I received every a s s i s tance from Ala e d Din
.

Pa s ha who wa s then Governor and who s ub s equently a s

, , ,

Governor General of the Sudan accompanied Hick s Pa s ha

-
, ,

and wa s killed with him when the entire Egyptian force wa s

annihilated at Shekan in N ovember 1 8 8 3
, , .

O u reaching Berber I found a da h a b i a awai t ing me there

,
’
by General Gordon s order s and embarking immediately
, , ,

I arrived at Khar t um on 1 5 th January 1 8 7 9 H ere I wa s , .

s hown every kindne ss and con s ideration Gordon placed a t

my di s po s al a hou s e s ituated no t far from the palace and a ,
'

certain Ali Efle n di wa s directed to attend to all my want s .

In the cour s e of our daily meeting s General Gor d on u s ed ,

often to talk of the Au s trian o ffi c e r s whom he had met at

T u ltch a when on the Danube Commi s s ion and for whom
, ,

he en t er t ained a genuine friend ship I remember h i s s aying .

t o me that he thought it w a s s uch a mi s take to have changed

our s mart White j acket s for the blue uniform we now wear .

—
1 2
 FIR E A ND S WO RD IN T HS UD
E A N
Ea r ly in F ebruary Gordon appointed me F inancial In
s pector ,
and I wa s in s tructed to tr a v e l a b o ut the country '

and examine into the complaint s of the Sudane s e who

obj ected to the payment of the taxe s which were n o t con , .

s i de r e d unrea s onably heavy In compliance wit h the s e

.

order s I proceeded v i e? Me s allamia to Sennar and F a z o g l ,

whence I vi s ited th e mountain di s t rict s of Kuk e li R egreg , ,

and Ka s h a n k e r o in the neighbourhood of Beni Shangul ;

,

and then I s ubmitted my report to General Gordon .

In thi s report I pointed out that in my O pinion the di s , ,

tr i b u ti o n of taxe s w a s unju s t and re s ulted in the bulk of

,

taxation falling on the poorer landed proprietor s whil s t tho s e ,

who were better o ff had no diffi c u lty in bribing the tax

gat h erer s for a comparatively s mall s u m to s ecure e xe m p
, ,

tion Thu s enormou s quantitie s of land and property entirely

.

e s caped taxation whil s t the poore r cla s s e s were m ercile s s ly

,

ground down in order to make up the h eavy de fi cit which

wa s the re s ult of thi s mo s t nefariou s s y s t em .

I furt h er pointed out that much of the pre sent di s content

w a s due to the oppre s s ive and tyrannical method s of the
tax gatherer s who were for the mo s t part s oldiers Ba s hi
-
, ,

B o z u k s and Shaigia s
,
The s e un s crupulou s o ffi c ia ls though t
.

only of how to enrich them s elve s a s quickly a s po s s ible a t

the expen s e of the unfortunate population s over whom they ,

exerci s ed a cruel and brutal authority .

In the cour s e of my journey I frequently ob s erved tha t

the property of th e Sudan o ffi c i a ls for the mo st part Shaigia s—

and Turk s w a s almo s t invariably exempted from taxation

—
,

and on inquiry I w a s alway s told that thi s privilege had

been pro c ured owing to th e s pecial s ervice s they had
rendered the Government W hen I remarked that they .

received pay for their s ervice s they appeared greatly ,

o ffended and annoyed However on my arre s ting s ome of

.
,

the principal delinquent s they admitted that their taxe s

,

were j u s tly due In Me s allamia w hich i s a large town

.
,

s ituated between the Blue and W hite Nile s and a con ,

s i de r a b le trade centre I found an immen s e collect ion of

,
 IN TR OD UCTOR Y v

young women the prope r ty of the wealthie s t and mo s t

,

re s pected merchant s who had procured them and s old them

,

for immoral purpo s e s at high price s Thi s w a s evidently a

,
.

mo s t lucrative trade ; but how were the e s tabli s hment s of

the s e merchant s to be t a xed and what action w a s I to take ?
,

I confe s s that idea s and experience on thi s point quite failed

me ; and feeling my utter inability under the s e c 1 r c u m
s tance s to e ffe c t any reform and having at the s ame time
,

little or no fi n a n c i a l experience I felt it wa s u s ele s s to con

,

ti n u e
,
and therefore s ent in my re s ignation Meanwhile .
,

Gordon had gone o ff to Darfur with the obj ect of inqu iring
,

into the circum s tance s connected with the campaign again s t

'
Suleiman the s o n of Z ubeir Pa s ha ; but before leaving he
,

had promoted G i e g le r to the rank of Pa s ha intru s ting him ,

with the po s ition of acting Governor General during h i s -

ab s ence . I therefore took th e occa s ion to s end him my

report and re s ignation by the s ame po s t and s oon after ,

ward s received a telegram from Gordon approving my ’

re s ignation of the po s ition of F inancial In s pector .

It wa s an immen s e relief to me to be free from thi s

hateful ta s k ; I had no qualm s of con s cience for I felt my ,

utter inability to cope with the s ituation s uch a s I found it

—
radically wrong and corrupt through and through
, .

A few day s later I received a telegram from Gordon

appointing me s outh we s te r n -

di s trict s of Da tart at once a s I ,

i ta r y operation s again s t Sultan

a _fo r m e r Sultan who wa s bent on e n
,

to wre s t back h i s country from h i s Egyptian

Gordon further in s tructed me to meet h i m on ,

h i s return j ourney s o m ewhere between El Obeid and Tura

,

s l Hadra , on the W hite Nile Having de s patche d my .

’
camel s to thi s s pot where Gordon s s teamer w a s waiting
,

for him I embarked without further delay and on landing

, ,
’
at Tura e l Ha dra I proceede d we s t a n d after two h our s ,

ride reached the telegraph s tation of Abu Garad where I ,

learnt that Gordon w a s only four or fi v e hour s di s t ant and ,

6 FIR E A ND S WORD IN HS UD
T E A N
wa s on h i s way t o t he Nile I the r efore s ta r ted o ff again

H
.
,
’

and in a few hours found him halted under a large tree .

e wa s evidently very tired and e xhau s ted afte r h i s long

ride and w a s s uffering from s ore s on h i s leg s I had fo r

, .

tu n a te ly brought s ome brandy with me from the s tock on

to continue h i s j ourney
,

H
board h i s own s teamer and he wa s s oon s u ffi c i e n tly revived
e a s ked me to come back with

H
.

him to Tura e l H adra to di s cu s s the Darfur s ituation with

,

him and to give me the nece s s ary in s truction s

, e al s o .

introduced me to two member s of h i s s uite Ha s s an Pa s ha ,

Helmi e l Juw a i z e r formerly Governo r General of Kordofan

,
-

and Darfur and to Yu s ef Pa s ha e sh Sh e lla li who wa s the

, ,

la s t to join Ge s s i in h i s campaign again s t Suleiman Zubeir

and the s lave hunters W e were s oon in the s addle but
-
.
,

Gordon s hot far ahead of u s and we found it impo s s ible to ,

keep up with h i s rapid pace W e s oon reached Tu r a e l .

Hadra where the baggage camel s which had p r eviou s ly

, ,
'

been s ent on ahead had already arrived A s the s teamer s

,
.

were anchored in mid s tream we were rowed out in a boat

-
,
.

I found my s elf s itting in the s tern next Yu s ef Pa s ha e sh ,

Sh e lla li and a s a d r in k i n g c u p w a s near him and I wa s

, , .

thirs ty I begged him to dip it into the river and give me a

,

drink Gor don noticing thi s turned to me s miling and

.
, , , ,

s aid in F rench Are you not aware that Yu s ef Pa s ha in

, ,

s pite of h i s black face i s very much your s e n l o r l n r ank ?

,

You are only the Mudir of Dara and you s hould not have ,
’
a sked him to give you a drink I at once apologized in .

Arabic to Yu s ef Pa s ha adding that I had a sked him fo r the

,

water in a moment of forgetfulne s s ; to W hich he r eplied

that he w a s only too plea s ed to oblige me o r anyone el s e to
whom he could be of s ervice .

O n reaching the s teamer s Gordon and I went on boa r d ,

the I sm a i li a while Yu s ef Pa s ha and Ha s s an Pa sha went on

,

the B o r déi n Gordon explained to me in the fulle s t detail

.

the s tate of Darfur s aying that he hoped mo s t s incerely the

,

campaign again s t Sultan Harun would be brought to a s uc

c e s s fu l clo s e fo r the coun t ry for yea rs pa st had been the
,
 IN TR OD UCTOR Y 7

in need of re s t H
cene of continuou s fi g h ti n g a n d blood s he d a n d w a s s orely
e al s o told me that he believed G e s s i s
.

campaign again s t Suleiman Zubeir would s oon be over ;

’
,

before long he mu s t be fi n a lly defeated or killed for he had ,

lo s t mo s t of h i s B a z in g e r troop s (r ifl e bearing Black s ) and -

,

it wa s impo s s ible for h i m to s u s tain th e continual lo s s e s

H
’
which Ge s s i had i n fli cte d on him It w a s pa st te n o e lo ck
i
.
-
’

’
when he bade me Good bye e had previou s ly ordered
-
.

the fi r e s to be lighted a s he w a s s tarting t h at night for

,

Khartum and a s I s tepped over the s ide he s aid in F rench

, , , , ,

Good bye my dear Slatin and God ble s s you ; I a m s ure

-
, ,

you will do your be s t under any circum s tance s Perhap s I .

am going back to Engl a nd and if s o I hope we may meet , ,

’ i
there . The s e were th e la s t word s I ever h eard him utter
but who could have imagined the fate that wa s in s tore for
\

both of u s P I thanked him heartily for h i s great kindne s s

and help ’and on reaching the river bank I s topped there
,
-

for an hou r waiting for the s teamer to s tart Then I heard

, .

the s hrill whi s tle and the anchor bein g weighed and in a
, ,

few minute s Gordon w a s out of s ig h t go n e for ever —

O n the following morning mounted on the pony which ,

Gordon had given me and which carried me continuou s ly

,

for upward s of four year s I s tarted o ff for Abu Garad and

, , ,

travelling thence by Abu Shoka and Kh u s si reach ed El ,

H
Obeid where I found Dr Z u r b u ch e n the Sanitary In s pector
, .

e w a s about to s tar t for Darfur and we agreed to ke ep

each othe r company a s far a s Dara W e hired baggage

,
,

.
.

camel s through the a s s i s tance of Ali Bey Sherif th e Governor ,

of Kordofan and j u s t a s we were about to s e t out he handed ,

me a telegram which had been s ent from F oga s ituated on ,

the ea s tern frontier of Darfur it w a s from Ge s s i announcing ,

t hat Suleiman Zubeir had fallen at Gara on I 5 th July 1 8 7 9 : ,

’
th u s wa s Gordon s prediction v e r ifi e d that Suleiman mu s t
s oon submit or fall .

’
I s hould here mention that s oon afte r Zubeir Pa s ha s
conque s t of Darfur he left for Cairo leaving h i s s o n Sulei ,

man in charge of h i s a ffair s at Shakka In 1 8 7 7 Gordon .

8 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HS UD
E A N
had appointed Suleiman Governor of Bahr e l Ghazal bu t ,

a quarrel s oon s prang up between him and a certain Idri s

Eb ta r who w a s a native of Dongola and to whom Zubei r
, ,

Pa s ha had al s o co n fi de d s o m e of h i s a ffair s ; the Zubeir

family it s houl d be remembered belonged to the powerful
, ,

Jaalin tribe between whom and the Danagla s there had

,

alway s been great j ealou s y and in thi s fact lie s I think the
, , ,

s ecret of much of th e s ub s equent trouble in the Sudan .

The Bahr e l Ghazal province i s in h abited by an immen s e

varie t y of n egro tribe s who were more o r le s s i n de pe n de n t
,

of each other until the Danagla and Jaalin Arab s advancing ,

from the Nile V alley in thei r s lave hunting expedition s -

,

gradually s ettled in the country and took po s s e s s ion of i t .

The Jaalin trace their de s cent back to Abba s the uncle of ,

the Prophet They are very proud of i t and look down

.
,

with the greate s t contempt and s corn on the Danagla whom ,

t h ey regard a s de s cended from the s lave Dangal According .

to tradition thi s man although a s lave ro s e to be the ruler

, , ,

of N ubia though he paid tribute to B a h n e sa the Coptic

, ,

Bi s hop of the en tire di strict lying between the pre s ent Sarra s
and Debba Thi s Dangal founded a town afte r h i s own
.

name Dangala ( Dongola) and gradually the inhabitant s of

, ,

t he di s trict were known a s Danagla They are for the .

,

mo s t part of Arab de s cent but having mixed freely w ith

, , ,

the native s of the country have s omewhat lo s t ca s te O f

'

, .

cour s e they too in s i s t on their Arab de s cent bu t the Jaalin

, , ,

continually refer to their Dangal origin and treat them with ,

contempt and deri s ion The relation s betw een the s e two
.

tribe s mu s t be fully recogni s ed a s they play a large part in,

the s ub s equent event s in the Suda n .

The quarrel between Suleiman and Idri s s oon came to

blow s ; the latter appealed to Khartum obtained the a s s i s t ,

ance of Government troop s under Ge s s i Pa s ha and then ,

followed that s er1 e s of campaign s in the Bahr e l Ghazal

which ended in the capture of Suleiman who though , ,

promi s ed h i s life by Ge s s i fell a victim to an intrigue of the

,

Danagla s and wa s executed No t s o however h is com

, .
, ,
 IN TR O D UCTOR Y 9

panion in arm s R abeh who fearing the ve n geance of th e

, , ,

Danagla s voluntarily left Suleiman prior to h i s s u r render

, ,

and marching in a north we s terly direction with a portion

,
-

'
’
of Suleiman s army began that s erie s of s trange and wild ,

adventure s which have placed him to day in the neighbour -

,

hood of L ake T s a d a conqueror of a large portion of Cent

,
/ r al
Africa and a fi g u r e of con s iderable importance i n the
"

de s tinie s of the Dark Continent .

There i s al s o one other point I s hould mention in con

n e c ti o n W ith tribal di s s en s io ns which bear s largely on the

s ub s equent event s in the Sudan and for thi s rea s on mu s t ,

be explained in s ome detail .

In thi s h i s s econd vi s it to Darfur Gordon had a s certained ,

that the Sudane s e merchant s of El Obeid had been s elling

arm s and powder to the r ebel Suleiman with whom they ,

natu r ally s ympathized fo r their own s e lfi sh purpo s e s ; thi s ‘

contraband of war had been s ecretly de s patched to B ah r

o l Ghazal through the intermediary of the G e lla b a s ( petty

traders ) who obtained enormou s price s from Suleiman for

,

in s tance s i x to eight s lave s would be exchanged for a double

,

barrelled gun and one or two s lave s w a s the price of a box

,

of cap s The o ffi c i a l s at E1 Obeid made s ome attempt to

.

check thi s t r ade but the diffi cultie s were great The di s
,
.

tr i c ts between Kordofan and Bahr e l Ghazal were inhabited

H
principally by nomad Arab tribe s s uch a s the Ri z ig h at
a w a z m a Homr and M e s se i r i a ; it w a s moreover an ea s y
, ,

matter for s mall partie s of G e lla b a s to traver s e without

,

, ,
,

fear of detect ion the almo s t uninhabited fore s t s with which

,

the country abound s ; and even if an Egyptian o ffi c i a l came

acro s s them he wa s a s a rule quite amenable to a s mall
, , ,

bribe .

Gordon wa s fully cogni s ant of all thi s and therefore gave ,

the order that trade of every de s cription wa s to be s topped

between El Obeid and Bahr e l Ghazal The m erchant s .

were in con s equence ordered to quit all di s trict s lying to

, ,

the s outh of the R l Obeid Et T o w e i sh a and Dara caravan , ,

r oad and to c o n fi n e their trade entirely to the northern and

,
Io FIR E A ND S WORD IN HS UD
T E A N
we s te r n countrie s whil s t active operation s were going on in
Bahr e l Ghazal But in s pite of the s trictne s s with which
.
,

the s e o r der s were enfo r ced the chance s of gain were s o ,

[

enormou s and s o enticing that the merchant s grew almo s t

in s en s ible to the ri s k of di s covery ; and in fact the Govern , ,

ment had not at hand th e mean s of checking the trade in

an adequate manner indeed in s pite of the Government
—
,

re s triction s the trade rather increa s ed than decrea s ed

H
.
,

Gordon therefore had to re s ort to very dra s tic mea s ure s .

e ordered the S h eikh s of the Arab tribe s to s eize all

G e l la b a s in their di s trict s and forcibly drive them to Dara

, ,

T o w e i s h a O m Shanga and El Obeid and at the s ame

, , ,

time held them re s pon s ible for any G e lla b a s found in thei r
c ountrie s after a certain date Thi s order wa s welcomed .

by the greedy Arab s who s eized th e occa s ion to pillage not

,

only the wandering trader s but even tho s e who had been ,

s ettled among s t them for year s and who had nothing to do ,

with thi s illicit commerce ; they gathered the wheat and the
tare s together and ca s t out both indi s criminately making
, ,
’
con s iderable pr o fi t over th e tran s action Gordon s orde r .

w a s now the s ignal for a whole s ale campaign again s t the

trader s who not only lo s t their good s but almo s t every
, ,

s titch of clothing they po s s e s s ed and were driven like wild ,

animal s in hundred s almo s t naked toward s Dara T o we i s h a

, , , ,

and O m Shanga It w a s a terrible puni s hment for their

.

unlawful communication wit h the enemie s of the Govern

ment .

Many of the s e trader s had been re s iding among s t the

Arab s for years They had got wive s children concubine s
.
, , ,

and con s iderable quantitie s of property which in turn fell ,

into the hand s of the Arab s T h e fate s indeed wreaked .

, ,

all thei r fury on the s e wretched s lave hunters and the -

,

retribution merited a s it undoubtedly wa s on the principle

—
, ,

of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth wa s painful

,
—

enough to witne s s a n d had con s equence s which were more

,

far reaching ; for i t mu s t be remembered that the maj ority

-

of the s e petty trader s were Jaalin from the Nile V alley and ,
12 FIR E A ND S WORD IN HS U
T E D AN

me tha t he wa s proceeding on a mi s s ion to King John of

Aby s s inia .

W e reached O m Shanga to h n d it crowded with G e lla b a s

who had been turned out of the s out h ern di s trict s and were ,

really in a pitiable condition Curiou s ly enough the new s .

,
’
had s pread far and wide t h at I w a s Gordon s nephew ( I
s uppo s e on account of my blue eye s and s h aven chin and
) ,

in con s equence I w a s looked upon with s ome apprehen s ion

by the s e people who con s idered him a s the cau s e of all the
,

trouble s which t h ey were n o w j u s tly s u ffering I wa s over .

whelmed with petition s for s upport ; but I told them that

a s Om Shanga w a s not in my di s trict I could do nothing ,

for them a n d even if I could have s pared them s omething

—

from my private pur s e I had neither the de s ire nor inclina

,

tion to do s o .

I n one ca s e however I confe s s to having broken the

, ,

rule ; but before relating thi s little epi s ode I s hould explain
, ,

that my action mu s t not be j udged from the s tandpoint of

purely Chri s tian morality In thi s ca s e I admit to being
.

guilty of even greater moral laxity in regard to the Mo s lem

marriage law than i s enjoined in the Sharia or religiou s law ;
b ut when my reader s have fi n i s h e d the s tory I think they
will perhap s s hare the feeling s which prompted me to act
a s I did
. Several of th e merchant s who had travelled from
the Nile called upon me and begged me to intere s t my s elf
,

in the ca s e of an unfortunate youth a native of Khartum , ,

and only nineteen year s of age They related that before .

,

quitting K h artum he had been betrothed to h i s beautiful

,

but very poor young cou s in ; the parent s had con s ented to
the marriage but he w a s to fi r s t take a journey and try to
, ,

make s ome money O n h i s arrival at O m Shanga a very

.
,

rich old woman took a Violent fancy to him W hether the .

youth h a d been overcome by h e r riche s my informant s did

not s a y ; but the old woman would have her way and ,

had marr ied him and n o w fi n din g him s elf comparatively

, ,

wealthy he had no particular de s ire to give h e r up The

, .

s a d new s had reached Khartum t he poor girl wa s di s t r acted , ,

 R ESID ENC E IN D A R F UR 1 3

and now I wa s a s ked to s olve the diffi cu lty W hat wa s I .

to do ? I called up the youth who wa s unu s ually good ,

looki n g and taking him a s ide I s poke to him with a s

, , ,

s eriou s a countenance a s I could pre s erve ; I pointed out

how very wrong it w a s of him a foreigner to have married , ,

a s trange old woman while h i s poor fi a n cée w a s crying h e r

,
’
eye s out at home and that even if h i s cou s ins do vvf f wa s
’ ‘ ’

H
,

s mall s till in honour bound

, , he s hould keep h i s promi s e
, .

e he s itated for a long time but at length decided to , go

before the Kadi ( judge of the religiou s law) and get a ,

divorce I had previou s ly s een the Kadi and had in s tructed

.
,

him that s hould the youth s eek a divorce i t w a s h i s duty

, ,

to break the new s a s gen tly a s he could to the old wife a s I ,

wa s mo s t anxiou s the s eparation s hould be carried out with

a s little commotion a s po s s ible ; and t akin g a guaran t ee ,
’
from the young man s relat ive s that they would be r e s po n
s ible t ha t he s hould o direct to Khartum I warned the
g ,

Government o ffi c i a l of O m Shanga that the youth wa s to

’
be bani s hed at two day s notice ! I al s o told him tha t he
might s a y what he liked about me to the old woman and ,

t ha t I wa s quite ready to bear the blame provided he c ould ,

get her to give him s ome money fo r th e j ourney L ittle .

did I imagine what a s t orm I had brought on my devoted

’
head ! It wa s about four o clock in the afternoon and I ,

wa s lying on my angareb ( native couch ) in the little brick

hut when I heard the voice of an angry woman demanding
,

t o s e e me in s tantly I gue s s ed at once who it w a s and

.
, ,

bracing my nerve s for the fray told the orderly to le t h er ,

in. Dr Z ur b u ch e n who w a s in the room with me and

.
, ,

who s e knowledge of Arab i c w a s very limited wa s mo s t ,

de s irou s to leave me ; but I w a s by no mean s anxiou s to be

left alone with an angry woman and at length per s uaded ,

him to s tay No s ooner w a s the divorced wife admitted

.

than s h e ru s hed up angrily to Dr Z u r b u c h e n whom s h e .

,

mi s took for me and s hrieked in a tone of frantic excitement

‘I sh all never agree to a divorce
, ,

e i s my h u s ban d and

I a m h i s wife he m arried me in accordance with the religiou s

. H ,
,
1 4 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HS UD
E A N
’
law a n d I refu s e to let him divorce me
, Dr Z ur b u c h e n . .
,

thoroughly s tartled muttered in broken Arabic that he had

,

n othing to do with the ca s e a n d meekly poin t ed to me a s ,

t he hard hearted Governor I could not help being amu s ed

-
.

at the extraordinary fi g ur e before me She w a s a great .

s trong woman with evidently a will of her own ; and s o

,

furiou s wa s s h e that s h e had quite di s regarded all the rule s

which u s ually apply when Ea s tern ladie s addre s s the oppo s ite
se x Her long white mu s lin veil had got twi s ted rou n d
.

and round her dre s s expo s ing her particoloured s ilk head ,

dre s s which had fallen on her s houlder s s h e had a yellowi s h

,

complexion and her face w a s covered with wrinkle s while

, ,

her cheek s were marked by the three tribal s lit s abou t half ,

a n inch apart ; in her no s e s h e wo r e a piece of red coral

‘

ma s s ive gold earring s in h e r ear s and her grea s y hair w a s ,

twi sted into innumerable little ringlet s which were growing ,

gray w ith a dv a n c in g age I though t I had never s een a

n
.

more appalling looking old c r eature but my contempla t ion s

-

were cut s hort by her s creeching voice which w a s now ,

directed on me wi th renewed fury and I w a s confronted ,

with the s ame que s tion s h e had addre s s ed t o the te r r ifi e d

doctor Giving her time to recover her breath I replied
.
,

I quite under s tand wha t you s a y but you mu s t s ubmit ,

to the inevitable : your hu s band mu s t leave ; and a s you

are a na tive I cannot permit you t o g o with him You
,
.

appear unde s irou s of having a divorce ; but you mu s t

remember that in accordance with the Mo s lem law it i s
, ,

for the man to give the woman her divorce paper s and not ,
’
the woman the man .

’
Had you not interfered s h e s hrieked he would neve r , ,

have left me Cur s ed be the day you came here

’
I beg of you do no t s a y that I an s wered ; you are a
, ,

woman of mean s and I s hould not think you would have

,
’
any di ffi cu lty in s ecuring another and perhap s older hu s band .

’
I want no other s h e literally s creame d , .

Silence I s aid s omewhat s harply The relative s of .

your fo r me r hu s band wi s h him t o le a ve you ; they com

 R E SID EN CE IN DA R F UR 1 5

plained that it wa s only your money which bound him to

you ; and now whatever you may s a y he i s to leave to
, ,

morrow Be s ide s do you not think it i s outrageou s that

.
,

an old woman like you s hould have married a young lad

who might have been your grand s on
The s e la s t word s drove her into a s tate of perfect frenzy
and lo s ing all co ntrol over her s elf s h e threw up he r
, ,
‘

tore o ff her veil and wha t el s e might have happened I know

,

not but my kava s s ( orderly) hearing the noi s e ru s hed i n

, , , ,

and quietly but forcibly removed her from the room caution ,

ing he r t hat her conduct w a s di s graceful and that s h e had ,

made a laughing s tock of her s elf The following day her

-
.

hu s band left and I do not doubt her grief w a s con s iderable ;

,
'
but s ome year s later I had the s a t i s faction of meeting the
you t h married to h i s early fi a n cée and already the father
, ,

of a family ; he thanked me profu s ely for havi ng got him

out of the clutche s of t he old woman and brought him to ,

h i s pre s e n t happy s tate It i s needle s s to relate that I s lep t

.

s oundly tha t night convinced that I had done a good piece

,

of wo r k and that it had co s t me nothing

,
.

Two day s later we left O m Shanga and halted for the ,

night at Jebel e l H alla where we were met by Ha s s an Bey

,

O m Kadok the Sheikh of the n orthern Berti tribe s who

H
, ,

had s hown great loyalty and had been granted by Gordon ,

the rank of Bey , e w a s a middle aged man very s tout

.
-
, ,

with great broad s houlder s and a round s miling face ; he , ,

’
might well have been called the Sudan F a ls ta fi Some .

year s later when the table s were turned and ma s ter s

, ,

became s ervant s he and I found our s elve s together a s

,
’
orderlie s in the Khalifa s bodyguard where h i s cheerful

H
,

di spo s ition and genial nature brightened an exi s tence which

at time s wa s almo s t unbearable i s brother I s mail wa s .

exactly the oppo s ite tall thin and s eriou s ; and the two
—
, ,

brother s never by any chance agreed except on one point , ,

and that wa s their inveterate love of mari s s a ( Sudan beer)

to h ave each a large j ar ( made of pottery and known in ,

Darfur a s the D ula ng 61 5 5 152 or Um 627617) of thi s mari s s a and ,

1 6 FIR E A ND S WOR D I N T HS UD
E A N
to v iewi t h one ano t her in emptying i t fi r s t wa s to them ,

the greate s t plea s ure in life .

They invited u s to s up with them and for ou r evening ,

meal an entire s heep baked on charcoal w a s s erved u p

, , ,

be s ide s a quan t ity of roa s t fowl s and a di s h of a s ida ( the

latter i s s omewhat like th e Italian polenta and i s eaten with ,

all the cour s e s ) ; t here were al s o s everal j ar s of mari ss a .

W e thoroughly enj oyed the food leaving the mari s s a to ou r ,

ho s t s and s ub s tituting for it s ome of our own r ed wine

, .

Ha s s an a n d I s mail however freely regaled them s elve s with

, ,

wine a s well a s mari s s a the e ffect on the forme r being t o

,

make him extremely talkative while the latter became more ,

and more s ilent Ha s s an rela t ed many lit t le incident s abou t

.

H
G o rdon for whom he had th e greates t admiration and regard
,

e w a s much grieved to hear he w a s going to Aby s s inia

’ ‘
Per h ap s s aid he s adly h e will g o back to h i s o wn
.

H
,
’
country and never return to the Sudan again
,
Cu r iou s ly .

enough he wa s partially co r rec t

,
e then left the room .
,

and re t urned almo s t at once carrying a m a g n ifi ce n t s addle ,

’ ‘
and s word L ook ! s aid h e ; the s e are the la s t pre s ent s
.

General Gordon gave me when I accompanied him to El '

’
F a s her ; he wa s mo s t kind and generou s Then I s mail .

s howed u s a rich gold embroidered robe which Go r don had

,
-

’
pre s ented to him Pride s aid Ha s s an wa s unknown to
.
, ,

Go r don One day on our way to El F a s her one of the

.
, ,

attendant s s hot a bu s tard and when we halted a t noon .

the cook at once boiled s ome water and threw the bird in t o ,

t he pot s o a s to take o ff i ts feather s Gordon s eeing thi s .

, ,

went and s a t him s elf down by the cook and began helping ,

him to pull out the feather s I a t once ru shed u p and .

,

begged him to allo w me to do thi s fo r him but he an s wered , ,

W h y s hould I be a s hamed of doing w ork ? I a m quite

able to wait on my s elf and cer t ainly do not r equire a Bey

H H
,
”
t o do my kitchen work for me .

a s s an continued chatting till a la t e hour

. e related .

'
h i s experience s during Z u b e i r s conque s t of Darfur then of ,

the sub s equent r evol t and the pre s en t s ituat ion fre quently ,
 R ES IDEN C E IN DA R F U R I7

r eve rting t o Gordon whom he held in great honour

, Once .
,
’
travelling with Gordon he remarke d I fell ill and Gordon
, , ,

came to s e e me in my tent In the cour s e of conver s ation .

I told him that I wa s addicted to alcoholic drink s and that ,

I put down my p r e s ent indi s po s ition to being obliged to do

without them for the la s t few day s Thi s w a s really my .

indirect way of a s king Gordon to give me s ome thing b ut I

wa s mightily di s appointed and in s tead received a very , , ,
”
s evere rebuke You a Mo s lem s aid h e and forbidde n
.
, ,

by you r religion to drink wine s and s pirit s ! I a m indeed

s urpri s ed You s hould give up thi s habit altogether ; every
.

”
one s hould follo w the precept s of h i s religion I re plied .
,

Having been accu s to m ed to them all my life if I now ,

gave them up my health mu s t s u ffer ; but I will try and be

”
more moderate in futu r e Gord on s eemed s a ti s fi e d got
.
,

up s hook hand s with me

, and bade me good bye The
,
.
- .

following morning before leaving he s ent me three bottle s

, ,

of brandy with injunction s that I s hould u s e them in

,
’
moderation .

’
Meanwhile Ha s s an s lanky brothe r s a t in comple t e s ilence ,

leaning on h i s elbow s and s olemnly fi llin g up a n d s wallowing

gla s s afte r gla s s of mari s s a with an almo s t clockwork r e
,

g u l a r i ty.W hen he had s topped talking he got up in a ,

very deliberate manner s olemnly wiped h i s mouth wi t h h i s

,

hand and s aid in a melancholy tone Ye s brandy i s very

, , ,

good ; it i s not an alcoholic d rink it i s medicine Go r d on , .

i s a great and benevolent man ; we s hall neve r s e e him

’
again .

It wa s ve r y late befo r e ou r ho st s left u s and having , ,

o r de r ed our baggage camel s to s tart before daybreak we ,

’
had a few hour s s leep The next morning at s unri s e our
.

riding camel s were ready and Dr Z ur b uc h e n and I looked

, .

a bout for our ho s t s to wi s h them good bye

, A t length we -
.

s a w I s mail hu r rying toward s u s ; h i s head wa s evidentl

y
’
s uffering from the e ffect s of the previou s night Ma s ters .
,

he s hou t ed we have alway s been told that in you r country

,

j u s tice exi s t s ; I a m s u r e that the r e gue st s never wr ong

2
1 8 FIR E A ND S W ORD IN T HS UD
E A N
their ho s t s L a s t night when your baggage camel s s t ar t ed
.
, ,

you r people carried o ff my be s t rug which I had laid out ,

’
for you t o lie down on ye s terday I m ade inquirie s and .
,

had no doubt that one o f my men mu s t have made o ff with

t he preciou s rug s o ordering one of my kava s s e s to mount
, ,

h i s camel and overtake the caravan I patiently awai t ed h i s ,

r eturn In due time he came back with the s t olen r u g an d

.
, ,

tied on behind him one of my eight Black s oldiers who

, ,

belonged to our e s cort O n being interrogated t he man .

,

s aid he had taken it by mi s take but a s I had no doubt of ,

h i s guilt I had him flogged and s ent back a pri s oner to the
neare s t military po s t at O m Shanga I wa s much up s et by .

the occurrence for I knew that the s e people were apt to

,

conclude that a s the ma s ter i s s o i s the s ervant and had I , ,

not acted with s everity on thi s occa s ion I s hould p r obably

have had a frequent recurrence of s uch theft s .

W ith profu s e apologie s to our ho s t s we se t o ff fo r R l ,

F a s her and pa s s ing through Bru s h Abia t and B rgud

, , , ,
’
reached there after fi v e days march .

F o r the la s t cen t ury R l F a s her had been cho s en a s the

capital of Darfur It i s built on two s andy hill s r unning
.

north and s outh and s eparated by a valley s ome four hundred

,

yard s acro ss known a s the W adi Tendelti The fort i s

, .

s itua t ed on the we s te r n hill and con s i s t s of a s quare mud

, ,

b r ick enclo s ure about three feet thick built on the s lope
, , ,

and s urrounded with a ditch fi fte e n feet deep at the corner s

were four s mall tower s man ned with gun s which fi r e d from
,

embra s ure s .

Thi s enclo sure embrace s the Government building s ,

’ ’ ’
Governor s hou s e o fh c e r s quar t er s and men s barrack s ;
, ,

but the quarter s of the irregular cavalry a r e out s ide The

‘
.

well s are down in the valley about one hundred and fi fty ,

ya r d s di stant from the wall s of the fort .

A t t hi s time M e s s e da g li a Bey an Italian wa s Governo r , ,

of R l F a she r he gav e Dr Z ur b uch e n and my s elf a cordial

.

welcome and allotted u s quarters in th e Governmen t build

,

ing s W e had both s u ffered s omewha t from f eve r du r ing

.
20 FIR E A ND S WOR D I N T HS UD
E AN

down I got ‘
t o inquirie s a s t o who I wa s I a n s we r ed
o h , and
, , ,
’ ’
One of the new Governor s e s cort having previou s ly ,

warned t he re s t of my e s co r t to s a y nothing The i nqui .

s i ti v e villager s now a s s ailed me w ith innumerable que s tion s .

’
W hat s o r t of man i s the new Governor s aid one Oh .
,

‘
I replied I think he will do h i s be s t and I believe he i s
, ,
’
1 n c li n e d to be j u s t and ea s y going But i s he brave and
-
.

kind hearted s aid another Thi s w a s rather a puzzling

H
-
.

que s tion to an s wer s o I replied guardedly

, e doe s not ,
’
look a s if he were afraid but I h aven t yet heard much ,

about h i s courage ; he h a s a manly appearance and I ,

believe he i s kind hearted ; but of cours e it i s impo s s ible fo r

-

’
him to s ati s fy everyone Ah s aid another if we only
.
,

had a governor like Gordon Pa s ha , then the country would

indeed be contented ; he never cea s ed to di s tribute money
and pre s ent s and never s ent the poor and needy away
,

without giving them s omething I only once heard him s a y .

s ome har s h word s and that w a s when Su leiman Zubeir w a s

,

at Dara and when he turned to the Kadi s aying that there

, ,

were s everal bad character s among s t the Sudane s e and that ,

’ ’
it did not alway s do to treat them leniently Ye s chimed .
,

‘
in the Kadi I heard him s a y s o my s elf but he referred
,

only to the G e lla b a s and trader s who came from the Nile ,

and who were implicated with Zubeir and h i s so n in every

de s cription of unlawful t r ade by which they could b e n e fi t
’
them s elve s .

’
Gordon wa s indeed a brave man s aid t he Sheikh of t he ,

village who introduced him s elf a s Mu s lem W a d Kabba s hi ;

,

I w a s one of h i s chiefs in th e fi g h t again s t the Mima and

Kh a w a b ir Arab s : it w a s in the plain of F afa and a ve r y ,

hot day The enemy had charged u s and had forced back
.
‘

the fi r s t line and their s pear s were falling thick around u s

,
’
one came within a hair s breadth of Gordon but he did not
-
,

s eem to mind it at all and the victory we won wa s enti r ely

,

due to him and h i s r e s erve of one hundred men W hen the .

fi g h t w a s at i ts wor s t he found time to light a ciga rette

,
.

Never in my life did I s e e s uch a thing ; and then t he

 R E SID ENC E IN D A R F UR 21

following day when b e divided the s poil no one wa s for

,
,

gotten and he kept nothing for him s elf

tender hearted about women and children and never allowed
-
e w a s very
,

. H
,

them to be di s tributed a s i s our cu s tom in war ; but he fed

,

and clothed them at h i s own expen s e and had them s ent to ,

’
their home s a s s oon a s the war wa s over One day co n .
,

ti n u e d the Sheikh without letting him k n o wTvve put go m e

‘ ’

women a s ide but if he had found u s out we s hould have ,

’
had a bad time of i t .

After a s hort pau s e I inquired about a ffair s in Dara and

, ,

about the qu a li fi ca ti o n s of the variou s o ffi cia ls ; for I had

already heard that they were very unreliable and I wa s ,

now told t ha t they looked on my advent with no friendly

eye .

Meanwhile Dr Z u r b u ch e n and the re s t of the caravan

.

had arrived and at once the Sheikh Kadi and ot h er village

, , ,

dignitarie s lined up in a s emicircle to receive him while I ,

H
,

concealing my s elf a s much a s po s s ible awaited with amu s e ,

ment to hear what Mu s lem W a d Kabba s hi would s a y e .

began with warm welcome to the new Governor prai s ed h i s ,

q u a li fi c a ti o n s,and eloquently de s cribed the j oy of all h i s

people at h i s arrival Poor Dr Z u r b u ch e n who s e com

. .
,

prehen s ion of Arabic w a s very s light became more and ,

’
more perplexed Indeed I a m not t he Governor he
.
,

‘
urged I a m only the Sanitary In s pector The Governor
, .

mu s t have arrived long ago ; but a s he had only a few

people with him per h ap s he h a s been mi s taken for s o m eone
,
’
el s e
. I now thought it time to s tep forward and laugh ,

i n g ly thanked the Villager s for their kind reception a s s uri n g ,

them that I would do all in my power to s ati s fy their want s ,

and that at the s ame time I looked to them to a s s i s t me

in s eeing my order s carried out O f cour s e th ey made the .

mo s t profu s e apologie s for the mi s take ; but I a s s ured them

'

there w a s not the lea s t nece s s ity for their doing s o I wa s .

anxiou s I s aid to be on the mo s t intimate and friendl y

, ,

term s with all of them and I hoped they would allow th e ,

s ame friendly relation s to con t inue F rom t h at day fo r t h .

,
22 FIR E A N D S WORD IN T HS UD
E A N
Sheikh Mu slem W a d Kabba s hi became one of my mo s t
faithful friend s and continued to be s o in time s of joy and
, ,

s orro w until I left the country

, .

Thi s little epi s ode had given u s all a h eart y appetite and ,

we sa t down t o an excellent meal of roa s t mutton and that

over we were a gain in the s addle bivouacking for the night
, ,
’
under a large t ree about two hour s march from Dara A t .

s unri s e the next morning I s en t on a me s s enger to announce

our approach and on reaching the ou t skirt s we were given

,

a great military reception the gar r i s on wa s d r awn up in line

,

and a s alute of s even gun s fi r e d after which the troop s fi le d ,

o ff to their barrack s and accompan ied by Major Ha s s an

, ,

Helmi the commandant Z o g a l Bey the Sub Governor the

, , ,
-
,

Kadi and s ome of the principal merchant s we proceeded to

, ,

the fort in which the Government building s are s ituated .

The in s pection la s ted about half an hour and I then went ,

to my own quarter s in which I had ordered room s to be

,

prepared fo r D r Z u r b u ch e n who wa s to be my g ue s t for a

.
,

few day s .

Scarcely had we s et t led down to dinner tha t evening ,

when a great hubbub aro s e among s t the s ervant s who were ,

evidently trying to prevent t wo men from pu s hing t heir way

into our circle They were me s s engers carrying a docu
.

ment which proved to be a letter from Ahmed Katong and

Gabralla the two chiefs of an irregular corp s which
,
’
garri s oned the s tation of Bir Gowi s ome three day s march ,

s outh we s t of Dara
- thi s wa s to s a y they had j u s t r eceived
information that Sultan Harun w a s going to attack them ,

and that a s they had only a s mall force they propo s ed to ,

evacuate their s tation unle s s reinforcement s could be s ent

,

at once ; but they s aid that if they left t he di st r ict all t he ,

village s would be plundered .

There wa s no t ime to be lo s t s o I ordered H a s s an ,

Effendi R ifki to s elect two hundred regular s and twenty

hor s emen t o be r eady to s tar t with me a t once for Bi r
Gowi .

B y midnigh t all w a s ready and bidding Dr Z u r b uch e n

, ,
.
 R ESID ENC E IN DA RF UR 23

goo d bye I s tarted o ff for the s outh we st s aying that I hoped

,
-
,

to s e e him again in four or fi v e day s .

I wa s young s trong and keen to have s ome fi g h ti n g

, ,

experience and I well remember my delight at the t h ough t

,

of a bru s h with Sultan Harun The idea of diffi c u lti e s and .

fatigue never cro s s ed my mind ; all I longed for w a s a

chance of s howing my men that I could lea d th e m A t / r

s unri s e I halted my lit tle party wh ich con s i s ted of t wo ,

hundred Bl ack s the o ffi c e r s al s o being Sudane s e and t he

— —

hors emen ( Turk s and Egyptian s) and addre s s ed them in a ,

s h ort s peech s aying tha t at pre s ent I w a s an entire s tranger

,

to them but they s h ould s e e I w a s ready to s hare fatigue

,

and di s co m fort with them on all occa s ion s and that I hoped ,

we s hould march rapidl yforward with a good heart Simple .

a s my harangue undoubtedly w a s I s a w that it had made an ,

impre s s ion and when I had fi n i sh e d they rai s ed their r i fle s

, ,

above their head s in Sudane s e fa s hion and s houted tha t

, ,

t hey were ready to conquer or die .

A t noon we halted near a Village and I then carefully ,

in s pected the men They were all well armed and had a
.
,

plentiful s upply of ammunition each man w a s al s o provided

with a wate r bottle made out of goat or gazelle s kin known
-
,
’
as se n
(p l s iun ) ;.but,they had brought no ration s with
them . O n inquiry I w a s told ‘W herever you g o in
, ,
’
Darfur you will alway s h n d s omet h ing to eat I therefore .

made my Wa y to the Sheikh of the village and a s ked him ,

'

t o s upply s ome duk h n Thi s corn i s generally s oaked in .

water then pre s s ed m ixed with tamarind fruit and eaten

, , ,

in thi s condition the bitter s weet water being an excellent

,
-

thir s t quencher Thi s food European s u s ually h n d indi

- .

g e s ti b l e ; b u t it i s very nouri s hing and i s eaten almo s t ,

exclu s ively by t he Sudane s e s oldier s when campaigning I .

gradually got accu s tomed to i t taking it almo s t invariably ,

when out on s uc h expedition s but I found that unle s s one

w a s feeling very well it generally brought on mo s t painful
,

indige stion The Sheikh now brought u s the corn and

.
,

al s o a large di s h of a s ida which wa s divided among s t the ,

24 FIR E A ND S WORD IN HS UD
T E A N
men ; and whil s t they were having t heir meal I a s ked the ,

o ffi c e r s to s h are with me a tin of pre s erved meat which ,

they admitted w a s much s uperior to the a s ida and dukhn .

I then called up my clerk and told him to write out a ,

receipt for the corn which he wa s to give the Sheikh to be

, ,

h i s voucher for the remi s s ion of taxation equivalent to the

value of the dukhn s upplied But the good man when he .
,

under s tood my order s refu s ed to accept the receip t adding

, ,

that i t w a s not only h i s duty to give the corn but that the ,

right s of ho s pitality demanded i t I told him however .

, ,

that I w a s well aware the native s of Darfu r were m o s t

generou s but to impo s e t he feeding of two hundred men on
him quite exceeded the bound s of ho s pitality and that it
wa s only j u s t he s hould receive payment e at length

a g reed and thi s conver s ation appeared to give him con

. H ,

fi de n c e ; for he admitted that if thi s principle were alway s

carried ou t the native s would greatly appreciat e i t ; but
, ,

unfortunately it w a s the u s ual cu s tom for troop s arriving at

,

a Village to en t er the hou s e s and take anything and every

,

thing they wanted with the re s ult that the inhabitant s

,

dreaded t heir approach and at once tried to hide all they

,

had I thanked the Sheikh for telling me thi s and p r omi s ed

.
,

I would do all I could to rectify the evil .

A t s un s e t we reached Bir Go w i which wa s a mili t ary po s t

,

garri s oned by s ome one hundred and twenty ir regula r s unde r

two chiefs Ahmed Ka t ong and Gab r alla who told me t hey
H
— —

’
had s ent ou t s pie s to a s cert ain a r un s movement s but they ,

thought he had not yet de s cended from j ebel Marra into

the plain s ; s o thoroughly tired and s leepy after my long
,
’
j ourney followed by the two day s hard marching I went
, ,

to bed ; but my head ached and the ince s s ant beati n g of ,

’

dr um s i n my h onour kept me awake all night and the

'

following morning I felt really unwell Ahmed Katong .

came to s e e me and I told him I had a bad headache

, .

’
W e can ea s ily cure that s aid Ahmed cheerfully , I have .

a man here who can s top headache s at once he i s a much

b etter m a n t h an th e doc tor a t D a ra indeed there i s no —
,
26 FIR E A ND S WORD IN HS UD
T E A N
down the ble ss ing s of Heaven on my poo r head which wa s ,

s till aching s adly .

A s t here w a s s till no new s of Harun I remained that day ,

in bed and received frequent vi s it s from my friend s Kat o ng

and Gabralla The former offered me h i s hor s e which I
.
,

r efu s ed whil s t the latter pre s s ed upon me one of h i s maid

,
’
s ervant s She i s young and pretty he s aid and h a s
.
, ,

been well b r ought up in my h ou s e ; s h e know s how to pre

pare native food i s good at hou s ework and i s above all a
, ,

good and careful nur s e a n d thoroughly under s tand s all the ,

’
ailment s of t he country Again I wa s obliged to refu s e .

thi s pro ffered ki ndne s s s o poor Gabralla went away s ome

W hat downca s t with h i s failure But having already had a .

rather painful experience at the h and s of the docto r I wa s ,

not particularly anxiou s to intru s t my s elf to the tende r

mercie s of even a du s ky maiden however pr o fi ci e n t a nurs e ,

s h e might b e .

The next morning I aro s e feeling qui t e my s elf again and ,

when I met Ahmed and told him tha t I had recovered he ,

a t once an s wered O f cour s e I knew you would get quite

, ,

‘
well ; I s a (the name of my doctor) h a s never yet put h i s
’
hand s on anyone and failed to cure him .

Anothe r day pa s s ed and s till no news of Harun O n , .

’
the following day about noon one of G a b r a lla s me s s enger s
, ,

returned with the new s that Sultan Harun had collect ed h i s

men but s till had not moved down from h i s s ummer re s or t
,

in the hill s O n the fourth day after our arrival at Bi r

.

Gowi a s econd me s s enger came in and s tated that when

,

Sultan Harun heard from t he na t ive s that I had left Dara

for Bir Gowi wit h t he intention of fi g h tin g him he had a t ,

once di s banded h i s men who had di s per s ed over Jebel ,

Marra .

Thoroughly di s appoin t ed with my fi r s t failure I re t urned ,

cre stfallen to Dara but by that time Dr Z u r b u c h e n had

,
!
.

gone leaving behind him a lette r in which he wi s hed me

,

all s ucce s s I al s o found tha t during my ab s ence my u n

.

fort unate A r ab clerk who had accompanied me when I wa s ,

 R ESID EN C E I N D A RF U R 27

F inancial In s pect or and had come with me t o Dara had

, ,

become crazy they h a d pu t him in a hou s e next my own ‘

and when I went to s e e him he s prang forward to embrace ,

‘
me crying out Thank God ! Sultan Harun h a s done no
, ,

harm to you ; but Z o g a l Bey i s a traitor beware of him , .

I have ordered the fi r e s in the engine to be ligh t ed in o r der ,

that the tra i n may take you to Europe wh e r é y o u will be

' ‘

able to s e e your relation s again I s hall come with you ; .

bu t we mu s t be careful about Z o g a l he i s a s coundrel ,

’
Evidently t he poor man s mind w a s quite unhinged ; never
th e le s s crazy people s ometime s s peak the truth
,
I quieted .

the poo r old man and induced him t o lie down till he heard
,
’
the engine s whi s tle warning u s to be o ff and commending ,

him to the care of the servant s I went away F ive day s

‘
, .

later t he whi s tle had s ounded and the poor man had been ,

carried o ff to h i s long home h i s death wa s I s uppo s e due —

, ,

t o a ru s h of blood to the brain .

I n o w b u s ie d my s el f wi th the admini s trative a ffairs of the

province of Dara and about a month aft er my re t urn I
,

received a letter in F rench from M e s s e da g li a telling me ,

tha t he had determined to put an end to the Harun t rouble ;

and for the purpo s e h e ordered me to move s ecre t ly v i d
“

Manawa s hi and Kobb e with a divi s ion of regular troop s

, ,
’
toward s Jebel Marra and attack N iu r n i a t he Sultan s re s i
, ,

dence At the s ame time he wrote he w a s de s patching

.
, ,
’

t roop s from E l F a s her m d Tura and from Kulkul v i ci Abu

, , ,

Haraz t o r endezvou s at a cer t ain s po t and co opera t e in the

,
-

at t ack .

In compliance with thi s order I left Dara with two ‘

hundred and twenty regular s and s ixty B a z i n g e r s and

marching v i d Manawa s hi reached Niur n i a ’
a r u n s s trong H ,

H
,

hold in Jebel Marra to fi n d it evacuated The morning

, .

after my arrival I s tarted O with a portion of my force in

,

s earch of Harun but had b een gone only a few minute s

,

when I heard rapid h ring from the direction of Niu r n i a ,

and ga110ping back found the party I had left behind heavily
,

engaged with a ho s t ile force which I s oon r ecogni s ed a s ,

28 FIR E A ND S WORD IN HS UD
T E A N
t he de t achment of t roop s s en t to my a s s i s tance fr om R l
F a s her bu t which had failed to arrive in time at t he
,

r endezvou s ; and advancing on Niu r n i a which they had ‘

,

s een w a s occupied they had opened fi r e li t tle thinking that

, ,

they were s howering bullet s on thei r comrade s I had no .

s mall di ffi c u lt in s topping the h ring which had already

y ,

re s ulted in a lo s s of s even killed and eleven wounded whil s t ,

a bullet had pa s s ed through my coat and my hor s e had

been wounded in two place s

H
.

W e remained ten day s at Niu r n i a and a s I could get no ,

’
accura t e new s of a r un s movement s I decided to re t urn .

O n our way back we pa s s ed through s everal village s and

took the people entirely by s urpri s e for they had not ex ,

p ec te d u s from the we s t Mo s t of
. the men had been
collect ed by Sultan Harun and tho s e who could e s cape to
,

the hill s did s o but my men c a ptured about thirty women ,

whom we took along with u s for a s hort di s tance In one .

village the people were s o completely s urpri s ed t hat few of

them had time to fly and s eeing that they were only women
,

I s ounded the h alt in order to give them a chance of

,

getting away I then formed up the men on the road s o

.
,

a s to prevent them s cattering through the village and in ,

thi s formation we marched o n One poor woman I noticed .

, ,

in her hurry to e s cape had left her t wo children on a rock

, ,

while s h e her s elf fled like a gazelle up the mountain s ide .

Going to the rock I found two pretty babie s quite naked

, ,

but with s tring s o f coral round their wai s t s and neck s

'
.

They were a s black a s raven s and probably t win s about ,

eighteen mon t h s old Di s mounting I went up to them

.
, ,
’
and they began to cry and cling to each other s o taking ,

them in my arm s I told my s ervant to bring me s ome s uga r

,

from my travelling bag Thi s pa c i fi e d them at once and

- .
, ,

s miling through their tear s they munched what to them

,

w a s probably the nice s t thing they had ever ta s ted in their

little live s Then taking two of the red handkerchiefs ( a
.
,

s upply of which I genera l ly carried about to o ffe r a s pre

s ent s I wrapped the babie s up in them laid them down on

, ) ,
 R ESIDEN CE I N DA RF U R 29

the rock again and moved on s ome di s tance L ooking

, .

back I s a w a human being evidently the mother c r eeping

, , ,

down the rock s Then j oyfully s eizing her little one s whom
.
,

s h e thought perhap s s h e had lo s t for ever s h e fondled them ,

mo s t lovingly She had got back her naked trea s ure s

.

clothed in lovely garment s and licking their little black lip s

,

all s ticky with their fea s t of s ugar .

A few day s afte r thi s little epi s ode and when we were ,

s till s ome di s tance from Dara new s reached me that during ,

my ab s ence Harun had s uddenly de s cended on the town ,

which he had pillaged and had made o ff again towa r d s the

,

hill s with a quantity of s poil and many women captive s .

A s certaining that he c ould not be far o ff and procuring ,

guide s from the neighbourhood I s e t o ff in pur s uit and , ,

’
when about two day s march s outh ea s t of El F a s her came -
,

up with h i s force little s u s pecting they were pur s ued I

,
.

s ucceeded in approaching almo s t unnoticed and falling upon

H
,

them s uddenly I utterly routed them capturing quantitie s

, ,
’
of arm s be s ide s liberating all the women captive s
, a r un s .

hor s e w a s s hot under him but he him s elf with a few , ,

follower s e s caped only to fall a few day s later at the hand s

, ,

of the Kulkul troop s under Nur Angara and with h i s death ,

the revolt s peedily died out and peace wa s once mo r e ,

re s to r ed to the country .

O n my return to Dara I received a letter from Ge s s i

P a s ha in Bahr e l Ghazal informing me that Dr R W
, , . . .

F e lki n and the Re v C T W il s on of the Engli s h Church

. . .
,

Mi s s ionary Society were on their way from U ganda to

,

Khartum a i d Dara and with them were s ome W aganda

, ,

envoy s s ent by King M te s a to H er Maj e s ty the Queen of

England Ge s s i begged me to give them all help on thei r
.

journey and s aid that they were leaving for Dara on the
,

date he wa s writing They reached Da r a a few day s late r

.
,

and I greatly enjoyed thei r s hort s tay with me .

All they told me wa s of immen s e int ere s t and I too wa s , , ,

able to give them the late s t information from Eu rope which , ,

t hough month s old wa s n ews to them

, .
30 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HS UD
E A N
One morning I wa s told much t o my amu s ement that , ,
’
the s ight of a camel had cau s ed Mte s a s envoy s s uch alarm
’
that they had fled ‘W ell s aid I to Dr F e lkin a s you
.
, .
,

have to make the r e s t of you r journey on camel back it i s -

,

a dvi s able your men s hould get into the way of i t ; s o if you

courage to the te s t ’
H
will get them together I will s end for a camel and put t hei r
e went o ff and I s ent for a camel
.

belonging to one of the merchant s which wa s very big and

,

fat B y thi s time the envoy s and othe r s had arrived and
.
,

the camel appearing s uddenly r ound a corne r cau s ed almo s t

, ,

a s tampede It w a s only the s ight of the unconcern of Dr

. .

F elkin and my s elf which kept them from bolting a s hard a s

.

their leg s could carry them Dr F e lk i n explained to them . .

that the camel wa s a mo s t patient and docile animal on ,

which they would have to make the remainde r of their

j ourney to Egypt and that there wa s no cau s e for fear ;
,

s till they kept a re s pectful di s tance from the alarming bea s t ,

and when I t old my kava s s to mount and make it get up

and s it down their a s toni s hment w a s boundle s s At length
, .

one more courageou s than the re s t voluntee r ed to moun t

, ,

timorou s ly approaching th e animal he wa s a s si s te d into the ,

s addle and having s afely got through the operation of ri s ing

, ,

with a beaming counten ance he s urveyed h i s friend s from

h i s lofty s eat and proceeded to make a s peech to them on
,

the plea s u r e s of camel riding Apparently he had invited

-
.

them to s hare the s e plea s ure s with him for s uddenly with , ,
’
out a moment s warning they ru s hed at the poo r animal in ,

a body and began to s warm up i t Some tried to mount

, .

by the neck ot h ers by the tail and half a dozen o r so clung

, ,

to the s addle trapping s F or a moment the camel s eemed

-
.

s tu pe fi e d by thi s s udden attack but recovering i ts pre s ence ,

of mind it n o w la s hed out in all direction s and in a moment

, ,

had freed it s elf completely from every unfortunate W aganda

who had been bold enough to approach i t I do not think .

I ever laughed s o much in my l i fe The s e people evidently .

took the poor animal for a mountain but the s ho ck s they ,

experienced when the mountain began t o heave so te r r i fi e d

 R ESID EN CE IN DA R F UR 31

them that for long they would not come nea r i t However .
,

fi r s t one and then another s ummoned up courage to mount ,

and by the time they left Dara they were all fairly pr o fi ci e n t
in the art of camel riding - .

I had in my hou s ehold s everal young boy s who had been

taken from the s lave t r ader s and a s Dr F e lkin had no
-
, .

take one of them H

s ervant to atte n d on him per s onally I s ugge s te d he s h oul d

e accepted the o ffer gladly s o I h a n d e d

.

over to him a bright little F e r ti t boy called Ka ps un whom

,

he agreed to bring up in Europe Two year s and a half .

later I r eceived at El F a s her a le t ter written in Engli s h

, ,

by little Ka ps un thanking me for allowing him to g o with

,

Dr F elkin to a country where everyone w a s s o good and

.

’
s o kind and s aying that he had adopted the Chri s tian reli
,

gion and wa s the happie s t boy in the world he al s o s ent

,

me h i s photograph in European clothe s .

The time for the depa rture of my two friend s came all too
s oon for me but they were anxiou s to get o n
, and mounted ,

on their camel s they left for Khartum v i ci T o w e i sh a .

Some time later I received a letter from Me s s e da g li a

.

t elling me that he wa s leaving fo r Khartum to fetch h i s

wife No s ooner had he reached that place than he got
.

into s ome d iffi c ulty with the authoritie s and wa s di s charged ,

and h is place a s Governor General of Darfur wa s taken by -

Ali Bey Sherif formerly Governor General of Ko r dofan

,
-
.

It wa s about the clo s e of 1 8 7 9 o r ea r ly in 1 8 8 0 that I

'

r eceived a letter from General Gordon writte n in F rench ,

s ome two month s previou s ly from n ear Dabra Tabor in ,

Aby s s inia Although thi s letter wa s de s troyed many yea r s

.

a g o I can r emember almo s t the exact word s W hich were a s

, ,

follow s

D
H E RS
A

av
L AT I N ,

my i ion t o King John I wanted

m g fi n i sh e d

t o re t urn the ame way that I came but when near Gallabat
s
m ss ,

,
’
I wa s overtaken by s ome of R a s Adal people who forced s ,

me to g o back and I a m t o be taken under e s co rt t o Ka s s ala

,
32 FIRE A ND S WORD IN T HS UD
E A N
and thence to Ma s s awa I have bu rnt all the compromi s ing .

document s King John will be di s appointed when he h u d s

.

he i s not ma s ter of h i s own hou s e .

Yo u r friend ,
’
C G O RD O N
. .

CHAPT E R III .

T HE GO V E R N M E NT OF DA RF U R .

Go ve rnm e n t Adm r M y Vi it t Kh a rtum A rri v l

ini tr ti n in
s a o Da a— s o — a

o f G i i Kh rtum I r turn W t wi th B i h o p C m b o i d
e ss n a —
e es s o n an

H
F th r O h w ld A m pp i t d G o v rn r G n r l o f D rfur
a e r a e r— a o n e e o - e e a a

ti l i ti
os be tw n th M h r i a d B d y t Ar b I p r e d
es ee e a e an e e a a s —
o ce

t th B d y t C untr y Str ng M nn r d Cu t m f th
H
—
o e e e a o a e a e s an s o s o e

B d y t S l h D
e e a —
ku d th
a e g li k T r T h C r m ny o f
on sa an e e ee— e e e o

t k ing th O th f F id li ty R turn t E1 F h r T ro ubl a t

'

a e a o e —
e o as e — es

Sh a kk a a d D th f E m i l i a ni I l v f
n ea D r o —
ea e or a a .

I W I LL now pa ss over the event s of the year 1 880 which ,

proved to be a fairly peaceful one in the Dara di s t rict .

During that period I bu s ied my s elf principally with the

admini s t rative a ffair s of the province per s onally vi s ited ,

almo s t every v illage and made the acquaintance of all t he ,

powerful Arab tribe s who were con s tantly on the verge of

wa r with each other and between whom I had frequently ,

to act a s mediator .

Towa r d s the clo s e of 1 8 8 0 I found I had s o many i m ,

portant matter s requiring the deci s ion of the Governo r

General that I applied for permi s s ion to come to Khartum ,
’
and s e e R auf Pa s ha who on Gordon s departu r e had , , ,

s ucceeded him My reque s t wa s approved and at the

.
.

beginning of 1 8 8 1 I quitted Dara and reached Kha rtum a ,

fortnight later .

Here I found Z ur b uc h e n who welco m ed me hea rt ily , ,

a n d ca r ried me o ff a s h i s gue s t to a hou s e nea r the R oman

Catholic Mi s s ion which had belonged to the late L atif,

D e b o n o a Malte s e and a well known s lave deale r

, ,
- - .

During my st ay in Kha rtum I had frequent t alk s wi t h

'
,
34 FIR E A ND S WOR D I N - THE S UDA N
n e s s the Khedive Mohammed T e wfi k Pa s ha to appoint
, ,

me Governor Gene r al of Darfur with the title of Bey I

-
, .

t hanked him for h is kind word s and a s s ured him that I ,

s hould do my utmo s t to j u s tify h i s c o n fi de n c e in me .

R auf Pa s ha now a s ked me to s tate in writing that I would

be re s pon s ible for the future good behaviour of Nur ; and
thi s I did gladly feeling convinced that after all my trouble
, ,

on h i s behalf the man would prove loyal and faithful O n

, .

returning to my hou s e I s ent for Nur who had s pent two , ,

day s of s u s pen s e dreading that h i s di s charge would be

,

r efu s ed and when I told him the good news he fell at my ,

feet and poured out h i s gratitude in the mo s t voluble term s

,
.

I felt that he wa s a man of honour and t hat I could t r u s t ,

him : little did I know that I had taken a s nake in t o my

bo s om .

My s hort s tay in Kha r tum pa s s ed r apidly in the com

pany of my many friend s Bi s hop C o m b o n i and F ather s .

O h r wa l de r and D i c h tl had a r r ived from Cairo toward s t he

end of January 1 88 1 a s well a s H a s s an Pa s ha the chief
, , ,

of the F inancial Depa rtmen t Bu s ati Bey Con s ul Han s al , , ,

and other s O h r wa l de r and D i ch tl put up in my quarter s

.
,

and many a long talk u s ed we to have over our own beloved

count r y .

O n 2 sth January 1 8 8 1 Ge s s i arrived at Khartum very

, ,

s eriou s ly ill During h i s j ourne y from Me s hra e r R e k he

.
,
’
had been hemmed in by the Sud s or barrier s of fl o a tin g ,

vegetation through which traveller s mu s t a t time s o ut thei r

,

way with axe s F o r three month s and more he had s t ruggled

.

hopele s s ly to make h i s way through them and t he terrible

H
,

s u ffering s undergone by him and h i s men through famine

and s ickne s s are almo s t inde s cribable e lo s t the maj ority

H
.

of h i s men and crew and act s of cannibali s m were of daily

,

occ urrence . e wa s at length re s cued by M arno in the

'

s t eamer B o r dez n and brought to Khartum where he wa s

, ,

mo s t carefully t ended by the Mi s s ion s i s ter s but the s hock

'

to h i s s y s tem had b een s o great that he could not r ecove r

h i s s t rength de s pite every e ffo r t made by D r Z ur b uc h e n
, . .
 T H E G O VE RN M EN T OF D A R F UR 35

It wa s at length decided to try and s end h i m to Egypt and ,

H
we made all arrangement s to make h i s j ourney a s c omfort
able a s po s s ible e w a s particularly anxiou s to take with
.

him h i s s ervant Alma s who happened to be a eunuch ; but

,

Rauf Pa s ha fearing that it might create a s candal and that

, ,

s tricture s might be pa s s ed on h i s government of the Sudan ,

for a long time refu s ed permi s s ion fo r him to ge Yi eld in g t

,

however to the per s i s tence of Z ur b uch e n and my s elf he at

, ,

length authorized i t and on 1 1 th March we carried poor

,
’
Ge s s i in a s ort of litter to the Governor s da h a b i a in whi c h ,

he w a s towed to Berber ; t h ence he wa s carried acro s s to

Suakin where he arrived on r o th April and emba rking a

H
, , ,

fortnight later reached Sue z on the 2 8 th too weak almo s t

,
i
,

to move . e wa s taken to the F rench ho s pital whe r e he ,

expired two day s later .

Meanwhile matters in Darfur had not been progre s s ing

,

ve r y s ati s factorily Z o g a l Bey wrote that Omar W a d

.
,

Darb o had been conducting him s elf very badly at Shakka ,

and I s howed the r eport to R auf Pa s ha who telegraphed ,

that he wa s to return a t once to El F a s he r .

There being nothing to keep me I decided to return ,

and take up my new dutie s a s s oon a s po s s ible R auf .

Pa s ha placed a s teamer at my di s po s al and accompanied , ,

by Bi s hop C o m b o n i and F ather O h r w a lde r whom I promi s ed ,

to mount on my camel s a s far a s El Obeid we quitted ,

Khartum on 2 9 th March Con s ul Han s al M a r c o po li Be y

.
,
’

Z ur b uc h e n and Marquet travelled with u s in the s teamer

, ,

a s far a s Tura e l Hadra and here we bade them good bye

,
-
.

L ittle did I think tha t one only of that company s h o u l d I

ever meet again and under what s trange cir cum s tance s I
,

wa s once more to return to the capital of the Sudan I wa s .

very young the heavy re s pon s ibilitie s of my new and i m

,

portant po s ition occupied all my thought s and I wa s full of ,

high hope s for the future but fa t e had a s t range and terrible
de s tin y in s tore for me .

’
After fi v e day s march we reached El Obeid and from ,

her e the Bi s hop made a t our through Jebel N uba while ,

—
3 2
36 FIR E A N D S WOR D IN T HS UD
E A N
F athe r O h r wa lde r remained at El Obeid and w a s even t ually , .

s ent to the mi s s ion s tation of Delen in s outhern Kordofan , .

I s tayed in El Obeid a few day s only and having received , ,

telegraphic order s to proceed to F oga I bid my two friend s ,

farewell One of them the good Bi shop I wa s de s tined

.
— —

never to s e e again ; he died in Khart um on 1 0 th October ,

1 88 1
. The other m y dear friend O h r wa lde r like my s elf
— —
,

w a s s oon t o g o through many s trange a n d horrible e xpe r i

e n ce s before we were again to meet a s fellow captive s of the -

a s yet unknown Mahdi who w a s s hortly to overthrow every

,

ve s tige of Government authority in the Sudan .

O n quitting E l Obeid I proceeded with all de s patch to ,

Dara and thence to El F a s her where I arrived on 2 oth

, ,

A pril Here I found the Government admini s tration in a

.

s tate of g r eat confu s ion and it took me s ome month s to

,

e s tabli s h even a s emblance of law and order in my new

Gove r norate ; but by continually travelling about and per ,

s o n a l ly s e e l n g into matter s I attained s ome mea s ure of ,

s ucce s s and w a s full of hope for the future

, .

Hitherto I had been unable to vi s it the nort h we s tern

,
-

part of the province and the news of a fi g h t having occur r ed

,

between the M a h e r ia and B e de ya t Arab s furni s hed a good

pretext for a j ourney to the s e almo s t unknown di s trict s .

About the middle of December 1 88 1 I left El F a s h er with , ,

two hundred infantry and s ome irregular Shaigia caval r y ,

under Omar W a d D a r h o .

The fi r s t night after leaving El F a s he r we camped n ea r

the Mig do b well s about halfw ay to Kobb e ; and when it
,

w a s d ark I happened to s troll toward s t he well s a cc o m

, ,

n i e d by one of my attendant s I w a s dre s s ed in much

p a .

the s ame way a s the s oldier s and it wa s too dark for me to ,

be recogni s ed ; I therefore came clo s e to the well and ,

watched the women drawing water Some Shaigia now .

came up to wate r their hor s e s and a s ked the women fo r ,

their bucke t s which they refu s ed to give

, W e s hall fi r s t .

’ ’
h ll ou r jar s they s aid ,
and then you can u s e the bucket s
, .

‘You r word s are a s a puni s hment s ent from God replie d ’

,
 H
T E G O VE R N M EN T OF DA R F UR 37

one of th e Shaigia ; thi s i s the re s ult of bringing liberty

into the country B y Allah ! were it not s o and were not
.
,

Slatin with u s you and your ve s s el s would very s oon be

,
’
our property . God grant him a long life wa s the retort
and I s trolled quietly away thoroughly plea s ed to have
,

heard with my own ear s an admi s s ion fr om the m o uth/s n f

Sudane s e that they were thankful t o the European s for
having relea s ed them from the oppre s s ion and violence
which had hitherto charac t erized t he s y s tem of governmen t
in thi s country .

W hen abou t half a day s march beyond Ke b k e b ia we

’
,

were overtaken by s ome mounted me s s engers de s patched ,

‘
by Adam Omar with a F rench cipher me s s age from
,

’
Ma r c o po li Bey in the Governor General s name which
,
-
,

h a d been s ent to F oga whence it had been po s ted on to

,

Ke b k e b i a v i d El F a s her I t ran a s follow s : A Dervi s h

‘

named Mohammed Ahmed h a s without ju s t cau s e attacked , ,

R a s hed Bey near Gedir Ra s hed B e y and h i s t roop s have

.

been annihilated Thi s revolt i s very s eriou s Take th e

. .

nece s s ary s tep s to prevent malcontent s in your province

’
from j oining thi s Dervi s h I s ent an immediate an s wer a s
.
,

follow s : Your me s s age received I s h a ll ta k e the nece s s ary

.

’
s tep s to comply with your order s .

Some time previou s ly I had been t old priva t ely tha t a

‘

religiou s Sheik h had been cau s ing diffi c u lty to the Govern
ment b y calling on the native s to re s i s t authority A s .
,

however I had heard nothing of the matter o ffi c i a lly I

, ,

concluded it had been s ati s factorily s ettled ; but now thi s

annihilation of the Mudir Ra s hed Bey and h i s t roop s wa s
evide n tly a matter of grave import The movement mu s t .

have s uddenly a s s umed large dimen s ion s ; but who would

have dreamt the re s ul t s would have been s o t errible and s o
wide s pread !
Having s tarted on thi s expedition I could not now well ,

give it up without exciting mi s tru s t ; but I determined to

bring it t o a s ucce s s ful i s s ue with the lea s t po s s ible delay .

It i s a s tra n ge fact that the B e de ya t although completely ,

38 FIR E A N D S W OR D IN T HS UD
E A N
s urrounded by Mo s lem s tate s and people s are almo s t the ,

only t ribe in thi s part of Cen t ral Africa who s till adhere t o
thei r old heathe n cu s tom s If their chi e fs are a s ked by .

Mohammedan s to repeat the creed they can s a y There ,

.
,
’
i s no God bu t God and Mohammed i s h i s P r o ph e t But '

, .

beyond thi s they know nothing ; they are utterly ignorant

of the precept s of the Kuran and never pray a s Mo s lem s , .

U nder the wide s preading branche s of an enormou s b eglik

tree and on a s pot kept beautifully clean and s prinkled with
,

fi n e s and the B e de ya t be s eech an unknown god to direct

,

them in t heir under t aking s and to protect them from danger, .

They have al s o religiou s fea s t s at uncertain date s when ,

they a s cend the hill s and on the extreme s ummit s which

, ,

are whi t ewa s hed they o ffer s a cr i fi ce s of animal s They

, .

are a fi n e s talwart r a ce v e r y dark in colour wi t h s t raigh t

, ,
'

feature s a thin no s e and s mall mouth and re s emble Arab s

, ,

more t han neg r oe s The women are fam ed fo r t heir long

.

fl o wi n g hai r and there are s ome great beautie s among s t

,

them a s one often fi n ds among s t the free Arab t ribe s

, .

They generally wear s kin s of animal s round their wai s t s

and loin s ; but the higher cla s s and their women dre s s in
lon g flo win g robe s made of white Darfur cotton cloth .

Their food i s very plain Corn doe s not grow in thei r .

country and i s almo s t unknown to them They t ake the

,
.

s eed s of the wild pumpkin which grow s the r e in abundance , ,

and they s oak them in wooden ve s s el s made from the bark

of tree s After t aking the outer s hell s o ff they leave the
.
,

s eed s to s teep until they lo s e their bitterne s s and then , ,

s training t hem 0 5 and mixing them with date s they grind ,

them into a s ort of flour which i s cooked with mea t and , ,

form s the principal food of the coun t ry .

They have al s o mo s t s t r ange cu s tom s a s rega r d s in h e r i

t ance and s ucce s s ion The cemeterie s are generally s it uated
.

a t s ome di s t ance from the village s and when a father die s ,

the body i s taken by all the relative s to be buried The .

ceremony ove r on a given s ignal they all ru s h t ogether a t

,
’
the top of their s peed to the decea s ed s hou s e and he who ,
 FIR E A N D S W OR D I N T HS UD
E A N
and s kin s s tood s ome way behind while Saleh D o n k us a
, ,

s eated him s elf clo s eto the Sheikh s and the in t erprete r The .

s poke s man Gar e n N ebbi now addre s s ed the interp r ete r

, ,
‘
’
with the word s Kur s i Sellem to which the latt er an s wered ,
’
Sellem indicating that he w a s ready to tran s late and he
,

then began : W e belong to the B e de ya t trib e and ou r ,

father s and grandfather s have paid tribute t o the Sul t an s

of Darfur every two o r th r ee year s when an o ffi ce r wa s s en t
to collect i t You Turk s have now s ubdued the F u r s and
.

have conquered th e co untry and you have neve r before ,

a sked u s to pay tribu t e You [ Sla t in] a s ou r friend and

.
—

bro t her Saleh D o n k u s a h a s informed u s are the rule r of —

thi s coun t ry and in token of s ubmi s s ion we have brough t

,

you t en ho r s e s ten camel s a n d forty cow s Do you t her e

, , .
,
’
fore fi x th e amount of tribute to be paid by u s
,
.

It w a s now my t u rn to s p e ak s o repea t ing t he Ku r s i , ,

’
Sell e m I began
,
I thank you for you r s ubmi s s ion and I ,

am only going to demand a s mall tribu t e ; but I have

s pecially come here to call on you to re t u r n the camel s you

s tole from the M a h e r i a and r elea s e the pri s oner s you

,
’
captured Gar e n Nebbi after a s ho rt pau s e replied :
.
, ,

Since the time of our forefathers we have been in con s t an t

feud with the variou s Arab tribe s If we fi g h t and take .

pri s oner s it i s our cu s tom to allow them to b e ran s omed

,
-
.

’
W e have often before relea s ed Ma h e r i a captive s I r e fe r r e d .

to Sheikh H a s aballa to a s k if thi s wa s s o and he an s wered ,

in the affi rmative ; and then I a s ked whe t he r he had ever

done s o s ince th e Egyptian Government had t aken po s s e s
s ion of the country or whether he refe r red to th e period in
,

which they were ruled by the Darfur Sultan s Before you .

’ ‘
conquered the country he an s we r ed but only two year s
, ,

ago the M a h e r i a invaded our country ; we repul s ed them

,
’
and drove them out s o that they returned empty handed
,
-
.

I looked at H a s aballa and s a w fr om

,
h i s s ilence that the
’
B e de ya t w a s tell ing the truth That may be s o I .
,

‘
an s wered but at that time I wa s not governing thi s
,

country I a m well aware tha t in t ho s e day s you did what

.
 T H E G O VER NM EN T OF DA R F U R 41

you though t wa s right and I do not in any way blame you

,

fo r i t ; but a s I a m now your ma s ter I wi s h you t o act in ,

acco r dance wi t h my order s You s hould the r efo r e hand

.
, ,

ove r you r p r i s oner s bu t a s the Ma h e r ia previou s ly attacked

you t hen I o r der t ha t in s t ead of re t urning them all the
,

camel s you took you can retain half a s a reward for your
, ,

bravery in having prevented them from pil lagin g y our

’
count r y A long pau s e now took place and the four
.
,

Sheikh s di s cu s s ed t he matte r be t ween them s elve s Gar e n .

Ne b b i th e n an s wered W e s hall comply with your order s

'

but a s it will t ake a long time to collect the camel s which ,

are s catt ered th r oughout t he country it will be ea s ie r for u s ,

‘ ’ ‘
to relea s e the Then look s harp s aid I and , ,

ca r ry out the s e orde r s a s s oon a s po s s ible ; a n d when you

have done s o I will relea s e you from t he paymen t of thi s
,
’
yea r s t r ibute I can qui t e under s t and t hat it may cau s e
.

you s ome di ffi culty to return the camel s and pay your t a x e s

’
a s well .

Thi s arrangement apparently quite sa ti s fi e d t hem and ,

they thanked me profu s ely ; s o I a s ked them to s tay with

u s till the following day and Saleh would look after all their
,

want s Then mounting our hor s e s I gave the command

.
, ,

to the t roop s to fi r e three volley s which te r r ifi e d t he poor

,

B e de y a t who had s carcely ever s een fi r e a r m s

, Telling .

Saleh to bring the Sheikh s before me the next morning a t

the s ame hour I galloped o ff with my e s cort to the camp
, .

During the day I bu s ied my s elf in con s idering how be s t

t o get back to El F a s her without endangering the s ucce s s
of my pre s en t expedition I could not wait until the B e de ya t
had collected and handed over their captive s ; moreover I ,

wa s di s turbed about the condition of the wate r s kin s s upplied -

by the M a h e r i a and blamed H a s aballa s everely for furni sh

,

ing s uch bad equipment Next morning when the Sheikh s .

,

arrived I a s ked them if they had yet de s patched men to

, \

collect the pri s oner s and camel s ; and when they an s wered
’
No I replied in an irritated tone that I coul d not po s s ibly
,

wait to s e e my order s carried out To thi s Gar e u Nebbi .

 42 FIR E A N D S WO R D IN T HS UD E A N
a n s we r ed Ma st e r we a r e he r e to car r y out you r orde r s ;
, ,

you can return and we s hall deliver over t he men and

,

animal s to Saleh D o n k u sa and H a s aballa who i s r emaining ,

‘ ’
a s h i s gue s t
"
. I have anothe r p r opo s al t o make s aid I , .

I do not doubt you r s incerity and loyalty but I a m anxiou s ,

t o know you bette r per s onally ; I wi s h therefore you and , ,

any other s you may de s ire t o bring with you s hould a cco m
pany me to R I F a s he r and a t the s ame time tell your r e pr e
,
‘

s e n ta ti v e s to collect the men and animal s and hand them ,

over to Ha s aballa who i s s taying with D o n k u sa W hen I

, .

hear at E1 F a s her that thi s h a s been done I s hall t hen s end ,

you back to your country laden with rich pre s ent s You .

have neve r vi s ited E1 F a s her yet and you will be intere s t ed

‘
,

to s e e the s eat of Government and under s tand i ts power ,

a n d I s ince r ely tr u s t that you and Saleh will concu r with

my p r opo s a l ; you will be so plea s ed with all you will se e

that in futu r e I know you will alway s comply mo st readily
’
with my o r de r s .

Saleh at once an s wered t hat he though t the propo s al a

very good one and that he w a s content to s tay behind a s
, ,

he had already s een El F a sher I sa w by the face s of the .

B e de ya t that the idea plea s ed them and after a long , ,

palaver among s t them s elve s t hey made up thei r mind s to ,

accompany me Knowing t ha t the s ooner they carried out

.

my order s about the return of the captive s and camel s the

s ooner they would s t art t hey lo s t no time in nominating
,

good men a s thei r repre s en t ative s with the tribe and s elect , ,

ing s i x men a s their attendan t s they announced they we r e ,

ready to leave ; bu t before s t a rting t hey wi s hed to s wea r

, ,

the oath of fi de lity in which of cour s e I readily ac quie s ced

, , , .

’
The ceremony wa s performed a s follow s : A hor s e s s addle
wa s brought and placed in the mid s t of the a s s embly and ,

on thi s wa s laid a large ear thenware di s h fi lle d with b urning

charcoal ; a lance wa s then fi xe d to the s addle and t he ,

head Sheikh s with their attendant s now came forward

, , ,

and s tretching out their hand s over the lance and burning
,

cha rcoal they recited the following word s with grea t

,
 H
T E G O VER NM EN T OF DA R F U R 43

s olemnity ‘May
my leg neve r touch t he s addle may my
, ,

body be s mitten with the lance that kill s and may I be ,

con s umed by the burning fi r e if I ever break t he s olemn

,
’
oath of fi de lity which I now make to you .

After t hi s s olemn declara t ion I had now no doub t of the

,

loyalty and hone s ty of t he s e people .

That afte r noon I gave the order to s tart and accompanied , ,

by the four B e de ya t chiefs and their at t endant s we left ,

Kamo having given Saleh and Ha s aballa mo s t s t rict i n

,

junct ion s to info r m me without delay when the t ribe had

complied with my i n s truction s Anxiou s to reach E1 F a s her
.

withou t fu r ther delay I left the Sheikh s in charge of the

,

infantry telling the o ffi ce r s to do all tha t wa s po s s ible t o

,

make their j ourney comfortable ; and then accompanied by ,

Oma r W a d D a r h o and my Shaigia e s co r t I se t o ff a t a ,

r apid pace .

The fi r s t information I received on arrival at E1 F a s he r

at S h akka H
W a s the s a d new s of the s udden death of E miliani Danzige r
e had formerly been Mamur of Kobb e bu t

H
.
,

I had s ent fo r him to repre s ent the Governmen t in Southern

Darfur . e had been s u ffering from h eart di s ea s e fo r year s ,

and at la s t it had carried h i m o ff h i s o ffi ci a ls who did not ,

unde rs tand the s uddenne s s of the di s ea s e thought they ,

might be s u s pected of poi s oning him and had at once ,

brought h i s body on a camel to Dara wh ere the apothecary

H
,

held a rough post m or tem examination and c e r ti fi e d t hat ,

death had occurred from natural cau s e s i s body wa s .

buried at Dara and I afterward s had a s tone erected to

,

commemorate my poor coun t ryman who had died in thi s

di s tant land .

I next lea rnt that s ome tr ouble had ari s en at Shakka

’

which would oblige me to g o to Dara for a few day s D i s .

quieting rumour s al s o r eached u s of the s ta t e of affai r s in

Kordofan a n d Khartum ; h owever it w a s generally though t in,

Government circle s that the revolt would be s peedily cru s hed

by the military expedition de s patched for thi s purpo s e .

A few d ay s later the troop s with the B e de ya t Sheikh s

 FIR E A N D S WORD IN T HS UD E A N
arrived and in order to impre s s them I orde r ed out all the
, ,

garri s on and in the evening we had a grand fi r e wo r k di s

,

play in their honou r I entru s ted the Mudir with looking .

after the comfort of my gue s t s but unfortunately I w a s not ,

able to s tay long wit h them A s s oon a s the hor s e s were .

s u ffi c i e n tl
y re s ted I s tarted o f
f again for Dara accompanied ,

by Darb o and h i s two hundred Shaigia s leaving Said Bey ,

Guma a s commandant and repre s entative of the Govern

ment during my ab s ence .

C HAPT E R I V .

T HH E K A LI F ’
A S P E R ON L
S A A C C O U NT OF T HR I E S E OF T H E

M A H DI .

Ea rly L i f
rf
f M o h a m m e d A h m e d th e M a h d — T h e e
e

F r gi v n
e u se d o
o

M o h a m m e d A h m e d ua e s w th h i s R e
e e ss j in
and o ri v l
s a a
l i gi
ik
Sh e h —
o us T a r i k a s

q rr l
p ri r
o u s Su e

e is
o —

j in byo ed
e is
,

i
i
H H
r l i gi
,

A b d ll h i t T
u i h i Th
a M h di
e r tly t ll A bd ll h i f h i
aa s —
e a se c e e s u a o s

D i v in M i i n T h F i l r t i z M h m m d A h m d A bb
H u e

H
— e o se o a e
e ss o a e e on a

I l d Th M h d i
s an — j ir t J b l G d ir
e a
’
s n i t hi e a o e e e —
e om na es s

Kh l i f aTh D f t f R h d B y
a s— e d Y f P h Sh l l li
e ea o as e e an u se as a e a

Efl t f th M h d i Vi t ri in K rd f n T h M h d i I trig
'
’ ’
ec o e a s c o es o o a —
e a s n ue s

wi th th Inh b it nt f E l O b i d F ti l i ty f th St p t k n by
e a a s o e — u o e e s a e

th G v rnm nt t
e o p with th R v l t
e e o co e e e o .

T Hrevol t rai ed
E by t he s o called Dervi s h proved to be of
s -

a very s eriou s n ature .

Thi s man Mohammed Ahmed wa s born nea r t he I s land

, ,

of Argo in Dongola and wa s of a poor and ob s cure family

, , ,
’
bu t who claimed to be A s hraf or de s cendant s of the ,
’
P r ophet Their claim s to thi s dignity however were not , ,

H
.

inquired in t o or acknowledged by anyone I n general he .

w a s known a s a Dongolawi i s father w a s an ordi n ary .

h ki or religiou s teacher and had given him h i s early i n

, ,

s truction in reading the Kuran and in writing and when ,

s till a child had taken him to Khartum but he him s elf had ,

died on h i s j ourney near Ke r r e r i and here h i s s o n s ub, ,

46 FIR E A N D S WOR D I N T HS UD
E A N
’
t he Nile Mohammed Ahmed s grand uncle Mohammed -

H
.
,

Sha r h had re s ided on the i s land for s ome year s and the
, ,

young zealot had married h i s daughter i s two brother s .

,

Mo h a m m e d a n d H amed al s o l ived there drove a good , ,

trade in boat building and s upported the young h k i who

-
, ,

had hollowed out for him s elf a cave in the mud bank and -
,

lived he r e in almo s t entire s eclu s ion fa s ting often for days , ,

and occa s ionally paying a Vi s it to the head of the order to

a s s ure him of h i s devotion and obedience .

‘
O n e day it fell out that Mohammed Sh e r if a s i s the ,

cu s tom on s uch occa s ion s had gathered together h i s Sheikh s ,

and di s ciple s to celebrate the fea s t of the ci r cumci s ion of h i s

s on s ; he had al s o given out tha t h i s gue s t s might amu s e

them s elve s by s inging and dancing a s they liked and that ,

a s s uch fea s t s were occa s ion s of rej oicing he would pardon , ,

’
in God s name any s in s that might be committed during
,

t he fe s tivitie s which were contrary to the religiou s law .

Bu t the godly h ki Mohammed Ahmed pointed out to h i s

, ,

friend s that s inging dancing and playing were tr a n s g r e s

, ,

s io n s again s t the law s of God and that no man be he eve n , ,

Sheikh e t Ta r ika could fo rgive s uch s in s The s e view s

, . .

r eached the ear s of Mohammed She r if who entirely di s , ,

’
ag r eeing with Mohammed Ahmed s a r gument s and being ,

withal very angry at thi s a s s umption on the part of h i s

di s ciple called on him to j u s tify him s elf Con s equently
, .

M ohammed Ahmed in the pre s ence, of all the infe r ior

Sheikh s and fi ki s came in the mo s t humble manner before
,

Mohammed Sherif and be s ought h i s forgivene s s Sherif .

,

however abu s ed him roundly called him a t r aito r and a

, ,

s edition monger who had broken h i s v o w of obedience and

-

fi de li ty and ignominiou s ly s truck him o ff the li s t of di s ciple s

,

of the Sa m m a n i a order .

Thoroughly humbled and s ubdued Mohammed Ahmed ,

n o w went to one of h i s r elative s and a s ked him to make a

s h e b a fi a n d with thi s o n h i s n eck and h i s head be s prinkled

"
,

A sh e b a i a p i e c o f f rke d w o d wh i h i fi x d o n th n k by
s e o o c s e e ec

wa y o f p uni h m e nt a d in th i p o i ti o n i s v e ry p a inful
s , n s s .
 RISE HMA HDI
OF T E 47

wit h a s he s he again returned in deep repentance to Moham

,

med Sherif begging h i s forgivene s s The latter however

,
.
, ,

utterly refu s ed to have anything further to s a y to him and

-
,

Abba . e H
in de s pair Mohammed Ahmed r etu r ned to h i s family in
held the founder s of the Sa m m a n i a o r der
Sheikh s Nu r c d Dayem and e t Tayeb in the greate s t
,

re s pect and to be removed with ignominy from h i s be lo ve d

,
—

t a r ika wa s a di s grace too ha r d to be borne Shortly after .

ward s Mohammed Sherif happened to be i n t he neighbour

hood and again Mohammed Ahmed appeared before him
,

in the s heba and a s he s and once mo r e implored forgive ,

n ess. B e o ff you traitor,

s houted Mohammed Sherif .

Ge t away you w r etched Dongolawi who fear s not God

, ,

and oppo s e s h i s ma s ter and teache r ! You have v e r ifi e d

the word s of the s aying Ed Dongolawi Shaitan m ug a lle d ,

b ig i ld e l in s an ( The Do n golawi i s the devil in t he s kin of

a man ) B y your word s you try to s p r ead di s s en s ion
.

amongs t the people B e o ff with yo u ! I s hall n eve r for

.

give you
Kneeling in s ilence h i s head bowed low Moh a mmed , ,

Ahmed li s tened t o the s e s cathing word s then ri s ing he , ,

wen t s adly away Tear s s t r eamed down h i s cheek s bu t

.
,

they were not now tear s of r epentance R age and ange r .

burned within him and the s e feeling s were heightened by

,

the knowledge of h i s powerle s s ne s s to do anything by which

to wipe out thi s di s grace and in s ult Boiling ove r with .

indignation he re t urned to h i s home and announced to h i s

,

faithful di s ciple s that he had been fi n a lly abandoned by

Mohammed Sherif and that he now intended to apply to
,

Sheikh e l Ko r e i sh i who lived near M e s s a lla m i a to receive

, ,

him in t o h i s order Thi s Sheikh had s ucceeded the holy

.

Sheikh e t Tayeb the grandfa t her of Mohammed She r if and

, ,

wa s one of tho s e authorized to maintain a n d teach the

Sa m m a n i a doctrine s a s he con s idered right and on thi s ,

account there wa s con s ide r able j ealou s y be t ween him a n d

Mohammed Sherif .

’
In due time Sheikh e l Ko r e s h i s reply wa s r eceived i
,
 FIR E A N D S WORD I N T HS UD
E A N
s aying that he would accept him gladly Mohammed .

Ahmed and h i s di s ciple s now made all preparation s to pro

c e e d to M e s s a lla m i a and were on t he point of s t arting whe n
,

a me s s age wa s received from Moh ammed Sherif directin g

him to appear before him when he would give him a full
,

pardon and pe r mit him to re s ume h i s old function s ; but to

,

thi s Mohammed Ahmed s ent back a di g n i fi e d an s we r that

he felt perfectly innocent of any crime and s ough t no for ,

g i v e n e s s from him and that

, moreover he had ,no de s ire to ,

lower him in the eye s of the world by bringing about a

’
meeting between him and a wre t ched Dongolawi .

Sheikh Ko r e i s h i now received him with open a r m s and ,

the incident between the godly but cunning Mohammed

Ahmed and h i s late s piritual guide s pread far and wide in
the Sudan That an inferio r in a religiou s o r der s hould
.

have refu s ed the forgivene s s of h i s s uperior wa s an unhea r d

of proceeding ; but Mohammed Ahmed did n o t he s itate now
to proclaim openly that he had left h i s late s uperior becau s e
he could no lo n ger have any re s pect fo r a ma s ter who acted
contrary to the religiou s law And in thi s way he s ecured .

an immen s e amount of pu b lic s ympathy which brought h i s ,

name p r ominently forward and added con s iderably to h i s

,

pre s tige : Even in di s tant Darfu r the matte r wa s the p r in

c i pa l topic of conver s ation and h i s refu s al to accep t forgive
,

H
ne s s made him t he he r o of the hour
’
.

e obtained Sheikh Ko r e i s h i s permi s s ion to r e t u r n t o

Abba where he received vi s itor s from all part s who s ought

, ,

the ble s s ing of thi s holy man ; and common people now
crowded to the i s land s eeing in him a s ympathetic leade r
,

who wa s bold enough to openly defy h i s s upe riors

r eceived quantitie s of gift s and the s e he openly di s tributed
e . H
,

amongs t the poor thu s earning the epithet of Zahed ( the

H
,

renouncer or one who h a s renounced the good thing s of thi s

,

life)
. é then made a j ourney t hrough Kordofan where ,

the t own s and village s abound with religiou s fi ki s of the

mo s t ignorant and s uper s titiou s de s cription Among s t the m
he had an eno r mou s s ucce s s H
e al s o wrote a pamphlet
.
.

,
 RIS E OF T H H E MA
’
DI 49

which he di s tribu t ed among s t h i s s pecially tru s ted adherent s ,

s ummoning them a s true believer s to do all in their power

to purify th e religion wh ich w a s b e c oming deba s ed and,

in s ulted by the corruption of the Government and the utter ,

di s regard of th e o ffi c i a ls for th e tenet s of the true faith .

A few mon t h s late r the Sheikh e l Ko r e i s h i died and ,

Mohammed A h med and h i s di s ciple s lo s t no time in g oi ng

at once to Me s s a lla m ia where they erected a tomb o r , ,

dome to h i s memory
, .

It wa s while here that a certain Abdullahi bin Mohammed ,

of the T a a i s h a s ection of the Baggara ( c attle owning) tribe -

of s ou t h we s te r n Darfur pre s ented h im s elf to Mohammed

-
,

Ahmed and s ought permi s s ion to be admitted into the

,
‘
Sa m m a n i a Tarika ; h i s r e qu e s t w a s granted and Abdullahi ,

s wo re eternal fi de li ty to h i s new ma s ter Th i s man wa s .

the elde s t of the four s on s of Mo h ammed e t Taki of the ,

J ub e r a t divi s ion of the T a a i s h a t ribe which in i ts turn w a s

‘
de s cended from the Aulad um Sura ’
i s three o t he r
bro t her s were Yakub Yu s ef and Sum m a n i ; he al s o had a
,

. H
, ,

s i s ter named F atma The father wa s on bad term s with

.

h i s relative s and determined t o proceed on pilg r image with

,

h i s whole family t o Mecca where he re s olved t o s ettle and , ,

end h i s day s in clo s e proximity to the birthpl a ce of h i s

Prophet Tho s e who knew Et Taki de s cribed h i m a s a
.

good man s crupulou s in h i s attendance to h i s religiou s

,

dutie s and capable of curing di s ea s e s and in s anity by me a n s

,

of h e g g a b s or religiou s charm s ; he w a s al s o a t eacher of

,

the Kuran O f h i s s on s Abdullahi and Yu s ef were the

.
,

mo s t unmanageable and the father had the greate s t di ffi c u lty

,

in making them learn by heart even the few pa s s age s from

the Kuran nece s s ary for the ordina r y prayer s Yakub and .

’
Su m m a n i on t he other hand h a d more of their father s
, ,

quiet di spo s ition and having learnt their ver s e s and com
, ,

m e n ta r i e s were able to help him in h i s religiou s dutie s

, .

The family had it appears joined the F ur s in combating

, ,
’
Z ub e i r s entry to Darfur and the latter relate s how during , ,

the fi g h t at Shakka he took Abdullahi pri s oner and wa s

, ,

4
 FIR E A ND S WORD I N T HS UD
E A N
ab ou t to have him s ho t whe n s ome of the U lema c r aved,

pardon for him which he gran t ed Abdullahi in h i s g r ati

, .
,

tude s ub s equently s ought out Zubei r s ecretly a n d a n

, ,

n o u n c e d to him that he had h a d a d r eam m which i t had ,

been s hown to him that he wa s the expected Mahdi and ,

that he ( Abdullahi ) wa s to be one of h i s faithful follower s .

’ ‘
I t old h i m relate s Zubei r tha t I wa s not the Mahdi ;
, ,

but that when I became awa r e of the wickedne s s of the

Arab s and how they blocked the road s I came t o open
, ,
’
them and e s tabli s h trade .

Et Taki and the family qui tt ed thei r home when Zubei r

had concluded peace and tr avelling vi d Kalak a t o Shakka
, , ,

they had remained there two year s and had proceeded t hen ce ,
’
m d Dar Homr and R l Obeid to Da r Gimr where they t e ,

mained th e gue s t s of the head Sheikh fo r s ome m onth s a n d ,

wh ere Et Taki died and wa s bu r ied by the he a d Sheikh

, ,

A s a k e r Abu Kalam at Sh e r k éla , Before h i s dea t h he u r ged .

on h i s elde s t s o n Abdullahi to t ake r efuge with s ome

, ,

r eligiou s Sheikh on the Nile then immigrate to Mecca and , ,

n ever return again to their count r y .

L eaving h i s brother s and s i s ter unde r the ca r e of Sheikh

A s a k e r Abu Kalam in accordance with t he dying wi s he s of
,

h i s fa ther Abd ullahi s e t out for the Nile V alley ; and when
, ,

making inquirie s along the road he heard of t he di s s en s ion ,

between Mohammed Ahmed and h i s Sheikh Mohammed ,

She r if and he r e s olved to g o to the fo r me r and a s k him to

, ,

allow him to j oin the o r de r It wa s a very trouble s ome .

’
j ourney s aid Abdullahi bin Sayed Mohammed Khalifat c l
, ,

Mahdi ( h i s full name ) t o me s ome years later when he, ,

fi r s t became rule r of the Sudan ; for at t hat time he u s ed t o

talk openly t o me and had not learnt to mi s t r u s t me a s he
, ,

did latte r ly In tho s e day s a s I s hall s ub s equently relate

.
, ,

he would s end for me and chat with me alone by the hou r

, ,

s eated on h i s beautifully made angareb over which a palm -

,

mat wa s s pread whil s t I sa t be s ide him on the ground W ith

, ,

my leg s tucked up under me Ye s indeed i t wa s a very .

, ,
’
t rouble some j ourney he repe a t ed ,At t h a t ti m e my en t i r e .
 RISE OF T HMA HDI
E 51

p roperty con si s ted of one donkey and he had a gall on h i s ,

back s o that I could not r ide him ; but I made him carry
,

my water s kin and a bag of corn over which I s pread my

-
,

rough cotton garment and drove him along in fron t of me

, .

At that time I wore the wide cotton s hir t like t he re s t of ,

my tribe You remember i t do you not Abdel Kader ?

.
, ,

F o r you have only recently come from my beauti ful coun try
’
[ h e alway s u s ed to call me Abdel Kader unle s s there ,

happened t o be pre s en t another man of the s ame name ,

’
wh en he would call me Abdel Kader Saladin i a Slatin] , . .
,

My clothe s and my dialect a t once marked me out a s a

s tranger wherever I went ; and when I cro s s ed the Nile I ,

wa s frequently greeted with W hat do you want,

'
Go
back to your country ; there i s nothing t o s teal here The .

’
Nile peo ple do not think well of u s he continued becau s e , ,

the merchant s going we s t to Zubeir in Bahr e l Ghazal and ,

to our countrie s were frequently maltreated by the Arab s ;

,

and when I a s ked them where the Mahdi who w a s known

H
,

a s Mohammed Ahmed lived they gazed at me incredulou s ly

, , ,

s aying ,
W hat are you going to him for ?
“
e would not

s oil h i s lip s by even mentioning the name of your race .

Everyone however did not treat me in thi s way ; s ome

, ,

would take pity on me and direc t me Once when pa ss ing .

,

th r ough a village the people wanted t o take my donkey

,

away s aying that it had been s tolen from them the year
,
'

before and they would have s ucceeded had not an elder ly ,

and God fearing man interpo s ed and allowed me to pur s ue

-
,

my way I wa s continually mocked a n d hoo t ed at during

.

my long j ourney ; and had not a few people ou t of s heer

pity occa s ionally given me s ome food I mu s t have s tarved , .

A t length I r eached M e s s a lla m i a and here I fo u h d the ,

Mahdi bu s ily engaged in building the tomb of the la t e

Sheikh e l Ko r e i s h i O u s eeing him I en t irely forgot all the
.

trouble s I had s u ffered on my journey and wa s conten t to ,

s imply look at him and li s ten to h i s teaching F or s everal .

hour s I wa s too timid to dare to s peak to him but at length

I plucked up courage and in a few word s told him my s tor y
, ,

—
4 2
 FIR E A N D S WORD I N T HS UD
E A N
and about the s a d condition of my brother s and s i s te r and
I begged him for the s ake of God and i s Prophet to
,

allow me to become one of h i s di s ciple s e did s o and .

H
H
,

‘ ,

gave me h i s hand which I ki s s ed mo s t fervently and I

, ,

s wore entire s ubmi s s ion to h i m a s long a s I lived Thi s .

oath I kept mo s t s crupulou s ly until the angel of death ove r

took him and s ome day he will overtake u s and therefore ,
’
we s hould ever be ready to meet him .

Pau s ing for a moment he gazed at me and I a t once , ,

s aid
‘ Ye s indeed s ire you have faithfully kept your
, , , ,

promi s e and the L ord God Almighty h a s rewarded you ;

,

for you who at one time were de spi s ed and rej ected have
, ,

now become ab s olute lord and s overeign of thi s land Tho s e .

who in s ulted you at that time s hould indeed be thankful

that you have not wreaked vengeance on their head s A .

man capable of s uch re s traint mu s t indeed be the s ucce s s or

’
of the Prophe t Abdullahi I knew loved p r ai s e and
.
, ,

flattery and on thi s occa s ion I perhap s almo s t exceeded the

,

limit s ; but I wa s mo s t an xiou s that he s hould con t inue t o

t ell me h i s s tory .

’
W hen I had t aken t he oath con t inued Abdullahi the , ,

Mahdi called one of h i s di s ciple s named Ali and s aid to , ,

him ,
You a r e brethren from thi s day ; give each other
your mutual s upport tru s t in God and do you Abdullahi , , ,

obey the orde r s of you r brother Ali wa s very good to .

me ; he w a s a s poor a s my s elf but when the Mahdi s ent ,

h i m any food he alway s s hared it fairly with me

,
During .

the day we car ried brick s r equired for building the tomb ,

and at nigh t we s lept s ide by s ide In a month the dome .

w a s complete A t thi s time the Mahdi received hundred s

.

of vi s itor s and had lit t le time t o look at or think of me ;

,

s till I knew that I had found a place in h i s heart and he

, ,

appointed me one of h i s fi a g W hen we left

Me s s a lla m i a people flocked around u s to gaze a t the Mahdi
, ,

When r l i gio u
e s Sh e i kh s go o ut to pr e a ch , th e y are g n r lly
e e a pr e

ce d e d by m en b ring
ea fl a gs , on wh i ch t e xts fro m th e Kura n are

i ri b
n sc ed .
 FIR E A N D S W ORD I N T HS UD N
H
54 E A

u ed t o
e s about my family and s aid they had be t ter
a sk

H
,

r ema n i 1 n Kh o r do fa n for the pre s ent Tru s t in God wa s

.

alway s the la s t thing he s aid to me e now u s ed often to

H
.

come and talk privately with me and one day he int r u s t ed ,

me with the s ecret of h i s divine mi s s ion e wa s appointed .

a s Mahdi by God he s aid and had been taken by the

, ,

Prophet into the pre s ence of the apo stle s and s aint s Bu t .

long befo r e he intru s ted me with h i s s ecret indeed from —

,

—
t he fi r s t moment Lb e h e ld h i s face I knew that he w a s the
—

me s s enger of God e l M ahdi e l Mun ta z e r [the expected

guide] Ye s the s e we r e indeed happy day s and we had
, ,

then n o ca r e s o r trouble s ; and now Abdel Kader a s it i s

H
, ,
’
getting late you had better g o to bed
, May God grant .

you a long life and m a y e s trengthen you to lead the true

,
’
believer s into the right path s aid I and I quitted h i s pre
, ,

s ence with the u s ual s alute .

In Abdullahi the Mahdi had a r eady in s trument at hand

,

for thi s great work It i s s trange to think that thi s man

.

might never have ri s en to any importance had he not

quarrelled with Mohammed Sherif but now the reputation
he had already gained among s t the inhabitant s of the Gezira
( the country lying between the Blue and W hite N ile s
)

. H
rai s ed hope s in h i s mind that he wa s de s tined for a high
po s ition e now began to s ecretly tell h i s s pecial a d

h e r e n ts that the t ime had come when religion mu s t be

p u r i fi e,d that thi s w a s to be h i s work and that tho s e of ,

them who wi s hed might j oin him in i t But he alway s .

ca lled him s elf the s lave of God and made believe that he
,

w a s acting entirely on in s piration from above Abdullahi .

w a s able to give him full information about the we s tern

tribe s who he s aid being powerful and courageou s would

H
, , , ,

gladly s eize an occa s ion to fi g h t fo r the religion of God and

i s Prophet and to conquer o r die
,
To s e cure t heir a d
.

h e r e n c e he advi s ed Mohammed Ahmed to make a tour

through Kordofan and s etting out they proceeded to Dar

H
, ,
’
Gimr where A b du lla h i s family immediately j oined them
,

and became h i s faithful adherent s e told t h em however

.
, ,
 RISE op T H H E MA DI 55

that the time had not yet come for t h em to leave t h eir
.

home s for the pre s ent they would be more u s eful in inciting
the local inhabitant s .

F rom D a r Gimr he proceeded to R I Obeid whe r e he ,

vi s ited all t he principal chiefs and Sheikh s religiou s and ,

othe r and by inquiring carefully into their view s and

,

opinion s he gr a dually laid the foundation s for h i s gr e at

, .
fi

de s ign In the s tricte s t s ecrecy h e told tho s e of who s e

.

fi de li ty he wa s a s s ured that he h a d a divi n e mi s s ion to

clean s e and purify the religion already polluted and deba s ed
,

by corr upt o ffi cia l s In El Obeid h i s mo s t tru s t ed con

.

fi da n t wa s the Sayed e l Mekki the h ead of the religiou s ,

Sheikh s ; but he advi s ed t h at for th e pre s ent no active s tep s

s hould be taken a s the Gover n ment wa s very powerful and
, ,

the tribe s were too Split up and di sunited to be able to r ai s e

a revolt Mohammed Ahmed took a more s anguine view
.
,

and between them it wa s agreed that Mekki s hould ob s erve

ab s ol ute s ecrecy and should take no s tep s until Mohammed
,

Ahmed s hould begin the movement when he promi s ed him ,

h i s entire s upport .

Afte r leaving El Obeid he proceeded to T a g a lla whe r e

, ,

he in t erviewed Mek Adam U m D a b a llo the rule r of the ,

di s trict who received him very kindly but who on the

H
, , ,

advice of h i s Kadi r efu s ed to make any promi s e s of a ss i s t

,

ance . e now r etu r ned to Abba a i d Sh e r k é la , .

Du r ing thi s tour Mohammed Ahmed had full o ppo r

tun i ti e s of s eeing fo r him s elf the s tate of the country and ,

he wa s s oon convinced that t here w a s a s pirit of t he mo s t

bitter ho s tility again s t the authoritie s on the par t of the
poorer population who a s I have already pointed out were
, , ,

taxed out of all p r oportion t o their property and who s u f ,

fe r e d terrible oppre ss ion and tyranny at the hand s of the

s elf s eeking and un s crupulou s tax gatherer s who infe s ted
- -

the country Among s t the latter there were now a con

.
,

s i de r a b l e number of Sudane s e who lo s t no oppor t unity o i

,

enriching them s elve s and of putting their relative s in po s i

t ion s of s econdary impo r tance t o help them to thi s end,
.
 FI RE A ND S PVORD IN T
'

HS
E U DAN
’
As a ca s e in point Gordon s nomination of the wealthy
,

S udane s e merc h ant Elia s a s P a s ha and Governor General -

f
o f Kordofan created an immen s e amount of illfe e li n g in the

count r y ; and the s ame might be s aid of h i s a s s i s tant

‘
'
,

Abderrahman ben N aga al s o a wealt h y Kordofan me r ,

chant Bot h of t h em were capable men and unde r s tood

.
,

the management of th e people but they worked entirely fo r ,

their own intere s t s and tho s e of their relative s Moreove r .

,

a s pirit of j ealou s y became rampan t among s t other Sudan e s e

of h igh rank who con s idered t h em s elve s quite a s capable
,

of fi llin g high po s ition s a s tho s e who had been s elected in

preference to them Con s equently when Elia s Pa s ha s ent
.
,

order s to Mek Adam to pay h i s taxe s he refu s ed point ,

blank a s he w a s of royal de s cent

, I pay for good s I buy “

’
from m erch ant s but I do not pay tribute to them s aid
, ,

Mek Adam proudly to the o ffi c ia ls who had been s ent to

h im A t the s ame time he s ent to R l Obeid to inquire if
.

all th e Turk s and other W hite s had di ed a s the Govern ,

ment had now given h igh po s ition s to men who we r e merely

merchant s in stead of to per s on s of high de s cent The s e
, .

were the r e a s o n s fo r the s ub s equent di s charge of Elia s

‘

'

Pa s ha and Abderrahman from their o ffi cia l po sition s and ,

their s ub s titution by Turk s and Egyptian s .

A s regard s the European s there w ere ve r y few of u s ; ,

but a s a rule we were liked and re s pecte d becau s e the

, , ,

people tru s ted our word ; but I do not doubt that we al s o

gave them cau s e to be d i s s a ti s fi e d with u s W ith probably .

the be s t intention s in the world we wo uld i s s ue rule s and ,

regulation s entirely at variance wi t h the manner s cu s tom s , ,

and tradition s of the Sudane s e There i s al s o no doubt .

that our attitude in regard to the s lave que s tion cau s ed

wide s pread di s content The religion permitted s lavery
-
.
,

and from time immemorial the ground had been cultivated

and the cattle tended by s lave s That s lave hunting and .
-

s lave driving led to th e perpetration of the mo s t horrible

-

crueltie s and blood s hed I do not for a moment he s itate to

,

admit ; but thi s wa s a matter of very little concern to the

A S la ve Dhow on th e Ni l e .
 RISE OF T HMA HDI
E 57

s lave buy e rs wh o a s a rule did not illtreat thei r s lave s

-
, , ,
.

No w w e by our activity and energy had not only made th e

, ,

export of s lave s from the Black countrie s almo s t impo s s ible ,

but we li s t ened to the complaint s of s lave s again s t thei r

ma s ter s and invariably s e t them free
,
.

Mohammed Ahmed cleverly s eized the occa s ion of all

thi s di s content to act he wa s well aware that r e lig i o n /wa s
the only po s s ible mean s of uniting all the s e di s co r dant ele
ment s and widely div e r s i fi e d tribe s who we r e a t continual
feud wit h each other ; he therefore declared him s elf the
’
M ahdi e l Mu n ta z e r thu s at once creating him s elf a per
,

s o n a li t
y which mu s t be s uperior to all other s and hoping ,

by thi s mean s to drive out of the country the hated Turk s ,

Egyptian s and European s

,
But s till he thought the time
.

for an open declaration wa s not yet r ipe ; he therefore con

ti n u e d to increa s e the number of h i s tru s ted adhe r ent s till ,

at length the nature of h i s divine mi s s ion became an O pen

s ecret.

Some time previou s to thi s R auf Pa s ha Governor , ,

General at Khartum had been s ecretly told by Mohammed

,
’
Sherif of Mohammed Ahmed s in t ention s but it w a s known
that the early difference s between t he two religiou s Sheikh s
had greatly embittered Sherif and con s equently the a uth o r i
,

tie s did not lay muc h s tore by h i s s tatement s a n d merely ,

concluded t h at Mohammed Ahmed wa s a holy man who

had obtained a certain hold over the people owing to h i s ,

s uperior s anctity .

But now the Government learnt from quite anothe r

s ource that thi s man wa s a danger to the public peace and
,

therefore they determined to put an end to the matte r o n ce ,

and for all .

F o r thi s purpo s e R auf Pa s ha s ent for Mohammed Bey

.

Abu e s Saud w h o wa s known to Mohammed A h med and

, ,

de s patched h i m in a s teamer to Abba with order s to bring

’
the Sheikh to K h artum Mohammed Ahmed s frien d s
.
,

however gave him timely warning and told him that if he

, ,

came to K h artum he would in all likelih ood be kept t h ere ,

 FIR E A N D S WORD IN HS UD
T E A N
through the intrigue s of Mohammed Sherif W hen the r e .
,

fore Saud appeared at Abba h e w a s welcomed by Abdullahi

, ,
’
and Mohammed Ahmed s brothe r who conducted him to ,

the Sheikh Abu Saud now informed him of the report s

.

fal s e he admitted wh ich had been circulated about him

,
—
,

and s trongly advi s ed him to come to Khartum and ju s tify

him s elf before h i s ma s te r the Governor General W hat -

H
, .

s houted Mohammed Ahmed ri s ing s uddenly and s triking , ,

h i s che s t with h i s hand ‘b y the grace of God and is ,

Prophet I a m ma s ter of thi s country and neve r s hall I g o

, ,
’
to Khartu m to j u stify my s elf .

Abu Saud drew back te r r i fi e d ; he then tried t o calm h im

by s oft word s but Mohammed Ahmed who had previou s ly ,

p lanned thi s s cene with Abdullahi and h i s bro t her con t inued ,

to talk vehemently and urged Abu Saud to believe in the

,

truth of what he s aid .

Abu Saud wa s now however m uch concerned about the , ,

s afety of h i s o wn per s on and a s s oon a s he could beat a ,

s afe r etreat he did s o and returned to Kha r tum t o inform

, ,

th e a s toni s hed Governor General of the failu r e of h is

mi s s ion .

'

Mohammed Ahmed now realized that th e r e wa s no time

to be lo s t ; h i s future depended e ntirely on h i s own imme
d i ate exertion s and he did not he s itate to in s tantly w r ite to
,

h i s adherent s t h r oughout the length and breadth of the

Sudan s tirring them up again s t the Government while he
, ,

directed h i s own immediate follower s to prepa r e forthwit h

for the Jehad .

In the meantime R auf Pa s ha wa s not idle R ealizing .

,

after h i s interview with Abu Saud that the matter wa s very ,

s eriou s he re s olved to de s patch two companie s each under

, ,

th e command of an adjutant major to s eize thi s fanatic ; -

,

and thinking to create emulation be t ween them he promi s ed ,

that the o ffi ce r who s ucceeded in capturing him s hould be

promoted at once to the rank of maj o r But thi s plan only .

ended in creating di s cord and th e con s equence s were direful ,

in t he extreme The troop s unde r the chief command of

.
,
 FIR E A N D S WORD IN T HS UD
E A N
al r eady demoralized men who fled in all direction s A few , .

only s ucceeded in reaching the bank and s wimming out

t o t he s teamer ; and Abu Saud now thoroughly te rr ifi e d
'
, ,

wi s hed to return to Khartum but wa s at la s t induced by ,

the cap t ain to s tay till the following morning in the hope ’
,

of picking up fugitive s None h owever came and at .

, , ,

dawn h e s teamed back at full s peed wit h h i s direful n ew s .

The effect of t h i s s ucce s s on Mohammed Ahmed and h i s

adherent s can be readily under s tood ; they had s uffered
little or no lo s s though he him self had been s lightly
,

wounded in the arm and Ab d ullahi who dre s s ed the

‘

, ,

wound coun s elled that thi s little accident s hould be kept

,

s ecret from the re s t Still th e number of h i s follower s wa s

.
,

not largely increa s ed a s the local people were convinced

,

that Government would take s trong mea s ure s to s uppre ss

the revolt and they would not ri s k the lo s s e s which they
,

fel t certain would en s ue .

Mohammed Ahmed s trongly urged by Abdullahi and h i s ,

brother s to increa s e the di s tance between him s elf and the '

Khartum authoritie s now re s olved to retreat to s outhern

,

Kordofan and to avoid thi s move being con si dered a flight ,

he announced to h i s adherent s that h e had r eceived an

*
in s piration to proceed to Jebel Ma s a and there await ‘

further Divine in s truction s Before quitting Abba he .

,

appoin t ed al s o in accordance with the Divine W ill h i s four

, ,

Khalifa s The fi r s t of the s e wa s Abdullahi who ( the

.
,

precedent of the Prophet being adopted ) repre s ented t he

Khalifa Abu Bakr e s Sadik ; Ali W a d Helu of the ,

Degheim tribe ( W hite Nile ) wa s cho s en to repre s ent the ,

Khalifa Omar ibn e l Khattab ; and the repre s entative of

the fo urth Khalifa Ali e l Karrar w a s Mohammed e s h
, ,
’
Sherif one of Mohammed Ahmed s relative s who wa s then
, ,

only a boy T h e chair of the third Khalifa O s man ibn

.
,

Th e M a h d i s i su pp o se d to co me fr om J b l
e e M a sa , in N rth A fri
o ca

b ut th e a s tute M o h a m m e d A h m e d d id n o t h e s ta te to ca i ll J b l G d ir
e e e ,

i
wh ch w a s to b e h i s d e s t a o in t i n
i n Ko d o a n th s am r f , by i n e , an d th u s

ful fi l o n e o f th e c p rin i p l
a co n d t o s o f a Ma h diin ’
i .
 RISE OF T HMA HDI
E 61

A ffan w a s n o t fi lle d for the moment but wa s s ub s equently

, ,

offered to and refu s ed by the great Sheikh Es Se n n u s i of ,

N orthern Africa .

To mo v e thi s large following acro s s the river w a s now

a matter of s ome di ffi c u lty for the people who owned boat s
, ,

fearing that they might be accu s ed of complicity at fi r st ,

refu s ed ; but a t l e n g th all including a large c ontingen t of

—

Degheim and Kenana Arab s who j oined at the la s t ,

moment were tran s ferred to the we s t bank ; and a d

—
,

v a n c i n g into the Dar Gimr country Mohammed Ahmed ,

s ummoned the inhabitant s of the di s trict s through which

h e pa s s ed to follow him to Jebel Ma s a The greate s t .

enthu s ia s m now prevailed among s t h i s followe r s who lo s t ,

no opportunity of telling the c r edulou s and s upers titiou s

population s through which t h ey pa s s ed of the wonderful
miracle s performed by the Mahdi O n one occa s ion quite .
,

ignorant of any danger he halted with only a few follo wer s

,

in clo s e proximity to the camp of a certain adj u t ant m aj o r -

named Mo h ammed Guma who with a party of s ixty , ,

s oldie r s w a s collecting taxe s

,
The latter fearing the
.
,

re s pon s ibility he might incur by attacking him without

order s referred to El Obeid for in s truction s ; but long
,

before they a r r l v e d the M a hdi had rej oined the bulk of h i s

people and had continued h i s march ; s o thi s golden o ppo r
tun i ty wa s lo s t Year s afterward s I met the unfortuna t e
.

Guma in a s a d and mi s erable plight in O b dur m a n Ah .

s aid h e if I had only known then that I s hould be r educed

,

to walking about barefoot and beggi n g my bread , I s hould

,

not have a s ked for in s truction s and s o allowed that ,

wretched Dongolawi to e s cape ; it would have been better

to have been killed than to have endu r ed the mi s erie s of
’
t h i s wretched exi s tence .

Another excellent opportunity of capturing h i m w a s al s o '

lo s t It happened that G i e g le r Pa s ha had been ordered to

.

come to El Obeid to repre s ent the Governor General in con -

n e c ti o n with a ca s e of embezzlement by a di s tric t in s pecto r

and wealthy Sudan merchant named Abdel Hadi ; hea ring

 FIR E A ND S W ORD IN T HS UD
E A N
tha t t he s o called M ahdi wa s in the neighbou rhood he
-
,

de s patched toward s the end of Septembe r Mohammed

, ,

Said Pa sha with four companie s to arre s t him and bring

him to El Obeid Bu t eithe r by de s ign or th r ough care
.
,

le s s ne s s t he expedit ion failed in i ts obj ec t ; the troop s

, ,

apparently halted during the day at the place in which the

,

rebel s had s lept the previou s night and after thu s u s ele s s ly
,

wa s ting three day s they returned to R l Obeid t he re s ult

, ,

bei n g that they were di s credited a s being afraid to attack ,

’
and the Mahdi s pre s tige ro s e proport ionately .

’
It had been Mohammed Ahmed s intention to s tay for a
time at Jebel T a g a lla ; but Mek Adam learning of thi s , ,

s ent one of h i s s on s to him with a gift of corn and s heep

H
,

bearing a me s s age that he t h ought he had better r etire

further into t he in t erior e w a s therefore obliged to con
.

tinn e h i s j ourney and after a long and trouble s ome march

,

at length reached Jebel Gedir where in addition t o the , ,

local inhabita nt s a s ection of t he Kenana tribe now re s ided

, .

A t thi s time R a s hed Bey w a s Governor of F a s hoda ; and ,

’
being fully informed of the Mahdi s movement s re s olved to

H
,

attack him before he became more powerful A German .

named Berghof wa s al s o in F a s hoda e wa s forme r ly a .

photographer in Khartum b ut Ra uf Pa s ha had s ent him up

,

the river a s an in s pec t o r for the s uppre s s ion of s lavery .

R a s hed now advanced accompanied by Be r ghof and Kaiku

,

Bey king of the Shilluk s toward s Gedir Entirely under

, , .

r ating the enemy with whom he had t o deal he marched ,

with no military p r ecau t ion s fell into a carefully p r epared

,

ambu s h and s ome fourteen hund r ed of h i s men were anni

,

h i la te d
. So s udden wa s the at t ack t ha t there w a s not eve n
time to h t e a r oc k et R a s hed and a few of h i s pers onal
.

a t tendan t s made a galla n t defence but were s oo n ove r ,

powered by s uperior numbers and killed

H
.

Thi s defea t occu rr ed on 9 th Decembe r and Mohammed ,

Ahmed no longe r he s ita t ed to call him s elf the Mahdi is .

pre s tige e s pecially in the eye s of the Arab s ro s e enormou s ly ;

, ,

n ever t hele s s h i s r elation s with h i s immedia t e neighbou r s

,
 RISE OF T H H E MA DI 63

we r e no t of t he be s t Khalifa Abdullahi in s ub s equent

.
,

conver s ation s with me in Omdurman referred to thi s period , ,

a s far a s I can recollect in the following word s : W e ,

arrived at la s t at Gedir thoroughly tired out after our long

,

and t r ouble s ome j ourney The Mahdi had only one hor s e .
,

and that of the inferior Aby s s inian b r eed while I had t o ,

walk almo s t the w hole di s tance ; but God gran t s s tre n gt h

to t ho s e t r ue believer s who are ready to lay down their
live s fo r the faith My brother s Yakub Yu s uf and Sam
.
, , ,

mani had j oined u s with their familie s al s o my s tepmo t her , ,

W h o wa s n ur s ing my baby at he r brea s t My brother .

Ha run too would not s tay behind s o he al s o joined u s I

, , , .

wa s alway s greatly concerned about my wife s tepmother , ,

and child who i s O s man Sheikh c d Din whom you now

, ,

s e e before you It did not s o much matte r for us men ;

.

trouble s and a fflic tio n s are s en t u s b y God and we bear .

,

them only t oo thankful that we s hould be cho s en by Him

,

to rai s e t he faith which had been trodden down t o the du s t ,

’
a n d to teach our bre t h r e n But s aid h e s miling t eaching
.
, , ,
’
won t bring u s food fo r our women and childr en People .

fl o ck e d to u s i n crowd s it i s t rue but mo s t of t hem were

,

even mo r e de s titute t han our s elve s and came to u s fo r ,

s uppo rt Tho s e who were well o ff s hunned u s r iche s ar e

.
,
—

the cu r s e of thi s wo r ld and tho s e who have them will be

,
—

deprived of the j oy s of Paradi s e The people who s e countrie s .

we cro s s ed did n o t give u s much help but the li t tle he got

the Mahdi g r aciou s ly o ffered to the pilg r im s whom he con ,

s i d e r e d a s h i s gue s t s W hen I heard the women and children

.

weepin g I felt s ometime s that my hea r t would b r eak b u t

,
’
when I ga zed at t he Mahdi s face I tru s ted in God and
became at r e s t Pa t ien ce Abdel Kader i s t he highe s t
.
, ,
’
vi rt ue P racti s e that and God will reward you
.
, .

The defea t of Ra s hed Bey awakened the Government t o

a s en s e of the s eriou s nature of the revol t and an expedition ,

wa s at once organized and placed under the command of

Yu s ef Pa s ha Sh e lla li who had greatly di s tingui s hed him s elf
,
’
in G e ss i s campaign in Bahr e l Ghaz a l and wa s n oted fo r ,
 FIR E A N D S WORD IN T HS UD
E A N
h is cou r age and re s ource A r einforcemen t of a battalio n
.

of infantry and s ome volunteer s under the command of ,

Abdalla W a d D a fa lla (th e brot her of Ahmed W a d D a fa lla ) ,

with Abd e l Hadi and Sultan Dima wa s al s o to be s en t ,

from Kordofan

H
.

Meanwhile the Mahdi de s patched letter s in all direction s ,

p r o c l a i m i n
g h i s victorie s a n d h i s Divine mi s s ion e s u m .

m o n e d all to j oin the Jehad giving the name of An s a r

* to
,

h i s followe r s and promi s ing them four fi fth s of the booty

,
-

taken in war ( the remaining fi fth he re s erved for him s elf)

while to tho s e who s hould fall fi g h tin g for God and i s
religion h e held out the certainty of the fulle s t enjoyment of
H ,

the plea s ure s of Paradi s e Thu s did he pander t o the main

.

characteri s tic s of t he Sudane s e v i z fanatici s m and gr eed , .

, .

’
Yu s ef Pa s ha Sh e lla li s force which numbered s ome four ,

thou s and men w a s compo s ed of regular infantry unde r

,

Mohammed Bey Suleiman and Ha s s an Effendi R ifki whom ,

I had previou s ly di s charged ; the ir r egula r cavalry we r e

placed unde r t he courageou s Shaigia Melek Taha Ab u ,

Sid r and leaving Kha rtum on 1 5 th March 1 8 8 2 t hey pro

, , ,

c e e de d t o Kowa where they awaited the r einforcemen t s

,

expected from R l Obeid .

Abdalla W a d D a fa lla howeve r found i t no ea s y ma tt e r

, ,

t o collect voluntee r s There wa s a general feeling t ha t i t wa s

.

wrong to fi g h t again s t a man of pie t y and moreove r a s t he , , ,

Mahdi and h i s followe r s were little el s e than begga r s t he r e ,

wa s n o en t icemen t of r ich plunde r t o allu r e them Be s ide s .

all thi s Elia s Pa s ha t he riche s t mer chant in Kordofan and

, ,

the ex Gove r no r w a s the deadly enemy of the D a fa lla

-
,

family and exerci s ed all h i s i n flue n ce which wa s s t ill co n

, ,

s i d e r a b le in preventing m e n j o i n i n g him
,
However Abdalla .
,

h a d a g r e e d with the au t ho r i t ie s to p r oceed and including

.
, ,

regulars the fo r ce with which he left El Obeid numbered

,

s ome t wo thou s and men ; and j oining wi t h the r emainde r

a t Kowa t he entire expedition of s i x thou s and s t rong pr o

H
,

T h t i th e e lpe r a t rm g i v e n by th e P ro p h t M h m m d
‘
— e
a s, s e o a e

to th e e a rly co nv e rts o f R I Me d i a n .
 RISE OF T HMA HDI E 65

c e e de d to F a s hoda which , wa s reached in the middl e of

May .

After a s hort re s t Yu s ef Pa s ha advanced we s t and

, ,

camped on the evening of 6th June at Me s a t near Jebel

, , ,

Gedi r co n fi de n t of s ucce s s W h y s hould s uch men a s

, .

Yu s ef Pa s ha Mohammed Bey and Abu Sidr fea r a s tarving

, ,

c rowd of s ickly half fami s hed and almo s t naked A ra b s ?

,
-
,

Had they n o t won Victorie s on the W h ite N ile at D ufli lé

Had they not conquered Bahr e l Ghazal and brought the ,

proud Sultan s of Darfur to s ubmi s s ion W hat could thi s

ill armed and ignorant h k i do ? Abdalla W a d D a fa lla alone
-

e had had
. H
rai s ed a note of warning that they s hould not underrate the
dange r a fall from h i s hor s e when marching

out of R l Obeid which i s con s idered a bad omen in the

,

Sudan but who wa s going to li sten to thi s preacher in the

wilde rn e s s They did not even think it worth while to cut
down a few thorn bu s he s to make a zariba but me r ely ,

picked up a little of th e s crub ly in g c lo s e b y and formed a ,

rough enclo s ure utterly inadequate for defence ; s o the

,
’
Mahdi s s ickly half fami s hed and almo s t nake d Arab s fell
,
-
,
’
on Yu s ef Pa s ha s army in the early dawn of th e 7 th June .

Da s hing through the s light inclo s ure they were on the ,

s leeping s oldier s in a moment and made s hort wo rk of ,

them Yu s ef Pa s ha and Abu Sidr were killed in their

.

night s hirt s at th e door s of their tent s and in a few minute s

-
,
’
there wa s s carcely a man left alive Abu Si dr s concubi n e .

r u s hed at her ma s ter s murderer s and s hot two of them

’
,

with a revolver but s h e fell prone over h i s body s tabbed

, ,

to the heart Abdalla W a d D a fa lla with a few of h i s

.
,

attendant s al o ne made a s hort s tand but they s oon s ha red

, ,

the fat e of their companion s .

W hen anything unu s ual happen s i n uncivilized coun t rie s ,

it i s alway s con s idered by the native s a s s upernatural ; and

’
thi s wa s exactly th e e ffect of Yu s ef Pa s ha s di s a s ter on the
credulou s and s uper s titiou s mind s of the Sudane s e F or .

s ixty year s the country had been governed by the Turk s

and Egyptian s If the tribe s refu sed to pay their taxe s

.
,
 FIR E A N D S W ORD IN T HS UD
E A N
t hey w e r e invariably puni s hed ; and no one dared to que s
tion for a momen t the right of t he authorit ie s to do s o .

No w thi s h oly h k i Mohammed Ahmed had s uddenly

, ,

appeared on the s cene W ith a crowd of ill armed and

.
-

undi s ciplined men he had i n flicte d s everal cru s hing defeat s

on the well armed and well equipped Gove rnment t r oop s
- - .

There could now be no doubt he w a s the Mahdi e l Mun

’
tazer the expected Mahdi !
,

The defeat of Yu s ef Pa s ha placed t he whole of s outhe r n

make good h i s de fi ci e n ci e s
,

. H
Ko r dofan in h i s hand s and now he wa s in a po s ition to
e had gained money a r m s

hors e s and loot of all s ort s and the s e he di s tributed among s t

, ,

, ,

the chiefs of tribe s w h o now flo ck e d to him They believed .

mo s t fi r m ly that he wa s the true Mahdi who s e only i n te n ,

tion w a s to uphold t he faith and who had no regard fo r

, .

wealth and property .

’
The news of the Mahdi s vict orie s now s pread fa r a n d
.

wide and amongs t an uneducated popul ation s uch a s that

,

of Kordofan the account s we r e exaggerated to a quite

ridiculou s extent R ou s ed by the s pirit of fanatici s m
.
,

n umber s of them quitted thei r home s and marched to Jebel

Gedir which w a s now openly renamed Jebel Ma s a while

, ,

other s gathering round the lo ca l ch i e fs prepared t o fi g h t

,
'

again s t t he variou s Government po st s and s tation s s ca t tered

t hroughout t he country .

Thi s condition of a ffair s wa s eminen t ly favou r able t o the

ruling pa s s ion s of the nomad Arab s U nder the cloak of a .

religiou s war which owed i ts exi s tence to t hem they m a s

, ,

s acred plundered and robbed the native s who they s aid

, , , , ,

were loyal to the hated Turk s ; and at th e s ame time t hey

s hook t h em s elve s free from the taxation impo s ed on t hem

by a Government they dete s ted .

The Mahdi now placed him s elf in communication with

t he merchant s of El Obeid who through thei r wealth and
, ,

connect ion with the people virt ually ruled the town and a
,

con s ide r able pa rt of the coun t ry They thoroughly unde r

'
.

s tood the s ituation N one knew be tt e r the weakne s s and

.
 FIR E A ND S WO RD IN T HS UD E A N
feel the e ffect s of the d i s turbed s tate of the country and s o ,

he lo s t the favourable moment to buy .

Meanwhile ma s s acre s in the di s trict s were of almo s t

,
’

daily occurrence Tax collector s detached military po s t s

.
-
, ,

and Government o ffi c i a ls fell an ea s y prey to the blood ,

thirs ty Arab s The B e de r i a tribe attacked and almo s t

.
“

annihilated the in h abitant s of Abu Haraz which w a s a ,

’
day s march di s tant from El Obeid and only a few men , ,

women and c h ildren s u c ceeded in reach ing the capital the

,

r e s t were all killed or taken pri s oner s during the flight along
the waterle s s track Young girl s were of cours e looked
.
, ,

upon a s valuable booty and were given water by their ,

captors ; but the older women s uffered the mo s t h orrible

mutilation Arm s and leg s were ruthle s s ly cut o fi merely
.
‘
"

to gain po s s e s s ion of th e bracelet s and anklet s they wore .

A few day s later th e town of A s haf in Northern Kordofan

, , ,

w a s attacked and plundered by the Arab s though a defence ,

w a s made by N u r Angara who wa s living there at the ,

time and who a s s i s ted Sanj ak Mohammed Agha Japo

, ,
’
formerly one of Gordon s kava s s e s They w ere however .
, ,

eventually forced to retire on Bara Thi s Japo wa s an old .

Kurdi and during the retreat he performed prodigie s of

,

valour Collecting all the women and young girl s in the

.

centre of h i s s quare he bade them s ing s ong s of victo r y

, ,

s aying that s uch mu s ic drove fear out of all heart s ; and ,

making con s tant counter attack s he s ucceeded in bringing -

,

almo s t all the fugitive s in s afety to Bara .

Thi s town wa s now attacked and the Arab s repul s ed ;

-

but collecting in greater numbers under Sheikh R ahma

, ,

they complete ly inve s ted i t and cut o ff all s upplie s , .

A ma s s of Arab s had al s o collected at Ka s h g e i l and ,

a g ain s t the s e Moh ammed Pa s ha Said di s patche d a battalion

of regular s who s ucceeded in temporarily di s pers ing them
,

but in doing s o the troop s lo s t s o heavily that virtually

, ,

it wa s little s hort of defeat ; and collecting again the s e , ,

A r ab s attacked Birket where the entire garri s on of two

,

hou s and men wa s put to the s word A s imilar di s a s te r .

 RISE OF T HMAHDI
E 69

overtook the t1 0 0 ps a t Shatt on the W hi t e N ile w h ere , ,

two hundred were ma s s acred ; bu t their s ub s equent attack

on Duem wa s repul s ed with a lo s s of two thou s a n d men

H
.
,

Meanwhile th e emi s s arie s s ent by the Mah di to the

,

Gezira had not been idle The G e h e n a A g a liyin a wa z m a

.
, , ,

and Hammada Arab s under Abu R o f had attacked and

, ,

inve st ed Sennar ; but the town had been s ub s e quen t ly

r elieved by Sanjak Saleh W a d e l Mek who had been ,

di s patched the n ce with a large force of Shaigia .

The town of Abu Haraz on the Blue Nile had been , ,

inve s ted by Sherif Ahmed Taha ; and G i e g le r Pa s ha who ,

wa s acting Governor General in place of R auf Pa s ha had

-
,

arrived in the neighbou r hood and had directed Melek Yu s ef

,

of th e Shaigia to at t ack the rebel s with an inferior force ,

which wa s defeated Melek Yu s ef di s daining flight had

.
, ,

got o ff h i s hor s e and s eating him s elf cro s s l e gged on h i s

, ,
-

farwa ( s heep s kin) had ordered one of h i s s lave s to kill him

, .

G i e g le r had at once proceeded to Khartum and procuring , ,

reinforcement s had returned and attacked Ahmed Taha

,

w h o had been killed and h i s h ead s ent to Khartum

,

had then cleared the neighbourhood of Se n nar of rebel s

e . H ,

without s u ffering any s eriou s lo s s I n Spite however of .

, ,

the s e temporary s ucce s s e s trouble s increa s ed and the

, ,

Government daily received alarming account s of the

di s a s ter s which had overtaken troop s and inhabitant s in
variou s part s of the country In con s equence Abdel Kader

H
.
,

Pa s ha had been di s patched to the Sudan a s Governor

General . e had arrived at K h artum on 1 1 th May 1 882 , ,

an d had bu s ily s e t to work to place the town in a s tate of

defence T h e s e mea s ure s had s ome e fTe c t on the native s

.
,

and it w a s evident to them t h at t h e Government intended

to act re s olutely ; but at the s ame time it w a s perfectly
, ,

clear to them that the s e s tep s were not merely precautionary ,

but were rendered ab s olutely nece s s ary by the very s eriou s

po s ition of affair s The ar s enal and dockyard ammunition
.
,

s t o re s magazine s and Government archive s mu s t be s afe

, , ,

guarded again s t all eventualitie s Be s i de s one of th e fi r s t.

,
70 FIR E A ND S WORD I N T HS UD E A N
a ct s of the n e w Governor General wa s to withdraw to -

Kha rt um a por t ion of t he garri s on s of Gallaba t Se n h it , ,

and Gera in which di strict s there wa s at pre s ent complete

,

tra n quillity .

Meanwhile Mohammed Ahmed fully realized that to

,

kindle the s mouldering fi r e into a blazing flame h i s pre

s ence w a s ab s olutely nece s s ary
’
e t h erefore accepted
Elia s Pa s ha s invitation to come to E l Obei d and lea v ing
. H
, ,

h i s uncle Mahmud Sherif with a few follower s to look

, , ,

after h i s wive s and children in Jebel Ma s a he de s cended ,

into the plain s and marched with h i s force s toward s the

,

wealthy capit al of Ko r dofan .

C HAPT ER V .

SP R E AD OF T H E REVO LT IN SO U T HERN D A RF U R .

I rriv at Da ra D es
H
p a tch o f a n O ffi ce r t Sh a kk a Re turn t R I
a e — o —
o

F a h r s I m a k e D a ra m y
e —
a d q u r te r T h P we r f a W o m n
e a s— e o o a
'
s

T ng ue
H
Sh i kh M di b b o th r te s Sh kk C o w rd ly C o nd u t
— —
o e a ea n a a a c

of M a ns ur l m i I pr d t h i A i st
e — I c o m m nc
o ce e m y o s ss a n ce — e e

C a m p i gn a g in t th S o uth e rn A r b T ri b
on M dib b o ’
a

a C mp M
a

sur
s

a
’
e

—
Th Ni gh t A tt k
l m i co w rd ly R e tre a t fr m
ans H e
a

s
e s—

a
e ac

Sh a kka C ura g o u C nd uct f A li A gh a J u m a

—
o e s o o .

W HI
EN qui t ted El F a s her for D ara early in 1 8 8 2 I w a s , ,

accompanied by t hree hund r ed and fi fty mounted men under ,

Omar W a d D a r h o Thi s large es cort wa s quite un n e c e s

.

s ary but I t hought it advi s able to s how the Arab s that the
,

Governmen t had plenty of troop s at its di s po s al to s uppre s s

any t r ouble on t heir part .

’
O n a r rival at Dara I vi s ited poor Em i li a n i s grave and ,

put up a s t one to h i s memory Z o g a l Bey w a s admini s ter .

ing affair s here a s Acti n g Gover n or in h i s place and the -

H
,

general a sp e ct looked very troubled The s outhern Arab .

tribe s the Riz ig h a t

—
a b b a n ia and Maalia were in r e
, ,
—

volt they held con s t an t mee t ing s in which it wa s decla r ed ,

 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HS UD E A N
Khartum had owing to the negligen ce of t he o ffi cia ls b e e n
, ,
r

delayed ; it had r e ached Rl Obeid la t e and n o w t he r oad s , ,

being cut i t could be s ent no further

, .
3

F rom Dara I learnt that Ma dib bo chief of the Ri z ig h a t ,

tribe refu s ed to come i n There wa s now no doubt that

, .

all the s outhern tribe s were in a s tate of active revolt and ,

had every intention of j oining the Ma h di I therefo r e .

th o ught my headquarters s hould now be at Dara s o taking , ,

two hundred infantry a n d s even t y h y e of the newly arrived - -

cavalry I proceeded t h it h er
,
.

~
O n my arrival new s reached me that an inciden t had
occurred which though in it s elf i n si g n i fi c a n t led t o Very
, ,

s eriou s con s equence s I previou s ly mentioned tha t on my

.

way to Khartum I had been met by Sheikh Ali W a d e g e i r

of th e Maalia tribe who had accompanied me there e
HH ,

, .

had proved loyal and faithful to the Government and I ,

had appoi nted him ch ief of the s outhern Maalia A r ab s .

Hearing t h at a m eeting of the Ri z ig h a t Ara b s under Sheikh

Belal Nagur with a View to j oining the Mahdi wa s about
, ,

to be to attend the mee t ing and arre s t thi s

s edition monger -
Accompanied by h i s father in law and a
.
- -
'

few of h i s friend s he pre s ented him s elf at the meeting and

, , ,

s eeing s ome of h i s own tribe among s t th e numbe r he called

H
,

on them to s eparate them s elve s fro m the re s t and come to

him .

H
i s summon s w a s left un h eeded and a di s turbance
took place in which e g e ir and h i s friend s being far in the
,

minority were s everely handled and barely e s caped with

,

, ,

their live s The new s of t he fray had howeve r preceded

H
.
" , ,

them and had been di s torted s o that on r eaching their home

, ,

e g e i r wa s greeted by h i s wife wi t h the wo r d s : Rageli

h idlim wa Ab uy i R abta ; Safar y o m e i n s a wuh u m fi G a b ta
M
( y hu s band i s a male o s trich and my father a female ,
’
o s trich ; they m ade a two day s j ourney in a moment )

H
.

Belal Nagur however purs ued the fugitive s and j oined by

, , , ,
’
the Maalia attacked e g e ir s hou s e The latter w a s urged
, .

by h i s frien d s to flee for protection to Man s ur at S h akka ;

’
but s ma rti ng under h i s wife s s a rca s tic ve r s e s he refu s ed
, , ,
 FIR E A ND S WOR D IN T HS UD
E A N
I am t he pu s hin g o x t he man who h a s a hea rt of bone I
, .

s eek de a t h And with thi s he da s hed out of the z a r iba ,

and di s appearing among s t the tree s retu r ned in a few

, ,

minute s h i s s pear dripping with blood and leading aft e r

, ,

him a captured ho r s e ; t he two other Sheikh s and thei r

men al s o had a s light s ki rmi sh lo s ing one hor s e and ,

cap t uring another In a few moment s we heard s ome r ifle

.

’
s h ot s and fearing that M a di bb o s main body had arrived I
, ,

called the mounted Arab s into the zariba and p r epa r ed fo r

defence H owever I s oon a s certained that a s mall party
.
,

only had come and had taken up a po s ition in a clump of

,

tree s ; I therefo r e s ent fi fty men to drive them ou t a n d t hey ,

r etired le a ving behind t hem three killed

, .

The n ex t mo rn ing however the enemy were s een a d , ,

’
v a n c in g again a n d I at once s ounded the alarm and
, ,

everyone wen t to h i s po s t The attack came from t he .

north we s t whe r e there wa s a s mall wood which gave con

-
,

s i de r a b le cover I n the cen tr e of ou r zariba wa s a mound

.
,

on th e top of which I placed an old bench found in one of

’
M a dib b o s hu t s and which an Egyptian had tu rned in t o a
,

chair Seated in t hi s po s ition I obtained a good view of

.
,
'
the s urrounding country a s we ll a s of all t hat wa s going o n
,

in the zariba T h e enemy now advanced within r ifi e range

.
-
,

and the bullet s began t o whi s t le abou t ou r ea r s Ge t ting .

up from the chai r to give s ome order and have a be t te r .

View a s hot whizzed pa s t and s t r uck t he back of the chai r

,

in which I had j u s t been s i t ting and s hivered i t t o piece s .

Afte r thi s I though t i t advi s able to take up a le s s e x po se d

’
po s ition The enemy s fi r e now became ve r y hot but t he
men were well pro t ect ed in the trenche s and our lo ss w
.
,

as ,

tr i fli n g The hor s e s and camels however s uffe r ed s everely

.
, , ,

and feeling that if kep t huddled up in the zariba we migh t

lo s e them a ll I s elec t ed fi fty men and making a s ortie
, , ,

from the s out he r n en tr ance we tu r ned we s t and opening , , ,

’
s uddenly on the enemy s fl a n k i n fli c te d con s iderable lo s s on ,

him by a murderou s cro s s fi r e even tually driving him from -

,

the po s ition However we did not s ecure thi s s ucce s s

.
,
 T H E RE VOL T IN SO U T H ER N DA R F U R 75

wi t hou t paying fo r it A s fa r a s I ca n r ecollec t we lo s t

.
,

t welve killed .

B y the evening thoroughly t ired out mo s t of the men

, ,

had dropped o ff t o s leep and we an t icipa t ed a quiet night

, ,
’
but at a bout eleven o clock we were s tartled by a bri s k
r ifle fi r e
-
.F ortunately it wa s a ve r y dark nigh t and the ,

fi r e w a s ill directed -
So I orde r ed the men no t to l epl y
.
,

and in con s equence it s lackened and even t ually cea s ed ,

altogether .

Summoning Sheikh A hh I now a s ked him t o s end ou t ,

’
s ome of h i s men to di s cover M a di b b o s po s ition promi s ing ,

them they would be well rewarded if they brough t back

reliable informa t ion In about two hou r s they re t urned
.
,

and reported t hat Ma di b b o wa s in h i s village wit h h i s

B a z in g e r s while the Arab s were encamped t o t he s outh
,

and we s t of i t They were in con s iderable force bu t had

.
,

t aken no precaution s for defence and our s pie s who had , ,

crept up quite clo s e to their camp fi r e s had overheard them -

,

laughing and j oking at our not ha ying replied to their h t e ,

s aying we mu s t have been too frightened t o do so .

W aiting for half an hour I called up s eventy men and , ,

told them before the o ffi ce r s I wanted them to s urpri s e

, ,
’
Ma dibb o s camp ; that if we fought an action in the O pen
again s t s uperior numbe rs we s h ould probably lo s e heavily,

but we had now a s certained the Arab s were quit e u n pr e

pared and a s udden night attack might completely de
,

moralize them and give u s a chance of returning to Da r a

,

for reinforcement s The plan w a s thoro u ghly approved

.
,

and all the o ffi c e r s at once volunteered to j oin but t hi s I ,

could not permit 8 0 leaving behind t wo o fli ce r s fou r

.
, ,

bugler s and s eventy men I quitted t he zariba a c co m

, , ,

p a n i e d by A hh who refu s ed to, leave me Su s pecting tha t .

’
po s s ibly s ome of Abu Salama s people might get out and
betray u s I gave the o ffi ce r s who remained behind s trict
,

injunction s that during our ab s ence no one s hould leave the

zariba and t hat a mo s t careful look out s hould be kept ;
,
-

and advancing cautiou s ly guided by the s pie s in the s pace , ,

 76 FIR E A ND S W ORD IN T HS UD E A N
’
of abou t an hour we found our s elve s clo s e t o the enemy s
camp Our s pie s proved thoroughly tru s ty and be s ide s I
.
, , ,

had previou s ly travelled in the s e di s trict s and knew the ,

country well Dividing up therefore into two partie s I

.
, , ,

placed one under the command of a very brave o ffi c e r

named Mo h ammed Agha Suleiman a native of Bornu and , ,

leading the other party my s elf we crept up to within s i x or

,

s even hundred yard s of th e un s u s pecting foe when I ,

ordered the bugler to s ound Commence h ring ‘ ’

The .

’
confu s ion in the enemy s camp wa s now inde s cribable .

’
M a di b b o s B a z i n g e r s leavi n g their arm s h e d The hor s e s
, , .
,

te r r i fi e d by thi s s udden commotion in the dead of night ,

b e came re s tive broke their rope s and bolted in all

, ,

direction s cha s ed by the Arab s In a few minu t e s every

, .

’
one of Ma dib b o s hut s w a s de s erted and in the di s tance ,

could be heard the s ound s of the te r r ifi e d crowd s fle e in g ,

from our little band of s eventy men W e had been com .

p l e te l y s ucce s s ful and it ,t ook M a d i bb o s ome day s before

he could collect h i s men again I burnt h i s village and .
,

the blazing flame s s hooting to the s k y lighted up the

, ,

de s erted camp Only two of my men had been wounded

.

by thrown s pear s W e captu r ed a large number of s addle s

.
,

which I ordered to be thrown into the h ame s a s well a s a ,

quantity of old gun s and matchlock s but we kept the forty

R emington r i fl e s taken and now marched back to the
,

zariba where we had a mo s t enthu s ia s tic welcome from the

,

others who had been awaiting ou r return wi t h great

,

anxiety .

Being s till without new s from Dara I decided to return ,

’
there and after three d ay s march reached the town where
, , , ,

I found the reinforcement s and ammunition all ready to

leave and a s th e men I had broug h t back were tired I
, ,

determined to c h ange them al s o and return with a com ,

p l e te l y fre s h force to help M an s ur Helmi ; but t o my

s urpri s e at daybreak the next morning I received a letter
, ,

s aying that Man s ur w a s on h i s way to Dara and would ,

ar r ive the following day Thi s wa s to me mo st un s a ti s

.
 FIR E A ND S W ORD IN T HS UD E A N
F rom he r e he de s patched h o r s emen to reconnoitre and

H
s ummon all t ho s e who were willing to join h i s banner s

H
e al s o wro t e to Mo h ammed Pa s ha Said calling on him

to s ubmit . i s letter w a s read out before the o ffi ce r s ; and

,
.

at the s ugge stion of Mohammed Bey Sk a n de r and the

maj ori t y of the o ffi ce r s the beare r s of the lette r s we r e
s entenced to be s h ot Said Pa s ha him s elf w a s avers e to
.

thi s deci s ion but eventually gave way and c o n fi r m e d the

,

s entence which wa s immedia ely carried out

, t .

Mohammed Ahmed now s pared no e ffort to rou s e the

H
fanatical s pirit of the ma s s e s by whom he wa s s u rrounded
e preached day and night to a rapt audience on the heavenly

j oy s in s tore fo r all tho s e who j oined the Jehad and on

.

F riday morning Septembe r the 8 th thi s s eething ma s s of

, ,

human being s armed only with s word s and s pears rolled

, ,

like the wave s of the s e a toward s the town All the arm s .

’ ’
taken in R a sh e d s a n d Sh e lla li s expedition s had been left
behind at Jebel Gedir and the r i fl e fi r e of the defender s
,

s oon began to play with deadly e ffect on the crowd who , ,

utterly undeterred and s eeking only for blood and plunder

, ,

continued their advance s warming into the ditche s and up

,

t he parapet and entering the de s erted town At thi s critical

, .

moment Maj or Ne s i m Efle n di told h i s bugler to s ound the

advance and the s ignal being taken up by the other buglers ,

the s oldiers clambering up on to the top s of the wall s and

,
-

hou s e s brought a murderou s fi r e to bear on the a ss ailant s

,
.

Slowly the s urging ma s s under thi s hail of lead wa s driven

, ,

back leaving behind them thou s and s of killed and wounded

, .

Once more they rallied and attempted again to s torm ; but

again were they driven back with s till greater s laughter till ,

at length the s urvivor s retired out of range and the gallant ,

garri s on wa s completely victoriou s .

’
I n thi s a s s ault the Mahdi s brothe r Mohammed Khalifa ,
’
Ab dulla h i s brother Yu s ef the Kadi and a ho s t of Emir s
, ,

were killed The Mahdi him s elf during the attack took
.
, ,

up a po s ition ou t of range behind a s mall hou s e ; and had

,
’
Said Pa sha taken Ahmed Bey D a fa lla s advice to pu rs ue
 T HSIEG E
E A ND FA LL OF EL OB E I D 79

afte r t he Dervi s he s h a d been r outed in all probability he ,

would have been taken and the s ub sequent blood s hed and
,

horro r s thu s avoided .

But Said Pa s ha contented him s elf with thi s tempo r ary

s ucce s s believing that the Mahdi wa s too cru s hed to again
,

a tt empt an attack and tha t thi s defeat would probably

,
’
de s t roy h i s in flue n ce The Mahdi s relative s a n ¢ n e ar
.

friend s al s o r ealized thi s and on thei r advice he removed,

h i s camp to G i a n z a r a a hill lying beyond range t o the

,

n o r th ea s t of the town
-
and in thi s po s ition maintained an
open inve s tment while awaiting the arrival of the arm s and
,

ammunit ion for which he had s ent to Jebel Gedir .

The mi s s ion s tation at Delen which had been founded ,

‘
s ome eight year s befo r e and which w a s guarded by eighty
,

men of the s lave guard had long been in a critic a l po s ition

, .

W hil s t on h i s way to El Obeid the Mahdi had s en t one of ,

h i s adherent s Mek Omar with in s truction s either t o capture

, ,

o r kill all pers on s found there The mi s s ionary F a th e r s .

,

Jo s eph O h r wa lde r and L uigi Bonomi had arranged to flee ,

with the t r oop s and all the mi ss ion to F a s hoda ; but t hei r
plan fell through owing to th e cowardice of the captain
,

commanding the t r oop s They we r e eventually obliged to .

s ubmit , were robbed of all they had and were marched ,

a s pri s oner s to El Obeid Here the Mahdi and Khalifa .

Abdullahi made every e ffort to convert them and the s i s ter s

who were with them but they remained fi r m The follo w
, .

ing day they were taken accompanied by thou s and s of ,

howling Dervi she s to an open Space where a great review

, ,

wa s held . After momentarily expecting death they we r e ,

at length told their live s were s pared and they were handed ,

over to the care of a Sy r ian named George Stambuli who ,

had joined the Mahdi fr om El Obeid .

At thi s time a mo s t wonderful comet appeared which ,

wa s taken by the Sudane s e a s a s ign from h eaven that t he

Governmen t wa s about to be overt hrown and t h a t the t r ue ,

Mahdi had appea r ed on earth .

An expedition s ent under Ali Bey L ut h to relieve Bara

 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HS UD
E A N
and E1 Obeid when on the ma r ch and s u ffering from t h irs t
, ,

w a s attacked by the G o wa m a A r ab s unde r F iki R ahm a of

the two thou s and men of which it wa s compo s ed two ,

hund r ed only s ucceeded in e s caping to Bara Soon afte r .

‘

thi s Taya ra wa s attacked and its little gar r i s on afte r

, ,

re s i s ting manfully wa s obliged t o s ubmit at the end of

,

September .

Bara fell next afte r a long and well s u s tained s iege

,
- .

The garri s on had i n fli cte d con s ide r able lo s s on the r ebel s ,

but a h t e had broken out and bu r nt up almo s t all the corn .

Hunger and di s ea s e had done thei r wo r k and hopele s s of , ,

any s uccour Surur Efl e n d i the commandant Nu r Anga r a

, , , ,

and Mohammed Agha Japo at the urgent reque s t of the ,

garri s on were forced to s ubmit early l n Janua r y 1 88 3 to

, , , ,

Abderrahman W a d e u Ne j u m i and were conduct ed by him ,

to G i a n z a r a .

The Mahdi celebrated the captu r e of Bara with a s alute

of one hundred gun s and the unfortunate ga r ri s on of R l
,

Obeid hearing the s ound s thought that a relieving army

, ,

wa s approaching but when they learnt that Ba r a had fallen

, ,

they became greatly di s heartened F or month s they had .

been s uffering all the horrors of famine ; food had ri s en to

fabulou s price s ; no s tep s had been taken t o lay in a s t ock
of provi s ion s and there w a s a great s ca r city of co rn A
, .

month before the capitulation dukhn had ri s en to fou r

hundred dollar s the a r deb ; only the mo s t wealthy could
s upply them s elve s with a little meat The price of a camel .

ro s e to fi fte e n hundred dollar s a chicken might be had fo r ,

thirty or forty dollars and an egg for a dollar to a dolla r

,

and a half But my comrade s in captivity F a th e r s

.
,

O h r w a ld e r and R o s ignoli have already de s cribed the ho r ro r s

,

of that long and terrible time and I need not r epeat them ,
’
here ; s u ffi c e it to sa y that after a fi v e month s s iege during ,

which the mo s t terrible privation s were endured and in ,

which a very large proportion of the remaining population

and garri s on died of s ta r vation Mohammed Pa s ha Said wa s
at la s t fo r ced to capitula t e
,

e wi s hed to blow up t he
. H
 FIR E A N D S W OR D IN HS UD
T E A N
the lette r s from me they s ought t he death of ma rt y r s a n d ,

their wi s h w a s fu lfi lle d The merciful God h a s g r anted

.

’
them their heart s de s ire and now t hey are in the enj oyment
,

of all the plea s ure s of Pa r adi s e May God grant that we .

“

may follow in t heir foot s tep s

During thi s conver s ation accor ding to a plan p r ep a r ed
,

beforehand Abu Anga and h i s men had occupied the for t

, ,

powder magazine and Gove r nment building s whil st the

, ,
’
E mir s in s talled them s elve s in the o ffi c e r s quar t e r s The .

Mahdi now told W a d e l Ar e ik who happened t o be a per ,

s onal friend of Said Pa s ha t o take him and h i s o ffi c e r s back

,

to thei r hou s e s ; but on thei r return they found them oc o n

pied and we r e given to unde r s tand that their proper t y had
,

now been c o n fi sca te d Soon afterward s the M ahdi him s elf

.

ente re d the town to in s pect it and o r dered the g a r r i s on to

,

quit the entrenchment s The women and children who

.
,

had s o patiently waited for relief were now orde red out t o ,
’
t he Mahdi s camp and were allowed t o take nothing with
,
'

them Even the women were s ea r ched t o the s kin in a

.
,

mo st r evol t ing manner and anything found wa s in s t antly

,
’
taken o ff to the Beit e l Mal ( Mahdi s t r ea s ury) where the ,

prope rty wa s s ub s equently di s tributed among s t t he Emir s

aud othe r high per s onage s In s ea r ching fo r g o ld and .

t r ea s u r e the mo s t hea r t rending s cene s we r e enacted and

-
,

weeping and wailing wa s hear d on all s ide s a s the un fo r ,

tun a te s were flogged t o make them di s gorge .

Said Pa s ha him s elf wa s called upon by Ahmed W a d

’
Suleiman the Mahdi s Emin Beit e l M al ( o r trea s urer) to
, ,

hand over all h i s money but he r eplied that he had none

, .

It w a s well known that he wa s a ve r y wealthy man but he ,

ob s tinately denied he had anything W hen the Mahdi .

heard thi s he in s tructed W a d Suleiman to make every

,
’
inquiry of Said Pa s ha s s e r vant s and while he wa s occupied ,

in doing thi s the Mahdi continued conver s ing with Said

,

Pa s ha on the p r ecept s of religion and frequen t ly a sked him , ,

befor e the a s s embled ma ss e s why he r efu s ed t o di s clo s e the

,

hiding place of h i s tr e a s ure and Said Pa s h a a s pe rs i stently

-
,
 HSIEG E
T E A ND FA LL OF E L O B EID 83

denied that he had any money whateve r In thi s way s ome .

time pa s s ed and at length W a d Suleiman who had mean

, ,

wh i le s ucceeded in getting one of the female s ervant s to

x

admit that her ma s ter had concealed the trea s ure in the
wall returned to the Mahdi and whi s pered in h i s ear that
, ,

t hey had found i t The latter beckoning him to s it down

.
, ,

continued to talk of the vani t ie s of thi s w o r ld a n d the g f e a t ,

~ -

nece s s ity of renouncing them ; and t hen turning s uddenly ,

‘
t o Said Pa s ha he s aid You swore a mo s t s olemn oa t h of
, ,

allegiance ; why t hen do you refu s e to s a y where your

, ,

money i s ? Money i s the root of all evil Do you now .

’
expect to gather more riche s Oh s ire replied Said .
, ,

‘
Pa s ha I have neit h er money made hone s tly nor money
, ,
’
made di s hone stly ; do w ith me what you like Do you .

take me for an ordinary man replied the M ahdi Do . .

‘
you not under s tand that I a m truly the Mahdi e l
Mu n ta z e r ”
and that the Prophet h a s revealed to me the
,

hiding place of your trea s ure which you have concealed in

-
,

the wall of your hou s e ? G o Ahmed W a d Suleiman to , ,

h i s hou s e Enter h i s r oom and on the left s ide near the

.
, ,

door remove the pla ster from the wall and there y o u will
, ,
’ ’
find the Turk s trea s ure B r ing it here During W a d

H
. .

’
Suleiman s ab s ence Said Pa s ha s a t di s con s olately clo s e t o ,

the Mahdi frowning deeply ,

e knew h i s trea s u r e had .

been di s covered but he w a s t oo proud to admit that he had

,

told an untruth and he refu s ed to j oin in t he con ver s ati on

, .

In a few minute s Suleiman returned dragging behind him ,

a large tin box which he placed before the Mahdi who

, ,

Opened i t and found i t full of gold packed up in s mall bag s

, , .

’
Over 15 w a s counted out Mohammed Said s aid .
,
‘
the Mahdi you have told a lie ; but I will forgive you
, .

Ahmed take the money t o the B eit e l Mal and di s tr ibute it

, ,
’
among st the poor and needy You who preach renuncia .
,
’
tion have now got my money ; do what you like with i t
, ,

s aid Said Pa s ha t u r ning on h i s heel and marching o ff

, The .

Mahdi frowning darkly muttered Di ma b iye n fa maana

, , ,
’
Thi s man won t do fo r u s ) and s o o n afterward s a pre t ex t
( ,
84 FIRE A N D S W ORD I N T HS UD E A N
wa s found fo r executing thi s gallant o fii c e r a s well a s Ahmed ,

Bey D a fa lla Ali Bey Sherif and Ya s in Such w a s the end

, .

of the four men who had s o bravely defended El Obeid ,

and in trut h t hey de s erved a better fate !

C HAPT E R V II .

V AI N E F F O RT S TO ST E M T H E T DE I OF M A H DI M S

IN DA RF U R .

I adv a nce n Sh a kka T h e B a tt l o f O m W r a g a t B sie ge d in th e

o — e a — e

Z a ri ba M y R tre a t o D a ra th ro ugh th En m y C o untry T h e

—
e
’
n e e s —

I lln d D e th o f G o tt fri e d R o tt I d p tch S re t E m i s ri e s

e ss a n a —
es a ec s a

to K rd o f n T h e R v l t o f th M i a A ra b s
o a — I l rn o f th F a l l
e o e rn —
ea e

o f El O b i d T h e D a th o f Sh e i kh Ah h
e — M y C a m p a i gn ga in t
e —
a s

th e M i rna a d Kh a w b i A ra b nDi v ry o f a P lo t a m o ngst th e

a r s— sc o e

T ro o p s i n D a ra M y O ffi ce s d M c ri b
—
o ur D f a ts to th e r an en as e e e

fa ct th a t I a m a C h ri ti n I d cid to no m ina lly a d pt th s a — e e o e

Mo h m m d a n R e l i gi o n I d e cide to nd Z o g l B y to R l O b id
H
— se
a e a e e

M y C m p a i gn ga in t th e B ni
a lba B h i B e y se e k D e a th
a s e e —
es ar s

G ra v it y o f th e Sit ua ti o n i n D a r fur

H
a d h ud s i t
n —
.

A I G reached Ha haba I now did my ut mo t t o o rganize

V N s , s

a force capable of operating ucce fully again t s ss s M a dib b o .

The tribe s I had s ummoned to aid the Government had

arrived and my t roop s con s i st ed app r oximately of the
,

following
R gu l a rs a rm e d with R e m ingto ns
e ,

G e ll a b a s
r
A m e d B a z i n g e r s u d e Sh a a c d D i n , a m o s wh o m n r r f ng t
H
,

l
a s e a d e s we e A d e r
R a s u Sh e h s Kh ud U m
.
r b r l , ik r ,

b tti
a , M un g i d M a d ni
a , n a ssa W a d Sa tta r a t Sul ta n .

Be gu . Su e m a li n W ad Fr a ah , M us l e m W a d Ka b
b a sh i , and o he t r s

Va ri o us
T o t a l g uns (o f wh i ch a b o ut 60 we re R e m ingto n r i fle s) 0

A l so a m u zzl e l o a ding m o unta i n g un a n d th i rte e n a rti ll e ry m n

- -
e .

The friendly tribe s con s i s ted of contingen t s from the

B e gu Be r ke t Z a ga wa ( o f s ou t he rn Da rfu r) Me ss eria
, , , ,
 FIR E A N D S WORD IN HS UD
T E A N
In thi s manner I hoped to reach Shakka without any
s e r iou s lo s s ; and on arriving there it w a s my intention to

build a fort where I s hould mount the gun and leaving a

, , ,

s mall gar r i s on there make expedition s in light marching

,

order to the variou s di s turbed di s trict s where my A r ab ,

s pe armen if fortunate would have ample oppor t unitie s of

, ,

capturing any quantitie s of Ri z i g h a t cattle .

O n arrival at D e a in we found quantitie s of corn s tored in

,

t he n e w Village j u s t built by M a di b b o Thi s wa s di s .

tributed among s t the men and they had now s uffi ci e n t ,

s upplie s to la s t them s ome day s W e halted here for three .

day s in order to obtain correct information a s to the water

,

on the road and then continued the march toward s Shakka

, .

A s I w a s s u ffering from a heavy b out of feve r I handed ,

over the command of the troop s temporarily to Sharaf e d

Din my s econd in command but ordered him to remain
, ,

clo s e to me The following day having left the village of

.
,
~

Kindiri on our fi a n k and having made a s hort halt there

-

, ,

w a s an alarm that hor s emen were advancing to attack u s .

I mmediately eve ryone w a s in h i s place and in s pite of m y , ,

feve r I j oined the rear guard whence the alarm had come
, , ,

and from thi s po s ition I could s e e numbers of hor s e men ;

the r e might have been s ome hundred s but owing to the , ,

intervening tree s it w a s impos s ible to e s timate accurately

, .

Signalling to the flank guard s to join me I advanced with ,

'
the cavalry and Arab hors emen and a s kirmi s h en s ued ,

among s t the tree s in which the enemy were driven back

,

with s ome lo s s and we captured s i x hor s e s Our own

, .

lo s s e s were s even hor s e s killed two men mi s s ing and , ,

s everal wounded Having pur s ued for s ome di s tance

.
,

we retu r ned and a s it wa s s till early th e march w a s

, ,

continued till nightfall when we encamped at a place ,

called O m W a r a g a t
I

Still su fl e r in g from fever I told Sharaf e d Din to make ,

exactly s imilar di s po s ition s ( s e e plan ) ; and s tarting o ff the

following morning after a march of two hours we reached
, ,

s ome more o r le s s open but boggy moorland at t he s outh ,

 F
E FOR TS T O S TEM T HI E T D E OF M A HI D SM

1 50 Hro se m e n ,

200 Ba z i n g e r s .

‘
sxe fi m z e 00 3
g

ue ui és1 0
H 0 91

BA T T L E O F C M W A R A G A T .

D i p iti
s os o n of T r p
oo s o n th e Ma r ch to Sh a k k a.
 FI RE A ND S W ORD IN T E HSUD A N
ea s t end of which were vi s ible a few hut s s uch a s a r e ,

erected by the Ri z ig h a t s lave s who wo r k in the fi e lds .

The vanguard had already cleared the s oft ground I had —

gone forward with it to examine the hut s whil s t the men in

the s quare were occupied in trying to h elp out the animal s
who s e feet had s un k into the mire when s uddenly from the —

r ear guard the alarm w a s s ounded twice followed almo s t ,

immediately by s ome r ifl e s hot s Ordering the vanguard -

.

to hold the hut s I immediately galloped toward s the left

, .

flank of the s quare and s ounding for the re s erve of ninety

, ,

regular s I proceeded toward s the rear guard ; but it wa s

,

too late The B a z i n g e r s and regular s of the r ear guard

.
,

having fi r e d a volley had no time to re l oad before the ,

en emy w a s on them ; and overpowered by thou s and s of ,

half naked Arab s they were being forced back on to the

—
,

rear face of the s quare the men compo s ing which fearing , ,

to fi r e on friend and foe alike did nothing to s top the ru s h , ,

and already s everal of the enemy had penetrated W ithout .

’ ‘
a moment s he s itation I ordered my bugle r to s ound lie ,
’
down for tho s e in the s quare and fi r i n g on the Arab s who
,
, ,

had broken i n a s well a s on tho s e s till pu s hing on from

,

behind I checked the ru s h and cau s ed them to s plit up

, ,

into two partie s who trending o ff right and left made for
, , ,

th e fl a n k guard s already engaged with other parti e s of

'

Arab s who were attacking them in front .

The confu s ion w a s now inde s c r ibable within the s quare

the Arab s who had already penetrated although s uffering ,

heavily from the h t e from my s mall party were c r eating ,

frigh t ful havoc among s t the almo s t defen s ele s s B a z in g e r s ,

who armed only with muzzle loader s could do nothing

,
-
, ,

whil s t the regula r s s o s udden had been the ru s h had not

— —

even time to draw their bayonet s ; eventually however , ,

tho s e who had entered were all killed The flank guard s .
,

taken in front and rear s u ffered even more heavily than ,

the s quare and b r eaking up entirely they fled in all

, , ,

direction s hundred s being killed by the Ri z ig h a t hor s emen

,

concealed in the fore s t .

99 FI RE A ND S WORD IN HS UD
T E A N
on the actual s pot where year s before Adam Tarbu s h the , , ,

V izir of Sultan Hu s s ein had s u ffered a s imila r defeat and ,

lo st h i s life .

N o w came the terribly s a d duty of calling t he r oll Of .

my fourteen infantry o ffi ce r s ten had fallen and one wa s , ,

wounded The Gellaba chiefs Sheikh Khidr Mangel

.
, ,

Medani Ha s s an W a d Sa tta r a t and Suleiman W a d F atah

, ,

had been killed a s well a s F iki Ahmed Ha ss ib and

, , ,

Sh e k e lu b O f th e t h irteen artillerymen one only remained

.
,

alive The Greek Alexander too who had previou s ly been

.
, ,

wounded at D e a i n and who had not yet recovered h a d , ,

been killed Sorrowfully we collected the dead to pa y

.
,

them the la s t honour s Among s t a heap of bodie s we .

found Sharaf e d Din s t abbed to the heart In the s oft , .

d amp ground we hurriedly dug rough grave s and o ffi ce r s ,

and chiefs we bu r ied in twos and three s a terribly s a d —

ta s k .

A s fo r the poor wounded there wa s little we could do ,

'

for them Tho s e only s lightly hurt we r e already dre s s ing

.

their own wound s ; but for the s evere ca s e s we had no

mean s of d r e s s ing them and a few comforting wo r d s wa s ,

all the s mall help we could give them I t wa s indeed .

painful to s e e s uch s uffering and feel how utterly incapable ,

one wa s of alleviating i t Catching s ight of one of my boy s .

,
‘

who w a s carrying my s atchel with a fe w bandage s i n it I ,

took it from him and began dre s s ing one or two ca s e s when ,

it s uddenly occurred to me that I had not s een my othe r

H
boy M organ Ho s an who wa s leading one of my hor s e s
,

e wa s a fi n e

year s old hone s t quiet and brave Isa

’
,

intelligent young fellow s ca r cely s ixteen

,

s aid I to the , .
,

, ,
.

, ,

boy carrying the s atchel whe r e i s Morgan who wa s lead , ,

ing my hor s e M a b a r a k [o n w h ich were my note book s and -

s ketc h e s in the s addle bag s] he i s an active fellow and

-
,
’
perhap s mounted the hor s e and h a s managed to e s cape ,
.

Sad and broken hearted poor Is a s hook h i s head and h i s

-
, , ,
’
eye s fi llin g with tear s he handed me a bit of my hor s e s ,
’
bridle W hat i s thi s
. I a s ked Ma ste r s aid h e I did .
, ,
 E FFOR TS TO S TEM T HI’
E T D E OF MA HI
D SM

not want to make you more s orry than you are I found .

him not fa r from here lying on the ground with a s pear , ,

wound in h i s che st W hen he sa w me he s miled and.

whi s pered I kne w you would come and look fo r me Say

,
.

goo d bye to my mas ter and tell him I wa s no t a cowa r d ,

.

I did not let g o h i s ho rs e and it wa s only when I fell down ,

s tabbed in the che s t that they cut the b r i d le__ t_o w h i gh I ,

clung and took him ; s how my ma ster the bit of t he b r idle

,

that i s s till in my h and and tell him that Morgan wa s faith

,

ful Take the knife out of my pocket i t belong s to my

.
—

ma s ter ; give it to him and sa y many s a la m s to him from

,
”
me . Is a h i s voice choked with s obbing handed me the
, ,

knife and I too now quite broke down Poor Morgan s o

, , , .
,

young and s o true ! Poor ma s te r to have lo s t so faithful

H
,

a s e r vant and s o true a friend ! Tell me Is a what wa s , ,

’
the end I s aid e w a s thir s ty
. he replied and I took , ,

h i s head in my hand s and in a few s econd s he w a s dead

,
.
‘

I then got up and left him ; I had other t hing s to do and ,

’
there wa s no time to cry .

Ordering the zariba to be s trengthened and trenche s to ,

be dug in s ide I then had the drum s beaten bugle s blown

, , ,

and s ome r i fle s hot s fi r e d s o that any who might s till be ,

-

fle e i n g or s topped by the s wampy ground s lightly wounded

, ,

might know that a place of refuge wa s at hand During .

the day a con s iderable number came i n and calli ng over , ,

the roll in the evening I found we mu s tered in all nine ,

hundred men including regular s and B a z i n g e r s a s a d and

,
—

broken remnant out of a force of eighty h y e hundred men -

,

but s t ill s omet h ing for which to be thankful O f ou r hor s e .

men and cavalry thirty only were left the enemy had
,
—

probably captured a large number and s ome had perhap s ,

e s caped and returned to Dara or to their own home s ; but ,

of arm s and ammunition of tho s e who had fallen we had

abundance .

A t s un s et the Ri z i g h a t Arab s returned from the pur s uit ;

and to their a s toni s hment found u s in an entrenc h ed po s i
, ,

tion ready to fi g h t them Ma dib b o now s ent forward h i s

,
.
 FIR E A N D S W OR D IN T HS UD E A N
B a z in g e r sto attack u s but after a s hort s truggle we d r ove
them back and darkne s s coming o n all h ring cea s ed
, ,
.

W hil s t s itting talking to my o ffi c e r s Sheikh s Abder R a s ul , ,

Mu s lim W a d Kabba s hi and Sultan Begu approached and

, ,

a s ked whether it would not be better to retreat from our

pre s ent po s ition under cover of night a s after our heavy , ,

defeat and lo s s e s we h a d no chance now again s t the enemy

,
.

’
W ell s aid I you wi s h to retreat during the night ; but what
, ,

will you do with all our wounded comrade s and brother s ?

Do you want to leave them to the tender mercie s of ou r
enemie s Shamefaced they were s ilent and did not r eply
, , .

’
N o s aid I your propo s al i s not a good one ; I have been
, ,

talking over the matter with my o ffi c e r s and we have ,

r e s olved to remain where we are for a few day s W e have

'
.

now nothing to fear but hunge r ; the wounded and tired

camel s can be killed for food for the s oldie r s Be s ide s we .
,

can exi s t s omehow or other for a few day s W e s hall mo s t .

certainly be attacked a s we have already been but we

, ,
”

s hall equally s urely drive o h the enemy In thi s way the .

m e n will regain c o n fi de n c e after the terrible s hock we have

a ll s u ffered .I know the Riz i g h a t they will not s tay here
and watch u s I feel c o n fi de n t we s hall s ettle account s
.

with Ma dibb o h i s B a z i n g e r s and Sheikh Jango who fled

, , ,

once before to the Bahr e l Ghazal Our wounded comrade s .

will have time to recover their s trength a little ; thos e only

s u ffering s lightly will be able to march in a few day s and ,

the other s we can mount on ou r hor s e s I th i n k my pro .

’
po s al i s a much better one than your s .

W hil s t I had been talking I had overheard Sultan Abakr

making remark s o f a ppr o v a l and by the time I had fi n i s h e d
’
,

al l had agreed to s tay .

Speaking generally to all p r e s ent I s aid to them C an , ,

any of you under s tand how it w a s we were defeated to

’ ’
day No they all an s wered
, W ell I will tell you I
.
, ,

r eplied .Thi s evening I s a w among s t the woun d ed the

guard . H
a s s i s tant of Ha s s an W a d Sa tta r a t commander of the rea r
e s aid Sharaf e d Din did not carry out your
,
,
 FIR E A ND S WORD I N T HS UD
E A N
po s s ible to fore s ee what would be the end of all thi s trouble .

In ca s e I s hould fall I begged R ott to s end the s e on to my

,

dear one s at home .

Taking the letter s in my hand I now wen t to Abdulla ,

O m D r a m o Sheikh of th e Me s s eria Arab s who r e s ided

, ,

near Dara and waking him u p I s aid W here i s you r

, ,
‘
, ,
’
brother Salama There he i s s aid h e pointing to the , ,
’
man lying be s ide him and waking him up al s o , Salama .
,

s aid I you can rende r me a great s ervice which will al s o

, ,

be of much advantage to your s elf You s e e the s e letter s .

you mu s t take them to Dara and hand them ove r to the

Eu ropean R ott whom you h ave often s een wi t h me ; I
,

s hall give you my own hor s e which o u~a 1w a s sa y i s s uch

y y ,

a good one for thi s mi s s ion You mu s t leave at once and

, .
,

when y o u get near the line of the enemy encircling u s ride ,

s harply through for t h ey are all a s leep and you will have
, ,

di s appeared in the dark before they can get their hor s e s

ready once through their line s you will be s afe and in two ,

day s you s hould be in Dara As a reward I will give you .

,
’
my black mare which i s in my s table
, W hil s t I wa s talk .

ing Salama had tightened up the cloth round h i s che s t and

,

loin s and merely s aid W here are the letter s

, ,
I gave
them to him and tak ing them he s aid Plea s e God and
, , , , ,

with the help of the Almighty I s hall take the s e letter s to ,

their de stination But I prefer to ride my own hor s e ; he

.

may not be so s wift a s your s bu t he i s quite s trong enough ,

to take me home on h i s back I know my hor s e and he .

,

know s me Mutual acquaintance s are alway s an advantage

.

’
on s uch expedition s W hil s t he w a s girthing up h i s s addle
.
,

I s cribbled a line to R ott telling him to give the bearer of ,

the s e letter s my black mare and handing it t o him I told , , ,

him what I had w r it t en then leading h i s hor s e t o t he gate , ,

we came to Said Agha F ula who w a s lying r e s tle s s ly and ,

in pain on h i s angareb : he w a s wounded in the r ight leg

’
a n d left arm I t old him abou t Salama s mi s s ion and he
.
,

t hen ordered the gate to be O pened In a moment Salama .

had mounted and holding in h i s right hand h i s long s pear

, , ,
 F
E F OR TS TO S TE M T HI E T D E OF MA H
D I SM 95

an d in h i s left h i s bundle of s mall s pea r s he started o ff , .

’ ’ ’
I commit you to God s keeping I cried I tru s t in God ,
.
,

w a s h i s reply Going s lowly at fi r st he approached the

.
,

line s cautiou s ly then I heard the rapid clatter of hoofs ; in

a few minute s one or t wo ri h e s hot s rang out in the s till -

night then all wa s a s s ilen t again a s death

,
May God g o .

with him we all ej aculated and then r e entered the z a gib a ,

-
.

E xhau s ted nat ure now claimed me and u t terly tired out I , , ,

wa s s oon fa s t a s leep .

W hen I woke up at early dawn I found t he men already

a t work s t r engthening the brea s two r k s and a s I h a d antici , ,

pat ed the enemy renewed their attack at s unri s e F or

, .

s ome time a very bri s k fi r e w a s kept up on both s ide s but , ,

owing to our dominatin g po s ition t he Arab s were at length ,

forced to retire after s uffering con s iderable lo s s O u our

H
, .

s ide there we r e a few killed and wounded among s t the ,

former being Ali W a d e g a z a j aali and one of the be st , ,

and brave s t of h i s t ribe A s it wa s our intention to remain

.

’
here fou r o r h y e day s the men bu s ied them s elve s in
,

s t r engthening the za r iba and we al s o bu r ied the bodie s of

,

friend s and foe s in t he immediate vicinity a s already the air ,

wa s contaminated with the fetid s mell of decaying corp s e s .

W e pa s s ed fi v e day s in the zariba attacked once if no t , ,

t wice every day D ur l n g the action fought on the third

,
.

’
day Koreina Nu r t he commande r of Ma di bb o s gun be a rer s
,
-
,

a n d the brave s t and bolde s t of h i s Arab s w a s killed ; and ,

’
hencefo rth t he enemy s attack s dimini s hed g r eatly in
vigour .

But n o w we had a new enemy to con t end a g a m st

famine Almo s t everything eatable in the camp had been
.

con s umed ; the camel meat which had amply s uffi c e d for ,

the men wa s now fi n i s h e d there wa s not a grain of dhurra

,

left my o ffi ce r s and I had lived for s ome time on s ome old

c ru s t s of dhurra bread which we had cooked with the leave s
,

of a plan t called kawal and s ti r red up into a s ort of t a ste

,

le s s por r idge W e had no p r o s pect of being relieved ; to

.

s tay longer where we were w a s impo s s ible and already we ,

 FIR E A N D S W ORD IN T HS UD
E A N
were weakened by want of food ; I t herefore a s s emble d the
entire force con s i s ting of nine hundred men almo s t all of
—
,

whom were armed with r i fle s and gun s except a few A r ab s , ,

w h o being ignorant of h t e a r m s pr e fe r r e d to tru s t to thei r

‘
-
, ,

lan ce s and addre s s ing them in a few word s I told them

—
, ,

that t h e blood of their dead o ffi c e r s and chiefs cried to them

fo r vengeance that their wive s and children anxiou s ly
,

awaited their return but t hat it w a s impo s s ible to reach

,

them without enduring t r ouble s with patience and facing ,

diffi c u lti e s with courage and endurance ; and I clo s ed m y

“

harangu e by s aying that tho s e in who s e heart s w a s fear had

’

left u s in the day of battle but tho s e now before m e g h a d ,

bravely s tood th ei r ground again s t ove r whelming odd s ; and

t h at I had no doubt they would do so again and that God ,

would crown our e ffort s by victory .

A s hou t and the s haking of r i fle s and gun s ove r thei r

,

head s which i s their u s ual met hod of s ignifyi ng their

,

obedience and courage wa s their reply ; an d I then di s ,

mi s s ed them with order s to prepare to ma r ch the following

,

day I now t ook out the hammer s from the percu s s ion
.

gun s belonging to the killed which lay heaped up in t he ,

middle of the zariba and t hrew them into a rain pool bu t

,
-

of th e s tock s I made a b o n fi r e The fi lled s hell s for t he .

gun I threw in t o the wat er and a s much ammuni t ion a s ,

pos s ible wa s di s tr ibut ed among s t t he s oldie rs each m a n

'

ca r rying from s ixteen t o eigh t een dozen round s bu t all t he

pe r cu s s ion gun ammunition I wa s obliged t o de s t roy in
-
,

ca s e it s h o uld fa ll in t o the hand s of t he enemy the lead in

‘

the ca rt ridge s w a s removed and s ome of the very s eve r ely ,

wounded having ju s t died I placed it in the open g rave s , ,

ove r which w e l a id t he bodie s of our poor com r ade s a s ,

gua r dians of our preciou s metal .

It wa s on a Saturday t he s eventh day aft e r ou r di s a st e r

, ,

a n d ju s t afte r s unri s e th a t we marched ou t of t he z a r iba

, ,

and forming up i n s quare with fla n k and r ear gu a r d s we

,
‘
,

began our r et reat The only two camel s remaining d r ew

.

the gun in the middle of t he s qua re and I s e n t out two ,

'
 E FFOR TS TO STEM T HI E T D E OF M A HI D SM

Ar a b x
ho r s emen a s fa r a s pos sible on each s ide to s c out .

W e had one hundred and s ixty wounded in s ide the s quare ,

and a s many of them a s could march did s o but the mo s t

s evere ca s e s we mounted on the few remaining hor s e s each ,

hor s e carrying two or three men I my s elf wa s prepared to .

walk but at the urgent reque s t of my o ffi c e r s I mounted

, , , ,

s o a s to obtain a bette r view over the country W e all knew .

that when we had marched s ome di s tance fr o rh th e f afi b a

m '

we s hould mo s t certainly be attacked ; I therefore had the

gun loaded and we re s olved to s ell our live s dea r ly W e
, .

well under s tood the Arab mode of fi g h ti n g and were c o n fi ,

dent that if we s ucceeded in driving back the fi r s t two or

three attack s we s hould not be further mole s ted It wa s
, .

decided the line of direction s hould be north ea s t a s the -

,

ground wa s more open ; but we were ignorant of the rai n

pool s a s our guide s were either killed or had de s erted
, .

Before we had been o n the march an hour we were ‘

attacked in the rear by hor s emen and I knew the deci s ive ,

moment had come Halting in stantl y I called in the flank

.
,

guard s clos er to the s quare and accompanied by my own , ,

e s cort of fi fty men proceeded t o the rear guard di s tant

, ,

about two hundred yard s The gun wa s run out to the rear
.

face of t he s quare and s everal of the s lightly wounded held

,

t he cartridge s and s hell r eady to reload without delay .

’
Before the enemy s footmen we r e in s ight we could hear the
s ound of their advance and when they did appear a few
, ,

well directed volley s from the rear guard had the e ffect of
-

s lightly checking them ; but encouraged by tho s e coming ,

up behind they ru s hed toward s u s waving their g r eat

, ,

lance s in their right hand s and ca rrying in thei r left bundle s

,

of s mall throwing s pear s They s ucceeded in coming s o.

clo s e that s everal of ou r men were wounded by thrown

s pear s ; but our fi r e created havoc among thei r rank s and ,

t he gun played on them fr eely from the s quare Thei r .

’ ’
s pearmen now gave way to Ma di b b o s and Ja n g h o s
B a z i n g e r s and a very bri s k fi r e w a s maintained on both
,

s ide s ; bu t getting reinfo r cement s fr om t he s quare we

, ,

7
 FIR E A N D S W OR D IN T HS UD
E A N
’
s ucceeded after twenty minute s hard s truggle in driving
, ,

back the attack O n the fi r st s hot s being fi r e d I had at

.
,

once j umped o ff my hor s e which i s alway s under s tood in

,

the Sudan to mean that abandoning h i s chance of flight in

,

ca s e of a rever s e the commander h a s determined to conque r

,

or die with h i s t1 0 0 ps ; and now t h at th e action w a s over ,

the men came round me and we h a d a great mutual ,

hand s haking over thi s our fi r s t s ucce s s

-
.

W hil s t we had been engaged in comb ating the attack on

the rear the left flank guard had al s o become engaged and
, , ,

though the enemy had been driven o ff neverthele s s it had

H
,

s u ffered s omewhat and my be s t remaining o ffi c e r

,
Zeidan ,

Agha wa s dangero us ly wounded

, e w a s a N ubian by .

birth and during the Darfur campaign h a d s hown con

,

s pi c u o u s gallantry in recapturing at the head of only twelve ,

men a gun which had been taken by the enemy F or thi s

, .

s ervice he had been promoted to the rank of an o ffi c e r and ,

now he lay with a bulle t through h i s right lung I a s ked .

him how he wa s and giving me h i s hand he murmured

, , , ,
’
N o w that we have conquered we a r e all right ; and , ,

pre s s ing my h and in a few minute s he wa s dead Be s ide s

, .

him we had lo s t twenty men killed and s everal wounded

, ,
.

Our dead we buried roughly a s there wa s no time to dig ,

grave s ; but we covered them s u ffi c i e n tly to avoid the r e

proach that we had left our dead unburied and then con ,

ti n u e d our march with the s ame precaution s but wi t h ,

con s iderably increa s ed c o n fi de n ce .

’
About t h ree o clock another attack on the rear wa s
s ignalled ; but thi s time it w a s not pre ss ed home and we ,

drove o ff the enemy without s q e r in g any lo s s our s elve s .

W e now h alted and formed a zariba momentarily expect ,

ing another attack But to our s urpri s e we pa s s ed the

.

night undi s turbed and th e next morning at s unri s e having

, ,

fi n i s h e d all our water we re s umed our march

, Again we .

Were s ubjected to an attack but on thi s occa s ion it wa s even

,

weaker than t h a t of the previou s afternoon and wa s driven ,

o ff without any trouble W e continued our march till mid

.
 FIR E A N D S WORD IN T HS UD E A N
lay Halting t h erefore at once I ordered the gun to be
.
, , ,

di s mounted and loaded and all preparation s made to re s i s t

,
.

I t s eemed to me very probable that the enemy knowing ,

t hat we s hould be s ufi e r i n g from thir s t would be in con ,

c e a lm e n t s omewhere near the water and would charge u s a s ,

we were approaching I now called on the men to s trictly

.

obey all order s ; and on no account to become undi s ciplined .

B ut a s s oon a s the wate r came in view the poor thir s ty

tr 0 0 p s could contain them s elve s no longer and ru s hed pell ,

mell toward s i t I managed to re s train the forty men I had

.

a s e s cort and there were about the s ame number with the
,

r ear guard ; and although I s ounded the a ss embly again

a n d again the men were now completely out of hand
, ,

pl unging up to thei r wai s t s in the water in their frenzy of ,

delight But a s I had anticipated the enemy were con

.
, ,

c e a le d behind the tree s fortunately at s ome di s tance o ff

—

and s eei n g our di s order they now made a general attack

, ,

from all s ide s Galloping to the front followed by the

.
,

e s co r t we Opened h t e while Mohammed Suleiman did the

,

s ame a s r egard s t he rear Our demoralized men s eeing the

.
,

s ituation at,
once fell i n and after s ome heavy fi r in g we
,

drove off t he enemy lo s ing in thi s m el ee only one hor s e

, .

W e now s elected a s uitable po s ition nea r the wate r and s e t ,

to work to make a zariba ; and that fi n i s h e d the men killed ,

their s heep ; fi r e s were lighted and in an hou r they we r e

,
'

enj oying the fi r st s olid meal they had had fo r many a day .

A s we were all s adly in need of a re s t I deci ded to r emain ,

in thi s po s ition till the following day .

That evening a report came in from the outpos t s that a

man w a s s een waving a piece of white calico and a s king to ,

be allowed to s e e me I did not wi s h him to enter th e

.

zariba and s e e all our wounded ; I therefore went out and ,

’
found that he w a s one of M a di bb o s s lave s bearing a le t ter

H
,

for me from h i s ma s te r In thi s letter M a di b b o called on

.

me to s urrender and hand over my arm s e fu r th e r w r o te .

t hat the M ahdi wa s now encamped before El Obeid which

he expect ed t o cap t u r e s hor tly H
e promi s ed to treat m e
.
,
 E FFORTS T O S TE M T HI E T D E OF M A HI D SM 1 01

with all re s pect and to s end me under s afe e s cort to the

,

Mahdi I now ordered t hi s lett e r t o be read aloud to the

.

men who greeted it with jee r s and a s ked the s lave if h i s

, ,

ma s te r wa s mad to which the terror s t ricken man replied

,
-

that he did not really know I then t urned to him s e r iou s ly

.
,

and s peaking loud enough for all to hear I s aid Tell ‘

, , ,
’
M a di bb o it wa s God s will we s hould have sn ife r ed lo s s e s ,

but we are not defeated W e are wandering about in h i s

.

country and if he doe s not like u s to do s o he mu s t accep t

,

the s ituation a s he h a s neither the power nor the courage

,

to s top u s If he i s really an adherent of the Mahdi and

.
,

de s ire s to enj oy the plea s ure s of Paradi s e promi s ed him ,

then let him come here to morrow morning W e s hall wai t -

.

' ’
for him and for h i s s ak e we s hall no t march t o mor row
,
-
.

Mo s t of the men had now gathered round u s and were ,

li stening to thi s s peech and laughing and when I bade the

me s s enger good bye s om e of the wi t s begged him to give
-
,

Ma di b b o their compliment s and tell him they hoped s oon ,

to have t he plea s ure of h i s per s onal acquaintance The .

men were now in the highe s t s pirit s ; they really did wi s h

’
to make M a di b b o s acquaintance and wipe out if po s s ible , , ,

the defea t t h ey had s u ffered at O m W a r a g a t .

That e v e n i n g I pre s ented our guide with a piece of r ed

cloth a pair of s ilver ban gle s and a few dollar s which I
, , ,

borrowed from the s urviving merchant s and he quitted the ,

zariba full of gratitude At the s ame time I told h i m that

.

s hould he come to Dar a I would repay him the value of h i s

s heep .

The next morning we a s certained in variou s way s t ha t

Ma di bb o wa s not far o ff and after our boa s ting i t behoved
,

u s to be very cautiou s However we were not attacked

.
, .

The next morning I gave order s to march and on the ,

following day we reached Bi r D i lwe i and thence we con ,

ti n u e d our march withou t interruption t o Dara .

O n the road letter s reached me s aying t ha t Salama ,

whom I had s ent o ff from O m W a r a g a t had arrived s afely ,

they reported r umour s t hat the Mima intended to revolt

 FIR E A N D S WORD I N T HS UD
E A N
and R ott in a letter of which the handwriting w a s s carcely
,

legible told me that he had been taken ill the previou s

,

Saturday and wa s very anxiou s to s e e me I al s o received

, .

a report from Omar W a d Darb o s tating that he had heard ,

El Obeid w a s be s ieged and t hat he did not think the Homr

,

Arab s would dare to attack O m S h anga again after their ,

con s tan t defeat s T h e report s of the Mudir of R l F a s he r

.

were in general s ati s factory except a s regard s the Mi rna ,

Arab s N ew s from Ke b k e b i a and Kulkul wa s al s o good

. .

It behoved me now to look after my own brui s e s In the .

variou s fi g h ts I had been wounded three time s A bullet 2

‘

had s hattered the ring fi n g e r of my right hand which had

-
,

to be amputated almo st to the root ; the fi n g e r s on either

s ide were al s o damaged Another bullet had s truck me in
.

the upper pa rt of my leg and fla tte n in g again s t the bone

, , ,

made it protrude A thrown lance had al s o s truck me in

.

the righ t knee In s pite of the s e wound s I had been able to

.
,

g o through the campaign without muc h s uffering but I felt

H
’
weak and overdone and w a s very glad of a few day s re s t
, .

I found poor Gottfried Rott very s eriou s ly ill e wanted .

to move to F a s her for change of air ; s o I s ent him in ,

charge of an o fi i c e r who w a s ordered to take him to my

,

hou s e in El F a s her and a t the s ame time I wrote to a

,

Greek merchan t named Dimitri Z i g a da and a s ked him to ,

do all he could for the patient .

The new s from Kordofan being very contradictory

though at the s ame time the general tenor wa s un s a ti s
factory I s e t to work to try and procure s ome reliable
—

information .I therefore s ent Khaled W a d Imam and

Mohammed W a d A s i t he latter a mo s t faithful man to
— —

that province with in s truction s either to s end me new s with

,

the lea s t po s s ible delay or return with it them s elve s, .

Khaled W a d Imam had been brought up with Z o g a l and ,

although they were not related to each other they were ,

generally looked upon a s brothers My rea s on for s ending .

him wi t h As i w a s that he s hould protect him in El Obeid ,

and the plan s ucceeded admirably ; for Khaled wa s naturally

 FIR E A N D S WORD I N T HS UD
E A N
by in other wo r d s I t hough t i t be tt e r t o t ake no notice
,

o f all t hi s cackling .

’
The nex t po s t brought me new s of poor Gottfried Ro tt s
death In s pite of mo s t careful nur s ing and attention he
.

gradually s ank and wa s buried at El F a s her be s ide Dr

, , .

Pfund and F riedrich R o s s et who had died there s ome year s ,

before .

The Mima were now in a s tate of O pen revolt I there .

fore s ent in s truction s to Omar W a d D a r h o t o proceed

with two h undred regular s and two hundred hor s eme n
into their country to cha s ti s e t hem ; and at the s ame t ime
,

I decided to operate again s t the Kh a wa b i r who were acting ,

in conj unction with the Mima D a r h o s tarted o h and had

i

.
,

a s ucce s s ful little c ampaign defeating the Mima at F afa ,

and W oda whil s t I proceeded with a h undred and fi fty

, ,
'

regular s and fi fty hor s emen m d Sh i e r i a t o Bir O m L awai , , ,

where the Kh a w a b i r appri s ed of my approach were waiting

, ,

to attack me After a s h ort fi g h t they were defeated and

.

di s per s ed and we captured a con s iderable number of s heep

,

and oxen .

W hen the s e operation s were over I in s t r uc t ed Dar b o to ,

j oin me at Bir O m L awai with th e remainder of h i s men .

In a few day s h e arrived and gave me a full account of all ,

’
h i s doing s and further detail s of the Mahdi s s ucce s s e s in
,

Kordofan wh ich to me were exce s s ively di s quieting

,
.

O n the evening in which I w a s writing out h i s in s t r u o

tion s for h i s expedition again s t the Kh a w a b ir a certain
“

H
,

Abderrahman W a d Sherif came and u rgently begged t o -

s peak to me e w a s a well known Dara merchant and

H
-
.
,

had previou s ly travelled to Khartum e began by s aying .

tha t a s I had alway s treated him with kindne s s he thought ,

it h i s duty to inform me that El Obeid had capitulated ,

adding t h at the early new s of thi s sa d event might enable

me t o take the mea s ure s I con s idered nece s s ary Thi s wa s .

a ter r ible blow but I thanked him for h i s melancholy new s ,

H
,

and he then de s cribed to me in detail what had taken place .

e wa s pre s ent a t the time of the s urrender and had left ,

 F
E F OR TS T O S TE M T HI E T D E OF MA HI
D SM 1 05

t hree day s afterward s to vi s it h i s family in Dara but hearing ,

a t T o we i sh a that I w a s at Bir O m L awai he had come ,

s t r aight to me a s he wa s mo s t anxiou s t ha t thi s new s s hould

,

reach me fi r st th r ough a friend .

A s I knew it wa s u s ele s s to t ry and keep thi s s ecret I ,

s ummoned D a r h o and Suleiman Ba s yuni and t old them ,

what I had heard and we talked over the step s wh ich we

"

s hould now take It w a s very eviden t that t hi s n ew s would

.

prove an immen s e incentive to tho s e ho s tilely inclined to

the Government and there wa s no doub t my pre s ence in
,

Da r a wa s u n urgent nece s s ity A s the Mima and Kh a wa b i r

.

had been cha s ti s ed the next thing in order of import ance

,

wa s to s end an expedit ion to T o w e i s h a and on the following ,

day I wrote to Said B ey Guma tha t O m Shanga s hould be

<

evacuated and that the garri s on merchant s and any who

, , ,

wi s hed s hould withdraw to El F a s her I explained that a s .

E1 Obeid had fallen it w a s more than probable the Arab s

,

would now turn on O m Shanga a n d if inve sted it would be , ,

quite impo s s ible to s end relief and that under any circum ,

s tance s it w a s imperative that the principal fi h ti n force

, g g s

in the province s hould be concentrated a t F a s her I al s o .

o r dered him to e s tabli s h a s trong po s t at F afa and W oda ,

i n the Mima country in order to keep open communica t ion

,

bet ween F a s her and Dara Omar W a d D a rb o and h i s .

men I in s tructed to r eturn forthwith to R l F a s her adding ,

that any boot y taken from the Mima s hould be di s tributed

among s t h i s men and the F a s her ga r ri s on whil s t that taken ,

from the Kh a wa b i r s hould g o to the Dara troop s O n t he .

following day we s epara t ed D a r h o to F a s her and I b ack

—
,

t o Dara .

In a few day s the new s of the fall of El Obeid had s pread

far a n d wide and the effect on the Arab t ribe s became
,

immediat ely apparent ; meeting s were held in all part s of

the country and it wa s decided almo s t unanimou s ly t o ri s e
,

again s t the Government .

The day I arrived at D a r a I ordered all the dhurra I could

fi n d to be bough t u p ; we had a con s iderable amount now
 ‘
FIR E A N D S WORD IN T HS UD
E A N
in s tore bu t more would certainly be advantageou s Sheikh
, .

A hh n o w s ent me new s that h i s tribe had revol t ed and had ,

j oined t he Ri z ig h a t but he him s elf true t o h i s promi s e wa s

, , ,

leaving h i s own country with h i s family and relative s and ,

wa s coming to me a i d Da r Helba and that he had s ent h i s ,

brother Ali with a me s s age to B e s h a r i Bey W a d Bekir the ,

head S h eikh of the Beni Helba with whom s olemn oath s ,

had been exchanged agreeing to h i s s afe conduct through h i s

,

country and t herefore he hoped to be with me in a few day s

, .

I wa s awaiting h i s arrival when the s a d new s came that

he had been killed In him I lo s t my mo s t faithful Arab
.

Sheikh It t ran s pired that the Beni Helba who had bee n
.
,

ordered by their Sheikh to let him th r ough wanted to take ,

’
fr om him h i s numerou s s heep and o xen and having refu s ed , ,

a fi g h t had en s ued ; he h a d performed prodigie s of valour ,

but h a d been s lain by s ome s pearmen concealed among s t

the tree s when in pur s uit of t he moun t e d Arab s whom he
, ,

had twice s ucce s s fully driven o ff .

Mohammed W a d A s i whom I had s ent with Khaled ,

W a d Imam now returned from Kordofan and gave me the

,

fulle s t particular s regarding the s itua t ion there

me the good new s that Gov e rnment w a s collecting a large
e brough t
,

. H
force in K h artum for th e r e conque s t of Kordofan but that -
,

no doubt a con s iderable time mu s t elap s e before the expedi

tion could s tart I told him to s pread thi s new s in all
.

H
’
direction s and then inquired a s to Z o g a l s relation s with
,

the Mahdi e replied tha t in s pi t e of the mo s t careful

.
,

inve s tigation he could not a s cer t ain de fi n ite ly if any direc t

,

corre s pondence took place be t ween them but he had no ,

doubt t h at Z o g a l received verbal me s s age s fr om the Mahdi ,

brought by itinerant merchant s ; h e however s hared my , ,

view s that Z o g a l being a man of po s ition and education

, , ,

mu s t be well aware of the actual motive s of the revolt and ,

would not be likely to embark on any fooli s h undertaking .

No doubt the capitulation of El Obeid had greatly we akened

our po s ition and wit h the whole of Kordofan in the hand s
,

of t he enemy i t behoved u s to act w i th the greate s t caution

,
 FIR E A N D S W OR D IN T HS UD
E A N
now ordered the hor s emen t o take up behind them t he
r egula r s and pur s ue and do t heir u t mo s t to di s cove r wh ere
,

the water melon s were s tored a s they would undoubtedly

-
,

make for them t o quench t h eir thirs t Thi s order wa s well .

carried out the water melon s were de s troyed and a numbe r

,
-
,

of women and children captured whil s t the tribe s men we re ,

s cattered over the country in s earch of water and many ,

’
died of thir s t The next day the enemy s camp w a s burnt
.
,

and the women and children who would otherwi s e have ,

peri s hed I ordered to be bro u ght to Bir O m L awai which

, ,

I now attacked T h e enemy here made a mo s t determined

.

defence and I lo s t s ixteen men killed and twenty wounded

, , .

T h i s lo s s brought home the fact to me that I had very few

goo d regular s left whil s t the enemy even if defeated were
, , ,

daily increa s ing in number .

Being the s olitary Eu r opean in a foreign country and in ,

the mid s t of an intriguing and unfriendly population I h a d ,

to re s ort t o all s ort s of mean s to di sc o ye r the plot s and

‘

de s ign s of tho s e by whom I w a s s urrounded ; and s ome

time s by money or by gift s di s tributed in s ecret I wa s able
, , ,

to learn beforehand what wa s likely to occur and take ,

mea s ure s accordingly Through the help of my s ervant s I .

utili s ed the s ervice s of s ome of the pr o fli g a te women of the

town who a s wa s the cu s tom of t he count r y prepared the
, , ,

n ative beer or mari s s a which i s con s umed in large quanti

, ,

tie s by the lower cla ss e s in the brothel s The s e hou s e s .

were the rendezv ou s for every de s cription of loafer grumbler , ,

a n d tattler w h o wi s hed to let h i s tongue wag withou t r e s traint ,

unde r the i n flu e n ce of drink My s ervant s had told me that .

during the s e drinking bout s they frequently tal k ed of the

-

great religiou s ri s ing of the Mahdi fo r which it may be , ,

readily imagined tho s e pre s ent had not much s ympathy

,
.

It wa s howeve r generally agreed that the Government

, ,

having placed s o many Chri s tian s and unbeliever s in high

po s ition s in which they were employed in combating thi s
,

religiou s r eformer the re s ult mu s t be bad The s oldier s

,
.

who frequented the s e hou s e s of ill fame oft en rema rked I -

,
 F
EF OR TS TO S TEM T HI E T D E OF M A HI D SM
‘
1 09

wa s told th a t although t h ey liked me they attribute d th e

, ,

lo s s e s we had s uffered in action to the fact of my being a

Chri s tian I w a s perfectly well aware that the s e views were
.

not the outcome of the brain of the Black s oldier who a s a , ,

rule care s little about r eligion but were in s tigated by tho s e

, ,

who were doing their utmo s t to up s et and nullify my a u th o '

rity and make me unpopular with the men

,

No w on my return from Bi r O m L awai s till more s eriou s

, ,

news awaited me My s ervant s told me that in one of the

.

brothel s belonging to a woman in my s ecret pay daily ,

meeting s were held in which the s oldier s di s cu s s ed the pro

,

j e c t of whole s ale de s ertion O n inquiry I found that the

.

principal in s tigators of the s e s editiou s meeting s were non

commi s s ioned o ffi ce r s and men of the F ur tribe who were ,

reported to be tired of thi s con s tant fi g h ti n g and who de ,

c la r e d that the day s of Turki s h authority were numbered .

Their plan wa s to de s ert to Sultan Dud Benga the s ucce s s or ,

of Sultan Harun who re s ided on the we s tern s lope s of Jebel

,

Marra A s the F ur s ection wa s the mo s t numerou s and

.

powe rful in the battalion the matter wa s a mo s t s e r iou s

,

one ; I therefore s ent for the battalion commander Adjutan t

H
,

M ajo r Mohammed Effendi F arag and told him what I had ,

heard . e appeared greatly s urpri s ed and a s s u r ed me he ,

knew nothing of the matter and that he s hould not fail to ,

unearth the plot and bring the ringleader s to justice I

, .

ordered him to maintain the s tricte s t s ecrecy and do nothing ,

which would rai s e the s lighte s t s u s picion W hil s t he w a s .

with me I s ent for my s ervant and handed him a bag full of

money telling h i m to take it to the woman and in s truct her
,

to invite the variou s per s on s concerned to her hou s e the

next day and give them an exceptionally good entertain
,

ment at her own expen s e ; at th e s ame time I told my

s ervant to induce her to let him hide s omewhere in the hou s e

where he could overhear what w a s s aid and that if s h e ,

could carry out the s e direction s to my s ati s faction I s hould

reward her hand s omely Soon after my s ervant returned
.
,

telling me he had arranged everyt h ing .

 FIR E A N D S WO RD IN T HS UD E A N
The day following the ente r tainment I again s ent for the
'

adj utant m a j o r a n d wa s now able to communicate to him

-
,

t he name s of s i x of th e ringleader s whom I ordered him ,

to in s tantly arre s t ; moreover I Wa s able to give him the ,

de t ail s of the de s ig n and the actual date of its intended

execution In half an hour he r eturned with the s i x pri
.

so n ers who s e hand s we r e tied behind their back s They

, .

comp r i s ed one s e rgeant three corporal s and two lance , ,

corpo r al s all of the F ur t r ibe They were accompanied

—
.

by a c r owd of kava s s e s and s pectator s whom I s ent o ff and , ,

then in the pre s ence of thei r commanding o ffi c e r I a s ked

, ,

them what in s tigated them to revolt again s t the Govern

ment They ab s olutely denied having any s uch intention
.
,
’
a n d a s s ured me of their innocence But s aid I I know , ,

perfectly well you have been holding meeting s in the h ou s e

of your compatriot Khadiga I gave you plenty of time to .

come to rea s on but you grew daily more rebelliou s Ye s

, .

te r da y you were all with Khadiga drinking mari s s a and , ,

you agreed that the day after to morrow you would execute -

your plan Your obj ect w a s to j oin with you r fr iend s in the
.

third fou r th and fi fth companie s take you r a r m s open the

, , , ,

we s tern gate of the fort and de s ert to Sultan Abdullahi , ,

a n d if nece s s ary to have recour s e to force to car r y out you r

, ,

de s ign Did you not a s s ert ye s terday Sergeant Mohammed

.
, ,

that you had almo s t two hundred men at your di s po s al ?

’
You s e e now I kno w everything and it i s u s ele s s to deny i t , .

They li s tened in s il ence ; they knew they had been di s

covered and now they freely confe s s ed and a s ked fo r my
, ,
’
pardon That i s out of my hand s I replied
. G o now , .

with your commandant and confe s s openly that you are

guilty in the pre s ence of th e other o ffi c e r s of the battalion
’
the law s hall decide I then in s tructed the commandant
.

to a s s emble a court martial and to arrange that all the non

-
,

commi s s ioned o ffi c e r s s hould be pre s ent whil s t the evidence

wa s being taken but at the s ame time I warned him to let
it be under s tood by all ( a s I wa s afraid that s ome of the
m e n migh t de s ert through fear ) tha t other m e n implica t ed
 FIR E A N D S W OR D IN T HS UD E A N
’ ‘
Efi e n di , aid I I want you to be tho r oughly t rue and
s ,

s traightforward with me I know that you are friendly

.

minded toward s me otherwi s e I s hould not certainly have

,

a s ked you to come and s peak with me alone Tell me how .

,

am I r egarded pers onally by the men and the o ffi c e r s ex ,

c e ti n
p g of,
cour s e tho s e who are s e lfi s h l
, y s eeking thei r o w n

intere s t s Although not accu stomed to s uch s eve r e di s

’ ‘
c i pli n e , he a n s wered they are fond of you and you are
, ,

beloved by the men becau s e you pay th e m regularly which ,

w a s not formerly the ca s e Be s ide s they much appreciat e

.
,

your cu stom of di s t r ibuting the plunder among s t them .

But thi s year we have had very heavy lo s s e s and t he men ,

’
a r e getting tired of continual fi g h tin g .

’
But s aid I we have to fi g h t I do no t g o out on ex
, , .

di ti o n s to make conque s t s or gain honour and glory ; pe r

p e
’
so n a lly I would much prefer re s t and peace
, O f cour s e .

’ ‘ '

I quite under s tand that s aid F arag Efi e n di ; s till the s e

, ,

lo s s e s which might have been avoi ded h a v e g r e a tly a ffect ed

, ,
‘

the men One man h a s lo s t h i s father ; another h i s brot her ;

.

many have lo s t friend s and relative s ; and if thi s goe s o n

’
they will become di s inclined to fi g h t .

‘I al s o quite under s tand that ’ I replied Although I .

,

have n o t lo st a father o r brothe r s till I have lo s t friend s ;

, ,

and I ri s k my p r eciou s life equally with my o ffi ce r s and

men I a m alway s with them and a m j u s t a s liable to be
.
,
’
s truck by bullet s and s pear s a s they a r e They a r e well .

’ ‘
awa r e of that he an s wered and you s hould give them
, ,

credit for their obedience to foreigners with whom t h ey a r e ,

’
alway s ready to ri s k their live s Cer tainly I a m a fo r eigne r .

’
and a E uropean I s aid ; and I have no r ea s on to make a
,

s ecret of i t or be a s hamed of i t
,
Is thi s what they object .

’
to ? No w tell me t r uly

H
.
,

M ohammed F arag wa s one of my be st educated o ffi ce r s -

.

e had s tudied in variou s s chool s in Cairo but had been ,

t aken a s a con s cript ; he wa s one of tho s e ra r e men who

H
’
acknowledge other s merit s and wa s a lway s ready to learn ,

from thos e he thought better educated than him s el f e .

 E F F O R TS T O S T E M T HI E T D E OF M A HI
D SM 1 1 3

wa s neither fanatical nor religiou s but he wa s a grumbler , ,

and rather hot tempered The s e were I think h i s only

- .
, ,

bad qualitie s and they had led him to commit s ome c r ime
, ,

for which he had been bani s hed to the Sudan .

W hen I now called upon him to tell me the tr u t h he

threw up h i s head and looked s traight at me and s aid , ,

‘W ell you wi sh me to tell you the truth th en b e r e i t i s ’

, ,

t hey do not obj ect to you on account of your nat ionali t y ,

’
but on account of your faith A t la s t I had d r awn ou t of
.

him what I w a s s o anxiou s to know .

W h y on account of my faith I a s ked Du r ing a ll .

the s e year s t hat I have been in Darfu r they knew t ha t I wa s

’
a Chri s tian and yet n o one eve r s aid a wo r d t o me
, Ah .

s aid h e the time s we r e ve r y diffe r ent then and much better ;

, ,

but now that thi s r a s cally Dongolawi h a s made a cloak of

religion he h a s adherent s everywhere who purpo s ely incite
,

t he people s o a s to attain their own evil end s The idea .

h a s got about in the battalion ( I do not know who s tarted ,

i t) that in thi s religiou s war you will neve r be able to gain

a vic t ory and t ha t in every battle you fi g h t you will s u ffe r
,

great lo s s e s till at length you your s elf will be killed You

, .

c a n perfectly under s tand how an ignorant s oldier would

credit all thi s and how he would impute it to the fact of

,

your being a Chri s tian Our men are far too s t upid t o .

r ealize that our lo s s e s are due to the va s tly s uperior s t r ength

of the rebel s and that a s we have no chance of b e i n g r e

'

,
’
li e v e d s o we mu s t g o on s u ffering defeat
, .

’
Suppo s e that I now turned Mohammedan s aid I would , ,

my men believe in me and hope for victory ? and would that

give them more c o n fi de n ce in me ‘O f cour s e the men
’
would believe you s aid h e at lea s t the maj ori t y of them ;
,

have you not taken every opportunity of s howing re s pect to

our religion and even cau s ed it to be r e s pect ed by o t her s
,

They will t r u s t you implicitly ; but will you change you r

faith from conviction he a s ked s miling , .

’
Mohammed Effendi s aid I you are an intelligent and
, ,

well educated man here conviction h a s nothing to do with

-

8
 FIR E A N D S W O RD I N T
‘

HS UD
E A N
t he ca s e In t hi s life one h a s often t o do t hing s which are
.

’
contrary to one s per s ua s ion s eithe r by compul s ion or fr om
,

s ome other cau s e I s hall be quite content if the s oldie r s

.

believe me and abandon t heir s illy s upers tition s W hethe r .

other s believe me or not i s a matter of indi fference to me .

I thank you mo s t s incerely keep ou r convers ation en t irely

to yours elf Good night
.

'

Mohammed Efi e n di F arag now left and afte r a few ,

’
minute s deliberation I re s olved t o pre s ent my s elf to the
troop s the following morning a s a Mohammedan I wa s .

perfectly well aware tha t in t ak ing thi s s t ep I s hould be

placing my s elf in a cu r iou s po s it ion which could not fail to ,

be condemned by s ome H owever I made up my mind to .

,

do i t knowing that I s hould the r eby cu t the ground fr om

,

under the feet of the s e intriguer s and s hould have a bett e r ,

chance of pre s erving the province with which t he Gove r n

“

ment had intru s ted me In my early youth my religiou s

.

idea s were s omewhat lax ; but a t the s ame time I believed

my s elf to b e by conviction a s well a s by education a good
, ,

Chri s tian though I w a s alway s inclined to let people take

,

t hei r own way to s alvation The s imple fact wa s tha t I

.

had not been s ent to t he Sudan a s a mi s s ionary bu t a s a n ,

o ffi c i a l of the Egyptian Government .

A t s unri s e the next morning I s en t fo r t he adju t an t -maj o r ,

and orde r ed him to have all t he t1 0 0ps paraded and t o wai t ,

for me ; I t hen s ent word to Z o g a l to s ummon befo r e me

the Kadi Ahmed W a d Be s hir and the chief merchan t
, , ,

Mohammed A hmed W hen they came I talked t o them o n

.

general matter s and then told them to come on pa r ade with

,

me in s ide the fort only a few hundred pace s from my doo r

, .

Taking command of the parade I ordered t he t r oop s to ,

form s quare and mounted on hors eback I the n entered

, , ,

i t accompanied by the o ffi c e r s attendant s and o ffi c ia ls

, , , .

‘Soldier s s aid I
‘ w e have pa s s ed t hrough many hard
,

t ime s together ; t he pre s ence of danger s hows what a m a n

i s made o f You have fought and endu r ed b r avely a n d I
.
,

a m ce r tai n you will co n t inu e t o do s o W e fi g h t for o ur .

1 1 6 FIR E A N D S WO RD IN T HS UD
E A N
Me r chan t s whom I paid t o s end me new s from Kordofan
informed me that r einfo r cement s were daily arriving a t
Khartum from Cairo and that the Governmen t wa s hurry
,

ing on preparation s for the de s patch of the expedition under ,

Eu r opean o ffi c e r s to r etake Kordofan ; whil s t the enti r e

,

population without exception had j oined t he Mahdi and

, , ,
'

were determined to o fi e r a powerful re s i s t ance .

In Da rfur all t he s outhern t ribe s we r e n o w i n open r evol t ;

but thank s t o our military po s t s and t o the fact that the ,

n or t hern tribe s had been in contact with Egyp t from which ,

they had de r ived con s iderable b e n e fi t through the c a ravan

r oute s t hey had hi t herto s hown n o ho s tility O f cou rs e it
, .

had been for long impo s s ible to gather taxe s in any pa rt of

th e count r y ; I had t he r efore paid the t1 0 0ps ou t of ou r
, ,

r e s e rve s to r e s .

’
The Mahdi s con tinual victorie s we r e a t la s t begin n ing t o
t ell openly on Z o g a l Bey and I noticed a di s t inc t change
,

in h i s conduc t though he s till appeared loyal and s ub

,

mi s s ive It w a s abundantly clea r to me that in h i s hea rt

.

he wi s hed all s ucce s s to h i s cou s in the Mahdi becau s e he

H
, ,

knew that in t hat eventualit y he would be one of t he fi r s t

, ,

to reap tangible b e n e fi ts e wa s a man much liked by

.

t he o ffi c i a ls unde r him fairly well educated for a Sudane s e ;

,

he wa s ever r eady t o do a favour when h i s own pocket wa s

liberal . H
n o t t h e r eby touched

hou s ehold in great s t ate

and he got the cha r act er of being
,

e wa s ve ry wealthy and kep t up an eno r mou s

e kep t open table

. H and h i s
,

“
,

popularity a mong s t the o ffi ci a ls wa s I t hink in a large , ,

mea s ure due to the fac t t ha t a s Ac t ing Governor he had ,

-
,

freely pardoned pa s t o e n c e s and t ook no s t ep s t o p r even t

,

them enriching them s elve s in all s ort s of illicit way s

H
.

Through h i s i n flu e n c e mo s t of h i s rela t ive s had s ecured good

po s ition s and become weal t hy e w a s therefore a man

with w h o m I had to r eckon s omewhat circum s pectly

popular it y coupled wit h the fact that he gene r ally concu r red
.

is
, ,

. H
,

in and executed my order s rendered an open s plit with him ,

u n de s i r able and would have cer t a inly led to a diminuti o n

,
 E FFOR TS TO STEM T HI E T D E OF MA HI D SM 1 1 7

of my authority ; I w a s therefore inclined to let him al one

for the pre s ent Ebed e n nar an e l k o tn w a en t a te r ta h
.

Keep fi r e away from cotton and you will be at ea s e ,

a s the Arab s s a y s eemed to me to thoroughly apply in thi s

,

ca s e and to that principle I adhered

,
.

Summoning F a rag Effendi W a d A s i and Kadi e l Be s hi r , , ,

all of whom were loyal to Government a n d pr a ye d/ fr o m ,

n

their heart s for i ts s ucce s s I communica t ed my plan s to

,

them in the s tricte s t s ecrecy and obtained thei r full con

, ,

cur rence W hen they had left me I s ummoned Z o g a l and

.
,
’
now convers ed with him quite alone Z o g a l I began .
, ,

‘you and I are perfectly alone here and God i s our witne s s .
,

F or year s we have eaten bread and s alt together and ,

although from the da yI arrived I have been your s uperior ,

our r elation s with each o ther have been rather tho s e of a

friendly than of an o ffi ci a l natu r e I now a s k you t o do .

’
two t h ing s fo r me tru s t me and render me a s ervice
— .

‘W ell Mudir U mum ’ Governo r General he replied

, ( ) -
, ,

‘you a r e my s uperior tell me what you want and I s hall

’ ’
obey . Your cou s i n the Mahdi s aid I h a s now con , ,

quered Kordofan R l Obeid h a s fallen and the entire

H
, ,

population h a s j oined him The country between u s and .

Government i s in h i s hand s i s e x traordinary s ucce s s

.

h a s inclined you r heart to him H ave you forgott en all the .

favour s you have reaped from Government ? Are y o u

unmindful of the di s tinction bes towed upon you by the -

Khedive in the s hape of a decoration and rank obtained fo r

,

you through the good o ffi ce s of the Government ? Have

you forgotten the dutie s requi r ed of you from your po s ition
’
Speak i s it not s o
, It i s s o r eplied Z o g a l quickly ; ,

the Mahdi i s my cou s in and I cannot deny that ou r blood

,

r elation s hip h a s inclined me to him Still hitherto I h a ve .

,

faithfully pe rformed my dutie s and I tru s t I s hall continue ,

’
to do s o in the future .

‘ ’ ‘
Speaking generally I replied you have p e rformed
, ,

your dutie s well ; but I a m told you are in co m munic a tion

with the Mahdi W h y s hould you hide thi s from me
.
1 18 FIR E A N D S W OR D I N T HS UD
E A N
‘I do n o t communicate directly replied Z o g a l quickly ’
, ,

but merchan t s coming from Kordofan give m e verbal

m e s s age s from him and I have s worn to the bearer s of
,

t he s e me s s age s that I would not tell you ; that i s why I “

kept i t s ecret But I a s s ure you that they only referred to

.

p ew s from Kordofan and no attempt h a s been made to win

,
’
me to h i s cau s e .

’
W ell let it b e s aid I I do not want you to j u s tify
,
‘
, ,

your s elf but tell me what have you heard about thi s
, ,

expedition which the Government i s preparing to s end to

’
r etake Kordofan I have heard replied h e that a large , ,

expedition h a s a rr ived at Khartum and that they are ,

’ ‘
going to try and reconquer the country N o t only will .

’
t hey try but they will e fi e ct the r econque s t of the country
, ,

I an swered .
‘No w Z o g a l you a re a man of s en s e and
, ,

intelligence It mu s t be perfectly clear to you that if

.
,

compelled by circum s tan ce s I a m s till s uffi c i e n tly powerful ,

to make you harmle s s but I do n o t think thi s would be an

advantageou s s tep to take and it w ould pain me deeply to ,

take action again s t a man like yours elf who h a s s erved the ,

Government loyally for many year s and h a s alway s b e ,

friended me I will the r efore di s charge you for the pre s ent
.
,

and you may n o w g o to Kordofan with my full con s ent .

R eligiou s movement s s uch a s that now going o n have a

, ,

certain amount of glamour from a di s tance and induce ,

s ympathy ; but when examined more clo s ely they a r e

,

n either s o s eductive nor s o alarming I s hall int r u s t you .

with letter s to the Government which I want you to s end ,

s ecretly to Khartum and which will inform them of the

,

n ature of you r mi s s ion A s the expedition will probably

.

s tart for Ko r dofan next month I want you to do you r ‘

utmo s t to prevent the Mahdi s en ding a force into Da r fur or

de s patching proclamation s to the tribe s inciting the m to
revolt I f you can arrange thi s it will be of advantage
.
,

both to him and to you Should the expedition s ucceed I .

,

will take all re s pon s ibility for your conduct on my s houlders ,

and you need have no fear ; but if th e M ahdi i s s ucce s s ful

 F R I E A ND S TVORD I N T HS
E U DA N
I now wrote the nece s s ary letters to t he Gove r nment ,

giving a brief account of th e s ituation in Darfur ; and

three day s later Z o g a l accompanied by three s e r vant s
, ,

left Dara for E l Obeid v i a T o we i s h a It wa s well known

, .

he w a s a relative of th e M ah di ; he h a d therefore nothing

to fear and I s ub s equently learnt he wa s received every
,

where with open arm s .

I now s e t to work to build fre s h batterie s at the angle s of

the fort and collected all t he c o m I could h n d ; but thi s
,

s hort period of tranquillity did not la s t long B e s h a r i Bey .

W a d Bekir chief of the Beni Helba Arab s in s tigated by

, ,

h i s father i n law Sheikh Taher e t T e g a wi planned a raid

- -
, ,

on Dara In s pite of my threat ening letter he had attacked

.
,

the Tagu and Me s s eria Arab s kill ing a number of them , ,

a n d capturing many women and children In con s equence .

I placed two hundred and fi fty regula r s and one hundred

’
B a z i n g e r s under the command of Mattar one of Z o g a l s ,

relative s ; but I could only take twenty fi v e ho r s e s a s mo s t -

,

of them had been attacked by s ome s ort of di s ea s e and with ,

thi s force I quitted Dara .

’
After three day s march we arrived at Amak e wh e r e I ,

wa s attacked by the Beni Helba under B e s h a r i Bey with , ,

whom wa s my old friend Gabralla They were in con s ider .

able force but had few h t e arm s and we s ucceeded in b o at

,
-
,

ing them o ff and di s per s ing them without much diffi cu lty .

The next day they attacked u s again at Ka la m b a s i a march ,

of a day and a half from A m a k é : but here again we put

them to fligh t with equal ea s e Ou r i n si g n ifi ca n t lo s s e s on
.

both occa s ion s were a s cribed by my m en to the e ffi ca c y of

my F riday prayer s wit h them and not to th e s mall number
,

of h t e arm s po s s e s s ed by our enemie s W e now advanced

-
.

’
on H a s h aba which wa s the head s heikh s village turned
, ,

him out and then o ffered to conclude peace with him but
,

our effort s failed and I proceeded t h ence to Guru about

, ,
’
half a day s march further o n O n the way the twelve .

mounted s cout s in advance were s uddenly a t tacked by

B es h a r i Bey alone who broke through their line wounded
, ,
 F
E F OR T S T O S TEM T HI
E T D E OF M A HI D SM 1 21

o ne of them s lig h tly and t h en turning to th e left h e drew

, , ,

h i s hor s e up between the s cout s and my main body at th e ,

edge of the fore s t and about eight hundred yard s from u s

,
.

Advancing s ome three hundred pace s clo s e r I recogni s ed ,

him but purpo s ely did not s hoo t in s tead I s en t one of my

, ,

boy s unarmed to him s aying Isa give my compliment s , , ,

to B e s h a r i B e y and tell him that if he want s to s h ow h is

,

wife how b r ave he i s he s hould s e t abou t it in a di fferent

,

way ; if he repeat s thi s man oeuvre he will certainly be

’
killed . The r oad wa s fairly open with t r ee s only here ,

and there and a s we marched o n I could s e e my s ervant

, ,

s tanding fo r a few s econd s before B e s h a r i Bey and then

H
,

returning toward s u s O n reaching u s he s aid : B e s h a r i

. .

Bey s end s you h i s co mpliment s e s ay s he h a s no wi s h .

’
to liv e a n y longer and s eek s death
~
,
Deluded man ! he .

s oon found i t .

Arr iving a t Gu r u we con structed a zariba and feeling

, ,
’
s ure that B e s h a r i s ill con s idered da s h would make him -

attack I orde red the tr 0 0p s to move out about three hundred

,

pace s whil s t I po s ted the cavalry on the flank and s ent for
,

ward about twenty hors emen to try and decoy the Arab s
out of the wood The latte r had barely s tarted when I s a w
.

two mounted A r ab s da s hing at them full s peed with lance s ,

lowered they were B e sh a r i Bey and h i s attendant Befo r e .

he reached my men h is hor s e s tumbled and fell a nd while ,

h i s compa n ion w a s holding h i s hor s e to enable him to mount ,

my hor s emen s eized the occa s ion t o attack him and a thrown ,

s pear s triking him full in the eye he fell whil s t h i s attendant , ,

wa s s truck by a s pear in the back and killed Meanwhile .

I had ga 110 ped up to the s pot and there I found B e s h a r i ,

H
Bey lying dead : my men had twice plunged a huge s pea r
into h i s body i s s o n Abo who had da s hed out to h i s aid
.
,

H
,

wa s al s o wounded but s ucceeded in e s caping though two

, ,

other Sheikh s who had accompanied him Sh a r tia a b i b a lla —

and Et Tom were killed Se i z in g their hor s e s I now

—
.
,
r
,

called out to the regulars to advance and on their arrival I ,

ordered each of the hor s emen to take up an infantryman

1 22 FIR E A ND S WO RD IN T HS UD
E A N
behind him and pur s ue the Arab s who I felt s u r e would not ,

attempt to s tand after the death of their leader s After a .

gallop of about two mile s we came up with the flying Arab s

H
,

and ordering the regular s to di s mount and fi r e I tu r ned the ,

hor s emen again s t the mounted Beni e lb a s N o quarte r .

w a s given a s my men were determined to avenge t he dea th

,

of Sheikh A fi fi who had been killed nea r here

, .

After a few hour s the rout wa s complete and we now ,

returned to the zariba O n our way back we s tumbled

.

’
acro s s B e sh a r i s body My o ffi c e r s at once a sked to be
.

allowed to cut o ff h i s head and s end it to Da r a but out of ,

re s pect to h i s nephew who had pleaded ye s terday for peace

, ,

I prevented them from doing thi s g w m g over the body to ,

him with a piece of calico in which to en s hroud i t and I

, ,

my s elf attended the burial of my old friend who had fought

again s t u s contrary to h i s own conviction s and who
— —
,

s eeking death had now found i t In thi s engagement we

, .

lo s t two killed and s everal wounded among s t whom wa s ,

the faithful Salama who had taken my letter from O m

,

W a r a g a t to Dara and who wa s ever foremo s t in pur s uit

, .

' '

I n o w r eturned to Guru The di s ea s e of fi la m a m edin m sz s

.

( guinea -worm ) had broken out in the upper part of my leg

and in both feet and cau s ed me s u ch excruciating p a in that

H
,

I could s carcely remain in the s addle Having cru s hed the .

Beni e lb a s it w a s u s ele s s for me to remain out any longe r ;

,

I therefore r et urned to Dat a .

1 24 FIRE A N D S WOR D I N T HS UD
E A N
di s e beyond all the heart could conceive ; but the di s obedient
b e threatened with condign puni s hment and hell fi r e Ci r - .

c u la r s written in thi s s en s e were de s patched far and wide ,

and the Emir s were enj oined to allow only tho s e t o remain
in thei r di s trict s who s e s ervice s were ab s olutely nece s s ary
for the cultivation of the land s but that all other s mu s t ,

forthwith immigrat e to him and range them s elve s unde r

h i s banner s .

Men women and children now fl o ck e d in hundred s of

, ,

thou s and s to El Obeid to s e e thi s holy man and catch even

a wo r d of h i s in s pired doctrine and the ignorant multitude s
s a w in h i s face and per s on what t hey believed to be truly a
’
man s ent from God .

Dre s s ed only in a Jl bb a and s i r u a l ( drawe r s) with a bel t ,

of g u s or s traw round h is wa l s t and wearing a Mecca takia

, , ,

( s kull cap
-
),round which w a s bound a mu s lin t urban he ,

s tood with all humility before h i s fo llower s preaching of ,

love to God and the cau s e and of the nece s s it y of renouncing

,

the vanitie s of thi s wor ld But once in h i s hou s e it w a s

.

quite another matte r ; he r e he lived in a s tate of g r andeu r

and luxury a n d became a s lave to tho s e pa s s ion s for food
,

and women to which the Sudane s e are s o addicted Should .

any women young girl s and s lave s be captured they were

, , ,

b r ought before him and all the prettie s t and the be s t found
,

a home in h i s harem ; whil s t the maid s ervant s who were -

,

vers ed in all the art s of the mo s t approved Sudan cooking ,

were relegated to h is kitchen .

Afte r the s iege of Rl Obeid he con s idered whom he ,

s hould appoint a s h i s fourth Khalifa and decided that

H
,

M ohammed e s Se n n us i the mo s t i n flu e n tia l religiou s s heikh

,

in North Africa s hould be nominated

,
e therefore .

de s patched Taher W a d I s hak of th e Zaghawa tribe with , ,

a letter to him to that e ffect but Se n n u si treated the o ffer

with s corn and left the letter unan s wered

H
, .

The Mahdi now s e t to work to regulate h i s government .

i s admini s t r ation wa s ba s ed on very s imple line s F irs t .

of all he e s tabli s hed the Beit e l Mal or trea s u r y over which , ,

 HICKS PA SHA S EX P ED ITI O N
’
1 25

he placed h i s faithful friend Ahmed W a d Suleiman In , .

t h i s treas ury were depo s ited the tithe s (u s h r ) and the h tra
and zeka ( alm s for the poor two and a half per cent ) on all
, .

booty taken in war a s well a s c o n fi s c a te d property and fi n e s ,

for theft drinking and s moking There wa s no s y s tem to

, , .

r egulate th e revenue and expenditu r e Ahmed W a d Sulei .

man wa s t herefo r e free t o give what he liked to who m he

plea s ed
.

Juri s diction wa s placed in t he hand s of the Kadi who wa s ,

’
called by the Mahdi Kadi e l I s lam and s everal a s s i s tant s , .

Ahmed W a d Ali who had formerly been Kadi at Shakka

,

unde r me and who had been one of the foremo s t in the

,

s torming of El Obeid w a s the fi r s t to hold thi s high po s i

,
'
tion O i cours e the Mahdi and h i s Khalifa s re s erved to
.
,

them s elve s the right to puni s h all c r ime more e s pecially —

anything connected with doubt or s u s picion a s t o the

Divine nature of the M ahdi with death A s s uch j udg —
.

ment s were in entire oppo s ition to the s haria ( o r M o s lem

religiou s law) a s taugh t t he M ahdi s trictly forbade the
,

s t udy of theology and ordered all book s of thi s de s c r iption t o

,

be burnt the Kuran alone being allowed to be read t hough

, ,

even thi s he did not pe r mi t to be ope n ly expounded .

Communication between the Mahdi and the inhabitant s

of the Gezira who now looked upon them s elve s a s h i s mo s t

H
,

devoted adherent s w a s of cour s e frequent and detailed

, , , .

’
e learn t of Abdel Kader s departure for Kawa and Senna r

with a large force in F ebruary That town had been .

be s ieged by Ahmed e l Ma k a s h e f but the Pa s ha i n fli cte d a ,

defeat on him at Me s hra e d Dai and had rai s ed t he s iege , .

Saleh Bey had pur s ued t he rebel s a s fa r a s Jebel Se k h e di ,

and had driven them into the waterle s s plain between that
place and Kawa where numbers peri s hed from thir s t Thi s
, .

di s trict i s s till called by the local people Ti b ki wa te sk ut ,

You cry and are s ilent

’
The s e defeat s however in no way dimini s hed t he Mahdi s
, ,

popularity They relieved the s it uation for the s oldie r s and

.

o ffi c i a ls it i s t rue but they only put o ff the ev il day which

, ,
 FIR E A ND S W ORD IN HS UD
T E A N
wa s u r ely to come H ad attention been paid to Abdel
s .

H
’
Kader Pa s ha s advice the whole s ituation in the Sudan
‘

might have been changed e w a s again s t the de s patch

.

of a large expedition to reconquer Kordofan but r e c o m ,

mended the reinforcement s c oming from Cairo s hould be

garri s oned in s trong defen s ive po s ition s along the W hite
Nile and that for the time being the rebel s s hould be left to
,

t h em s elve s The military force s at h i s di s po s al we r e quite

.

s u ffi c i e n t to s tamp out the revolt in the Gezira I s land

( )
between the Blue and W hite N ile s and to check t he , ‘

advance of the Mahdi s t s from the we s t Had thi s plan .

been adopted and the rebel s been left to them s elve s it i s

, ,

more than probable the complete ab s ence of any regulated

s y s tem of admini s tration would have s oon re s ulted in di s cord

breaking out and gradually at a later period Government

, , ,

would have been able to recover the ground it had lo st I .

certainly could not have pre s erved authority in Darfur until

that time ; but even if that province were lo s t it would un ,

doubtedly have been t he le s s er of two evil s However .

,

tho s e at the head of the Government in Cairo thought

otherwi s e The edict wen t forth t hat the pre stige of the
.

Government w a s t o be r e s tored at all co s t s and t hi s wa s to ,

be e ffec t ed by an army de s patched unde r t he Engli s h

General Hick s a s s i s ted by other European o ffi ce r s Abdel
, .

Kader Pa s ha wa s recalled and relieved by Ala e d Din

,

Pa s ha formerly Governor Gene r al of the Ea stern Sudan

,
-
.

A ll the s e fact s we r e known almo s t at once t o the Mahdi ,

and he t ook good account of them .

Meanwhile Z o g a l had arrived at Rl Obeid where he had ,

r eceived an enthu s ia s tic reception One hundred gun s were

.

ordered to be fi r e d in h i s honour and it w a s report ed far,

and wide that Darfur had s urrendered to the eve r vict oriou s -

’
M ahdi Z o g a l s return to Darfur wa s con s idered quite a
.

s u ffi c i e n t guar antee for the pre s ervation of the province a s a

po s s e s s ion of t he new ruler con s equently no force wa s

,

de s patched and the Mahdi now directed all h i s attention t o

,

event s o n t he Nile .
 FIRE A N D S WORD IN T HS UD
E A N
elephan t and o s trich hunter s and had now a t their com ,

mand contingent s of r eliable fi g h tin g m a te r i a l ? Be s ide s

'

,
’
were there not now enrolled under the Mahdi s banne rs
thou s and s of regular s and irregular s who had been formerly
in the Government s ervice ? Did they imagine for a moment
that all the s e men when th e chance came intended to de s ert
, ,

and j oin Hick s ? No ; they s eemed to realize nothing of

thi s and on completely wrong p re s umption s they r i s ked
, , ,

the live s of thou s and s Surely t here we r e tho s e among s t

.
‘

t he Gove r nment advi s er s who had s uffi ci e n t knowledge of

the Sudan to r ealize how fully the negro proverb applied
in thi s matte r Illi b e ya k h u d ummi hua abuya
mar r ie s my mother i s my The Mahdi had con
e who H
quered the country and had thu s metaphorically married
,

t h eir mothe r Him the r efo r e they had fully accepted a s

.
, ,

t hei r lo r d and ma s ter W h a t do tho s e people care about

.

good act ion s and kindne s s e s p r eviou s ly done t o t hem ? I

do not of cour s e deny that t o thi s general rule t here are
, ,

exception s yet unque stionably my r emark s s eve r e a s t hey

, ,

are apply t o the maj ori t y

,
.

Ten thou s and men in s quare formation wit h s i x t hou s and ,

camel s in their mid s t were to march th r ough di s tric t s over

,
’
g rown wi t h vegetation and gra s s t aller t han a man s height

at mo s t they could no t s ee mo r e than two hundred o r t h r ee

hundred ya r ds t o thei r fr ont in t he lit t le open patche s whe r e
,

t he s pa r s e population had cultivated s mall clearing s They .

mu st be ready at any momen t fo r the a t t ack of an enemy

fa r more n umerou s and a s well a rmed a s t hem s elve s be s ide s ,

being i n fi n ite ly bet t er fi g h te r s and who to thi s day pride ,

them s elve s on thei r b r avery and headlong da s h Along .

almo s t t he entire route by which t he army wa s to ma r ch

there were s carcely any well s t hough plen t y of s t agnan t ,

r ain pool s and when they had d r unk up the wa t e r in t hem

-
,

what were they then to do ?

’
H ad they a dopted the northern r o a d m d Gebra a n d B a ra , ,

they would at lea s t have had the advantage of open ground

and a good s upply of water a t cert a in pl a ce s which if i n , ,
 HICKS PA SHA S E X P ED ITI O N
’
1 29

s uffi c i e n t,could wit h modern appliance s have been made

, ,

amply s uffi ci e n t for the whole force A t the s ame time the .

s upport of the powerful Kababi s h tribe again s t the Mahdi s t s

would have been a s s ured and the enormou s train a c c o m ,

panying the force could thu s have been greatly dimini s hed .

Six thou s and camel s hud d led together in the centre of a ,

s quare pre s ented a perfect fore s t of head s a n d n e ck s

, i hz y va s
/

impo s s ible for a bullet fi r e d by one of the enemy from behind

a t ree to altogether mi s s thi s gigantic target if it failed t o
s t rike in front it would mo s t cert a inly have i ts billet in the
,

centre or rear Then again an advance might have been

.
, ,

made by detachment s a n d th e great baggage train left under

,

s t r ong guard at either Duem or Sh a tt the men merely a d ,

'
v a n c i n g in light marc hing order clearing the road north , ,

s outh and we s t and e s tabli s hing a military po s t whenever

, ,

they had s ubdued a di s trict O f cours e thi s plan would .

have taken s ome time perhap s a year to execute ; but — —

there wa s no hurry Then internal di s s en s ion s were rife

.

'

Hick s and h i s European o ffi ce r s o n the one s ide ; Ala e d

Din Pa s ha h i s o ffi c i a ls and mo s t of the Egy ptian o ffi ce r s
, ,

on the other .

And were not the t r oop s compo s ed mo s tly of the di s

’
banded rabble of Arabi Pa s ha s army which had ju s t ,

been defeated by the Briti s h ? General Hick s no doubt

fully under s tood mat ter s and replying to a que s tion put to
'
,

h i m b y one of h i s friend s at Duem a s to what he thought of

the s ituation he replied quietly I a m like Je s u s Chri s t in
, ,
’
the mid st of the Jew s Still he mar c hed o ff perhap s he
.

thought that if he refu s ed to advance h i s honour might be ,

impugned .

Slowly moved the great ma s s of men and animal s onward ;

the few inhabitant s who lived in thi s part of the country had
long s ince fled N o w and then in the far di s tance Arab s
.

'

were s een watching the advance and then di s appearing from ,

view O u one occa s ion Hick s looking through h i s gla s s e s

.
, ,

obs erved s ome hor s emen among s t the tree s ; halting the
s quare he ordered a divi s ion of irregula r cav a lry to advance
,

9
1 30 FIRE A ND S WORD IN HS UD
T E A N
and attack them A few minute s later they returned in
.

hopele s s confu s io n ; they had lo s t s ome killed and many

wounded and reported they had been attacked by a greatly
,

s uperior force Hick s then de s patch ed Colonel F arquha r

.

w ith h alf a battalion of regular s to examine the s pot where

the s kirmi s h had taken place e reported t h at he found

s i x cavalrymen lying dead s hot in the back

.

they had been

H
,

completely s tripped but nothing w a s to be s een of the

,

powerful enemy there were the hoofmark s of at mo s t ten

ho r s e s and no doubt by the s e the cavalry divi s ion had been
,

put to flight .

The following day three hor s emen again appeared in

s ight ,
when Colonel F arquhar accompanied only by h i s ,

s ervant s galloped at them killing two and bringing in the

, , ,

t hird a pri s oner I w a s told of both the s e epi s ode s by the

.

s urvivor s of the expedition and they related how the huge ,

s quare crawled forward like a tortoi s e U nder the circum .

s tance s it w a s impo s s ible to s end out the c amel s to graze ;

they had to eat anythi n g they could pick up in the s quare ,

and that w a s very little ; of c our s e they died in quantitie s .

T h ey u s ed to eat even th e s traw pad s of their s addle s and ,

con s equently the hard wood came down on their haunche s

and galled them till they be c ame in a truly pitiable condi
tion ; s till they dragged along carrying not only their own ,

load s but tho s e of their broken down companion s in mi s ery -

H
.
,

N o doubt Colonel F arquha r Baron Se c ke n do r fi Maj or , ,

e r lth the other European and s ome of the principal

, ,

Egyptian o ffi c e r s did all they could to help General Hick s

in t h i s critical s ituation but th e bulk of the army appeared
,

to be utterly regardle s s of the impending cata s trophe : Poor

’
Vi z e te lly made h i s s ketche s and O D o n o v a n wrote h i s diary ;
,

but who wa s to s end them home to tho s e who were s o

anxiou s ly awaiting them ?
N o s ooner did the Mahdi learn that the expedition had
s tarted than he again s ent proclamation s to call the tribe s ,

s ummoning them in s tantly to the Jehad with the u s ual ,

promi s e s of reward t o tho s e who obeyed and of pun is hmen t ,

1 32 FIR E A ND S WO RD IN HS UD
T E A N
he of cours e readily acquie s ced and he wa s then ha nded ,

over for further care to O s man W a d e l H aj Khaled .

So c o n fi de n t of victory had the Mahdi become a fter

’
Gu s tav s s tatement that he h a d hundred s of s ummon s e s
,

written out and di s tributed along the road calling on Hick s ,

and h i s o ffi ce r s to s urren der O f cour s e they were left un

.
-

an s wered but at th e s a m e ti m e they had their e ffect on

,
‘

many who were concerned about their own s afety Other s .

,

on the contrary u s ed the s e paper s in a manne r which s o

,

irritated the M ahdi that for long he vi s ited h i s w r at h on t he

unfortunate s urvivor s who had dared to put to s uch con
te m ptu o u s u s e s document s in which divinely in s pi r ed w o r d s
were written
Prior to h i s departure from Duem Hick s had been i n ,

formed by the Government that he woul d be j oined an m ute

H
by s i x thou s and men from Jebel T a g a lla a s well a s s ome
hundred s of a b b a n ia Arab s and he daily expected t o mee t
the s e and thu s revive the flagging courage of h i s demoralized
,
,

men But he waited in vain not a man came t o him no r

.
—
,

did he a s certain a word of new s O n quitting R ahad he .

advanced to Alu b a in Dar G h o da ya t in the h 0 pe of obt ain ,

ing an abundant s upply of water there ; and on t he 3r d

N ovember he reached Ka s h g e i l s ome thirty mile s s out h ,

ea s t of El Obeid .

Meanwhile the Mahdi had worked up h i s fanatical fol

lower s to a pitch of the wilde s t enthu sia s m and had t old ,

them the Prophet had announced to him that on the day of

battle they would be accompanied by twenty thou s and
angel s w h o would attack the unbeliever s O n the I s t of
, .

N ovember he quitted El Obeid for Birket where h i s fol ,

lower s uniting with the force previou s ly de s patched to

,
'

watch the s quare now worried the tired and thirs ty Eg yp

,

tian s ince s s antly O n the 3 r d N ovember Abu Anga a nd

'
.

h i s Black j e h a dia concealed in the thick fore s t and broken

,

gro und poured a continuou s fi r e on the s quare which wa s

, ,

forced to halt and zariba ; and here human being s and

ani m al s huddled together o ffered a target which no n e could
, ,
 FIR E A N D S WORD I N T HS UD
E A N
s ent t o t he Mahdi who at once s ummoned Klo o tz ( now
,

known a s Mu s tafa) to identify them ; but thi s s eemed hardly

nece ss ary a s it wa s well known they had been killed
,
.

After thi s immen s e victory the Mahdi and h i s Khalifa s

,

now returned with their troop s to Birket literally drunk ,

with s ucce s s .

Several E mir s and their men had been left on the battle
fi e ld to collect the plunder and bring it to the Beit e l Mal .

The thou s and s upon thou s and s of dead bodie s which lay ,

piled up in heap s were dive s ted of every s titch of clothing

, .

Some time later the note book s of Colonel F arquhar and

-

’
M r O D o n o v a n were s ent to me I read all they contained
. .

mo s t carefully and terribly s a d reading it wa s

,
They both
wrote much about the di s cord that exi s ted and of the ,

quar rel bet ween General Hick s and Ala e d Din Pa s ha .

F arquhar attacked h i s chief s omewhat s eve r ely fo r h i s

military mi s take s Both had fore s een what had now
.

occurred and F a r quh a r reproached him bitterly for having

,

ever s tarted with a force who s e condition and m om le were

s uch a s to warrant certain di s a s ter The European o ffi c e r s '
.

got little a s s i s tance ; apparently one of the few Egyptian

o ffi c e r s who helped them w a s a certain Abba s Bey One .

’
pa s s age in C olonel F a r qu h a r s diary I well remember ; he
’
wrote : I s poke to M r O D o n o v a n to day and a s ked him
.
-
,

where he thought we s hould be eight day s hence In “

’ ’ ’
Kingdom Come w a s h i s reply
-
, O D o n o v a n s j ournal
.

w a s al s o written in much the s ame s train ; he w a s greatly

’
annoyed about Klo o tz s flight and quoted it a s an in s tance
,

of the general feeling exi s ting in the force W hat mu s t .

’
be the condition of an army he remarked when even a
, ,

European s ervant de s ert s to the enemy In another

pa s s age he wrote I make my note s and wri t e my report s ,

but who i s going to take them home

Some fi fte e n day s afterward s when all the plunde r had,

been depo s ited in the Beit e l Mal the Mahdi r eturned to ,

El Obeid . Be s ide s the gun s machine gun s and r i fle s a

,
-
, ,

con s iderable s u m of money had been found ; but quan titie s

 H
IC S
K PA SHA S E X P ED ITI O N
’
1 35

of loot were carried o ff by the Arab s in s pite of th e bar

,

barou s puni s hment s for theft enacted by Ahmed W a d

Suleiman : it wa s no uncommon thing for a thief to have
both h i s right hand and left foot cut o ff T h e cunning
,
.

Black s had s ecreted quantitie s of arm s and ammunition in

the fore s t s and in their own camp s which at a later period
,

proved very u s eful to them .

N othing c ould have exceeded the s avage grandeur of the

’
Mah di s triumphal entry into El Obeid after the battle .

A s he pa s s ed along th e people threw them s elve s on th e

,

ground and literally wor s hipped him There i s not the .

s lighte s t doubt that by h i s victory at Shekan the Mahdi

had now the entire Sudan at h i s feet F rom the N ile to

’

the Re d Sea from Kordofan to the frontier s of W adai all

, ,

looked to thi s holy man who had performed s uch wonder s ,

and they eagerly awaited h i s next move Tho s e who had .

been already convinced of h i s Divine mi s s ion were now of

cours e more than ever h i s ardent s upporter s and s pread ,

h i s fame far and wide ; tho s e wh o h a d doubted doubted ,

no longer ; and the few who in their heart s under s tood

th e impo s ture decided among s t them s elve s that if Govern
ment w a s not s trong enough to s end a force s u ffi ci e n t to
uphold i ts authority even in the Nile di s trict s they mu s t , ,

again st their own conviction s s ide with the s tronger

,
.

Several European s and s ome Egyptian s living in the

large citie s and town s now reali z ed the s eriou s ne s s of the
s ituation and lo s t no time in making the be s t of their way
,

out of the doomed country o r at any rate de s patched

, , ,

north a s much a s they could of their portable property well ,

knowing that it w a s impo ss ible to s tay any longer in the

’
Sudan acro s s which the Mahdi s hand s now s tretched from
,

ea st to we s t.
 FIRE A N D S WORD I N T E HS UD AN

C HAPT E R I X .

T HF E A LL 0 1? DA RF U R .

Da ra igd A
Be s e xp d i nt f
e —
n l i g L tt r A
St r nge
a E e e or co ce a n e e s n

A rm i ti pr p s d d ce p t d b tw n M y l f d th B i g r
o o se an a c ce e e ee se an e es e e s
—
I r rt t Str t g m t g in T i m Z g l wri t fr m R l O b id
e so o a a e o a e— o a es o e ,

and d ri b th A n ih i l ti n f th R l i f Exp di ti n I r vi w
e sc es e n a o o e e e e o —
e e

th Si t ti d d i d t S rr nd r T h M h d i t nt r D r
ua u

H
—
e on an ec e o e e e a s s e e a a

M di b ba d hi W dr mo anrri bl T rt r i fli t d
s thar- u s— o e o u es n c e on e

I h bi t nt wh h d n l d M n y T h Si g d F ll f El
H
—
n a a s o a co ce a e o e e e e an a o

F h r L tt r fr m Egyp t T h dr d f l F t f M j r m d
as e —
e e s o —
e ea u a e o a o a a a
—
T h F ll f B h r l G h z l I l v f
e a o El O b i d
a e a a —
ea e or e .

'
BY thi s time I had recovered from my di s ea s e (fi la r z a
m edi n en sis) a n d felt s trong enough to under t ake another
,

expedition ; but the numbe r of my tru s ted followers had

s adly dimini s hed and our s tock of r i fle ammunition wa s
,

getting very low Said Bey Guma s till a ffi r m e d that it.

wa s impo s s ible for him to s end me any from F a s her owing ,

to the fact that the Z a y e dia and Ma h e r i a A r ab s had begun

to s how s ign s of defection and had been r aiding cattle in ,

the neighbourhood of the town which they had refu s ed to ,

re s tore .

All my hope s were n o w centred in the s ucce s s of the

Hick s expedition F ortunately at that time I knew nothing
.

of th e route they had cho s en nor of t he demoralized con ,

dition of the force F or almo s t a year I had r eceive d no .

news direct from Khartum and latterly in order to keep , ,

up the s pirit s of the men I had to have recours e to s trata ,

gem by a s s erting that I had received new s of great victorie s

,

for the Government force s The s e s c r ap s of news I of .

cours e concocted mys elf and wrote out in the form of ,

me s s age s which when received were read out wi t h g r eat

,

écla t before the a s s embled troop s and were g r ee t ed by the ,

s alu t e of gun s and general rej oicing s A s a matt e r of fa c t ,

H
.

about thi s time I did receive a little s lip of pape r from Ala
e d Din Pa s ha informing me that i s Highne s s th e Khedive
,
1 38 FIR E A ND S WORD I N T HS UD E AN

My time wa s fully taken up hurrying h ither and thither

combating the variou s local revolt s w h ich s prang up with ,

amazing rapidity One day I w a s attacking M a dibb o

.
,

another day s ome other chief and t h en came the news that ,
’
Darb o s expedition again s t the Mima had been annihilated .

My propo s al to evacuate Dara and concentrate on El F a s her

had been vetoed by my o ffi c e r s Added to all thi s di s s en .
,

s ion s now began to s pring up among s t t h o se w h om I had

hitherto looked upon a s loyal adherent s H a s s an W a d .

Saad Nu r who s e pardon it will be remembered I had

, , ,

procured in Khartum and whom I had brought with me ,

on my own guarantee to Dara to whom I h a d given a hou s e ,

ju s t out s ide the fort and when h i s h ors e died of di s eas e I

,

had given him anot h er and whom being a native of the , ,

pl a ce I had intru s ted with procuring new s now s adly d i s

, ,

appointed me U nmindful of all the b e n e fi ts I had

.

be s towed on him under the pretence of Vi s iting a relative

, ,

he mounted the hor s e I had given him and rode s traight ,

’
to E l Obeid where he became o n e o f the Mahdi s fait h ful
,

followers .

F or a long time pas t communication with Khartum had

become impo s s ible : the Mahdi s t s were fully on the alert and ,

any men I attempted to s end with letter s were invariably

intercepted O n one occa s ion when fi g h ti n g again s t the
.
,

Beni Helba A rab s I managed to s end a letter to Egypt by

—

a caravan marching along the Arba i n road to A s s iut But ’

now the variou s method s of concealment which I had s u c

c e s s fu l ly employed s uch a s fi x i n
g letter
—
s between the s ole s

of s hoe s or s andal s s oldering them into the in s ide of ablu

,

tion water bottle s or placing them in hollow s pear s tave s

-
,

—h a d all been di s covered One morning whil s t in s pecting .

,

the fort I noticed s ome s oldier s giving a donkey medical

,

treatment It wa s lame in the fore leg and having thrown

.
-
, ,

it on the ground they proceeded to make an inci s ion in the

,

s houlde r in which they placed a s mall piece of wood s o a s

, ,

to tighten the s kin acro s s which they made s eve r al tran s

,

ve r s e s lit s and then taking out the s tick poured in

, , ,
 HF
T E A LL OF DA R F U R 1 39
'

powdered natron T h e idea a t once s truck me that I .

might conceal a letter in thi s way under the s kin I there .

fore procured a good s ized donkey and in the privacy of my -

,

own hou s e I repeated the operation I h a d j u s t s een per

,

formed in s erting in the fi r s t cut a s mall note de s cribing

, ,
’
the s ituation which I enclo s ed in a goat s bladder The
,
.

entire s ize of th e communication in i ts cover did not exce ed

/
that of a po s tage s tamp I then s ewed up the w o ufi d with
‘

s ilk thread and the donkey walked without the s malle s t

,

diffi c u lty The man to whom I intru s ted thi s mi s s ion s u b

.

s equently told me that he had delivered the packet to Ala

cd Din Pa s ha at S h att a day or two before the expedition

s tar t ed for El Obeid and the latter had told the me s s enger ,

a reply w a s unnece s s ary but that he s h ould accompany the ,

force to El Obeid whence he would de s patch him to me ,

with a letter .

I wa s now however in a s orry plight a s regard s a m m un i

, ,
‘

tion The total in ch arge of the men and in the magazine s

.

amounted to twelve packet s per r i fl e and if I had attempted ,

to ri s k a fi g h t at lea s t half would have been at once

,

expended R elief I knew w a s s till far o ff and the que s

.
,

tion wa s how to hold out till then with thi s s lender quantity
of cartridge s In order to gain time I now h a d rec our s e to
.
,

a s tratagem Through the intermediary of a loyal Arab

.

chief I informed the rebel s who were now collected in

, ,

con s iderable s trength clo s e to Dara that I w a s prepared to , ,

capitulate but I would not agree to my life or that of my

,

s oldier s being intru s ted to th e h and s of Arab s again s t w h om

I had been continuou s ly fi g h tin g for more t h an a year I .

s aid ,however that s hould the Ma h di de s patch a Special

,

delegate to me I wa s ready to make the nece s s ary condi

,

tion s of peace The plan s ucceeded and with th e con

.
,

currence of the ho s tile chiefs I wrote to the M ahdi reque s t , ,

ing him to s end one of h i s own relative s to whom I could ,

hand over the government of the province .

The day s Which now pa s s ed were for me full of anxiou s

’
expectancy I knew that by thi s time Hick s force mu s t
.
 FIR E A ND S WOR D IN T HS UD
E A N
have alm o st reached El Obeid and that the deci s ive battle
, ,

on the re s ult of which hung all our hope s and fear s w a s ,

about to be fought I u s ed to frequent the market and

.
,

chat with the people on all the topic s of the day Every .

one wa s aware that a large army wa s advancing on El Obeid ,

but none yet knew how it wa s progre s s ing .

A t length toward s the end of N ovember to my unutter

, ,

able grief rumour s began to circulate that the army had

,

been defeated and although they s ounded s u s piciou s ly near

,

the trut h s till we could not ab s olutely credit them ; but a

,

day or two later de fi n i te new s w a s received that the expedition

had been anni h ilated Gloom s ettled down on u s all
. .

After s o many hard s hip s and s uch con s tant trouble to at

length fall into the hand s of the enemy without the s malle s t ,

c h ance of e s cape ! Yet could it be po s s ible the news w a s

gro s s ly exaggerated ? A fli ck e r of h 0 pe s till remained only
“

to di s appear fi n a lly when information w a s received that

Z o g a l had arrived at O m Shanga and that the garri s on ,
-

had s urrendered to him a s Mudir U mum e l Gharb

( Governor General
- of the W e st
) appointed by the Mahdi
, .

O n the 2 0 th of December 1 8 8 3 the me s s enger whom I

H
, ,

had s ent to the Mahdi arrived at the gat e of the fort dre s s ed
in a j ibba and wa s brought in to me
,
e related to me in .

full detail the heart rending new s of the complete overthrow

-

of the expedition of which he him s elf had been a witne s s

,

he al s o brought me a letter from Z o g a l calling on me to ,

s urrender and to prove the di s a s ter which had overtaken

,
’
the Egyptian s he s ent me s everal of th e principal o ffi c e r s
,

commi s s ion s a number of report s on the s ituation and the

, ,
’
j ournal s of Colonel F arquhar and Mr O D o n o v a n . .

That evening F arag Effendi and Ali Effendi T o b g i the ,

commandant of the artillery told me that the o ffi c e r s had

,

decided to s urrender to the Mahdi but not to Z o g a l Bey , .

They s tated their rea s on s for coming to thi s deci s ion ve ry

s imply everyone from the highe s t to the lowe s t wa s now
, ,

ab s olutely convinced that we had not the s malle st chance

of relief the total fo r ce of regular s in Dara amoun t ed to
 FIR E A ND S W ORD I N T HS UD
E A N
W ith the s mall amount of ammunition that remained I ,

might have made a vain s truggle for a few hour s ; but would
my o ffi c e r s and men have ob e yed my order s ? They had
no wi s h and no heart to fi g h t ; they knew a s well a s I did
the futility of it and why s houl d I call on them to s a c r ifi ce
them s elve s and per h ap s their wive s and children to a cau s e
, ,

to which t h ey were no longer attached P

L ooking at the matter entirely from a general point of
view I had no doubt in my own mind that capitulation w a s
,

not only the right cour s e but wa s practically inevitable

, .

H aving arrived at thi s conclu s ion I had now to turn to the

,

per s onal a s pect ; and the s olution of thi s problem wa s to

me be s et with the greate s t di fli cu lti e s A s an o ffi c e r the .
,

id e a of s urrender to s uch an ene m y w a s repul s ive in the

extreme I had no fear of my o wn life ; I had ri s ked it
.

s u ffi c i e n tly during the pa s t four year s to e ffectually di s po s e

of any notion that my s urrender wa s occa s ioned by any

want of per s onal courage o n that point I felt s ure that if
—
,

s pared ,
I could without the s malle s t difli c u lty vindicate
my action to my military s uperior s ; but the ve r y word
‘s urrender ’ w a s repul s ive to me and doubly s o when I
,

thought over the con s equence s which mu s t follow to me

a European and a C h ri s tian alone among s t thou s and s and
—

thou s and s of fanatical Sudane s e and other s the mean e s t ,

among whom would con s ider him s elf s uperior to me It i s .

true I had nominally adopted the religi on of the country ;

but thi s I h a d done merely a s a mean s of s tiflin g th e
inj uriou s opinion s which I knew exi s ted in the mind s of
o ffi ce r s a n d men that the cau s e of my defeat lay in my

being a C h ri s tian My ru s e had s ucceeded to a greater

.

extent than I had expected but the proceeding had been a

,

di s ta s teful one to me I h a d no preten s ion s to holding very

.

s trict religiou s view s on th e expediency or otherwi s e of the

s tep I had taken ; neverthele s s at heart I wa s I believe

, , ,

a s good a Chri s tian a s th e majority of young m e n of my

acquaintance ; and that being s o a continuance of the life
, ,

of religiou s deception I wa s then living wa s by no mean s a

 '
T HF E A LL OF DA R F U R 1 43

pro s pect whic h I a ppr e c ia te d l Moreover I wa s well aware ,

that my s urrender would place me ab s olutely and entirely

in the hand s of thi s mock religiou s reformer and that not
-
,

only s hould I have to s how my s elf to be a Mo s lem in the

ordinary s en s e of the term but to c arry out the r ole s ur
,

render would entail on me I mu s t be prepared to purs ue ,

thi s religiou s deception to i ts fulle s t extent I m u s t b e fi m e —

a devotee and henceforth I mu s t s how my s elf heart and

,

s oul a Mahdi s t

Can anyone imagine that thi s wa s a plea s ing pro s pect ?

Neverthele s s I confe s s that the religiou s con s ideration s
,

involved in the s tep I contemplated although they weighed —

with me to no s mall extent did not occupy my mind s o -

fully a s the con s iderations in regard to my duty Generally .

s peaking I felt it to be my duty to s urrender and make no

, ,

further s a cr i fi c e of life in a cau s e which could not now by ,

any po s s ibility s ucceed There wa s no particular rea s on

, .
,

however why I s hould voluntarily s ubmit to the indignitie s

,

and practical s lavery which mu s t follow on my per s onal

s urrender ; to be acce s s ory to my own death occur r ed to

me more than once but my nature revolted again s t thi s

,

thought I wa s young my life during the pa st four year s

.
,

had been one of anxiou s re s pon s ibility but of s tirring ,

adventure a s well and I had no particular de s ire to bring

H
,

i t to a clo s e even wit h the dark pro s pect in front of me

, .

God in i s mercy had s pared me almo s t miraculou s ly l n

thi s con stant fi g h ti n g and per h ap s e would s till s pare me
,

to be of u s e to the Government I had tried to s erve mo st

H
loyally.

The s e were the t h ought s which were uppermo s t in my

mind when the dark h ours of anxiou s meditation gave place
to the fi r st s treaks of the dawn of perhap s the mo s t m e m o r
able day of my life Ye s I concluded there i s nothing for
.
, ,

it now but s ubmi s s ion ; I mu s t become s o to s peak the , ,

s lave of t ho s e whom I have governed

; I mu s t be obedient
to tho se who i n every re s pect are my inferior s and I mu s t , ,

above all be patien t If by a careful practice of t h e se I

, .
1 44 FIR E A N D S W OR D I N T HS UD
E A N
s hould s ucceed in s aving my life and eventually recovering
my liberty no doubt the experience which I s hould gain
,

would be valuable to the Government in who s e s er v ice I

s till w a s W it h t h i s determination and re s olution I ro s e
.
,
'

and d r e s s e d fo r th e la s t time for many a long year in the

uniform th e h onour of whi c h I had done my utmo s t to
uphold now to be di s car d ed for the Mah di s t garb in which
, ,

I w a s to play an entirely new part in life ; b ut beneat h it

would beat a heart a s truly l oyal a s ever to Government ,

and fi lle d with a determination that come what m ight if it , ,

’
we r e God s will I s hould be eventually re s tored to libe rty ,

the s trange experience s which it would now be my fate to

undergo might be t urned to u s eful account It wa s now to .

be a ca s e of my wit s again s t tho s e of my new master s who —

would win ? I did not s hrink fro m the conte s t though I ,

s hould have had no little excu s e for doing s o could I have ,

s canned the future and s een before me the long yea r s of

,

s ervitude and the double life W hich I s hould be compelled

,

to lead in order to carry through the r e s olution at which I

,

had now arrived .

The next morning the two o ffi ce r s arrived ; I s ho wed them

’
Z o g a l s letter calling on me to s urrender peacefully a n d to ,

meet him on the 2 3r d of December at Hilla Sh ie r i a where ,

’
he would per s onally hand me the Mahdi s letter ; he further
wrote that in accordance with h i s pre s ent in s truction s my
, ,

life and tho s e of all the men women and child r en in the
, ,

fort s hould be s pared and we s h ould be a fforded all pr o te c

,

tion .

It w a s ab s olutely clear to me that further re s i s tance wa s

impo s s ible I therefore s ent for my clerk and dictated to
.

him a letter to Z o g a l giving in my s ubmi s s ion and that of

,

the garri s on and agreeing to meet him at Hilla Sh ie r ia on

,

th e 2 3 r d of December ; thi s I handed to a me ss enger with ,

in s truction s to take it to Z o g a l who wa s now to be called

,

Sayed Mohammed Ib n Khaled .

The following day in the afternoon I a s s embled all the

, ,

o ffi ce r s and told them that a s further re s i s tance wa s not

, ,
1 46 FIR E A N D S WOR D IN T HS UD E AN

to Dara W hil s t we w
’

. e r e ta lk i n g one of my o ffi ce r s Moh a m , ,

med Agha Suleiman arrived and without taking the s malle s t , ,

notice of me went up and greeted Z o g a l mo s t e ffu s ively I

,
.

at once recogni s ed him a s one of the three o fli c e r s whom I

’ ’
had b e en told were Black Z o g a l s ( a s he wa s called )
s ecret agent s Mohammed Khaled a s I mu s t call him in
.
,

fu tu r e n o w took me a s ide and s poke to me about h i s r e

’

, ,

la tiv e s and h i s family I told h i rri that I had left them

all well and that the former were s till in arre s t
,

once s aid he quite concurred in the s tep s I had taken which

.

e at . H
,

of cours e were in the intere s t s of s elf pre s ervation and be s t -

,

for u s both W e then s tarted o ff and encamped the s ame

.
,

evening nea r Dara Several of the inhabitant s and o ffi ci a ls

.

ca me out to greet the new Gove r nor already dre s s ed in their ,

Dervi sh clothe s .

That night I again pa ss ed almo s t without clo s ing my

eye s I t wa s Ch r i s tma s Ev e I thought of home and of
. .

the beautiful C h urch fe s tival which wa s being celebrated

t here whil s t I alone and defeated w a s handing ove r my
, , ,

men and arm s to the enemy In thos e s till hour s they .

—

were the s adde s t in my life I pa s s ed in review all t hat had —

happened More fortunate by far were tho s e who had fallen

.

on the fi e ld of honour !
T h e nex t morning Z o g a l o ffi c i a lly received all tho s e who
had come out t o pay homage to him The fort w a s now .

garri s oned by Dervi s h troop s a n d thi s completed h is

4

occupation of the country The inhabitant s flo ck e d to .

him to give their oath s of allegiance to the Mahdi and ,

later in the day the tr 00 p s were paraded by h is o r de r s to

g o th r ough the s ame ceremony :

Ma di b b o who had j oined Abd e s Samad at B r i n g e l a n d ,

H
,

had come to Dara with him followed me home W e s hook ,

.

hand s and I begged h i m to be s eated

, e then began : .

You s eem to be annoyed with me and accu s e me of ,

having b r oken faith with you but now li s ten to me I ,

.

wa s di s charged from my po s ition of Head Sheikh by

Emiliani and proceeded to the Bahr e l Arab where the
, ,
 T HF E A LL OF DA R F U R 1 47

’
Mahdi s s ummon s rea c hed me I a m a good Mo s lem and .
,
'
’
therefore I followed him I beheld the Mahdi s D ivine .

nature and li s tened to h i s doctrine s I wa s al s o pre s ent at

,

the marvellou s de s truction of Yu s ef Sh e lla li I therefore .

believed in him and a m s till a believer You of cours e

,
.
, ,

trus ted in your s tren g th and did not wi s h to s ubmit ,

without fi g h tin g W e both fought each s ee king h i s h wn

.
,
'

advantage I fought again s t the Government but not

.
,

again s t you per s onally God knows I have never for .

gotten that you were friendly minded to me t h erefore let -

, ,

’
ge r depart from your heart and be a brother to me , .

‘I a m ’
not at all angry at what you have done I ,

an s wered ‘You are but one among many and s hould I

.
,

have been annoyed with you your word s have quite recon ,

H
’ ‘ ’
o iled me I thank you s aid M a di bb o
. May God , .

H
s trengthen you and a s
may e continue to protect you
e ,
h a s protected you hitherto
’
In truth I replied I
put my t r u s t in Him Still it i s h ard to have to bear all
.
‘

, ,
,

,
’
that h a s now happened but I s uppos e it mu s t b e No t .

’ ‘
so, he an s wered ; I a m only an Arab but li s ten to me , .

B e obedient and patient ; practi s e thi s Virtue for it i s ,

written Allah ma e s s a b e r i n
,
“
God i s with the patient
Howeve r I have come to a sk you s omething and my
, ,

reque st i s thi s : If you are really a brother to me then in , ,

token of our friend s hip I wi s h you to accept my favourite ,

hors e You knew him before he i s the Sa k r c d D ij a j [the

.

Chicken Before I could reply he h a d got up and

gone out s ide and in a few minute s retu rned leading h i s

H
, ,

hors e which wa s the fi n e s t and mo s t hand s ome animal

,

owned by the tribe e then handed me the leading rope

.
-
.

‘I do not ’
W i s h to in s ult you . I replied by refu s ing to , ,

accept your pre s ent b ut I do not require i t ; I s hall not want

H
,

to ride much now ’

W h o knows s aid the Sheikh
. Illi .

um r u tawil b i s h u f ketir e w h o live s long s ee s much

”
J .

You are s till young and m a y often ri d e yet i f not on this

, ,
—

’
hors e then on another
, You may be right Ma di b b o but
.
, ,
’
n o w do you a ccept fr om me thi s token of friend s h ip s aid I , ,

1 0— 2
1 48 FIRE A N D S WORD I N T HS UD
E AN

pointing to h i s preciou s war drum s which my s e rvant s to ok -

,

up and handed to him The s e drum s it will be remem .

,

bered I had taken in the night attack on Ke r s h u O n the

, .

drum s I al s o laid a s word which I had taken down from the

‘ ’
wall To day s aid I the s e are mine and I can o ffe r
.
-
, , ,
’ ’
them to you to morrow they may be another s - I thank .

’
you and accept them gladly s aid the Sheikh
, Only a ,
.

s hort time ago your men captured my war drum s but a s -

, ,
’
the Arab s s a y Er rigal s h a r r a da urrada , A man run s
away and come s back again and I may truly s a y I have
fought many time s in my life and s ometime s I have run ,
’
away ; then I have returned and have s ucceeded M a di bb o , .

H
'

now ordered h i s men to carry o fl h i s drum s and departed in ,

great delight i s conver s ation had a ffected me con s ider

.

ably So I w a s now to be obedient and p atient for he

.
,
’
who live s long s ee s much .

The next morning the new Governor orde r ed all i n h a b i

tant s out of th eir hou s e s which were ran sacked and thei r , ,

content s carried o ff t o the Beit e l M al People s u s pected .

of concealing money were flo g g e d mercile s s ly or tied by ,

their leg s h ead downward s in well s until they became

, ,

uncon s ciou s In vain I expo s tulated for Khaled wa s

.
,

obdurate .

The male and female s ervant s of the former o ffi c ia ls

were now di stributed among s t the Mahdi s t s but all t he ,

good looking young girl s were pu t a s ide fo r the Mahdi

-

him s elf .

Seven days after o u r s urrender Khaled info r med me that

Said Bey Guma had s ent the p ri ncipal o ffi ci a ls with Oma r
W a d Dario to make their s ubmi s s ion , e the r efo r e
decided to g o to F a s her him s elf but on h i s arrival near tha t
. H ,

,
’
to wn the inhabitant s having hea r d of Khaled s bad t r eat ,

ment of the Dara people decided not to s u r render and in , ,

con s equence the Dervi s he s inve sted the place Several .

heroic s o rt ie s we r e made bu t a fte r a s iege of fi fte e n day s

H
,

M r f m i l i rly
o e wh o fi g h t a d r uns a w y l i v e s to fi g h t
a a , e s n a
’
an o th r d a y
e .
 FIRE A ND S WORD I N T HS UD
E A N
’
be pa s s ed into the Beit e l Mal a s an act of renunciation .

I carried out the s e in s t r uction s and handed over all the ,

property in my hou s e in F a s her to the trea s urer of the Bei t

e l Mal Gaber W a d e t Taib only retaining s uch thing s a s
, ,

were ab s olutely nece s s ary for daily life I had heard on my .

’
arrival here of H amada s heroi s m and s ought out the poor ,

old Maj or wh om I found in a truly terrible s tate The

, .

gaping wound s from h i s s houlder s to h i s knee s were morti

fy i n g rapidly and h i s tormentor s u s ed to pour over them
,

d aily a s trong s olution of s alt and water well s ea s oned with ,

Sudan pepper thu s h 0 ping to wring a confe s s ion from him

,

during the awful pain which en s ued But it wa s u s ele s s ; .

he ab s olutely refu s ed to utter a word In de s pe r at ion I .

’
went to Khaled told him of the poor man s horrible condi
,

H
‘

ti on and begged him to allow me to take him to my own

,
’
hou s e and treat him there
, e i s di s hone s t s aid Khaled ;
.
,

‘h
e h a s concealed money and h a s publicly in s ulted me , .

’
F or thi s he m u s t die a mi s erable death F or the s ake of .

’
our old friend s hip s aid I I beg and pray you will forgive
, ,
’
him and hand him over to me
,
’
W ell s aid he at la s t I .
, ,
’
will if you will pro s trate your s elf before m e I n the Sudan .

thi s i s con s idered a terrible humiliation The blood ru s hed .

to my face To s ave my own life I would never do s uch a

.

t h ing but if by thi s s elf sa cr i fi ce I could re s cue the poor

,
-

wretched man from h i s awful s u ffering s I ought s u r ely to ,

do s o F or a moment I he s itated ; t hen with a fearful

.
,

H
e ffort of s elf control I knelt down and laid my hand s on
-
, ,

h i s bare feet e d rew them back rai s ed me u p and

.
, , ,

apparently a s hamed of having a s ked such a s a c r ifi c e of me ,

s aid : It i s only for your s ake that I s hall liberate

Hamada ; but you mu s t promi s e that s hould you h n d out ,
’
where h i s trea s ure i s you will let me know ,
I promi s ed .

t o do s o and he then s ent a man with me to H amada

,
.

Calling up my s ervant s I had him carried on an ,

angareb a s t enderly a s I could to my hou s e and wa s hed

, , ,

h i s wound s s preading over them fre s h butter to deaden the

,

pain It wa s quite impo s s ible he could live much longer

. .
 T HF
E A LL OF DA R F U R 1 51

I gave him a little s oup and in a low voice h e called down

all the curs e s of heaven on h i s enemie s
,

e lay in my . H
hou s e four day s and then calling me to h i s bed s ide he
motioned to the s ervant s to leave u s
,

e now whi s pered in

word s which were s carcely audible My hour h a s come

,

. H ,

.
,

May the L ord reward you for all your kindne s s to me I

cannot do s o but I will s how you that I a m grateful: I
,
’
have buried my money Stop ! s a i d I Ar e y o u
T

“
.

’
going to tell me where you h ave h idden your trea s ure ?
‘Ye s ’ he murmured ‘i t may be of s ome u s e to you ’
, ; .

’
No I an s wered I will not and cannot u s e i t
, ,
I s ecured .

your relea s e from your tormentor s on the one condition t h at ,

s hould I learn where our money w a s hidden I s hould tell

y ,

Khaled your , You have s u ffered greatly and are ,

paying with your life for your determination not to let your
’
trea s ure fall into your enemy s hand s L e t it lie unknown .

in the ground it will keep s ilence ’

W hil s t I w a s talking .
,

Hamada held my hand W it h a s upreme e ffort he mur .

mured I thank you ; may you become fortunate without

,

my money Allah Karim . God i s mer c iful Then ,

s tretching out h i s limb s and rai s ing h i s fo r e fi n g e r he s lowly

, ,
’
muttered L a ilaha i lla lla h Mohammed R a s ul Allah clo s ed
, , ,

h i s eye s and died , .

A s I gazed at thi s poor mangled corp s e my eye s fi lle d

wi th tear s H ow muc h w a s I s till to s u fl e r before it came
.

to my turn to enter into everla s ting re s t Calling m y s e r

vant s I bade them bring in two good men to wa s h the body
, ,

and wrap it in s ome linen I had procured ; meanwhile I ,

went to Khaled to inform him of h i s deat h Did he not .

’
tell you where h i s money w a s buried ? s aid he s harply .

’ ’
No s aid I the man wa s too s tubborn to betray h i s s ecret
, , .

‘Then may God cur s e him s aid the E mir turning to me .

, ,

However a s he died in your hou s e you may bury him he

, ,
’
really de s erve s to be thrown out like a dog on the dunghill , , .

Q uitting him I went home and buried ,

poor Hamada with ,

the u s ual form of prayer j u s t in front of my hou s e , .

Kha led wa s a very cun n in g man e xce s s ively s tri ct wit h ,

 1 52 FIRE A ND S WORD IN T HS UD E A N
the former Government o ffi ci a ls and unnece s s arily lenient
in h i s tran s action s with the local population e fi l le d all

important po s ition s by h i s own relative s and although he

,

. H
,

s trove by every mean s in h i s power to s queeze all he could

out of the country he w a s s pecially careful to avoid the ri s k

of incurring popular di s con tent
s elf the greater part of the revenue s
,

e appropriated to him

and every now and

. H
,

then he s ent a s pre s ent s to the Mahdi and h i s Khalifa s a

batch of pretty girl s s ome good hor s e s or s ome exception

H
, ,

ally fi n e camel s s o a s to retain h i s good reputation in the

,

hou s ehold of h i s lord and ma s ter e kept up great s tate

and s urrounded him s elf with an enormou s hou s ehol d

married Mariam Is a Ba s i the s i s ter of the Sultan of Darfur
e
.

. H ,

, ,

althoug h s h e w a s over fi fty year s old Thi s good lady had .

hu ndred s of male and female s lav es and kept up her s tate ,

in true Sudane s e fas hion It did no t s eem to occur to Khaled .

that any s elf abnegation a s required by the Mahdi creed

—
, ,

s hould be demanded of him Every evening he cau s ed a .

hundred di s he s plate s and twi sted mat s full of every variety

, , ,

of food to be di s tributed among s t h i s follower s who s eated

, , ,

at th eir ea s e under th e palm tree s would s ing the prai s e s of -

,

the Mahdi coupling every now and then h i s name with t ha t

,

of their benefactor and Emir Khaled , .

A t abou t thi s time a long letter s ent from Cairo to me , ,

through the Mudir of Dongola by the hand s of a tru s ty ,

'

Arab arrived In it I w a s ordered to concentrate the troop s

,
.

at F a s her hand over the province t o Abd e s Shakur bin

,

Abderrahman Sh a ttut a de s cenda nt of the Darfur Sultan s , ,

’
and move with all troop s and war m a tém el to Dongola The .

’
king s s o n in que s tion wa s h owever s t ill in Dongola unable , , ,

to h n d mean s to come to Darfur and I greatly doubt if h i s

arrival would have made the s malle s t difference in the s itua ‘

t ion Concentration at F a s her would have been rendered

.

impo s s ible by the defection of the o ffi ce r s and men and had

I been able to collect s uffi c i e n t troop s ready to obey my
order s and had I been able to march out with them and the
,
’

wa r m a tém el unmole s ted I could equally well h a ve been a bl e

,
 FIR E A ND S WORD I N T H E S UD A N

C HAPT ER X .

T H IE GE E S A ND FA LL ‘
0F K H AR I U M
’‘
.

r n r t ur
G o do e ns to th e Sud a n —
Th e S ig
e e o f Kh a tum — I r j ino th e
Mah d i Int rvi w d Fir t I m pr i
at R a h a d— f th M h d i
e e s an s e ss o n s o e a

T h O th
H
e f A ll gia
— D o r i p ti n f th eK h l i f T
a n ceh A rri v l e sc o o e a a— e a

o f in P h C riti i
us s e G rd
as M i i n T h A b nd n
a —
c sm s o n o on s
’
ss o — e a o

m nt f th
e S d n Pr l im d I
o e id nt in V ri P rt f th
u

H o us
oc a —
a e nc e s a a s o e

S d n Th
u a A rri v l
—
f O l i v i r P in
e i M i i n I lln
a o d e a —
s ss o , e ss , an

D th
ea A rri v l
—
t id Kh rt m a I w ri t tou s G rd I m
e a u — e o o on —
a

A rr t d es e d th r wn i t C h i
an In id t d ring m y I m p ri
o n o a n s— c en s u so n

m nt Th S rr nd r f O m d rm n T h u D l y f th B riti h u

H
—
e e e e o a —
e e a o e s

E x p d i ti Kh rt m i A tt k d d T k n G rd n
’
e on —
a u d i s ac e an a e — o o s ea s

br gh t t m A nt f th l t D y f Kh rt m M
ou o e— cc o u r o e as a s o a u — a ssa c e s

an d A tr i ti ft r th F ll Th R tr t f th B ri ti h Exp d i
oc es a e e a —
e e ea o e s e

ti on— Th Rig r f m y I m p ri nm nt i r d M y C m r d
e ou s o so e n c e a se —
o a e

in C p tiv ity Fr nk L p t W
a , b th r l d I nt r th
a u on— e are o e e a se — e e e

Kh l i f B dy g rd I ll f th M h d i Kh l i f
’
a a s o d D th -
ua —
n e ss an ea o e a —
a a

A b d ll h i u d h im
a Th R ls u cce e d O di fi s f th M h d i — e u es an r na ce s o e a .

’
A F T E R the de s truction of Hicks Pa s ha s expedition the

H
,

Mahdi well knew that the whole Sudan wa s at h i s feet to

take po s s e s s ion of it w a s only a que s tion of time i s fi r st .

s tep w a s the de s patch of h i s cou s in K h aled to Darfur where ,

he knew no re s i s tance w a s po s s ible Through the i n flue n c e .

of Ka r a m a lla h e wa s able to acquire po s s e s s ion of the Bahr

e l Ghazal the employ é s having merely tran sferred their
,

allegiance from the Khedive to the Mahdi Already Mek .

Adam of T a g a lla had s ubmitted and had come to R I Obeid ,

with h i s family Mahdi s m had s eized a fi r m hold of the .

E a s tern Sudan and found a ready home among s t the brave

,

Arab s of tho s e region s ; Egyptian t1 0 0 ps had been anni

’
h i la te d at Sinkat and T a m a n i b ; General Baker s di s a s ter at
Teb had given the tribe s great c o n fi de n ce ; and Mu s tafa
Hadal w a s be s ieging Ka s s ala In the Gezira between the

H
.
,

Blue and W hite Nile s the Mahdi s brother i n law W a d e l

’
,
- -
,

Ba s i r of the a la wi n tribe had s cored s ucce s s e s again s t the

, ,

Government and s uch wa s b r ie fly the condition of the

,
 T H IE G E
E S A ND FA LL OF K H
A RT UM

country when Gordon reached Berber on , 1 1 th F ebruary ,

1 8 84 .

The Egyptian Government in accord with th e B riti s h

,

Government thought t h at by the de s patch of Gordon who

, ,

had a s pecial knowledge of the Sudan the agitation would ,

be s topped ; but neither the s e Government s nor Gordon ,

him s elf s eemed to realize how s eriou s the s ituation really

,

wa s . Did they 1 magine for a moment

had had occa s ion to s h ow con s iderable per s onal bravery ,

who had gained a name for charity and be nevolence among s t

the lower cla s s e s of th e Darfur population and had s u p ,

pre s s ed a number of revolt s in the E quatorial N egro land s ,

w a s capable of checking the blazing flame s of fanatici s m P

’

The Jaalin between Berber and K h artum and throughout ,

the Gezira had beco m e re s tive and di s s a ti s fi e d ; and wa s

,

the per s onal i n flu e n c e of Gordon going to pacify them ?

O n the contrary the s e s ame tribe s had every rea s on to
,

r emember with little s ati sfaction the name of th e Governor

General who had i s s ued the ej ection edict again s t the Gella
b a s of the s outhern di s trict s during the Suleiman Zubeir
,

war again s t the Arab s In the event s which followed on

.

thi s dra s tic mea s ure and which I have de s cribed el s ewhe r e
, ,

many of the s e people had lo s t fathers brother s and s on s , , ,

and had been reduced to beggary were they likely to for

give Gordon t h i s
O u the 1 8 th of F ebruary h e reached Khartum and r e ,

ce i v e d a warm wel c ome from the o fli c i a l s and inhabitant s .

Tho s e who were in immediate contact with him and anti ,

c i pa ti n g for them s elve s much per s onal b e n e fi t were con ,

v i n ce d that the Governmen t would never leave a man like

Gordon in the lur c h Almo s t h i s fi r s t s tep wa s to i s s ue a

.

proclamation appointing the Mahdi Sultan of Kordofan ,

permitting the s lave trade and propo s ing to enter into rela
-
,

tion s with him ; in h i s letter he al s o a s ked for the rele a s e of

the pri s oner s and s ent the Mahdi s ome very h u e clothe s
, .

’
Gordon s letter would have been all very well if he had had
a force at h i s back with which to march into Kordofan but
 1 5 6 FIRE A N D S W OR D I N T HU
E S D AN

the Mahdi had been told that he had arrived at Khartum

with merely a s mall body guard Naturally he thought it -
.

an extraordinary proceeding for Gordon to give him what

he had already taken by force of arm s and which it wa s ,
’
mo s t improbable any troop s at Gordon s di s po s al could have
wrenched from him and it wa s in thi s frame of mind tha t
the Mahdi couched h i s reply advi s ing Gordon to s urrende r
and s ave h i s life .

’
In all matter s Khalifa Abdullahi w a s the Mahdi s prin
,

c i pa l advi s er and con s equently he w a s de t e s ted by the i m

H
,

mediate relative s of th e Prophet who did all in their power ,

to fru s trate h i s de s ign s and intrigue again s t him e wa s .

,

however well aware that the Mahdi could not get on without
,

him ; he therefore retaliated by complaining agai ns t the s e

int r igue s and a s ked the Mahdi to take an occa s ion to O penly
,

acknowledge h i s s ervice s Thi s led to the i s s ue of a pro

.

clamation which to thi s day i s referred to whenever any

exceptionally s e vere mea s ure or impo r tant change i s con
te m pla te d by h i s s ucce s s or .

T h i s proclamation enjoined on all the follower s to i m

p li c i tly obey Khalifa Abdullahi and to treat him
, in all
’
re s pect s a s the Mahdi s agent in carrying out the will of the
Prop h et .

A s the wat er wa s daily becoming more s carce the Mahdi ,

’
re s olved to move h i s entire camp to R ahad about one day s ,

j ourney from El Obeid ; and about the middle of April

the tran s fer of thi s immen s e ma s s of men women and , ,

children to the new po s ition wa s complete d .

The camp at R ahad s oon became a perfect s e a of s tra w

hut s or to k u ls s tretching a s far a s the eye could reach ;
, ,

and all day long the Mahdi occupied him s elf in h i s religiou s
dutie s preaching and praying ince s s antly Mohammed Abu
,
.

Girga he nominated Emir of the Gezira and de s patched ,

him with a con s iderable following to the Nile with

, , ,

in s t r uction s to head the revolt in the s e di s trict s and be s iege ,

Khartum .

Such wa s the s tat e of a ffair s when Said Bey Guma

 FIR E A ND S WORD I N T HU E S DAN

so , s hook my lance in h i s face s houted P i s han Allah wa

’
Ra s ula h u ! and then returned to my place e now s ent
, ,

H
H
.

word to me to ride behind him and in a few minute s we ,

reached h i s quarters e w a s a s s i s ted to di s mount by a

.

s pecial attendant the remainder keeping at a re s pectful

,

di s tance and he di s appeared beh ind the fence In a few

H
, .

moment s he s ent out a me s s age to u s to come i n and we ,

were conducted to a s pot fenced O fr om the re s t of the

enclo s ure which i s de s ignated the r e k ub a ; it wa s merely a
,

s mall s quare apartment with s t r aw wall s and a thatch roof .

In i t were s everal a n g a r e b s and palm mat s ; we were told to

\
-

s eat our s elve s on the s e and were s erved wit h a mixture of ,

honey and water in a pumpkin gourd and s ome date s H aving

H
.
,

partaken of thi s we patiently awaited the appearance of ou r

,

ho spitable ho s t and ma s ter e s oon came i n and we at .

,

once ro s e ; s eizing my hand h e pre ss ed me to h i s heart , .

,

s aying God be prai s ed we are at la s t uni t ed ! How do

, ,
’
you feel after your long and tiring j ourney Ye s indeed , ,

I replied God be prai s ed for having granted me to live to

,

s e e thi s day W h e n I beheld your countenance my fatigue ,

at once left me I well knew that to win h i s favou r I

mu s t h atter him a s much a s po s s ible ; he now gave h is
hand to Said Bey and Dimitri to ki s s and a s ked how they ,

were I s crutini s ed him very ca r efully ; he had a light

.

brown complexion a s ympathetic Arab face on which the, ,

mark s of s mall pox were s till traceable an a quiline no s e a

-
, ,

well s haped mouth s light mou s tache and a fringe of hai r

-
, ,

on h i s cheek s but rather thicker on h i s chin he wa s about

,

middle height neither thin nor s tout wa s wea r ing a j ibba

, ,
'
covered with s mall s quare patche s of di fle r e n t colours and ,

a Mecca takia or s kull cap round which wa s bound a

, ,

cotton turban ; he generally s poke with a s mile and s howed ,

a row of gli s tening white teeth H aving greeted u s he told .

,

u s to be s eated ; and we at once s a t on the palm mat s on -

the ground whil s t he s a t cro s s legged on an anga r eb O n ce

, ,
-
,
.

more he inquired after our health and expre s s ed h i s great ,

delight that we had at la s t reached the Mahdi O u a s ign .

 T HSIEG
E E A N D FA LL OF K HU
A RT M

to one of h i s s ervant s a di s h of a s ida and another of meat

, , ,

were laid before u s and s itting be s ide u s he told u s

, , ,

to help ours elve s ; he him s elf ate heartily s eeming to ,

thoroughly enj oy h i s food and during the meal he a s ked

s eve r al que s tion s W h y s aid h e s miling did you not
.
‘
, , ,

wait for me out s ide the cam pin s tead of entering without ,

permi s s ion ? Yo u know you are not s uppo s ed to enter a

’ ’
friend s hou s e without h i s permi s s ion P a r don } seti d I .
,

my s e rvant kept u s waiting s o long and none of us thought ,

you would take the trouble to come out and meet u s then ,

a s we reached the entrance of the camp we heard the ,

beating of war drum s and the s ound of your o m b e ya and

-
,

when we inquired what that meant we were told that you

h ad r idden out to witne s s the execution of a criminal ; we
therefore intended fol lowing the s ound of your o m b e ya ,
’ ‘
when your order reached u s A m I then known a s a .

’
tyr ant among s t the people s aid h e that the s ound o f my
, ,
'

o m b e a s hould alway s mean the death of s omeone

y N o ,
’
indeed s ir s aid I
, , you a r e generally known to be s trict ,
’ ’
but jus t . Yes I a m s t rict he replied ;
,
‘
but thi s mu s t
,

be s o and you will under s tand the rea s on s a s you prolong

,
’
you r s tay with me .

A few people whom I had previou s ly known were now

permitted by the Khalifa to come in and greet me but they ,

had no chance of conver s ation with me only Abderrahman ,

ben Naga who had been one of the Hick s expedition s aid
, , ,

i n a low quick tone

, B e very careful ; hold your tongue
, ,
’
and t ru s t no one I took h i s warning to hea rt
. .

’
The Khalifa t hen departed and at about two o clock in ,

the afternoon s ent u s a me s s age to perform our ablution s

and prepare to g o to the Me sj ed ( place of wor s hip) a few

H
minute s later he arrived him s elf and told u s to follow him
e wa s on foot
’
a s the mo s que which w a s clo s e to the
,

Mahdi s hut w a s only about three hundred yard s o ff O n

,

.
.

arr ival we found t he place crowded with devotee s ranged

, ,

in cl os ely packed line s ; and when the Kh a lifa entered they ,

made way for him with g reat re s pect A s heep s kin wa s .

1 60 FI R E A ND S WO RD IN T HU E S D AN

s pread on t he ground fo r u s and he directed u s to take our ,

’
place s be s ide him The Ma h di s quarters con s i s ting of
.
,

s everal large s traw hut s fenced o ff by a thorn zariba were

,

s ituated at the s outh we s t end of the mo s que A gigantic

-
.

t r ee afforded s hade to a number of th e wor s hipper s but ,

tho s e beyond had no protection from the burning s un A .

few pace s from the front line and to the right lay a s mall , ,
,

b u t which w a s re s er v ed for tho s e with whom the Mahdi

wi s hed to conver s e in private The K h alifa now ro s e and .

entered thi s hut probably to inform h i s ma s ter of our arrival ;

,

fo r in a few moment s he returned again s eated him s elf ,

be s ide me and almo s t immediately the Mahdi him s elf came

,

out The Khalifa at once aro s e and with him Said Bey
.
, ,

Dimitri and I who were ju s t behind him whil s t the others

, , ,

q uietly remained in their place s The Mahdi being the .

‘

I mam or leader of prayer s h i s s heep s kin w a s s pread out in

, ,

front and he then s tepped toward s u s I had advanced .

H
,
’
s lightly and he greeted me with Salam aleikum which
, ,
’
we at once returned by Aleikum e s s alam e then pre .

s ented h i s hand for me to ki s s which I di ii s everal time s , ,

and Said Bey and Dimitri followed my example Motioning

“

u s to be s eated he welcomed u s and turning to me s aid

, , ,
’
Are you sa ti s fi e d Indeed I a m I replied readily on ,
’
coming s o near to you I a m mo s t happy God ble s s you .

and your brethren ( meaning Said Bey and Dimitri ) s aid

he ; when news reached u s of your battle s again s t my

H
follower s I u s ed to pray to God for you r convers ion God
,

and i s Prophet have heard my praye r s and a s you have

faithfully s erved your former ma s ter for peri s hable money
,
.

s o now you s hould s erve me ; for he who s erve s me and

hear s my word s s erve s God and i s religion and s hall have

,

happine s s in thi s world and j oy in the world to come ’

We
H ,

.
,

of cour s e all made profe s s ion s of fi de lity and a s I had been ,

’
previou s ly warned to a sk him to give me the beia or oath of ,

allegiance I now be s ought thi s honour Calling u s up be s ide

,
.

him he bade u s kneel on the edge of h i s s heep s kin and placing

, ,

ou r hand s in h i s he t old u s t o repeat after him a s follows

,
 FIR E A ND S WORD I N T HU E S D AN

we re
’
wll haped and h e had the habit of al wa y s s miling
e s , ,

s howing h i s white teeth and expo s ing the V s haped aperture -

between the two front one s which i s alway s con s ide r ed a ,

‘ ’
s ign of good luck in the Sudan and i s known a s talj a
~
,
.

Thi s w a s one of the principal cau s e s which made the Mahdi

s o popular with the fair s e x by whom he w a s dubbed

fa lj a ( the man with the s eparated teeth )

, Abu
e w o r e a s hort

quilted j ibba beautifully wa s hed and perfumed with s andal

. H '
‘

, ,

wood mu s k and attar of ro s e s thi s perfume wa s celebrated

, ,

amon gs t h i s di s ciple s a s Ri h e t e l M ahdi ( the odour of the

Mahdi) and wa s s uppo s ed to equal if not s urpa s s th a t of
, , ,

the dweller s in Paradi s e .

W e remained exactly on the s ame s pot with ou r leg s ,

t ucked away behind until the time for evening prayers

“

cam e Meanwhile the Mahdi had frequently gone to a n d

.
‘

fro betwee n h i s hou s e and the mo s que ; and prayers ove r

H
, ,

I b egged leave to depart a s the Khalifa had told me to ,

r eturn to him at that hour e gave me permi s s ion and .

,

took th e o ppo r tu n i ty of s aying that I mu s t adhere clo s ely to

’

the Khalifa and devote mys elf entirely to h is s e r vice O f

, .

cours e I promi s ed to obey him to the lette r and Dimitri , ,

’
Said Bey and I cove r ing the Mahdi s hand with ki s s e s
, , ,

quitted the mo s q ue My leg s were s o cramped by the

.

po s ture in which I had been s itting for hours toget he r t hat

I could s carcely walk ; but in s pite of the pain I wa s , ,
’
obliged to keep a s cheer ful a face a s po s s ible in the Mahdi s
pre s ence Said Bey wa s m o r e u s ed to i t and did not s eem
.
,

to s u ffer s o much ; but poo r Dimitri limped behind mutte r ing ,

Greek in an undertone which I have no doubt conveye d ,

the mo s t frightful imprecation s a t any r ate I ca n vouc h —

,

tha t they were not s ong s of prai s e of the Mahdi A m ula .

v

’
z e m returned with u s to the Kh alifa s hou s e whe r e he wa s

H
,

waiting for us to s i t down to s upper wi t h him .

e t o ld us that s ince he had s een u s in t he morning

Hu ss ein Khalifa formerly Mudir of Berbe r had a rr ived

, , .
‘

8 0 it wa s true Berber had fallen we had h eard rumou rs to

thi s e ffect on the D a rfur frontier but met no one whom we
, ,
 T HSIEG
E E A ND FA LL OF K H
A R T UM

could a s k c o n fi de n ti a lly about i t The town mu s t h ave

.

fallen through the Jaalin ; and now communication with

Egypt mu s t be entirely cut o ff Thi s w a s ter r ibly bad new s
. .

’
I anxious ly looked out for Hu s s ein Khalifa s arrival ; he
w ould be able to give u s all the fact s .

The Khalifa now left u s for the night and utterly tired , ,

out we s tretched out our weary limb s on the a n g a r ebs a n d

,

gave ours elve s up to our own thought s .

Early the next morning after partaking of a breakfa s t of

,

a s ida and milk the blowing of the o m b e ya and the beating

, ,

of drum s announced that the Khalifa w a s about to ride ;

‘ ,

and hors e s were at once s addled Directing my s ervant s to

—
.

get two hors e s ready one for my s elf and th e other for
Said Bey we mounted and s oon caught up the Khalifa
H
—
,

who had gone on ahead e w a s riding for plea s ure round

.

the camp accompanied by s ome twenty footmen ; on h i s

,

right walked an enormou s Black of the Dinka tribe and on

“

h i s left a very tall Arab named Abu T s h e k a who s e duty it ,

wa s to help the Khalifa in and out of the s addle W hen he .

came again to the O pen s pace h e directed the hor s emen to

,
’
repeat ye s terday s exerci s e ; and after watching thi s fo r,

s ome time we rode on to the end of the camp where he

, ,

s howed me the remain s of an immen s e zariba and s mal l

tumbled in t rench which he t old me had been one o f

-
,
’
Hicks s la s t halting place s before h i s annihilation a n d ,

where he had awaited reinforcement s from T a g a lla T h e .

-

trench had been made for h i s Kr upp gun s The s ight of .

thi s awakened very s a d memorie s ; to think of the thou s and s

who but a s hort time before had been camped in thi s g r eat
zariba having been killed almo s t to a man and that thi s ,

di s a ster wa s the cau s e of my being w here I now w a s

O n ou r way back the Khalifa took me to pay a Vi s it to
h i s brothe r Yakub who s e hut s were clo s e to h i s own the
, ,

fence s being merely s eparated by a narrow pa s s age Yakub .

received me very kindly and appeared a s plea s ed to s e e me

,

a s Abdullahi had been ; he warned me to s erve him faith

fully which I of cours e promi s ed to do Yakub i s a s ome

, .

1 1 —
2
1 64 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HU E S D AN

what s horter man than the Khalifa b road s houldered with ,

-
,

a round face deeply pitted with s mall pox ; he h a s a s mall -

turned u p nos e and s light mou s tache and beard ; h e i s

-
,

di s tinctly more ugly than hand s ome but h a s the art of

talking in a curiou s ly s ympathetic way e too like the

M ahdi and the Khalifa s miled continually ; and what won

,

. H , ,

der when their a ffair s were progre s s ing s o very s a ti s fa c

,

to r i ly Yakub read s and write s and know s the Kuran by ,

H
heart whil s t Abdullahi i s comparatively very ignorant
,
’
e i s s ome year s the Khalifa s j unior and i s h i s tru s ted

and mo s t powerful advi s er W o e to the u nfortunate man .

,
.

who di ffer s in opinion with Yakub or who i s s u s pected of ,

intriguing again s t him he i s infallibly lo s t

Partaking of s ome of the date s he offered me I took leave ,

o f him and returned to the r e k u b a whence in accord a nce , ,

’
with the Khalifa s order we proceeded to the mo s que and, ,

s tayed till s un s et a s we did the previou s day

, Again the .

M ahdi preached renunciation urging h i s h earers to be ready ,

for the Jehad s o a s to enter into the future joy s of Paradi s e

, .

Again and again the faithful devotee s half intoxicated with ,

fanatici s m s houted h i s prai s e s ; whil s t we poor wretche s

, ,

enduring agonie s in our cramped pos ition impreca t ed in ,

our heart s M ahdi Khalifa and h i s whole crew of ba s e

, ,

hypocr ite s .

The next day the Khalifa s ummoned us and a s ked if we ,

wi s hed to return to Darfur I knew the que s tion had only .

been put to u s a s a te s t and we at once an s wered with one

voice that we s hould deeply regre t leaving the Mahdi I
,
.

s a w that he anticipated thi s a n s we r a n d s miling he com

'

, , ,

mended u s for our wi s e deci s ion The Khalifa now of h is .

,

own accord s ugge s ted that a longe r s tay in the r e kub a wa s

,

probably di s ta s teful to u s ; he therefore s ent Dimitri with

a m ula z e m to the hou s e of h is future Emir who wa s ,

a Greek and he al s o gave in struction s to Ahmed W a d

,

Suleiman to i ss ue twenty dolla rs to him After he had .

gone he turned to Said Bey s aying Said Guma you ‘

, , , ,

a r e an Egyptian and everyon e like s h i s own compatriot s

,
 FIR E A ND S WORD IN HU
T E S D AN

the s ituation in the way which he knew would be mo s t

acceptable to t he Mahdi and that he w a s favourably i m,

pre s s ing the Khalifa w a s evident from the expre s s ion s o

s ati s faction which e s caped the latter a s the narrative pro

ce e de d
. Abdullahi promi s ed that at noon day prayer s he -

would pre s ent Hu s s ein K h alifa to the Ma h di of who s e ,

forgivene s s he mig h t re s t a s s ured In the meantime he w a s .

to re st in th e r e k ub a .

I s ub s equently accompanied h i m to the mo s que where ,

the u s ual form of pre s entation w a s gone thro ugh and on ,

our return I wa s greatly relieved to hear that he w a s

ordered to remain that night in th e r e k u b a A s u s ual we .

s upped with the Khalifa but when he and the s ervant s had
,

retired we took thi s long looked for occa s ion to gree t each
’

- -
,

other mo s t heartily and to mutually bemoan the s a d fate

,

which brought u s together 1 n thi s wretch ed po s ition .

’ ‘
Hu s s ein Pa s ha s ai d I I tru s t you and your s may re s t
, ,

a s s ured of my s ilence Tell me what i s the pre s ent condi

.

tion of Khartum and what are the population doing

,

Ala s he replied it i s exactly a s I have de s cribed it to the

Khalifa Gordon s reading at Metemmeh of the proclama
.

tion abandoning the Sudan up s et th e s ituation entirely and ,

wa s indirectly the cau s e of the fall of Berber No doubt it .

’
would have been lo s t later o n but thi s action of Gordon s ,

greatly precipitated i t A t Berber I s topped him from taking

.

thi s fatal s tep and I cannot think what induced him to di s

,

regard my advice almo s t immediately after w ard s ’

We .

talked s o long about the s ituation and the variou s event s

that Hu s s ein Pa s ha who w a s o ld and tired fell a s leep ; but
, ,

thi s convers ation had bani s hed all s leep from my eye s 8 0 .

’
thi s i s to be the end I thought of all Gordon s e ffort s to
, ,

s ettle the country and i s all the b lo o d and trea s ure ex

,

p ended in pa s t year s to g o for nothing N o w the Govern

ment wanted to abandon thi s great country wh ich though , ,

hitherto it had not proved a fi n a n ci a l b e n e fi t to Egypt w a s ,

a land of great pro s pect s and could at lea s t produce ,

thou s and s of s plendid black recruit s wi t h whom to fi ll

 T HSIEG E
E A ND FA LL OF K H A RT UM
'

the ranks of its army So the G o v e r n m e n t w a s to leave

.

thi s country to i ts own people and yet t o remain on ,

friendly term s with i t ; it w a s to withdraw th e garri s on s

’
and war m a tém el and to e s tabli s h a form of local govern
,

ment when a form of s uch government had already s prung

,

into exi s tence by the m o s t violent of mean s namely by the , ,

whole s ale overturning of every ve s tige of the authority

which it w a s t o replace and the 1 1 1 2 2 5 2 9 1 5 6 1 c a pture of
,

almo s t every individual r epre s entative of the ou s t ed r uling

power .

To carry out thi s plan they had s ent Gordon in t he hope ,

that h i s pers onal i n flue n c e with the people and their regard ,

for him which he w a s inclined to e s timate s omewhat

—

highly would e n a b le h i m to s ucceed in thi s herculean

— 1

ta s k Gordon it i s t r ue w a s popular with s ome of the

.
, ,

we stern and equatorial tribe s whom he had won over by ,

h i s m u n i fi ce n c e and h i s benevolent nature During h i s .

s tay in the s e di s trict s he had con s tantly t r avelled about ,

and h i s noted courage and fearle s s ne s s in action had won

him the s ympathy of tho s e tribe s who s e greate s t pride it i s
to po s s e s s s uch qualitie s Ye s there i s no doubt he had
.
,

been popular with the we s tern Arab s but they had now a ,

Mahdi whom they adored ; they had almo s t forgo t ten

Gordon The Sudane s e it mu s t be remembered are not
.
, ,

European s they are Arab s and Black s and are little given ,

over to s entimental feeling s But in thi s particular ca s e of

.

the reading of the proclamation the people concerned were

river tribe s and of all other s the Jaalin were perhap s the
, , ,

mo st ho s tile to Gordon for they had not forgotten the

,

eviction of the G e lla b a s .

The mere fact that Gordon had come to Khartum with

out a force at h i s back proved to the s e people that he
de pe n de d o n h i s per s onal i n fl u e n c e to carry out h i s ta s k ;
but to tho s e who under s tood the s ituation it w a s abundantly
, ,

clear that per s onal i n flu e n c e at t h i s s tage wa s a s a drop in

the ocean Then what could have induced him to read
.

that fatal notice proclaiming fa r a n d wide th a t t he G ove r n

,
-
 FIRE A ND S WORD IN T HU E S D AN

ment intended to abandon th e Sudan P A t Hu s sein Pa s ha '

s

advice he had not read it at Berber but at Met emmeh h e ,

had proclaimed it before all the people H ad Gordon neve r .

’
been informed of the Ma h di s proclamation s s ent to all the
tribe s after the fall of El Obeid ? W a s he not aware that
the s e proclamation s enjoined all the people to unite in a
r eligiou s war again s t the Government authority and that ,

tho s e who di s obeyed the s ummon s and were found giving ,

a ss i s tance to the hated Turk were guilty of betraying the ,

fait h and a s s uch would not only lo s e their money and

,

property but their wive s and children would become the

,
’
s lave s of the M ahdi and h i s follower s P Gordon s idea wa s
to obtain the a s s i s tance of the s e tribe s in order to facilitate ,

the withdrawal of the garri s on s and he would have come to ,

term s with them to e ffect thi s obj ect ; but how could he
expect them to help him when in the word s of that fatal ,

proclamation it wa s decreed they were to be abandoned to

,

their fate ? A n d what would in thi s eventuality have been , ,

their fate ? Could they have oppo s ed the M ahdi h i s forty ,

thou s and r i fl e s and h i s ho s t s of wild fanatic s panting fo r

, ,

blood and plunder P No indeed the s e tribe s were s en s ible

,

enough to under s tand that a s s i s tance given to Gordon to

retreat meant the annihilation of them s elve s and the e n
s la v e m e n t of their familie s W h y s hould they commi t thi s
.

’
s elf s a cr i fi ce P
-
How could Gordon s per s onal i n fl ue n c e
avail him for an in stant again s t the pers onal intere st s of
eve r y man woman and child in the now a bandoned
, ,

Sudan P
If for political or other rea s on s i t wa s impo ss ible for t he
Government to maintain the Sudan or to reconquer i t by ,

degree s it wa s an equally u s ele s s s tep to have s ent Gordon

,

there to s a cr ifi ce him It di d not require a pers on of any

.

s pecial military capacity to remove th e garri s on s and wa r

'

m a tém el by the s teamer s to Berber under pretext of relieving ,

that town and thu s the whole or a con s iderable portion of

,

the Sudan garri s on s might have been s ucce s s fully with

dra wn though it woul d have bee n n e ces s ary to do th i s
,
 FIR E A N D S W ORD I N T HU E S D AN

‘
hypocritically I did not leave your door the whole day
, ,
’
and have met no on e .

’
Gordon continued the Khalifa made a s udden attack
, ,

on H ajj i Mohammed from both the river and the land when ,

the Blue Nile wa s in flood and he h a s built s tructure s on

the s teamers which s top the bullet s of our faithful An s ar .

’
T h e unbeliever i s a cunning man but he will reap God s ,
’
puni s hment Hajji Mohammed s men who have s u ffered
.
, ,

have been obliged to retire before s uperior force Gordon .

i s now rejoicing in h i s victory ; but he i s deceived God .

will grant victory only to tho s e who believe in Him and in ,

’
a few day s God s vengeance will fall on him s uddenly .

Hajji Mo h amme d i s not man enough to conquer the country ;

the Mahdi i s therefore s ending Abderrahman W a d e n Nej um i
’
to be s iege Khartum .

’
I hope s aid I that H ajj i Mohammed h a s not s u li e r e d
, ,
’
s eriou s lo s s P meaning in my heart exactly the rever s e .

’
Battle s cannot be fought without lo s s s aid t he Khalifa , ,

H
’
with s ome truth but I have not heard the fu ll d e ta ils yet '
.

’
e w a s anything but a ffable to day Gordon s victory had
-
.

thoroughly up s et him and he evidently anticipated that the

,

e ffect would be s eriou s W hen I returned to my hu t I .

,

s ent my s ervant to a s k Sale h W a d e l Mek if he could come

and s e e me s ecretly ; he w a s only a few hut s o ft and arrived ,

’
s ome minute s afterward s I told him the Khalifa s corro
.

b o r a ti o n of the new s but he had already heard it from h i s

,

relative s and we continued talking over pa s t and pre s ent

,

till a late hour Thi s victory h a d rai s ed my s pirit s enor

.

m o u s ly and I found my s elf chatting quite hopefully of the

,

future ; but Saleh looked on the s ucce s s a s only temporary ,

H
a n d h is rea s on s for thi s view were I felt fully j u s ti fi a b le

e explained that
’
very s oon after Gordon s arrival at
,

Khartum the e ffect of the fatal proclamation began to be

, , .

felt and h i s diffi culti e s increa s ed The Jaalin had begun

,
.
'

to collect and had cho s en a s their chief H aj Ali W a d Saad

, ,

who s oon had at h i s di s po s al a con s iderable force but for ,

per s onal rea s on s he wa s s ecretly inclined to th e Govern

 HSIEGE
T E A ND FA LL OF K
'

H
A R T UM

ment and therefore delay e d actually fi g h ti n g a s lo ng a s

,

po s s ible The Con s ul s of the variou s n ati onalitie s at Khartum

.
,

s eeing the s ituation get t ing wor s e h a d applie d to Gordon ,

to s end them to Berber ; but it w a s doubtful if it would have

’
been s afe to let them g o and at Gordon s s ugge s tion they ,

decided to r emain The i n habitant s of Khartum had t h em

.

s elve s begun to look with mi s tru s t on Gordon for they ,

realized from the proclamation of which

,

that Gordon had only come to withdraw the garri s on though ,

lat e r on they thoroughly under s tood that Gordon him s elf

had come to conquer with them or to die The Sheikh Rl .

Obeid one of the great religiou s Sheikh s of the Sudan

, ,

had collected together h i s follower s at H alfaya t o be s iege ,

Khartum Gordon had s ent troop s under Ha s san Pa s ha

.
‘

and Said Pa s ha Hu s s ein who had been formerly Governor ,

of Shakka to drive the rebel s out of their po s ition and

, ,

watching the operation s throu g h a tele s cope from the top of

the Palace he had s een h i s tru s ted o ffi c e r s endeavouring to

H
,

make over h i s tr 0 0 p s to the enemy; whil s t they them s elve s

were retreating to Khartum e had t ried the s e traitorou s.

o ffi ce r s by general c ourt mar t ial and had had them s hot -

, .

In s pite of t h i s di s a s ter he h a d s ucceeded in relieving the

,

Shaigia s who were loyal to Govern ment and had brought

, ,

t hem under their commander Sanj ak Abdel Hamid W a d

,

Mohammed to Khartum , .

Saleh W a d e l Mek him s elf in v e s ted by the rebel s at

,

Peda s i had begged Gordon to relieve him ; but it w a s i m

,

po ss ible to do s o and he had been obliged to s urrender with

,

one thou s and four hundred irregular s and cavalry with all ,

their arm s In con s equence of thi s s ucce s s Hajji Moham

.
,

med Ab u Girga had collected all the inhabitant s of the

Gezira to be s iege Khartu m W hil s t the s e event s were .

’
happening in the neighbourhood of that town th e Mahdi s ,

former teacher Sheikh Mohammed e l Kheir ( formerly

,

Mohammed e l Diker) had come to the river and had been , ,

appointed by h i s early pupil Emir of Berber ; he had placed

all t he t ribe s in the province under h i s order s and the latter , ,
 FIR E A ND S WORD I N T HU E S DAN

collecting adherent s from h i s own tribe the Jaalin and , ,

r einforced by the Barabra B i sh a r i a and other Arab s h a d , , ,

laid s iege to Berber which had fallen i n a few day s , .

The province of Dongola had hitherto held out owing ,

principally to i ts crafty Mudir Mu s tafa Bey Ya we r who , ,

h a d twice written to the Mahdi o ffering h i m h i s s ubmi s s ion , ,

but the latter fearing to tru s t one of the hated Turk s had
, ,

s ent h i s relative

Emir S h eikh e l H
Sayed Mahmud Ali to join the Shaigia
,

e dda i who had already h eaded a di s turb

ance in the province to take po ss e s s ion But Mu s tafa Bey

,
,

H
, ,

s ecretly learning that he w a s not acceptable had fallen ,

s uddenly on e d d a i at Debba and encouraged by the pre , ,

s ence of a Briti s h o ffi c e r in h i s province had follo wed up

s"

H
,

t h i s s ucce s s by i n fl i cti n g a cru s h ing defeat on the Mahdi s t s

at Korti in which both the Emi r s Mahmud and e dd a i
,

were killed .

A t Sennar matter s were not s o s ati s factory ; it wa s clo s ely

inve s ted but had large re s erve s upplie s o f co rn Gommu
, .

n i ca ti o n with th e out s ide w a s however completely s topped , , ,

'

though Nu r Bey th e brave commander h a d made a s u c

, ,

c e s s fu l s ortie w h ich h a d driven o ff the rebel s to s ome di s

tance and enabled the town to breathe again

, .

Appeal s now reached the Ma h di from all part s to come

down to the river but he wa s in no particular hurry for he
, ,

knew that the country wa s s ecurely in h i s hand s and that ,

it woul d require a large Egyptian or foreign army to t e

conquer it from him Every F riday he held a review of h i s
troop s at which he him s elf wa s alway s p r e s ent
,

w a s divided into three portion s each under the command of

.

i s force . H
,

a Khalifa though in addition Khalifa Abdullahi wa s e u

H
, , ,
’
title d R ei s e l Ge s h ( Commander i n Chief of the Army ) - -
.

i s own s pecial divi s ion w a s known a s the R aya e z Zarga ,

o r blue flag and h i s brother Yakub repre s ented him a s i ts

,

commande r The R aya e l Khadra or green flag w a s unde r

.
, ,

the command of th e Khalifa Ali W a d Helu ; while the red

M a j o r Ki tch e n r
E g y p t i n a rm y
a
o w Si

.
e rbe rt Kitch e ne r
e , n r H
th e Si rd a r o f th e ,
 FIR E A N D S WO R D IN HU
T E S D AN

di s tance o ff a s o n the fi r st occa s ion on which he had come

, ,
'

he w a s r eported by the o ffi ce r s to have pe r s onal ly s u m

mo u ed them to s urrender .

W hen the fa s t of R amadan wa s over Abu Anga and ,

h i s entire fi g h ti n g force were recalled from Jebel Dai r and ’

the Mahdi then publicly announced that the Prophet had

directed him to proceed to Khartum and lay s iege to it .

Every Emir w a s enj oined to collect hi s men and orde r ,

them to prepare for the march ; whil s t any who remained

behind were declared lawful prey and liable to total con ,

fi s c a ti o n of all they po s s e s s ed H owever there wa s no

.
,

hanging back on the part of th e people who s e fanatici s m ,

knew no bound s and who were well aware that t r ea s ure

,

and plunder generally fell to the s hare of the faithful

’
follower s The con s equence w a s t hat the Mahdi s s ummon s
.

brought about a whole s ale immigration of the entire po pu

lation s uch a s had never before been s een in the Sudan
, .

W e left R ahad on Augu s t 2 2 the Mahdi s t force s ma r ch,

ing by three s eparate road s : the northern on e v i d Kh u r s i , ,

H elba and Tura e l H adra wa s s elected by the camel

, ,

owning tribe s ; the central r oad v i e; Taya r a Sh e r ke la ,

“

, ,

Shatt and Duem w a s taken by the Mahdi Khalifa s and

, , , ,

th e maj ority of the Emir s whil s t the Baggar a s a n d cattle

o wning tribe s adopted the s outhe r n route which wa s well ,

s upplied with water owing to the frequent rain pool s which

,

Served a s drinking place s for the cattle I of cour s e in my .

, ,

capacity a s m u la z e m of the Khalifa followed my ma s ter ; ,

but a s a rule when halted in camp I u s ed to s end my

, , ,

h o r s e s and s ervan t s to Saleh W a d e l _Me k who had j oine d , ,

’
t he Mahdi s s uite The Khalifa howeve r for s ome
.
, ,

un k nown reas on had a particular aver s ion to him and

, ,

ordered me in future t o remain with my s ervant s nea r him ,

a n d charged h i s cou s in O s man W a d Adam to look aft e r

, ,

me N eve rthele s s every now and then I u s ed to s e e Saleh

.
,

W a d e l Mek who wa s kept informed of all th a t wa s

,

h appening in the Nile di s trict s .

u s t before arriving a t Sh e r k é la s tr ange r umour s we r e

j ,
 T H E SI E G E A N D FA LL OF K H
A RT UM
s pread about t h at an Egyptian who w a s a Chri s tian had
arrived at R l Obeid and w a s now on h i s way to overtake ,

the Mahdi Some believed him to be the Emperor of

.

F rance ; others a ffi r m e d that he wa s clo s ely related to the

Q ueen of E ngland However there w.as no doubt a ,

European wa s coming and I w a s naturally mo s t anxiou s ,

to kno w who he could b e That evening the Khalifa told .

me a Fr enchman had ar r ived at El Obeid and that he had ,

s ent order s fo r him to be b r ought to the Mahdi Do you .

’ ‘
belong to the F rench r a c e P s aid he to me ; o r are there
different tribe s in your country a s there are here with u s in ,
’
the Sudan P h e had not of cours e the s lighte s t knowledge
—
, ,

of Europe and the European nation s and I enlightened him ,

a s far a s I thought nece s s ary But what s hould a F rench .

man want with u s th ét he s hould come all that long ,

’
di stance ? a s ked the Khalifa inquiringly ; po s s ibly God
’
h a s c onverted him and h a s led him to the right way
, .

’ ’
Perhap s s aid I he i s s eeking your and the Mahdi s
, ,
’
friend ship .The Khalifa looke d at me incredulou s ly and ,
’
s ai d cu r tly W e s hall s e e
,
.

A t length we reached Sh e r k é la ; and s carcely had we

hal t ed when my ma s ter s ent for me and s aid Abdel , ,

Kade r the F rench travelle r h a s arrived ; I have now

,

orde red him t o be brough t before me You had better wait .

’
and li s ten to what he h a s to s a y ; I may want you .

Almo s t immediately afterward s Hu s s ein Pa s ha came in ,

and he too had evidently been s ummoned by the Khalifa .

Afte r wa iting s ome little time longer a m ula z e m announced

H
,

that the s tranger w a s waiting out s ide the hut ; and he wa s

at once admitted e wa s a tall y o ung looking man
. about ,
- —

thirty year s of age I s hould s a y and h i s face wa s much

,
—

b ronzed by the s un ; he had a fair bea r d and mou s tache

a n d wor e a j ibba and t urban
‘S alam aleikum
e greeted the Khalifa with

and t he latter who did not ri s e from h i s

. H ,

angareb me rely mo t ioned him to be s eated

, W h y have .

’
you come here and what do you want from u s P were the
’
Khalifa s fi r s t word s to him ; he r eplied in s uch broken ,
 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HU
E S D AN

Arabic that it wa s diffi cu lt to under s tand that he wa s a ,

Fr enchman and had come from F rance

,
Speak in you r .

’
own language with Abdel Kader interrupted the Khalifa , ,
’
and he will explain to me what you want The s trange r .

now turned and looked at me di s tru s tfully saying in , ,

’ ‘ ’
Engli s h Good day s i r
,
Do you s peak F rench ? s aid
-
, .

I ;
'
my name i s Slatin Stick to bu s ine s s entirely now
.
,
’ ‘
and later o n we can s peak p r ivately
, , W hat a r e you .

’
talking about together P muttered th e Khalifa in an annoyed ,
’
tone I wi s h to know what he want s .

‘I only told him my name ’ s aid I ‘and urged him to

, ,

s peak openly to you a s both you and the Mahdi are men
,

to whom God h a s gran ted the power to read t he thought s

’
of other s Hu s s ein Khalifa who wa s s itting be s ide me
.
, ,

now broke i n That i s true indeed ! May God prolong

, ,
’
the Khalifa s life and then tur n l n g t o me he s aid You , , ,
’ ’
did well to call thi s s tranger s a t tention to the fact The .

“
Khalifa appea s ed and fl a tte r e d now s aid W ell try and
, , , ,
’
h n d out the t r uth .

’
My name i s Olivier Pain s aid the s tranger whom I had , ,

now told to talk in F rench and I a m a F renchman Since , .

I wa s quite a boy I wa s intere s ted in the Sudan and ,

s ympathized with i ts people ; it i s n o t only I but all my ,

compatriot s who feel the s ame In Europe there are

, .

nation s with whom we are at feud ; one of the s e i s the

Engli s h nation which h a s n o w s ettled in E gypt and one of ,

who s e general s ( Gordon ) i s n o w commander in Khartum .

I have therefore come to o ffer you m y a s s i s t ance and tha t ,

’
of my nation .

’
W hat a ss i sta n ce P inte rrupted the Khalifa to whom I
?
,
’
wa s t r an s lating word for word Olivier Pain s s tatement .

‘I can only o ffer you advice ’s aid Pain but my nation , , ,

which i s anxiou s to gain your friend s hip i s ready to help ,

you practically with arm s and money under certain condi ,

’
tion s .

’
Are you a Mohammedan P a s ked the Khalifa a s if h e ,

had not heard what he had s aid .

 78 FIR E A ND S W ORD IN T HU E S D AN

H
1

from s o far to o ffer him a s s i s tance e now s a t him s elf .

down on h i s prayer carpet and calling up Olivier Pain

-
, ,

before him greeted him with a very beaming s mile but did
, ,

not s hake hand s with h i m a n d u s ing me a s an interprete r

, , ,

a s ked him to explain why he h a d come her e .

Pain reiterated th e s ame s to ry a s before which th e Ma h di ,

told me t o repeat in a s u ffi c i e n tly loud voice for everyo n e to

hear ; and when I h a d fi n i s h e d he s aid in an equally loud ,

‘
tone : I h ave heard your intention s and have un d er stood ,

H
them but I do not count on human s upport ; I rely on God
and i s Prophet Your nation are unbelievers and I s hall
.

never ally my s elf with t h em W ith God s help I s hall

’
.
,

defeat my enemie s through my brave An s ar and the ho s t s

’
of angel s s ent to me by the Prophet Shout s of acclama .

t ion from thou s and s upon thou s and s of throat s greeted t hi s

s peech and w h en order h a d been re s tored the M ahdi s aid
,

to Pain You a ffi r m t h at you love our faith and acknow ,

’
ledge that it i s th e true one Are you a Mohammedan P .

’
Certainly an s wered h e repeating the creed L a ilaha
, , ,
’
illa lla h Mohammed R a s ul Allah
,
in a loud voice The , .

Mahdi after thi s gave him h i s hand to ki s s but did not ,

admini s ter the oath of allegiance .

W e now took up our po s ition s in the rank s of the faithful ,

and repeated prayer s with the Mahdi ; and that over the , ,

Divine Ma s ter gave u s one of h i s u s ual s ermon s on s alva

tion and renunciation W e then departed with the Khalifa
.
,

who directed me to take Olivier Pain to my tent and there ,

await further in s truction s .

Once a lo n e w i th Pain in my t ent I could talk to him

'

without fear of interruption I had the s tronge s t aver s ion .

to h i s mi s s ion but I pitied the man who if he thought to

, ,

s ucceed in s uch an enterpri s e in thi s country wa s the ,

victim of so ab s urd a delu s ion I again greeted him .

heartily s aying No w my dear Mr Olivier Pain we

, , , .
,

s hall be quite undi s turbed fo r a few minute s let u s s peak

frankly Although I do not agree with your mi s s ion I
.
,

a s s ure you on my word a s a n o ffi c e r I will do all in my

, ,
 T HSIEG E E A ND FA LL OF K H A R T UM

power to s ecure you r per s onal s afety I have now been for .

year s an exile from the civilized world Tell me s o mething .

’
about out s ide a ffair s .

‘I tru s t you thoroughly ’ he replied I know you well .

,

by name and have often heard of you and I thank my good

, ,

fortune which h a s brough t me to you There i s a great .

deal to tell you but for the pre s ent I will con h u e my s elf to
,
’
Egypt which mu s t intere s t u s mo s t
,
.

‘Tell me then ’s aid I all about the revolt of Ahmed

, , ,

A r abi Pa s ha about the ma s s acr e s about the intervention

, ,

of t he Power s and about En gland which h a s j u s t occupied

, ,
’
Egypt o

’
I s aid h e
,
a m working for the I n dép
,
en dm ce with R oche ,

for t of whom you mu s t have heard England and F rance

,
.

are politically antagoni stic and we do what we can to put ,

’
a s many diffi c u lti e s a s po s s ible in England s way I have .

not come here a s a repre s entative of my na t ion but a s a ,

private individual with however the knowledge and con

, , ,

cur rence of my nation The Engli s h authoritie s di s cover

.
,

ing my intention s i s s ued a warrant of arre s t again s t m e

, ,

and I wa s s ent back from W adi Halfa ; but on my way

down the river a t E s na I agreed s ec r etly with s ome A li g h a t
, ,

Arab s to bring me here by the road r unning we s t of Don

gola through R l Kaab to E l Obeid To day the Mahdi
, , .
-

’
h a s received me mo s t kindly and I h ope for the be s t , .

’
Do you think that your propo s al will be accepted P s aid I .

‘Should my propo s al be refu s ed ’ he an s wered I s till , ,

hope the Mahdi will be induced to enter into friendly rela

tion s with F rance for the pre s ent that will be quite s uffi ci e n t ,

and a s I have come here of my own free will I tru s t the

, ,
’
Mahdi will not make my return impo s s ible .

’
Tha t i s very que st ionable s aid I bu t have you left a ,
’
family at home P
’ ‘
Oh ye s an s wered Pain I have left my wife and two
, , ,

children in Pari s ; I often think of them and hope to s e e ,

them s oon again But tell me s i r fra nkly why s houl d I

.
, ,
—

’
be det ained P
I 2— 2
1 80 FIRE A N D S WORD I N T H E S UD A N

’
My dear s ir I r eplied a s far a s I know the s e people
, , ,

I do not think you need at pre s ent have any fear for your
own s afety ; but when and how you are going to get away
from them it i s beyond my power to s a y W hat I s incerely
, .

h 0 pe I S that your propo s al s w h i é h may be advantageou s to

, ,

the enemy and I admit the s e Mahdi s t s are my mo s t bitter

—

enemie s will not be accepted and I al s o hope they will

—
,

allow you to return unmole s ted to your wife and children ,

’
who mu s t be anxiou s ly awaiting you .

Meanwhile I had told my s ervant s to get u s s omething

,
’ ’
to eat ; and I had s ent for Gu s tav Klo o tz O D o n o v a n s ,

former s ervant to s hare our meal with u s W e had s carcely

H
.
,
’
begun when two of the Khalifa s m ula z e m i n entered and
, ,

told Olivier Pain to follow them e w a s much taken aback .

at being called o ff alone and in a whi s per commended , , ,

’
him s elf to me It al s o s truck me a s curiou s for Pain s
.
,

Arabic w a s quite unintelligible I wa s talking abou t thi s .

to Mu s tafa ( Klo o tz ) when I al s o received a s ummon s and

, , ,
’
on entering th e Khalifa s hut I found h im quite alone ; he ,

motioned to me to be s eated and I s a t on the ground be s ide ,

him .

’
Abdel Kade r s aid he c o n fi de n tia lly I look on you a s
, ,
’
one of u s tell me what do you t hink of thi s F renchman P
,
’
I believe he i s s incere and mean s well s aid I but he , ,

did not know the Mahdi nor you ; he did not under s tand ,

that you tru sted only in God and s ought no s upport from ,

other po wers and that thi s i s the cau s e of your continual

,

victorie s becau s e God i s with tho s e who put their tru s t in

,
’
Him .

’ ’
You heard the Mahdi s word s continued t he Khalifa , ,

‘when he s aid to the F renchman t hat he wi s hed to have

nothing to do with unbeliever s and t hat he could defeat h i s ,

’
enemie s without their help P
’
Mo s t certainly I did I replied and the r efore the m a n ,

i s u s ele s s here and may a s well return to h i s nation and

, ,

tell them about the victorie s of the Mahdi and h i s com

’
m ander i n chief the Khalifa
- -
, .
1 82 F IR E A ND S WORD I N T HU E S D AN

‘ ’ ‘
The s e order s do not apply to me s aid I ; ju s t thi s ,
’
moment I left our ma s ter s h u t and he h a s given me s pecial ,

permi s s ion to vi s it your gu es t So again I beg you to treat .

’
th i s poor man with all con s ideration .

I then returned to Pain and tried to cheer him u p telling , ,

him that the Khalifa h a d given order s he w a s n o t to be

allowed to s e e other people ; but thi s I s aid w a s no di s , ,

advantage for t h ey would probably have u s ed the occa s ion

,

to intrigue again s t him and s o put him in danger A s , .

r egard s my s elf h owever I s aid I would come to s e e him a s

, ,

often a s po s s ible .

’
The next morning the Khalifa s great war drum called
,
-
,
’
El Man s ura ( th e victoriou s ) w a s beaten ; thi s w a s the ,

s ignal for the marc h to begin again and o ff we s tarted , .

W e generally marched from e a r ly m o r n in g till noon only .

,

and thu s our progre s s wa s not rapid W hen we halted at .

mi d day I went to look for Pain and found him s itting

, ,

under h i s tent a s before : he appeared in g ood health but ,

complained about the bad food Zeki who wa s pre s ent

"

.
,

whil s t we were s peaking s aid that he had twice s ent him ,

s ome a s ida but he would not touch i t

,
I explained tha t he .

w a s not of cour s e accu s tomed to native food yet and that

, , ,

therefore I propo s ed getting my s ervant to prepare s ome

food s pecially fo r him ; and retu r ning at once I ordered , ,

him to m ake s ome s oup and boil s ome rice and take it to ,

Olivier Pain That evening the Khalifa a s ked me if I had

.

s een him . I told him I h a d ; but that a s he wa s not accu s ,

to m e d yet to native food I had ordered my s ervant to prepare

,
'

s omething el s e I explained t h at if h e were forced to eat

.

the native food he might get ill ; and that therefore with ,

h i s permi s s ion I propo s ed s ending him every now and then

, , ,
’
s omething s pecial The Khalifa a s s ented
. But s aid h e .
, ,

you eat of our food ; it would therefore be better he s hould

get u s ed to it a s s oon a s po s s ible B y the bye whe r e i s .
- -
,

H
’
Mu s tafa ? I have not s een h i m s ince we left Rahad .

‘ e i s s taying with me and help s my s ervant s to look

,
’
after the hor s e s and c a mel s s aid I ,
 T H IEGE
E S A ND FA LL OF K H A RT UM

’
Then s end for h i m s aid the Khalifa I did s o ; a n d in
, .

a fe w minute s he entered and s tood be fore u s W here .

’
have you been ? I have not s ee n you for week s s aid the ,

Khalifa angrily H ave you forgotten that I a m your

.

’
ma s ter P
W ith your permi ss ion I went to Abdel Kader whom I ,

help in h i s work You do not care for me now and have

.
,
’
left me alone replied Klo o tz in an annoyed tone
, ,
.

’
Then I will take good care of you in the future cried
, ,

the Khalifa s till more angrily ; and calling in a m u la z e m

, , ,

he ordered him to take Mu s tafa to h i s clerk Ben N aga , ,

who s hould put him in chain s Mu s tafa without uttering .

,

a word followed h i s guard

,
.

’
Mu s tafa and you continued the Khalifa have s ervant s
, ,

enough and you can duite well do without him I took

, .

him fo r my s elf but he left me without any cau s e I then

,
.

ordered that he s hould s erve my brother Yakub but he ,

complained and left him too and now t h at he i s with you

’
he think s he can di s pen s e with u s altogether .

’
Pardon him s aid I ; he i s merciful who forgive s .

H
,
’
L e t him s tay with your brother ; perhap s he will improve .

’
e mu s t remain a few day s in chain s he an s wered s o , ,

that he may know I a m h i s ma s ter he i s not the s ame a s

you who come every day to my door thi s he evidently
,

s aid to quiet me a s he thought I w a s getting annoyed

,

then ordered s upper to be brought in and I ate more than

e . H
H
,

u s ual s o that he s hould not imagine I w a s doing anything

,

contrary to h i s order s e talked very little during the

.

meal a n d s eemed out of s pirit s After s upper he made an

, .

attempt to s a y s omething kind but I felt that h i s word s ,

belied him W e then separated and a s I returned to my

.
,

tent I t hought over the s itua t ion I had re s olved to remain .

on a s good term s a s I could with the Khalifa until the

hour of my deliverance s hould come ; but h i s imperiou s
character want of con s ideration and immen s e s elf conceit
, ,
-
,

made my ta s k a mo s t diffi cul t one .

’
Afte r fi v e day s march we reached Sha t t whe r e mo s t of
, ,
 F IR E AND S WOR D I N T HU
E S D AN

the well s were fi lle d u p and had to be reopened and s everal , ,

s traw hut s e r ected for the Mahdi had decided to halt here
,

for s ome day s During the march I frequently vi s ited P ain ,

H
.

who daily grew mo r e and more di s heartened about the

s ituation e knew very little Arabic
. and wa s not pe r ,

m i tte d to talk to anyone but the s lave s charged with looking

after him In a few d ay s th e object of h i s mi s s ion had

.

vani s hed from h i s mind and he thought now only of h i s ,

wife and c hildren I urged him to look more hopefully on

.

the future and not to give way to dep r e s s ing thought s

, ,

which would only make him more mi s erable The Khalifa .

s eemed to have almo s t forgot t en h i s exi s t ence and s carcely ,

ever a s ked for him .

’
The day after our arrival at Shatt the Mahdi s former

H
,

S h eikh Mohammed Sherif who h a d been expected for so

, ,

long at length arrived

, e al s o had been forced by h i s .

friend s and by fear to come to the M ahdi a s a penitent ;

, ,

but the latter received him mo s t honourably and him s elf '
,

led him to th e tent s he had s pecially pitoh e d fo r him and ,

a l s o pre s ented him with two exceptionally pret t y Aby s s inia n

girl s hor s e s e t c B y thi s generou s treatment the M ahdi

, ,
.

’
attracted to him s elf almo st all Mohammed Sherif s s ecret
adherent s .

Ju s t at the time we left Sh e r k é la new s arrived that

’
Gordon s troop s had s u ffered a s evere revers e and now in ,

Shatt we received the detailed account s of the overthrow of

Mohammed Ali Pa s ha at O m D e b b a n by the Sheikh Rl
Obeid .

Thi s s ucce s s had encouraged the rebel s to pre s s the

s iege more clo s ely and now r einforced a s they were by
, ,

W a d e n N e j u m i and h i s ho s t s Gordon found him s elf not ,

s tr ong enough to make a s ucce s s ful attack on the Mahdi s t s .

F rom Shatt we n o w advanced to Duem where the ’

Mahdi held an enormou s r eview ; and pointing to the Nile

he s aid God h a s created thi s river ; e will give you i ts
,

water s t o drink and you s hall become the po s s e s s ors of all

,

H ,

,
’
t he land s along the bank s Thi s s peech wa s greeted with .
 FIR E A ND S WOR D IN T H E S UD A N

mine he s aid My la s t hour h a s come ; I thank you for

, ,

your great kindne s s and care of me The la s t favour I have .

to a s k of you i s th i s : when you e s cape from the hand s of

.

the s e barbarou s people and you happen to g o to Pari s tell

, ,

my unfortunate wife and childr en my dying though t s we r e

’
for them A s he s aid the s e word s tear s rolled down the
.
,
’
poor man s hollow and s unken cheek s Again I tried to .

comfort him s aying t h at it w a s too s oon to give up hope ;

,

and a s the war drum w a s beating for the advance I had to

-
,

hurry away and leave h i m It w a s the la s t time I s a w him

.

alive I left behind with him one of my s ervant s named

.

Atrun ( N atron) and during the march I told the Khalifa

,
’
of Pain s condition urging him to leave the poor man ,
’
behind at s ome Village wh ere he might have a few day s
re s t ; he told m e to remind him of it that evening The .

evening came but no s ick man arrived ; Atrun came alone

, .

W here i s Yu s ef P ( t h i s wa s Pain s Mohammedan name )

’ ’
,

s aid I for the boy s eemed muc h agitated

, My ma s ter i s .

’ ’
dead he an s wered and that i s the rea s on we are s o late
, , .

’
Dead s aid I Ye s dead and buried replied A t run
.
, , .

’
Tell me at once what h a s happened I a s ked My , .

’
ma s ter Yu s ef wa s s o weak s aid h e tha t he could not r ide ;
, ,

but we had to g o on marching Every now and then he .

lo s t con s ciou s ne s s ; then he would come to again and talk

word s we could not under s tand So we tied an angareb on .

to the s addle and laid him on i t ; but he w a s too weak to

,

hold o n and he fell down s uddenly and very heavily Afte r

, .

t h i s he did not come to again and he w a s s oon dead s o we , ,

wrapped him up in h i s farda [cotton s hawl] and buried him , ,

’
and all h i s e ffect s were taken to Zeki by h i s s lave s .

Olivier Pain w a s undoubte d ly very s eriou s ly ill but the ,

fall w a s probably the immediate cau s e of h i s s udden death .

Poor man wit h what a high s ounding mi s s ion he had come ; -

and now thi s w a s th e end of it all

the Khalifa and reported h i s death to him
’
,
I immediately went to
e i s a happy

man w a s h i s curt remark ; he then de s patched a m u la z e m

. H
,
‘
1 9 warn Zeki to have all h i s e ffec t s carefully kept and he ,
 HSIEGE
T E A ND FA LL OF K H A R T UM

s ent me to the Mahdi to appri s e him of h i s end The latter .

took it to heart much more than the Khalifa s aid s everal ,

s ympathetic word s and repeated the prayer s for the dead

,
.

After three day s we reached the neighbourh ood of Khar

’
tum and hal t ed at a place about one day s j ourney from the
,
’
city O n our way we had s een Gordon s s teamer s in the
.

di s tance ; they had come up evidently to watch our move

ment s and had returned again without fi r i n g
,

It wa s evening and we had ju s t fi n i s h e d pitching camp

, ,

when a m u la z e m of the Mahdi arrived and directed me to ,

follow him ; I went at once and found him s itting w ith ,

Abdel Kader W a d O m Mariam formerly Kadi of Kalakla , ,

and a man who exerci s ed a great i n flu e n ce on the people of

the W hite Nile Hu s sein Khalifa wa s al s o there and I
.
,

formed the fourth of the ipa r ty .

‘I have s ent for you ’ s aid the Mahdi to tell you to

, ,

write to Gordon to s ave him s elf from certain defeat Tell .

him that I a m the true Mahdi and that he ought to s u r ,

r ender with h i s garri s on and thu s s a y e him s elf and h i s s oul

,
.

Tell him al s o that if he refu s e s to obey we s hall everyone

, , ,

of u s fi g h t again s t him Say that you your s elf will fi g h t.

again s t him with your own hand s Say that victory will .

be our s and that you merely tell him t h i s in order to avoid

,
’
u s ele s s blood s hed .

I remained s ilent till Hu s s ein Khalifa called on me to

an s wer O Mahdi
. s aid I li s ten I beg of you to my , , ,

word s I will be hone s t and fait h ful ; and I pray you

.

to forgive me if what I s a y i s not plea s ing to you If I .

write to Gordon that you are the true Mahdi he will not ,

believe me ; and if I threaten to fi g h t again s t him with my

own hand s he will not be afraid of that No w a s you
,
.
,

de s ire under any circum s tance s to avoid s hedding blood I ,

s hall s imply s ummon him to s urrender I s hall s a y that he .

i s no t s trong enough to at t empt to fi g h t again s t you who

are ever victoriou s a s he h a s no h 0 pe of help from out s ide
-
,

and fi n a lly I s hall s a y that I will be the inte r mediary

, ,
’
be t ween you and him .
 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HU E S D AN

’ ‘
I accept your s incere propo s al s aid the M ahdi ; g o ,

now and write the letter s and to morrow they s hall be

,
-

’
de spatched to Gordon .

I now returned to my quarters My tent owing to the .

,

d i ffi cu lti e s of tran s port had been torn to s hred s and I had

, ,

made a pre s ent of th e rag s to s omeone I had in place of it

s tretched s ome s trip s of clot h on s tick s and thu s provided ,

a s light s hade for my s elf during the daytime whil s t at ,

night I s lept in th e open Searching about for a lantern I

.
,

wrote the letter s s eated on an angareb under the open s k y .

F ir s t I wrote a few line s to Gordon in F rench explaining ,

that I w a s writing to him fully in German becau s e my

F rench Dictionary having been burnt by the Mahdi s t s who ,

thought it wa s a Prayer Book I did not feel capable of ex

-
,

pre s s ing my s elf a s I wi s he d in that language I s aid that I .

hoped I s hould s oon have an opportunity of j oining him ;

and I prayed God that he might be s ucce s s ful I al s o men .

ti o n e d that s ome of the Shaigia s who had recently joined

the Mahdi did s o to s ave their wive s and children and ,

not becau s e they entertained any feeling s of ho s tility toward s

Gordon .

I then wrote a long letter to him in German s aying that ,

I had learnt through George C a la m a tin o that he w a s annoyed

at my capitulation and that therefore I took the liberty of
,

placing the fact s of the ca s e before him begging him to ,

form h i s O pinion accordingly I began by recalling my

.

campaign s again s t Sultan Harun and Dud Benga and ex ,

plaining how on the outbreak of the M ahdi revolt the few

, ,

o fli c e r s left
, believing that Arabi Pa s ha had s ucceeded in
driving the E uropean s out of the country had spread report s ,

that my recent defeat s lay in the fact that I wa s a Chri s tian ;

how I h a d s ti fle d the inj uriou s effect s of the s e intrigue s by
giving out that I w a s a Mohammedan ; and how I had by ,

thi s mean s been s ub s equently s ucce s s ful until the annihila

,
’
tion of Hick s army had cut o ff all h 0 pe of r elief I to ld .

him how my con s tant fi g h ts had reduced my available force

to s ome s even hundred men that my s t ock of ammunition
 FIRE A ND S WORD IN T HU
E S D AN

It s eemed to me that it w a s quite rea s onable on my pa rt

to s eek s ome s uch a s s urance A t the s ame time rumour s .
,

being curren t in the camp that the Khartum garri s on were

much out of heart and wi s hed t o s urrender I s trongly urged ,

Han s al in my lette r not to feel di s couraged pointing out that ,

’
the Mahdi s force s were not s o numerou s a s he imagined ,

and that it only required energy and per s everance on the

part of the Egyptian troop s to be eventually s ucce s s ful and ,

I urged that they s hould wait at lea s t s i x week s or two ,

month s longer before s ubmitting s o a s to give the relief

, ,

e xpedition a chance of s aving them .

I al s o told him there w a s a rumour in camp that the

s mall s teamer which had been s ent to Dongola had been

wrecked a t W adi G a m r ; but that I wa s not at p r e s en t in

-

a po s ition to s a y whether it wa s true or not .

Early the next morning Octob er 1 5 I took the s e lette r s , ,

to th e M ahdi and he told me to s end them by one of my

,

boy s to Omdurman I at once went and fetched Morgan

.

F ur a boy of about fi fte e n year s of age and handed him

, ,
’
the le t ter s in the Mahdi s pre s ence ; and the latter ordered
W a d Suleiman to give him a donkey and s ome money .

Before s ending him o ff I gave him the mo s t s trict in j un c

,

tion s to s peak to no one in Khartum except to Gord on

Pa s ha and Con s ul Han s al and to a s s ure them that I ,

wi s hed to come to them .

A t mid day s ome hor s emen arrived from Berber c o n fi r m

-
,

ing the new s of the wreck of the s teamer and of the murde r ,

of Colonel Stewart and tho s e with him The men brought .

wit h them all the paper s and document s found on board ;

and I w a s ordered by the Khalifa to examine tho s e written
’
in E uropean language s in Ahmed W a d Suleiman s o fii ce .

Among s t them I found s everal private letter s from people

in Khartum a s well a s o ffi ci a l document s and record s The
, .

mo st important of the s e w a s of cour s e the military repo rt , ,

On m y re turn to Ca iro in 1 8 95 , I l rnt th

ea at th e full t xt o f th e
e

l tr i h I h v r f rr d h d r
e t e s to wh c a e e e e a e a c h e d th e B riti sh a uth ri ti
o de s, a n

h d b n p ubl i h d in G n r l G rd J rn l
’
a ee s e e e a o on s ou a .
 T HSIEG E
E A ND FA LL OF K H A R T UM

de s cribing the daily occurrence s in Khartum ; it w a s u n

’
signed but I had no doubt it w a s General Gordo n s
,
A .

portion only of the corre s pondence etc w a s s hown to me ; ,

.
,

and before I had had time to peru s e it fully I w a s again ,

s ummoned before the Mahdi who a s ked me what th e ,

conten t s were I replied that mo s t of them were private

.
,

letter s and tha t there wa s a milit ary report which I did

,
:
,

not unders tand U nfortunately amongst th e captured

.
,
-

corre s pondence were number s of Arabic letter s an d report s ,

from which the Mahdi and the Khalifa were able to

thoroughly gra s p the s ituation in Khartu m There w a s .

H
al s o a half ciphered Arabic telegram from General Gordon
—

t o i s Highne s s the Khedive which Abdel Halim Effendi , ,

formerly head clerk in Kordofan wa s able to decipher , .

Among s t the con s ular ; report s I found a notice of the ,

death in Khartum of m y old friend E rn s t Marno who had

, , ,

s uccumbed to fever .

The Mahdi now di s cu s se d in my pre s ence what paper s

s hould be s ent to Gordon in order to convince hi m that ,

the s teamer had been wrecked and Colonel Stewart and ,

the others killed thinking that thi s would force Gordon to

,

s urrender I pointed out that the only document likely to

.

convince Gordon w a s h i s military report which I s ugge s ted ,

s hould be returned ; and a fter a long di s cu s s ion it wa s

, ,

decided to s end i t .

The next evening my boy Morgan returned from h i s

mi s s ion but brought no reply W hen I inquired how thi s
, .

wa s he s aid he had reached Omdurman fort had delivered

, ,

h i s letter s and after waiting for a s hort time the com

, , ,

mandant had told him to return a s there w a s no an s wer , .

I at once took the boy to the Mahdi to wh om he repeat ed ,

what had occurred ; and afterward s I went and informed

the Khalifa The s ame evening the Mahdi again s ummoned
.

me and ordered me to write another letter which he s aid

, ,

Gordon would be s ure to an s wer when he heard of the lo s s ,

of the s teamer I at once expre s s ed my s elf ready to carry

.

out h i s wi s he s and he directed that my boy Morgan s h o uld

 FIR E A N D S WOR D IN H
T E S UD A N

again ac t a s me s s enger Once more I betook my s elf to my

.

angareb and by the fl i ck e r i n g light of an old lantern

, , ,

s cribbled anothe r letter reporting the lo s s of the s teamer

, ,

the death of Stewart and repeating much of what I had

,

s aid in my fi r s t letter s adding that if in h i s opinion I had

,

done anyt h ing contrary to the honour of an o ffi c e r and if ,

that had hindered him from writing to me I begged he ,

would give me a chance of defending my s elf and thu s give ,

him s elf an opportunity of coming to a correct j udgment .

Early th e next morning I went again with Morgan to the '

Mahdi ; the latter ordered Ahmed W a d Suleiman to s upply

him wit h a donkey and taking my le t ter he went o ff
, , , ,

returning the following morning with a reply from Con s ul

Han s al written in German wi t h an Arabic t ran s lation ; i t
, ,

ran a s follows :

D E RF I
A R E ND S L TIN B A EY ,

Your letter s h ave been duly received and I reque s t ,

you will come to Tabia R agheb Bey [ Omdurman fo r t ] I .

wi s h to s peak to you about the s tep s to be taken fo r ou r

re s cue you may then return unmole s ted to you r friend

H
.

Your s very truly ,

( Signed ) A N SA L ’
.

Thi s letter puzzled me s omewhat ; I could not be s ure

if it w a s written with t he obj ect me r ely of deceiving the
M ah di in which ca s e the Arabic w a s amply s uffi ci e n t for
,

the purpo s e ; but I t hought he might have writ t en more

clearly in German though perhap s he conceived there
,

might have been s omeone el s e with the Mahdi who under

s tood that language and I might have been thereby
,

endangered Then taking the letter literally he s eemed

.
, ,

to hint a t j oining u s him s elf indeed we had already heard —

,

rumour s that h e becoming alarmed at the probable fall of

,

the town wi s h ed to s ubmit with the other Au s trian s ub

, ,

c ts t o the Mahdi but it w a s of cour s e quite impo s s ible

j e , , ,

to sa y if he meant thi s or not Then again a s regard s .

, ,
 FIRE A N D S WOR D IN T H E S UD A N

h is people a n d t hat he would be p r e s en t ed t o the M ahdi o n

,

h i s return .

Mea n while I went back to my quarter s and lay on my

, ,

angareb impatiently awaiting my orders to be allowed to g o

to Omdurman ; or had th e M ah di perhap s changed h i s , ,

min d and decided not to let me g o ? A t length one of my

,
’
bo y s came and told me that a mu la z e m of the Khalifa s
wi s hed to s e e me and getting u p he told me to follow him
, , ,
’
to Ya k ub s camp where h i s ma s ter w a s waiting for me
,
.

’
W ithout a momen t s delay I bound my tu rban round my
’
head put on my h izam ( belt ) and followed At Ya kub s
, , .

camp we were told t h at the Khalifa had gone on to Abu

’
Anga s zariba where he wa s waiting for u s I wa s begin
, .

ning to get s u s piciou s ; all thi s wandering about at nigh t

w a s very unu s ual I knew how deceitful the s e people were
.
,

and I w a s therefore prepared for any eventuality A r rived .

’
at Abu Anga s zariba we were admitted by the s entry It
,
.

wa s an immen s e enclo s ure fi lle d with little s helter s made of

,

s trip s of cotton fi xe d on pole s and s eparated from each ,

other by s mall dhur r a s talk fence s W e we r e dir ected to

-
.

one of the s e s helters and t h ere by the dim ligh t of a

, ,

lantern ,
I s a w Yakub Abu Anga F adl e
,
l Maula Zeki , ,

T um m a l and Hajj i Zubei r s eated round in a circle talking

,

earne s t ly ; behind them s tood s everal armed men but no ,

trace wa s to be s een of the Khalifa who I had been told , , ,

had s ent for me I w a s now almo s t certain in my own

.

mind that foul play wa s intended The m ula z e m advanced .

and s poke to Yakub and I wa s then s ummoned to en t er

, ,

and to place my s elf between Hajji Zubei r and F adl e l

Maula while oppo s ite to me sa t Abu Anga
,
.

’
Abdel Kader began Abu Anga you have promi s ed to
, ,

be faithful to the Mahdi and it i s your duty to keep your ,

word it i s al s o your duty to obey o r der s even s hould you ,

’
s u ffer thereby Is not thi s s o P
.

’
Ce rtainly s aid I ; and you Abu Anga if you give m e
,
1

, ,

any orde rs fr om the Mahdi or the Khalifa you will s e e that ,

’
I know how t o obey them .
 T HSIEG E
E A N D FA LL OF K H A R T UM 1 95 4

‘ I received o r der s to make you a pri s oner but I do not ,

’
know the rea s on s aid h e And a s he s poke H ajji Zubeir
,
.
,
'

s na t ched away my s word which a s w a s cu s tomary I had , , ,

laid acro s s my knee s whil s t s peaking and handi ng it to , ,

Zeki T u m m a l he s eized m y right arm with both hand s

, .

‘I did not come here to fi h t ’s aid I to H ajji Zubeir

g , .

W h y s hould you s eize my arm ? But you Abu Anga of , ,

’
cou rs e you mu s t do a s you a r e bidden .

W hat I had often i n fli cte d on other s I wa s now about to

undergo my s elf Abu Anga then s tood up and al s o Hajj i
.
,

Zubeir and my s elf when the latter let g o my arm

, .

’
G o to that tent s aid Abu Anga pointing to a s helter
, ,

which in the dark I could s carcely s e e ; and you Hajj i ,

’
Zubeir and the re s t g o with him
, , .

Accompanied by my gaoler and s ome eight other s I went ,

to the tent, where I w a s directed to s it on the ground and ,

chain s were now brought out Two large iron rings bound .
,

together by a thick iron bar were s lippe d over my feet and , ,

then hammered clo s e A n iron ring wa s placed round my

.

neck and to thi s wa s attached a long iron chain with the

,

link s s o arranged that I had the greate s t diffi culty in moving

my head I endured all t hi s in perfect s ilence Hajj i
. .

Zubei r then left and I wa s told by the two s oldier s who

,

were guarding me to lie down on the palm mat clo s e b y -

.

L eft to my s elf I had n o w time to collect my thought s ;

,

and fi r s t of all I bitterly regretted not having attempted to

, ,

e scape on my hor s e to Khartum ; but who could tell if

Gordon would have received me P No w in accordance ,
’ ’
with the Mahdi s order s I wa s out of harm s way ; but ,

what wa s to be my fate P W a s it to be that of Mohammed

Pa sha Said and Ali Bey Sherif P I wa s not in the habit of
worrying about my per s onal concern s and making life ,

mi s erable W hat had Ma dib b o told me P B e obedient

.

’
and patient fo r he who live s long s ee s much
, I had been .

obedient it wa s now my turn t o practi s e patience and a s ,

’
fo r a long life that wa s entirely in God s han d s
, .

Abou t an hou r la t e r du r ing which a s may be imagined

, , ,

—
1 3 2
1 96 FIR E A ND S WORD I N T HU
E S D AN

I had not s lept I s a w s everal m u la z e m i n approaching

, ,

carrying lantern s and a s they neared the tent I made out

,

Khalifa Abdullahi walking in the middle I s tood up and .

waited for him .

’
Abdel Kader s aid h e when he s a w me s tanding in front
, ,

‘
of him are you s ubmitting with re s ignation to you r
,
’
fa te P
‘Since ’
my childhood I replied quietly I have been , ,

accu stomed to be obedient ; now I mu s t be obedient

’
whethe r I like it or no .

‘You r friend s h ip with Saleh W a d e l Mek ’s aid h e and

4 , ,

your corre s pondence with Gordon have ca s t s us picion on ,

you and we doubt if your heart i s s till inclined to us That

,
.

i s the rea s on I have orde red you to be forcibly directed in

’
the right way
‘I made no s ecret of my frie n d s hip with Saleh W a d e l
’
Mek s aid I ; he IS a friend of mine and I believe he i s
, ,

loyal to you A s regard s my corre s pondence with Gordon

.
,
’
the Mahdi ordered me to write the letters .

’
Did he al s o order you to write what you did P in t e r
r u pte d the Khalifa .

‘I think I w r ote what the Mahdi r e q ui r ed ’ I r eplied

, ,

and no one know s the content s except my s elf and the per s on
who r eceived the lette r s All I require s ire i s j u s tice and
.
, , ,
’
I beg that you will pay no heed to lying intriguer s .

I wa s again alone and tried to s leep but wa s too excited

, , .

All s ort s of s trange thought s and idea s cour s ed through my

brain ; the iron round my feet and neck too pained me , ,

con s iderably a n d I could get no re s t I s carcely got a

,
.

wink of s leep that n ight and at s unri s e Abu Anga came , ,

followed by s e r vant s carrying s ome di s he s of food Seating .

him s elf be s ide me on the palm mat the food wa s placed -

,

before u s It wa s quite a fea s t compo s ed of meal chicken s

.
, , ,

r ice and milk honey roa s t meat and a s ida But when I
, , , .

t old him I had a b s olutely no appetite he s aid I think‘

, , ,

Abdel Kade r you are afra id and that i s why you do

, ,
’
n o t ea t .
 FIRE A N D S WORD I N T HU E S D AN

s ilence W e hal t ed on s ome r i s ing g round in the afte r noon

.
,

and fr om here I could s e e the palm tree s in Khartum ; how -

I longed to join in i ts defence a s one of i ts garri s on

The orde r wa s now given to make a temporary camp in
thi s po s ition under Khalifa Abdullahi whil s t the principal
, ,

Emir s went forward to s elect the s ite for a permanent camp .

B y thi s time the pang s of hunger had s eized me and I ,

longed for s ome of the food which Abu Anga had o ffered
me ye s t erday ; but the latter wa s now with the Khalifa and ,

had evidently forgotten all about u s However the wife of .

,

one of my guard s found him out and b rought h i m s ome ,

s tale dhurra bread which he s hared with me

-
, Nex t morning .

we were again ordered to advance a n d halted abou t an hour ,

furthe r o n at t he s po t s elected for the main camp A s Abu

, .

Anga had promi s ed i t wa s n o w arranged that I s hould

,

de fi n ite ly remain under h i s ch arg e ; a tatte r ed old ten t wa s

pitched fo r me and around i t clo s e t o the ten t r ope s a thorn
, , ,

zar iba wa s made I wa s put in here and the entrance which

.
, ,

w a s guarded by s oldier s w a s blocked by a large thorn bu s h

,
- .

The Mahdi now ordered the s iege t o be vigorou s ly p r e s s ed ;

that evening s everal Emir s were s ent over to the ea s t bank
of the W hite Nile t o reinforce W a d e n Nej u m i and Abu
Girga and all t he local people were s ummoned to j oin in
,
‘

the inve st men t Abu Anga and F adl e l Maula were told
.

o ft to be s iege Omdurman F ort which wa s s it uated about

,

fi v e hundred yard s from the river on t he we s t bank and , ,

wa s defended by F aragalla Pa s ha a Sudane s e o ffi ce r who —

, ,

in the s pace of one year had been promoted from the rank
,

of captain to that of general o ffi ce r by Go rdon Abu Anga .

s ucceeded in e s tabli s hi n g him s elf between the fo r t and the

r iver and by digging deep trenche s he obtained s uffi ci e n t

, , ,

s helter to hold thi s advanced po s ition in s pite of the heavy ,

fi r e from both the fort and the s teamer s ; one of the latte r
he s ucceeded in s inking by s hell s fi r e d from a gun he h a d
placed in po s ition but th e crew managed to e s cape to
,

Khartum .

Th e t a m e r u ei y ehs e H ss n .
 T HSI
E E GE A ND FA LL OF K H A R T UM

During t he s iege I wa s q ui t e neglec t ed ; my gu a r d s were

changed every day and my welfare en t irely depended on
,

their t r ea t ment of me If they happened to be s lave s who

.

had been cap t ured I wa s mo s t carefully watched and pe r

, ,

m i tte d to have no intercour s e with anyone ; bu t if they

happened t o be old s oldier s who knew me I wa s n o t s o ,

clo s ely r e strained and they often did me lit t le s ervice s

, ,

t hough they prevented me from s peaking to a n yo n e / My .

food wa s of th e very wor s t de s cription and Ab tf Anga , ,

being alway s occupied in the s iege I wa s left to the tende r ,

me r cie s of h i s wive s to whom he had given order s to

,

feed me .

O u one occa s ion one of my fo r me r s oldie r s happened t o

be on guard over m e a n d I s en t him wit h a me s s age t o
, \

’
Abu Anga s chief that I had been kep t
W ithou t food for two day s and I got back the an s wer , ,

W ell doe s Abdel Kader think we are going to fatten him

,

up here whil s t h i s uncle Gordon Pa s ha doe s nothing bu t

, , ,

fi r e s hell s all day at our ma s ter who s e life i s alway s in ,

dange r th r ough h i s fault P If he had made h i s uncle s ubmit ,

’
he would no t now be in chain s F rom her own s t andpoint .
,
’
th e woman s view s were perfec t ly j u s ti fi a b le .

Occa s ionally s ome of the Greek s were allowed to come

and s e e me and they u s ed t o tell me the new s
, .

O n the day we arrived here poo r L upton Bey wa s al s o ,

thrown into chain s a s he w a s s u s pected of attempting t o

,

j oin Gordon ; be s ide s when h i s e ffect s were s earched a

, ,

documen t wa s found s igned by all the o ffi ce r s of h i s r egula r

H
,

troop s s t ating that he h a d been forced t o s urrender h i s

,

province . i s wife and little daughter of h y e year s old

were s ent t o live at the Beit e l Mal The former had been .

brought up a s a Black s ervant girl in the hou s e of R o s s et ,

formerly German Con s ul at Khartum and on h i s being , ,

appointed Governor of Darfur s h e had accompanied him ,

there ; on h i s death at El F a s her s h e went with L upton to ,

’
E quatoria and Bahr e l G h azal B y the Khalifa s order s.
,
’
a l l L upton s p r operty w a s c o n fi s c a te d ; b ut h e all o w e d h i s
 FIR E A ND S W ORD I N T HU E S D AN

wife a n d _ c h i ld the s ervice s of a Bl a ck female s lave to help

them in t hei r daily work .

One da y Geo r ge C a l a m a tin o b r ought m e the new s t hat

,

the Engli s h army under L ord W ol s eley wa s adva n cing

, ,

s lowly and had reached Dongola ; but they had delayed

,

too long i n U ppe r Egypt and n o w that Kha rt um wa s in

'

the greate s t danger their advanced g ua r d wa s no fu r the r

,

s outh t han Dongola : under the s e circum s t a n ce s whe n ,

could their main body arrive ?

Some time after the procl a mat io n of t he aba n donme n t of
the Sudan h a d been made known Gordon had give n t he ,

K h artum people t o under s tand that the Engli s h arm y wa s

co m ing up to relieve them ; a n d he had thu s in s pired t he
ga r r i s on and inhabita n t s with hope and courage They .

had been s o to s peak given a n e w lea s e of life and all

, , ,

e ye s were a n x iou s ly t u r ned t o th e no rt h fr om whence t he ,

expected help wa s to come W ould it come in time P t h a t .

—

wa s the que s t ion .

The s e day s pa s s ed in my tattered te n t were full of hope s

and fears It wa s not that I wa s concerned about my own
.

s afety , but I could no t help an t icipating coming event s

with the great e s t anxiety ; how would i t all end a n d what ,

wa s to be my futu r e ?
’
One day s ome of the Kh a lifa s m ula z e m i n came and
forged o n to my ankle s anothe r s e t of i r on r ing s a n d a
bar to humble me I s uppo s e ; bu t a s the weigh t I al r eady
—
,

bore prevented me from s tanding uprigh t and I wa s obliged ,

to r emain lying down day a n d n igh t a n i ron more o r le s s ,

did n o t make much difference .

The nex t few day s pa s s ed withou t a n ything no t ewo rt hy

occurring Occa s ionally I heard t he c rack of the r ifl e s and
.

the booming of the gun s of be s ieger a n d be s ieged ; but the

Greek s were n o t allowed t o come and s e e me now a n d I ,

wa s in complete ignorance of what wa s going o n .

One n ight about four h o Ur s a fter s un s e t when ble s s ed

, ,
’
s leep ,
which make s one fo r ge t all one s trouble s wa s ,

g r aduall y s tealin
g over me I w a s s uddenly arou s ed by the
,
 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HU E S D AN

s pecial mean ing and can only be unde r s tood by t ho s e

,

accu s tomed t o t he u s e of ciphe r s ; if you a sk any of t he

’
old o ffi cia ls t hey will co n fi r m what I s a y
, .

‘I w a s told t hat t he name s of Elia s Pa s ha and Hajj i

’
Mohammed Abu Girga are mentioned ; i s thi s so P roared
t he Khalifa now thoroughly ang r y
,
.

‘The man who s aid that t old you the truth and I al s o
,

can read their name s ; but i t i s impo s s ible for me to unde r

s tand th e refe r ence .Perhap s the man who told you thei r
’
n ame s were there can make out the re s t of t he lette r s aid ,

I s omewhat ironically ; be s ide s I can al s o make ou t

,

in fi g ur e s ; but whether it mean s s oldie rs o r s ome t hing ,

H
’
el s e i t i s quite impo s s ible fo r me t o s a y
, .

e now s eized the paper from my hand and s tood up , .

’
Pardon me s aid I I would with plea s ure have prove d
, ,

my fi de lity t o you and have thu s regained your gracio us

,

favour ; but it i s ou t of my power I t hink you r cle rk s .

’
under s t and about cipher s better than I do .

’
Even if I do not know what thi s paper contain s s aid ,

th e Khalifa ‘s till Gordon s hall fall and Khartum will be

, ,

our s and then he departed leaving me alone wi t h my

,

guard s .

Gordon had s aid in h i s little note that he could hold

Khartum a t the out s ide till the end of J anuary ; we we r e
now nearly at the end of December Could t he r e s cuing .

army po s s ibly arrive in t ime ? Bu t why s hould I wor ry

my s elf wi t h s uch t hought s ? H ere a m I in c h a i n s a n d ,
'

utterly u s ele ss to anyone and n o t hing I can do can change

,

t he cou r s e of thing s .

W e s oon reached the beginning of Janua r y and Gordon ,

h a d s aid he could hold out till the end of the month ; s o

the deci s ive moment w a s drawing clo s er and clo s e r .

During the next few day s there w a s very heavy fi r in g

between the Dervi s he s and Omdurman F o rt F a r a g a lla .

Pa s ha wa s doing h i s utmo st and in s pite of t he s mall numbe r

,

of h i s men he attemp t ed a s or t ie bu t w a s driven back

, , .

T h e s uppli e s in t he fort were fi n i s h e d a n d negotiation s we r e

,
 T HSIEG E
E A ND FA LL OF K H A R T UM 20 3

now going on for i ts s urrende r F a r a g a lla h a d s ignalled to .

Gordon for in s t ruction s but the latte r being unable to s up

, ,

port him had told him t o capitulate The en t ire garri s on

,
.

’
r eceived the Mahdi s pardon The men had no t hing but .

the clothe s in which they s tood and t heir wive s and children ,

were all in Khartu m A s they marched out t he Mahdi s t s

.
,

marched i n but were almo s t immedia t ely driven out a ga i n

,

by the artillery fi r e from Khartum ; in the fo rt it s elf there

/

were two breech loading gun s but t heir ran ge di d n o t ex

-
,
‘

tend a s fa r a s the t own The s u r render took place on the

.

1 5 th of January 1 88 5 , .

Although Omdurman had now fallen the Mahdi did no t ,

s end any reinforcement s t o t he be s ieger s s ou t h and ea s t of

Khartum ; he well knew t hat the number of h i s follower s

collec t ed there w a s qu ite s uffi ci e n t for the purpo s e Bo t h .

he and the garri s on of Khart um n o w looked with t he mo s t

i n t en s e anxiety toward s t he nor t h from whence the fi n a l ,

deci s ion mu s t be awaited .

Gordon Pa s ha had s ent fi v e s teamer s to Metemmeh s ome

time ago under Kha s hm e l M us and Abdel Hamid W a d
,
[

Mohammed in order to await the arrival of the Engli s h

, ,

and bring s ome of them with the nece s s ary s upplie s to ,

H
,

Khartum a s s oon a s po s s ible No doub t he wa s expecting .

their arrival with the grea t e s t anxie t y e had s t aked .

everything on thi s and no one knew wha t had become of

,

them .

A t the beginning of the month Gordon had allowed s everal

of the familie s t o leave Khart um U p to that time he could .

n o t bear to forcibly drive them ou t of the town and in con ,

s e q uence he had been obliged to make a daily di s tr ibutio n

of hundred s of oke s of bi s cuit and dhurra among s t the s e

’
de s titute people ; and fo r that he had no doubt God s , ,

reward but he thereby ruined him s elf and h i s valuable

,

were almo s t empty H

men Everyone wa s crying out for bread and the s tore s
e now did all he could to induc e
.

the people to leave the town Had he only done so two o r .

,

three mon t h s earlier there would have been ample s upplie s

 FIR E A ND S WO RD IN HU
T E S D AN

t o la s t the troop s a long time ; but Gordon thinking tha t ,

help wa s coming s o s oon t o him to the troop s and to the , ,

inhabitant s did not provide for po ss ible detention s Did he

, .

think that it wa s out of the que s tion for an Engli s h expedi

tion t o be delayed P
Si x day s a fter the fall of Omdurman loud weeping and ,

wailing fi lle d our camp ; s ince I had left Darfur I had not
’
heard anything like i t The Mahdi s doctrine forbade the
.

di s play of s orrow and grief fo r tho s e who died or were ,

killed becau s e they had entered into the j oy s of Paradi s e

, .

Something very unu s ual mu st therefore have happened t o

’
make the people dare to t ran s gre s s the Mahdi s regulation s .

My guard s who were old s oldier s were s o curiou s to know

, ,

the cau s e that they left me to make inqui rie s and in a few ,

minu t e s brought back the s tartling new s that the Engli s h

adv anced gua r d had me t the combined force of Barabra ,

Jaalin Degheim and Kenana under Mu s a W a d Helu at

, , , ,

Abu Teleh ( Abu Klea ) and had utterly defeated t hem ;

,
'

thou s and s had fallen and the few who had sur v i v e d h a d
,

returned many of them wounded The Degheim and

, .

Kenana had been almo s t annihilated ; Mu s a W a d Helu ,

and mo s t of the Emi r s had fallen , .

W ha t new s m y hear t wa s literally thumping wi t h

— .

j oyou s excitement Afte r all the s e long year s a crowning

.

victory at la s t The Mahdi and Khalifa at once gave order s

t ha t all thi s n 0 1 s e s hould cea s e ; but for hour s the weeping
and wailing of the women continued In s truction s were .

now given to Nur Angara t o s ta rt o ff with t r 00 p s toward s

Metemmeh B ut wha t good would t hi s do P Even if he had
.

had the will which he had no t what could he do with a few

— —

t roop s when thou s and s and thou s and s of wild fanatic s had
failed ? W ithin the ne x t t wo o r t hree day s came the new s ‘

of other defeat s at Abu Kru and Kubba ( Gubat ) and of the ,

erection of a fort on t he Nile clo s e to Metemmeh The .

Mahdi and h i s principal Emi r s now held a con s ul t ation .

A l l the wonderful victorie s they had gained up to the pre

s ent were at s take for tho s e b e 5 1 e g 1 n g Khar t um were te r r i fi e d
,
 FIR E A N D S WORD I N T HU E S D AN

gun s ; thi s la s t ed fo r a few minute s then only occa s ional ,

r i fle s hot s we r e heard and n o w all wa s quiet again

-
, It w a s .

s carcely ligh t and I could barely di s tingui s h obj ect s

,
Could .

t hi s po s s ibly be the great attack on Khartum P A wild di s

ch a r ge of fi r e a r m s and cannon and in a few minute s com
,

p le t e s tillne s s P
The s un w a s now ri s ing red over the horizon ; what
would thi s day b r ing fo rt h P E xcited and agitated I awaited ,

the re s ult with inten s e impatience Soon s hout s of t e .

j o i c i n
g and victory were heard in the di s tance and m y ,

guard s r an o ff to h n d out the news In a few minute s they .

we r e back again excitingly relating how Kha r tum had been

,
‘

taken by s torm and wa s now in the hand s of the Mahdi s t s

,
.

W a s i t po s s ible the new s wa s fal s e ? I crawled out of my

tent and s canne d the camp ; a gr eat crowd had collected
before the quarter s of the Mahdi and Khalifa which were ,

not fa r o ff then there w a s a movement in the direction of my

tent and I could s e e plainly they were coming toward s me
,
.

In fr ont ma r ched three Black s oldier s ; one named Shatta ,

’
fo r merly belongin g to Ahmed Bey D a fa l la s s lave body
gua r d carried in h i s hand s a bloody cloth in which s ome
,

t hing wa s wrapped up and behind him followed a crowd of

,

people weeping The s lave s had now approached my tent

.
,

and s tood before me with in s ultin g ge s ture s ; Shat t a undid

the cloth and s howed me the head of General Gordon
The blood r u s hed to my head and my heart s eemed to ,

s top beating ; but with a tremendou s effort of s elf con t rol I

H
-

'

ga zed s ilently at thi s gha s tly s pectacle i s blue eye s were

.

half opened ; the mouth w a s pe r fe ctly n a tur a l ; the hair of

-

h i s head and h i s s hort whi s ker s were almo s t quite white .

’
Is not thi s the head of your uncle the unbeliever P s aid ,

Shatta holding the head up befo r e me

, .

’
W hat of it P s aid I quietly A brave s oldie r who fell
.
,

a t h i s po st H appy i s he t o h a ve fa llen h i s s u ffering s a r e

H
.

’
ove r .

a ha ,
s aid Sha tt a s o you s till p r ai s e t he unbelieve r ;
,

bu t you will s oon s e e the r e s ul t and leavin g me he went , ,

2 08 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HU E S D AN

t own to bring t he news t h a t they had won a victory and

, ,

had reached the Nile the troop s and inhabitant s would

,

have doubted no longer and they would have been c o n ,

’
v i n c e d tha t Gordon s word s we r e true A n Engli s h o ffi c e r .

would at once h a ve noticed that part of the line s which had

been damaged by the o v e r flo w of the W hite Nile and ,

would have o r de red i ts repair But what could Gordon do .

s ingle handed and without the a s s i s tance of any Europe an

-
,

o ffi ce r s ? It wa s impo s s ible fo r him to look to eve rything ,

nor had he the mean s of s eeing that h i s o r de rs were ca r ried

out to h i s s ati s faction How wa s it po s s ible fo r a com
.

mander who could not give h i s troop s food to expect the s e

s tarving men to carry ou t with p r eci s ion and energy t he

in s t r uction s he i s s ued ?
O n the unfortunate night of the 2 5 th of Jan ua r y Go r don
wa s told that the Mahdi s t s had decided to m a ke an attack ,

and he had i s s ued h i s order s accordingly Perhap s he .

him s elf doubted if they would attack s o early in the morn

ing . A t the time the Mahdi wa s cro s s ing the r ive r ,

Gordon to s timulate h i s follower s had made a di s play of

, ,

fi r e wo r k s in the town variou s coloured rocke t s were fi r e d ,

and the band played with the obj ect of r eviving the,

flagging s pirit s of the fami s hed garri s on The di s play wa s .

ove r ; the mu s ic had cea s ed and Khartum wa s a s leep , ,

whil s t the enemy crept cautiou s ly and s ilently fo rwa r d t o

the attack They knew all the weak and s trong poin t s of
.

the line s of defence they knew al s o that the regular s were

s tationed at the s trong point s and t hat the broken down ,
-

parapet and tumbled i n ditch near the W hite Nile were

-

weakly defended by the feeble inhabitant s Thi s pa r ticula r .

part of the line s wa s s adly ou t of repai r it h a d n eve r bee n

a ctually completed and when damaged by the wate r n o
,

s tep s had been taken to r e make i t Every day t he Nile

- .

became lowe r and eve r y day e x po sed a b r o a de r s trip of

,

undefended wet mud w hich the hungry and hopele s s people

,

merely made a s how of defending It wa s oppo s ite to thi s .

open s pace that a t early d a wn t he bulk of the a tt acki ng

, ,
 T HSIEG E E A ND FA LL OF K H A R T UM

force had collected whil s t the other portion of the Mahdi s t

,

army face d the main po s ition A t a given s ignal the .

attack began Tho s e holding the W hite Nile flank afte r

.
,

h ring a few s hot s fled precipitately ; and while the troop s

, ,

were occupied in repelling the s torming partie s in thei r

immediate front thou s and s and thou s and s of wild Arab s
, ,

da s hing through mud and water which wa s only up to

their knee s poured into the town and to their di s may th e
, , , ,

defender s on the line s found them s elve s attacked fro m the

rear Very s light re s i s tance w a s made and mo s t of the
.
,

troop s laid down their a r m s Number s of the Egyp t ian s .

were ma s s acred but of the Black s few were killed whil s t

, ,
’
the enemy s lo s s e s within the lines did no t e x ceed eighty to
one hundred men Soon afte r wa r d s the gate s we r e opened
.

by the Dervi s he s and th e t roop s we r e permitted to ma r ch

,

out t o the Mahdi s t camp .

Once the line of the W hite N ile wa s cro s s ed the grea t ,

ma s s of the enemy ru s hed toward s t he town L i l Saraya .

lil Keni s a To the Palace to the Church w a s the cry ;

for i t wa s he r e t hey expected to h n d t he t r ea s ure and ’

Gordon who had s o long defended the city again s t them

, ,

and had up to that day de fi e d all their effort s Among s t

.
.

the leader s in the attack on the Palace were t he follower s

of Makin W a d e n Nur who wa s after ward s kill e d a t the
,
’
ba t tle of T o s k i and belonged to the Arakin tribe Makin s
, .

b r oth e r Abdalla W a d e n Nu r their beloved leader had

, , ,

been killed during the s iege and they were now s eeking to ,
’
avenge h i s death Many of Abu G i r g a s men were al s o
.

forwa r d in t he ru s h to the Palace ; t hey wanted t o wipe out

the defeat they had s u ffered when Gordon had driven them
out of Burri The Palace s ervant s who lived in the ba s e
.

ment were in st antly ma s s acred and Gordon him s elf s tand , ,

ing on the top of the s tep s leading to the divan awaited the ,

approach of t he Arab s Taking no notice of h i s que s tion

.
,
’
W here i s you r ma s t er t he Mahdi P the fi r s t man up the
,

s tep s plunged h i s huge s pea r into h i s body ; he fell forward

on h i s face without uttering a word i s murderer s . H I 4

210 FIR E A ND S WORD I N T HU E S D AN

dragged him down the s t ep s t o the Palace ent rance and ,

here h i s head wa s cut o ff and a t once s en t ove r t o t he

,

Mahdi at Omdurman whil s t h i s body wa s left to the mercy

,

of tho s e wild fana t ic s Thou s and s of t he s e inhuma n

.

creatu r e s p re s s ed forwa r d me r ely to s tain their s wo r d s and

s pear s with h i s blood a n d s oon all t hat remained wa s a
,

heap of mangled fle s h F o r a long time s tain s of blood

.

marked t he s pot where thi s a tr ocity t ook place and t he ,

s tep s
,
from top to bottom fo r week s bore t he s ame s a d
,

trace s until they were at la s t wa s h e d o ff when t he Khalifa

,

decided to make the Palace a n abode fo r h i s fo r m e r a n d

h i s fu t u r e wive s
.

’
W hen Go r do n s head wa s b r ought t o t he Mahdi he
.
,

remarked he would have been bette r plea s ed had t hey

taken him alive ; fo r it wa s h i s inten t ion to conve rt him ,
‘
an d then hand him over to t he Engli s h Gove r nme n t in
exchange for Ahmed Arabi Pa s ha a s he had hoped t ha t ,

t he latter would have been of a s s i s ta n ce t o him in help

i n g him to conquer Egypt My own o pinion howeve r
.
, ,

i s that thi s regret on the pa r t of t he Mahdi wa s me r ely

’
a ss umed ; for b a d he e x p r e ss ed a n y wi sh that Go r do n s
li fe s hould be s pa r ed n o o n e wo uld have d a r ed to di s obe y
,

h i s o r de r s
.

Go r don had do n e h is utmo s t to s ave t he live s of t he

Eu ropea n s who we r e wi t h him Colonel S t ewa rt with
.
,

s ome of t he Co n s ul s a n d ma n y of t he Eu r opea n s he had ,

allowed t o g o to Dongola ; bu t u n fo rt unately t he incapable

and di s affect ed c r ew of t hei r s t eame r t he A bbas had run , ,

her o n to a ro ck in the ca t a r ac t s and had thu s given up ,

him and h i s companion s t o the tr eache r ou s dea t h which had

been prepa r ed fo r t hem O n the prete x t t ha t the Greek s
.

were good m e n on boat s Go r don had o ffered them a s t eame r

, ,

on which it wa s ar r anged they s hould make a vi s it of i h

s pe c ti o n on the W hite N ile thu s intending to give them a n
,

opportunity t o e s cape s outh to join Emin Pa s ha ; but they

had refu s ed t o accept Being much conce r ned a s t o t heir
.

s afety Go r do n now made a nother propo s al : he o r de r ed all

,
 FIR E A N D S WORD I N T HU
E S D AN

’
agony had th r own her s elf on her child s body and lay
, ,

pierced with s everal lance s .

The c r ueltie s and atrocitie s perpetrated in the t errible

’
ma s s acre which followed Gordon s death are beyond de s c r i p
tion Male and female s lave s and young good looking
.
, ,
-

women of the free tribe s a lone were s pare d ; and if s ome

,

other s s ucceeded in e s caping t hey had only to thank a ,

lucky chance which s aved them from t he me r cile s s blood

s hed of that awful day No t a few r e s olved to pu t an end
.

t o their own l ive s ; among s t th e s e w a s Mohammed Pa s ha

Hu s s ein the head of the F inance who s t anding be s ide t he
, , ,

dead bodie s of h i s only daugh t e r and her hu s band wa s

'
,

urged by s ome friend s to fly with them and let them s ave ,

h i m ; but he refu s ed They t r ied to take him by force ; but

.
,

i n a loud voice he heaped cur s e s on t he Mahdi a n d h i s

~ ,

follower s a n d s ome fana t ic s pa s s m g by s oon de spatched

,

him Seve r al people were killed by their former s ervant s

.

and s lave s who having p r eviou s ly joined the enemy now

, , ,

acted a s guide s t o t he wild ho r de s thi r s ting for blood plunde r , ,

and rapine .

One could fi ll a volume with the de t ail s of the terrible

atrocitie s commit t ed on that memo r able day ; ye t I doubt
if the fa t e of t he s urvivor s wa s very much bette r W hen .

all the hou s e s were occupied the s ea r ch fo r trea s ure began

, ,

and no e x cu s e or denial wa s accep t ed ; whoever wa s s u s

c te d of havi n g concea led money and the majority of the
—
p e

in habi t a n t s had done s o wa s to r tu r ed un t il the s ecret wa s

—

di s clo s ed o r un t il he s ucceeded in convincing h i s to r mentor s

,

t hat he had nothing T h e r e wa s no s paring of the la s h ;

.

the unfo r tunate people were h ogged until thei r fle s h hung

down in s hred s from their bodie s Another to r tu r e wa s to .

tie men up by their thumb s to a beam and le ave them

'

dangling in t he air till t hey became uncon s ciou s ; o r two

s mall plian t s lip s of bamboo were tied horizontally to t hei r
temple s and the two end s befo r e a n d behind being j oined
, , ,

t oget he r and twi s ted a s tightly a s po s s ible we r e s truck with ,

vib r a t i g
n s t ick s which p r oduced ago n y i n e x p r e s s ible E ve n .
 T HSIE E G E A ND FA LL OF K H
A R T UM 21
‘

women of an advanced age were tormented in t h i s way and ,

the mo s t s en s itive part s o f their bodie s were s ubjected to a

s pecie s of torture w hich it i s impo s s ible for me t o de s cribe

here Suffi c e it to s a y that the mo s t appalling method s

.

were re s orted to in order to di s cover hidden trea s ure Young .

women and girl s only were exempted from the s e abominable

to rture s for no other rea s on than that s uch atrocitie s might
,

interfere in s ome manner with the obj ect for which th e y h a d '
fl

been re s erved All s uch were put a s ide for the h at em of

.

the Mahdi who on the actual day of the conque s t made

, , ,
”

h i s s election s and turne d over the rejected one s to h i s

,

Khalifa s and principal Emir s Thi s picking and choo s ing .

continued for week s toge t her until the hou s ehold s of the s e ,

libidinou s and inhuman s coundrel s were s tocked to over

flo win g with all the u n fortunate youth and beauty of the

fallen city .

The next day a general amne s ty wa s given to all with ,

the exception of the Shaigia who were s till con s idered out ,

law s but in s pite of thi s murder s and atrocitie s continued

, ,

for many day s s ub s equent to the fall of Khartum .

The plunde r taken in Khartum wa s carried o ff to the Beit

e l Mal ; but of cour s e large quanti tie s were made away
, ,

with The principal hou s e s we r e di s tributed among s t the

.

Emi r s ; and on the day after the town fell the Mahdi and
, ,

Khalifa Abdullahi cro s s ed over from Omdurman in the

'

s teamer I sm a i lz a to view the s cene of their bloody Victory

and ma s s ac r e W ithout a s ign of pity or regret they o c cu

.

pied the hou s e s s elected for them and addre s s ing thei r , ,

follower s de s cribed the di s a s ter which had overtake n

,

Khartum a s the Ju s t j udgment of Heaven on the godle s s

inhabitant s of the city who had repeatedly rejected the ,
’
Mahdi s s ummon s to them to s urrender and become h i s
faithful follower s in the true religion .

The fi r s t few day s were s pent i n the wilde s t debauchery

and exce s s e s and it wa s not until the Mahdi and h i s
,

followers had to s ome extent s atiated their Viciou s pa s s ion s

t ha t they turned t h ei r attention to the danger s which
214 FIR E A ND S WOR D I N T HU E S D AN

threatened them from wi thout To oppo s e the Engli s h .

expedition the renowned Emir Abderra h man W a d Nej um i

,

wa s ordered to collect a large force and proceed forthwith to

Metemmeh to drive out the i n fi de ls who were known t o
, ,

have reached th e N ile near thi s town .

O u W edne s day mo r ning two day s after Kha r tum had

,
’
fallen at about eleven o clock the thunder of gun s and the
, ,

s harp crack of r i fl e s we r e heard in the direc t ion of the north

end of Tuti I s land ; and s oon two s teamers came in view

the s e were the Tela ha wi a and B oydein carrying Si r Charle s —

W il s on and s ome Engli s h o ffi ce r s and men who had come

up to a s s i s t General Gordon Sa njak Ka s hm e l Mu s and .

Abdel Hamid Mohammed whom Gordon had de s patched ,

in command of the Shaigia s were al s o on board ; they had ,

’
already hea r d of Gordon s death and of the cruel fate which ,

had overtaken the town and i ts i nhabitant s Although .

tho s e on the s teamer had little doubt of the accuracy of the

s a d new s they wi shed to s e e with their own eye s and
, ,

reached a point midway between Tuti I s land and the left

bank of the W hite Nile Here they were heavily fi r e d on
.

by the Dervi s he s fr om an entrenched po s ition s i t uated ,

north ea s t of Omdurman F ort and having s een Khartum in

-
,

the di s tance and been convinced they turned about and

, ,

s teamed away .

I s ub s equently hea r d fro m s ome o f the crew of the s e

s teamer s t h at bo t h they and the Engli shmen on board
,

were deeply a ffected by the fall of the city ; they now knew
’
that the entire Sudan wa s in the Mahdi s hand s It wa s .

the talk on board t hey s aid that the Engli s h expedition

’
, ,

had only come up to s ave Gordon ; and now that he wa s ,

killed the object of the expedition had failed and they

, ,

naturally concluded that it would r etire t o Dongola and ,

that they would be called upon to accompany i t Gon s e .

’
quently the chief pilot of the Tela ha wz a and the captain ,

Abdel Hamid agreed together to run the s teame r on to a

,

rock and the n e s cape during the night Thi s plan wa s

, .

s ucce s s fully carried out and the s teamer s t uck s o hard and
,
 FIR E A ND S WORD I N T
'
HU E S D AN

able to continue her running fi g h t with th e D eW i sh e s ,

eventually s ucceeding in s ilencing the gun s and killing the ,

principal Emir Ahmed W a d F aid and a con s iderable

, ,

number of s ubordinate E mir s and men The pa s s age wa s .

forced and Sir Charle s W il s on and h i s men relieved

, .

Thi s da r ing exploit which re s ulted in the re s cue of the

,

little band of Engli s h men who had ventu r ed to Khartum ,

al s o had a very important though indirect effect on the , ,

s ub s equent fate of the s mall Briti s h column near Metemmeh .

The advance of N e j u m i which under any circum s tance s , , ,

wa s not rapid owing to the d i ffi c ulty of collecting the men

, ,

wa s s till furthe r delayed by the new s of the death of Ahmed

W a d F aid and the defeat of the s trong body o f Dervi s he s
,

at W a d Habe s h i by one s teamer I wa s info rmed that on .

,

hearing of the s ucce ss of the Safi a ( who s e able commander

I l earnt on my return to Egypt w a s L ord Charle s Bere s
for d ) Ne j u m i addre s s ed h i s men and pointed out to them
, ,

that if the Engli s h advanced with the intention of taking

,

the Suda n they mu s t of cour s e oppo s e them ; but i f on

, , , ,

the other hand they retired toward s Dongola then he and

, ,

h i s men would be able to occupy the country t hey had

abandoned without the ri s k of further fi g h ti n g and it wa s ,

thi s latter cour s e which he eventually took Delaying h i s .

advance he reached Metemmeh only afte r th e Briti s h had

,

retired from Gubat ; and although he pur s ued them a s far

a s Abu Klea he he s itated s omewhat to attack unle s s quite
,

a s s ured of s ucce s s .

It wa s only when the Mahdi learn t of the fi n a l r etirement

of the Briti s h advance guard that he w a s convinced the
Sudan had at la s t been completely won And now h i s
delight knew no bound s H
e announced the new s in the

mo s que and drew a s triking picture of the flight of the

.
.

unbeliever s embelli s h ing it further by a revelation from the

,

Prophet to the e ffect that their water s kin s had all been -

pierced through Divine intervention and that all tho s e

, ,

who had taken pa r t in the expedition had died of thi r s t .

O n the fi fth day afte r th e fall of Khart um a s mall band

 T H E s r EG E A N D
'

FA LL OF K H A R T UM 21 7

of s oldier s s uddenly appeared in my tattered tent and ,

placing me s till s hackled and bound on a donkey t h ey

, , ,

carried me o ff to the general pri s on where they hammered ,

on to m y a n k le s a thi r d and exceptionally heavy iron bar

'

and rings ( nicknamed the Hajji F atma ) i t weighed about

eigh t e en pound s and wa s o n ly put on tho s e who were con
,
‘

s i d e r e d exceptionally ob s t inate o r dange r ou s pri s oner s I .

wa s quite i g norant of the rea s on s which cau s ed me to fall

’
s t ill lower l n the Khalifa s di s favou r but I found ou t later ,

that Gordon when he had a s certained from my letter s to

,

him that the Mahdi s t fo r ce advancing on Khartum wa s not

’
a s trong one t h at many of the Mahdi s adherent s were
,

di s conten t ed and that t here w a s con s iderable sca r city of

,

ammunition had written to thi s e ffect to s eve r al of the

,

principal o ffi c e r s on th e line s One of h i s letter s containing

.

t hi s information w a s di s covered i n the loot handed over to

Ahmed W a d Suleiman in the Be it e l Mal by whom it had ,

been pa s s ed to the Mahdi and Khalifa Thu s were thei r .

s u s picion s regarding my behaviour c o n fi r m e d and my ,

s cheme s to e s cape a n d j oin G o r d o ri laid bare .

I wa s depo s ited in one co rner of the immen s e za r iba ,

where I wa s ordered to s tay and to hold no conver s e with

,

anyone withou t permi s s ion on pain of in s tant flogging

,
.

A t s un s et I a number of s lave s who were under s entence

,

for having murde r ed their ma s ters and other gentlemen of ,

t hi s de s cription were bound togethe r by a long chain pa s s ing

,

round our feet and fa s tened to the trunk of a tree and at

, ,

s unri s e the next mo r ning we we r e unfa s tened and I w a s ,

s ent back to my corner again I could ju s t s e e L upton in

the di s tance in another corner of the enclo s ure
been in here fo r s ome time and had become u s ed to it
.

e had

e
. HH .
,

had permi s s ion to s peak to other s but w a s under s trict ,

'
order s of the s aier or gaoler not on any account to s peak to
, ,

me O n the day that I h a d been brought to the pri s on

.

Saleh W a d e l Mek had been di s charged h i s brother s on s , ,

and almo s t all h i s relative s had been killed and he wa s now ,

allowed to g o and s earch for t he s urvivo r s A s regard s .

21 8 FIR E A ND S WORD IN HU
T E S D AN

food I now fared con s iderably wor s e ; I had in thi s re s pect

, , ,

fallen out of the frying pan into the fi r e I u s ed to com

-
.

plain of being occa s ionally hungry but now I receive d only ,

uncooked dhurra getting the s ame s hare a s the s lave s and

, ,

a ve r y s mall s hare it wa s F ortunately the wife of one of

my warder s —a Da r fur woman took pity upon me and
.
,

—
,

u s ed to take the corn away boil it and bring it back to me ; , ,

bu t s h e wa s not allowed to b r ing me any other food a s he r ,

hu s b a nd feared the principal gaoler might fi n d ou t a n d h e , ,

’
in h i s turn wa s afraid of incurring the Khalifa s di s plea s u r e
, .

I lay on the bare ground with a s tone for my pillow the , ,

hardne s s of which gave me a continual headache ; but one

day whil s t we were being d r iven to the rive r one h un dred
,

and fi fty ya r d s di s tant to wa s h I picked up the lining of ,

a donkey s addle which the owne r had evidently t hro wn

,

a way a s old and u s ele s s ; and hid ing it under my arm I , ,

bore it o ff in triumph and tha t night I s lep t like a king on

,

h i s pill o w of down .

Gradually my po s itio n imp r oved s omewhat The principal .

gaoler who wa s not really di s inclined towa r d s me allowed

, ,

me to convers e occa s ionally with the other pri s oner s and r e ,

moved my lighte s t foot iron s but the Hajj i F a t ma and he r

-

s i s ter s till remained and I cannot s a

y
, thi s pai r of worthie s

conduced much to my per s onal comfo r t during tho s e long

and weary month s of impri s onment .

A few day s later there wa s con s iderable commotion

among s t the warder s and the s a 1 e r told me privately that
,

the Khalifa wa s coming to vi s i t t he pri s on I a s ked him t o .

advi s e me how I s hould behave and he r ecommended me to ,

an s wer all que s t ion s promptly on no account to make any ,

complaint s and to remain s ubmi s s ively in my co m e r Abou t

,
.

mid day the Khalifa arrived accompanied by h i s brothe r s

-
,

and m u la z e m i n and began to walk r ound and view the s e

,

victim s of h i s ju s tice It s eemed that the s aie r had given

.

the s ame advice to all the pri s oners that he had given to me ,

for they all behaved quietly Some we r e ordered to have .

their chain s r emoved and to be di s cha rged A t length the

,
.
2 20 FIR E A N D S WORD IN T HU E S D AN

’
entering the p r i s oner s yard in s tead o f a s wa s h i s u s ual , ,

cu s t om s ending for th e pri s oner s one by one ordered an

, ,

angareb to be brought and placed in the s hade ; he then

directed all the pri s oner s to be led out and to s it down
before him in a s emicircle e s poke to s everal s e t a few

free who had been impri s oned by h i s own per s onal orde r s
. H ,

and promi s ed other s who complained again s t the s entence s

,

pronounced by the Kadi to inquire into their ca s e s ; of ,

L upton and my s elf however he appeared to have taken , ,

no n otice L upton glanced at me and s hook h i s head ;

.
,

but I put my fi n g e r to my lip s to warn him again s t doing

’
anything fooli s h Have I anything el s e to do P a s ked the
.

Khalifa of the s aier who wa s s tanding behind h i s anga r eb

H
.
,
’
Sire I a m at yo u r s ervice replied the head gaole r ; and ,

the Khalifa sa t down again e now turned h i s eye s on .

me and repeated the s ame word s he had u s ed on the

,
‘

’ ’
previo us occa s ion Abdel Kader s aid h e are you well P

H
.
, ,
’ ‘
Sire s aid I i f you will allow me to Speak I s hall tell
, , ,
’
you of my condition e wa s then s itting at h i s ea s e and
.
,

he gave me the required permi s s ion .

’ ‘
Ma s ter I began I belong to a fo r eign tribe ; I came
, ,

to you s eeking protection and you gave it me It i s , .

na t ural for men to err and to s i n again s t God and again s t

H
,

each othe r I have s inned but now I repent and reg r et

.
, ,

all my mi s deed s I repent before God and i s Prophet

. .

Behold me in iron s before you ! See I a m naked and ,

hung ry and I lie here patiently on the bare ground waiting

,

for the time to come when I may receive pardon Ma s ter .

,

s hould you think it well to let me continue in thi s s a d

H
plight then I pray God fo r s trength to enable me to bea r
,

i s will ; but now I beg of you to give me my freedom

I had s tudied thi s s peech very ca r efully and had de
’
.

livered it a s e ffectively a s I could ; a n d I s a w that it had

made a favourable impre s s ion on the Khalifa Turning .

’ ‘
t hen to L upton he s aid And you Abdullahi P I can
, , ,
’
add nothing to what Abdel Kader h a s s aid replied L upton ,
.

’
Pardon me and grant me liberty
,
.
 T HSIEG E
E A ND FA LL OF K H A R T UM 22 1

The Khalifa now t urned to me and s aid ell from ‘W

, ,

the day you came from Darfur I have done eve r ything I ,

po s s ibly could for you ; but your heart h a s been far from
us you wanted to j oin Gordon the i n fi de l and fi g h t again s t , ,

us. A s you are a foreigner I s pared you r life ; otherwi s e ,

you would not be alive now H owever if your repentance .

,

i s real and true I will pardon both you and Abdullahi

, .

’
Saier take o ff t heir iron s
, .

W e we r e then removed by t he wa r der s wh o a ftef lo n g , ,

and hard work and by making u s e of rope s a t la s t su c

, ,

c e e d e d in opening my foot iron s W e were then again -

.

brought before the Khalifa who wa s patien t ly s it ting o n

h i s angareb waiting for u s e ordered the s aie r to bring

the Kuran which he laid on a turwa ( s heep s kin ) and called

.
,

H
, ,

on u s to s wear eternal allegiance to him Placing ou r

H
.

hand s on the Kuran we s wore to s erve him hone s tly in the

,

future .e then r o s e and directed u s to follow him ; and

w e almo s t be s ide our s elve s with delight at ou r r elea s e

,

after thi s long impri s onment j oyfully followed in h i s ,

foot s tep s .

The Khalifa h a v m g been a s s i s t ed on t o h i s donkey by

,

h i s s ervant s ordered u s to walk by h i s s ide ; bu t we could

,
’
s carcely keep up with him for our eight month s i m ,

pri s onment in chain s had s o cramped our leg s and feet tha t
we found we had lo s t the habit of s tepping ou t W hen we

H
.

reached h i s hou s e he directed u s to wai t in a r e k ub a in one

,

of the out s ide enclo s ure s and left u s e retu r ned again

H
.
,

a few minute s later and s eating him s elf be s ide u s wa r ned

, , ,

u s mo s t s eriou s ly to adhere to all h i s o r der s e then .

went on to s a y t hat he had received letter s from the

Commander of the army in Egyp t s tating that he had ,
’
s eized and impri s oned all the Mahdi s r elative s in Dongola ,

and that he demanded in exchange all the captive s who

’
had formerly been Chri s tian s W e have decided t o reply .
,

s aid h e that you a r e now all Mohammedan s that you are

, ,

one with u s and that you a r e not willing to be e x changed

,

for people wh o though the r e lat ive s of the Mahdi are fa r

, ,
 FIR E A ND S WOR D IN HU
T E S DAN

from u s in thought a n d deed ; and tha t they can do a s they

’
like with their captive s ; o r added h e perhap s you would
, ,
’
like to g o back to the Chri s tian s ? W ith the s e wo r d s he
ended h i s s peech .

L upton and I a s s ured him tha t we s hould neve r leave

him of our own free will ; that all the plea s ure s of the
”
-

world would never tear u s from h i s s ide ; and tha t it wa s

only by being con s tantly in h i s pre s ence tha t we learn t
to act in s uch a way a s would lead to our s alvation .

Thoroughly taken in by ou r mendacity he promi s ed to ,

pre s ent u s to the Mahdi who had arranged to come t o the

,
’
Khalifa s hou s e that afternoon and then he left u s , .

The r e k ub a being in one of the outer enclo s ure s in t o ,

which people were admitted s everal friend s who had heard

,

of our relea s e came to congratulate u s among s t them ,

Di m it r i Z i g a da bu t thi s time without h i s u s ual quid of

,

tobacco One of my friend s Es h Sheikh al s o came and

.
, , ,

when I t old him that we were t o be pre s ented t o the Mahdi ,

he again gave me the b e n e fi t of h i s good advice and in ,

s t ructed me how t o behave when the momen t ou s occa s ion

arrived It wa s almo s t evening when the Khalifa came

.
,

and directing u s t o follow him he led u s to an inne r

'
,

H
,

enclo s u r e whe r e we s a w t he Mahdi s itting on an angareb

,
.

e had become s o s tou t that I s carcely knew him .

to us . H
Kneeling down we r epea t edly ki s s ed t he hand he held out
,

e now a s s ured u s that h i s only wi s h wa s for ou r

good t hat when men are placed in chain s i t e x e r ci s e s a

,

la s ting and b e n e fi ci a l in flu e n ce on t hem ; by thi s he mean t

to s a y tha t when a man i s ti mid thi s puni shment make s
'

him avoid commit ting o fi e n ce s in t he fu t u r e

t urned the conve r s ation to h i s rela t ive s who had been
e t hen . H
captu r ed by the B r iti s h and abou t the exchange they had
,

propo s ed but which he had refu s ed adding wi t h a hypo

, , ,

c r it ical s mile I love you better than my own b ret hren

, ,
’
and the r efore I refu s ed t o exchange I n r eply I a ss ured .
,

him of our love and s incerity to him s aying Sire the m a n , , ,

who doe s n o t love you mo r e than him s elf how can h i s love ,
 FIR E A N D S W ORD IN T H E S UD A N

g o ou t you mu s t alway s accompany me ; if I r ide you ,

mu st walk be s ide me until th e time come s when s hould

, ,

I s e e fi t I will provide you with an animal to ride Do

,
.

you agree t o the s e condition s and do you promi s e t o put ,

’
them into full e ffect P
‘Ma s t er ’ I replie d ‘I agree with plea s ure to your con
, ,

di ti o n s
. In me you will h n d a willi n g and obedient
s ervan t ; and I hope I may have s t reng t h to en t e r upon my

new dutie s

H
’
God will s t reng t hen you he r eplied and b r ing you t o
, ,
’
all good . e t hen r o s e and added Sleep he r e to n igh t
, ,
-

’
may God p rotect y o u till I s e e you again to morrow -
.

I w a s n o w quite alone So I had gone from one p r i s on

.

’
t o ano t he r ! I fully gra s ped t he Khalifa s inten t ion s ; he
had no r eal wi s h fo r my s ervice s fo r he had no t the s ligh t e s t

H
,

c o n fi d e n c e i n me ; nor did he wi s h t o u t ili s e me again s t the

Governmen t and again s t the civili s ed wo r ld e me r ely .

wanted to keep me alway s under control ; probably it

fla t tered h i s vanity to know he could point t o me h i s s lave .
, ,

once a high o ffi ci a l of t he Govern ment who had com ,

m a n de d h i s own t r ibe which w a s now the foundatio n on

,

which h i s powe r r e s ted and s how them and other W e s te rn

,

tr ibe s t ha t I wa s now h i s humb l e s e r van t N ever t hele s s .

,

s aid I t o my s elf I s hall take good ca r e not to di s plea s e him

, ,

or give him a chance of put t ing h i s evil pu rpo s e s in t o effec t .

I thoroughly under s t ood my ma s te r h i s s mile s a n d fr ie n dly '

look s we r e not wo r th a j ot ; indeed one day he had t old ,

‘ ’
me a s much him s elf Abdel Kade r he had s aid to me
.
,
‘
in the cour s e of conve r s ation a man who want s to com ,

mand mu s t neither be tr ay h i s pu rpo s e by ge s t ure no r by

h i s countenance ; o t he r wi s e h i s enemie s o r h i s s ubj ec t s will
’
di s cove r s ome mean s of fru s t rating h i s de s ign s .

The next morning he came t o me and s ummoning h is ,

b r othe r Yakub he di r ected him t o s how me s ome s po t in

,

the neighbourhood where I migh t build my hu t s adding ,

tha t it mu s t be a s near h i s hou s e a s po s s ible A s howeve r .

, ,

mo s t of the vacant spo t s in t h e vicini t y had been al r ead y

 T HSIEGE
E A ND FA LL OF K H A R T UM 225

’
occupied by the Khalifa s relative s a piece of ground about ,
’
s i x hundre d yard s from the Khalifa s hou s e and not far ,
’
from Ya k ub s re s idence w a s given to me , .

The Khalifa now s ummoned h i s s ecretary and s howed ,

me a document addre s s ed to the Commander of the Engli s h

army to the effect that all the European pri s oner s had of
,

their own free will become Moh ammedan s and that they ,

had no wi s h to return to their countrie s Thi s docum e nt

H
.

he de s ired me to s ign .

e then a s ked me abruptly : Are you not a Moham

’
medan P where then did you leave your w i v e s P Thi s
—
, ,

‘ ’ ‘
wa s indeed an ugly que s tion Ma s ter s aid I I have .
, ,

only one and I left her in Darfur ; and I a m told that s h e

,

wa s arre s ted with all my other s ervant s by Said Mahmud

, , ,
’
a n d i s now in the Beit e l Mal at R l Obeid .

’
Is your wife of your own race P a s ked the Khalifa
‘ ’
inquiringly No I replied ;
. s h e i s a D a r fu r i a n ;
, and
her pa r ent s and relative s were killed in the battle with
Sultan Harun She and s everal other s had been captured
.

by my men ; and I gave mo s t of them to my s ervant s and

s oldier s to mar r y Thi s orphan alone wa s left ; and s h e 1 8
.

’
now my wife .

’
Have you any children P a s ked h e ; and when I replied
in the negative he s aid A man wit h out o ffs pring i s like a
,

thorn tree without fruit ; a s you now belong to my hou s e

-

h old I s hall give you s ome wive s s o that you may live
, ,
’
happily .

I t hanked him for h i s kindne s s but begged that he would ,

po stpone h i s pre s en t until I had at lea s t erected my hut s ;

becau s e I remarked thi s exceptional mark of h i s favour
, ,

mu s t not be expo s e d t o the public gaze To recompen s e .

me for my property which had been taken by Abu Anga ,

the Khalifa in structed F adl e l Maula to hand over the

effect s of the unfo r tunate Olivie r Pain which were at once ,

s ent to me They con s i s ted of an old jibba a well worn

.
,
-

Arab cloak and a Kuran printed in the F rench language

, .

F adl e l Maula had s en t wo r d to me that during the time

I S
226 FIR E A N D S W OR D IN T H E S UD A N

'

which had elap s ed h i s other e fi e c ts had been lo s t A t the .

s ame time the Khalifa directed that the money which had
,

been taken from me when I w a s impri s oned and had been ,

depo s ite d in th e Beit e l Mal s h oul d be returned to me It , .

amounted to 75 4 0 a few s equin s and a fe w gold no s e ring s

, ,
-

which I had collected a s curio s ; all the s e were handed back

to me by Ahmed W a d Suleiman .

I wa s now able to s e t to work to build my hut s ; but

’
whil s t they were being put up I lived in the Khalifa s hou s e .

I entrus ted my old s ervant Sa a da lla the Nub a w i who wa s , ,

the mo s t competent of all my attendant s with the con s tru o ,

tion of my re s idence which w a s to con s i s t for the pre s ent of

,

t h ree hut s and a fence I my s elf from early morning till .

,

late at night wa s alway s in attendance at the door of my

,

ma s ter W henever h e went for a s hort walk or a long

.

ride I wa s alway s obliged to accompany him barefooted

, , .

During the fi r s t few day s a s my feet got cut and brui s ed he , ,

allowed me to have s ome light Arabic s andal s made which , ,

though they gave me s ome protect ion again s t the s tone s ,

were s o hard and rough that the y rubbed o ff all the s kin .

Occa s ionally the Khalifa u s ed to call me in to eat with him ,

and frequently s ent what wa s over of h i s own food to be

con s umed by the principal m ula z e m in of whom I w a s now ,

reckoned a s one W hen he retired at night I wa s at liberty

.
,

to return to my hut s and there s tretching my weary limb s

, ,

on an angareb I s lept till early dawn when I w a s again

, ,

obliged to await th e Khalifa at h i s door and accompany ,

h i m to morning prayer s .

Meanwhile the Khalifa had been informed tha t my hut s

were erected and returning home late one night m y old
, .

s ervant Sa a da l l a
, informed me that a female s lave clo s ely
, ,

m u ffle d u p had been brought to my hou s e and w a s now

, ,

in s talle d wit h in Directing Sa a da lla to light a lantern and

.

s how the way I followed and found the poor thing huddled
, ,

up on a palm mat W hen I s poke to her about he r pa s t

-
.

life s h e an s wered in a d eep voice which di d not pre s age

, ,

well for t he future that s h e wa s a Nub a wi a n d had formerly

, ,
2 28 FI R E A N D S WORD I N T HU E S D AN

select ed by the Khalifa him s elf wa s s ent t o me and he r

H
, ,

al s o I handed over to the tender mercie s of the fai t hful

Sa a da a .

The Mahdi Khalifa s and their relative s having n o w

,
h is , ,

no longer any fea r from external enemie s began to build '

hou s e s s uitable to their new po s ition s and requi r ement s .

The number s of young women and girl s who had been

s eized and di s tributed on the fall of Khar t um we r e n o w

hurried o ff into the s eclu s ion of the s e new re s idence s ; and

their ma s ter s no longer di s turbed by the j ealou s and enviou s
,

look s of thei r friend s were able to enj oy their plea s ure s ,

undi s turbed .

N aturally the Mahdi the Khalifa s and more e s pecially , , , ,

the relative s of the former were mo s t anxiou s that it s hould ,

not be known that the greater part of the loot taken in

K h artum w a s in their own hand s ; it wa s a s triking con
tr a di c ti o n of the doctrine of the Divine ma s t er who fo r eve r ,

preached renunciation and abandonment of the plea s ure s of

l ife . They s e t to work to enlarge thei r habitation s and
enclo s ure s anticipating that they would h ll them s till furthe r
,

with th e ri c h s poil which wa s expected from the province s

that s till remained to be conquered .

But the Mahdi fell s uddenly ill ; for a few day s he did
not appear at the mo s que for prayer s No particula r atten .

tion h owever wa s paid to h i s ab s ence at fi r st for he had

, , ,

a s s erted over and over again that the Prophe t had revealed
, ,

to him that he s hould conquer Mecca Medina a n d Jeru , ,

s alem and after a long and gloriou s life s hould expire at

,

Kufa But the Mahdi wa s attacked by no ordinary indi s

.

po s ition ; th e fatal typhu s fever had fallen upon him and ,

s i x day s after he had s ickened h i s relative s in attendance ,

began to de s pair of s aving h i s life My ma s ter the Khalifa .

, ,

w a s of cour s e watching with the mo s t inten s e intere s t the

‘
‘

, ,
’
outcome of the di s ea s e and did not leave the Mahdi s ,

bed s ide day or night whil s t I and the other member s of ,

the bo dy guard aimle s s ly waited fo r our ma s t e r a t h i s

-

door .
 T HSI G E
E E A ND FA L L OF K HU
A RT M 2 29

On the evening of the s ixt h day th e multitude s collected ,

’
before the Mahdi s hou s e and in the mo s que were com
m a n d e d to joi n together in prayer for the recovery of th e
Divine patient who w a s now in the greate s t d a n ger ; and
,

thi s w a s the fi r s t occa s ion on whic h the malignant di s ea s e

from which the Mahdi w a s s u ffering w a s announced to the -

public O u the morning of the s eventh day he w a s r e

.

ported to be wo r s e and there w a s little doubt that he w a s

,

dying .

’
The di s ea s e had now reached i ts cri s i s B y the Mahdi s .

angareb s tood the three K h alifa s h i s near relation s Ahmed, ,

W a d Suleiman Moha m med W a d Be shir (one of the principal

,
’
employ é s of the Beit e l Mal in charge of the Mahdi s hou s e
hold ) O s man W a d Ahmed Said e l Mekki ( formerly one of
, ,

the mo s t renowned religiou s S h eikh s of Kordofan ) and a ,

few of h i s principal and mo s t faithful a dherent s to whom ,

s pecial permi s s ion h a d been granted to enter the s ick room -

.

F rom time to time he lo s t con s ciou s ne s s and feeling that , ,

h i s end w a s drawing near he s aid in a low voice to tho s e ,

H
, ,

around him K h alifa Abdullahi K h alifat e s Sadik h a s been

,

appointed by the Prop h et a s my s ucce s s or e i s of me .

and I a m of him ; a s you have obeyed m e and have car r ied ,

out my order s s o s h ould you deal with h i m

,
May God .

have me r cy upon me Then gat h ering up all h i s s trength

, ,

with one fi n a l e ffort h e repeated a few time s the Moham

medan creed ( L 2 1 112 11 2 1112 112 11 Mohammed Ras ul Allah
c
,

cro s s ed h i s hand s over h i s che s t s t retched out h i s limb s

, ,

and pa s s ed away .

’
Around the body which wa s not yet cold the late Mahdi s
, ,

adherent s s wore fi de lity to Khalifa Abdullahi Said e l Mekki

H
,
’
being the fi r s t to take the Khalifa s hand own h i s allegiance , ,

a n d prai s e h i s name i s example w a s immediately followed

.

by the two Khalifa s and the remainder of tho s e a s s embled .

’
It wa s impo s s ible to keep the Mahdi s death s ecret and ,

the crowd s waiting out s ide were informed about it but at ,

the s ame time s trict injunction s were given that no weep

,

ing and lamentation s hould be made and it w a s furt h er ,

 FIRE A ND S WORD IN H
T E S UD A N

announ ced t hat the Khalifa ( s ucce s s or) of the Mahdi would
demand the oath of allegiance from th e entire populace .

The Mahdi s principal wife name d Si ttin a Ai s ha U m e l

’
,

Muminin ( Our L ady Ai s ha Mother of the Believer s ) who, ,

lay huddled up and clo s ely veiled i n a corner and who had "

been a witn es s of the deat h of her ma s ter and hu s band ,

’
now aro s e and proceeded to the Ma h di s hou s e bearing to ,

the ot h er wive s the s a d news of h i s death Her o ffi c e w a s .

to comfort them and prevent them from making loud

,

lamentation Mo s t of th e s e good wo m en rejoiced s ecretly

.

in t h eir heart s at the death of their hu sban d and ma s ter ,

who h a d brought s uch terrible di s tre s s upon the land and

‘
,

whom even before h e had fully enjoyed the fruit s of h i s

,

s ucce s s Almighty God had s ummoned to appear before the

,

Supreme Seat of Judgment .

I n s pite of th e s trict and oft r epe ated injunction s again s t

-

loud lamentation weeping and wailing aro s e from almo s t

,

every hou s e on the death of the Mahdi e l M u n ta z e r who , ,

it w a s reported h a d voluntarily departed f rom h i s earthly

,

abode to God h i s Ma s ter whom he longed to s e e

, .

Some of tho s e now pre s ent began to wa s h the body and ,

then wrap it in s everal linen clot h s ; whil s t other s dug the

grave in the room in which he had died and which after , ,
’
two hour s hard work w a s fi n i sh e d T h e three Khalifa s
, .
,

together wit h Ahmed W a d Suleiman and W a d Be s hir now ,

place d the body in the grave built it over with brick s , ,

and then fi lle d it up with earth on which they poured ,

water Thi s o v e r 1i ftin g up their hand s they recited the

.
, ,

prayer s for th e dead ; then leaving the r oom t h ey pro , ,

ce e de d to pacify the impatient crowd awaiting the new s

without .

W e m u la z e m i n were the fi r s t to be s ummoned before the

new ruler who henceforth w a s called Khalifat e l Mahdi
,

s ucce s s or of the Ma h d i ) and he gave s the oath of

( u,

all egiance directing u s at the s ame time to move the

,
’
Mahdi s pulpit to the entrance door of the mo sque and to -
,

inform the populace that he wa s about to appear before

2 32 FIR E A N D S WORD I N T HU E S D AN

fully to him and to h i s brother Yakub and callin g their ,

attention to th e fact that being s tranger s and foreigner s

, ,

they s hould endeavour to live in h armony wit h each other

a s long a s they were in th e valley of the N ile for they ,

would require union in order to s ucce s s fully oppo s e the

intrigue s of the local inhabitant s ; and once again he i m
pre s s ed upon them the all important nece s s ity of a d hering
'
-

mo s t s trictly to the doctrine s of the Ma h di B y thi s time .

it w a s pa s t midnight ; but it wa s out of the que s tion to

think of going h ome U tterly exhau s ted I lay on the
.
,

ground and hea r d the pa s s er s b y loud in their prai s e s of

,
-

the late Mahdi and a s s uring each other of their fi r m re s olve

,
’
to s upport h i s s ucce s s or in carrying out their late ma s te r s
precept s .

No w what had the Mahdi done and wh e r e m lay h i s

, ,

po w er to r evive a religion which h a d become s o deba s ed ?

W hat wa s the nature of h i s teachin g s ? e had preached

renunciation he had inveig hed again s t earthly vanitie s and

H
plea s ure s ; he had broken down both s oci a l and o ffi ci a l
rank s he had made rich and poor alike he had s elected a s
clothing a jibba whic h became the univer s al dre s s of h i s
,

adherent s A s a regenerator of religion he had united the

.
,

four di s tinct Mo s lem s ect s : th e Malaki the Sh a fa i the , ,

Hana h and th e Hambali which di ffer from each other only

, ,

in minor detail s s uch a s the method of performing ablution

—
,

the method of s tanding or kneeling down in prayer s the ,

manner of conducting marriage ceremonie s ; and by a s tutely

H
,

making certain much needed reform s he had s ucceeded in

-
,

combining the s e four great divi s ion s e had made a .

collection of certain s peciall ys elected ver s e s from the Kuran ,

which he called the Ra te b and which he enjoined s hould be

,

recited by the entire congregation after morning and after

H
noon prayer s a ceremony which la sted at lea s t forty
—

minute s . e had facilitated the method of perfo r ming

prayer ablution s and had s trictly forbidden the drinking
,

bout s which were an inva r iable accompaniment of mar riage

ceremonie s in the Sudan ; he had reduced the amount of
 T H IEGE E S A ND FA LL OF K H
A R T UM 2 33

the Mahr ( the pre s ent u s ually given by th e bridegroom to

the bride ) to ten d ollars and two dre s s e s for unmarried girl s ,

and to fi v e dollar s and two dre s s e s for widow s W hoever .

s ought fo r more or gave more wa s con s idered to have

performed an act of di s obedience and w a s puni s hed by ,

deprivation of all property A s imple meal of date s

.

and milk took the place of the co s tly marriage fea s t B y .

the s e innovation s th e Mahdi had s ought to fa ci lita te /th e

ceremony of matrimony and had s trictly enjoined parent s
,

and guardian s to s e e that their daughter s and wa r d s were

married early .

A t the s ame time he had forbidden dancing and playing ,

which he c la ss i fi e d a s earthly plea s ure s and tho s e found

di s obeying thi s order were puni s hed by flogging and con
fi s c a ti o n of all property T h e u s e of bad language w a s
.

'

puni s hed with eighty la s h e s for every i n s u ltin g w o r d u s ed ,

’
and s even day s impri s onment The u se of intoxicating .

drink s a s mari s s a or date wine a n d s moking were mo s t

, ,

s trictly prohibited O ffence s of thi s de s cription were puni s h

.

’
able by flo gg in g eight day s impri sonment and c o n fi s ca ti o n
, ,

of good s A thief s u ffered the s everance of h i s right hand

.
,

and s hould he be convicted of a s econd offence he lo s t h i s ,

left foot al s o A s it w a s the general cu s tom among s t the

.

male population of the Sudan and e s pecially among s t the

,

noma d Arab s to let their hair grow the Mah di had directed
, ,

that henceforth all head s s hould be s haved W ailing for .

the dead and fea s t s for the dead were puni s hable by de
privation of property .

In orde r however that the s trength of h i s army s houl d

, ,

not be decrea s ed and endangered by de s ertion owing to the ,

s evere mode of life he had p r e s cribed and fearful that h i s

,

doctrine s which were con s idered unor thodox s hould be

, ,

made known in the variou s foreign countrie s by which he

w a s s urrounded he practically made a cordon round the
,

countrie s he had already conquered and ab s olutely pro ,

h ib ite d pa s s age of per s on s through the s e di s trict s for the

purpo s e of performing a pilgrimage to Mecca Should a n y .
2 34 FIR E A N D S W OR D I N T HU E S D AN

one ca s t the s lighte s t doubt on the Divine nature of h i s

mi s s ion or s hould there be the s lighte s t he s itation to comply
,

with h i s order s on the evidence of two witne s s e s the de lin

, ,

quent w a s invariably puni s hed by the lo s s of the right hand

and left foot O n s ome occa s ion s witne s s e s were di s pen s ed
.
,
‘
with a revelation from the Prophet w a s even more e hi
—

c a c i o u s in proving the guilt of th e o ffender .

A s however mo s t of the di s po s ition s and ordinance s

, ,

were entirely at variance with the Mo s lem law he there ,

fore i s s ued the mo s t s trict injunction s that the s tudy of

t h eology and all public commentarie s thereon s hould cea s e ;
and ordered moreover that any book s or manu s cript s deal
, ,

ing with the s e s ubj ect s s hould be in s tantly burnt or thrown

into the river .

Such were the teaching s of the expected Mahdi and he ,

h a d left no s tone unturned to carry into the fulle s t e ffect the

ordinance s he had made Openly he s howed him s elf a .
,

mo s t s trict ob s erver of h i s own teaching s ; but within their ,

hou s e s h e h i s Khalifa s and their r elative s entered into

, , , ,

the wilde s t exce s s e s drunkenne s s riotou s living and , , ,

debauchery of every s ort and they s a ti s fi e d to thei r fulle s t ,

extent the viciou s pa s s ion s which are s o prevalent among s t

the Sudane s e .

C H APT E R XI .

EA R L Y R U LE OF K H L IF A A AB D U LL H I A .

Ex ecu o

Abu
ti n
r z My
p r nt m w ith
e se
H
o

s
f D a b o— S
a

e
f E—
nn r d K l M y J o urne y to
r
a
ig
e

Pl n
W if
a
es

p i m pr ti bl T h Kh l i f
M uti y f B l k S l d i r t E l O b id
e—
s
o

o
f Se
s ca

n
a

o
e
an

ac
a ssa a —

ac

o
ca

e
e —

s a
e

e
a a

D th o f th E m i r M a h m ud
ea e A b u A ng i z Kh l d d th r w — a se es a e an o s

h i m i nt C h in
‘
D i fi i ul ti
e
c

n
o

w rk es—

b gi with A by ini D th o f Kl t
i th H
C m p i gn in th N ub M u t in
a

ss
s—

Kh rtu m D c k y rd
e o

a—
aL up t n in
D i fii c ul ti
s
a

ea
n e
e

oo
a

z .
a o

o
n a

a
s—

—
o

es

L I T T LEof importance had occur r ed in Darfur s ub s e quent to

’
my depar t ure Khaled had fi r m ly e s tabli s hed the Mahdi s
.

r ule throughout the province and had s ent emir s and force s ,
 2 36 FIR E A N D S WORD IN T HU
E S D AN

to ha s ten the fall of the town Meanwhile King John .

,

had s ucceeded in relieving th e garri s on s of Se n h i t Gira , ,

and Gallabat and relieving them to Ma s s awa ; thu s all

,

the Arab tribe s lying within the Suakin Berber Ka s s ala - -

triangle became fanatical a d herent s of th e Mahdi O s man .

D igna had already been appointed E mir of thi s di s trict ,

wh il s t Mohammed Kheir w a s ordered to proceed from

Berber with in s truction s to occupy Dongola with the
Jaalin and Barabra after the retirement of the Briti s h
,

army .

Such w a s b r i e fly the s ituation in the Sudan when Khalifa

Ab dullahi became i ts ruler It w a s not therefore without
.
, ,

rea s on that he s ummoned the we s tern Arab tribe s to unite

together and s eriou s ly called their attention to the fact that
, ,

they were s tranger s and foreigners in the Nile valley It .

‘
can be readily under s tood that the Aulad Belad or local
"

-
,

population more e s pecially the Barabra Jaalin and the

, , ,

inhabitant s of the Gezira did not appreciate the advent of

,

the Khalifa a n d h i s we s tern Arab s from whom they entirely ,

differed in idea s and character They s a w with dread the .

new ruler s eizing the rein s of government and relying ,

entirely for the execution of h i s order s on h i s we s tern

compatriot s .

’
One of the Khalifa s fi r s t s tep s wa s to expel from h i s
p ition Ahmed W a d Suleiman the Director of the
o s ,

Beit e l Mal whom he dete s ted and appoint in h i s place

, ,

Ibrahim W a d Adlan who wa s of the Ka wa h la t r ibe

,

located on the Blue Nile but had s pent many year s of h i s

,

life a s a m erchant in Kordofan and wa s in favour with the ,

Khalifa .

Adlan wa s now ordered to open ledger s s howing the

revenue and expenditure and to keep h i s book s in s uch a
,

manner that at any moment on th e demand of the Khalifa ,

H
,

he s hould be able to give an e x act s tatement of the fi n a n cia l

s ituation e al s o ordered him to keep a ca r eful li s t of
.

tho s e to whom money w a s i s s ued or who were in receipt of ,

pen s ion s .
 EA R L Y R UL E OF KHA LIFA AB D ULL A HI 2 37

Almo s t s imultaneou s ly wit h th e death of the Ma h d i c ame

the n ew s of the failure of the attack on Sennar and of th e ,

repul s e of Abdel Kerim The Khalifa therefore at once .

, ,

de s patched Abderrahman e n Ne j u m i to take s uprem e com

m and and in Augu s t 1 8 8 5 the garri s on s urrendered to that
, , ,

redoubtable warrior A s u s ual the fall of the town w a s

.
,

the s ignal for a s erie s of b r utal atrocitie s and crueltie s A .

number of the inhabitant s were s ent to the Khalifa amon /

g s t ,
‘
/
them all the good looking young girl s and th e d a ught e r s of
,
-

the former Government o ffi c ia l s of whom the Khalifa kept ,

s ome for him s elf and di s tributed the remainder among s t h i s

Emir s .

And now th e Khalifa began to s teadily make him s elf

ma s ter of the s ituation R ealizing that in Abdel Kerim .

he had a powerful rival he s ummoned him to Omdurman ,

with h i s entire force and then by a carefully arranged , ,

plan in which he w a s aided and abetted by Khalifa Ali

,

W a d Helu h e s ucceeded in making both Abdel Kerim

,

and Khalifa Sherif hand over all t h eir Black s oldier s ,

arm s and ammunition to h i s br o ther Yakub thu s crip

, ,

pling their power and rendering them pract ically harm

le s s
.

W h il s t all the s e important matter s were t r an spiring in

the capital the news arrived that Ka s s ala had s urrendered
, ,

and t h at O s man Digna wa s fi g h tin g again s t the Aby s s in

ian s under the lea d er s hip of Ra s Alula Although the .

Aby s s inian s h a d been victoriou s and had driven Digna ,

back t o Ka s s ala they did not pur s ue him but returned to

, ,

t heir own country .

O s man Digna now accu s ed the former Governor Ahmed ,

Bey Effa t of having incited the Aby s s inian s to take up

,

arm s again s t him and of h aving been in communication

,

wit h the m T h e r e w e r e no ground s for thi s s u s picion but

.
, ,

neverthele s s he and s i x former o ffi c ia l s of Ka s s ala had their

,

hand s tied behind their back s like criminal s a n d were s hot

dead .

Abdullahi fully realized that h i s action in regard to the

2 38 FI R E A N D S W ORD I N T H E S UD A N

’
othe r Khalifa s would naturally rou s e the ire of the Mahdi s
relative s with whom he wa s already on bad term s ; bu t
,

thi s w a s a matter of little concern to him e w a s deter

mined by all th e mean s in h i s power and if nece s s ary by

. H
, , , ,

recour s e to violence to enforce h i s command s whatever

, ,

they migh t b e But on the other hand he did not wi s h to

.
, ,

entirely alienate public opinion nor to give ground s to the ,

numerou s Mahdi s t s who owing to their love for the

, ,

Mahdi entertained a certain affection for h i s relat ive s fo r

, ,

bringing again s t h i m accu s ation s of inj u s tice or ho s tility ;

he therefore pre s ented them with number s of female s lave s ,

and to Khalifa Sherif he gave s ome very fi n e hor s e s and

ta i n e r s
. H
mule s and di s tributed quantitie s of s lave s among s t h i s r e
,

e took great care to make the s e gift s widely

known and the populace in their turn prai s ed him for h i s

, , ,

m agnanimity and went s o far a s to extol h i s ju s tice and

,

liberality in s ong s .

It w a s clear to the Khalifa t h a t to allow the outlying

’
province s to be governed by the late Mahdi s s pecial 2

adherent s would j eopardize h i s po s ition ; he therefore lo s t

no time in s ending to Kordofan and Darfur h i s own
relat ive s to take over the governm ent At the reque st of .

th e Emir Yune s e d D e k k e i m I al s o w a s de s patched with

,

the latter to Sennar but before my departure the Khalifa

,
’
s ummoned me to h i s pre s ence I urge you s aid h e to
.
, ,

s erve me faithfully ; I look upon you a s my s o n and my ,

’
h eart i s i n c li n e d to w a r d you God s holy word the Kuran
.
, ,

p romi s e s reward s to the faithful but threaten s the traitor

,

with the Divine wrath Yune s i s your well wi s her and

.
-
,

will attend to what you may s a y to him Should he .

attempt to undertake anything which i s not likely to lead to

h i s advantage you s hould warn him for he i s you r ma s ter ;
, ,

but I have told him that I look upon you a s my so n and ,

’
he will take heed of what you sa y .

’
I will alway s endeavour s aid I to act in accord , ,

ance wit h your in s truction s ; but Yune s i s my ma s ter ,

and will naturally do what he t hink s right Do not ther e .

2 40 FIR E A N D S WOR D IN T HU E S D AN

s ake ; thi s of cour s e i s an ea s y matter But s ire how

, , .
, ,

can I your s ervant take your own wife for my s elf P More
, ,
’
over you s aid your s elf that you look upon me a s you r so n
, .

Having s aid t h i s I dropped my head and fi xe d my eye s on

, ,

the ground continuing I cannot accept thi s gift

, , and
then I awaited h i s an s wer with an xiety .

’
Your word s are good and I pardon you s aid h e s igning , , ,

to the woman who w a s s tanding near u s to withdraw

, , .

’
Alma s ! s aid he to the eunuch bring my white j ibba ,

And when the s ervant brought it he handed it to me ,

s aying Take thi s j ibba which I have often wo r n my s elf

, , ,

and which wa s s pecially ble ed by the Mahdi fo r me

s s * .

Hundred s and thou s and s of people will envy you t hi s ;

’
guard it carefully for it will bring you ble s s ing s, .

I w a s delighted with thi s pre s ent and fervently ki s s ed ,

h i s hand which he extended to m e ; but inwa r dly I t e

,

j o i c e d to be rid of the woman who would have been a ,

u s ele s s encumbrance to me be s ide s an additional expen s e ; ,

and I thought the jibba an excellent exchange I then .

begged leave to withdraw and carried o ff with me my ,

valuable pre s ent .

Yune s had fi xe d h i s departu r e for that day ; but before

leaving I wa s s ummoned once more to the Khalifa who , ,

in the pre s ence of Yune s again reminded me t o be fai t hful ,

and s ubmi s s ive .

That evening we left Omdurman on board the s t eamer

3 07 41 2 31 and on t he third day we reached the bank s of the
,

Blue Nile and s a w Sennar in the di s tance

,
.

Ju s t north of W a d e l Abba s there i s a strip of high s andy

ground and thi s wa s s elected a s the po s ition of the camp
, ,

becau s e the land in the vicinity i s low lying and un fi t fo r -

,

habitation during the rainy s ea s on All my thought s were .

now bent on flight ; but a s mo s t of the people entirely ,

’
s ympathized with the Khalifa s Government it r e q ui r ed the ,

greate st care on my pa r t to s elect anyone in whom to place

U nfo rtun t ly th j i bb a w to o b i g a d l ng fo r m
a e e o nse q ue t ly
as n o e , c n

I w una bl to w a r it a t th e ti m o f m y e sc p
as e e e a e .
 EA R L Y R UL E OF KHA LI FA A B D ULL A HI 24 1

co n fi de n c e Very s oon after our arrival at W a d c l Abba s

.
,

however I received a letter from the K h alifa which w a s to

, ,

the effect that new s had reac h ed h i m that my wife had

arrived at Koro s ko and w a s making arrangement s there for
,

my e s cape ; he urged me to put a s ide all s uch idea s and

cling to the F aith Yune s al s o received a letter on the .

s ame s ubject and under the pretext of s upplying the

,

Khalifa with information of a ffair s in Sennar he ordered /

,
’

me to return fo rthwith to Omdurman So all my plan s fo r .

e s cape fell through and a few day s later found me once

H
,

more in the pre s ence of my lord and ma s ter the Khalifa .

e a t once began to talk of the letter w h ich had come from

Berber I a s s ur e d him that if the letter had really come

.
,

it mu s t have been written with an intention to do me harm ,

or that there wa s s ome mi s take ; and in proof of thi s I , ,

told h i m that I had never been married and t h at in c o n s e ,

q u e n c e there could be no pining wife to come and look for

me Should anyone h owever come to Omdurman and try

.
, ,

to induce me to fly my fi r s t s tep would be at once to

inform th e Khalifa e a s s ured me that he did not believe
.

the r umour and t h en a s ked me if I preferred to s tay with

H
,

him or return to Yune s Gue s s ing h i s intention I told him .

,

that nothing in the world would induce me to leave him

again and that I con s idered the time s pent with him a s the
,

happie s t in my life Although plea s ed at my flattering .

word s he took occa s ion to remind me in a very s eriou s

, ,

tone of voice to be faithful and true and to have nothing

, ,

whateve r to do with people other than h i s own hou s ehold ;

and he then ordered me to take my place a s u s ual befo r e
the gate .

O n withdrawing from h i s pre s ence and thinking the ,

matte r over I had no doubt now that h i s s u s picion s again s t

,

me had not only taken root but had begun to grow , .

A t thi s time the force in El Obeid included about two

hundred Black s mo stly old s oldier s who s e nu m b er s had
, ,

been increa s ed by the arrival of a portion of the former

garri s on of Dara Many of them were inhabitant s of j e bel
.

1 6
24 2 IR E
F A N D S WOR D I N T HU E S D AN

Dai r who were in con s tant enmi t y with the Mahdi s t s a n d

, ,

who had been captured by them and utilized a s s lave s to ,

build their hut s In dignant at thi s treatment they r e s olved

.
,

to regain freedom by force F o r tu n a te ly for them the Emi r

.

Sayed Mahmud w a s ab s ent in Omdurman and by a b old ,

s troke th e m utineer s s ucceeded in s eizing the ar s enal where ,

they fully armed them s elve s and after a s h arp s truggle

, , ,

marched out of the town whence they proceeded to the

,

N uba mountain s O n thi s new s reaching Omdurman

.

H
,

Mahmud hurrie d back placed him s elf at the head of h i s

,

troop s and advanced again s t the r ebel s

, i s attempt to .

s torm their s tronghold completely failed and he and a large ,

numbe r of h i s follower s were killed .

Meanwhile the growing independence of Khaled in

Darfur did not e s cape the Khalifa W ell aware that a s a .
,
’
member of the late Ma h di s family he wa s in complete ,

s ympathy with Kh a lifa Sherif Abdullahi determined to ,

render him powerle s s and under the pretext of bringing

,
’
about better relation s be tween the Mahdi s family and him
s elf he s ummoned K h aled to come with h i s whole force to
,

Omdurman ; but on the arrival of the latter at Bara he ,

s uddenly found him s elf s urrounded by the powerful follow

ing of the Emir Abu Anga to whom the Khalifa had given
,
’
in s truction s to take over K h aled s force incorporate it with ,

h i s own and attack the rebel s in the N uba hill s

,
Com .

ple te ly caught in thi s trap Khaled had to s ubmit w a s

, ,

thrown into chain s and removed to Omdu rman ; all h i s

,

property wa s c o n fi s c a te d and for s eve r al month s he

,

remained a clo s e pri s oner but wa s eventually pa r doned

, ,

while h i s place a s Governor of Da r fu r wa s t aken by t he

Khalifa s cou s in O s man W a d Adam
’
, .

’
Abu Anga s campaign again s t the mutinee rs p roved
completely s ucce s s ful ; almo s t all the ringleader s we r e
killed and numbers of the unfortunate B lack s W h o had
,

j oined them were en s laved .

I a s certained from a merchant who had recen t ly arrived

from Kordofan that my friend Jo s eph O h r wa lde r h a d , ,
244 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HU
E S D AN

him occa s ionally by h elping him with s mall s um s of money ,

but thi s wa s not s u ffi c i e n t to keep him and though ignorant , ,

of any trade he had perforce to earn a livelihood by mend

,

ing old arm s H aving been an o ffi c e r in the Engli s h

.

merchant s ervice I t h ough t h e might know s omething

,

about machinery Meeting him one d a y in th e mo s que

.
,

he complained bitterly of h i s wretch e d po s ition and I ,

s ugge s ted to him t h at if h e coul d s ecure an appointment ,

H
in the K h artum dockyard it migh t improve h i s condition
e jumped at the idea and I promi s ed t h at I would do my

be s t to help h i m .
,
,
.

A few day s later it happened that the Khalifa wa s in a

good temper and s howed a friendly di s po s ition toward s m e
, ,

a s Abu Anga h a d s ent h i m a pre s ent of a young hor s e ,

’
s ome money and s ome of Khaled s s lave s
,
I wa s com .

m a n d e d to dine with him and in the cour s e of conver s a , ,

tion s ucceeded in turning the s ubject to the s teamer s and

,

t h eir mach inery w h ich up to that d a y had been an ab s olute

,
’
my s tery to h i m T h e s teamer s s aid I
. require compe , ,
"

tent men to look after them and repair d amage s A s .

mo s t of th e workmen in the dockyard were killed during

the s iege of Khartum I s uppo s e you have h a d s ome dith ,
’
culty in replacing t h em P
’
‘But what i s to be done P s aid the Khalifa The s e .

s teamer s are of the greate s t value to me and I mu s t do all ,

’
I can to pre s erve them .

’
Abdullahi L upton s aid I w a s formerly enginee r on a , ,

s teamer If he received a good monthly s alary from th e

.

Beit e l Mal I believe h e would be really u s eful fo r thi s

,
‘

’
work .

’
Then will you s pea k to him P s aid h e ap pa r ently much ,

plea s ed If he undertook thi s work of h i s own free will

.

and accord without being forced into i t I believe he would

, ,

be of s ome u s e in the s e matter s of which I admit I know , , ,

ab s olutely nothing I will orde r Ibrahim A dlan to pay him

.

’
well .

’
I do not even know h i s whereabout s s aid I I have , .
246 FIR E A N D S WORD IN HU
T E S D AN

p l e te ly s u rr ounded , Arbabhim s elf killed and almo s t all ,

h i s troop s ma s s acred , only a

very few e s caping The Aby s .

s inian s mutilated the bodie s of all except that of Arbab ,

which out of con s ideration for Saleh Shanga wa s u n

, ,

touch ed The Dervi s he s had s tored their s pare ammunition

.

in an i s olated hou s e and had placed it in charge of an

,

Egyptian who being called upon after the battle to

,

s urrender refu s ed to do s o ; and on the Aby s sinian s

,

attempting to s torm it he blew it up thu s de stroying ,

h im s elf and h i s enemie s The wive s and children of t ho s e

.

who had bee n killed were now carried o fi into captivity by C

the Aby s s inian s Gallabat it s elf wa s burnt to t he ground

.
,

and for a long time i ts s ite w a s little el s e than a great open

cemetery the abode of nothing s ave hyena s
, .

’
W h en the n ew s of the de s truction of W a d A r b a b s a r my
reached the Khalifa he s ent a letter to King j ohn reque s t
,

ing him to relea s e the captive wive s and ch ildren in exchange

for a s u m of money which he a s ked him to fi x ; but at the
s ame time he ordered Yune s to quit Omdurman with h i s

en t ire fo r ce and proceed to Gallabat w here he w a s to await

, ,

further order s O n the departure of the army of Yune s the

.

Khalifa him s elf with a number of h i s follower s cro s s ed to

, ,

th e we s t in a s teamer and after s taying with them three

,

day s he gave the warrior s h i s parting ble s s ing and then

, ,

returned to Omdurman .

Some time s ince Gu s tav Klo o tz who had failed to make ,

a living in Omdurman had di s appeared and I thought he , ,

mu s t have e s caped out of the country ; but I now learnt

from s ome merchant s w ho had j u s t arrived from Gedaref
that he had reached that place but had s uccumbed to the ,

fatigue s of the j ourney and had died ju s t befo r e the ,

A b ys s i m a n inva s ion .
 E VE N TS I N V A RI O US P A R TS OF T H E S UD A N 247

C HAPT E R X II .

EVE N T S IN V A R I OU S P A RT S OF T H E S U D AN .

M ’
a di b b o s Q rr e l w
ua i th K a m ll E x e u ti o n o fraM d ib b o Ca p t
a—u r c a — a e

o f C h rl a N u f ld
es M y I nt rv i w w i th h i m
e e A rri v l o f A b u
e e a

A ng A rm y in O m d urm n D tru ti n o f th T ri b
'
a 5 G hé
a — es c o e e na e

A b u A ng C m p i gn in A b y ini Sa c k f G nd r T rri bl
'
a s a a ss a— o o a — e e

Fa t f th C p ti v D th f Sul t n Yu f In t n
e o e a e s— ea f th o a se —
s a ce s o e

H
Kh a l i f T y ra nny B ui l d ing f th M h d i T o m b L e tte r fro m
’ ’
a s — o e a s — s

om e D—
th f m y M th e r D
ea o th o f L up to n o —
ea .

T H Emir
E Ka r a m a lla
who had s ucceeded L upton a s ,

Mahdi s t Governor of Bahr e l Ghazal eventually took up ,

h i s re s idence at Shak ka and w a s s oon at loggerhead s with ,

my old friend Sheikh Ma dib b o who s ub s equent to the fall , ,

of the pr o v 1 n ce had ruled thi s di s trict A quarrel en s ued

, .
,
’
and Ma dib b o after making an i n e fi e c tua l re s i s tance fled
, , ,

but wa s captured and s ent to Abu Anga who had an old ,

account to settle with him W hen s erving under Suleiman .

W a d Zubeir he fell on one occa s ion into the hand s of

Ma di b b o who w a s very ho s tile t o him and forced him to
, ,

carry a huge box of ammunition on h i s head during s everal

’
day s march and when he complained about i t mercile s s ly
, , ,

flogged and abu s ed him W h en M a d ibb o w a s brought .

before Abu Anga he had little h 0 pe of h i s life ; but he

,

determined to try and obtain j u s tice a ffi r m i n g t h at he had ,

not fought again s t the Mahdi but h a d been forced to take ,

up arm s by Ka r a m a lla But of wha t u s e were all h i s .

excu s e s and proofs of innocence or h i s fi de li ty ? The only ,

‘
an swer he received from Abu Anga w a s And yet I will ,
’
kill you Ma di b b o now convinced of the u s ele s s ne s s of
.
,

h i s pleading re s igned him s elf to h i s fate and de s pairing of

, , ,

h i s life s aid,
It i s not you who will kill me but God I
, , .

have not a s ked for mercy but for j u s tice ; however a s lave , ,

like you can never become noble The trace s of the la s he s .

o f my whip which may s till b e s e en on your back wer e

, ,
2 48 FIR E A N D S WOR D . IN T H '

E s UD A N

well de s erved In whatever form death may come upon

.

me it will always h n d me calm and a man I am M a di bb o

, .
,
’
and the tribe s know me Abu Anga ordered him to be
.

s ent back to pri s on but forbore to have him flogged and

, ,

the following morning he h a d him executed in front of h i s

whole army M a d ib b o w a s true to h i s word Standing in
. .

an open s pace with a ch ain round h i s neck he s neered at ,

the s oldier s w h o galloped up to him s haking their lance s ,

ove r h i s head W hen tol d to kneel down to receive the

.

death blow he called on th e people who s tood round to

-
,

report faithfully after h i s death how he had borne him s elf

a moment afterward s all wa s over Thu s ended Ma dib b o .
,

one of the able s t Arab Sheikh s in the Sudan .

W hen h i s head w a s brought in to Omdurman the r e wa s ,

general mourning among s t the Riz ig h a t Arab s who had ,

year s before quitted their country a s pilgrim s Even the .

Khalifa him s elf regretted h i s death ; but a s the deed had

been done he would not blame h i s greate s t Emir
,

therefore concealed h i s indignation but to me he remarked

e . H
that had Abu Anga not killed him Ma di bb o might have

H
,

done him many a valuable s ervice .

Yune s wa s now apparently quite happy e had gone .

’
from Abu Haraz to Gedaref and G a lla b a t wh e r e he had ,

s ettled down and a s h i s authority w a s an extended one

, ,

and the people over whom he ruled were turbulent he ,

’
a s ked the Khalifa s permi s s ion to undertake a campaign
again s t the Aby s s inian s and Abdullahi having r eceived no

H
, ,

an s wer from King j ohn to h i s peaceful letter s gave h i s ,

con s ent .i s t1 0 0 ps under Arabi D a fa lla now attacked

, ,

the village s along the frontier and de s troyed s everal of them ,

killing the men and carrying o ff their wive s and children a s

captive s B y the rapidity of their movement s committing
.
,

whole s ale robberie s one day and making murderou s raid s ,

twenty mile s di s tant the next they had become a perfect ,

s courge t o the Aby s s inian s ; but in s pite of all thi s the , ,

latter s till continued their commercial relation s wi t h Yune s ,

who by h i s amicable treatme n t of t he m in Gallabat h a d

, ,
2 50 FIR E A N D S WO R D IN HU
T E S D AN

now de s patched to W adi Halfa fi fty of h i s mo s t faithful

s lave s with letter s begging the s uppor t of the Egyptian
’
Government and the faithful Sa le h s agent obtained two
,

hundred R emington r i fle s forty boxe s of ammunition 75 2 0 0

, ,

in ca s h and s ome beautifully embo s s ed revolvers

, .

A t thi s time there re s ided at A s s uan a German me r chan t

named Charle s Neufeld who had previou s ly made the a o
,

quaintance of B atalla Eg a i l a brother of Elia s Pa s ha who , ,

had recently e s caped from the Sudan F rom him he learnt .

that in North ern Kordofan there wa s a large quan tity of

gum which the merchant s had been unable to di s po s e of in
con s equence of the rebellion and which could ea s ily be ,

brought to W adi Halfa with the a s s i s tance of Sheikh Saleh .

E nticed by thi s plea s ant pro s pect of making money and

H
,
’
fi lle d with a love of adventure ; h e re s olved to j oin Sa l e h s
people in order to travel with them to their Sheikh e .

h a d apparently no di ffi c u lty in obtaining permi s s ion from the

Government to proceed on h i s journey promi s ing that he ,

would s end detailed account s of th e s ituation in the Sudan ;

and early in April 1 8 8 7 he left W adi H alfa with the
, ,

caravan .

Ne j um i who had full information of the departure of the

,

caravan now had all the roa d s carefully watched ; and to

, ,

add to their mi s fortune s their guide lo s t h i s way and the

, ,

caravan s u ffered con s iderably from thir s t W hen at length .

t h ey approac h ed s ome well s near R l Kab they found them ,

in po s s e s s ion of a party of Dervi s he s wh o were on the look

’
out for them A fi g h t en s ued in w hich Sa le h s people ex
.
,

h a u ste d and thir s ty were utterly defeated ; mo s t of them

,

were killed by r i fle h t e and the remainder Neufeld amongs t

, ,

them were captured A t the beginning of the action

,
.

N eufeld had s eized a r i fl e and wi t h h i s Aby s s inian female

, ,

attendant had taken up a po s ition a s hort di stance from the

,

caravan and here on s ome ri s ing g r ound he had determined

,

to s ell h i s life dearly but he w a s no t attacked W hen the .

fi g h ti n g w a s over they o ffered him pardon which he a c ,

c e te d and w a s t he n t ake n o ff to N e j u m i in Don g ola T h e

p ,
.
 E VEN TS IN A RI O US
V P A R TS OF T H E S UD A N 251

latter had all the captive s beheaded wi t h the exception of ,

Neufeld who w a s s pared in order that he might be s ent to

,

Omdurman I had heard privately that a European cap

.

t ive wa s about to arrive and con s equently I w a s not s ur

,

pri s ed when one day in May 1 8 8 7 I s a w a crowd of people

, , ,
’
approaching the Khalifa s hou s e and in their mid s t under , ,

e s cort rode a European on a camel

,
It w a s generally .

rumoured that he w a s the Pa s ha of W adi Halfa A t th a t .

“
a

period the building s in Omdurman were not very far a d

’
v a n c e d and between the wall of the Khalifa s hou s e and
,

t he wall of the mo s que w a s a large r e k ub a built of s traw ,

which s erved a s a hou s e for the m u la z e m in ; and into thi s

N eufeld after di s mounting w a s u s hered
, I held aloof a s
, .
,

I well under s tood th e nature of my ma s ter and h i s s pie s ;

and I pretended to be qui te indi fferent to what wa s going
’
on . The Khalifa on Ne u fe ld s arrival had s ent for the two
, ,

Khalifa s and the Kadi s Taher e l Ma g z u b the E mir Bekhit

, , ,

and Nur Angara w h o h a d j u s t arrived in Omdurman from

,

Kordofan where he had been fi g h tin g under Abu Anga ;

,

Yakub had al s o been s ummone d A s they entered I .

,

whi s pered t o Nu r Angara Do your utmo s t t o s ave the ,

H
’
man . To my delight the Khalifa now s ummoned me and ,

ordered me to s i t with h i s a dvi s er s e informed u s that .

the man had been brought in a s an Engli s h s py ; and he

in s truc ted Sheikh e l Taher Ma g z ub to que s tion him I at .

once a s ked to be allowed to s peak t o him in European

language and the reque s t being granted I went with Taher
, ,

into the r e k u b a .

W hen my name w a s mentioned Neufeld s hook m y hand

'
,

with g r e a t de lig h t I at once drew h i s attention t o the fact

.

that he mu s t addre s s him s elf to Sheikh Taher who wa s the

H
,

principal per s onage to j udge him and that he s hould behave ,

a s s ubmi s s ively a s po s s ible e s poke Arabic very well .

,

and h i s extreme readine s s to talk made a bad imp r e s s ion on

tho s e pre s ent who or d ered me to take him before the Khalifa
their general O pinion being
killed ’
.
,

e i s a sp
y and s hould ,

Once in the pre s ence of the Khalifa the latter s aid

be H ,
,

,
2 52 FIR E A ND S WO RD I N T HU
E S D AN

‘ ’ ‘ ’
to me And what i s your O pin i o n P All I know i s I
, ,

replied that he i s a German and con s equently belong s to

, ,
’
a nation which take s no intere s t in Egypt I could s e e the .

Khalifa watching me very carefully a s he handed me s ome

paper s and ordered me to look through them : they in
,
,

cluded a li s t of medicine s written in German and a letter to ,

Neufeld in Engli s h regarding new s received in the Sudan ;

,

al s o a long letter from General Stephen s on in which he ,

wa s granted permi s s ion to proceed to the Sudan with the

caravan and at the s ame time reque s ted to give the fulle s t
,

account s of the s tate of a ffair s in the country I tran s lated .

’
thi s letter but omitted the General s reque s t for informa
,
’ ‘
tion . Sire I s aid thi s letter s how s that he h a s a sked
, ,

permi s s ion of the Government to make thi s j ourney and ,

’
t h at he i s a merchant a s he told Sheikh Taher , Again the .

Khalifa looked s u s piciou s ly at me and then ordered us to ,

withdraw and await h i s further command s out s ide the hou s e .

A n immen s e crowd had by thi s time collec t ed near the

r e k u b a to s e e the Engli s h Pa s h a ; and in a few moment s

s ome of the Black m u la z e m i n whom the Khalifa had s um ,

m o n e d came out and having tied h i s wri s t s together ordered

, , ,

N eufeld to leave the r e k u b a The Kadi Nur Angara and .

, ,

I had climbed up on a h eap of brick s and from thi s po s i ,

tion could s e e exactly w h at w a s going o n N eufeld who .

,

evidently thought h i s la st hour had come rai s ed h i s eye s to ,

h eaven and knelt d own without having received any order ,

to do so and w a s at once ordered to get u p Meanwhile a

,
.
,

man arrived carrying an o m b e ya a n d began t o make i ts ,

’
melancholy note s re s ound over Ne u fe ld s head ; I w a s de

lea s t . H
lighted to s e e that t h i s did not appear to di s turb him in the
i s poor s ervant in her devotion to her ma s ter now
ru s hed out of the r e k u b a and begged to be killed with
, ,

him ; but s h e w a s at once driven back The Kadi and I .

quite realized that the Khalifa w a s playing with Neufeld ,

j u s t a s a cat plays with a mou s e ; and a s s entence had not

yet been given I en d eavoured to s ignal to him but he did
, ,

not appear to quite unders tand me In a few momen t s we .

2 54 FIR E A N D S W ORD IN T HU E S D AN

he t h ought of h i s troop s and he r e hli e d that although they

, ,

were very numerou s they were not we ll trained and that

, ,

th e di s cipline in the Egyptian army w a s much better The .

Khalifa who did not appreciate candid s peaking at once

, ,

had him s ent back to pri s on and wi s hing to revenge him

, ,

s elf on S h eik h Sale h for h i s want of loyalty he again ,

de s patched an expedition again s t him Thi s time the un .

fortunate S h eikh de s erted by mo s t of h i s followe r s wa s

, ,

s urroun d ed at one of the de s ert well s and killed Thu s .

ended th e la s t of the Sheik h s faithful to Government .

Toward s the end of June Abu Anga with a force of , ,

nearly twenty thous and men arrived at Omdurman and , , ,

after remaining s ome week s a portion of thi s army unde r

, ,

the command of Zeki T u m m a l w a s de s patched again s t the

,

G e h é n a tribe who s e Sheikh Abu R o f had r efus ed the

, , ,
’
Khalifa s s ummon s to come to Omdurman In the fi g h ti n g .

which en s ued the principal chiefs fell and the greater part
, ,

of the tribe w a s annihilated The fi n e s t of the young .

women and children captured were s elected and s ent a s

pre s ent s to the Khalifa ; but the remainder were brought to
Omdurman where t h ey eked out a mi s erable exi s tence by
,

becoming water carrier s or maker s of s traw mat s Thei r

-
, .

great herd s of cattle went for almo s t nothing in the bazaar s ,

and the price of an o x or a camel which formerly varied ,

between forty and s ixty dollar s fell to two or three dollar s,

.

After th e de s truction of thi s tribe Abu Anga received ,

order s to proceed fro m Omdurman to Gallabat a n d take ,

the comm and of the troop s there Collecting the force s .

from the s outhern di s trict s at Abu H ar az he proceeded to ,

h i s de s tination and on arrival at once s e t to work to organize

,

H
h i s army in order to revenge the defeat of W a d Arbab
e had at h i s di s po s al the large s t force which had ever

been c ollected by Khalifa Abdullahi ; according to the roll s

.

brought i n h e had upward s of fi fte e n thou s and r i fle s forty

, ,

h y e thou s and s pe armen and eight hundred cavalry and

, , ,

quitti ng Gallabat with thi s force he ma r ched th r ough the ,

Mi n tik ( pa s s ) toward s R a s Adal U p to thi s day I have.

 E VE N TS IN V A RIO US P A R TS OF T H
E S UD A N 255

failed to un d er s tand w h y the Aby s s inian s did not attack

their enemy whil s t cro s s ing the narrow pa s s e s and deep
valley s in which it would have been mo s t diffi cu lt to u s e
,

fi r e a r m s with e ffect ; if they had not s ucceeded in checking

the advance in thi s manner they would have at lea s t i n,

fli c te d very h eavy lo s s e s on the D e r v i s h e s fi I can only

conceive that the Aby s s inian s made certain of their ultimate
s ucce s s
, and purpo s ely enticed their enemie s far into th e ,

country wit h the obj ect of cutting o ff their retreat and ,

utterly anni h ilating them F ighting began on the plain o f

.

Debra Sin R a s Adal had about two thou s and r i fle s and

.
,
’
had t aken up a po s ition threatening Abu Anga s left ; but
the latter had s u ffi c ie n t time to c lear the hill s and arrange ,

h i s troop s in battle array Attacked over and over again

.

by the Aby s s inian s the Dervi s he s drove them o ff with

,

frightful lo s s and Abu A n ga taking the o ffen s ive s ucceeded

, , ,

in g a m m g a complete victory 8 0 s ure were the Aby s s inian s

.

of gaining the day that they had taken up a po s ition in front

of a river and now many of them in their h ight were
, , ,
'

d r owned while attempting to cro s s it F or a s hort time .

,

the Aby s s inian cavalry w a s to s ome extent s ucce s s ful but ,

after s ufi e r i n g con s iderable lo s s t h ey h e d with Ra s Adal

,
.

The entire Aby s s inian camp con s i sting of quantitie s of ,

tent s fell into the h and s of Abu Anga w h o captured R a s ,

Adal s wife and grown u p daughter and in thi s Victory

' -

H
,

practically conquered the w h ole of th e Amhara Province .

e advanced without delay on Gondar where he expected ,

to fi n d great trea s ure s but w a s di s appointed for w i th the

, ,

exception of s ome good s belonging to the G e b e r ta and ,

s ome la r ge s tore s of co ffee h oney and wax which were of

, , ,

no value to him a s he had no mean s of tran s po rt he got

, ,

practically nothing In the large and lofty s tone building

.
,

s aid to have been erected by the Portugue s e they found ,

one poor old Coptic p rie s t who wa s thrown out of the

,

highe st s tory into the s treet below Sta y ing here only one .

day Abu Anga ordered the town to be fi r e d and on h i s

, , ,

way back attacked and loo t ed village s righ t and left killing
, ,
2 56 FIR E A ND S WO RD IN T HU E S D AN

the men and s eizing the women and children a s captive s

,

the G e b e r ta and s ome little boy s alone were s pared and

, ,

carried o ff a s booty In thi s manner thou s and s of Ab ys s inian

.

women and girl s were d riven in front of the army urged on ,

by the la s h O n arrival at Gallabat a fi fth of the loot wa s

s ent to the Khalifa a n d s eve r al hundred w
.
,

omen were de
,

s pa tc h e d to the Beit e l Mal in Omdurman where they were ,

s old to the h ighe s t bidder s The road between Gallaba t .

a n d Abu Haraz w a s s trewn with corp s e s and among s t them ,

the daughter and young s o n of Ra s Adal .

’
Abu Anga in accordance with the Khalifa s in s t ru ction s
, ,

now began to put Gallabat into a s tate of defence ; for in ,

s pite of the s ucce s s j u s t gained they knew that the ,

Aby s s inian s would s eek revenge But he did not long .

s urvive h i s vic t ory ; although only fi ft two year s of age -

y ,

cure him s elf H

he s u ffered from con s tant illne s s and w a s alway s trying to
e had grown immen s ely s tout
.

the good living in which he indulged which contra s ted

owing to
,

greatl y with what he had been formerly accu s tomed to ; he

s u ffered much from indige s tion and u s ed to treat him s elf ,

with a poi s onou s root which came from Dar F e r ti t One .

day however he took an overdo s e and in the morning wa s

, , ,

fou n d dead in h i s bed In him the Khalifa lo s t h i s be s t

.

Emir who though by de s cent a s lave had t hrough h i s

, , , ,

liberality and kindne s s gained the a ffection of all who ,

kne w him a s well a s th e e s teem and regard of h i s s ubject s

H
, ,

who admired h i s per s onal courage and s en s e of ju s tice

—
.

e w a s mourned by h i s entire force b y Arab s a s well a s —

by Blacks who recogni s ed in him a s trict though j u s t

—

ma s ter and one who though he puni s hed ve r y s everely any

,

H
,

offence s again s t h i s o r der s w a s ever ready to help tho s e in,

need . e w a s buried in h i s red brick hou s e and many of -

,

h i s s ervant s and s lave s wor s hipped him a s a s aint .

A t the s ame time that Abu Anga had left Omdurman

for Gallabat , O s man W a d Adam had received in s truction s ,

to move with h i s whole force toward s Darfur a s there wa s ,

s ome fear that Sultan Yu s ef who h a d replaced Khaled on ,

2 58 FIR E A N D S W OR D IN T HU E S D AN

se e the t r ap that had been laid for him made a confe s s ion , ,
’
and begged the Khalifa s pardon The confe s s ion w a s taken .

down in writing and s ubmitted to Abdullahi who ordered

, ,
.

the s entence w h ich w a s execution to be carried out in

, ,
’
accordance with th e Mahdi s code The Khalifa in giving .
,

s entence s aid that h a d the in s ult been

, again s t h i s own
per s on he would have forgiven him ; but the pri s oner
h aving s inned again s t th e Ma h di he would be committing ,

a crime if h e mitigated it in the s lighte s t d egree .

T h at afternoon the Khalifa gave order s for the o m b e ya

to be s ounded while the dull beat s of the great man s ura
,

( war -
drum ) boome d through the city and he him s elf rode ,

with an immen s e e s cort to the parade ground O n h is -

.

arrival h i s s heep s kin w a s s pread on the ground and on ,

H
'

thi s he s a t facing the ea s t whil s t the Kadi and others

, ,

s tood behind him in a s emicircl e e then ordered the .

accu s ed to be brought before him Already h i s hand s had .

been tied behind h i s back ; but he s howed not the s lighte st

s ign s of fear W hen wit h in a hundred pace s of the Khalifa
.

he w a s decapitated by Ahmed Dalia the chief executione r , .

In order to s h ow h i s veneration for the Mahdi the ,

Khalifa decided to erect a monument to him a s i s the ,

cu s tom in Egypt ; but t h i s he did rather to s ati s fy h i s own

vanity than out of re spect for h i s late ma s ter A s quare .

building w a s erected s ome t h irty feet high and thirty s i x

, ,
-

feet each way and th e s tone for thi s con s truction of which
, ,

the wall s were upward s of s i x feet thick had to be brought ,

all the way from Khartum Above thi s a hexagonal wall .

fi fte e n feet high w a s built from which ro s e a dome forty ,

feet high O n the corner s of the main building were four

.

’
s maller dome s Thi s w a s called Ku bb e t e l Mahdi ( Mahdi s
.

dome ) It wa s furni s hed with ten large arched window s

.

and tw o door s and in the hexagonal portion were s i x sk y

,

light s It w a s whitewa s hed a ll over and s urrounded by a

.
,

trelli s work fence ; the window s and doors were made by

the workmen in the Khartum ar s enal ; while directly
’
beneath the dome and over the Mahdi s grave a wooden
,
‘

,
2 60 FIRE A ND S WORD IN HU
T E S D AN

the end of the la s h Although no t t reated a s a s lave by

.

my people who did all they could to lighten her s a d lot s h e

, ,

neve r s eemed bright or happy s h e continually brooded

over her lo s s e s and her home until at length death relea s ed
,
‘
her from her s u fi e r in g s Occa s ionally F ather O h r wa l de r
.

u s ed to Vi s it me s ecretly but a s the Khalifa did not approve

,

of our meeting h i s vi s it s were few and far between W e

, .

u s ed to talk of our home and of our pre s ent wretched exi s t

,

ence ; but we never lo s t h 0 pe that s oone r o r later our , ,

captivity would come to an end .

Abu Girga who commanded at Ka s s ala wa s now ordered

, ,

to proceed to O s man Digna and a s s i s t him in h i s fi g h tin g

, .

L eaving Ahmed W a d Ali a s h i s repre s entative at Ka s s ala

H
,

he w a s s ummoned to Omdurman to report to the Khalifa

on the s tate of the Arab tribe s in th e Ea s te r n Soudan e .

arrived late o n e evening and w a s at once received in long

,

private audience by the Khalifa and on withdrawing , ,

hurriedly told me that he h a d given him a letter from my

family in Europe A few minute s later I w a s called i n and
.
,

informed that the Governor of Suakin had s ent a letter to

O s man Digna which w a s s uppo s ed to be from my family
, ,

and which he had s ent o n In handing me thi s letter the.

Khalifa ordered me to open it at once and acquaint him ,

with i ts content s I glanced th r ough it hurriedly and to

.
, ,

my inten s e grief and s orrow s a w t h at it w a s an announce

,

ment from my brother s and s i s ter s that my poor mother had

died and that on her death bed s h e had expre s s ed an earn e s t
,
-

hope that we s hould all be reunited The Khalifa i m .

,

patient that I took s o long to r e a d i t again a s ked me who ,

had written i t and what were i ts content s

,
It i s from my .

’
brother s and s i s ter s I replied and I will tran s la t e it t o
, ,
’
you . I had no rea s on to conceal its content s ; it wa s
merely a few line s from di s tre s s ed brother s and s i s ter s to
their di s tant brother I told him how di s turbed they were
.

about me and how they we r e ready to make any sa c r i fi ce in

,

order that I s hould regain my liberty W h e n I came to the .

p art about my mother it re q uired all

, my s elf co n trol I t old -
 E VEN TS IN V A RIO US PARTS OF T HU E S D AN 26 1

him that owing to my ab s ence her death w a s not s o peace

, ,

ful a s it might have been and that during her long illne s s ,

her con s tant prayer to God had been that s h e might s e e me

again Her prayer ala s ! had not been an s wered ; and now
.
,

thi s letter had brough t me her la s t greeting and her tender ,

hope s for my welfare My throat felt parc h ed and dry and

.
,

had not the Khalifa s uddenly interrupted me I mu s t have ,

broken down Your mother w a s not aware that I h e n our ’

’ ‘

you more than anyone el s e s aid h e o th e r w i s e s h e cer , ,

ta in ly would not have been in s uch trouble about you but

I forbid you to mourn for her She died a s a C h ri s tian and an .

unbeliever in the Prophet and the Mahdi and cannot there ,

’ ’
fore expect God s mercy The blood ru s hed to my head
.
,

and for a moment I could s a y nothing ; but gradually r e

gaining my s elf co n trol I continued to read on that my
—

brother Henry w a s n o w married and that Adolf and my ,

s i s ter s were quite well F inally they begged me to let them

.
,

know how I could obtain my liberty and urged me to write ,

t o them . W rite and tell one at lea s t of you r brother s to

‘
’
come here s aid the Khalifa when I had fi n i s h e d the letter

H
.
, ,

I would honour him and h e s hould want for nothing ; but

,
’
I will talk to you about thi s another time e then s igned .

to me with h i s hand a n d I withdrew , .

My comrade s who had already heard that a letter had

,

arrived for m e were very inqui s itive and a s ked me all

, ,

manner of que s tion s but I an s wered them only b r i e fly and

, ,

a s s oon a s the Khalifa had retired to re s t I went home I .

flu n g my s elf down on my angareb and my s ervant s much , ,

concerned a s ked me what w a s the matter but I told them

, ,

to leave me Poor mother then it wa s I who made your

.
,

la s t hours s o unhappy My brother s and s i s ter s had written

her la s t word s I a m ready to die ; but I s hould have loved
to se e and embrace my R udolf once more The thought .

that he i s in the hand s of h i s enemie s make s my departure

’
from thi s wo r ld very di ffi c ult for m e How well I remem .

bered her word s when I left for the Sudan : My s o n my ,

Rudolf your re s tle s s s pirit drive s you out into the world !
,
2 62 FIR E A N D S WORD IN T HU E S D AN

You a r e going to di s tant and almo st unknown land s A .

time perhap s will come when you will long for u s and a
, , ,
’
quiet life How true had been her word s poor mother !
.
—

How much trouble I mu s t have given her ! And then I

cried and cried not about my po s ition but for my dear
—
,

mother who could n ever be replaced

, .

The next morning the K h alifa s ent for me and again ,

made me tran s late the letter to him and he ordered me to

rep ly at once t h at I w a s perfectly happy in my pre s ent po s i
tion I did a s I wa s told and wrote a letter prai s ing the
.
,

Khalifa and s aying how happy I wa s to be near him ; but

,

I put inverted comma s again s t many word s and s entence s ,

and point s of exclamation and wrote at the bottom of the ,

letter that all word s and s entence s thu s marked s ho uld be

read in exactly t h e oppo s ite s en s e A t the s ame time I .
,

a s ked my brother s and s i s ter s to write a letter of thank s to

the Khalifa in Arabic and to s end him a travelling bag and
, ,

to me two hundred pound s and twelve common watche s , ,

s uitable for pr e s ent s a s on certain s ea s on s of the year the

,

E mi t s attended the fea s t s in Omdurman and would greatly ,

appreciate them I al s o a s ked them to s end me a tr a n s la

.

tion of the Kuran in German a n d advi s ed them not to worry ,

for the pre s ent but that I hoped to h n d s ome mean s of

,

being reunited to them I told them to s end th e thing s .

,

through the Au s trian Con s ul General in Cairo to the -

,

Governor of Suakin by whom they would be forwarded to

,

O s man Digna I h anded thi s letter to the Khalifa who

.
,

gave it to s ome po s tmen who were going to O s man Digna

with in s truction s to s end it to Suakin .

About a month before I received the s a d new s of my

H
’
mother s death I h a d to deplore the lo s s of one of my
,

comrade s in captivity L upton e had b een working in

, .

the dockyard at Khartum until rece n tly ; but the feeble

H
s tate of h i s health had obliged him to a s k to be relieved

from thi s po s ition e had then returned to Omdur m an

.

and had s u ffered g r eat want bu t to h i s relief Saleh W a d

,

, ,

Haj Ali with whom he w a s on very friendly term s r eturned

, ,
 FIRE A ND S WORD IN T H
E S UD A N

fathe r and mothe r ; but he wa s almo st incoherent a n d at ,

time s became quite uncon s ciou s I under s tood however .

, ,

that he wa s begging me to be the bearer of h i s dying

m e s s age s s hould I ever s ucceed in e s caping
,
O u W e d n e s ~
.

day the 8 th May 1 8 88 he pa s s ed away at mi d day without

, , ,

having recovered con s ciou s ne s s W e wa s hed him wrapped .

,

him in a s hroud and according to the u s ual cu s tom carried

, , ,

him to the mo s que where the prayer s for the dead were ,

r ecited and then we buried h i m in a cemetery near the Beit

,

e l Mal F ather O h r wa ld e r the majority of the Greek colony

.
, ,

and a number of native s who h a d learnt to love and re s pect

h i s noble and una s s uming character were pre s ent ,
.

CH APT E R X III .

T HA E B YS S I N IA N C A M AI G N P .

l
B a tt e of Ga ll b t a a —
D ea h t of K i ng J h n o — T h e Re v lt
o of Ab u G e m m a iz a
—
De f
e a ts o f th e Ma h d it
re pa r tio n s s— D e a th o fAb u Gem m a iz a— P a s

f th I nv a i Ex cuti o n o f Si x t y f Egy pt
v n B t h i Ar b
H
or e s on o — e -
se e a a n a s
—
M o re L tt r fr m m M y F m i ly nd th e Kh l if
e e s o Dr s o e— a se a a a e s

ing b g fro m Vi n I m m i gr ti n o f th T i h Tri b T h e y

— a en a— a o e aa s a e—

se ttl i n the Ni l V ll y N j um i d v a n s into E gy p t B ttl o f

e e a e —
e a ce —
a e

H
T o ki I nc i d nt d uring th gr t F m in Th F ll f I b r h i m
—
s e s e ea a e— e a o a

Ad l n a i E x uti n
—
Th Kh l i fa m i tru t m
s ec I f ll i t
o —
e a s s s e — a n o

e ri u D ng r I b c m th unw i ll ing R e c i p i nt f th Kh l i fa
’
s o s a e —
e o e e e o e a s

F a yo ur s .

I T wa s howeve r to be s uppo s ed that the Mahdi s t

n o t, ,

vict orie s in the ea s t and we s t would remain entirely un

di s puted King John who had been carrying on a war in
.
,

the interior now de t ermined to ave n ge the attack on Gond a r

, ,

an d , collecting an immen s e army he advanced toward s ,

Gallabat A fi e r ce c o n fl ic t en s ued between the Aby s s inian

.

and Dervi sh ho s t s in which the latte r were wo rs ted ; but , ,

in the moment of victory a s tray bullet mo r tally wounded ,

King j ohn and thi s event tu r ned vic t ory into defeat The
, .

Aby s s inian army retiring in di s o r de r were followed up by

, ,
 T H I I
E A B YSS N A N C A M P A G N I 2 65

’
Zeki T um m a l who s ucceeded in capturing the King s body
, ,

h i s crown and baggage

, .

Aby ss inia now fell into a s tate of internecine warfare ;

there were s everal a s pirant s for the throne and di s s en s ion s ,

and qua r rel s put a s top to combined action T h e Italian s .

had been in occupation of Ma s s awa s ince the beginning of

1 88 5 and had s eized s ome of the adj acent country
, Thi s .

fact reacted s ati s factorily on the Dervi s h occupati o n of

Gallabat ; for they were well aware that the Aby s s inian s
would be fully occupied with their E uropean enemie s and ,

once more they began raiding the Amhara frontier .

W hil s t the garri s on of Gallabat w a s in danger of de s truo

tion at the hand s of King John O s man W a d Adam w a s in ,

con s iderable peril in the we s t O n the death of Sultan .

Yu s ef h i s t r oop s raid ed the country in all direction s and

, ,

h i s Emir s were guilty of the greate s t oppre s s ion and cruelty .

Thou s and s of women and children were declared to be

ghanima ( booty) and dragged to F a s her by main force
,
.

The people were in de s pair and the di s tre s s and angui s h ,

extended to the limit s of Dar Tama Here a youth re s ided .

who hailed from Omdurman and probably belonged to one ,

of the r iv e r ia n tribe s but had been driven from h i s own

,

home and under the s hade of a wide s preadin g G e m m a i z a

, ,
-

( wild fi g) tree s a t and read the Kuran

, In de s pair the .

wretched oppre s s ed people turned to thi s youth whom

, ,

they credited with s upernatural power s and dubbed Abu ,

G e m m a iz a placing him s elf at their head he fell upon a ,

s mall party of Dervi s he s and annihilated them Thi s s ucce s s .

led to others and s oon a Victoriou s army of D a r fu r i a n s were

,

marching again s t R l F a s her ; but an untoward event now

occurred Abu G e m m a i z a w a s taken s uddenly ill and
—
, ,

deprived of their chief the rebel s were completely ove r ,

thrown by O s man W a d Adam within a few mile s of the

’
town Thi s di s a s ter re s ulted in A b dulla h i s rule being
.

e stabli s hed m ore fi r m ly than ever in the we s tern province s

of the Sudan .

Previou s however t o the s e occurren c e s th e Khalifa had

, , ,
2 66 FIR E A ND S WORD I N T HU E S D AN

again directed h i s attention towa r d s Egypt e had que s

ti o n e d s everal per s on s regarding the count r y a n d they had

. H
,

excited in him an avariciou s longing for the grand palace s ,

large garden s and immen s e harem s of wh ite women ( h e

,

him s elf had black in abundanc e) O f cour s e the mo s t

H
.
,

s uitable m a n to undertake operation s again s t Egypt wa s

Ne j u m i
. e w a s an exceptionally brave man and when , ,

a s imple merchant had travelled a great d eal knew the

, ,

country well and moreover w a s an ardent devotee to the

, , ,

cau s e of Mahdi s m to which he had won over great number s

, .

The greater part of h i s force con s i s ted of tribe s men of the

N ile V alley many had s een Egypt and had until recently ,

much inte r cour s e with the frontier tribe s of U pper Egypt .

Such were the outward and Vi s ible rea s on s which the Khalifa
brought forward when s electing the chief but in reality , ,

he w a s well aware that a campaign again s t Egypt wa s a

s eriou s undertaking and on thi s account he wa s anxiou s
,

n o t to involve in it h i s own relative s and the we s tern t ribe s,

who were h i s s pecial adherent s N e j u m i therefore with

.
,

h i s J aalin and Danagla and a proportion of B aggara s

, ,

formed the expedition but the two former being follower s ,

of t he Khalifa Sherif Abdullahi alway s looked upon a s h i s

,

s ecret enemie s S h ould the campaign be s ucce s s ful and

.
—

he never for a moment doubted the capacity and devotion

of i ts leader then s o much the better : he would have
—

conquered a new country ; but s hould the Egyptian troop s

s ucceed in repelling the inva s ion then the remnant of h i s,

defeated forc e s would retire on Dongola with heavy lo s s ,

and would b e s o far weakened a s to be unworthy of furthe r

con s ideration .

The circum s tance s connected with the death of Ne j u m i ,

and the annihilation of h i s force at the hand s of the Anglo

Egyptian troop s at T o sk i on 3r d Augu s t 1 8 8 9 are too well , ,

known to need repetition here ; but in connection with the ,

collection of men to accompany thi s expedition I mu s t ,

’
mention an act of brutality on the Khalifa s part which
s urpa s s ed anything I had hi t herto witne s s ed The B a ta h in .
2 68 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HU E S D AN

t hei r hand s and feet lying s cattered on t he ground ; it wa s

a s hocking s pectacle T h ey did not utter a s ound but
.
,

gazed in front of them and tried to hide from the eye s of

,

the crowd the terrible s u ffering s they were enduring The .

Khalifa now s ummoned O s man W a d Ahmed one of the ,

Kadi s who w a s an intimate friend of Khalifa Ali and a

, ,

member of the B a ta h i n tribe and pointing to the mutilated , ,

‘
bodie s he s aid to O s man You may now take what r e
, ,
’
main s of your tribe h ome with you The poor man wa s .

too s hocked and h o r r i fi e d to be able to an s wer .

After riding round the s c a fi o l d s the Khalifa proceeded ,

along the s treet leading to the mo s que and here Ahmed c d ,

Dalia had been continuing h i s bloody work ; twenty three -

decapitated bodie s lay s tretched along the road s ide T he s e .

unfortunate s had calmly met their death s ubmitting t o the ,

inevi table Several of them a s i s the cu s tom among s t t he

.
,

A rab s had given proof of their courage by uttering a few

H
,

s entence s s uch a s ,
Death i s ordained for everyone
, See
’
to day i s my h oly day ;
-
e who h a s not s een a brave
’
man die let him come and l ook here
, Each one of the s e .

s ixty s even
- men had met h i s death h e roically The .

’
Khalifa s work wa s done ; he w a s s a ti s fi e d with it and ,

rode home O n h i s arrival there by way of an act of

.
,

clemency he s ent o n e of h i s orderlie s with in s truction s tha t

,

the women and children of the murdered men s hould be

s e t free ; he might j u s t a s well have di s tributed them a s
s lave s .

In s pite of all the s e hor r o r s I w a s s ecretly r ejoicing fo r , ,

I had heard that letter s from home were on their way not
only were there letter s but I had al s o been told c o n fi de n
, ,

ti a lly by s ome merchant s who had come from Berbe r that

, ,

there were two boxe s of money for me I scarcely dared .

think about i t and to wait patiently wa s no ea s y matter

, .

One m o r m n g whil s t I w a s s itting at the door a camel laden ,

with two boxe s w a s brought u p and the man a s ked t o be ,

taken befo r e the Khalifa s aying that he had arrived with,

letters and good s fr om O s man Digna The Khalifa being .

,
2 70 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HU
E S D AN

kind red s pirit with a view t o matrimony F ather O h r wa lde r .

came to me s ecretly by night to bor r ow the pape r s and ,

s tudied them ju s t a s con s cientiou s ly a s I d i d only I do not ,

s uppo s e that he paid quite s o much attention to the la s t

adverti s ement
E arly the next morning taking the pre s ent with me I , ,

went to the K h alifa ; he told me to open i t and when he ,

s a w all the lit tle cry s tal boxe s s ilver topped bottle s bru s he s
,
-
, ,

razor s s ci s s or s etc etc he w a s greatly s urpri s ed I had

, , .
, .
, .

to explain to him their variou s u s e s and he then s ent for ,

the Kadi s who in duty bound were obliged to expre s s

, , ,

even greater a s toni s hment than h e though I had no d oubt ,

that s everal of them had s een s uch thing s before Then .

,

without any further delay he s ent for h i s clerk and ordered , ,

him to write a letter to my brother s and s i s ter s in which ,

he him s elf informed them of the honourable po s ition I held

in h i s s ervice ; he invited them to come to Omdu r man and
,

H
vi s it me and gave them the a s s urance that th e y w o uld be
free to return . e al s o ordered me to w rite in the s ame
s train and alth ough I knew perfectly well that my people
, ,

would never avail them s elve s of s uch an invitation which ,

wa s merely a s pontaneou s outbur s t of deligh t I t ook ,

good care to warn them fully again s t thinking of it for an

in s tant T h e let t er s were then returned by the man who
.

had been s en t by O s man Digna and the latter w a s i n ,

s tructed by letter to forward them The real rea s on .

,
’
howeve r for th e Khalifa s good humou r lay in the fact that
,
-

h i s own tribe the T a a i s h a had arrived in Omdurman

, , .

They had marched through Kordofan to the W hite Nile at

Tura e l Hadra The K h alifa had written to them that they
.

s hould come to take po s s e s s ion of the countrie s which the

L ord their God had ordained to be their s and on their ,

arrival they certainly behaved a s if they were s ole ma s ter s .

They appropriated everything they could lay their hand s

on : camel s cows and donkey s were forcibly carried o ff
, ,

from their owners ; men and women who had the m i s

fortune to cro ss their path we r e r obbed of their clothing
 T H I I
E A B YSS N A N C A M P A G N I 27 1

and j ewellery ; and the population s of the countrie s t h rough

which they pa s s e d bitterly rued the day which h a d made
a we s tern Arab their ruler F or their convenience the
.
,

Khalifa erected immen s e grain dep ot s all along the road s

by which they travelled and on their arrival at the river
, ,

s hip s and s teamer s were ready to tran s port them t o

Omdurman But before they reached the city the Khalifa
.
,

ordered them to halt on the right bank of the r i y e r a n d r ,

dividing them into two s ection s he had all the men and ,

women fre s hly clothed at the expen s e of the Beit e l Mal ;

and they then were brought in detachment s at interval s of ,

two or three day s to Omdurman In order to make the

,
.

populace thoroughly under s tand that the new ma ster s of

the country had arrived Abdullahi drove out of their
,

hou s e s all th e i n h a b i ta hts of that portion of the city lying

between the mo s que and Omdurman F ort and handed it ,

over to the T a a i s h a a s their re s idence Other ground wa s .

allotted to tho s e who had been forced to give up their

hou s e s and they were promi s ed a ss i s tance from the Beit e l
,

Mal in order to rebuild ; but o f cour s e thi s wa s mere

, ,

empty form and re s ulted in their having to s hift entirely

,

for them s elve s .

In order to facilitate th e maintenance of h i s tribe and a s ,

grain began to ri s e in price the Khalifa i s s ued an order for

,

all grain s tored in the hou s e s to be taken to the me s hra e l

‘

m i n a r a ta ( grain dock s ) under pain of c o n fi s c a ti o n ; and

, ,

having obtained the s ervice s of s ome of h i s own myrmidon s ,

he ordered them to s ell thi s grain at the lowe s t po s s ible

rate to the T a a i s h a ; and th e money th us obtained he
divided among s t the original owner s who in their turn , , ,

were obliged to r e purc h a s e at the high rate s from other

-

s ource s . Thi s whole s ale robbery can be better under s tood

when I explain that th e money paid by the T a a i s h a fo r ten
ardeb s of grain w ould s carcely pay for two ardeb s purcha s ed
in the ordinary manner .

W h en the s upply of grain at Omdurman w a s dimini s hing ,

he de spatched me ss enger s to the Gezira to co n fi s ca te wha t

2 72 FIR E A N D S W OR D IN T H E S UD A N

wa s till there ; and in thi s manner by publicly s howing

s ,

h i s prefe r ence for h i s own tribe he completely e s tranged ,

him s elf from h i s former follower s Thi s however w a s a .

, ,

matter of little concern to him a s by the advent of the , ,

T a a i s h a Arab s he h a d acquired a reinforcement of s eve r al

,

thou s and s of warrior s .

But now famine fell on the land There had been no .

r ain and Berber w a s the fi r s t province to feel thi s The

, .

irrigation of thi s province i s carried on by water wheel s a t -

interval s along the river bank s ; and even in pro s pe r ou s

t ime s the s upply of grain i s s carcely s uffi c ie n t to meet the
want s of the local inhabitant s ; s everal of them wande r ed
t o Omdurman which w a s already over populated ; and
,
-

here the s ituation became mo s t critical : the p r ice of grain

r o s e at fi r s t t o for t y dollar s and s ub s equently to s ixty
,

dollar s the ardeb The rich could purcha s e g rain ; bu t

,
.

the poor died whole s ale Tho s e were terrible month s a t

.

the clo s e of 1 8 8 9 the people had become s o thin that they 4

s carcely re s embled human being s t hey were veritably bu t —

s kin and bone The s e poor wretche s would eat anything

.
,

no matter how di s gu s ting s kin s of animal s which had long

—

s ince dried and become decayed were roa s ted and eaten ;

the s trip s of leather which form the angareb ( native bed

s tead ) were cut o ff boiled and made in t o s oup Tho s e
, , .

who had any s trength left went out and robbed like hawk s
they pounced down on the baker s and butcher s and cared ,

nothing for the blow s of the kurba s h which invariably fell

.

o n their attenua t ed back s .

O n one occa s ion I remember s eeing a man who had s eized

a piece of tallow and had c r ammed it into h i s mouth before
,

its owner could s top h i m The latter j umped at h i s t hroat

.
,
’
clo s ed h i s hand s round i t and pre s s ed it till the man s eye s
,

protruded ; but he kept h i s m o uth t ightly clo s ed until he

'

fell down in s en s ible In the market place s the ince s s ant

H
-
.

’
cry wa s heard of G a ye k um ! G a ye kum ! e i s coming
’
t o you l ) which meant that fami s hed creature s were
s tealt h i ly creeping r ound t he place s whe r e the women had
 HA B
T E SSINIA N
Y C A M PA G N I 273

their few a rticle s for s ale to protect wh ich they were ,

frequently obliged to lie upon them and defend them wit h ,

’
their hand s and feet The s pace between the Khalifa s .

’
and Ya ku b s hou s e s w a s generally crowded at night with
the s e wretched people who cried aloud mo s t piteou s ly for
,

bread I dreaded going h ome for I w a s generally followed

.
,

by s everal of the s e fami s hed beggar s who often attempted ,

to forcibly enter my hou s e and at that time I had s carcel y ,

enough for my own s lender want s be s ide s having to he lp

’

my own hou s eh old and my friend s w h o h a d now become ,

wretchedly poor .

One night t w a full moon I w a s going home at about

i s — —
’
twelve o clock when near the Beit e l Amana ( ammunition
, ,

and arm s s tore s) I s a w s omet h ing moving on the ground

, ,

and went near to s e e what it w a s A s I approached I s a w .

three almo s t naked women with their long tangled hair ,

hanging about their s houlder s ; they were s quatting round

a quite young donkey which wa s lying on the g r ound and, ,

had probably s trayed from i ts mother or been s tolen by ,

them They had torn open i ts body with t h eir teeth and
.
,

were devouring its inte s tine s whil s t the poor animal w a s ,

,

s till breathing I s h uddered at thi s terrible s ight whil s t

.
,

the poo r women infuriated by hunger gazed at me like

, ,

maniacs The beggar s by whom I wa s followed now fell

.

u po n th e m
‘
and attempted to wre s t from them their prey ;
,

and I fled from thi s uncanny s pectacle .

O n another occa s ion I s a w a poo r woman who mu s t

formerly have been beautiful but on who s e emacia ted face ,

the death s truggle wa s vi s ible lying on he r back in the

-
,

s treet whil s t her little baby s carcely a year old w a s vainly

, , ,
’
trying to get s ome n ouri s hment from i ts mother s already
cold brea s t s Another woman pa s s ing by took compa s s io n
.

on the little orphan and carried it o ff .

One day a woman of the j aalin who are perhap s the ,

mo s t moral tribe in the Sudan accompanied by he r only ,

daughter a lovely young girl dragged her s elf wearily to

, ,
’
my hou s e ; both were at death s door from s tarvation and ,

1 8
274 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T H
E S UD A N

begged me to help them I gave them what little I could

.
,

and the woman then s aid Take thi s my only daughter , , ,

a s you r s lave ; s ave her from death by s tarvation and a s ,

s h e s aid thi s the tear s s treamed down h e r poor wan cheek s ,

whil st in her weak s carcely audible voice s h e continued

, , ,

Do not fear that I s hall mole s t you any further only s ave
her do not let her peri s h
—
I g a ve them all I could s pare ,

and then a s ked them to leave me telling them to r eturn ,

when they were in great want ; but I never s a w them

again perhap s s ome c h aritable pers on took pity on them
—
.

Another woman w a s actually accu s ed of eating her own

child and wa s brought to the police s tation for trial ; but
,
-

of what u s e w a s thi s P I n two day s the poor creature died

a r aving maniac !

S everal s old their own children both boy s and girl s pre
, ,

tending they were their s lave s thi s they did not to obtain
money but s imply to s ave thei r live s ; and when thi s year
,

of mi s ery w a s over s ome parent s bought them back again

at even higher price s The dead lay i n the s tree t s in
.

hundred s ; and none could be found to bury them The .

Khalifa i s s ued order s that people were re s pon s ible fo r bury

ing tho s e who were found dead near their hou s e s and that ,

s hould they refu s e to do s o their prope r ty would be con

fi sc a te d Thi s had s ome effect ; but to s ave them s elve s

.
,
’
trouble they u s ed to drag the bodie s near thei r neighbour s
,

hou s e s and thi s gave ri s e to frequent quarrel s and brawl s

,
.

Eve r y day the wa t er s of the Blue and W hite Nile s s wept

pa s t Omdurman carrying along hundred s of bodie s of the
,

wretched pea s antry who had died along the banks a —

terrible p r oof of the awful condition of t he country .

In Omdurman it s elf the maj ority of t ho s e who died

belonged rather to the m oving population than to the actual
inhabitant s of the town for the latter had man aged to
,

s ec r ete a cer t ain amount of grain and the d ifl e r e n t tribe s

,

invariably a s s i sted each other ; but in other part s of the

Sudan the s tate of affair s w a s c on s iderably wors e I think .

the Jaalin who are the mo s t independent a s well a s t he

,
276 FIR E A ND S WORD IN HU
T E S D AN

Gedaref and Gallabat the we s tern province s s uch a s Da r ,

Gim r Da r Tama and Ma s s alit had no need of g r ain but

, , , ,

not being in complete s ubj ection they prevented i ts expo r t

to F a s her Indeed it s eemed a s if thi s famine had come a s
.
,
’
Heaven s puni s h ment on all di s trict s owning s ubj ection to
the Khalifa whil s t the neighbouring countrie s which had
, ,

had s u ffi ci e n t re s t to cultivate their h eld s had acqui r ed ,

enough grain for their maintenance A few Omdurman .

merchant s hired s ome ve s s el s and proceeded to F a s hoda ,

where they exchanged bead s copper rod s and money for

, ,

dhur r a ; the undertaking s ucceeded and now crowd s of ,

others followed their exa m ple proceeding s ometime s a s far

,

a s the Sobat whence they imported quantitie s of grain thu s

, ,

enriching them s elve s and s aving t h eir fellow countrymen

,
-

fr o m terrible want Had the King of F a s hoda who wa s

.
,

not then s ubject to th e Khalifa forbidden the export half , ,

Omdurman would have peri s hed A t length the rain fell ; .

the thir s ty land w a s refre s hed the c r o ps s prang up harve s t

wa s near ; and the whole country once more rejoiced at the
pro s pect of help a n d deliverance But now the atmo s phere
.

became ob s cure with s warm s of locu s t s of an unu s ual s ize ,

an d the pro s pect of a rich harve s t vani s hed ; everything ,

however wa s not de s troyed by thi s plague which from that

, , ,

date h a s become one of annual occurrence The Khalifa

, .
,

anxiou s for the welfare of h i s own tribe now forced the ,

native s to s ell the little grain they had collect ed a t an a b

s u r dly low price to h i s agent s ; but s mall a s thi s wa s in ,

compari s on with the price he ought to have paid he dete r ,

mined to s till further economi s e and con s equently o r dered

,

Ibrahim Adlan to proceed per s onally to the Gezira and ,

induce the inhabitant s to give up their dhurra of their own

free will and without payment Adlan who thoroughly
-
, .
,

di s app roved of thi s mea s ure had by h i s thoroughne ss and

, ,
’
s agacity ri s en high in the Khalifa s favour ; but Abdullahi
,

di s cu s s ed State affai rs with h i s brother Yakub only who s e ,

animo s ity Adlan had incu rred though Yakub wa s too clever
,

to s how i t .
 T HA BE SSINIA N
Y CA M P A IG N 277

’
As native s g o A dla n s character wa s good : h e di d no t
,

care to lend him s elf to evil de s ign s and far from oppre s s ing ,

people w a s often the mean s of lightening th e burden s of

,

other s ; but he w a s s u s pected and not without rea s on of , ,

having made an immen s e fortune and of thi s the Khalifa ,

wa s not ignorant con s equently during h i s ab s ence Yakub , ,

and s everal of h i s c o n fi da n ts informed the Khalifa tha t

’
A dla n s i n fl ue n ce in th e country w a s almo s t a s g r e a t as h i s
own and that he had frequently s poken di s paragingly of
,

h i s ma s ter and h i s s y s tem of government ; they even went

a s far a s to s a y that Adlan h a d attributed the famine entirely
’
to the Khalifa s treatment of h i s own tribe Thi s intrigue .

re s ulted in the unfortunate Adlan being brought before a

mock tribunal by w hom he w a s s entenced to mutilation or
‘
death for di s obedience ’
e
,

H
w a s allowed to make h i s
choice and s elected the latter W ith h i s hand s tied acro s s
.

.
,

h i s che s t and to the s train s of the melancholy o m b e y a he

, ,

wa s led forth to the marke t place accompanied by an i m ,

men s e crowd Calmly mounting the angareb beneath the

.
,

s ca ffold he him self placed h i s head in the noo s e and t e

, ,

fu s ing to drink the water o ffered to him told the h angman ,

to complete h i s work the rope w a s pulled taut the angareb ,

wa s removed and there Ibrahim s wung like a marble s tatue

,

until h i s s oul left h i s body the out stretched index fi n g e r ,

alone indicating that he died in the true faith of I s lam In .

s pi t e of the interdiction wail s of s orrow fi l le d the city bu t

, ,

the K h alifa rej oiced t h at h e had rid him s elf of s o dangerou s

to h i s order s
,

H
an enemy and refrained from puni s hing thi s di s obedience
e s ent h i s brother Yakub to the funeral a s
.

if to s how to the world that Adlan had merely been puni s hed
,

in accordance with the law and that the well known ani -

H
,

m o s i ty between the two had nothing to do with the matter .

i s s ucce s s or a s Emin Beit e l Mal w a s a certain N u r

W a d Ibrahim who s e grandfat h er w a s a Takruri
,

not therefore belong to th e tribe s of the N ile valley and

e did . H
, , ,
’
thu s had a greater claim on the Khalifa s c o n fi de n c e and
con sider a t ion .
2 78 FIR E A N D S WORD IN HU
T E S D AN

As regard s my s elf the Khalifa s eemed t o gr ow daily more

,
’
s us piciou s Previou s to Ibrahim A dla n s depa rture for the
.

Gezira the an s wer to my letter w h ich h a d been s ent to my

,

fam ily through O s man Digna had arrived It contained .

only new s of a private nature and expre s s ed the great ,

delight of my family t h at they h a d s ucceeded in at la st

getting into communication with me A t the s ame time .
,

they wrote to th e Khalifa in s ubmi ss ive word s expre s s ing ,

their gratitude for the kind and honourable trea tment which
I received at h i s hand s T h ey al s o a s s ured him of thei r
.

great devotion to him and thanked him fo r the high honour

,

h e had conferred upon them by inviting them to come to

Omdurman but my brother regretted h i s inability to accept

H
,

a s he w a s at t hat time a s ecretary in the o ffi c e of the High

Chamberlain of i s Maj e sty the Emperor of Au s tria whil s t ,

th e other brother w a s a lawyer and lieutenant in the Artillery

R e s erve ; they were the r efore both unable in virtue of their ,

po s ition s to undertake s o long a journey My ma ste r had

, .

called me u p and on handing me the letter s had ordered

,

me to tran s late them to him ; then con s idering for a fe w ,

moment s he s aid to me It wa s my inten tion to induce

, ,

one of your brother s to come h ere and s e e me ; and I did

what I had never done before wrote a letter to them A s — .

they make excu s e s and refu s e t o come and a s they n o w ,

kno w that you are well I forbid you to have any more cor
,

re s pondence with them F urther communication would .

’
only make you unhappy Do you under s tand wha t I mean P
.

’ ‘
Certainly I replied your order s s hall be obeyed ; and I
, ,

al s o think that further communication with my relative s i s

not nece s s ary ’
W here i s the Go s pel that h a s been s ent
.

’ ‘ ’
to you P a s ked h e looking at me fi xe dly
,
I a m a Mo s lem .
1

,
‘
I an s wered for I w a s now on my guard and I have no
, ,

Go s pel in my hou s e They s ent me a tran s lation of the

.

Kuran t he Holy Book which your s ecretary s a w when

, ,
’
the box wa s opened and which i s s till in my po s s e s s ion
,
.

’
Then bring it to me to morrow he s aid and s igned to me
-
, ,

t o withdraw .
2 80 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HU
E S D AN

A s s embling all h i s m ula z e m i n b e a s s erted ; in the mo s t ,

forcible language that I w a s s u s pected of being a s py ; that

,

he had been told I invariably que s tioned th e camel po s tmen

who arrived about th e s ituation ; that I received vi s itor s in
my hou s e a t n ig h t who were known to be out of favour with
f

him ; and that I h a d gone s o far a s to inquire in what part

‘ ’
of h i s hou s e h i s bedroom w a s s ituated I a m afraid he .
,

contin u e d t h at if you do not change your line of conduct

, ,
’
you will follow in th e foot s tep s of my old enemy Adlan .

Thi s w a s rather a blow to me ; but I knew that now ,

more than ever I had need of being calm and collected

, .

’ ‘
Sire s aid I in a loud voice I cannot defend my s elf
, , ,

again s t unknown enemie s ; but I a m perfectly innocent of

all they have told you I leave my detractor s in the hand s .

of God F or more than s i x year s in s un s hine a n d rain I

.
, ,

have s tood at your door ever ready to receive and carry out ,
’
your order s A t your command I have given up all my
.

old friend s and have no communication with anyone I

, .

have even given up a ll connection with my relative s and ,

that without the s lighte s t remon s trance Such a thing a s .

con s piracy h a s never even entered my heart During all .

the s e long year s I have never made a complaint Sire .

,

wh a t have I done ? All that I do i s not done out of fear

of you but o u t of love for you ; and I cannot do more
, .

Should God still have further trial s in s tore for me I s hall ,

calmly and willingly s ubmit to my fate ; but I have full

’
reliance in your s en s e of j u s tice .

W hat have you to s a y to h i s word s P he said to the

’

’
a s s embled m ula z e m in after a moment s s ilence All with , .
,

out exception admitted that they had never noticed any

,

thing in my behaviour which could give ri s e t o s uch a

s u s picion ; my enemie s al s o and I well knew who they —

were and who were re s pon s ible for getting me into thi s
,

dangerou s po s ition were obliged to admit thi s —

I forgive .

’
you s aid h e ; bu t avoid for the future giving further cau s e

H
,

for complaint and holding out h i s h and for me to ki s s he

, ,

s i ned to m e t o wi t hdraw e mu s t h ave felt t hat he had

g .
 T HA BE YS S I N IA N CA M P A G N I 281

wronged me ; for th e ne x t day he s ummoned me s poke to ,

me kin dly and warned me again s t my enemie s who he

, , ,

s aid were a s a thorn in my fle s h

,
I profe s s ed a ffection and.

c o n fi d e n c e in h i m and he then s aid in quite a co n fi de n ti a l ,

‘
tone Do not make enemie s for you know that Mahdia i s
, ,

conducted in accordance with the Mo s lem law s hould you

be accu s ed before the Kadi of trea s on and two witne s s e s ,
/
mak e good the accu s ation you are lo s t ; for I ca n n o t g o
,
’
again s t the law to s ave you .

’
W hat an exi s tence in a country where o ne s very life
hung on the evidence of two witne s s e s Thanking him for
h i s advice I promi s ed to follow i t and s aid 1 would of
, , ,

cour s e do all in my power to de s erve h i s c o n fi de n c e W hen

,
.

I returned home at midnight tired a n d worn out by thi s ,

con s tant s train my de voted Sa a da lla informed me to my

, ,

great annoyance that only a few minute s before one of

,
’
the Khalifa s eunuch s had brought a clo s ely veiled female -
,

who w a s now in m y hou s e .

I ought to have been greatly plea sed about thi s for it w a s ,

a proof that the Khalifa h a d forgiven me ; but my fi r s t

thought wa s how to rid my s elf of thi s pre s ent withou t
creating s u s picion Sa a d a lla and I now entered the hou s e
.
,

and to my horror I found that underneath the veil wa s an

, ,

Egyptian who had been born at Khartum and who w a s

, ,

con s equently from a Sudane s e point of view a lady of a

, ,

comparatively fair complexion Sh e wa s s eated on the .

carpet and after we had exchanged greeting s s h e replied

, , ,

to my query a s to her nationality with s uch rapidity of

s peec h that I who s poke Arabi c fairly well h a d t he greate s t ,

di ffi c u lty in following the romantic hi s tory of her life .

She w a s the daughter s h e s aid of an Egyptian o ffi c e r

, , ,

who I afterward s learnt had only been a private s oldier

, , ,
'

and who h a d fallen in th e fi g h t again s t the Shilluk s under

'

Yu s ef Bey A s t h i s had taken place upward s of twenty

.

year s before I could without any great e flo r t of calculation

, , ,
‘

e stimate fa i r ly a cc ur a te ly t h at thi s good lady w a s well out

of her teen s ; and a s s h e admitt ed tha t h e r fi r s t hu s band
2 82 FIR E A N D S WORD I N T HU E S D AN

had been killed du r ing t he capture of Khartum that her ,

mother wa s an Aby s s inian who had been educated in

Khartum and wa s s till alive and that s h e had an enormou s
, ,

number of relative s I really believe that had my head not

, ,

been clean s haven my hair would veritably have s tood on

-
,

end Thi s far travelled and widely experienced lady i n

.
- -

formed me that s h e h a d been one of the many hundred s of

’
Abu Anga s wive s and I had now been cho s en a s the
,

happy s ucce s s or of thi s old s lave After h i s death s h e had .

bee n captured with s everal of her rival s by the Aby s

, ,

s inian s when King John attacked Gallabat but had been ,

s ub s equently liberated by Zeki T u m m a l and s h e knew s o

many detail s of all the fi g h ts in thi s neighbou r hood that ,

had my memory been only capable of retaining them they ,

would have n o w been of great intere s t to my reade r s A .

’
s ho r t time ago the Khalifa had ordered Abu Anga s r e

maining widow s to be brought to Omdurman for di s tribution

among s t h i s follower s ; s h e then went on to s a y that the
Khalifa him s elf had e s pecially s elected her a s my wife and ,

s h e added in a s ubdued tone that s h e rejoiced to have

, ,

fallen in t o the hand s of a fellow countryman I explained -

.

to her that I w a s not an Egyptian but a Europea n A s , .

,

however my s kin wa s s omewhat tanned and the circum

, ,

s tance s in which I live d gave her a pretext for claiming me

a s a compatriot I w a s obliged to s a y tha t I would provide

,

a s far a s po s s ible for her maintenance and comfort and a s ,

nigh t w a s well advanced I bade her follow my s ervan t

,

Sa a da lla who would m ake arrangement s for her

, .

’
Such were the Khalifa s pre s ent s : in s tead of allocating a
s mall s u m of money from t he Beit e l Mal by mean s of ,

which I could have procured for my s elf a few comfort s he ,

kept on s ending me wive s who were not only a s ource of

,

con s iderable expen s e to me but al s o a cau s e of much ,

anxiety and worry ina s much a s I w a s continually

,

s truggling to free my s elf from their unwelcome pre s ence .

The next morning the Khalifa laughingly a s ked me if I had

r eceived h i s pre s ent and if I liked i t W it h the le s s on of
, .
2 84 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HU E S D AN

ing F atma entirely to her relative s and with thi s propo s i t ion ,

the Khalifa appeared perfectly s a ti s fi e d .

There wa s however no truth in thi s s tatement for s ince

, , ,

Sa a d a lla had entertained and turned out h i s Vi s itor s I

had s een no one F earing to betray my intention s to the
.

Khalifa I waited s ome time longer and then s ent F atma

, ,

e l Beida to her mother who s e w h ereabout s Sa a d a lla had ,

at lengt h di s covered and I in s tructed the lady to s tay with ,

her mother until I s hould s end for her A few day s after .

ward s I s ent a few clothe s to mother and daughter and a

s mall s u m of money with a me s s age that s h e wa s free and ,

no longer under any obligation s to me O f cours e I told .

the Khalifa what I had done reiterating that I w a s mo s t ,

anxiou s to have nothing to do with people who were

s tranger s to him and to me and in thi s he s a w an additional ,

proof of my anxiety to obey h i s order s About a month .

later the mother came to s e e me and a s ke d my permi s s ion ,

to marry h e r daughter to one of her relative s I agreed to .

thi s propo s ition with the greate s t alacrity and I left F atma ,

e l Beida the mother of a happy family in Omdu r man .

CHAPT E R X I V .

DI SS E N SI O N A ND DI C O R D
S .

Th e Re v lt o r f Fl i gh t f F th r O h w ld
of th e A s h d th
a tw—
o a e r a er an e o

Si t r
s e T h Kh l i f r v ng
s— h im lf
e th A h ra f T h S i z ur
a a e e es se on e s — e e e

an d E x cu ti n f th M h d i
e U cl
o Z k i T um m l R tur t
o e a
’
s n e s— e a
'
s e n o

O m d urm a n l d n w i th B ty Kh l i f Sh ri f rr t d
a e Wh oo —
a a e a es e en

th r i
e e Fir th r i
s no e e e s

N w fr m A u tri
e s Th
o Kh l i f f ll i ll T h St ry f
s a— e a a a s —
e o o

m g r T h F ll f Z k i T um m l T h B ttl f
e s se n e —
e a o e a —
e a e o

T h C p tur
e fKa l T h C o ng Fre e St te i Eq ua t ria
e o a ssa a — e o a n o

B h r l G h z l I r fu t m rr y th e Kh l i f C u in
'
a e a a —
e se o a a a s o s .

H
M EA NW I LE my old enemy Khaled w h o had been kept ,

pri s on for s everal month s had been relea s ed and s ent ,

Dongola a s governor in place of Yune s but he had n o t be ,

 D ISSENSI O N AN D D ISCO R D 285

there long before he fell a victim to the intrigue s of two of

’
the Khalifa s cou s in s who had been s ent to watch h i s
,

action s Khaled w a s again recalled to Omd urman and

.
,

once more found him s elf in chain s Thi s act s erved to .

s till further irritate the relation s and parti s an s of the late

Mahdi and in con s equence the Khalifa Mohammed Sherif

, ,
’
in conjunction with two of the Mahdi s s on s who we r e ,

s carcely twenty year s of age and many of h i s rel ati ve s , ,

now agreed among s t them s elve s to s h ake o ff the hated yoke

of Khalifa Abdullahi and s eize th e rein s of government
,
.

They s ecretly elaborated their plan s in Omdurman and ,

gradually took into their c o n fi de n ce s everal of their friend s

and fellow tribe s men T h ey al s o de s patch ed letter s to the
- .

Danagla living in the Gezira w h om t h ey invited to come to

H
,

Omdurman and join th em ; but one of the Jaalin Emir s

betrayed them e had been bound over by an oath to tell
.

only h i s brother or be s t friend s and h e at once informed the ,

Khalifa s aying t h at he con s idered him h i s be s t friend

,
.

Appri s ed of thi s con s piracy Abdullahi at once made counter

,

arrangement s but the A s hraf warn ed by their s pie s of the ,

’
Khalifa s s ecret order s and doing s realized t h at their plot ,

had been di s covered and immediately collected in that part

,
’
of the town j u s t north of the Khalifa s hou s e prepared fo r ,

the fray .

Pers onally I longed for the fi g h t for I had only my life to

'
,

lo s e a n d that w a s in daily peril

, I had before me the .

example of Ibrahim Adlan and I knew that Abdullahi had ,

no regard for the live s of h i s be st and true s t friend s .

Internal fi g h tin g mu s t re s ult in the weakening of my

enemie s and that alone would have been a s ource of s ati s
,

faction to me ; moreover in the confu s ion which mu s t

,

ari s e I might h n d an occa s ion to regain my liberty and

, ,

pos s ibly I might be able to exer ci s e s ome i n flu e n ce over the

former Government troop s who I knew were much di s ,

sa ti s fi e d with their pre s ent treatment U nder s uch .

abnormal circum s tance s it w a s impos s ible to frame any

di s tinct plan of action My de s ire w a s t h at a fi g h t s hould
.
2 86 FIR E A N D S WOR D IN T HU E S D AN

take place and that I s hould make a s much capital out of

,

it a s I could for my own per s onal b e n e fi t .

Some of the mos t excited of the mutineer s now began

h ring and s ome of tho s e on our s ide contrary to order s
, , ,

replied ; but it w a s by no mean s a fi g h t merely a few s tray ,

s hot s The in s urgent s did not s eem to k now what they

.

wanted ; their party w a s undecided their weapon s were ,

bad and out of repair and s o al s o w a s the courage of the

,

A s hraf and their follower s After a s hort time the h ring .

ceas ed and on ou r s ide the total lo s s w a s fi v e killed The

, .

Khalifa s ent out a p r oclamation which w a s borne by ,

Khalifa Ali W a d Helu and to thi s s ummon s the reply ,

wa s favourable They wi s hed to know they s aid the

.
, ,

condition s of r econciliation and they we r e then told to ,

name their p r opo s al s The negotiation s continued all t hat

.

day and far into the night They began again the follow .

ing day and to my great regret a clear under s tanding w a s

, ,

H
,

arrived a t and agreed to by the Khalifa under a s olemn

, ,

oath . e promi s ed complete forgivene s s to all who had

taken part in the in s urrection to give to Khalifa Mohammed

Sherif a po s ition worthy of h i s dignity and a s eat in council ; ,

to allow him to again take pos s e s s ion of the s tandard s which ,

’
after Nej u m i s death had been laid a s ide and to collect
, ,

volunteer s under them ; and promi s ed pecuniary s uppo r t

’
fr om the Beit c l Mal to the Mahdi s r elative s in accordance ,
’
with Sherif s propo s al s In return for the s e conce s s ion s the
.

in s urgent s agreed to give up all their a r m s and s ubmit n u ,

’
conditionally to the Khalifa s orders The agreement wa s .

n o w r a ti fi e d and the term s of peace concluded by the

,

delegate s on both s ide s ; but s omehow no one s eemed in

any hurry to execute them O n the following F riday .

morning the leaders of the in s urgent s came them selve s

before the Khalifa and obtained a renewal of the promi s e s
,

he had made in re t urn for which they gave fre s h atte st a

,

tion s of loyalty ; and on the s ame afternoon Khalifa Sherif

’
and the Mahdi s s on s approached Abdullahi Peace wa s .

n o w fully concluded and the cavalry and infantry which

, ,
2 88 FIR E A ND S WOR D I N T HU E S D AN

and G a r e ifa wi and W ahbi could only procure three camel s

fo r the purs uit of O h r wa ld e r who knew that the s ucce ss of
,

H
h i s flight depended on i ts rapidity F rom the depth of my .

heart I ho hed h e might s ucceed e had s u ffered a g r eat

.

deal and had borne it with Chri s tian fortitude and patience
,

I now felt completely de s erted e w a s the only man with

whom I w a s intellectually on a par and with whom I could

. H .

, ,

though very rarely talk a fe w word s in my mother tongue

,

H
.

The following d a y I wa s s ummoned before the Khalifa ,

’
who angrily reproa c hed me for O h r w a lde r s flight e is .

one of your own race and i s in communication w i th you

, .

W h y did you not draw my attention to its p os s ibility s o ,

that I mig h t have taken precaution s ? I a m po s itive you

’ ‘
knew of h i s intention to e s cape s aid he Sire pardon, ,
’
me s aid I
,
How could I know of h i s intention to
.

e s cape and how could I tell you that he had done s o ?

,

Since the outbreak of the revolt attempted by your God

for s aken enemie s and which thank s to the Almighty you
, , ,

have now defeated by your wi s dom I have not moved day ,

or night from my po s t Had I known that he wa s a traito r

.

’
I s hould have at once told you of it To thi s he angrily .

‘
replied : No doubt you r Con s ul arranged for him to be
’
taken away from here .

Among s t the la s t letters which I had received wa s one

written in Arabic from the Au stro Hungarian Con s ul -

General V on R o s ty to the Khalifa in which he thanked

, , ,

him fo r the kind treatment of the member s of the forme r

Catholic Mi s s ion and at the s ame time a s ked h i s permi s s ion
,

to s end them a me s s enger for whom he begged a free pa s s

,

a s they were under Au s trian protection and a s

the Emperor had a s pecial regard for them The Khalifa

i s Maje s ty ,

.
H ,

had s hown me the letter which he had left unan s wered ;

,

but from that day he had looked upon the members of the
Mi ss ion a s my compatriot s and wa s now convinced that
,

they had been a s s i s ted to e s cape by the aid of the Con s ul

General I now remarked to the Khalifa that po s s ibly me r
.

chant s belonging to the frontier tribe s and who often came ,

 D ISSENSIO N A ND DISCO RD 2 89

to Omd urman might have taken advantage of th e di s turb

,

a n c e s in order to help O h r w a ld e r and the Si s ter s to e s cape ,

so a s to obtain s ome pecuniary reward for them s elve s .

Abd ullahi who w a s s till much preoccupied with the revolt

, ,
'

came round to my opinion and afte r admoni s hing me to ,

remain perfectly loyal he di s mis s ed me

, .

’
In s pite of all Ab du lla h i s p r omi s e s to the A s hraf he s oon ,

found a pretext for s eizing thirteen of the r i n g le a de rs y a s

well a s the two uncle s of the Mahdi and the s e he s hipped ,

o ff in a boat to F a s hoda con s igned to h i s faithful Emi r

,

Zeki T u m m a l who had been previou s ly s ent the r e to quell

,

a r evolt of the Shilluk s O n their arrival Zeki T u m m a l

.

had t hem clo s ely c o n fi n e d for eig h t day s in a zariba with

s ca r cely any food or water giving them only ju s t s u ffi c i e n t
,

t o keep them alive ; t hen in accordance with the s ecret

,

in s truction s he had r eceived he had them beaten to death ,

with fre s hly cut s ticks from thorny tree s The execution
- .

took place in front of the whole army and before thi s cruel ,

operation began their clothing wa s ruthle ss ly to r n from

,

their emaciated bodie s .

Zeki T um m a l now retu r ned to Omdurman laden w 1 th

booty ; he brought with him thou s and s of female s lave s ,

and immen s e herd s of cat tle the s ale of which brought in a ,

’
large s um of ready money Mo s t of Z e k i s Emir s i n di g
.

n a n tl
y complained of h i s tyranny and even a s s erted to the ,
'

Khalifa that if he could obtain s u ffi c i e n t follower s he would

, ,

not he s itate to make him s elf independent ; but the latter -

,

by making rich pre s ent s of female s lave s money and cat t l e , ,

to the Khalifa and h i s brother s ucceeded in remaining i n ,

thei r good g r ace s .

W hil s t Zeki T u m m a l w a s in Omdurman the Khalifa ,

carried out a s erie s of man oeuvre s between h i s force s a n d

tho s e quartered in Omdur m an and per s onally took the ,

command but a s he had ab s olutely no idea of military

,

s cience and a s the thirty thou s a n d troop s of whom he di s

,

po s ed were entirely without di s cipline the man oeuvre s r e ,

2

s u l te d in the mo s t hopele s s confu s ion and di s order and the ,

I 9
2 90 FIR E A ND S WOR D IN T HU E S D AN

blam e fo r thi s invariably fell on my devoted head fo r the ,

Khalifa employed me a s a s ort of aide de camp and when - -

,

h e became ine x tricably muddled up he hurled abu s e at me ,

a n d s aid I had urpo s ely pe r ve r ted h i s order s to make m i s

p
chief O f cou rs e I did not dare r emon s trate with him and
.
,

quietly continued to carry out h i s orders A t length he .

declared the exe r ci s e s over ordered Zeki Tu m m a l o ff t o ,

Gallabat and a s w a s u s ually the c a s e c o m m e n de d me fo r

, , ,
~

my s e rvice s and pre s ented me with two Bl a ck youn g ladie s

,

a s a proof of h i s good will - .

Mean while Khalifa Sherif had hea r d o f the mu r de r of

,

h i s two relative s and openly prote sted again s t t h i s ty r annical

H
,

proceeding thu s giving Abdullahi an opportuni t y of taking

,

the revenge fo r which he had s o patiently waited e .

declared him to be guilty of di s obedience to the in st ru ction s

which the Mahdi had s o s trictly enforced and of inattention
t o the Divine in s piration of the Prophet
o r dered Khalifa Ali and the Kadi s to take him to ta s k fo r
e therefore
,

. H
the manner in which he had expre s s ed him s elf and t o point ,

out to him that the entirely fal s e impre s s ion he had of h i s

own right s a s Khalifa had broug ht about the death of h i s
own relative s and follower s Promptly a s s embling all the .

Kadi s and principal Emir s they decided that Khalifa Sherif ,

s hould be immediately arre s ted O n the following day the .

m u la z e m i n being for m ed up in s qua r e on the open s pace

’ ’
between Ab dulla h i s hou s e and the Mahdi s tomb they wen t ,

i n a body to him info r med him that he wa s to be ar r e s ted

, ,

coun s elled s ubmi s s ion and advi s ed him to come with them
,

of h i s own fr ee will Too late b e now realized wha t he

- .
, .

had b r ought upon him s elf by h i s ca r ele ss a n d ill -con s ide r ed

talking Going out s ide he w a s received by the m ula z e m in
.
,

unde r the command of Arabi D a fa lla ; when he a s ked fo r

h i s s hoe s they refu s ed him and on coming out of the
, ,

mo s que he wa s d r iven and pu s hed along a t s uch a r ate that

,

he twice fell to the ground from pu r e exhau s t ion arrivin g a t

l
,

lengt h at th e Saier in a deplorable condition H ere s i x .

i r o n s we r e hamm e red on to h i s leg s s o tha t he could s ca rcely ,

292 FIR E A N D S WORD I N T HU E S D AN

to time b r ought up again s t me ; and then turning to m e , ,

he completed h i s s peech with the Arabic proverb W here ,

’
there i s no h t e there i s no s moke adding bu t with you
, , ,

there i s a great deal of s moke The me s s enger s aid ye s ter .

day that you are a Government s py and that your monthly

H
,

s ala r y i s paid to your repre s entative in Cai r o who fo r ward s ,

it to you here e a ffi r m s that he h a s s een you r s ign atu r e

.

in the Government o ffi c e in Egypt and that you a ss i s ted ,

Yu s ef e l G a s i s to e s cape ; he add s moreover that you a r e , ,

pledged to the Engli s h in the event of an attack on O m dur

,

man to s eize the powder and ammunition s tore s which t hey

, ,

know are s ituated oppo s ite to your hou s e W e have at once .

had the man impri s oned fo r he formerly e s caped from he r e

, .

’
W ha t have you to s a y in your defe nce P
Sire I replied God i s merciful and you are j u s t I
, , .

am no s py I have never had any communication with t he

.

Government ; and it i s ab s olutely untrue that I receive a

s alary which i s forwarded to me here My brothe r s you r .
,

m ula z e m i n who g o in and ou t of my h 0u s e know that I

, ,

a m often in the greate s t want and it i s only my deep re s pect ,

for you which prevent s me from complaining ; but if he

s tate s that he h a s s een my s ignature then he i s guil t y of a ,

s econd lie fo r I a m
,
certain that he i s quite unable to read
any European language I will if you wi s h write on a .
, ,

paper s everal name s and among s t them my own ; if he ca n

,

di s cover i t then it will be a p roof that he can read ou r

,

lan guage ; b u t that will not nece ss arily prove tha t I a m

’ '
a s py . And what el s e have you again s t the man P
a s ked the Khalifa W hat s ervice h a s the man r ende r ed to
.

’ '

Government I continued th a t s uppo s i n g I a m a s py I

, , , ,

s hould tru s t thi s fugitive with my s ecr e t s A s far a s Yu s ef

'
P

e l G a s i s i s concerned you my ma s ter well kno w that he

, , ,

e s caped at a time when it wa s ab s olutely impo s sible for m e

to have any communication with him I who a m alway s .
,

nea r yo u have no intercours e with people who a s s i s t other s

,

to fly ; and even s uppo s ing I had and that I were a traitor , ,

i t would certainly be much more natural t hat I s hould have

 DISS ENSI O N A N D 1 3 1 5 00 1 1 1 ) 2 93

e s ca ped my s elf It i s quite po s s ible the Engli s h may know

.

that my hou s e i s oppo s ite to the p owder m a g a z m e for the

man w h o with your kind permi s s ion brought me th e letter s
, ,

from my brot h ers and s i s ter s knew i t and in all probability , ,

told t h em about i t It i s al s o po s s ible that my relative s

.
,

with whom at your expre s s command I have cea s ed to

, ,

h ave any communication s hould make inquirie s about my ,

welfare through the Government clerk s and m e r c h a n t s wh o ’

s ometime s g o from here to Cairo and who probably know ,

the po s ition of my hou s e ; but th e a s s ertion that in ca s e of ,

war I had engaged my s elf to s eize your ammunition s tore s

, ,

i s quite ridiculou s A s far a s I can j udge the Government

.
,

would never dare to attack you who are th e ever victoriou s ,

-

and unconquerable K halifa in you r own country And if , .

t hi s well nigh i mpo s s ible event s hould take place how do I

-
'

know that I s hall be in my pre s ent hou s e at that time ?

Moreover at s uch a critical period my hope and de s ire i s
, ,

to s tand in the front rank of your victoriou s troop s and there ,

s eek an opportunity of proving my loyalty and devotion by

s hedding my blood in your cau s e Sire I rely u pon your .

,

ju s tice which i s well known to all W ill you s a c r ifi c e one

, .

who h a s been for s o many year s your devoted s ervant to ,

’
the whim of a Dongolawi who i s one of your enemie s P ,

How do you know that the man who h a s given evidence

’
again s t you i s a D o n g o la w i P a s ked the Khalifa quickly .

‘Some time ago I s a w the man at your gate with Abder

rahman W a d e n Ne j um i e s h Shahid ’
the martyr a s he ,

w a s called after h i s death ) and owing to h i s forwardne s s ,

and impudence I had to call on your m u la z e m i n to remove

him by main force No doubt he now wi s he s to revenge.

him s elf and at the s a m e time curry favour with you by

, ,

ca sting s u s picion on me You to W hom God h a s given .

,

wi s dom to govern your s ubj ect s will al s o judge me right ,

’
e o u s ly and fairly .

‘I have s ummoned you here ’ s aid the Khalifa after a

, ,

H r n Ih r na m i
’
By m e e ch a ce ad h e a d th a t th e m an s e wa s T a b . W ad
a j A li , an d th a t h e h a d o nc b n in O m durm n w i th
e ee a Ne j u m i .
2 94 FIR E A N D S WORD I N T HU
E S D AN

l ong pau s e j n o t to judge you but to s how you t hat in s pite

, , ,

of the frequent attempt s to ca s t s u s picion on you I have in ,

no way withdrawn my c o n fi d e n ce in you Had I believed .

what the man s aid I s hould not h ave impri s oned him ; no
,

doubt you have enemie s here and there are probably enviou s

H
,

people who are j ealou s of your being near me But beware ! .

’
where there i s no fi r e there i s no s moke , e then s ign ed .

to me to withdra w and s oon afterwa r d s the a ss embly

,

broke up .

That night I a s ked one of my comrade s whom I knew I

. H
could tru s t to tell me what the Khalifa had s aid afte r I had
left e told me that Abdullahi admitted the man w a s a

liar but that there might be s ome truth in h i s s tatement

,

he had al s o s aid I might po s s ibly have enemie s in Cairo

who were intriguing again s t me Thi s had al s o occurred .
1

to me whil s t I wa s s peaking but I did not mention it a s I

, ,

he s itated to throw down all my card s ; now tha t he had

thought of it him s elf my s ilence had s tood me in good s te a d
, ,

for I could bring forward thi s argument in my defence

H
,

s hould s ome fr e s h accu s ation be brought again s t me But .

how long wa s I t o continue in thi s wretched po s ition P ow

long wa s I to keep up thi s con s tant s train of alway s s tanding

on the defen s ive ? h o w much longer could my pre s ent rela
tion s with the Khalifa la s t ? I knew he w a s only waiting
or an opportuni t y t o make me harmle s s for he w a s perfect ly ,

well aware that I w a s at heart h i s enemy but in truth I , ,

thanked God mo s t fervently that he treated me with greate r

'
leniency than he did the re s t How difii cu lt it w a s to carry
.

’
out Ma di b b o s advice bu t how true it wa s that he who live s
long s ee s much
The following morning after prayer s a s I w a s on my
, ,

way home I wa s overtaken by G e r e i fa w i who had s ucceed ed

, ,

Adlan and wa s on friendly term s with me ‘You are a rare .

,
’
vi s itor s aid I s haking hand s with him ; plea s e God yo u
, ,
’
have good rea s on s for it Ye s s aid he but I a m come ,

to di s turb you I require your hou s e and I mu s t a sk you

.
,

t o leave it to day I will give yo u one in place of it which

-
.
2 96 FIR E A N D S WORD IN T HU E S D AN

’ ’
Khalifa s hou s e had been vacated at a moment s notice by
the A s hraf and their relative s and t hey had not even been ,

allowed to remove their furniture nor h a d t h ey received the ,

s malle s t compen s ation They had been given a patch of .

s tony ground to the we s t of th e town where they had been ,

ordered to build fre s h hou s e s After all I wa s b et t er o ff .

,

than they R ecent event s had depre s s ed me con s iderably

.
,

and I s a w that the s ituation wa s now becoming almo s t u n

bearable but more trouble w a s in s tore for me which w a s
to throw completely into the background that of which I
now complained .

One of my acquaintance s a Darfur merchant who had ,

frequently travelled backward s and forward s t o Egypt ,

Alexandria and Syria and who had gradually u nders tood

H
, ,

the variou s nationalitie s realized that I w a s an Au s trian , .

e had s urmi s ed correctly that although a captive fo r many ,

year s a n d s h ut o ff from all communication with my own

'

H
,

people I s till took an inten s e intere s t in all that concerned

,

m y native land e s poke to me in the mo s que told me

.
,

hurriedly about a ffair s in Egypt and then handed me an ,

Egyptian new s paper of old date which he s aid had acci , ,

dentally come into h i s hand s in Alexandria and which con ,

ta i n e d an article about Au s trian a ffair s Hurrying home I .

,

opened the paper and found to my di s may the new s of the

, , ,

death of our Crown Prince R udolf I cannot de s cribe t he .

di s tre s s which thi s new s cau s ed me I had s e rved in h i s .

regiment and I had never given up hope that s ome da y I

'

s hould return home and have the plea s ure of a s s u r ing him
,

that under all the s trange and s a d circum s tance s of my

,

eventful life I had alway s endeavoured to uphold the honour

,

of an o ffi c e r belonging to the Imperial regiment But what .

were the trial s and trouble s of one ob s cure individual in

compari s on with thi s great national calami t y P Nothing 1
Again and again my mind turned to the grief of ou r
beloved Empe r or to whom we Au strian s look up a s to a

H
,

father W hat mu s t he have felt and s u ffered

.

ere i n the m id s t of thi s un sy mpathe tic crowd m y m i n d

, ,
 D ISSENSIO N AN D D IS CO RD 2 97

w a s fi lle d with the s e s a d thought s but I did not dare s how

that I w a s a ffected It required all my s elf control to h ide
.
—

from th e rude gaze of the Mahdi s t s the expre s s ion s of di s tre s s

which came over my face when I thought of my beloved
home and in the internal s truggle which w a s going on
, ,

almo s t continuou s ly I s ometime s longed for the time when

,

an end s hould be put to my wretched exi s tence To day .

-

all the old s ore s had broken out afre s h The m a n w o uld .

have done me a far greater s ervice had he kept back the

‘

news pape r It had only brought fre s h trouble upon me

.
,

and depre s s ed me more t h an ever My comrade s at the .

’
Khalifa s door ignorant of the real cau s e of my s orrow
—

advi s ed me to appear a s cheerful a s po s s ible and to s how ,

no di s plea s ure about m y enforced removal to another hou s e ,

a s the Khalifa w a s s ure to have in s tructed h i s s pie s to watch

me carefully and s e e how I took h i s unwelcome order I

,
.

therefore tried to look a s unconcerned a s po s s ible a n d to , ,

account for my d epre s s ion I pretended to be unwell W hat ,

.

a life of di s s imulation ! Some time previou s to the event s

I have ju s t de s cribed Tokar had been retaken by the
,

Egyptian army and the Khalifa fearing a further advance

H
, , ,

recalled Abu Girga who w a s a Dongolawi and replaced

, ,

him by h i s relative M u s s a i d e now de s patched Abu

, .

Girga with two s teamer s to E quatoria to relieve Omar

Saleh who it will be remembered had been s ent there after
, , ,
’
Ka r a m a lla s withdrawal and had e s tabli s hed the Dervi s h
,

headqua r te r s at R e gg a f on the departure of Emin and

Stanley .

A few day s after the s teamer s had left the Khalifa fell
s eriou s ly ill with an attack of typhu s fever All Omdurman .

watched th e cour s e of the illne s s with the mo s t inten s e

anxiety for h i s d eath would have been the s ignal for a
,

complete change in the admini s tration of the country .

Khalifa Ali W a d Helu who according to Mahdi s t law , , ,

s hould be the s ucce s s or watched the illne s s with almo s t

,

breathle s s intere s t and h i s follower s and tribe s howed s uch

,

deep con cer n that they fell under the s u s picion of wi s hing
2 98 FIR E A N D S WORD I N T HU
E S D AN

’
t o s eize the rein s of government The Khalifa s powerful .

con s ti t ution however got the better of the malady and it

, , ,

s eemed a s if the wretched inhabitant s of the Sudan had not

been s uffi c ie n tly puni s hed and that God did not ye t intend
,

to r emove from them thi s terrible s courge After an illne s s .

of about three week s Abdullahi took the fi r st po s s ible o ppo r

tun i ty of appearing before h i s follower s who gree t ed him ,

with frantic acclamation s the outcome in the majority of,

ca s e s of a de s ire merely to make a noi s e Only h i s own .

relat ive s and s ome of the we stern Arab s r eally rejoiced a t

h i s recovery But the Khalifa had no delu s ion s about the
.

H
imaginary s en t imen t to which h i s followers had given ve n t
during h i s illne s s e knew perfectly well that in s howing
.

t he preference t o h i s own tribe he had given umbrage to

m any of the we s ter n Arab s who being s tranger s t o the , ,

land it wa s mo s t nece s s ary to r etain on h i s s ide The

, .

inhabitant s of the Nile V alley and of t he Gezira the ,

majority of whom were Jaalin and Danagla were h i s ,

enemie s ; but di s armed and their prope rty c o n fi sca te d he

, ,

had made them powerle s s and every now and then he s ent

H
,

con s iderable detachment s of them t o reinforce Darfu r ,

Gallabat and R e g g a f
, e did not hide from him s elf t ha t
.

Khalifa Ali and h i s follower s were anxiou s to s tep in t o h i s

s hoe s ; but he knew that they would never be fooli s h
enough to attempt to carry out their plan s by main force ,

a s the A s hraf had done

H
.

No w that I had my abode clo s e t o him he w a s more

s u s piciou s than ever of me e continually inquired of.

my comra de s if thi s s t rict s upervi s ion did not make me

indignant and he did all he could to h n d fault with my
,

conduct ; but fortunately the m u la z e m in were on friendly

, ,

t erm s with me and alway s r eported favourably of me At

,
.

’
t he s a m e time they s ecretly warned me that the Khalifa s
di s like of me wa s increa s ing and that I mu s t be mo st ,

careful .

One day in the month of December 1 8 9 2 when I had

, , ,
’
j u s t left the Khalifa s door to take a s hort r e s t o n e of th e ,
300 FIR E A N D S WORD IN T HU E S D AN

Its owner who live s in Europe h a s reque sted that a n yone

, ,

who fi n d s the bird s hould let him know w h ere it w a s caught

’ ‘ ’
or killed . You have s poken the trut h s aid the Khalifa , ,

in a s omewh at more amiable tone ; th e bird w a s killed by

attached to i ts neck
,

H
a Sh a i g i near Dongola and the cartridge ca s e wa s found
e took it to the E mir Yune s
.

who s e s ecretary w a s unable to decipher the writing of t he

,

Chri stian and he therefore forwarded it to me Tell me

, .

’
now what i s written on the paper P I tran s lated the
’
me s s age word for word and at the Khalifa s command
, , , ,

al s o tried to de s cribe the geographical po s ition of the

country from which the bird h a d come and the di s tance i t ,

had travelled before it wa s killed Thi s i s one of the .

’
many devilrie s of tho s e unbeliever s he s aid at la s t who , , ,

Wa s te their time in s uch u s ele s s non s en s e A M ohammedan .

H
’
would never have attempted to do s uch a thing .

e then ordered me to hand o v e r the ca s e t o h i s r

s ecretary and s igned to me to withdraw ; but I managed

,

to take one more hurried glance at the paper : A s cania

Nova Tauride South R u s s ia I repeated over and o v e r
, , ,

again to imprint it on my memory The m u la z e m in at the .

door anxiou s ly awaited my return and when I came out ,

from the pre s ence of my tyrannical ma s ter with a placid

countenance they s eemed greatly plea s ed O n my way to .

my hou s e I continued to repeat to my s elf the name of

the writer and h i s re s idence and determined that s hould
,

Providence ever grant me my freedom I s hould not fail to

let him know what had happened to h i s bird .

In accordance with order s Mahmud Ahmed who on the

, , ,

death of O s man W a d Adam had s ucceeded him now t e , ,

turn e d to Omdurman with all h i s available troop s ( about

men for the garri s on

on the s outh of the city
H
fi v e thou s and) from Darfur leaving there only s u fli c i e n t
,

e pitched h i s camp at Dem Yune s

.

Once more I underwent a pe r 1 o d of con s iderable tr ial .

The Khalifa again in s tituted a s erie s of military man oeuvre s

for all the troop s in Omdur m an and a s u s ual they r e , , ,
 D ISSENSIO N A ND D ISCO R D 36 1

s u lte din the wil d e s t confu s ion I had to perform th e .

d utie s of aide de camp and invariably h a d to bear the

- -
,

blame for everything that went wro n g ; but all thing s come
to an end and at la st Mahmud Ahmed w a s ordered back
,

to El F a s her after h i s troop s had renewed their oath of

allegiance in return for which they received s ome new
,

j ib b a s .

The Khalifa n ow turned h i s attention to the E quato ri al

region s and de s patched two other s teamer s with three
,

hundred men under the command of h i s relative Arabi

,

D a fa lla to R e gg a f with in s truction s to depo s e Abu Girga

, ,

and throw him into chain s It wa s abundantly clear that .

the lat t er had only been s ent to Re g g a f to get him out of

’
the way D a fa lla s d epa rture wa s al s o taken advantage of
.

to exile Khaled who ha il been lying heavily c h ained in the

,

Saier .

Next came the turn o f Zeki T u m m a l to fall into di s

favour and once more the j ealou s y a n d perniciou s i n flu e n c e
,

of Yakub prevailed Zeki s ummoned s uddenly from .

,

Geda r ef wa s on h i s arrival in Omdurman hurried o ff to

, , ,

the general pri s on where h i s body wa s covered with a s

much weight of iron a s it could po s s ibly bear
,

then r emoved to a s mall detached s tone hut deprived of all

e wa s . H
,

communication with other s and not even allowed s uffi c i e n t ,

bread and wat er to s u s tain life and con s equen t ly after an , ,

1m r 1 s o n m e n t of twenty day s he s uccumbed to hunger and

p ,

thirs t .

Ahmed W a d Ali now s ucceeded Zeki in the s upreme

command and anxiou s to refute any idea of timidity he
,

s ought t o gain milit ar y renown

,

e obtained the Khalifa s

pe r mi ss ion to undertake operation s again s t the Arab tribe s

’
. H ,

living between Ka ss ala and the Re d Sea who were s ubj e ct ,

to the I t alian s ; but he r eceived di stinct order s not to attack

any t roop s quartered in fort s e w a s allowed to utilize

the s e r vice s of the Ka ss ala garri s on under Mu s s a i d G a i du m

. H
,

and now made all preparation s for a campaign L e aving .

Gedaref wi t h h i s army early in November 1 8 9 3 he j oined , ,

30 2 FIRE A N D S W ORD IN T HU E S D AN

the Ka s s ala force a n d advancing ea s t toward s Ago rdat he

,

came up with the Italian t r o op s who were in an entrenched ,

po s ition A s they were in s uch s mall number s he re s olved

.
,
’
in s pite of the Khalifa s in struction s to attack them ; but ,

he w a s heavily defeated and him s elf killed together with , ,

h i s two principal leader s .

The Khalifa now nominated h i s cou s i n Ahmed F e di l a s

commander of the Gedaref army and gave him s t rict i n
junction s to r emain entirely on the defen s ive e p r oceeded

to h i s po s t by way of Ka s s al a in orde r to collect the

,

. H
,

s catte r ed troop s who after the defeat at Ago r dat had

, , ,

forced them s elve s on the villager s and we r e har rying the ,

’
country for food Once again the Khalifa s e q uanimity w a s
.

up s et by a rumour that the Italian s now intended advancing

o n Ka ss ala ; but t hi s new s w a s followed s oon afterwa r d s by

a contradiction and he became pa cifi e d Indeed he had

, .
,

publicly announced h i s i ntention of avenging Ahmed W a d

’
Ali s defeat though i n reality he had not the s lighte s t ide a
,

of doin g s o ; but in h i s ignorance he believed that the s e

H
, ,

fal s e threat s would prevent h i s enemie s from a s s uming the

o ffen s ive e al s o s ent s mall detachment s of hor s e and
.

s pear men to Gedaref

-
.

A few month s had elap s ed s ince thi s cata str ophe whe n ,

o n e day j u s t after mo r ning prayer s th r ee men pre s ented

, ,
’
t hem s elve s a t the door of the Khalifa s hou s e and urgently ,

demanded to be taken before him I at once r ecogni s ed .

them a s Bagga r a Emirs who had been s tationed at Ka s s a la , ,

and from th e expre s s ion of thei r face s I could s e e that the

news they b r ought would not be welcome to the Khalifa .

In a few minute s they were admitted and s oon afterwar d s ,

’
a con s iderable di s turbance took place round the Khalifa s
doo r Khalifa Ali W a d Helu Yakub a s well a s all the
.
, ,

Kadi s r eceived a s udden s ummon s to a t tend at a council

, .

’
The Khalifa s s u s picion s had been v e r i fi e d and Ka ss ala , ,

afte r a s ho r t fi g h t had been captured by the Italian s

, .

I t wa s impo s s ible to withhold t hi s news fr om the public .

.

The o m b e ya wa s s ounded the great war dr urn s were beaten ,

-
,
 I SEN SI O N
D S A ND D ISCOR D 3 3
0

the hor s e s were s addled and the Khalifa accompanie d by , ,

all hi s m ula z e m in and an immen s e number of hors e and

,

s pear men s olemnly rode down to the b ank s of the N ile

-
,
.

Arrived here he forced h i s hor s e into the river till the

,

wate r r eached i ts knee s and d r awing out h i s s word and

, , ,

pointing towa r d s the ea s t he s houted out in a loud voice , ,

’ ‘
Allahu akbar ! Allahu akbar ! ( God i s mo s t great
Each time the cry w a s taken up by the immen s e crow d ,
’
but the maj ority were inwa r dly rej o icing at the Khalifa s
di s c o m fi tur e They longed for him to receive fr e s h humilia
.

tion thinking thereby to lighten the terrible yoke they bore

,
.

After thi s di s play the Khalifa turned h i s hor s e about came ,

back to the river bank di s mounted and s a t down on h i s

, ,

s heep s kin A great crowd now collected round him and

.
,

he informed them of the i fa ll of Ka s s ala declaring that h i s ,

follower s had been taken unaware s by enormou s number s

to retire e s tated
. H
of the enemy ju s t after morning prayer s and had been forced
,

however that all the war material

,

women and children had been s aved that the lo s s e s had

,
,

, ,

been i n s ig n ifi ca n t whil s t the enemy ha d s u ffered s o heavily

,

that they now bitterly regretted having taken the town .

Even h i s mo s t devoted adherent s well knew t hat the s e word s

we r e a mere pretext for covering a di s graceful defeat .

The Khalifa knew perfectly well the diffi c ulti e s of t e

capturing Ka s s ala but in orde r to m ake a s how of doing
,

s ome t hing he s ent in s truction s to O s man Digna who wa s

, ,
’
at Ada rama on the Atbara s ome three day s march from ,

Be rber t o j oin Mu s s a i d at Goz R egeb with all h i s available

,

force s At the s ame time he ordered Ahmed F e di l to make

.

a military po s t of a thou s and r ifl e s at El F a s her on the

H
’
Atbara about one and a half day s Journey from Ka s s ala
, .

e al s o s ent detachment s of troop s from Omdurman to

Regeb . H
A s ubri on the Atbara midway be t ween El F a s her and Goz
,

e continued to a s s ert mo s t re s olutely that he

intended s hortly to advance on Ka s s ala ; but all the s e

arrangement s were made entire ly with a View to e stabli sh
in g a s erie s of defen s ive po s t s along t he lin e of the Atbara ,
36 4 FIR E A ND S WO RD IN T HU E S D AN

whil s t the troop s he w a s con s tantly collecting we r e

intended to oppo s e the advance of the enemy toward s
Omdurman .

In the mi d s t of all thi s di s turbance and excite m ent two

s teamer s arrived from R e g g a f bringing large cargoe s of ,

ivory and s lave s be s ide s quantitie s of loot captured from

,
’
F adl e l Maula one of Emin s old o ffi c e r s who on the
, , ,
’
latter s departu r e had with s ome follower s nominally
,

entered the s ervice of the Congo F ree State Among s t .

the trophie s he s ent to Omdurman were four Congo F ree

'

State fl a g s made of blue bunting with a h y e pointed yellow ,

-

s tar in the centre al s o two s uit s of black uniform wi th

,

‘
button s on which the word s Travail e t P r o g r é s were
,

engraved Thi s wa s the fi r s t time I had s een the badge of

.

the Congo F ree Sta t e of the exi s tence of which I had ,

heard ; bu t I had no notion of its s ize or the extent of its

boundarie s Several European letters had al s o been found
.

H
’
in F adl e l Maula s camp ; but the Khalifa did not s how
them to me e preferred to remain in ignorance of their
.

conten t s rather than that I s hould gain s ome in s ight into

affair s in tho s e region s .

Soon afterward s came further di s quieting new s from

Darfur M ah mud Ahmed now repor t ed that Chri stian s
.

had entered the Bahr e l Ghazal di s trict s and were atte mpt ,

ing to w1 n over the native tribe s with whom they had ,

already made treatie s They had arrived he s aid at

.
, ,

Hofret e m N aha s ( the copper mine s near Kalaka on the -

,

s outh we s tern Darfu r frontier )

- Thi s new s wa s of the .

g r eate s t importance and the Khalifa had every r ea s on t o

,

feel alarmed and unea s y .

W hen Egypt governed the Sudan i t w a s from t he B ah r ,

e l Ghazal province s that they recruited the men for the

Sudane s e battalion s wh o had come either of their own free

,

will or had been forcibly impre s s ed Owing to the climate .

'

and plenteou s rainfall the country i s m o r e h ig h ly cultivated

than any portion of the Nile V alley lying between Kowa and
Re g ga f Be s ide s the majority of t he tr ibe s who inhabi t
.
,
306 FIR E A ND S WORD IN HU
T E S D AN

of the Congo F ree State and w a s witne s s ed by Sultan ,

Zemio and the Sultan of Tiga the name s of the two latte r ,

being written in European c h aracter s .

I hurriedly tran s lated t h e s e paper s verbally to the Khalifa ,

and wa s much intere s ted in s eeing how on thi s occa s ion , ,

h i s curio s ity got th e better of h i s s u s picion s though he did ,

all he could to prevent me from noticing thi s .

’ ‘
I did not s ummon you he s aid merely to tran s lat e , ,

the s e letter s which after all are of not the s malle s t import
, , ,

ance to me though I have in s tructed Mahmud Ahmed to

,

drive out the s e Chri s tian s who are only traveller s and in
, ,

s mall number s from the Bahr e l Ghazal province ; but I

,

have al s o a br o po s a l to make to you I look upon you a s .

one of u s a s my friend and faithful adhere n t and I have

— —

decided to publicly make known thi s fact by giving to you

a s a wife one of my cou s in s one of my next of kin W hat
—
.

’
have you to s a y to thi s P Thi s o ffer did not greatly s ur
pri s e me for he h a d s everal time s hinted a s much I wa s
, .

perfectly well aware that h i s obj ect w a s not to publicly

in my own hou s e H
s how appreciation of me but to have me carefully watched
,

e wi s hed to place me under s urveil

.

lance in order to di s cover if I had any s ecret relation s with

out side countrie s Throug h tru s ty friend s I had a s c e r
.

ta i n e d that he earne s tly s ought s ome plau s ible ground s fo r

making me a s he called i t harmle s s
, but in doing s o
,

he wi s hed to j u s tify h i s action before the public by s howing ,

me more con s ideration a s a foreigner than I had been a

n a tive I knew to o w e ll however t hat if a man of h i s
. _ , ,

un s crupulou s determination who had not s pared h i s be s t ,

friend s s uch a s Ibrahim Adlan and Kadi Ahmed would

, ,

not he s itate to take full advantage of the s lighte s t proof of

my di s loyalty in order to rid him s elf of me .

‘ ’ ‘
Sire I replied may God ble s s you and give you
, ,

victo ry ove r all your enemie s I feel highly honoured by .

your magnanimou s o tte r ; but hear of me I pray you the , ,

truth Your relative i s not merely de s cended from royalty

.
,

but from the Prophet him s elf She therefore de s erve s t o .

 D ISSEN SI O N A ND D I S C OR D 36 7

be treated with every con s ideration U n fortunately I have .

a very quick temper and a t time s have g r eat d ifli cu lty in

,

controlling my s elf Dome s tic quarrel s would undoubtedly

.

a ri s e which might be the cau s e of e s trangement between

,

you my ma s ter and my s elf My only de s ire i s to remain

, , .

in your greate s t favour I pray God thi s may ever be s o .

,

fo r I dread the occurrence of an ything which might cau s e

’
me to fall into di s favour .

‘I have known you now intimately fo r ten year s ’ s aid

,

the Khalifa and I have never known you to be thought

,

le s s or quick tempered I have often pre s ented you with

- .

wive s and they have never complained to me of dome stic

,

quarrel s It i s true however that I have heard you have

.
, ,

either made pre s ent s of them to your s ervant s or have ,

given them their libert y It s eem s to me that although

H
.
,

you pretend to be one of u s you really wi s h to adhere to ,

the manner s and cu s tom s of your tribe [ e did no t refe r .

to religion a s I s uppo s e he thought that might hurt my

,
’
feeling s ] I mean that you wi s h t o have only one wife f
.

‘Si r e ’ I replied ‘you have often honoured me with

, ,

pre s ent s of s lave s ; but you s urely do not wi s h me to be

their s lave If I have married them to my s ervant s or
.

s ent them away it i s becau s e they have been di s obedient

, ,

or have behaved b a dly You have been mi s informed if you .

think that I wi s h to adhere to the cu s tom of my count r y

’
to have only one wife for I have already three , .

‘V ery well he s aid ‘I believe you

, ; and s o you r efu s e
,
’
to marry my cou s in P
’ ‘
Sire I replied I do n o t refu s e ; but I me r ely inform
, ,

you of my uncertain temper s o that I may prevent um ,

plea s antne s s in t he future Indeed I a m highly honoured

H
.
,

by your kind o ffer and I beg you t o try and s e e if I a m

,
’
worthy of it e under s tood perfectly well that what I
.

had s aid wa s tantamount to a refu s al and he clo s ed the ,

conver s ation by making a s ign to me to withdraw Thi s .

o ffer had placed me in a mo s t di ffi c u lt po s ition I thoroughly .

unde r s tood t he Khalifa B y not joyfully accepting h i s o ffe r .

20— 2
308 FIR E A N D S WORD IN T HU E S D AN

I had hurt h i s pride ; and now I longed more than ever for
liberty Some month s before I h a d s ent a Sudane s e mer
.

chant to Cairo and had begged th e Au strian Con s ul

,

General to place through him th e nece s s ary mean s at my

, ,

di s po s al to e ffect my e s cape But h o w often had I attempted .

neg o tiation s of thi s s ort t h rough merchant s and other s and ,

how often had I been doomed to di s appointment and failure !

C HAPT E R XV .

M I CE LLA N E OU
S S R E MA R KS .

T h e Pe r so n a n d Cha r a c te ri tis cs o f Kh a l if a b ll h i
A du a —
Th e F a te o f th e
i t C h ni l r T h
H H ri rfur l if ’
Mah d s r o c e — e P n ce s s es of Da —
Th e Kh a a s

F m i ly L if
a i rm
e— s a e — Th e O rg i z ti n
an a o of y g rd
h is B o d -
ua

E nf r d A tt d e a t th M que T h P
o ce e n n a c s e os —
e os a t l Sy t m M i l i t r ye —
a

P r d
a a El v ti n f th W t rn A r b a
e s— e a o o e es e a s n d O pp r i n f th e ss o o e

R i v r T ri b Th M i l i t r y Si tu ti o n d Str ng th Gu n an d
”

e e s— e a a an e —
s

A m m u i ti n R v nu a d Ex p nd i tur
n o —
e e C ur ge n e e— o a e .

I W I LL now a few word s regarding the Khalifa s per s on

sa y
’

a n d h i s characteri s tic s .

Sayed Abdullahi Ibn Sayed Mohammed belong s to th e

T a a i s h a s ection of the Baggara s ( a s all cattle owning nomad -

Arab s are called) Thi s s ection inhabit s the coun tr y in the

.

s outh we s tern portion of Darfur and the Khalifa him s elf i s

-
,

de s cended from the Aulad O m Sura of the Jub a r a t family .

’
I have already referred to A b du lla h i s early life and how he

H
,

had e s tabli s hed a connection with the s lave hunting Arab s -

when s till quite a youth e j oined the Mahdi at the age .

of t h irty fi v e and w a s then a s lim and active though

-
, ,

powerfully built man but latterly he h a s become very

H
s tout a n d h i s lightne s s of gait h a s long s ince di s appeared
,

e i s now forty nine year s of age but look s con s iderably

-

older and the hair of h i s beard i s almo s t white A t time s

,

.
.

the expre s s ion of h i s face i s one of charming amiability but ,

more generally it i s one of dark s ternne s s in whi ch tyranny ,

31 0 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HU E S D AN

wa s immediately r eported to Abdullahi who furiou s at s uch , ,

a compari s on at once ordered the j udge s to a s s emble and

,

make a full inquiry into the matter and if Abdel Kader had , ,

actually made s uch a s tatement he s hould be at once con ,

de m n e d .To the Kadi s he argued t h u s : The Mahdi i s the

repre s entative of the Prophet Mo h ammed and I a m h i s ,

s ucce s s or W h o t h erefore in the whole world hold s s o

.
, ,

high a po s ition a s 1 ? W h o can be nobler than the direct

’
de s cendan t of the Prophet P The inquiry proved the guilt
’
of A b del Ka d er who at the Khalifa s command w a s thrown
, , ,

into c h ain s and tran s porte d to R e gg a f

, W hat bu s ine s s .

’
h a s he to compare a ffair s h ere with tho s e of Egypt P s aid
the pompou s Khalifa If he wi s he s to comp a re him s elf to
.

a Pa s ha then I the de s ce n dant of the Prophet will neve r

, , ,

demean my s elf to be put on a par with the Khedive a mere —

’
Turk I s uppo s e by the s e a s s ertion s he thought to impre s s
.

H
'

the populace The s tupid m a n to o in h i s o ffended dignity

.
, , ,

did not s top here e at once ordered all the chronicle s

.

o f which s everal copie s had been made to be in s tantly

( )
burnt ; but I heard privately that h i s s ecretary who w a s ,

being frequently referred to by the Khalifa on the s ubjec t

of the early event s of h i s reign s ecreted one copy for private ,

reference ; and if the s e s trange chronicle s could only be

procured and tran s lated into European language s they would ,

expo s e to the civilized world the method s of Mahdi s m in all

i ts barefaced mendacity

H
.

’
A b d u lla h i s pride and c o n fi de n c e in h i s own power s a r e
inde s cribable e fi r m ly believe s that he i s capable of
.

doing anything and everything and a s he pretend s to act , ,

unde r Divine in s piration he never he s itate s to appropri ate

,

the merit s of other s a s h i s own F or example he s tated .

,
’
that the Mahdi s tomb which had been built with immen s e
,

labou r and trouble by the former Governmen t architect

I s mail had been de s igned by him s elf entirely in accordance
,

with Divinely in s pired plan s

’
e a s cribed O s man W a d

Adam s vict o r y over Abu G e m m a iz a a s well a s Zeki

. H
,
’
Tummal s over King j ohn of Aby s s inia to the in s pired ,
 MI SC ELL A MEO US REM A RKS 31 1

order s which he pretended he h a d i s s ued

a s trange mixture of malice and cruelty
i s ch aracter i s
e delight s to
.

.
H
H
annoy and cau s e di s appointment and he i s never happie r ,

than when he h a s brought people to complete de s titution

by c o n fi s ca tin g t h eir property t h rowing them into ch ain s
, ,

robbing familie s whole s ale s eizing a n d exe c uting all per s on s

,

of tribal i n flu e n c e and authority and reducing entire race s

,

to a condition of powerle s s impotence .

’
During the Mahdi s lifetime h e w a s entirely re s pon s ible
{o r t he s everity of the proceedings enacted l n h i s name and ,

for the mercile s s manner in which h e treated h i s defeated

enemie s It w a s Abdullahi who gave the orde r for no
.

quarter at the s torming of Khartum and it w a s he who ,

s ub s equently authorized the whole s ale ma s s acre of the men ,

‘
women and children After the fall of that city it w a s he
, . .
,

who for the period of four day s declared the whole Shaigia
, ,

tribe to be outlaw s W hen di s tribut i ng the captured women

.

and children he w a s utterly regar d le s s of their feeling s To

, .

s eparate children from their mother s and to m ake their ,

reunion practically impo s s ible by Scattering them among s t

different tribe s w a s h i s principal delight W hen O s man
, .

W a d Adam s ent to Omdurman the s i s ter s of the late Sultan

of Darfur t he Prince s s e s Miriam I s a Ba s i and Mi riam
,

Bakhita he gave them their liberty but took mo s t of their

, ,

female relative s into h i s own harem and di s tributed the ,

remain der among s t h i s follower s ; and hearing that s ome ,

Darfur people who were re s iding in Omdurman had called

on the Prince s s e s and offered them pre s ent s he had the
, ,

latter arre s ted and made over a s s lave s to h i s two Emir s

, ,

Ha s s ib a n d Ka n u n a who were on the point of s tarting fo r

,
’
Re g g a f
. In vain poor B a k h ita s blind mother implored to
be allowed to accompany her dau g hter ; but s h e w a s forcibly
’
prevented by the Khalifa s s pecial orders and died a few ,

day s later of a broken heart Her daughter threw he r s elf

.

into the river a s the boat s tarted She wa s s aved but .

,

s ub s equently died on the j ourney from fatigue and mi s ery .

Ahmed Gurab an Eg yptia n born in Khartum who had

, ,
31 2 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T H
E S UD A N

quitted the city a s a merchant before the de st ruction of

H
’
Hick s Pa s ha s army had left behind him h i s wife who w a s
, ,

a Sudane s e and h i s daughter

, e eventually returned to
.

s e e them and on the day he arrived in Omdurman he wa s

, , ,

brought before the Khalifa to whom he explained the ,

rea s on s of h i s return and expre s s ed a wi s h to enter h is

,
’
s ervice . I accept your o ffer s aid the Khalifa , You will
at once proceed to R eg g a f and fi g h t in the Holy Cau s e,
’
again s t the heathen In vain the unfortunate man begged
.

and implored to remain with h i s wife and daughter o r a t , ,

lea st to be allowed to s e e them ; but the Khalifa o r dered

,

h i s m u la z e m i n to take him at once on board the s teamer ,

and guard him carefully and on no accou nt permit him to

H H
,

s e e h i s family W ith a s m ile of fi e n di s h delight he s aid

.
,

i s fellow pa s s enger s are I s a Ba s i and Bakhita

- e may .

e nj oy their s ociety a s much a s he like s if their ma s ter s will ,

’
allow him

H
.

W ithout the s malle s t rhyme or rea s on he h a s cau s ed t he ,

death of thou s and s of innocent people e had the righ t .

hand and left foot of a certain Omar publicly cut o ff in t he

market place becau s e he had failed to make lead which he
-
,

had s aid he could do and for which purpo s e he had t e

,

c e i v e d a s mall s u m of money in advance Dur ing the .

horrible execution and mutilation of the B a ta h in he had

been pre s ent and had looked with plea s ure on the s laughte r
,

of h i s victim s I have de s cribed how h i s be s t friends and

.

mo st faithful s ervant s were victimized through h i s caprice ,

and how he had ruthle s s ly s eized fo r him s elf thei r wive s

and daugh t er s Then what could be more cruel than h i s
.

puni s hment of the A s hraf P No doubt they were guilty of

,

mutin y but he might have exiled or impri so ned them

,

i n s tead of killing them with club s and axe s a s if they had

been dog s and yet the s e were the near relative s of h i s
,

former lord and ma s ter the Mahdi , .

In all intercour s e wi t h him he demand s the mo s t com

p l e t e humili t y and s ubmi s s io n Pe r s on s e n t e r i
.n g h i s

pre s ence s tand in front of him with their hand s cro s s ed

314 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HU
E S D AN

as regard s marriage enj oined by the Mahdi and a r ranged a ,

s erie s of banquet s extending over a period of eight day s to

H
,

which almo s t every inhabitant in Omdurman w a s invited .

e had a large red brick hou s e built for h i s s o n in the

’
s pace lying oppo s ite to Ya k ub s re s idence and had it ,

fu rni s hed with all the comfort available in the Sudan A n .

attemp t wa s even made to lay out a garden o n th e s tony .

g r ound wit h in th e enclo s ure Shortly afterward s he gave

.

h i s so n two more of h i s female relative s in marriage and

innumerable concubine s w h ich he him s elf s elected ; but
,

he declared in th e mo s t emphatic man ner that he would

V alley tribe s . H
never permit him to marry a woman from any of the Nile
’
e watche s over h i s s on s intercour s e with

s tranger s with the greate s t j ealou s y and con s ider s it a mo s t

,

dangerou s proceeding ; and when he heard that in the ,

perver s ity of youth h i s s o n entirely di s regarded h i s i n

,

j unction s and held nightly orgie s in h i s hou s e he had a

, ,

new re s idence built for him within the Omdurman wall

clo s e to h i s own s o a s to exerci s e greater s upervi s ion and

H
, ,

handed over h i s old hou s e to Yakub .

’
e married h i s own daughter to the Mahdi s s o n
Mohammed to whom he bore no goodwill whil s t the
, ,

latter w a s anxiou s to marry one of h i s own relation s and ,

’
had no love for the Khalifa s daughter Abdullahi h o w .
,

eve r a s father i n law guardian and ma s ter ab s olutely

,
- -
, , ,

forbade him to enter into any s uch alliance and tried to ,

in s i s t on h i s affection for h i s daughter with th e re s ult that

,

a complete e s trangement wa s brought about between m a n

and wife ending in a divorce ; but the Khalifa w a s s o
,

annoyed that out of pure fear Mohammed had to take

, ,

her back and s wear entire devotion to her for the re s t of

,

h i s life.

The Khalifa thought it incumbent on h i s po s ition to main

tain a large e s tabli s hment and a s thi s w a s al s o entirely in
conformity with h i s own inclination s he gradually became ,

po s s e s s o r of a harem of over four hund r ed wive s In accord .

ance with the Mohammedan law he h a s four legal wive s , ,

 MISCELL A NE O U S REM A R KS 31 5

wh o belong to free tribe s but being a lover of c h ange he , ,

never he s itate s to divorce them at will and take ot h er s in ,

their place s The other women of the hou s ehold con s i s t

.

for the mo s t part of young girl s many of whom belong to ,

tribe s which have been forced to a ccept Mahdi s m and who s e ,

hu s band s and father s fought again s t him They are there .

fore regarded a s booty and have only the right s and claim s
,

of concubine s o r in s ome ca s e s of s lave s T h i s l a rg e

, , ,
.
-

a s s ortment of ladie s varie s in colour from light brown to the -

deepe s t black and compri s e s almo s t every tribe in the Sudan

,
.

They are divided into group s of from fi fte e n to twenty pre ,

s ided over by a s uperior and two or three of the s e group s

are placed under the order s of a free woman who i s generally ,

a concubine s pecially s elected by the Khalifa A certain .

amount of grain and m oney i s granted monthly to the s e

s uperior s for the maintenance of their charge s ; and they

al s o receive mean s to purcha s e the nece s s ary co s metic s ,

con s i s ting of variou s s ort s of oil s grea s e and s cent The , ,

.

value of their clothing i s regulated entirely by the compa r a

t ive beauty po s ition and character of the wearer s and con
, , ,

s i s t s for the mo s t part of native woven cotton cloth with -

parti coloured border s or of bright s ilk or woollen s hawl s

-
, ,

imported from Egypt The s e are alway s di s tributed by the

.

Khalifa him s elf or by h i s chief eunuch A s the wearing

, .

of s ilver j ewellery w a s s trictly prohibited by the Mahdi ,

mother o f pearl button s and oblong s trip s of red coral and

- -

onyx threaded together are w o rn round the wri s t s ankle s

, , , ,

a n d head The hair i s u s ually worn in in numerable s mall

.

plait s which are arranged in all s ort s of different way s and

, ,

bedaubed with a quantity of oily and grea s y s cent s and to

European olfactory nerve s the odour emanating from a
Sudane s e la d y en g r a n de to i lette i s repul s ive in the extreme .

F or the la s t few years the wive s of the upper cla s s e s have

again taken to wearing gold and s ilver j ewellery ; and the
’
Khalifa s principal women indulge in the s e luxurie s to a
greate r extent than the r e s t The latte r live in a s e r ie s of
.

large detached hou s e s s omething like barrack s s urrounded

, ,
31 6 FIRE A ND S WORD IN T HU E S D AN

by court s encircled with high wall s Special women a r e .

maintained to watch over their s tate of health ; and they

are obliged to report it to their ma s ter the Khalifa from , ,

time to time W hen he wi s he s to s ummon any lady in

.

particular to s hare h i s a ffection s ,he communicate s h i s de s ire

by mean s of little boy eunuch s O c c a s ionally he hold s a n
. ,

in s pection of h i s entire hou s ehol d and make s u s e of s uch

,

opportunitie s to rid him s elf of tho s e of whom he i s weary ,

in order to make room for new attraction s Tho s e di s po s ed .

of in thi s way h e generally pa s s e s on to h i s near relative s ,

h i s s pecial favourite s or h i s s ervant s

, The harem court s .

are carefully guarded by eunuch s and the Black m u la z e m in .

The women are almo s t entirely cut o ff from intercour s e with

the outer world ; and perhap s once a year their female
relation s are allowed to conver s e with them for only a s hort
time .

’
The Khalifa s principal wife i s called Sahra and belong s ,

to h i s own tribe She h a s s hared with him from earlie s t

.

day s all h i s joy s and s orrow s and i s the m other o f h i s olde s t

,

children O s man and Ka dij a During the early year s of h i s

, .

reign he would only eat t he s imple s t food cooked by her ,

or under her s uperintendence It con s i s ted a s a rule merely

.
, ,

of a s ida roa s t meat and chicken s ; but a s h i s hou s ehold

, ,

increa s ed he began to try the variou s s ort s of cookery known

to h i s new wive s many of whom were acquainted with the
.
,

Turki s h and Egyptian method s ; and now in place of the ,

s imple food he indulge s in far more luxuriou s fare though

, ,

to outward appearance he s till pretend s to lead a life of

s implicity and ab s tinence The s e innovation s brought about
.

a quarrel between him and h i s wife Sah r a who pointed out ,

that the new di s he s might be bewitched or poi s oned and ,

might end in h i s d eat h with the re s ult that he twice s ent

,

her letter s of s eparation but on the s trong repre s entation s of

,

h i s b r other Yakub and the o t her membe r s of the family he ,

H
w a s induced to cancel them .

e h a s in h i s s ervice in all s ome twenty eunuch s chief

of whom i s a ce r tain Abdel G a yu m who i s al s o charged

,

,
31 8 FIR E A N D S WORD IN T HU E S D AN

cla s s e s W ithin the hou s e into which the s e young boy s

.
,

are never admitted he employ s young eunuch s w h o wait

, ,

upon him whil s t the more advanced in age of thi s un fo r

,

tu n a te cla s s are relegated to the outer dependencie s of the

hou s ehold Even the s e j uvenile dome s tic s s u tter con s ider
.

able b r utality at h i s hand s The s lighte s t mi s take s are

.

puni s hed by flogging or the offender s are thrown in t o chain s

,

and s tarved .

U pward s of three year s ago he conceived the idea of

augmenting h i s m u la z e m in by a s pecie s of body guard and -
,

for thi s purpo s e he s elected a number of Je h a di a from

’ ’
Mahmud Ahmed s and Zeki Tummal s armie s In addition .

to the s e he called on the Emir s of the we stern tribe s to

H
,

provide a number of recruit s for h i s m ula z e m i n ; but h i s

order s were only partially obeyed e s elected a few of the.

s on s of the be s t j aalin familie s for incorporation in the

body guard ; but he rigo r ou s ly excluded all Danagla s and

-

Egyptian s in whom he h a s no c o n fi de nc e
,
In thi s manner .

he created a force of from eleven to twelve thou s and men ,

who with their wive s and children are all quartered clo s e to
, ,
’
h i s and h i s s on s hou s e s and within the newly erected wall
,
-
.

Thi s force i s s ubdivided into three corp s under the t e ,

’
s pe c ti v e command s of h i s s o n O s man the Khalifa s you n g ,

brother Harun Abu Moham m ed who i s barely eighteen ,

year s of age and h i s cou s in Ibrahim Khalil who h a s been

, ,

recently replaced by an Aby s s inian named Rabeh who h a s ,

’
been brought up in the Khalifa s hou s ehold .

O s man in all matter s rega r ding the m u la z e m i n i s looked

, ,
’
upon a s the Khalifa s repre s entative The corp s are s ub .

divided again into s ection s of one h undred men over each ,

of which an o ffi ce r called R a s Miya ( h ead of the hundred) ,

who h a s s everal a s s i s tant s h a s command Over every fi v e

, .

or s i x R a s Miya an E mir pre s ide s who i s al s o provided ,

with an a s s i s tant The Black s oldiers or Je h a di a are i n

.
, ,

co r po r a te d in the s ubdivi s ion s not with t he free Arab s bu t

, ,

under the s pecial command of the Emirs who have there ,

fore under their re s pective order s two o r three hundred

 MISC ELL A NE O US REM A R KS 31 9

je h a di a and the
,
remainder Arab s Almo s t all the s e are .

armed with R emington r i fle s which however are kept in , , ,

s tore and are only i s s ued on s pecial fea s t s

,
The monthly .

pay of the m u la z e m in con s i s t s of half a Dervi s h dollar and ,

every fortnight one eighth of an ardeb of dhurra The

-
.

grain i s received fairly regularly ; but the ca s h payment i s

merely a nominal one and i s very s eldom i s s ued The
,
.

s alarie s of the R a s Miya and Emir s are proportionat e l y

higher and t hey r eceive frequent gift s of women and s lave s

,

from the Khalifa The duty of the m ula z e m in and body

.

gua r d i s to protect t he per s on of the Khalifa and all mu s t ,

accompany him when he ride s out or hold s review s Even .

when making a comparatively s mall expedition into the

town they mu s t proceed with him They have alway s to .

remain in readine s s in th e open s quare in front of h i s hou s e .

Although the Khalifa h a s forbidden all Egyptian mu s ic he ,

h a s collect e d the former Black bugler s two of whom i n ,

variably accompany him The call for a R a s Miya i s that

.

of captain ; for Emir that of maj or ; and for commander

, ,

that of colonel Abdullahi frequen tly in s pect s the mula

.

zemin at night in order to s e e t h at they are in occupation

,

of the po s t s allotted to them and he pay s special attention ,

to t he outpo s t s Owing to thi s unu s ually hard s ervice the

.
,

Ra s Miya and Emir s under the pretext of illne s s frequently

, ,

g o s ecretly to their hou ses and great di s content prevail

, s

among s t them .

’
The Khalifa s public dutie s con s i s t in s aying the fi v e
prayer s daily in the large mo s que A t early dawn he begin s .

with the morning prayer s after which the Ra te b i s read in

,

variou s group s a s enj oined by the Mahdi Thi s con s i s t s of

, .

a s election of vers e s and s pecial prayer s from the Ku ran ,

and occupie s about an hou r The Khalifa t hen return s a s .

,

a rule to h i s private apartment s but s ometime s walk s

, ,

about in the mo s que in order to s e e for him s elf whethe r the

prayer s regularly
’
. H
inhabitant s of Omdurman comply with h i s orders to attend
e hold s mid day prayer s at about two

o clock and two hour s late r follow s the A s r or evening

-

, ,
32 6 FIR E A ND S WOR D IN T H E S UD A N

prayer after which the R a te b i s repeated

, Prayer s are .

s ai d again at s un s et and three hour s later night prayer s

,

are h eld O u all the s e occa s ion s the K h alifa attend s in h i s

.

mihrab ( niche ) which h a s been erected immediately in front

,

of the line s of believer s It i s a s quare s haped s tructure

.
-
,

con s i s ting of a s erie s of column s connected by open iron

work t h rough which h e can s e e all that i s going on around
,

him Immediately behind him are the s eat s of h i s s o n the

.
,

Kadi s and a few per s on s s pecially s elected by him s elf

, .

The m u la z e m i n take up a po s ition to the right and left ,

whil s t the Black s oldier s occupy large open enclo s ure s ,

which are s eparated from the mo s que by a wall O n the .

right of the m u la z e m i n are the place s of Yakub the Emir s

H
, ,

a n d mo s t of th e we s tern tribe s whil s t to the left are s ome

,

of Ya k ub s follower s a few of Khalifa Ali W a d e lu s

’
,
’

Arab s and the j aalin and Danagla Behind the s e the

,
.

p eople are s eated in ten or twelve row s and repeat the ,

prayer s in uni s on after the Khalifa O n all occa s ion s there .

are s everal thou s and per s on s pre s ent and the Khalifa i s
"

mo s t particular that all the principal Emir s and i n flu e n tia l

people s hould a s s i s t him If he bear s any s pecial di s like or
.

ill will to any per s on s he invariably condemn s them to

-
,

regularly attend the h y e daily prayer s in the mo s que under ,

th e s upervi s ion of people s pecially s elected for thi s purpo s e .

I n making the s e s trict regulation s regarding prayer s the ,

Khalifa i s by no mean s actuated by devotional idea s but ,

utilize s the s e occa s ion s to keep h i s follower s together under

h i s own per s onal control A s s everal of the people live a
.

con s iderable di s tance away from the mo s que they are ,

generally s o tired a n d exhau s ted after the s e frequent

journey s to and fro that they do not collect in the even i ng
,
’
i n each other 8 hou s e s a practice which the Khalifa s pecially
,

abhor s for h i s obj ect i s to de s troy a s far a s po s s ible what

,

‘ ’
he i s plea s ed to call s ocial life that i s to s a y s ocial —
,

gathering s fo r he i s perfectly well aware that h i s deed s

—

and action s on s uch occa s ion s are invariably di s cu s s ed and

critici s ed and no t generally very favou r ably
,
.
32 2 FIRE A ND S W O RD IN HU
T E S D AN

T h e s e two individual s lead a wretched life ; for they know

that he will not forgive the s lighte s t mi stake and s hould he ,

have the lea s t s u s picion of thei r having revealed any of h i s

s ecret s even through carele ss ne s s he would not he s itate to
, ,
'

treat them a s he treated th e i r c o m r a de s Ahmedi and h i s

four brother s who having been accu s ed of communicating

H
, ,

with the A s hraf were executed , .

e conver s e s principally with h i s Kadi s who are for the , ,

mo s t part willing tool s in h i s hand s and s erve to give a

, ,

veneer of ju s tice to h i s de s potic action s The s e myrmidon s .

,

s ubmi s s ively s eated in a s emicircle on the bare fl o o r their ,

head s bowed down li s ten to h i s order s which are generally

, ,

given in an undertone and r arely any one of them dare s to

O pen h i s mouth or make a s ugge s tion no matte r how ,

nece s s ary he may think i t In addition to the Kadi s he .

,

occa s i onally interview s Emir s and other i n flue n ti a l pers on s ,

from whom he a s certain s the condition of the country and

tribe s ; but he invariably s tir s up int r igue and trie s to pit
one again s t the other H
e generally co n s ult s immediately

after n ight prayers wi t h Yakub and s ome of h is near

.
,

r elative s and the s e meeting s often la s t till long pa s t mid

,

night They are u s ually convened for di s cu s s ing the way s

.

and m ean s of ridding them s elve s of per s on s who are o b

j e c ti o n a bl e o r who
,
are in the s malle s t degree a menace to
their authority .

Occa s ionally he make s s hort riding excur s ion s to va r io u s

,

part s of the to wn or vi s it s h i s hou s e s in the north or s outh

,

of Omdurman The melancholy note s of the o m b e ya and

.

the beating of war drum s announce to the inhabitan t s that

-

t h eir m a s ter i s about to appear in public Hor s e s are at .

once s addled in the large thatched enclo s ure immediately

behind the m o s que The door s are thrown O pen a n d the
.
,

m u la z e m l n s tream out from all direction s and la s t of all , , ,

follow s the Kalifa mounted a s a rule on hor s eback A

, , ,
.

s quare i s immediately formed round him and the men ,

a dvance in front of him in det achment s ten or twelve ,

abrea s t Behind them follow the hor s e and footmen of the

.
32 4 FIR E A N D S WORD IN HU
T E S D AN

few s pecial favourite s and a number of m u la z e m in remain

, ,

with him ; bu t the re s t of the t1 0 0 ps and populace range

them s elve s in long line s ; and wh en the prayer i s over he
mount s a wooden pulpit and deliver s a s ermon which i s , ,

generally s pecially prepared for him by h i s s ecretarie s

,
.

Thi s over a s alute of s even gun s i s fi r e d and all tho s e who

, ,

can afford it kill the s a cr i fi c ia l lamb s pre s cribed by the

religion but owing to the prevailing di s tre s s and poverty
,

of th e inhabitant s very few of them are in a po s ition to

,

bear thi s expen s e and are obliged to content them s elve s

,

with a s or t of porridge which take s the place of a

s a c r i fi c i a l di s h During the three following day s a review
.

i s hel d . L ong before s unri s e the E mir s with their flag s ,

and follower s collect and march to their allotted po s ition s

,

on the parade ground which i s an almo s t perfectly fi a t

-
,

s andy plain with a few s tone s here and there

, The troop s .

are mar s halled in long line s in rear of each other facing ,

ea st .

Yakub h a s the principal flag a n imm en s e piece of black —

’
cloth which i s hoi s te d exactly oppo s ite the Khalifa s zariba
, ,

and about four hundred yard s from i t To the right and .

left are ranged t h o s e of the di fferent Emi t s while on the ,

north s ide h ie s the green flag of th e Khalifa Ali W a d Helu ,

on either s ide of which are the flag s of h i s Emir s O n the .

left h ank the hors e a n d camel men are d rawn u p while on -

,

the right flank are ranged the r i fl e m e n con s i s ting partly of ,

e h a di a a n d partly of men belonging to the variou s E mir s

j , ,

who are only s pecially provided with arm s for th e time

being Im mediately after s unri s e the Khalifa come s out of
.
,

the zariba and mounted on h i s hors e s tand s s urrounded by

, , ,

h i s m u la z e m i n and body gu ard whil s t the entire army -

,

pa ss e s in review before him the troop s being generally ,

provided with new j ib b a s and turban s in honour of the

fea s t Sometime s the Khalifa mount s on a camel ; and on
.
,

one occa s ion he drove in the carriage of one of the former

,

Governor s General which had been captured in Khartum

-
,

and which wa s kept s tored away in the Beit e l Mal Two .

 MISCELLA NEO US R E M A R KS 32 5

hors e s were s pecially trained to draw thi s ve h ic le which ,

the Khalifa ordered to be driven at a foot pace a s h e feare d ,

being up s et ; but latterly he h a s given up this plan and ,

generally ride s on hor s eback direct from th e mo s que along

th e road leading due we s t toward s the black flag and on , ,

r eaching i t he s olemnly contemplate s it for a few moment s

, ,

a n d then ri d e s to the zariba at the s outh front of which a

,

s mall s helter con s i s ting of trunk s of tree s la s h ed to gether

,

and covered with palm mat s h a s been erected Here he

-
,
.

di s mount s and reclin e s on an angareb s urroun ded by h i s ,

Kadi s whil s t the troop s h le pa s t Occa s ionally he s tart s

, .

from h i s own hou s e and taking a s outhern road marc h e s

, , ,

out of the town then turn s we s t and ride s along th e front

,

alignment of h i s troop s after wh ich the u s ual march pa s t

,

take s place A t t h e s e review s the h or s emen are generally

.

clad in coat s of mail of European or A s iatic origin w h il s t

, ,

on their head s they wear h eavy iron helmet s and curiou s

cotton cap s of variou s colour s and the mo st grote s que
s hape s round which a s mall turban i s wound
, The hor s e s .

are clothed in large padded patchwork quilt s s omewhat ,

re s embling tho s e worn by the knight s of old at tournament s

and one might almo s t imagine one w a s gazing at one of
tho s e old medi ae val di s play s The s e review s terminate at
.

the end of the third day ; and the t1 0 0 ps brought from

beyond Omdurman are permitted to return to their r e s pe c
tive garri s on s .

’
I propo s e now to b r i e fly con s ider the Khalifa s political
intention s and idea s .

A s I have already s tated when the Mahdi fi r s t declared

,

him s elf b e nominated three Khalifa s v i z Abdullahi Ali

, , .
, ,

W a d Helu and Mohammed S h erif who were to s ucceed

, ,

h i m in thi s order if they s urvive d

, O h h i s death Abdullahi
.
,

s ucceeded a s arranged but from the moment he took ove r

the rein s of government he d i d everything in h i s power to
increa s e h i s pers onal a s cendancy and make it h ereditary in
the family The mutinou s A s hraf w h o prided them s elve s
.
,

on their relation s hip to the Mahdi a fforded him a welcome ,

3 26 FIRE A N D S W OR D IN HS UD
T E AN

pretext for compa s s ing their downfall ; and he did not

he s itate t o po s s e s s him s elf of the Black troop s belonging to
both h i s rival Khalifa s An ob s cure member of a we s tern
.

tribe he wa s a complete s tranger in the count r y ; and he

,

knew th at he could not reckon on the j aalin Danagla

H
, ,

inhabitant s of the Gezira and other Nile V alley tribe s to

,

s upport h i s authority e therefore s ent s ecret emi s s arie s

.

to the we s tern Arab s to induce them to make a pilgrimage

’
to the Mahdi s tomb and emigrate to the Nil e V alley
,

agent s drew a tempting picture of the m a g n ifi c e n t country

is . H
to which they had been invited telling them that they were ,
’
the L ord s cho s en people and that they s hould g o out to
,

po s s e s s the land the inhabitant s of which were rich in cattle

,

and s lave s which s hould be their s

,
Tempted by the s e .

‘
glowing account s many of the s e tribe s emigrated of their
,

own free will to Omdurman but a s thi s contingent wa s no t

-

s u ffi c i e n t the Khalifa in s tructed h i s E mir s in Darfur and

,

Kordofan to enforce h i s order s and _ in co n s equence of thi s , ,

an immen s e em igration took place and continue s on a , ,

reduced s ca le down to the pre s ent day B y thi s mean s the

, .

Khalifa h a s s urrounded him s elf with horde s of s trangers

who have ou s ted the righ tful owners of the s oil and have ,

made them s elve s ab s olute ma s ters of the s ituation All .

o ffi c e s and important s ituation s are fi lle d by them and h i s

own relative s the majority belonging to the T a a i s h a s ection

, .

Almo s t the only one of the old Emir s left i s O s man Digna ;
and the rea s on for thi s i s that the ea s tern Arab t ribe s he
govern s s peak a language which i s unknown to the we s tern
Arab s Be s ide s many of the s e tribe s are gradually coming
.
,

under Egyptian and Italian i n fl u e n c e and the few that are ,

left are merely attached to O s man Digna becau s e he is

one of them Thu s the T a a i s h a tribe h a s acquired all the
.

power and authority in the land and they fi ll their pocket s

with the waning revenue s of the impoveri s hed Sudan .

Year s ago the Emir s of Dongola and Berber had been

,

in s tructed by t he Khalifa to weaken the local population

a s much a s po ss ible ; and in con s equence fi r e a r m s and
, ,
328 FIR E A ND S WO R D IN T HU
E S D AN

who s e flag s belonged to tho s e of Khalifa Sherif and from ,

whom Abdullahi had withdrawn all power of command over

other Emir s the remnant of the defeated force w a s placed
,

under t he direction of th e Emir Yune s and in order to ,

replace tho s e who h a d been killed b e appointed fre s h ,

Jaalin and Emir s a s well a s men from Om d urman The s e .

he fi r s t place d under the command of thei r compatriot ,

B e d a w i W a d e l Er e ik ; but in s tead of s ending them to

Dongola they were d e s patch ed to Gedaref and a s an
, ,

unavoidable delay occurred in their departu r e he made ,

out that thi s w a s a proof of di s obedience and condemned ,

B e da w i with s i x of h i s Emir s to be bani s hed to R e gg a f

, , ,

and in their place he nominated other Emi t s whom he ,

placed under the direct command of h i s cou s in Hamed ,

W a d Ali .

It i s human nature to s eek the protection of the mo s t

powerful and now in s tead of being de s irou s to s erve under
, ,

their own Emir s the greater number of the s o called Oppo s i

,
-

tion party vie with one another in their effort s to be placed

under the direct command of the Khalifa or of Yakub even
the adherent s of Ali W a d Helu come under thi s category .

A s an in s tance of thi s I will quote the ca s e of Hamed W a d

H
,

tion of th e B a ta h i n
,

e belonged to the
. H
Gar e n Nebbi who w a s the principal cau s e of the de s truo
a s s a n a b tribe

w h ich w a s commande d by Ali W a d Helu R ecogni s ing .

,

how matters s tood he wi s hed to place him s elf and h i s tribe

H
,
’
under Ya k ub s command but he w a s s hort s ighted enough
,
-

’
to tell Khalifa Ali s relative s of h i s plan s e even went s o .

far a s to s tate in public that on the death of Abdullahi he , ,

would be s ucceede d by h i s b r other Yakub or h i s s o n O s man ,

and that a s they had all the power in their hand s Khalifa
, ,

Ali could expect nothing and w a s moreover a weak man , , , ,

without energy Several of the by s ta nders retorted that

.

’
t he M ahdi h a d nominated Khalifa Ali to be Ab du lla h i s
s ucce s s or to which he replied that time s had changed that
, ,
’
Abdullahi wa s all powerful and that the Mahdi s command s
-
,

were n ev e r at t ended t o or taken into con sideration W he n .

 M IS C E LL A NE O U S R E M A R KS 3 29

t h i s interview came to th e ear s of Khalifa Ali he charged ,

Gar e n Nebbi before th e Kadi and it w a s proved beyond a

H
,

doubt that the latter had actually made the s e s tatement s .

’
e w a s c on s equently convicted of being irreligiou s having ,
’
doubted the maintenance of the Mahdi s doctrine s and
in s truction s Abdullahi could not therefore publicly inter
.

fere Had he done s o h e w o u l d h ave revealed h i s own

. .

intention s which were in reality well known and wo ul d

,
.

,
’
have corroborated Gar e n Ne b b i s a s s ertion s The j udge s .

s entenced him to death and although Abdullahi did all in

,

h i s power to induce Ali W a d H elu to grant a reprieve the ,

latter in s i s ted that the s entence s houl d be carried out and ,

Gar e n N ebbi wa s publicly executed in the market place a s -

an un believer and a di s t urber of public tranquillity All .

the tribe s under the c o ni m a n d of Yakub a s well a s the ,

’
Khalifa s immediate follower s received in s truction s to s how
,

general di s s ati s faction with the execution by openly ab s ent

ing them s elve s from i t .

W henever it i s a que s tion between him s elf and h i s oppo

ment s the Khalifa invariably relie s upon h i s arm s which are
, ,

far m ore than s u ffi c i e n t to overcome with ea s e any attempt

to di s pute h i s authority whether it be in Om durman it s elf
,

or in any other part of the country W ithin the Sudan .

H
,

therefore he i s all powerful but he i s not in a po s ition to

,
-
,

offer determined re s i s tance to out s ide enemie s i s leade r s

H
.

are neither capable nor s u ffi c i e n tly in s tructed to en s ure

victory . i s men are not now loyal enough to fi g h t with
that determination which early fanatici s m had in s pired .

They have little or no faith in the cau s e for which they are
suppo s ed to be fi h ti n
g g and there i,
s little doub t that the
’
Khalifa s force s could not re s i s t the advance of a foreign
power bent on reoccupying th e Sudan .

The table on the next page s hows approximately the

’
force s at pre s ent at the Khalifa s di s po s al O f the forty .

thou s and r i fl e s s hown in the table there are not more than
twenty two thou s and R emington s in g ood condition The
-
.

remai n de r con s i s t of s ingle and do uble barrel s mooth bore s -

,
3 30 FIRE A N D S W OR D IN HU
T E S D AN

a
8 e
w
82 6
8 z d u
2 6 m
a « e S
.

e m fi o

m
88 n a
u
o m c fi e
u
e
m

E
fl
e
o
w
e m0 s u u
e v m z s c
w o m o w o
e o
wfl
u m
w 5
s
fi
m h e
o e wm m
e m u m .

m
33 2 FIRE A N D S W ORD I N T HU E S D AN

the imm e diate neighbourhood of Suakin and Kokar whil s t ,

the capture of Ka s s ala t h rew into the hand s of the Italian s

all d i s tr i cts l y i n g ea s t of that town in con s equence of which ,

th e river Atbara may now be c o n s i

ea s tern frontier T h e main force originally s tationed a t
.

Gallabat under A h med F e d i l h a s been moved to Gedaref ,

and only an i n s i g n i fi ca n t force i s maintained at the former

s tation T h e chief of the Beni S h angul di s trict s Tur e l
.
,

Guri and many of the neighbouring Sheikh s have declared

,

them s elve s independent .

In the extreme we s t th e Ma s s alit Tama Ben i Hu s s ein , , ,

and Gimr tribe s who formerly paid tribute have now , ,

’
revolted again s t the Mahdi s government , and until lately
were independent They entered into an o ffen s ive and
.

defen s ive alliance W ith Su lta n Yu s e f of W adai and the ‘

,

Khalifa w a s about to de s patch an expedition with the object

of bringing them into s ubj ection when th e alarming news , ,

to whic h I have already referred regarding the appearance ,

of E uropean s in the Bahr e l Ghazal induced him to alter

’
the de s tination of K h atem Mu s a s force to t h at neighbour
hood After the retirement of the Dervi s he s order s were
.

s ent to Khate m Mu s a not to proceed further s outh until

had received reinforcement s from Omdurman .

CHAPT E R X V I .

M I C E LL AN E OU
S S R E MA R KS
( con ti n ued
) .

Ad m i i tr ti n f J ti R l i gi n in th
n s a o o us ce — e o e Sud a n — E nfo r ce d P ilg im
r

to th M h di T eb Li m i t f th
a
’
s om —
s o e

R o a ds r d d C mm r
T a e Th
an o e ce e

H
M rk t I nd u tri I m m o r l ity U p
H
—
a e s e s— a —
n

i Ig rs nod C r u l ty
a n ce i P ri v t A p rtm
an t e —
s a e a e n s— Pr i n c

H
B u i l d i g i n O m d urm n D cri p ti o n f th C i ty T h P ri n
—
n s a —
es o e e so

it
s o rr r D th of Z k i T um m l
s— ea d K di A h m e d
o e a an a .

H H
T R O U G O U T the prece d ing page s I have frequently
’
in general term s to the K h alifa s
j u s tice T h e Kadi s
.
,
 M I S CEL LA N E O U S RE M A R KS

of their a s tute ma ster T h ey ar e only permitted to act

.

independently in trivial ca s e s s uch a s family di s pute s , ,

que s tion s of property and the like ; but in all matter s of

,

importance they mu s t invariably refer to the Khalifa for

fi n a l deci s ion 1 n g 1 v 1 n g whic h the latter invariably con s ult s
,
'
h i s own immediate intere s t s ; but at th e s ame ti m e h i s
earne s t endeavour i s to appear before the public to be
within the bound s of j u s tice The judge s therefore have a
~
.
, ,

s omewhat di ffi c u l t ta s k to perform : that i s to s a y 1 116 } ,

’
mu s t invariably carry out the Khalifa s wi s h e s and give ,

them the appearance of being legally correct ; wherea s in ,

nine ca s e s out of ten they are entirely contrary to th e fi r s t

,

element s of ju s tice and right .

R eligion in th e Sudan a s far a s my experience goe s i s

, ,

governed by the principle th at the end j u s tifi e s the mean s .

Proclamation s and pamphlet s enj oining s trict attention to

the performance of religiou s dutie s and urging the aban ,

do n m e n t of all earthly plea s ure s are de s patched to the ,

remote s t part s of Africa and Arabia to Bornu Dar F ellata , , ,

Mecca and Medina The Khalifa if h i s health permit s i t

, .
, ,

attend s the fi v e daily prayer s mo s t regularly ; and yet at ,

heart no man could be more irreligiou s During all the

, .

year s in w h ich I have been in the clo s e s t communication

with him I have never once s een or heard him s a y a prayer
,

in h i s o wn hou s e Should any religiou s rite or ceremony

.

interfere in the s malle s t degree wit h h i s wi sh e s or ambition s

it i s in s tantly aboli s hed but in d oing s o he i s careful that
,

the propo s ition for i ts abolition s hould emanate in the fi r s t

in stance from h i s Kadi s who d eclare it nece s s ary for the
,

‘maintenance of the faith ’ a n d the a s tutene s s with which

,

the s e ob s equiou s myrmidon s twi s t and turn matter s in order

’
to s uit the Khalifa s will i s de s erving of a better c a u s e .

W henever it i s quite impo s s ible to create s ome pre t ext for

the execution of an unu s ually gro s s piece of inju s tice ,

s i ti o n and in s piration i s invariably called t o

addre s s e s h is follower s from the pulpi t

334 FIR E A ND S WO RD IN T HU E S D AN

in the m o s que but a s he i s entirely ignoran t of theology

,

and know s little or nothing about th e rudiment s of religion ,

the s cope of h i s s ermon s i s exce s s ively limited and con s i s t s

H
,

of a repetition of s tereotyped phra s e s .

e h a s forbidden pilgrimage to Mecca h aving s ub s tituted ,

for it pilgrimage to th e tomb of the Mahdi who i s the ,

’
Prophet s repre s entative Although th e Su d ane s e inten s ely .

di s like thi s innovation they are perforce obliged to accept

,

i t and a s it i s now impo s s ible for them to return to the

,

orthodox faith which they s o unwittingly ca s t a s ide they

, ,

now accept the s ituation and carry out their mock religiou s ,

dutie s in the mo s t bu s ine s s like manner but without the -

,

s malle s t belief in their e ffi ca c

y .

E ducation and religiou s in s truction are practically non

exi s tent Some boy s and occa s ionally a few girl s are
.
, ,

taught to recite the Kuran and the R a te b in the m e sj i ds

( religiou s s chool s attached to the mo s que s
) of which a few ,

are allowed to be privately kept up A s mall percentage .

of the s e children when they have compl e ted thei r cour s e in

,

the m e sj i ds are s ent to the B eit e l Mal where they become

, ,

apprentice s to the old Govern m ent clerk s a n d learn a ,

certain amount of bu s in e s s corre s pondence The s y s tem .

‘

of theological in s truction whic h obtain s in mo s t Mo s lem

countrie s but which w a s never much in vogue in the
,

Sudan h a s now cea s ed to exi s t altogether

, .

The once exten s ive commerce of the Sudan h a s now

s unk down to comparatively nothing and the road s which ,

were formerly traver s ed by numberle s s caravan s are now

de s erted obliterated by s and or overg r own with rank
, ,

vegetation The principal route s w

. ere
’
1 . The Arba i n or forty day s road from D arfur to
''

, ,

A s s iut or from Kordofan through the B a yu da de s ert to

,

Dongola and W adi Halfa .

2 . Fr om Khartum v i d Berber to A s s uan or v i d Abu

, ,

Hamed to Koro s ko .

3 . F rom Khartum m a Berbe r or Ka s s ala to Suakin

,
'
, .

4 . F rom Gallabat Gedaref and Ka s s ala to Ma ss awa

, ,
.
3 36 FIR E A ND S WO RD IN T HU
E S DAN

quantitie s about once a year and generally fi n d s i ts way to ,

Suakin and a s the s e d i s trict s appear to be gradually pa s s ing

,

out of Mahdi s t control it i s hardly probable that the amount

,

will increa s e in future year s Occa s ionally a few tu s k s are

.

brought from the Sout h ern Darfur di s trict s ; but unle s s the
Dervi s h e s reoccupy the Bahr e l Ghazal in force their ivory ,

trade s tand s in danger of dying out altogether .

Good s can only be imported from Egyp t by the A s s uan

and Suakin road s F ormerly a certain amount of trade
.
‘

w a s carried on between Suakin and Ka ss ala and Ka s s ala ,

i
and Ma s s awa ; but s ince the occupation of the Ea stern
Sudan by the Italian s it h a s almo s t entirely cea s ed The
, .

good s imported are generally of an inferior quality and ,

’ ’
con s i s t mo s tly of material for women s dre s s e s and men s
j i b b a s but to the inhabitant s of the Sudan thi s i s a matter
of li ttle con s equence for they much prefer gaudy and tawdry
,

material to the more durable fabric s Indeed it would be .

,

ve r y diffi cu lt if not impo s s ible to h n d purcha s er s for a

, ,

better cla s s of good s in the Sudan .

One of the principal import s i s s cent of every variety ,

s uch a s s andal woo d oil clove s s cented s eed s etc

-
, for all, , .
,

of which the Sudane s e la d ie s have a s trong predilection .

’
A certain amou nt of s ugar rice inferior j am s an d dried , , ,

fruit al s o h n d pu rcha s er s among s t the more wealthy of the

population The importation of all article s made of iron
.
,

bra s s tin coppe r etc h a s for s ome time pa s t been

, , , .
,

rigorou s ly pro h ibited by the Egyptian Government and ,

now it i s almo s t impo s s ible to obtain a pair of s ci s s or s or

a razor Copper cooking uten s il s have ri s en to an enormou s
.

price and mo s t of tho s e which previou s ly exi s ted have been

,

bought up by t he ar s enal for the manufacture of cartridge s .

Con s equently food i s now cooked almo s t entirely in earthen

ware ve s s el s .

The tax of u sh r ( a tenth ) i s levied on all good s imported

to the Sudan It mu s t be paid in either money or kind and
.
,

i s frequently taken more than once along the road All .

good s on arrival in Omdurman are taken to the Beit e l Mal

 MIS CE LL A NE O US R E M A R KS 3 37

and s t amped and h ere the u s h r i s again taken Merch ant s .

,

therefore owing to the heavy t axe s impo s ed in addition to

, ,

th e pre s ent s they have to make to the variou s chiefs have ,

generally paid half a s much again over and above t he value

of their good s They are therefore obliged to con s iderably
.

r ai s e the price and even then the total pr o fi t i s by no mean s

,

a large one Several of the more wealthy inhabitant s of

.

the Sudan have taken to trading with Egypt not s o m uti lf ,

with a view to making money a s to s pending a few month s ,

’
away from the atmo s phere of the Khalifa s authority It i s .

by mean s of trade alone t h at any of the unfortu n ate i n «

habitant s of the Sudan can temporarily e s cape from the

hand s of that tyrant who s e rule i s more dete s ted than ever
, .

Mo st of the merchant s having their wive s familie s and , , ,

'
relative s in the Sudan a re obliged eventually to return ;
,

and were it not for the s e tie s I think that few men who
, ,

have the chance of leaving the Sudan would ever return .

But if trade in general i s in a s tate of depre s s ion there i s ,

one trade t o which the advent of the Mahdi and Khalifa h a s

given a great impul s e I refer of cour s e to the s lave trade
.
, ,
-
.

As however the expor t of s lave s to Egypt i s s trictly pro

, ,

h ib ite d thi s trade i s c o n fi n e d entirely to the province s unde r

,
’
the Khalifa s control In prohibiting the export of s lave s
.
,

the Khalifa act s on the wi s e principle that he s hould not

incr ea s e the power of h i s advers arie s at h i s own expen s e .

It i s of cour s e quite impo s s ible for him to ab s olutely pre

, ,

vent s lave s being taken occa s ionally to Egypt or Arabia ;

but the s lave caravan s which were formerly s en t from the
-

Sudan have now almo st completely s topped A few year s .

ago quanti t ie s of s lave s were s ent from Aby s s inia by Abu

Anga and from F a s hoda by Zeki T u m m a l a s well a s from
, ,

Darfur and the Nuba mountain s by O s man W a d Adam ,

and were generally s old by public auction for the b e n e fi t of

’
the Beit e l M al or the Khalifa s private trea s ury The .

tran s port of s lave s i s carried on with the s ame execrable and

heartle s s cruelty which characterize s their capture O f the .

thous and s of Aby s s inia n Ch r i st ian s s eized by Abu Anga ,

22
3 38 FIR E A N D S W OR D IN T HU E S D AN

th e maj ority were women and children and under the cruel ,

la s h of the whip they were forced to march on foot the whole

di s tance from Aby s s inia to Om d urman W renched from .

their familie s provided wit h s c arcely enoug h food to keep

,

body and s oul together barefoote d and almo s t naked they

, , ,

were driven through the country like herd s of cattle The .

greater number of t h em peri s h ed on the road and tho s e ,

who arrived in Omdurman were in s o pitiable a conditi o n

that purch a s er s could s carcely be found for them whil s t ,

number s were given away for nothing by the Khalifa After .

th e defeat of th e Shilluk s Zeki T u m m a l packed thou s and s

,

of the s e wretched creature s into th e s mall barge s u s ed fo r

th e tran s port of h i s troop s and de s patched them to O m du r
,

man Hundred s die d from s uffocation and ove r crowding

.

on th e Jo u r n e y and on the arriva l of the remnant the Khalifa

, ,

appropriated mo s t of the young men a s recruit s for h i s body

-

guard whil s t the women and young girl s were s old by public
,

au c tion which la s ted s everal day s Hungry and in many

, .
,

ca s e s naked the s e unfortunate creat ure s lay huddled to

,

gether in front of the Beit e l Mal F or food they were .

,

given an utterly inadequate quantity of uncooked dhurra .

Hundred s fell ill and for the s e poor wretche s it w a s al s o

,

impo s s ible to h n d purc h a s er s W earily they dra gged their

.

emaciated bodie s to th e river b a nk where they died and a s , ,

nobody would take th e trouble to bury them the corp s e s ,

were pu s hed into the river and s wept away .

But a wor s e fate t h an thi s befell the s lave s who had the
mi s fortune to be s ent from Darfur along the broad s tret che s
‘
of th e waterle s s de s ert whic h lie be tween that province a nd
Omdurman The s e mi s erable creature s we re mercile s s ly
.
‘

driven forward day and night and it woul d be impo s s ible ,

for me to de s cribe here the execrable me as ure s adopted by

the s e brutal s lave drivers to force on their prey to their de s
-

ti n a ti o n W hen the poor wretche s could g o no further their

.

ear s were cut o ff a s a proof to the owner that h i s property

had died on th e road Some of my friend s told me that on
.

one occa s ion they had found a n un fo rtun at e woman who s e

 MISC ELL A NE O US R E M A RKS 339

ears h a d been cut o ff but W h o wa s s till alive Taking pity

'
, .

on her they brought her to El F a s her where s h e eventually

, ,

recovered whil s t her ear s had been duly expo s ed in O m d ur

,

man a s proof of her death .

L a tt erly no large caravan s of s lave s have arrived in

,

Omdurman becau s e the majority of the s lave producing

,
-

di s trict s s uch a s Darfur have become depopulated o r in

, , , ,

s ome ca s e s the tribe s s uch a s the Tama Ma s s ali t e te z ;

, , , ,

have thrown o ff allegiance to the Khalifa Con s ign .

ment s however s till come from R e g g a f but owing to th e

, , , ,

long and tediou s journey nu m ber s of them peri s h on the ,

way A s the s upplie s from Gallabat Kordofan and Darfur

.
, ,

have con s ide r ably dimini s hed th e Khalifa now allow s the ,

Emir s to s ell s lave s to the itinerant G e lla b a s and the latter ,

are obliged to s ign a pa p er giving a de s criptive return of

thei r purcha s e and the amount paid They are permitted
, .

t o re s ell on the s ame condition s .

There i s of cour s e a daily s ale of s lave s in Omdurman ;

, ,

but the purch a s e of male s lave s i s forbidden a s they are ,

looked upon a s th e Khalifa s monop oly and are generall y

’
,

turned into s oldier s Anyone wi s hing to di s po s e of a male

.

s lave mu s t s end h i m to the Beit e l Mal where a purely ,

nominal price i s paid for him and he i s then if likely to , ,

make a good s oldier recruited for the m u la z e m in but if

, ,
’
un s uitable he i s s ent o ff to work a s a labourer in h i s ma s ter s
,

h eld s The s ale of women and girl s i s permi s s ible every

.

where with the provi s o that a paper mu s t be s igned by two

,

witne s s e s of the s ale one of whom if po s s ible s hould be a

, , ,

Kadi certifying that the s lave s old i s the actual property of the
,

vendor Thi s s y s tem wa s brought into force becau s e s lave s

.

frequently ran away from their ma s ter s and were caugh t ,

and s old by other per s on s a s their own property and t h u s ,

theft of s lave s w a s a very common practice in Om d urman .

’
They were frequently enticed into other people s hou s e s ,

or s ecretly induced to leave the fi e ld s then thrown into ,

chain s and carried o ff to di s tant part s of the country w h ere ,

they were s old at very low rate s In accordance with the .

,

2 2— 2
34 6 FIRE A ND SWO RD IN T HU E S D AN

Mohammedan law s lave s cannot be witne s s e s and being well

, ,

aware of their inferior po s ition the s e s tolen creature s a s , ,

lo n g a s they are kindly treated are not di s sa ti sfi e d with ,

their lot .

In Omdurman it s elf in an open s pace a s hor t di s tance to

,

the s outh ea s t of th e Beit e l Mal s tand s a hou s e roughly

-
,

built of mud brick s which i s known a s the Suk e r Re k ik

,

( s lave market
) U nder
. the pretext that I wanted t o buy or
’
exchange s lave s I s everal time s received the Khalifa s per
,

mi s s ion to vi s it i t and found a m ple Opportunity for clo s ely

,

ob s erving the conduct of the bu s i n e s s Here profe s s ional .

s lave dealer s a s s emble to o ffer their ware s for s ale

-
R ound .

th e wall s of the hou s e number s of women and girl s s tand o r

s it
. They vary from the decrepit and aged half clad s lave s -

of the working cla s s to the gaily decked s urya ( concubine ) -

and a s the trade i s looked upon a s a perfectly natural and

,

lawful bu s ine s s tho s e put up for s ale are carefully examined

,

from head to foot without the lea s t re s triction j u s t a s if

, ,

they were animal s The mouth i s opened to s e e if the teeth

.

are in good condition The upper p a rt of the body and the

.

ba c k are laid bare and the arm s carefully looke d a t They

, .

are then told to take a few s tep s backward or forward in

order that the ir movement s an d gait may be examined A .

s erie s of que s tion s are put to them to te s t their knowledge

of Arabic In fact t h ey have to s ubmit to any examination

.
,

the intending purcha s er may wi s h to make Surya s of .

,

cour s e vary co n s iderably in price but the whole matter i s

,

treated by the s lave s without the s malle s t concern They .

con s ider it perfectly natural and have no notion of being ,

treated otherwi s e Only occa s ionally one can s e e by the

.

expre s s ion of a woman or g irl that s h e feel s t hi s clo se

s crutiny ; po s s ibly her po s ition with her former ma s ter w a s

rather that of a s ervant than a s lave or s h e may have been ,

looked upon almo st a s a member of the family and may ,

have been brought to thi s unhappy po s ition by force of

circum s tance s or through s ome hateful inhumanity on th e
,

p a r t of her former ma s ter W hen the intending purcha s er .

 34 2 FIR E AND S WORD IN T HU E S D AN

’
Khalifa s c o n fi s c a tio n of all boat s on the N ile it cea s ed ,
’
almo s t entirely till about a year ago when wit h the Khalifa s
, , ,

permi s s ion it recommenced A s h owever all new boat s

, .
, ,

are taxed highly by the Beit e l Mal there i s little induce ,

ment to the builder s to un d ertake s uch pr o fi tle s s work .

There i s a certain amount of leather work in red and -

yellow s hoe s s andal s s addle s of di fferent s ort s harn e s s

, , , ,

amulet s s word s c abbard s and knife s heath s etc whil s t

, , , .
,

whip s in large quantitie s are made from the hide of the

hipp o potamu s There i s al s o a con s iderable cotton indu s try
. .

Every woman or girl s pin s for h e r own u s e or for s ale and ,

in every village there are number s of weavers who work

the s pun yarn into a variety of material s In the Gezira
-
.

are woven common cotton s tu ffs s uch a s to b s damur a n d —

, ,

g e nj
( name s of cloth s
) i n length s of about —
ten yard s .

The s e are brought to the market in large quantitie s and ,

are principally u s e d for th e clothing of the commoner cla s s e s .

The fi n e s t yarn s are s pun in the province of Berber Strip s .

of c oloured s ilk are frequently interwoven in the material

“

which i s u s ed principally for turban s and h a z a m s ( the s trip s

of cotton whic h are u s ed to bind round the body ) a s well a s ,

covering s of variou s s ort s and s hawl s A certain amount , .

’
of cotton s tu fi i s made in th e Dongola province ; but that
di s trict i s c h i e fly noted for the manufacture of s ail cloth -
.

Material s from Kordofan are noted for their d urability rather

than fo r their beauty .

In addition to s pinning the women occupy them s elve s ,

largely in plaiting mat s of variou s s hape s and s ize s from the

leave s of the dom palm which are s old largely in all part s
,

of the Sudan The be s t quality of the s e mat s i s made from

.

the narrow s trip s of the palm leave s barley s traw and thin , ,

piece s of leather Mat s of a s imilar de s cription are al s o

.

made for placing under di s he s on the dinner table The -

.

workman s hip of s ome of the s e i s s o fi n e and good t hat a

certain quantity fi n d their way to Egypt where they a r e ,

s old a s curio s itie s The Darfur women are s pecially clever

.

in making the s e mat s into which a r e interwoven various

,
 ‘
MISCELL A NE OUs R EM A11 11 s 34 3

s ort s of gla ss bead s and the re s ult i s s ometime s extremely

,

pretty .

In the p r eceding page s I have endeavou r ed to give a

’
brief outline of the Khalifa s life and the exi s ting s tate of ,

affair s in the country ; but thi s would not be complete

without a few remark s regarding the moral c o n di tl o n of the
people The attempted regeneration of the faith by the
.

Mahdi who di s regarded the former religiou s te a c h i n g e r fd

,

cu s tom s h a s re s ulted in a deterioration of moral s which

, , ,

even at the be s t of time s were very lax in th e Sudan , .

Partly from fear of the Khalifa and partly for their own ,

per s onal intere s t s and advantage the people have made ,

religion a mere profe s s ion and thi s h a s now become their

,

s econd nature and h a s ” brought with it a condition of

,

immorality which i s almo s t inde s cribable The majority of .

the inhabitant s unhappy and di s conte n ted with the exi s ting
,
'

s tate of a fi a i r s and fearing that their per s onal freedom may

,

become even more re s tri c ted than it i s s eem to have ,

determined to enjoy their life a s mu g h a s their mean s will

allow and to lo s e no time about i t A s there i s practically
, .

no s ocial life or s piritual intercour s e they s eem to have r e ,

s olved to make up for thi s want by indulging their pa s s ion

for women to an abnormal extent Their object i s to .

obtain a s many of the s e in marriage a s po s s ible a s well a s ,

’
concubine s ; and the Mahdi s tenet s allow them th e fulle s t
s cope in thi s d irection F or in s tance the expen s e s in con
.
,

n e c ti o n with marriage have been greatly dimini s hed The .

dowry for a girl h a s been reduced from ten to h y e dollar s ,

and for a widow fi v e dollar s a common dre s s a pair of

, , ,

s hoe s or s andal s and a few s cent s, Should a man de s ire .

to marry a girl her father or guardian mu s t con s ent unle s s

, ,

there are s ome very c ogent rea s on s for not doing s o .

U nder any circum s tance s they are held re spon s ible that
,

their daughter s or ward s become wive s a s s oon a s they

reach a convenient age The acqui s ition therefore of .
, ,

four wive s which i s the number authorized by the Kuran

—

— h a s become a ve r y s imple m a tter and in mo s t ca s e s i s ,

34 4 FIRE A ND S WORD I N T HU E S D AN

con s idered merely a mean s of acquiring a s mall amount of

per s onal property Moreover a large proportion of the
.
,

women are quite agreeable to thi s arrangement and enter ,

into ma t rimony either with th e obj ect of obtaining s ome

,

clothe s and a little money or temporarily changing their ,

mode of life being well aware that in accordance with the

, ,

law they can di s s olve marriage tie s without diffi c u lty If

,
.

a woman s eek s a divorce s h e retain s her dowry unle s s the

, ,

s eparation ri s e s from aver s ion to he r hu s band in which ,

ca s e the dowry i s returned if the man wi s he s i t I know .

man y men who in the s pace of t en years have been

, ,

married forty or fi fty time s at lea s t ; and there a r e al s o

many women who during the s ame period have had
, ,

fi fte e n or twenty hu s band s a n d in thei r ca s e the la w enjoin s

,

that between each divorce they mu s t wait three month s at

lea s t A s a rule concubine s of whom a man m ay legally
.
, ,

have a s many a s he like s lead a mo s t immoral life They

, .

rarely live in the s ame hou s e a s their ma s te r unle s s they ,

have children by him in which ca s e they cannot be s old ;

,

but in the maj ority of ca s e s they are bought with the obj ect
of being retained merely fo r a very s hort time and s ub s e ,

quently s old aga i n at a pr o fi t Thi s con s tant changing of

.

hand s lead s to great moral deterioration Their youth and .

beauty quickly fade and a s a rule they age prematurely

, , , ,

a n d then enter upon a life of hard s hip and mo r al degra

dation which it i s almo s t impo s s ible to conceive .

It i s a common practice for merchant s to make pecuniary

pro fi t out of the immorality of their s lave s They buy .

young girl s permit them to enjoy a certain amount of free

,

dom by s eeking a s helter and livelihood in the manne r

whic h s uit s them be s t and for thi s privilege they refund to
,

their ma s ter s a percentage of their gain s .

The greate s t vice exi s t s among s t the s lave s of the

m u la z e m i n
. The latter en t ice women to their qua r ters ,

where they r emain a s hort time with them a s thei r wive s ,

but the free s t interchange take s place between them The .

Khalifa doe s not s eem to think it worth while to check t hi s

346 FIR E A N D S W ORD IN H
T E S UD A N

fear of h i s life H
In s pite of h i s de s poti s m the Khalifa i s in con s ide r able
,

e ruthle s s ly evicte d all the local i n h a b i

.

tant s of tho s e portion s of th e town in the immediate neigh

b o u r h o o d of h i s own re s idence and their place s have been ,

taken by h i s enormou s body guard who s e number s he -

,

daily s eek s to i n crea s e T h e s e h e h a s s urrounded by an

.

immen s e wall w it h in which he and h i s relative s live while

, ,

all per s on s of w h om he i s in th e s lighte s t degree s u s piciou s

are forced to re s ide without the enclo s ure W ithin however .
, ,

all i s not peace and contentment The con s tant dutie s he .

impo s e s on h i s body guard have produced a feeling of irri

-

ta ti o n .They grumble at the s mall pay they receive and ,

do not appreciate th e re s triction s impo s ed on their s ocial

life . T h ou s and s of the s e who belong to the free Arab
tribe s are prevented from having any intercour s e whatever
with their relation s They are s carcely ever permitted to
.

quit the enclo s ure and t h eir s malle s t o fte n c e s are puni s hed
,

with appalling s everity Abdullahi i s s urrounded day and .

night by h i s own s pecially appointed guard and by numbers ,

of faithful s ervant s and no per s on s not even h i s neare s t

,
—

relative s are permitted to approach him with arm s in thei r

—

hand s Should anyone be commanded to s e e the Khalifa

.
,

h i s s word and knife which he invariably wear s are t aken

, ,

from him and he i s generally s earched befo r e being a d

,

m i tte d to the audience chamber Thi s general mi s tru s t h a s

- .

added to h i s unpopularity and even among s t h i s mo s t , ,

devoted adherent s remark s are frequently let fall 11 1 an

,

undertone commenting on h i s de spoti s m and h i s per s onal

,

fear s .

In s pite however of all thi s undue s everity the Khalifa

, , ,

h a s not s ucceeded in keeping h i s own tribe in hand On .

their fi r s t arrival in th e N ile V alley they indulge d in whole

s ale raid s on the local pop u lation s eizing their grain , ,

ing their women and carrying o ff their

,

affair s became s o s eriou s that the Kha

i s s ue an order that no T a a i s h a Arab
leave the town without s pecial perm
 M ISCE LL A NE O US R E M A R KS 34 7

tion s were practically ignored and lawle s s ne ss i s even more

,

rife than before The conduct of the s e Arab s i s unbear

.

able They openly boa s t that their relation s hip with the
.

Khalifa h a s made them ma s ter s of th e country and that they ,

intend to a s s ert them s elve s They have s eized all the be s t

.

pa s ture s for their cattle and hor s e s a n d they live on the fat
,

of the land a s tate of a ffair s wh ich h a s cau s ed c o n s iderab le

,

jealou s y among s t the other we s tern tribe s who View the ,

T a a i s h a with no very friendly feeling s O f all thi s the .

Khalifa i s well aware but I do not think h e realize s how

,

unpopular he really i s and h i s con s tant e ffort i s to retain

,

the s ympathy of h i s Emir s by frequently s ending them

s ecretly by night pre s ent s of money and s lave s The latter .

'
do not he s itate to accept the s e gift s which they know have ,

been unfairly gained and their opinion of the Khalifa

, ,

in s tead of being improved remain s a s it w a s before

, .

The Khalifa h a s not moved out of Omdurman for

upward s of ten year s Here he h a s centralized all power
.
,

s tored up all ammunition and gath ered under h i s per s onal

,

s urveillance all tho s e whom he s u s pect s obliging them to

H
,

s a y the fi v e prayer s daily in h i s pre s ence and li s ten to h i s ,

s ermon s . e h a s declared Omdurman to be the s acred

city of the Mahdi It i s s trange to think that ten years ago
.

t hi s great town w a s merely a little village lying oppo s ite to

Khartu m and inhabited by a fe w brigand s It w a s not for
, .

s ome time after the fall of Khartum t h at the Mahdi decided

to s ettle there . Mimo s a tree s fi lle d up the s pace now

-

occupied by the mo s que and the re s idence s of the three

Khalifa s Abdullahi took a s h i s own property all ground
.

lying s outh of the mo s que whil s t that on the north s ide w a s

,

divided between K h alifa Sherif and Khalifa Ali W a d Helu .

During h i s lifetime th e Ma h di had declared that Omdurm an

wa s merely a temporary camp a s the Prophet had revealed ,

to him that he s hould depart t h i s life in Syria after conquer ,

ing Egypt and Arabia ; but h i s early death s hattered all

h i s plan s and the hope s of h i s follower s .

F rom north to s outh the new city cover s a length of

3 4 8 FIR E A N D S WORD I N T HU
E S D AN

about s i x Engli s h mile s The s outhern extremity lie s

.

almo s t exactly oppo s ite the s outh we s t end of Khartum - .

A t fi r s t everyone wanted to live a s near th e river bank s a s

po s s ible in order to facilitate the drawing of water co n se
,
‘
,

quently the breadth of th e c ity i s con s iderably le s s than i ts

length and it i s in no place over three mile s in width A t
, .

fi r s t it con s i s ted of thou s and s and thou s and s of s traw hut s ,

and the mo s que wa s originally an oblong enclo s ure s u r ,

rounded by a mud wall four h undred and s ixty yard s long

and three hundred and fi fty yard s broad but thi s h a s now
been replaced by one made of burnt brick and then whit e ,

wa s h ed over After t h i s the Khalifa began building brick

.

hou s e s for him s elf and h i s brother then for h i s relative s

,
, ,

whil s t the E mir s and mo s t of the wealthy people followed

h i s example . I have already de s cribed the con s truction of
’
the Mahdi s tomb but before I left Omdurman much of the
,

whitewa s h h a d been knocked o ff by the weather which ,

s poilt i ts general appearance Above th e apex of the dome

.

are three hollow bra s s ball s one above the othe r connec ted
, ,

together by a lance the head of which form s the top o rna

,

ment of the s t ructure I have often heard people s a y that

.

the Khalifa erected thi s s pear to s how that he i s perfectly

prepared to declare war again s t the heaven s if h i s wi s he s
are not carried out Occa s ionally Abdullahi s hut s him s elf
.

up for hour s in thi s mau s oleum probably with the object of ,

obtai n ing s ome s pecial in s piration ; but s ince the execution

’
of the Mahdi s relative s h i s Vi s it s are much le s s frequent ,

and it i s generally s uppo s ed he dread s to be alone with the

body of h i s dead ma s ter who s e t e net s a n d i n fi ue n ce he h a s
, ‘
,

not in word s bu t in deed s s o per s i s tently overturned

, ,
.

E very F riday the large door s in the s urrounding enclo s ure

are opened to admit the pilgrim s and a s every Mahdis t i s ,

ordered to attend on the s e day s to repeat the prayer s for the

dead thou s and s are to be s een in the variou s attitude s of
,

prayer be s eeching the protection of the Almighty through

,

the intermediary of the s aint ( P) who lie s buried there ; but

I doub t not that many fervent prayers a s cend to t he th rone
'
 M I S C ELL A N E O U S R E M A R K S 34 9

of God for relief from the terrible oppre s s ion and tyranny of
h i s d e s potic s ucce s s or .

South of the tomb and adjoining the great mo s que lie s

, ,

the e normou s enclo s ure of the K h alifa It con s i s t s of a high .

wall built of red brick s which i s s ubdivided into s everal ,

s maller cour t s all of w h ich are in communication with each

,

other and neare s t to th e mo s que are h i s o wn private apart

,

ment s to the ea st of which are tho s e of h i s wive s ; 1 11 6

,

s table s s tore hou s e s quarter s of the eunuch s etc

,
-
,
In the , .

centre of the ea s tern face of the mo s que i s a large woo d en

doo r ( the other entrance s to the mo s que have no door s ) ,
’
through which admi s s ion i s obtained to the Khalifa s private
apartment s and reception chamber s O n entering the main .

gate one pa s s e s through a s ort of porch leading into a s mall ,

court in which are two r o om s one s ide of each of which i s

, ,

left compl etely open and it i s h ere that the Khalifa receive s
,

h i s gue s t s A door lead s out of thi s court into the private

.

apartment s and the youthful attendant s are the only per s on s

,

allowed to enter The variou s h ou s e s within the enclo s ure

.

are con s tructed in the s hape of large detached hall s on one ,

or both s ide s of which are veranda s O n the roof of one .

of the s e building s a s econd s tory h a s been added on all four ,

s ide s of which are window s from which a comple t e view of ,

the town can be obtained .

The reception chamber s are furni s hed with the greate s t ‘

s implicity A n angareb over w h ich a palm mat i s s pread

.
,
-
,

is the only article of furniture ; but h i s interior apartment s

are provided with all the luxurie s it i s po s s ible to procure
in the Sudan Bra s s and iron bed s tead s with mo s quito
.
,

curtain s the Spoil of Khartum carpet s s ilk covered

—
,
-

cus hion s door and window curtain s of every variety of

,

colour and texture a r e the principal article s of furniture

, ,

while the veranda s are provide d with the univer s al angareb

’
and p alm mat Compared with the Khalifa s early mode
-
.

of life the s e article s con s titut e the mo s t extreme luxurie s

, .

’
To the ea s t of the Khalifa s enclo s ure lie s the hou s e of
h i s s o n which i s furni s hed m uch in the s ame s tyle a s that
,
35 0 FIRE A N D S WORD I N T H E S UD A N

of h i s father bu t with even greater luxury Several large

, .

bra s s chandelier s from Khartum are s u s pended from the

ceiling s and there i s an immen s e garden m ade from earth
,

tran s ported from the bank s of th e N ile and in which ,

hundred s o f s lave s are employed daily The latter are

’

j u s tly irritated w ith the great love of s how which i s the

di s tingui s hing characteri s tic of their young ma s ter whil s t ,

they them s elve s are provided with s carcely enough food for
their maintenance .

The K h alifa and h i s s o n s pend much of their time in

building and furni s hing n e w apartment s and in making ,

their live s a s plea s ant and comfortable a s po s s ible Yakub .

follow s their example and every day number s of workmen

,

are to be s een s treaming toward s the s e two hou s e s carrying

H
,

beam s s tone mortar and other requi s ite building material

, , , .

Khalifa Ali W a d e lu s hou s e i s very much s maller and

’
,

i s furni s hed with great s implicity .

In addition to h i s principal re s idence Abdullahi po s s e s s e s ,

h ou s e s in the northern and s outhern di s trict s of the city ;

but they are buil t and furni s hed on much s impler line s and ,

are merely u s ed by him a s re s t h ou s e s when he de s patche s

-

troop s on expediti o n s from the capital or goe s out to ,

H
in s pect fre s hly a r rived detachment s from the province s

at a time H
e s eldom s tay s in the s e hou s e s more than a day or two

e h a s al s o built a hou s e near the river and

.

H
.
,

clo s e to th e old Government fort the ditche s of which have ,

now been fi lle d i n e generally goe s to thi s hou s e when

.

s teamer s are about to s tart for R e gg a f in order that he may ,

per s onally s uperintend embarkation s .

’
T h e Beit e l Amana or ar s enal i s s eparated from Ya k ub s
, ,

hou s e by a broad open s pace It con s i s t s of a large building

.

enclo s ed by s tone wall s and here are s tored the gun s r i fle s

, , ,

ammunition and other warlike material a s well a s the fi v e

, ,

carriage s belonging to the Governor General s and to the -

Catholic Mi s s ion A t interval s of every few pace s s entrie s

.

are po s ted in s mall s entry boxe s _ and they are charge d to

-
,

allow no unauthori s ed per s on s to ente r the building Ju s t .

352 FIR E A N D S W OR D I N T H E S UD A N

The population of the city i s located entirely according

to tribe s The we s tern Arab s live for the mo s t part in the
.

s outhern quarter s w h il s t the northern portion h a s been

,

allotted to the Nile V alley peop le ; a n d in addition to the

market police th e variou s s ection s of the populace are
,

obliged to s upply a number of watchmen for the pre s e rva

tion of public s ecurity in their re s pect ive quarter s and they ,

mu s t report any di s turbance s to the night patrol s .

W ith th e exception of the few broad road s which the

Khalifa h a s made for h i s own convenience the only com ,

m u n i ca ti o n s between th e variou s quarter s con s i s t of number s

of narrow winding lane s and in the s e all the fi lth of the
,

city i s collected Their wretch ed condition and the s mell s

.

which emanate from t h e s e pe s tilential b y path s a r e beyond -

d e s cription Dead hor s e s camel s donkey s and goa t s block

.
, , ,

the way and the foule s t refu s e lie s s cattered about Before
, .

certain fea s t day s the Khalifa i s s ue s order s that the city i s

-

to be cleaned but beyond s weeping all the s e carca s e s and

refu s e into corner s nothing furthe r i s done and when the ,

rainy s ea s on begin s the fetid air exhaling from the s e decay

ing rubbi s h heap s generally produce s s ome fatal epidemic
-
,

which s weep s o ff the inhabitant s by hundred s .

F o r m e r ly there were cemeterie s within the city but now ,

all the dead mu s t be buried in th e de s ert nor th of the

parade ground
-
.

F ever and dys entery are the prevailing maladie s in

Omdurman and between the month s of N ovember and
,

March an almo s t continuou s epidemic of typhu s fever rage s .

'

O f late year s number s of new well s have been made .

Tho s e north of the mo s que give good water but tho s e in ,

the s outhern quarter s of the city are mo s tly bracki s h They .

vary in depth from thirty to ninety feet and are generally

H
,

dug by th e pri s oner s under the direction of the s aie r .

’
e h a s been taken to the s aier i s a n e xpr e s s i,

frequently b ear s and it mean s ,

”
h a s been carried O h to the pr
t h i s word awaken
 MISCE LL A NE O US R E M A RKS 35 3

of all who h ear i t The pri s on i s s ituated in the s outh

.

ea s tern quarter of the city near the river and i s s urrounded

, ,

by a high wall A gate s trongly guarded day and night

.
,

by ar med Black s give s acce s s to an inner court in which

, ,

s everal s mall mud and s tone hut s have been e r ected During .

the daytime the unhappy pri s oner s mo st of them heavily ,

ch ained and manacled lie about in t he s hade of the buil d

, ;

ings Complete s ilence prevail s broken only by the clanking

.
,

of the chain s t he hoar s e order s of the hard hearted wa r der s

,
-
,

or the crie s of s ome poor wretch who i s being me r cile s s ly

h ogged Some of the pri s oner s who may have s pecially
.

’
incurred the Khalifa s di s plea s u r e are loaded with heavier
chain s and manacle s than the re s t and are inte r ned in the
.
, ,

s mall hut s and deba r red from all intercours e with their
“

fellow pri s oner s

-
They generally receive only s u ffi ci e n t
.

nouri s hment t o keep them alive .

Ordinary pri s oner s receive no regula r s upply of food ; but

their r elative s are allowed to provide for them It often .

long before a meal re ache s the per s on fo r

r y large portion of it h a s been

he rapaciou s and un s crupulou s warder s and

pri s oner get s nothing whatever A t night .
,

r e a tu r e s are driven like s heep into the s tone

h are not provided with window s and are con ,

quite unventilated R egardle s s of prayer s and .

they are pu s hed pell mell into the s e living grave s -

,

generally s o tightly packed that it i s quite i m

lie down The weaker are trampled down by
.

r and not infr equently t he warder open s the

,

door in the morning to fi n d that s ome of h i s victim s have

succumbed to s u ffocation and ill u s age in the s e horrible -

cell s It i s a painful s ight to s e e s core s of half s u ffocated

.
-

in dividual s pouring out of the s e den s bathed in pe r spir a ,

tion and utterly exhau sted by t he turmoil of the long and

,

sleeple s s night Once emerged they s ink down more dead

.
, ,

than alive under th e s hade of the wall s and s pend the

, ,

remainde r of the day in trying to recover from the e ffect s of

23
 FIRE A N D S WORD I N T HU E S D AN

the previou s night and gain s uffi ci e n t s trength to undergo

,

the horrors of that which i s to follow .

One would think that death w a s preferable to s uch an

exi s tence Still the s e unfortunate s cling to life and pray
.
,

to God to relieve them from thei r s u ffering s In s pite of .

the pri s on being invariably overcrowded and n o twith ,

s tanding the horror s of pri s on life I do not ever remember ,

h aving heard of a ca s e of s uicide amo n g s t the unfo r tunate

inmate s .

Charle s N eufeld h a s s pent s ome years in the Saier often ,

ill s ubject to the great e s t priva t ion s and merely kept alive
, ,

by th e occa s ional s uppli e s which reached him through the

Black s ervant he brought with him from Egypt and who ,

H
,

in turn wa s a s s i s ted by the other European s in Omdurman

, .

e managed to s urvive though heavily chained by the

,

neck and wearing two large i r o n s r o un d h i s feet O n one

,
'
.

occa s ion he refu s ed to s pend th e nig h t in one of the s tone

,

"
h ut s which he aptly de s cribed a s the la s t s tation on th e ‘

,
’
way to hell and for thi s act of di s obedience he w a s s everely
,

flogged but he bore it without a murmur until h i s tormen ,

tor s amazed at h i s power s of endurance cried ou t W h y

— —

do you not complain ? W h y do you not a s k for mercy ? ’

‘That i s for other s to do not for me ’ w a s the s trong

, ,

hearted reply which gained for him the re s pect of even h is

gaolers After enduring three year s of impri s onment h is
.

iron s were lightened and with only a chain j oining h is

, ,

ankle s he w a s removed to Khartum where he wa s ordered

H
, ,

to r e fi n e s altpetre for the manufacture of gunpowder under ,

th e s uperintendence of W a d a me dn a lla Here h i s condi .

tion wa s much improved and he received a s mall monthly ,

remuneration for h i s work which s uffi c e d to provide him ,

with the bare nece s s arie s of life A s the s altpetre r e fi n e r y .

a dj oin s th e old church of the Mi s s ion the latter h a s thus ,

been s aved from de s truction After h i s daily hard work is .

over Neufeld i s allowed to re s t in the mi s s ion garden s ;

,

and here no doubt h i s thought s often revert to h i s family

, ,

at home and he mu s t in h i s hear t cur s e the evil day whi ch

,
35 6 FIRE A N D S W OR D IN T H E S UD A N

s pi red t ha t t he let ters were fo r a Copt fr om h i s relatio n s in

Cairo .

The great Sheikh of the G i m e h tribe A s a k r Abu Kalam , ,

who had s hown s uch friend s h ip and h o s pitality t o the

Khalifa and h i s father in early day s wa s ruthle s s ly s eized ,
’
and thrown into c h ain s becau s e it came to the Khalifa s
,

ear s that he had s poken di s paragingly of the pre s ent condi

tion of the Sudan and had expre s s ed regret at having taken
up arm s again s t th e Government
,

e w a s eventually
e x iled to R e g g a f whil st h i s wife who wa s a well known
. H -
, ,

beauty in the Sudan wa s torn from the arm s of her hu s band

,
’
at the hour of h i s departure and carried o ff to the Khalifa s
,

harem .

The well known Emir Zeki T um m a l on being s eized

-

H
, , ,

w a s thrown into a s mall s tone building the s hape of a

c o ffi n
,
the door of which wa s built u p e wa s given no .

food whatever but a s mall amount of water wa s handed to

,

him through an aperture in the wall ; F o r twenty three -

d a y s he s u ffered all the horror s of s tarvation but no s ound ,

or co m plaint w a s heard to i s s ue from that livin g grave .

Too proud to beg and well aware of the futility of doing so

, ,

h e lingered on till the twenty fourth day when death carr ied -
,

him out of reach of h i s to r mentor s The Saier and h is .

warders watched through the aperture the death agonie s of

the wretched man and when at length he had cea s ed t o
,

s truggle they hurried o ff to give their lord and ma s ter the

,
’
joyful new s That night Z e ki s body wa s removed to the
.

we s tern quarter of the city and there buried among s t a ,

heap of old ruin s with h i s back toward s Me c c a l The .

><

Khalifa not content with having tormented him in life

, ,

thought thu s to deprive him of peace in th e world to come .

I have already de s cribed how the Khalifa di s po s ed of h is

mo s t tru s ted adherent the Kadi Ahmed O n reachin g the
, .

Saie r he w a s thrown into the hut in which Zeki had been

,

interned and a few day s after he wa s vi sited at the com

, ,

m and of the Khalifa by two othe r Kadi s who a s ke d

, ,

All true M o l m s a e b uri e d fa cing M cca

s e r e .
 MI SCELLA NE O US R EM H RK S 35 7

where he had hidden h i s money Tell your ma s ter th e ‘

.
,
’
Khalifa s aid h e that I have s ettled my account with thi s
, ,

world and I know of no place where gold or s ilver can be

,
’
found To their further inquirie s he remained perfec t ly
.

s ilent and the two myrmidon s returned cre s tfallen to their

,

ma s te r Thi s happened only a few day s before I quitted

.

Omdu r man Since my return to Egypt I have a s cer tai n ed

.

that he died s hortly afte r ward s under s imilar circum s tance s ,

to t ho s e of Zeki .

One could h ll a volume with de s cription s of the horror s

and crueltie s enacted in the terrible Saier but it i s u s ele s s ,

to wea r y the reader with furt h e r account s of the atrocitie s

committed by order of that mercile s s ty r ant the Khalifa , .

C H A PT ER XV I I .

P L A NS FO R E SC A éE .

Eu ro p a n C p ti v e
e a O m d urm a n A rtin th W t h m k e r Fri e d s i n
s in —
e a c a — n

H
,

C i ro
a Effo r t
—
f m y Fa m i ly to h l p m e D i ffi ul ti
s o f C mmu i e —
c es o o n

c a t i o n— B b a k r A b u S b ib s F i l ur Effo r t o f B ro n id l r ’
a e a a e— s a e e

a d th e E g y p ti n I nt ll i g
n D p a rtm nt C n t nt F i l ur
H
a es
—
a e e n ce e e o s a

O h e i kh K rra r A b d rr h m n m tur
s hi Pl p d
H a n s— o es an
—
a e a a a es s

F r M y Pl n t g in T i m I qui t m y ut n v r t re turn
ea s— a o a e— e e o .

IN keeping me con s tantly c lo s e to h i s per s on the Khalifa

had a twofold object e knew that I w a s the only
remaining high Egyptian o ffi c i a l who had a thorough know
. H
ledge of the Sudan h a d traver s ed al m o s t the entire country
, ,

and w a s complete ma s ter of the language U tterly ignorant .

of the political s ituation he imagined that if I s ucceeded in , ,

e scapin g I s hould induce the Egyptian Government or

, ,

s ome E uropean power to enter the Sudan ; and he well ,

knew tha t in that ca s e I s hould form a link between it and

th e principal tribal chiefs who were di s affected to him and ,

longed for the return of a s ettled form of government O n .

the other hand it flattered h i s vanity to have p r actically a s

,
358 FIR E AND S WORD '

IN T HU E S D AN

hi s slave the man who had fo r merly governed the whole of

t r ibe . H
the great p r ovince of Darfur including h i s own co unt r y and
e never attempted to conceal h i s feeling s in t hi s

re s pect and frequently s aid to the W e s tern Arab s See ‘

,

, , ,

thi s i s the man who w a s formerly our ma s te r and under ,

who s e arbitrary rule we s u ffered No w he i s my s ervant .

,

and mu s t obey my command s at all time s See thi s i s the .

,

man who formerly indulged in the plea s ure s and vice s of

the world and now he h a s to wear an unwa s hed j ibba and

H
,
’
walk barefooted God indeed i s me r ciful and graciou s !
.

e paid m uch le s s attention to the other E uropean captive s ,

who gained a s mall livelihood by working at variou s trade s

in a quarter near th e market p lace where they had built ,

their own hut s and were left almo s t undi s tu r bed by the
,

other inhabitan t s of the city F ather O h r wa l de r lived by .

weaving F ather R o s ignoli and Beppo Ro g n o tto ( a former

.

Mi s s ion brother) kept a cook s hop in the market place and - -

,

the Si s ter s lived with them until ( with the exception of

Si s ter There s a G r ig o li n i) they s ucceeded in e s caping Then .

’
there i s Giu s eppe Cuzzi one of A Marquet s former clerk s , .
,

and a number of Greek s Syrian Chri s tian s and Copt s in , ,

—

all s ome forty h y e men who have married either Chri s tian s
-
,

born in the country o r Egyptian s The entire colony i s .

termed the Mu s lim a n i a quarter and they have elected ,

from among s t them s elve s an Emir under who s e order s they ,

agree to live and who i s re s pon s ible to the Khalifa for

,

every membe r of the colony The pre s ent Emir i s a certain .

Greek called Nicola who s e A r a b ic n a m e i s Abdullahi No

, _
.

one i s on any account allowed to quit Omdurman and they ,

are obliged to guarantee each other Con s equently when .

,

F ather R o s ignoli e s ca ped h i s compan ion Beppo wa s thrown ,

into pri s o n and wa s in chain s when I left the town After

,
.

’
F a t her O h r wa lde r s flight a much s tricter s urveillance w a s ,

exerci s ed over all the s e unfo r tunate s A place h a s been .

t rm M u l i m ni i g n ra lly gi ve n
Th e e
‘
s a
’
s e e to th e d e s ce nda nt s of

unb l i v r
e e it i e s ppr b ri u p i th e t
s an o o o s e , and is a ppl i ed by th e
M h d i t to a ll s o ca ll d re n g d e s
a s s - e e a .
360 FIRE A N D S WORD IN T HU E S D AN

Abdullahi knew perfectly that I longed for freedom and , ,

in s pite of all my e ffort s to conceal i t I could not overcome ,

h i s very r ational s u s picion of me B y con s tant gift s of

.

s lave s
, by offer s of marriage with h i s family and variou s ,

other expedient s he did all he could to make tie s which he

,

thought would hold me down ; but my continued r efu s al

of the s e very que s tionable b e n e fi ts only c o n fi r m e d h is
s u s picion s that I intended to e s cape on the fi r s t po s s ible

occa s ion After the fall of Khartum my family had done

.
,

all in their power to obtain new s of me but fortunately ,

they realized how careful they mu s t b e Herr V on G sille r .

,

the Au s tro Hungarian Con s ul General in Egypt s pared no

- -
,

pain s to get new s of me and h i s effort s were heartily ,

s econded by the o ffi c e r s attached to the Egyptian army and

othe r o ffi c ia ls It wa s at h i s s ugge s tion that my relative s

.

had communicated with me th rough the Governo r of Suakin

in 1 8 88 and I have de s cribed in the preceding page s how I
,

wa s eventually forbidden by the Khalifa to hold any fu rther

intercour s e with the out s ide world Alre a dy my rel a tion s .

with the Khalifa had become much s t r a ined owing t o the s e

event s and they became much more s o when a letter
,

reached the Khalifa from Her r V on R o sty (who had s uc

c e e de d Herr V on G s i ll e r a s ki n g h i s permi s s ion to s end a
) ,

prie s t to mini s ter to the members of the Mi s s ion who he , ,

s tated were Au s trian s ubj ect s

, A t the s ame time he had
.

writ ten to me a s king for information o n the pre s ent s itua

,

tion in the Sudan The Khalifa of cou r s e took no notice

.
, ,
’
of Herr V on Ro s ty s letter and accu s ed me of duplicity and
,

di s loyalty becau s e I had previou s ly infor m ed him that the

,

members of the Mi s s ion with the exception of F athe r,

O h r w a l d e r were Italian
, s I had deliberately
. done thi s as ,

I fea r ed that Abdullahi in one of the s udden outburs t s of

,

pa ss ion again s t me migh t vent h i s rage on tho s e whom he

,

believed t o be my compat r iot s a n d whom I wa s anxiou s to ,

s ave ; bu t now thi s le t te r s tating di r ectly the contrary w a s

, ,
’
a heavy blow It wa s quite beyond the Khalifa s capacity
.

t o unde r st a n d t ha t member s of variou s n a tionalitie s could

 P L A N S F OR E S CA P E 36 1

be , for the purpo s e of the Mi s s ion under Au s trian pro ,

te c ti o n and fo r a long time he ince s s antly upbraided me for

,

havin g deceived him .

My family had placed a con s iderable s um of money at the

di s po s al of the Au s trian Co n s ul General with the obj ect of-

a s s i s ting me and they through the kind inter v ention of the

, ,

variou s Sirdar s of the Egyptian army and of Major a ,

gate the Director of Military Intelligence s ucceeded in

, ,

s ending me occa s ional s um s by the hand s of t ru s two r thy

Arab s . O f cour s e I invariably received con s iderably

,

s malle r s um s t h an tho s e which h a d been o riginally co n fi d e d

to them though I w a s obliged to give receipt s for the full

,

amount s However I w a s truly thankful for what I

.
,

received and by the s y stem which w a s e s tabli s hed I w a s

, , ,

enabled to s end my rel ative s s crap s of information about

my s elf and my a ffairs I w a s obliged to exerci s e the mo s t
.

extreme caution in s pending the money thu s received le s t

s u s picion s hould be arou s ed and therefore I continued to
,

live a s s imply a s po s s ible and expended all I could s pare in

,

cemen tin g my variou s friend s hip s .

My friend s in Cairo had fully realized tha t afte r I had ,

been prevented from holding any communication wit h the

out s ide it w a s quite impo s s ible for them to s ecure my
,
’
relea s e from the Khalifa s hand s by ordinary method s .

They therefore s pared no e ffort s to afford me the mean s of

effecting my e s cape s hould an opportunity occur F rom .

the earlie s t day s of my captivity I had realized that my

only h 0 pe of freedom lay in flight and alt h ough the ri s e ,

and development of t h i s great movement intere s ted me

con s ide r ably e s pecially a s I had ex ceptional mean s of
—

watching i t I never for an in s tant abandoned the idea of

—

s ucceeding in my obj ect though I little dreamt that twelve

,

long year s of hard s hip mi s ery and humili ation mu s t elap s e

, ,

before it could be accompli s hed .

F or year s I did not co n fi de my s ecret to a s oul but ,

eventually I told Ib r ahim Adlan of my in t ention s and he ,

promi s ed to a s s i s t me to the be s t of h i s ability U n fo r tu .

3 62 FIRE A N D S WOR D IN H
T E S UD A N

n a te l the Khalifa executed him s oon afterward s and in

y, ,

him I lo s t a true and kind friend and protector O n h i s .

death I c o n fi d e d my s ecret to two i n flu e n ti a l individual s on ,

who s e s ilence I could rely and though I knew that partly ,

—

owing to their liking for me and partly owing to their hatred

of the Khalifa they would have willingly a s s i s ted me in
—

the accompli s hment of my obj e c t our negotiation s came to '

,

nothing The money required would I knew be forth

.
, ,

coming ; but they dreaded that after my e s cape their name s

might be eve n tually divulged and a s they were tied by ,

their familie s to live in the Sudan they knew that in the , ,

event of di s covery the Khalifa would wreak h i s vengeance

,

on their defencele s s wiv e s and children .

Meanwhile my family had not been idle and no s a cr i fi c e

, ,

w a s too great for their love L iving in V ienna ignorant of

.
,

the real s tate of a ffair s in th e Sudan and not aware of how ,

they could be s t help me t h ey tru s tfully continued to place

,

con s iderable s um s of money at the di s po s al of the Au s trian

Agency in Cairo the repre s entative of which received i n
,

to the be s t of h i s ability
v on Eg e r e g g
.

now Amba s s ador and Mini s ter Plenipo

H
s tr u cti o n s from the Mini s ter of F oreign Affair s to utilize it

i s E xcell e ncy Baron Hei d ler

t e n ti a r y and who h a s been for s ome year s Con s ul General

,
-

in Cairo took a per s onal intere s t in my a ffairs and did

—
,

everything in h i s power to facilitate my e s cape But it i s .

only po s s ible to s ecure th e s ervice s of reliable per s on s

through the intermediar y of Government o ffi c i a l s and with , ,

thi s object in v 1 e w h e enli s ted the s ympathie s fi r s t of

'

, ,

Colon e l Schae ffer Bey and s ub s equ ently of Major W ingate ,

H
,

who had on s evera l previou s occa s ion s endeavoured to

’
a s s i s t me ; and it i s to h i s and to Baron e i dle r s ince s s ant
e ffort s t h at I owe my freedom W ithout their intervention . ,

it would not have been po s s ible to procure reliable Arab s to

bring me occa s ional s um s of money and I owe to them my ,

heartie s t thank s for their frequent attempt s to e ffec t m y

re s cue ; and although with the exception of the la s t t h ey
, ,

all failed the arrangement s were s uch that the Khalifa

,
 6
3 4 FIRE A ND S WO RD IN T HU E S D AN

puni s h me unmercifully O f cour s e I a s s ure d him of my

.

fi d e l ity and a ffection for him ; a n d after having partaken ,

of a little meat and d hurra I feigned s udden illne s s and , ,

obtained permi s s ion to withdraw Hurrying h ome w ith all .

s peed I lit my little oil lamp tore open the box with my
, ,

knife and t h ere found a s mall piece of paper on which the

, ,

following word s were written in F rench

Babakr W a d Abu Sebiba i s a tru s tworthy man .

C H A E FF E R Colonel
’
( Signed ) S , .

On the other s ide of the paper were a few line s from the
Au s trian Agency c o n fi rm in g thi s The writer s had wi s ely .

omitted my name fearing that it mig h t fall into the hand s

,

of enemie s ; and now I had to exerci s e more patience until

the follo w ing evening .

A s agreed I met Babak r a s before ; and he b r i e fly i n

,

formed me that he had come to arrange my e s cape and ,

‘

that having s een me he would return to Berber to com

, ,

p l e te h i s preparation s A s the Emir Zeki

. O s man had been
ordered to come to Omdurman in j uly for the man oeuvre s ,

he propo s ed to accompany him in orde r to carry out h i s ,

object I a s s ured him that I w a s ready at any time to

.
—

make the attemp t and after imploring him to do all in h i s

power to help me we parted ,
,

e retur n ed a s arranged in

July with Zeki O s man ; and in a s ecret meeting he told

. H , ,

, , ,

me that in order to di s arm s u s picion he had got married in

, ,

Berber ; that he h a d brought four camel s with him but ,

t h at h e h a d not yet arranged abou t our cro s s ing th e river .

Should I however decide to ri s k flig h t he would gu ide me

, , ,

through the B a yu da de s ert and by El Kaab ( we s t of

Dongola ) to W adi Halfa ; but I knew that the camel s
could not po s s ibly perform s uch a journey in the height of
s ummer I s oon s a w that the man wanted to s pend a few
.

more month s in the Sudan probably with h i s newly ,

acquired bride ; and s o we ag reed to po s tpone the attempt

till the month of December W hen the long night s would be
,
 P L A N s F OR E S CA P E 6
3 5

more favourable to the enterpri s e Month s pa s s ed ; and I .

heard from s ecret s ource s that Babakr wa s still at Berber .

December wen t b y and the year 1 8 9 3 had begun Still no

,
.

s ign of my friend A t length he returned in July and told

.
,

me that the me s s enger whom I had de s patch ed to Cairo

a s king for { 1 0 0 had been delayed on the road and that a s
he had arrived there at a time of year when the journ ey

s upply him with the fund s e added .

,

H
would have been impo s s ible the authoritie s had refu s ed to
however that he
had brought two camel s and that if I would ri s k flight he
, ,

, ,

would try to procure a third I s a w that the man had been

.

making inquirie s and had a s certained that at mo s t it would

,
’
only be po s s ible for me to obtain a few hour s s tart which ,

would not be s u ffi ci e n t to i in s u r e s ucce s s ; be s ide s he knew

that it wa s out of the que s tion s tarting in j uly W hen .

th e r e fo r e I propo s ed again po s tponing flight till the begin

H
’
ning of the winter he readily acquie s ced merely for form s
, ,

s ake. i s con s tant vi s it s to Omdurman had arou s ed the

’
Khalifa s s u s picio n s ; and one of the Kadi s n o ti fi e d him that
he mu s t attend the mo s que fi v e time s daily and s hould not ,

leave Omdurman without the Khalifa s permi s s ion Alarmed

’
.

probably at the turn a ffair s had taken he e s caped and r e ,

turned to Egypt Three day s after he had left h i s ab s ence

.
,

wa s di s covered . O n h i s arrival in Cairo a s I s ub s equently ,

learnt he infor m ed tho s e who had s ent him that he had

,

frequently come to Omdurman ; but that I had per s i s tently

refu s ed to ri s k flight with him Baron Heidler and Maj or .

W ingate however realized tha t the man s s tatement w a s

, ,
’

untrue ; and s ome time later I had an opportunity of i n

’
forming them th r ough a tru s ty agent of the man s
, ,

behaviou r .

T h e s e gentlemen s ub s equently made an agreement with

a merchant named Mu s a W a d Abderrahman promi s ing him ,

if he s ucceeded in e ffecti n g my e s cape while at th e ,

s ame time he wa s furni s hed with what wa s nece s s ary for

the under taking In the winter I received info r mation of

.

thi s fre s h enterpri s e ; but it wa s n o t t ill j une 1 8 94 t h at , ,

3 66 IR E
F A N D S W ORD IN HU
T E S D AN

’
one of Mu s a s relative s named Ahmed told me that s ome

H
, ,

Arab s had been s ecured who would arrive in a few day s ,

and would attempt t o fly wit h me e al s o told me that a .

s tation had been prepared in the de s ert where a c h ange of ,

camel s would be in readine s s and that in s pite of the great , ,

h eat there w a s every pro s pect of the s ucce s s of the under

,

taking .

'
O n I st July Ahmed warned me that the camel s had
arrived and that I s hould be ready to s tart the nex t nigh t
, .

That evening I told my s ervant s t hat one of my frie n d s wa s

’
dangerou s ly ill and that I had obtained the Khalifa s per
,

mi s s ion to vi s it him that I would probably s tay the night

, ,

and that therefore they need not be unea s y if I did not

retu r n That night when my ma s ter h a d re t ired to re s t
.
, ,

accompanied by Ahmed I quitted the m o s que ; and wit h , ,

bare feet and armed only with a s word we hurr ied along ,

the road leading toward s the parade ground and then ,

‘
tu r ned o fi in a north ea s terly direction -
.

The nigh t wa s dark During the day the fi r s t s hower s.

announcing the beginning of the rainy s ea s on had fallen ;

and a s we cro s s ed the cemetery I put my foot into an old
grave which had been wa s hed out by the rain and my
, ,

foot got twi s ted in the bone s of the s keleton on which I had
s tepped It s eemed a s if the dead a s well a s the living were
.

con s piring to throw diffi cu lti e s in my path but in s pite of ,

the pain I s t r uggled o n and reached Khor Shambat W e

, , .

cro s s ed to the other s ide where it wa s arranged the camel s ,

would await u s W e s earched up and down the bank s

. .

Ahmed even called out in a low tone ; bu t not a s ign of them

'
w a s to be s een The n ight wa s cool but our e flo r ts had
.
,

bathed u s in per s piration and after wandering to and fro for ,

hour s in our vain s earch we were at length obliged to give ,

up a n d ret race our s tep s W hat could have happened to .

our men P Could they have been noticed by s ome Dervi s he s ,

who had perhap s ar r e sted them on s u s picion ? F ull of

doubt s a n d fear s we reached our home s in s afety I had
,
.

parted fr om Ahmed on t he parade g r oun d a n d I had begged -

,
368 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HU E S D AN

Meanwhile Major W ingate wh o had been de s patched to ,

Suakin a s acting Governor fearing another failure made a , ,

s imilar agreement wit h a local Arab named O s h e i k h Karrar

,

who it w a s arranged s hould attempt my re s cue v i ci Tokar

, ,

or Ka s s ala One day a Suakin merchant in Omdurman

.

handed me a s mall s lip of paper on which w a s writ t en ,

s
W e are s ending you
ome needle s by which
faithful a n d brave man
,

.
Karrar who will hand you
O sh e ikh
you will recogni s e him e is a

You can tru s t him Kind regard s

,

.
. H
from W ingate
H
.

’
( Signed ) O R W A LD E R .

H Soon afterward s I heard from one of Abderrahman W a d

’
a r u n s relative s that the lat t er had arrived a t Be r ber from

Cairo and w a s making preparation s for my e s cape ; but

, ,

in order to avoid being s u s pected he had decided no t to ,

come to Omdurman and in thi s I fully concur r ed

, .

The 1 st of January 1 8 9 5 h a d dawned How many , , .

weary year s of deprivation and humiliation I had s pent in

clo s e s t proximity to my tyrannical ma s ter ! And would
thi s year come and g o like th e re s t leaving me s till in h i s , .

clutch e s ? No I felt s ure that the time w a s at length

.

approachin g when my friend s would be able to break

a s under the bond s which held me down and that I s hould ,

once more se e my relative s fatherland and the friend s of , ,

my yout h .

One evening about the middle of Janua r y a man I had

, ,

never s een before pa s s ed me in the street and made a s ign ,

to me to follow him and a s I bru s hed up again s t him he

,
’
whi s pered I a m the man with the needle s Jo yfully I .

H
,

led h im in the dark to a little niche in the out s ide wall of

my b ut and begged him to tell me h i s plan s quickly
,
e .

fi r s t pre s ented me with three needle s and a s mall s lip of

pape r and then to my di s may told me that at pre s en t
, , ,

fligh t w a s impo s s ible ‘ ’ ‘

I came s aid h e with the full
.
, ,

inten t ion of taking you to Ka s s ala but now that mili t ary ,
 P L A N S F OR E S CA P E 369

po st s have been formed at El F a s her A s ubri and Goz ,

H
,

Regeb on the Atbara which are in con s tant communication ,

’
with each othe r flight in thi s di r ec t ion i s not po s s ible
, e .

added further that one of h i s camel s had died and that

H
, ‘ , ,

he had lo s t money owing to bad trade and in co n s e quence ,

he had not s uffi c ie n t mean s t o a r range for the e s cape e .

therefo r e begged tha t I would give h i m a le tte r to M aj o r

W ingate a s king fo r a fu rthe r s u m of money and p r omi s ing
, ,

to return agai n in two month s I fel t s ure that the m a n .

did not r eally mean to r i s k h i s life for me ; and a s he

informed me he wi s hed t o leave without delay I t old him ,

to meet me the following evening at the mo s que W e t hen .

s eparated and I r etu r n e d once more t o my po s t at the

,
’
Khalifa s doo r The note from Suakin con t ained a few
.

line s of r ecommendation from F ather O h r wa lde r to which ,

I wr o te a r eply b r i e fly de s cribing wha t had taken place ;

,

and the ne x t night when w e met I handed to O s h e ikh the

, ,

let ter which he hurriedly th r u s t into h i s pocket hoping t ha t

, ,

i t would be t he mean s of obtaining more money .

Bitterly di s appointed I wa s retu r ning di s con s olately to

,

my hou s e when I s uddenly came ac r o s s Mohammed the

, ,

cou s in of my friend Abde rr ahman A s if by me r e chance I .

found him walking at my s ide and in a whi s per he s aid t o ,

me W e a r e ready The camel s are bought ; t he guide s

, .

are engaged The time ar r a n ged fo r you r e s cape i s during

.

’ ’
t he moon s la s t quarter next month B e ready 1 And .

without another wo r d he left me .

Thi s time I felt convinced that I wa s n o t to be doomed

to di s appoin t ment Toward s the end of January Hu s s ein
.

W a d Mohammed who had al s o been engaged by Ba ron

,

Heidle r and Maj o r W inga t e arrived in Omdu r man and

H
, ,

s ec r etly t old me that he w a s ready to help me to e s cape .

'

e begged me t o let my friend s in Cai r o know what I had

decided t o do and s aid that one of h i s brother s who wa s

, ,

about to proceed to Egypt would be t he bearer of the ,

letter A s I w a s bound to Abderrahman I decided to wait

.
,

and s e e if h i s effor t s would s ucceed a n d s hould th e y fail I ,

24
3 70 F I R E A ND S WORD I N T HU E S DAN

decided I would try Hu ss ein ; but I merely told the lat ter
th a t a t p r e s ent I wa s not well enough to at t empt so long a
jou r ney and tha t at the end of F e b r ua r y l would let him
,
o

know de fi n ite ly my deci s ion A t the s ame time I gave him .

a let t e r to my friend s telling them that I in t ended to

,

a tt emp t e s cape with the a s s i s tance of Abde r rahman ; and

in ca s e of failure from which I p r ayed t he Al m ighty to

,

pre s erve me I would s eek the h elp of Hu ss ein I w a s now

, .

in s ome alarm that s o many people being in t he s ec r e t the ,

Khalifa might s u s pect s omething H ad he obtained the .

s lighte s t clue to what w a s going on I s hould have ce rt ainly

paid fo r it with my life .

O n Sunday t he 1 7 th of F ebruary Mohammed in a few

, , ,

hurr ied word s t old me that the camel s would a rr ive the

H
,
‘

nex t day tha t they would re s t t wo day s and that the

, ,

a t tempt would be made on the night of the 2 o t h e s aid .

that o n Tue s day evening he would communicate with me

by a s ign by which I s hould know that ever ything w a s
r eady and that I s hould t hen do all in my power to a rr ange
,

that we s hould have a s long a s tar t a s po s sible .

A t la s t Tue s day night arrived and I found Mohammed ,

w aiting for me at the door of the mo s que ~

I n a hurried .

whi s pe r he told me that all w a s ready and after arranging , ,

a r endezv ou s for the following nigh t when t he Khalifa had ,

ret 1 t ed to re s t we s eparated , .

I confe ss that I pa s s ed the grea t e r pa rt of tha t night in a

s tate of fevered excitement W ould thi s attempt al s o fail
.

like the other s ? W ould s ome unfore s een event fru str ate
thi s e ffort too ? The s e t hought s ke pt me awake a n d r e s t
,

le s s and it wa s not till t oward s morning that s leep which

, ,

wa s s o nece s s ary to keep up my s t rength during the journey ,

came at length and I had two or th r ee hours of s ound

,

r epo s e .

’
The next mo rning when befo r e the Khalifa s doo r I
, ,

feigned s ickne s s and a s ked the chief of the m u la z e m i n fo r

,

permi s s ion to ab s ent my s elf from mo rning prayer s a s I ,

propo s ed taking a do s e of s enna tea and tamarind and ,

37 2
”
FIR E A N D S WORD IN T H E S UD A N

apiece My obj ect in making the s e arrangement s wa s to

.

’
s ecure a few hour s delay before the hue and cry that I had

e s caped s hould be rai s ed My s e r vant Ahmed would prob .

ably wait for s ome hour s with the mule while tho s e in the ,

hou s ehold would anxiou s ly expect my return with the

money I naturally concluded that s h ould the Khalifa
.
,

s end to inquire for me the reply which my s ervant s were ,

to give would avert s u s picion for a time ; and then it would

take more time for them to fi nd Ahmed and h i s s tory of ,

the arrival of the s uppo s ed me s s enger would s till further

perplex them O f cour s e they m u s t eventually h n d out the
.
,
’
deception but to me every moment s delay in s ending out
s earch partie s w a s of the utmo s t importance After after .

noon prayer s I once more retu rned to my hou s e again ,

1m
pr e s s e d on all my s ervant s the immen s e importance of
keeping the s ec r et a n d with repeated promi s e s of reward
, , ,

I s tepped acro s s the thre s hold prayi n g fervently to God that

I might never s e t foot with i n my hut again .

C HAPT E R X V III .

MY IT
F L I G I— .

e sc a

a
p fro m
o
e

M h m m d A Sc re
a

C m l b r k d wn
n by Ni gh t M y G uid s Z k i B e l a l a d
e s
3 M il
e
th e
in T we nty f ur
—
To w
ur
a Ou
id ing i th G ili f M o unta in Pr ca uti n
ea o —
H
— 1 o

n
es

e
e
-
,

o
e

s—
H o

e
s—
n

o
r

ag in t Surpri A rri v l f Fr h C m l O u J o ur y to th
a s se — a o es a e s— r ne e

Ni l Th Cr
e— ing Fri ndly Sh i kh Na rro w E p fr m a
e o ss —
e e s— s ca e o

H
l rg rm d P rty f M h d i t D i fli culti with m y G uid s
a

m d G

o
a
e

h h th A m
e
a

a a
e

b i O ut f D
ar

C ngr tul ti n a d W l o m e A rri v l in C i ro

o
a

s
o

g r A ua n a t l a s t
os e

M ti g wi th O ld
n e c
a

ra —

—
s s—

a
an

a
es

e —

—
ss

ee n
e

Fri nd e s .

IT w a s three hours after s un s et W e had o ffe r ed t he .

evenin g prayer with the Khalifa and he had withd rawn to ,

h i s apa rt me n t Anothe r hou r pa ss ed withou t interruption

. .

My lord and ma ster had retired to re s t I ro s e took the .

,

fa rwa (the rug on which we pray) and the farda ( a ligh t

 MY FLIG H T 37 3

woollen cloth for protection again s t the col d ) on m y

s houlder s and went acro s s the mo s que to the roa d that

H
,

lead s north I heard a low co u gh th e s ignal of Mohammed

.
, ,

the intermediary in my e s cape and I s tood s till e had ,

.

brought a donkey I mounted and w a s o ff T h e night

.
,
.

w a s dark The cold northerly wind had driven the people

.
,

into their hut s and hou s e s W ithout meeting a s o ulr we .

reached the end of the town wh ere a s mall ruined hou s e

H
,

s tand s obliquely to the road from which a man led out a

H
,

s addled camel ‘Thi s i s your guide

. i s name i s Zeki .

’
Belal s aid Moha m med
, e will guide you to the r i d ing
.

camel s that are waiting concealed in the de s ert Make .

’
ha s t e A happy journey and God protect you
.
,
.

The man s prang into th e s addle and I got up and s a t ,

’
behind him After about an hour s ride we arrived at the
.
,

s pot where the camel s were hidden among s ome low tree s .

All wa s ready and I mounte d the animal a s s igned to me

,
.

’ ‘ ’
Zeki s aid I did Mohammed give you the medicine P
, ,

No . W hat medicine P ’

‘
They call them ether pill s They keep o ff s leep and

H
.

’
s trengthen you on the j ourney .

’
e laughed Sleep ! s aid h e
. H ave no fear on that .

account F ear i s the child of good folk a n d will keep s leep

.

from our eye s and God in i s m ercy will fortify u s

,

man wa s right enough W e rode in a northerly direction .

’
TheH ,

The halfa gra s s and the mimo s a tree s wh ich in place s grew
'
-
,

r a th e r c lo s e together prevented the camel s from making

,

rapid progre s s in the darkne s s A t s unri s e we reached .

W adi Bi s hara a valley extending here to a breadth of

,

about three mile s which i s s own in the rainy s ea s on with

,

millet by the j aalin tribe s who live along the N ile .

W ith daylight I w a s now able to s e e my guide s Zeki .

Belal w a s a young fellow with h i s beard s till downy ; ,

Hamed Ibn Hu s s ein a man in the prime of life , .

’
O f what r ace are you P
‘W e are from the
G i li f mountain s m a ster and if God , ,
’
will y o u will b e s a tis fi e d W i t h uS
, .
3 74 FIR E A ND S WORD I N T HU E S D AN

H ow long a s t art have we go t from ou r enemie s ? W hen

’
will t hey mi s s you P t he elde r one a sked me .

‘They will look for me after the morning prayer

; but
before all doubt i s over a s to my e s cape and before the ,

m e n and the bea s t s are found wit h which to pur s ue me ,

s ome time mu s t elap s e W e may at lea s t reckon on.

, ,
’ ’
twelve or fourteen hour s s tart .

’
That i s not very much an s wered Hamed But if t he
, .

animal s are up to their work we s hall have left a good bit ,

’
of ground behind u s .

‘Don ’t you know our animal s ? Have they not been

’
t r ied P I a s ked .

No Two of them are s tallion s of the Anah breed a n d

.
,

the third a Bi s harin mare bought expre s s ly for your fli g h t

,
.

’
from friend s w a s the an s wer
,
W e mu s t hope the be st of
’
them .

W e d r ove th e creature s at their s wifte s t pace The .

country in the s e part s w a s flat broken n o w a n d then by ,

s olitary s hrub s with here and there s mall s tony hillock s

,
.

W e rode without s topping until near mid da y wh e n s uddenly -

,

my guide calle d out

Halt L e t the camel s kneel down at once B e quick .

I s topped The camel s knelt

. .

W hy ’
P
I s e e camel s a long way o ff and two led hor s e s and fear ,
’
we have be en s een .

I loaded my R emington to be prepared for any i s s ue .

’ ‘
But if we have been s een I s aid i t i s better to ride , ,

quietly o n O ur making the animal s lie down will excite

.

’
their s u s picion In what direction are they going P
.

‘You are right ’ s aid Hamed I bn Hu s s ein They are .

,
’
marching north we s t -
.

W e ro s e and changed our line of march to t he north ea s t

,
-
,

and were almo s t co n fi de n t that we had pa s s ed unob s erved ,

when to our de s pair we perceived one of the party which

, , ,

wa s about two thou s and metre s away from u s j um p on h i s .

,

h or s e a n d gallop s wiftl y to wa rd s us .
 MY FL I G H T 37 5

‘ ’ ‘
Hamed s aid I I will g o s lowly on with Zeki Do
, ,
.

you s top the man and an s wer h i s que st ion s and in any ca s e ,

preven t him from s eeing me clo s e You have t he money on .

’
you P
Good ; but march s lowly
I rode on quietly with Zeki hiding my face with my ,

farda s o a s not to be recogni s ed a s a whit e man

, .

Hamed i s greeting the man and h a s made h i s camel ,

’
kneel s aid Zeki looking back After about twenty minute s
, , .
,

we sa w the man remount h i s hors e and Hamed u rging h i s

camel on to rejoin u s .

‘You mu s t thank God for our s afety ’ he cried a s he

, ,

came u p The man i s a friend of mine Mukh a l a Sheikh ,

H
.
, ,

on h i s way t o Dongola with camel s t o bring date s to O m dur

man . e a s ked me where I w a s going with the white “

” ’
Egyptian The man h a s the eye s of a h awk
. .

’
And what did you an s wer P
I a djured him a s my friend to keep our s ecret and gave ,

him twenty Maria There s a dollar s W e Arab s are all a .

little ava r iciou s The man s wore a s acred oath to me to

.

hold h i s t ongue if he happened to fall in with our pur s uer s ,

and h i s people are too far o ff to tell black from white U rge .

H
’
the camel s o n ; we have lo s t time .

A t s un s et we pa ss ed the hill s of o b e gi and camped ,

’
nearly an hour later in the open country about a day s ,

journey we s t of the N ile s o a s to give our exhau s ted ,

animal s s ome re s t W e had been riding twen t y one hours

.
-

without s topping had eaten nothing all day and only once
, ,

drunk water In s pite of fatigue we ate bread and date s

.
,

wit h a good appetite .

W e will feed our bea s t s and then ge t o n s aid my ’

,
’
guide You are not tired P
.

’
No I replied
, In Europe we s a y time i s money
. .

’
Here one might s a y time i s life M ake ha s te . .

But to our de s pair th e bea st s refu s ed the food which wa s

placed before them H amed made a li t tle h t e took a piece
.
,

of bu rning wood a n d a lit tle re s in which he laid on the ,

376 FIRE A ND S WORD IN T HU
E S D AN

wood then walked round the camel s muttering s ome wo r d s

,

which I could not under s tand .

W hat are you doing P I a s ked him with s ome s u r p ri s e

’
.

I fear the fi ki s of th e K h alifa h ave bewitched our camel s ,

’ ’
and a m t rying the Arab s antidote .

’
Fo r my part I replied I fear that they are s econd r ate
, ,
-

market camel s or are s ick L e t u s give t hem a li t tle more

, .

’
re s t Perhap s they will pick u p
. .

’
A s after another half hour s re s t the bea s t s s t ill refu s ed
,
-
,

food and longer delay wa s ou t of the que s tion we tigh t ened

, ,

up the s addle girth s again and mounted The tired animal s

-
.

r efu s ed to trot would only walk at a good pace and a s the

, ,

s un ro s e we found ours elve s on the high ground to the

n orth -we s t of Metemmeh The dimini s hing s trengt h of our
.

mount s fi lle d u s with anxiety and it became clear to us ,

’
that they would never hold out t ill the s pot about a day s —

j ourney north of Berber on the edge of the de s ert where

,
—

we we r e to change camel s Toward s afternoon we let the .

ex h au s ted animal s re s t in the s hade of a tree and agreed to ,

’
make for the G i li f range di s tant a good day s j ourney to
,

t he north we s t where I s hould remain concealed in the un

-
,
.

inhabited hill s un t il my guide s could s ucceed in s ecuring

other mount s .

About s un s et we s t r uck ca m p The animal s had s o fa r .

r ecovered that they could walk at a good pace and we ,

reached in the early morning the foot of the G i li f mountain ,

which at thi s s pot i s quite uninhabited W e di s mounted .

,

driving our camel s before u s after an extremely d i ffi cult

march of about three hour s in a valley hemme d in by s hee r
rock s .

My guide s Zeki I bn Belal a s well a s Hamed Ibn

, ,
’

H u s s ein both belong to the Kababi s h tribe The G i lif

,
.

mountain i s their own country and t h ey were familiar with ,

eve ry path W e un s addled the camel s and concealed the

.

s addle s among the boulder s .

W e have come into our own country and s h e will ,

’
protect he r so n s aid Hamed Hu ss ein,
H ave no fea r a s .
,
378 FIRE A ND S WO RD IN T HU E S D AN

Above a ll be cautiou s in bringing t he animal s that you

,
’
a r ou s e no s u s picion .

‘ ’
Tru s t in our good fortune and my goodwill and h e ,

gra s ped my hand in farewell

H
.

’
God protect you and bring you back right s oon , .

e tied a few d ate s up in a cloth a s provi s ion for the

j ourney and took th e s addle on h i s s houlder s Hamed

, .

de s cribed the s pot accu r ately to him where h e would h n d

the mare A s he turned he enj oined u s to be careful not to
.

be s een and in a few moment s he wa s los t to s ight W e

, .

’
cleared th e ground which wa s to s erve a s our night s re sting
place of s t one s and were in the be st of s pirit s a s to our
,

s ucce s s .

‘I have a propo s al to make to you ’ aid Hamed to me

s ,

after a long interval A relatio n of mine Ibrahim Ma s a

.
, ,

i s Sheikh of thi s di s trict and h a s h i s hou s e at the foot of ,

’
the h ill about four hour s di s tance from here
, No w .
,

t hough a s I hope no one h a s s een u s s till it would be

, , , ,

better to warn him of our arrival s o that h e may be pre ,

pared for any eventuality I will de s cribe our s i t uation to .

h i m wit h out mentioning your name A s my kin s man he .

,

i s bound to give u s a s ylum and would warn u s in time of ,

pur s uit if it s hould be that our t r ack i s followed to the ba s e

,

of the hill s though indeed thi s i s s car c ely to be feared If

, , , ,
.

you agree I will g o during the nig h t s o a s to s e e h i m with

, ,

out being ob s erved by ot h er people and will be back with ,

’
you early in th e morning .

T h e plan i s good ; but take twenty more dollar s with

you a n d o ffer them a s a s mall contribution to h i s hou s e
, ,
’
and a s you h ave s ai d do not mention my name
, ,
.

Hamed left me at s un s et and i a s alone with my ,

thought s I thought of my h o u s e fo lk and companion s to

.
,

w h om in s pite of the difference of race and of many u n

,

attractive qualitie s I had grown accu s tomed i n th e long

,

cour s e of year s and whom I had ju s t left behind me in the

,

h and s of the enemy I thought of the dear one s I wa s now

.

o n m y way to meet of m y s i s ter s my friend s and well

, , ,
 MY FL I G H T 37 9

wi she r s If only my adventure s have a s ucce s s ful i s s ue !

.

Exhau s ted with fatigue I fell a s leep on my hard bed

,
I .

woke while the dawn w a s gray and s hortly afterward s ,

heard the s ound of approaching foot s tep s I knew it mu s t .

be my guide .

‘All goe s well ’ s aid he a s he came u The Sheikh

, p .
,

my kin s man greet s h i s unknown gue s t and bid s G o d __pr o

, ,

te c t you F ortify your s elf with patience F or the pre s ent

H
. .
,
’
we have nothing el s e to do .

e s a t down between two block s of s tone from which ,

h i s dark s kin w a s hardly d i s tingui s hable and kept watch ,

.

I sa t a s hort di s tance below in the s hade of a little tree

which s truggled for exi stence among the rock s and we ,

talked in low tone s of th e flpr e s e n t and the former condition

of the country It w a s pa s t mid day when I s uddenly heard
.
-

behind the noi s e of foot s tep s and turning round I s a w to , , , ,

my di s gu s t a man about one hundre d and fi fty yard s o ff

, ,

climbing the s lope oppo s ite me tryi ng to draw the end of ,

h i s farda which w a s twi s ted roun d h i s loin s over h i s head

, ,
.

Judging from the direction h e had come from he mu s t have ,

s een u s.

‘In any ca s e it i s a fellow countryman ’ s aid H amed -

, ,

who had heard the s ound and had perceived him ,

Any .

how i t will be better that I s hould overtake him and s peak

,
’
with him O r do you not agree P
.

Certainly ; make ha s te and if nece s s ary give him a , , ,

’
s mall pre s ent I an s wered

H
.
,

My companion left h i s s eat and followed the man at a ,

s wift pace e had now reac h ed the cre s t of the hill and
.

pa s s ed out of my s ight A few minute s later I s a w them

/

H
.

both approaching me with s miling face s .

W e are in luck H amed cried from a di s tance

’
,
e is .

one of my numerou s relation s Our mothers are children .

’
of two s i s ter s .

T h e man came up to me and o ffered h i s hand m greeting .

The peace of God be with you F rom me you run no .

’
da n ger he s a id a s h e s a t do wn on the s to n e at my s id e
, .
380 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HU E S D AN

I gave him a few dat e s a n d bade him ta st e ou r tr avelling ,

’
fare . W h o are you P
’
They call me Ali W a d F eid he replied and to be , , ,

hone s t with you my intention s were not well di s po s ed to

,

you . I wa s changing my pa sture ground and arrived ,

a few day s ago with my flock s at the foot of tho s e hill s

which y o u s e e from here to the s outh I went to the cleft .

in t he rock s to s e e if there we r e much wa t er t here becau s e ,

we might need i t although we al s o get drinking water in

,

the plain T h ere I found trace s of a camel and followed

.
,

them u p W hen in the di s tance I s a w the white s kin of

.
, ,

your feet which were s ticking out of your hiding place I -

,

realized that a s tranger wa s concealed here and tried to ,

get away again unob s erved h e s miling ‘I , , ,

might ret urn again wit h a few comra d e s by night and make
your further j ourney ea s ier by r emoving your s upe r flu o u s
luggage I thank God that my cou s in here caugh t me up
. .

’
B y night I s hould not perhap s have r e cogni s ed him , , .

‘Ali w ad F eid ’ s a i d m
'

y guide
- who had li s tened
, in ,

‘
s ilence I will tell you a little s tory L i s ten ! Many
,
.

year s ago when I w a s a little fellow in the day s when the

, ,

Turk s ruled in the land my father wa s Sheikh of the s e ,

moun t ain s which then were thickly peopled One night

H
.
,

there came a man a fugitive wh o s o u g h t a s ylum with my

, ,
.

father . e w a s clo s ely pur s ued by Government tr 0 0 p s ,

under s u s picion of being a highway brigand who had

m urdered s ome merchant s i s women fell into the hand s
of h i s pur s uer s but he him s elf s ought and found protection
. H
,

with my father who kept him in concealmen t A long

,
.

while after my father went to the s eat of Government at

Berber and by money and fair wo r d s s ucceeded in obt ain

H
,

ing pardon for the man again s t whom there exi s ted no ,

de fi n i te proofs of guilt e wen t bail for him and s e t free

.
,
’
h i s women who we r e in pri s on,
That man s name wa s .

F eid
’
And h e wa s my father interrup t ed A li who s e fa ce had , ,

grown grave durin g h i s n a r ra t i v e ‘I wa s born late r a n d .

,
 M Y FL G I H T 38 1

hea r d the s t o ry from my dead mother on w h om God have ,

mercy My brother let me give you good tiding s W hat

.
,
.

’
your father did fo r mine h i s s o n will do for your father s ,

so n . In peace o r in peril I a m with you But follow me .

,
’
and I will s how you a bette r hiding place -
.

W e went s ome two thou s and yard s back round the hill
toward s the s outh and reached a s ort of little g r otto formed
,

of rock s lab s large enough to hold two men

, .

W hen evening come s bring you r baggage he r e although ,

there i s nothing to fear s ince the hill s are uninhabited but ,

under t he cover of darkne s s you can choo s e s ome other s po t

in the neighbourhood to s leep in It i s impo s s ible to be .

quit e s u r e t hat s omeone m a y not have pe r ceived you and ,

have the in t ention which I confe s s ed t o have had of return ,

ing after dark I have lo s t time and my r oad i s a long one

.
,
.

I will g o pick up what new s I can and return to morrow

, ,
-

when it i s dark announcing my pre s ence by a low whi s t le

, .

’
F arewell till then .

A s Ali W a d F eid h a d advi s ed u s w e s elected a place to ,

s leep i n and early in the morning before the s un ro s e

, , ,

retired again to ou r cave Throughout the da y Hamed .

Hu ss ein kept watch from a high point of vantage like a ,

s ent r y on a towe r and only came to me when driven in by

,

hunger Our b re ad came to an end thi s day and we h a d

.
,

only date s to eat .

In t he evening t wo hours maybe afte r s un s et we hea r d

H
, ,

a low whi s tle I t wa s Ali W a d F eid who fai t hful to h i s

.
, ,

p romi s e had come to vi s it u s

, e brought s ome milk in a .

s mall ve s s el of gazelle s kin the s kin of young ga z elle s i s

( -

tanned by the A r ab s and now much u s ed for carrying milk ,

i n ) a n d had rolled up s ome b r ead ( millet cake s ) in h i s

,

farda .

‘I p r e t ended to my wife th a t I wa s going t o vi s i t th

e
’
ca ra va n folk and s how t hem ho s pit a li t y h e s aid after
, , ,

greeting us ‘I cannot t r u st he r wi t h th e t r u t h ; s h e i s
.

’
s uch a chatte r box .

A femin ine qua lity which m a n y m a rr ied m e n compla i n

38 2 FIRE A ND S WO RD IN HU
T E S D AN

’
about in our country at home I remarked with a s mile , , ,

delighted at the pro s pect of s uch a grateful meal .

‘ ’
I made inquirie s at the well he continued and heard , ,

of nothing to cau s e you une a s i n e ss Ea t and d r ink your .

’
fi ll . I have every co n fi de n c e in your good luck .

After we had done honour to h i s good fare I begged him ,

to return s o a s not to awake s u s picion with h i s own folk by

remaining out unduly long and whi s pered to Hamed to give
,

him a p r e s ent of h y e dollar s befo r e he went .

’
Do not re t urn I s aid to him in taking leave
, You r .

coming s and going s may excite s u s picion a mong you r people ,

a n d your foot s tep s may perhap s leave trace s on the g r ound

which would bet r ay our hiding place to other s unle s s of -

, ,

cour s e you hear any really di s quieting new s F a r ewell

, . .

’
I th a n k you for your loyal friend s hip .

Hamed Hu s s ein accompanied h i s kin s man s ome li tt le

way .

‘
Ali would not take the money he s aid when he , ,

returned I had to pre ss him very ha r d and it wa s only

.
,

the fear of o ffending you which induced him at la s t to

’
accept i t .

W e once mo r e s elected our couche s , and r e s ted undi s

tu r b e d till the morning when we returned to the cave o r
, , ,

rathe r I did for my companion had to g o back to h i s po s t

, ,

a s watchman Thi s day went by equally without event

.
,

but how s lowly the time s eemed t o pa s s ! The hou r s g r ew

to day s a n d thought s s ucceeded though t s in wea ry sequence
,
.

My patience wa s s eve r ely tried but there wa s no help fo r i t

, ,

a n d no t hing to do but to bea r i t .

A s our wate r s upply th r eatened to fall s ho r t Hamed

-
,

Hu ss ein wen t with the s kin t o the cleft in the r ocks A t .

the s ame time he in t ended to look up the camel s which ,

had been hobbled and were ge t ting wha t food they could
,

from tree s a n d bu s he s .

‘I s hall retu r n in about fou r hou r s Meanwhile r emain .

’
quiet in th e cave he s aid to me and s hould an yone appear
, ,

— which God forbid ! it could only be one of my own

384 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HU E S DAN

’
It wa s Satu r day evening when I left you he r eplied , .

‘
I rode all night and all day My Bi s harin ma r e went .

s plendidly ove r the ground which w a s tolerab ly level and

, ,

on Monday morning I reache d our friend s They s ent .

immediately fo r the bea s t s you now s e e which we r e a t a ,

con s iderable di s tance They came in early on Tue s day I

. .

s tarted at mi d day I rode s lowly s o a s not to wear them

.
,

out a n d now we can s tart at once And oh I had almo s t

, .
, ,

forgotten to tell you that your friend s afte r di s cu s s ing it ,

with me went o ff to the camp on the edge of the de s ert to

,

warn thei r people the r e to be ready I promi s ed we would .

r each the t ry s t on F riday or at late s t on Satu r day afte r

,
’
s un s et .

’
Did you bring bread ? I a s ked the youth who w a s ,

t alking away in high s pirit s W e have go t nothing but

.

’
date s to e a t .

’
Good hea ven s I forgot that in my ha s te .

’
N o mat ter I replied s eei n g him look rathe r cre s tfallen
, ,
.

’
Even without date s we could hold out for thi s s hort ride .

’
Zeki s aid Hamed s addle the light coloured camel g o
, ,
-
,

with our friend and bro t her to the hollow rock and give the ,

camel s wa t e r W ait fo r me there I will take the othe r

. .

s addle and follow with my own camel which h a s r ecove r ed ,

s u ffi ci e n tly to s tan d thi s comparatively s ho r t ma r ch But .

’
i t will be bette r he added tu rning t o me tha t you s hould
, , ,

not g o r ight up to the s pring but r emai n hidden in s ome ,

s uitable s pot nea r till we fetch you O n e neve r c a n be t oo .

’
s ure th e r e a r e s o many thi r s ty folk i n the wide wo r ld
‘
.

I went with Zeki leading one of t he camel s toward s the

, ,

cleft where the wat e r wa s and hid my s elf in a place my

,

guide s ugge s ted among the boulde r s of r ock

,
.

About two hour s before s un s et Hamed and Zeki came ,

with the th r ee camel s that had ju s t been watered and the ,

s kin s all fi lle d W e m ounted and rode ea st north ea s t

.
- -

ac r o ss hill s which a t t ime s we r e very s teep to climb till

, , ,

a s da r kne s s gathered round u s we arrived in the plain ,

wi t hou t having been ob s erved .

 M Y FLIG HT 385

T h ro ughou t the night we rode without a halt at a s low

trot or a walk and at daybreak Hamed calculated we had
,

left half the road behind u s .

’
Thi s i s the mo s t critical day of our j ourney s aid my ,

guide . W e come into the neighbourhood of the rive r and ,

cro s s pa s ture ground s of the river tribe s God grant we .

’
i

r each our de s tination unob s erved !

The a s pect of the country doe s not ch ange The veldt .
,

a s one may call i t i s covered with a thin mat of gra s s with

, ,

here and there clump s of half dried mimo s a bu s he s The -

.

ground i s s andy and at time s covered with s tone s W e

, .

rode on without s topping and ate our frugal meal which , ,

con s i s ted of nothing but date s a s we rode W hen the s un , .

w a s at the zenith we s a w in the di s tance a fl o ck of s hee p

,

with i ts s hepherd s W e turned a little a s ide from our

.

s traight cour s e and Zeki rode o ff to them to a s k for new s ;

,

but when he rej oined u s he s aid he had learned nothing of

intere s t Though we came upon con s tant track s of camel s
.
,

donkey s s heep e t c in the s oil our eye s detected no t hing

, ,
.
, ,

which cau s ed u s concern and the count ry had become quite ,

flat again .

Do you s e e the broad gray band in front cro s s ing fr om ,

’ ‘
s outh to north we s t P Hamed a s ked me
- That i s the .

great caravan track which lead s from Berber to W adi

Gammer and Dar Sha1 g1 a If we pa s s that without being .

s een we hav e nothing more to fear for between thi s and

, ,

the rive r there i s only s tony g r ound without a ve s tige of ,

vegetation and quite uninhabited But now you mu s t

,
.

follow my direction s clo s ely L e t the camel s advance at .

a s low pace and each s ome fi v e hundred pace s from the

,

next till we reach the big track W hen we get there we .

will turn into the road and proceed for a few minute s in the
direct ion of Berber Then we will leave it again and .
,

march in an ea s terly direction Do you s e e that s tone .

hillock about three mile s away P There we will j oin again .

Thi s i s the only way to put anyone who may be pur s uing
’
u s o fi ou r t r a ck
"
.
38 6 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HU
E S DAN

W e did he had in s t r ucted us cro s sed t he car avan r o ad

as , ,

which i s at mos t time s tolerably frequented without s eeing

'

a trace of anyone and met again at the s pot indicated

,
.

’
And now urge the animal s on Don t s pare them L e t . .

’
them do u s their la s t s ervice s aid Hamed with a merry , ,
’
laugh . All h a s gone well .

Since I left Omdurman I had not s een a laugh upon h i s

face and I knew t h at on thi s s ide of the r ive r we had
,

nothing more to fear .

So on we went driving the weary camel s fo r wa r d wi t h

,

the s tick without much mercy till leaving a range of hill s , ,

on our right we reached the Kerraba

, .

The Kerraba i s a plateau with a s andy s oil The s urface .

i s covered with black s tone s r a nging from the s ize of a ,

’
man s fi s t to that of h i s h ead packed clo s ely together ,
.

Single block s of rock are s een at a certain di s tance one from

anothe r The animal s could s carcely make any progre s s
.

over the rolling level It w a s a break neck mar ch Toward s

.
- .

evening we s a w the N ile in the far far di s tance like a s ilver , ,

s treak acro s s the land s cape Climbing down from the.

plateau in the darkne s s we reached a valley lying between

,

s tony hill s W e halted and took the s addle s o ff The rive r

. .

’
w a s about two hour s march away .

’
Our mi s s ion i s near i ts end s aid Hamed and Zeki a s , ,

they s a t on the ground munching date s Stay here with .

the animal s W e will g o to a s pot we know near the

.

r iver ; and there we s hall h n d you r friend s who will e s cort ,

’
you o n .

I w a s left alone looking forward in the highe s t s pirit s to

,

the futu r e Already in l m a g l n a ti o n I s a w m y own people

.
,

sa w my fatherland I awoke after midnight No one h a d

. .

come a n d I began to feel s omewhat concerned at the delay

, ,

for if t h ey did not s oon r eturn I could not cro s s the river
t hat night It w a s not till s ome two h our s before dawn
.

that I heard foot s tep s It w a s H amed . .

’
W h at new s P I a s ked impatiently .

None w a s the de s pairing an s we r W e could not fi n d .

38 8 FI RE A ND S WORD IN T HU E S D AN

I have never lo s t courage never abandone d c o n fi de n c e i n ,

my ultimate good fortune To day a s en s e of fear i s pre s s .

-

ing on me Perhap s it i s that I a m already l ying in what

.

will be my grave But that i s after all th e end of every

.
, ,

man B e h i s day s long or s hort h e can g o no other way

.
, .

And yet to die in a s trange land fors aken ! God up there ,

in heaven have mercy on me h ave mercy on a mi s erable

,
—

man who if he h a s s inned h a s s urely bitterly atoned for

, ,

h i s tran s gre s s ion s God have mercy on me ! L e t me s e e

.

my friend s and dear one s my fatherland again ,

Then I grew calm once more After all I thought in .

, ,

s pite of a few little delay s a ffair s are not s o bad To night

, .
-

I s h all cro s s the river To morrow I reac h the de s ert In

.
-
.

two or three day s I s hall be beyond the reach of danger ,

and fly toward s tho s e I crave to s e e I s miled once more .

,

and grew full of c o n fi de n c e and hope The s u n w a s burning .

hot I h a d brough t my farda and held it up over me to

.
,

keep my face in the s hade waiting in patience for what ,

would follow .

A little after mid day I heard a low whi stle and rai s ed
-
,

my s elf to look out over the s tone s It w a s Hamed who .

,

approached me s miling .

Good new s h e cried W e have found your people

.
’
.

A s en s e of j oy po s s e s s ed me a s I caught h i s word s and ,

my lucky s tar w a s once more in the a s cendant W hen he .

came up to me h e sa t down out s ide the s tone s .

’
You may make yours elf more comfortable he s aid I , .

have kept a good look out all round You have nothing to - .

fear Zeki found your people befor e daybreak and ju s t now

.
,

one of them came over to u s to h n d out where we were .

T h ey are ready In th e evening they will come to fetch

.

you But you will have to take great care for your flight
.
,

i s known in thi s part of the country Come with me now .

,

o r better s till wait till darkne s s come s o n

, ,
I a m going now . .

’
Can you h n d th e way alone or s hall I come back for you P ,

It i s not nece s s ary for you to g o over the ground again .

’
I know the place and will j oin you in the evening
, .
 MY FLIG H T 3 89

The s un h a d di s appeared from the horizon w h en with ,

gun and water s kin s lung upon my back I left the s pot
-
,

w h ich h a d co s t me s uch bitter hour s of r e fl e cti o n W hen I .

reach ed my companion s I found my s elf in the pre s ence of

,

two men Wh o were s tranger s to me .

They greeted me s aying W e are s ent by your friend

, ,

Ahmed W a d Abdalla and are of the G i h e m a b

will t ake you down to the river
s tream wit h you
,

e him s elf will cro s s the

O n the other s ide the camel s are waiting

.
. H
ready to take you acro s s the de s ert Take leave of your .

’
guide s Their ta s k i s done
. .

I s hook my old friend s by the hand and thanked them ,

with word s which came from the heart for their devotion ,
.

’
F arewell and may we meet again in better time s of peace
, .

W e s addled two camel s and left the third to my former

guid es I mounted and one of the new comer s got up
.
,
-

behind me .

W hat i s you r name P I a s ked him

’
.

They call me Mohammed s i r and my companion s ’

, ,
’
name i s I s h a a k .

’
Do you g o with me acro s s the de s ert P
N o ; there are other s told o ff for that L e t t he camel .

walk s lowly and it will be better to cover you r face in s pite

,

of the darkne s s Order s came from Berber three day s ago

.

to have all the road s clo s ely watched and the ferrie s have
been put under ob s ervat ion Still in our country you have .
,
’
nothing to fear .

After proceeding for about t wo hour s in an ea st north ea s t - -

direction we approached th e river W e could hear the

, .

groaning of the water wheel the crie s and laughter of the

-
,

s lave s and their women at work A s we came up to a s mall .

clump of bu s he s Mohammed who w a s riding be h ind me

, , ,

s prang down and s aid , Make the camel kneel down s lowly
,
’
—
gently t h at he may not grunt and s o att r act a t tention
, , .

They knelt down without a s ound .

Bidding me remain there till they ret urned with Ahmed ,

t hey di s ap pe are d i n t o t he da rkn e s s I wai t e d about a n ,

3 90 FIR E A N D S WORD I N T HU E S D AN

hour and then s a w four men approaching The talle st of

,
“

them came up and embraced me Pre s s ing me to h i s brea st .

,

he s aid in a low voice

,

‘God be prai s ed ! W elcome to th e land of my father s .

I a m your brother A h med Ibn Abdalla of the t ribe of ,

G ih e m a b Believe my word s you are s aved Mohammed

.
, .
,

I s h a a k take the s addle s o ff th e camel s quietly

, Make no .

noi s e Ride a good way on along th e s tream Blow the

. .

’
water s kin s full o f air and tie t h em round the camel s neck s
-
,
, .

T h en cro s s the river at di fferent s pot s and to morrow await ,

-

”
my order s near the s tone s of the F ighting Bull Mean .

H
’
time do you follow me he s aid turning to me
, , , .

e him s elf with the fourth man took t he s addle s on

, ,

t h eir back s and I followed A few minut e s la t er we reached

,
.

the s hore of t he s acred Nile and found in a little hollow , ,

wa s hed ou t by the curren t a t iny boat con structed by my ,

friend s them s elve s s carcely large enough to hold u s W e

,
.

climbed down the s teep bank got into the boat and pu s hed , ,

o ff
. It took u s more than an hour to cro s s t he s tream .

W hen we reached the far s ide the other man who had , ,

remained in the little boat guided i t back in t o the river , ,

and bored a hole in the bot t om s wimming to t he land while ,

th e boat s ank in the s tream and with it di s appeared all ,

trace s of our cro s s ing W e marched for about half an hour

.
,

and then Ahmed Abdalla bade me wait there while he wen t

away to return s oon after with a di s h of milk and bread
, .

’
Ea t and drink s aid h e and have no more fea r s a s to
, ,

the s ucce s s of your h ight for I s wear to you by God and ,

th e Prophe t you are s aved I had intended that you s hould.

s tart to night but the hour i s already too late

-
, It will be .

better that you s hould wait till to morrow evening Be s ide s -

.
,

to morrow i s the day when you r camel s s hould be watered

-
.

A s we are here too near to human habitation s my nephew , ,

Ibrahim Ali will conduct you to a place s ome di stance o ff

,

which i s diffi c ult of acce s s W ait for me there I will . .

bring you an ani m a l t o r ide or do yo u fe e l s tr ong enough to ,

’
g on foot P
o
39 2 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HU E S D AN

that the Egyptian gar r i s on at Mur r a t had received i m

p ortant reinforcement s and intended ,
to attack the M ahdi s t
s tation at Abu Hamed Zeki O s man i s s ending reinforce
.

ment s and to d ay at noon s ixty hor s emen and abou t t hree

,

hundred foot s oldier s pa s s ed our dwelling s You know .

t he s e wild band s who call t h em s elve s An s a r [ defender s of

the faith] W e had killed a s h eep and were bu s y preparing ,

a portion for you to take with you on the road when they ,

s uddenly came upon u s by s urpri s e They con s umed what .

w a s intended for your provi s ion and then s cat t ered in s earch
,

of loo t W e were in terrible anxiet y on your account

.
,

fearing one of the s e wild fellow s might h n d h i s way to your

hiding place No w they have marched o n The cur s e of
-
. .

God g o wit h them Thank s be to Him who h a s protected

you
And I al s o humbly t hanked my Creat or who had s aved , .

me from t h i s great and unexpected danger A s I learned .

later the Commander i n C h i ef of the Egyptian Army

,
- - ‘
,

General Kitchener Pa s ha had come to W adi Halfa to con

,

duc t the u s ual man oe uvre s Captain Ma c h e ll Bey marched

.

with the Twelfth Sudane s e Battalion and two hundred of

the Camel Corp s from W adi Halfa to Koro s ko by M u r r a t ,

and thi s accounted for the rumour of a s trengthening of the

garri s on at M u r r a t and t he con t emplat ed attack on Abu
,

H amed .

’
The camel s will be a lit t le late s aid Ahmed continuing , , .

I s ent them ha s tily away into the interior when the

Dervi s he s came i n for fear they might pre s s them into
,

s e rvice t o carry their ammunition or other baggage If .

,
'

however you feel inclined to re s t in patience till to m orrow

,
-
,
’
we s hould be able to procure fre s h provi s ion s .

No ; I want at all hazard s to s tart at once and want of ,

’
provi s ion s will not alter my r e s olve I replied I tru s t the ,
.

’
camel s will come s oon .

It wa s toward s midnigh t when t hey brought in the t hree

a nimal s Ahmed Abdalla pre s ented my two guide s to me
. .

Ibrahim A h t he s o n of my brother and Yakub Ha s s an

, , ,
 MY FLIG H T 39 3

al s o a near relative of mine They will conduct you to

H
.

S h eikh Hamed F edai the head of the Amrab Arab s who , ,

are s ubject to the Egyp t ian Government e will a s s i s t .

’
you in getting on to A s s uan .

W e fi lle d the water s kin s and took our leave - .

’
F orgive the failure of provi s ion for your j ourney s aid ,

Ahmed Ibn Abdalla It i s not my fault You have m eal

. .

and date s enough to keep hunger o ff t hough t here are no ,

’
luxurie s .

W e rode three hour s and a half ea s t north ea s t before the - -

s un ro s e and a s th e dawn grew gray found our s elve s ea s t

,

of W adi e l Homar ( the V ale of A s s e s ) which though , ,

called after the wild a s s e s which inhabit i t i s in a great ,

mea s ure devoid of v egetation A s we proceeded the .

,

coun t ry a s s umed the genuine characteri s tic s of the de s ert

wide s tretche s of s and with here and there at long , ,

interval s ridge s of b ill s but never a tree or trace of gra s s

, , .

After riding for two day s almo st without a halt we reached , ,

the hill s of Nur a n a i formerly o cchpi e d by the Bi s harin

,

Arab s The valley running in a north ea s terly direction for

.
,
-

the mo s t part between ridge s with very s teep wall s grow s

, ,

mimo s a tree s along either s ide and in one lateral valley are
-
,

tree s which take their name from the hill s .

Ibrahim Ali got o ft and took an ob s ervation from the

height s and fi n di n g that the valley wa s quite unoccupied
, , ,

we entered i t ha s tily watered our camel s and partially

, ,

fi lle d our water s kin s -

.

The well lie s in a hollow s ome t wen t y h y e yard s acro s s -

,

and s ome eighteen feet deep dug out with a s harp decline ,

toward s the centre Down thi s s loping plane there are

.

s lab s of rock and s tone s s erving a s s tep s by which one , ,

de s cend s to the water h ole in th e middle A s well s are - .

alway s place s wh ere people are apt to collect we left the ,

s pot and re s ted in the plain afte r cro s s ing the hill s of ,

Nur a n a i in about three hour s .

T h ere w a s a great difference between my former and my

p re s ent guide s T h e fi r s t W e r e b rave
. devo t ed fellow s , ,
394 FIR E A ND S WORD IN T HU E S D AN

ready even to sa cr i fi c e their live s for me wherea s the s e new ,

one s were j u s t the contrary They grumbled at the s ervice

.

which it s eem s t h eir relative A h med Abdalla had forced

upon t h em and were for ever complaining of want of s leep
,

and h unger and at the danger of th e enterpri s e the reward

, ,

for w h ic h would g o to other s Through t h eir carele s s ne s s

.

they h a d dropped my s andal s and tinder box on the road -

,

and the lo s s of th e former w a s de s tined to cau s e me much

trouble later o n .

T h e next day a Thur s day we reached the grove s of Abu

, ,

Hamed an h our before noon and t h ough the tribe s who at

,

pre s ent live in the s e part s are ho s tile to th e Mahdi st s I ,

preferred to remain hidden Ibrah im Ali and Yakub

.

Ha s s an had been ordered by Ahmed Abdalla to guide me

to Sheikh Hamed F adai but thi s di d not s uit their View s .

Th ey came to me in the afternoon and repre s ente d to me ,

the ri s k they would incur if their people mi s s ed them for

many day s Since it w a s certain everyt h ing would come to
.

’
the Khalifa s ear s w h ich w a s calculated to throw ligh t on
th e que s tion of w h o h a d helped me in my flight and s ince ,

t h eir tribe w a s already under s u s picion of being friendly to

the Egyptian Government t h ere w a s danger not only for
,

t h em but al s o for my friend A h med Abdalla In conclu

,
.

s ion they begged to be allowed to and look for a man

, g o

w h o w a s well known to t h em bot h and living in the s e part s , ,

w h o would c onduct me furt h er I s a w t h at their reluctance

.

would prove of more h arm than s ervice to me a s I procee ded

furt h er and agreed to their propos al almo s t with alacrity s o
, ,

di s ta s teful had both my guide s become to me and bade ,

t h em s ettle the matter a s quickly a s po s s ible according to

th e be s t of their power s

H
.

It w a s not yet s un s et when t h ey brought back the man in

que s tion e w a s an Amrab Arab named Hamed G a r h o s h
.
,

and cons iderably the wrong s ide of fi fty in year s .

’
E very man look s to h i s own advantage and pr o fi t h e ,

‘
s aid curtly to me after th e greeting Your guide s whom I . ,

know well wi s h me to s how you the way from here to

,
39 6 FIR E A N D S WORD I N T HU E S D AN

of i ts appearance and i ts ta ste To prepare it my guide .

,
’
piled together a lot of s tone s about the s ize of pigeon s egg s ,

and lai d dry wood on top of t h em Then he kneaded dhurra .

mixed w i th w a te r in a wooden ve s s el and lighted h i s pile of

,
,

fuel with flint and tinder W hen th e wood had burned out .
,

h e removed th e ember s from the glowing s tone s poured h i s ,

dough over t h em a n d then replaced th e ember s on the top

,

of t h at again A few minute s after he re s cued h i s work of

.

art from i ts h ery grave beat it s everely wit h a s tick to,

remove the s u pe r flu o u s a s he s and s tone s which s tuck to i t and ,

s erved it u p Thi s abortive production we ate if not quite

.
,

with plea s ure at any rate with hearty appetite and realized
, ,

the truth of the proverb After re s ting a little while we .

,

l e ft the neighbourhood of th e fountain and in a few hour s ,

reached the fi r s t s lope s of the Etb a i mountain s .

The s e mountain s ( El Etb a i ) s t r etching between the Re d ,

Sea and the Nile are inhabited in th e s outhern portion by

,

Bi s h arin and Amrab Arab s and in the no rt h by th e Abab d a ,

'

tribe Between lofty black c lifi s ab s olutely bare of vegeta

.
,

tion ri s ing in s heer perpendicular s tretch broad valley s

, ,

well wooded which the camel breeder s of the s e tribe s

,
-

pa s ture i n W e traver s e d a well nigh impa s s able road

.
-
,

moving on without re s ting impelled by my de s ire to s e e ,

my own folk and to fi n i s h th e weary j o u r n e y a s quickly a s

po s s ible Though we had nothing more to fear for we
.
,

were by now out of the power of the Mahdi s t s and on

not being s een H

Egyptian territory my guide in s i s ted on the impo r tance of
,

e w a s afraid of being recogni s ed by the

.

people who have commercial relation s with the Sudan .

,

Since h i s home lay on the border and he wa s often obliged ,

for variou s rea s on s to g o to Berber ; the knowledge t h at he

had s erved me in my h ight might be fraught with mo s t
s eriou s con s equence s for him .

But with him the s pirit wa s willing thoug h the fle sh w a s

weak Being already advanced in years th e want of proper
.
,

food and the overtaxing mar c h h a d their e ffect on h i s health .

In a ddi t io n t o thi s he felt the cold whic h wa s often s evere

, , ,
 MY FL I G H
T 39 7

so much that he fell ill although I h a d made over to h i m my

,

jibba and had nothing my s elf upon my body but th e farda

,
‘

and b ezam ( a s trip of woollen cloth to wind round the body ,

eight to nine yard s in length ) In order to get on I ma d e .

over the c amel to h i m for the la s t four day s and walked ,

be h in d him wit h my bare feet over the s tone s for my ,

former guide s h a d lo s t my s andal s and thi s wa s therefore ,

for me from th e phy s ical point of view the harde s t part of

, ,

my j ourney

H
.

Even our camel s eemed to be going to leave u s in the

lurch . e had got a r aw place on h i s o ff fore foot a n d h a d -
,

be s ide s inj ured it s o s everely with a pointed s tone that the

unfort unate bea s t could hardly walk on i t I w a s obliged .

to sa cr i fi c one of my h e z a m i n wit h wh ich by binding it in

e
quadruple fold I made a kind of s hoe for him which had
, ,

, , ,

however to be renewed every twenty four hour s I had

,
- .

s ee n t h i s done by camel herd s in Darfur - though they u s e ,

leat he r for th e purpo s e and the old experience now s tood

,

me in good s tea d .

A t la s t on Saturday the 1 6th of Ma r ch in the morning

, , ,

at s unri s e de s cending from the height s I s a w the river

, ,

Nile and the town of A s s uan along i ts s hore I cannot .

de s c r ibe the feeling s of j oy w h ich po s s e s s ed me My woe s .

were at an end ; s aved from the hand s of fanatical bar

b a r i a n s my eye s be h eld for th e fi r s t time the dwelling s of
,

civilized people in a country governed wit h law and j u s tice

n e ss for H
i s protection and H
by its rule r My heart went out to my Creator in thankful
.

i s guiding hand .

H
I w a s received in the mo s t friendly manner at thei r quarter s
’
by the Engli s h o ffi c e r s in i s Hig h ne s s the Khedive s s ervice
and the Egyptian o ffi c e r s w h o only j u s t then learned the
,

s urpri s ing new s of my arrival and each vied with the other,

to do all that wa s in h i s power to help me to forget the

mi s erie s I had gone through .

The commanding o ffi ce r and Governo r of the frontier ,

who happened to have ar r ived almo s t at the s ame moment

in A s suan Colonel Hunte r P a s ha a s well a s h i s o ffi c e r s
, , ,
398 FIR E A ND S WORD I N T HU E S D AN

Maj or s Jacks on Sidney and Ma c h e ll Bey wit h Bimba s hi

, , ,

W at s on and othe r s who s e name s I cannot at thi s moment

,

call to mind generou s ly placed their wardrobe s at my d i s

,

po s al and I availed my s elf of t h eir kindne s s for what wa s

,

s trictly indi s pen s able Before howeve r I changed my

.
, ,

clothe s my excellent fri end W at s on who i s a capital a rti s t

, , ,

a s ked leave to make a s ketch of me a r eque s t to which I ,

wa s delighted to accede .

A s to my guide Hamed G a r h o s h with t he a ss i st ance of

, ,

a forme r acquaintance But t o s Bey Se r ki s who i s now

H
, ,

Briti s h V ice Con s ul in A s s uan I at once paid him the one

-
'
,

hundred and twenty Maria Theres a dollar s e al s o received .

from me a pre s ent of money clothe s and arm s while ove r , , ,

and above thi s Hunte r Pa s ha pre s ented him with a gift of

[ 1 0 a s a token of j oy at my s afe ar r ival ; and s o having ,
’
s uddenly become a man of mean s he took a touching far e ,

well of me and departed .

A s ho rt time afterward s telegram s of congratulation

ar r ived The fi r st wa s from Major L ewi s Bey on behalf of
.

him s elf and the garri s on of W adi H alfa The s econd from .
,

the chief of the Au s trian Diplomatic Agency in Egypt ,

Baron Hei d ler v o n Eg e r e g g who had been s o in de fa ti g ,

able on my behalf Then from my devoted friend Major

.

W ingate Bey Baron V ictor Herring and h i s s on s who

.
,

were travelling on the Nile we r e th e fi r st of my own ,

countrymen to greet me .

A s it happened that the po s tal s t eamer wa s s ta rt ing t hat

afternoon I wa s recommended to avail my s elf of it to con
,

tin n e my j ou rney Es corted by al l the o ffi ce r s to the tune

.
,

o f the Au s trian na t ional hymn ( played by the band of the

Sudane s e battalion ) which it brought the tear s into my eye s
,

t o hea r I went on board the s teamer amid the hu r rah s of a

, ,

number of touri s t s of all nation s a s s embled on the bank .

I wa s deeply moved Though I have ever tried to live

.

up t o my s tandard of honour in whatever circum st an ce s I

have been placed which indeed any o ffi c e r in a s imila r
, , ,

po si t ion would s urely do I had done no t hing to p r epa r e me

,
 MY FLIG H T 399

fo r , till le s s to de s erve thi s public expre ss ion of s ympathy

s , ,

and it made me feel ve r y humble .

I travelled in company with M a ch e ll Bey who command s ,

the Twelfth Sudane s e Battalion and who s e ma r ch during ,

th e man oe uvre s from W adi Halfa by M u r r a t to Koro s ko ‘

had been th e cau s e of my provi s ion s being eaten u p a n d of

H
,

the s hort common s I had to put up with in the de s ert I .

took a terrible vengeance e had to s ubmit u n condi ti o n

.

ally to all my whim s in food and drink and endured h i s ,

mart yrdom with extraordinary good nat ure and s oldie rly
fo rtitude .

W hen I a r rived on Sunday evening in L uxor I wa s again ,

the object of a lively demon strat ion of s ympathy from the

European traveller s a n d here received through Baron
, ,

Heidler a telegram from my dear s i ste r s and from my

, ,

native city of V ienna Si s ter s and native city How s wee t

.

the word s s ound !

O n Monday at h y e in the afternoon we reached Girga
, , ,

t he s outhernmo s t s tation on the Egyptian State R ailway ,

and proceeded to Cairo w h ich I reached at s i x in the morn

,

ing on Tue s day the 1 9th of March In s pite of thi s early

, , .

hour Baron Heidler von Eg e r e g g wi t h h i s s ta ff and the

, , ,

Au s trian Con s ul Dr Carl Ritter Von G o r a c uc h i had come

, .
,

to the s tation to meet me ; and there too w a s my dear , ,

friend W ingat e Bey t o whom I can never s uffi ci e n tly s how

,

my g r atitude in word or deed The Ti m es corre s pondent .

wa s al s o there ; and F ather R o s ignoli with a number of ,

other s and of cour s e a pho t ographer t aking s nap s hot s

, , ,
-
.

W e drove to the Au s trian diplomatic agency whe r e I ,

wa s for a long time the gue s t of the wa r m hea r ted Baron -

Heidle r who had worked s o hard for my freedom and

, ,

who s e action s were not only prompted by a de s ire to do h i s

duty a s a rep r e s entative of the Governmen t but who wa s ,

actuated by a deep s ympathy for the s u ffering s of a fellow

creature held down in mi s e r able bondage .

O n arrival I found my room s ado r ned wit h t he flag s of

my dear fat h erland and decked with ro s e s and fl o we r s
, ,
4 00 FIRE A N D S WORD I N T HS UD
E A N
whil s t above the door w a s written A hear ty welcome ,
’
home . O n the s ame day I received telegram s of con
gratulation from my family friend s fellow s tu d ent s and -
,

H
, ,

from s everal new s paper s I al s o met wit h a h earty welcome

H
.

from i s R oyal Hig h ne s s Duke W il h elm of W h r te m b e r g ,

and i s Serene Hig h ne s s General Prince L oui s Es terhazy ,

both of whom had been in th e Bo s nian c ampaign when I

h a d s erved there with my regiment and who greatly honoured ,

me by their expre s s ion s of genuine s ympathy with m e in

th e h ard s hip s I h a d undergone a n d in the joy I n o w ex ,

e r i e n c e d at having e s caped at la s t from th e tyrannical

p

H
t h raldom of th e K h alifa I wa s received in audience s oon
after my arrival by i s Highne s s the Khedive of Egypt
,
.

who conferred upon me the title of Pa s ha I had entered .

,

th e Su d an s ixteen year s before a s a fi r s t lieutenant of the

Au s trian army and whil s t Governor of Darfu r had been
, , ,

granted the Egyptian military grade of lieutenant colonel -

,

and now on my return I w a s promoted to the rank of

, ,

colonel and po s ted to th e Egyptian Intelligence Department

, .

A few day s after my arrival when s eated on the balcony ,

of th e Agency and looking down on the garden all fre s h

,

with the verdure of s pring I e s pied a tame heron s talking ,

acro s s the flower bed s In s tantly I t h ought of F alz F ein

- .
-

of A s can e a N ova in Tauride South R u s s ia and I hurried

, , ,

to my room and then and there wrote to him a full account

,

of the crane which he had relea s ed in 1 8 9 2 and which had ,

been killed in Dar Shaigia It w a s the greate s t plea s ure to

.

feel my s elf m a po s ition to give the former owner of the

bird an accurate account of what had happened and s oon
afterward s I received a reply from M r F alz F ein who po s .
-
,

s e s s e s a large e s tate in the Crimea thanking me warmly for ,

my letter and inviting me to pay him a vi s it which u n

, , ,

fortunately the numerou s call s on my time have hitherto

,

prevente d me from accepting .

A s erie s of o ffi c i a l and private call s numerou s invitation s , ,

and other s ocial dutie s s o occupied my time that s ome week s

,

elap s ed before I could undertake any s eriou s wo rk My .

402 FIR E A ND S WORD I N T HS UD
E A N
t he good fortune t o retu rn to Europe How Africa h a s .

changed within thi s period R egion s in the exploration of

which L iving s t one Speke Grant Baker Stanley Cameron , , , , , ,

Brazza Junke r Schweinfurth Holub L enz and hundred s

, , , , ,

of other s ri s ked their live s are now acce s s ible to civilization , .

In mo s t of the s e m which the explorer had forme r ly to

,

encounter th e greate s t danger s there are now military po s t s ,

and s tation s to a fford s ecurity and facilitate the trade which , ,

i s con s tantly becoming more active F rom the ea st Italy .

,

England Germany from the we s t the Congo State F rance

, , , ,

and England are daily enla rging their s phere s of i n flue n ce

, ,

and are now on the point of j oining hand s in Central Africa .

W ild tribe s who in thei r mode s of life a r e nearer t o bea s t

,

than to man are beginning to know new want s beginning

, ,

to unders tand that there a r e being s mentally s uperior to

them s elve s and who th r ough th e appliance s of mode rn
, ,

civilization are unconquerable even in foreign land s The

, .

more northerly of the s till independent M ohammedan State s

— W adai Bornu and the F ellata kingdom s will doub t le s s
, ,
—

s ooner or later be compelled t o conclude alliance s with s ome

of the advancing power s perceiving that only in thi s way ,

can their hereditary rule be s ecured .

In the middle of Africa between the land s j u s t mentioned ,

and the powe rs advancing fr om ea s t s ou t h and we st lie s , , ,

the former Egypti a n Sud a n now under the rule of the ,

Khalifa Abdullahi the de s potic he ad of the Mahdi s t s No

, .

European can venture t o c r o s s t he limit s of thi s land cu t ,

~

o ft from civilization e x tending in the s outh along the Nile ,

to R e g g a f and ea s t to we s t from Ka s s ala to near W adai ;

,

death or lifelong captivity would be h i s lot Yet it i s only .

wit h in the s hort period of ten year s that the land h a s been
s ubj ected to the s e mi s erable condition s F or more than .

s eventy year s s ince the time of Mohammed Ali

, it r e ,

mained under the rule of Egypt and w a s O pen to civiliza ,

tion In the chief town s were found Egyptian and Eu r opean

.

merchant s In Khartum it s elf the foreign Powers had their

.

rep r e s entative s Traveller s of all nation s could pa s s through

.
 C ONC L US ION 46 3

t he land unharmed and found protection and help t h rough

,

their aid Telegraph s and a regular po s tal s ervice facilitated

.

intercour s e with the mo s t di s tant countrie s Mohammedan .

mo s que s Chri s tian churche s and mi s s ion s chool s looked

,

after the religiou s and moral education of the youn g The .

land w a s inhabited by the mo s t diver s e tribe s many of ,

/
which lived in ho s tility with one another But wer e éo m ,

p e l le d by the s trength of the Government to keep the peace .

Di s content no d oubt prevailed in the land and in the ,

preceding page s I have s hown how the avarice and m i s

government of the o ffi c ia ls brought about a condition of
a ffair s which rendered the country ripe for revolt I have .

endeavoure d to explain how Mohammed Ahmed took

advant age of the mo od of the people and well knowing , ,

that onl y a religiou s factor could unite th e ho s tile tribe s he ,

maintained that h e w a s the Mahdi s ent by God to deliver

the country from foreign yoke and to regenerate religion
, ,

thu s bringing into exi s tence that element of fanatici s m

which throw s s uch a lurid glow over tho s e dark epi s ode s
with which the h i s tory of the pa s t twelve year s of the Sudan
h a s been so replete W ithout fanatici s m the revolt could
.

neve r have been s ucce s s ful while with it one i s brought

,

face to face with a condition of warfare and religiou s

enthu s ia s m to h n d a parallel to which one mu s t g o back to
,

medi aeval hi s tory a n d even further

, .

In the preceding account of my life and adventure s in the ,

vortex it s elf of thi s mighty religiou s movement I have ,

endeavoured to b r i e fly trace s tep by s tep the principal

, ,

cau s e s which have led to the pre s ent s ituation changed —

g r eatly it i s true from the time in which the Mahdi and

, ,

h i s s ucce s s or were in the zenith of their power but never ,

th e le s s a s itua t ion requiring careful handling and a thorough ,

knowledge of detail s in order that tho s e concerned may be

,

enabled to gra s p a ccurately the condition s nece s s ary to

r e s t ore to civilization thi s va s t expan s e of country which

h a s now fallen int o an almo s t inde s cribable s tate of moral

a n d religiou s decadence .

2 6— 2
4 04 FIR E A ND S WOR D I N T HS UD E A N
In the Sudan we have befo r e u s a t errible e x ample of
na s cent and s omewhat crude civilization s uddenly s hattered
by wild ignorant and almo s t s avage tribe s who have built
, , ,

over the s cattered remnant s a form of government ba s ed to

s ome extent on the line s they found exi s ting bu t from , .

which they have eradicated almo s t every s ymbol of right ,

j u s tice and morality and for which they have s ub s tituted

, ,

a rule of inju stice ruthle s s barbarity and immorality No r

, , .

can I recall any other in s tance in modern time s of a country

in which a s emblance of civilization h a s exi s ted for upwar d s
of half a century falling back into a s tate s o little removed
,

from ab s olute barbari s m .

But let u s con s ider for a moment what i s thi s new power
which h a s s uddenly grown up and which s eem s to the ,

European world to block s o completely all their civilizing

e fi b r ts which have during recent year s made s uch s tartling
,

s tride s in almo s t every other part of the va s t continent of

Africa .

’
I have endeavoured to s how how on the Mahdi s fi r s t ,

ri s e to power the entire country wa s with him heart and

,

s oul ,
how on h i s death real fanatici s m gradually waned ,

and gave place to a tempo r ary power wielded unde r the ,

cloak of religion with reckle s s s everity by the Khalifa and

,

h i s we s tern Arab s who taking the place of the E gyptian

, ,

garri s on s they had de stroyed ruled the unfortunate po pu ,

la ti o n s wi t h a rod of iron and with s uch O pp r e s s ion and

,

tyranny a s to make t h em long for a return to any form of

government which would give them re s t and peace It i s .

needle s s for me to recapitulat e the horror s and crueltie s

which have been enacted by the Khalifa and h i s follower s
in order to maintain their po s ition of a s cendancy ; but it
will be s uffi c i e n t for my purpo s e to recall here that at lea s t
s eventy fi v e per cent of the total population h a s s uccumbed
- .

to war famine and di s ea s e while of the r emainde r t he

, , ,

majo r i t y are li t tle bette r than s lave s ; and t hat t e r rible

s courge the s lave t r ade wi t h all i ts attendant horrors i s
,
-
, ,

r a mpan t in t he land and include s among s t its victim s

,
4 06 FIR E A N D S WORD I N T HS D
E U AN

probable s ome internal convul s ion will take place whic h ,

might under certain circum s tance s di s place the dyna s ty he

h a s attemp t ed to found but which would not nece s s a r ily
,

bring that unfortunate country much neare r to civilizing

i n flue n c e s than it i s at pre s ent Con s idered the refo r e from
.
, ,

thi s point of view the nece s s ary palliative s till lie s in the
,

introduction of external aid .

The above hypothe s i s doe s not howeve r entirely mee t , ,

the condition s of the ca s e Tho s e who wi s h to s t udy the

.

pre s ent s ituation in the Sudan mu s t not think of that

country a s it wa s in the day s of I s mail Pa s ha when the ,

civilizing i n flu e n c e wa s repre s ented by the E gyptian

Government and when the variou s countrie s lying i m m e di
,
'

ate ly beyond the Egyptian s phere were barbarou s or Pagan

s tate s in which E uropean s were almo s t unknown and the
, ,

Arab s lave hunter had barely penetrated ; that condition

-

h a s been little el s e than rever s ed The Mahdi s t authority .

,

a s I have already s hown i s at once intolerably ob s tructive

,

and dangerou s ly in s ecure The once comparatively

.

civilized Sudan i s now occupied by a barbaric power ho s tile

to both European and Ottoman i n flue n ce It block s the
'
.

way fr o m the central plateau s along the Nile valley to the

Mediterranean it s eal s up di s t r ict s which were at one time
,

fairly t ranquil and open to the in flue n c e s of commerce and

,

civilization while the variou s countrie s by which it i s

,

bo r dered a r e now being gradually opened u p Intercour s e .

between them and the out s ide world i s becoming ea s ie r ,

trade i s pu s hing ob s tacle s out of the way ri s k to life i s ,

le s s ened by the protect ive action of Eu r opean gove rnment s ,

and the s avage race s by which they a r e peopled a r e

beginning to learn the folly of fi g h ti n g again st t he re s ource s
of civilization .

To turn from generalization to detail s what do we h n d ,

to be the pre s en t s ituation P O u the ea s t Egyptian i n flu e n c e

i s s lowly ve r y s lowly recovering its lo s t ground in the
— —

vicinity of Suakin and Toka r T o the s outh ea s t th e

.
-

Italian s have captured Ka s s ala and have forced t he

“

,
 C ON C L USI ON 46 7

Mahdi s t s to take up a s trong line of defen c e on th e we s t

bank of th e Atbara R iver F u r th e r s outh th e Aby s s inian s
.

s how no pre s ent intention of altering the relation s which

have previou s ly exi s ted between them and the Dervi s he s .

In the mountainou s di s trict s of F a z o g lu and the Blue N ile '

the inhabitant s have thrown o ff allegiance to th e Kh a lifa .

F ar away to the s outh at the s ource s of the Nile Briti s h

, ,

i n flue n c e i s b eginning to make it s elf felt in th o s e r e g 1 o n s

where Speke Grant Baker and other s gained imperi s hable
, , ,

renown by their m a g n i fi c e n t exploratio n s and by their ,

e ffort s again s t s lavery and the s lave trade region s which - —

will ere long be connected with th e coa s t by a railway

which will open u p n o t only the count ry it trave r s e s but
, ,

will al s o give an e xit to the trade of Southern Equatoria

.

and the adjacent countrie s N ext to the s e Briti s h

.

po s s e s s ion s come s the Congo F ree State which within the ,

la s t fe w year s h a s made s uch gigantic s tride s in bringing

under i ts i n flu e n c e large tract s of country not only in the ,

vicinity of the Mbomu and U bangi but in many di s trict s of ,

the Bahr e l Ghazal Province and in E quatoria almo s t to ,

within s triking di s tance of the Dervi s h advanced po s t at

R e g g a f in the Nile V alley while behind them in the Haute
, ,

U bangi or even in juxtapo s ition with them the enterpri s ing

, ,

F rench pioneer s are s triving to give e ffect to their colonial

dream s which have of late year s been s o fully realized in
,

variou s part s of Africa Still further to the north we s t the

.
-

’
Khalifa s authority in tho s e di s trict s i s menaced by ho s tile
tribe s men who may s ooner or later become s ubj ect to the
, , ,

guidance of European i n flue n ce penetrating from the we s t ,

and north of Africa ; and on the extreme north lie s the

Egyptian power which Abdullahi i s g r adually lea r ning to
,

dread a s being that mo s t likely to be the fi r s t to interfe r e

,

with the uncertain tenure of h i s empire .

Such t hen i s b r i e fly the p r e s ent defen s ive and o ffen s ive

, ,

po s ition of the Mahdi s t Sudan All powerful within h i s .

-

dominion s but threatened from all s ide s from without there

, ,

i s little doubt that before the onward march of civilizing

4 08 FIR E A N D S W ORD I N T HS UD
E A N
force s the whole empire of the Khalifa mu s t cr umble and
coll ap s e a n d what them ? W ill E gypt once more become
—

the actual po s s e s s or of th e countr y of w h ich s h e w a s the

legitimate own er ? W ill a ll t h o s e civi liz in g Power s who
are mar chi ng forwar d un s e lfi s hl y rea lize that s ho ul d they ,

es tab li s h t h em s elve s on th e bank s of th e navi gable N ile ,

they mu s t not attempt to cut o fi or min i mi ze the li fe givin g

"
-

water s upply of E gypt by in troducin g s kil led i rrigation

withi n the territorie s they may have acquir ed P W ill they
un s e lfi s hl y aban don the advantage s whi ch they may have

se cured through th e expendi tu re of blood and tr e a s u r e in ,

order that th e legitimate right s of Eg ypt may not be inter

fe r e d with ? All the s e que s tion s enter into the domai n of
practi cal and current politic s with whi ch it i s not my
,

provi nce to deal I a m merely in the po s ition of expre s s in g

.

my views on the im portan c e a n d value of the Sudan to

Egy pt a n d on thi s s ubj ect I hold a s trong op i nion
, The .

rea s on s w hi ch fi r s t prompted Mohamm ed Ali thr e e ,

qua r ter s of a century ago to take po s s e s s ion of the Su dan

,

s ti ll hold good .A s the N ile 1 5 the lif e of E gypt so eve r y ,

e ffort mu s t b e made to pr e s e r ve the Nile val ley from ih

t r u s ion An y advan ce therefo r e of civilizin g in fl u e n ce s
.
, ,

towar d s tha t gigantic wate rway mu s t natur al ly be viewed

with alarm by tho s e authorities w h o a r e fu lly alive to the
dan ger whi ch woul d ar i s e by the creation on the ban k s of
the r iver of colonie s who s e per sonal intere s t s would pre
domi nate over their regard for the pre s ervation and advan ce
ment of Egyptian welfare a n d pro spe r ity .

Here and there in the prece di ng page s I have r efe rr ed to

the immen s e importance of the B ahr e l Ghaza l and it i s ,

perhap s not out of place he r e to recapitul ate once agai n the

p e c u h a r po s ition w h ich thi s provi nce hold s in regar d to the
rem a inder of the Su dan I t i s a mo s t fe r tile di s trict ex
.
,

tendi ng over a n enorm ou s ar e a watere d by a labyrin th of

,

s tr e am s and covered with mountai n s and fore s t s in whi ch

,

elephant s aboun d w hi le the low vall ey s are s ubject to

,

in un dation s . The s oil i s e x ce pti o n a lly g oo d pr o ducing

d
,
416 F IR E A ND S WORD I N T E
'

HS UD A N
in the Bahr e l Ghazal were in greater force than h i s pre s ent
information lead s him to s uppo s e he might engage in a ,

campaign again s t them a n d in thi s ca s e h e would be ,

obliged to s end reinforcement s from Omdurman a matter ,

of s ome d iffi c ulty a s the drain on h i s re s ource s cau s ed by

,

the maintenance of large force s at the threatened point s on

the Atbara oppo s ite Ka s s ala and in the Dongola province i s
con s iderable .

R everting to the Dervi s h s it u ation in Darfur and Kordo

fan it s hould be n o te d th a t the pre s ent force of the Emir
,
‘

Mahmud amount s to s ome thou s and s of r ifle and s pear men ,

s catte red in garri s on s at El F a s her Shakka and El Obeid , , .

Mahmud him s elf re s ide s at El F a s her with the bulk of thi s

Tama Beni Hu s s ein

, o ti r H
force and i s con s tantly at war with the Dar Gimr M a s s alit
,

a n d o th e r tribe s of the Keb

,

kebia and Kulkul d i s trict s R ecently one of Mahmud s .

,
’
‘
, ,

lieutenant s ( F a dla lla ) w a s k illed and h i s force of s i x ,

hundred men heavily defeated in a conte s t with the s e r e

v o lte d tribe s and ju s t at the time I left Omdurman per
, , ,

mi s s ion had been given to M ahmud to s end o u t a punitive

expedition from El F a s h er which appear s to have been ,

partially s ucce s s ful The s e tribe s although nominally inde

.
,

pendent owe a certain allegiance to the W adai Sultanate

, .

It i s therefore erroneou s to s uppo s e that they are acting

under the direction of R abeh Zubeir who s e ho s tility to ,

W adai i s well known and who s e authority doe s not extend

,

so far to the ea s t and now appear s to be centred in the

,

di s trict s lying s outh a nd s outh we s t of L ake Tchad - .

Such then wa s the s tate of a fla i r s in the s e s outhern and

’

, ,

we s tern di s trict s whe n I left the Sudan ; and s 1 n c e my ,

arrival in th e mid s t of civilization I have frequently s een ,

many s trange and c o n fli c tin g report s in the pre s s a s to the

s ituation in the s e di s tant region s an d although concur r ing ,

with the View that the onward march of civilizing force s

mu s t eventually cau s e the collap s e of the Mahdi s t Empire ,

I feel that my unique po s ition in the centre of Dervi s h

authority entitle s me to give a word of wa r ning to the
 C ONC L Us z o zv 41 1

o n try wh o s e intere s t s I endeavoured for long year s to

c u
up h ol d a n d W ho s e eventual welfare a n d pr o s perity in a
, ,

r ecovered Egyptian Sudan I earne s tly long to s e e I would

, .

merely impre s s upon her the fact that time and tide wait for
no man that whil s t s h e i s contemplating with longing eye s
the recovery of her lo s t province s there i s alway s the po s s i ,

b i li ty that they may fall into the han d s of other s who may
prove more di ffi cu lt to di s lodge than the Khalifa ,

by bringing e n gineering s kill on the life giv ing water s of -

Egypt may endanger i ts very exi s tence and who would

, , ,

though it i s undoubtedly the le s s er of two evil s deprive that ,

country of the rich ble s s ing s of trade and commerce which ,

under a b e n e fi c e n t admini s tration in the Sudan would give ,

wealth and p r o s perity both to the pa r ent Egypt and her

recovere d Nile province s .

W ith the s e few word s of friendly advice to the country to

who s e s ervice s I rej oice to have returned after twelve long
years of captivity I now end thi s narrative But ere I
,
.

clo s e I will relate yet one more incident which were I ,

s uper s titiou s I would con s ider pre s aged well for the
,

recovery of what h a s been lo s t In December 1 8 8 3 when .

, ,

force of circu m s tance s obliged me to s urrende r to the Mahdi ,

the s word of Au s trian pattern which I had received on

entering the Au s trian army and on which I had had my ,

name engraved in Arabic character s wa s taken from me ,

.

In Augu s t 1 8 9 5 when I came to L ondon to attend the

, ,

Geographical Congre s s it w a s returned to me by M r j ohn

,
.

Cook s enior of the fi r m of Thoma s Cook and Son at h i s

, , ,

o ffi c e in L udgate Circu s It appear s that M r j ohn Cook

. .

had in 1 8 9 0 purcha s ed thi s s word from a native of L uxor

, , ,

on the bank s of the Nile h i s at t ention having been attracted

,

by the Arabic in s cription on the blade from which my ,

friend Maj or W ingate whom he met s hortly afterward s

, , ,
'
w a s able to decipher my name It i s I th i n k likely the
.
, ,

Mahdi had pre s ented my s word to one of h i s follower s who

had taken part in the inva s ion of Egypt by Ne j u m i in 1 8 8 9 ;
and when that re doubtable Emir wa s ove r thrown by General
 41 2 FIR E A N D S WO R D I N T HS UD
E AN

Sir F ranci s Grenfell on the fi e ld of T o s ki it i s probable that

,

the wearer of my s word fell too and th e long lo s t weapon w a s

,
-

taken from the fi e ld by a villager from whom M r Cook ,

.

‘
purcha s ed i t To have lo s t m y much prized fi r s t s word in
.
-

th e wild s of Darfur and to h n d it again in the hea r t of

,

L ondon i s almo s t more than a c o m e l de n c e

,
.

During the la s t s ixteen year s I have led a life of s trange

‘

vici s s itude s a n d I have endeavoured to narr ate a s s imply a s

,

I could my unique experience s in the hope that my s tory

,

may not only prove of intere s t to tho s e who have s hown

s ympat h y with the hard fate of the Eu r opean captive s in the

Sudan but with the mo s t earne s t de s ire that the s e my

, ,
l
experience s may prove of s ome value when the time fo r
,

action may ari s e and when if God will s my s ervice s may

, , ,

be utilized in helping to aboli s h the rule of m y ty r a n n i ca l '

ma s ter and life long enemy the Khalifa Abdullahi and r e

, ,

e s tabli s h in that country the Government authority I

s tru ggled with s ome mea s ure of s ucce s s but ala s ! vainly , , ,

to uphold .
 FIRE A ND S WO RD IN T H E SU DA N
Sir F ranci s Grenfell on the fi e ld of T o s k i it
,
is proba
414 IN D E X
Co m bo ni, R C sh o , 3 4 Bi p P
G ie g l e r a sh a , 3 , 5 , 6 1 , 69 , 1 2 3
r i ti
. .

C o n g o Sta te fl a g s 3 0 4 t e a t e s , 3 0 5 G ili f m o u n a n s 37 6
i l l
, ,

r
C a n e , R u ss a n , i n D o n g o a , 2 9 9 i
G o r d o n , h is k n d n e ss , 2 1 ; c o o n e s s ,
2 0 ; m a r c h e s o u t o f Ab yss n a 3 1 ; i i
D a fa lla , A h m e d B e y , a t RI O e i d , b r e tur n s , 1 55 ; uar w h W ppl it
,

b
o

i t vi l tt
.

67 ; sur e n d e r s , 81 n err e ws r
A a s 1 67 ; h is e e r 2 0 1 ; d e s
i kill t it t
, ,

Ma hd , 83 ; ed 84 pa c h e s a n d a wa s s ea m e r s , 2 0 3 ;
D a fa lla , A r a , to Re g g a f, 3 0 1 ; d e bi ,

h i s d e a th 2 0 9
ad l l
H pri g
,

fe a ts F e l Ma u a , 30 4 G o wi , B i r , h o t s n , 22 , 26
gl des cendan t s s e
D a na a , of la v D a n G si lle r , e r r v o n , Eg yp a n c o n su , ti l
g a l, 8 3 60
r
D a a , 22 th e do c t or o f. 2 5
‘
G um a , A li Ag h a , co n d uc s e t e a t, 7 7 t r r
r r vl
D a fu , S , i n r e o t, 1 1 6 G um a , M o h a m m e d , e s M a h d e s lt i
mar ig p
.

B a th o , O W a d , C Sh a ia , 3 6 ; ca e , 6 1
a ccu sed by il yl
.

Zo g a l , 3 5 d s o a , 71 ; i
G um a , Sa d B e y 1 9 ; C El Fa sh e , r
b ac k b it
. .

r
to El Fa s h e , 1 0 5 e h e a d e d, 44 , 1 3 6 , 1 4 8 w h Ma hd i , 1 60
u u ll g
G r Vi a e , 1 2 0

H
2 34
D i M d ib b vill g 8 6 ’

Hl il t i
ea n a o s a e

D l a mada Efi
, ,

R C Mi i r r '
e en St ti 79 ss o n a on, e n di to tu ed, 1 49
D iv oa t h f 9 l it
. .
,

A us C o n su wr es to

Hr i r r t p tr i
o r ce o 1 1 a n sa r an

g l
, , , ,

D 7 o a 1 2 S at n, 92 1
D n k ey p tm
on ,

o 39 os an, 1 a un , S D a fu , hrea e n n g , 2 2
W h i t Ni l
.

‘
Du m 2 9 ; r a ds D a r a , 2 9 ; u sue d , 2 9

H
e on 7 e e, 1 2
t
,

b ll /
d e fe a e d , 2 9
Eb t I d i B y D g t8
H
’
M a h e r ia , 4 0 4 3
b / l
ar Zub i
r s e e r s a en a sa a a , S z

pi t l vill g
, .
, , . ,

E1 F h r f D fur
'
8 ; a sha a , S z Sa a m a s

H t
as e ca a o ar 1 a e , 77

n u er
, , .

t k 49 en 1 mb ll
o f fo r ce c o e c te d a t, 8 4
E1 O b i d ad k
a
ti
.

i g f 7 9 ; t rv d ut a ssa n Be y o m K o ( Be r ) a n d
H H
se e o s a e o
8 ; m ut i n y t
e , , ,

il
h i s b ro h e r I s m a , 1 5

H
4 a 2 1

P h G G K rd f 5 6
0
ti
,

Eli a en o o an a ssa ni us s e n , E o f Eg yp a n s , 1 65
i v i t M h d i t El O b i d
as as
ji
. . .
, , ,

64 9 W a d Sa a d Nur , 33 ; o n s

H l i H P
,
1 1 n es a o e , a s sa n

67 ; t Du m Ma h d i , 1 3 8

Hl k
a 3 e 1 1
zig
,

Em ili i D an f K b bé d i an er, o o e s, e m , a ss a n a sh a 6
i t
, ,

43 e m i, M a n sur Effe n d , se n to
Em i B y n e , 2 S h a ka , 7 1 y r un s a wa , 7 6

E h Sh i k h
s d vi e
’
s a ce 222 e lu , A li W a d D e g h e m K fa , 60 i
Ev il Ey th
, , .

3 3 e, e, 1 co m m a n d s g r e e n fla g , 1 7 2 ; s d e s i
it
w h K h a li fa , 2 3 7 ; i n A s h r a f i n sur
i
Fa m n e , 2 7 2 , cl seq ti
r e c o n , 2 8 6 2 97
r g oha m e kill l
.
,

e l u , M usa W a d ,
'

Fa a , M m d Efi e n d i 1 , 1 0 9 . 1 1 e d a t Ab u K e a ,

H
1
g ll u r man
,

e en s
Fa r a a a , P , d f d Om d 2 04
i P xp d i t i
.

Fo r t 2 0 2 ck s a sh a , 1 2 6 h is e
b k ; e on a
.

Fa r q uh a r , C 0 1 , 1 30 ; h i s n o te o o itm s a ke , 1 28 ; o ut to i
p e ce s at
k
. ,

Sh e

H ip
1 34 an , 1 33
y t iv r i
Pa o , n a e a d sh , 9 9 om e Ru l e 1 11 th e Sud a n , 1 67
l y ra b
Fe a t , A o a th o f 4 3 , uss e n , Kf a B rb r
e e , at Ma h d i '
s
Fe lk i n , D r R W r 9
at Da a, 2 ca m 1 65
ren ch li
.
.
,

F a n d En g sh , 1 7 9

Ja a l i d e sce n d e d f
n, A a s , th e ro m bb
G ll b des t roy ed by A by i i t l ti
’ '
a t, ss n a n s, pr o ph e s u n c e , 8 Zub e i r s r b e , 8
al m st k g
a a

45 64 o ta en a ain 2 a po , M o h a m m e d A g h a , 6 8
bl
2
ro m
,
’
G ll b ( f das d f an tr a ers e e G e d ir , re n a m e d M a sa , 66
h ly
e a
N il rd r r i un
.

; G rd
e 20 o on s o
’
e u n s, 1 0 , e ba d ( o wa r ) pr o c a m e d r o d l i
1 2 v g
,

G rd
re 55 en e o n o on, 1 k
Sua i n 1 2 7
i i k Kh r 34 ; d i
,

G e ss s c at a tum es at 31 9
ibb i t dr
, ,

S z 35 ue a , th e M a h d s
58 ;
be tween
e ss, 1 2 4, 1
Is la n d ( I
,

G zir th e M a h d s o wn , i
'
d an 62
B lu e
e a 1
Ni l
.
,

d Wh 54 ; i h b i
an l te e s, n a
espo use M h d
ta n ts 5 a
'
l s ca use , 1 2 K abb s h ia M uste m W a d 5 11 20 ; at
pl d r 65
, , .
’
Gh i an m a , un e , 2 Cm W a r ag a t , 92
 IND E X 41 5

p
Ka sa n Fe r ti t b o y se n to En gl d 3 t an 1 t
d e a h , 2 2 9 ; ur a , 2 3 0 ; e a c h n g , b il t i
i l tiv G
, ,
’
K a r a m a lla D , M a h d s r e a e, 2 32 ; C hr o n c e s
3 09 il
l t Sh kk 47 K i
. .
, ,

Ba h t el G ha z a a, 2 Mo h a m m e d e l '
h e r , Ma h d s fi r s t i
B rb
a a

K a s sa a l be s ege i d 5 4 l l y b 1 c o se e t
e a ch e r , 4 5 ; a ke s e e r, 1 72 ; t
g l
,

i
s eg e d , 2 35 s ur r e n d e r s , 2 3 7 ca p l
h o d s D o n o a 2 36
t a red by t li I a a n s, 30 2
’
M o h a m m e d e t T a i , h a fa s fa h e r ,
,

k K li t
r
Ke r a b a th e , 3 8 6 49
Kh l a ed
,

W a d 'I m an se n t K o d o fa n
to r Mo h a m m e d ha e d S ee Zo g a l B e y K l
it bi
.
,

1 02 ; Zo g a l s a g e n t, 1 3 7 ; wr e s to M o h a m m e d Sa d Pa sh a , G E1 O e d , i
lt
.

Ma d i b b o i
m s se s M a h d , 6 1 , 6 7 ; e s Ma h d i i
rd
1 37
i v i t
,

Kha rt um Go o n a t, 1 5 5 ; n e ste d g o a g a n , 7 9 h i s r e a s ur e , 8 3
by G i t i b (L)
,

1 6 5 ; fa m n e , i M o h a m m e d Sh e r f, Kf a S ee Sh e r f i i
H t (t
ra r es
fall f
ez

9 pi ll
.
,

aged, 2 1 1 M o h a m m e d W a d A si , 1 0 2 ; b r n g s i
H
2 03 o 20

Kit
,

ch e n e r , Si r erb er n o te ) 1 72 n e ws , 1 0 6
it t
,

K lo o tz G us ta v , b r o ug h i n , 1 31 ; in g
M o r a n o sa n , fa h fu i n d e a h , 9 1 l
i K
,

i
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ca 93 i i 99 ; h i
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Be y , G El F a sh e r , 1 8 ; 31 3
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pansl a ac on a r un 27 O sm a n W ad A d a m , ha
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n e ws o i , 3 7 h i s h s o r y 44 ua r r e l a n er r e n ch m a n
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t K li
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c h o o se s hree h a fa s , 60 ; fi r st r e a ch e s 1 5 6 ,

su cce ss e s , 6 2 , 6 8
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.

a k e s E1 O e i d , 8 0 ; wo r k s a m i r a c e a n n h a e d , 62
li t t ti
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8 3 ; h i s s e n sua y , 1 2 4 ; m a s e r o f i
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fi le s a n d is k e d 2 54 ill T h e f , pun s h m e n o f, 1 8 i
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t ll i g h t 9 8
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BILLING A ND SO N S, PR I N T ER S , G U I LD FO R D .
 ’
2 Mr Ed
. d A r n o ld s

T H E A U T O B I O G RA P HY A ND L ET T E RS

H
HJH H
OF T E

ON . O N A RT U R R O EBU C
Q c MP . .

Edi t e d by R O BER T EA D O N LEA D ER .

Wi th two po r t ra i t s , d e my 8 v o .
, 1 6s .

The
n
.

s t re g th o f cha ra c t e r H
la te Mr Ro e b uck wa s a m a n o f re m a rka b le i n de pe n de n c e
e l i v e d th r o ug h s o m e o f th e m o s t

H
.

p e ri o d s o f r e c e n t po l i t i c a l h i

e wa s o n t e r m s o f c l o s e i t
'

h i s fri e n d s wa s Fra n c i s Place a m a ,

p o l i t i c s o f h i s t i m e th a n i s c o mm o

ye a r s we re spe n t i n C a n a da wh e re ,

o ri g i a l s pe cul a t iv e
n th o ug ht a n d
sub se que n t c a re e r so re m a rka b le .

b o o k cl o s e s wi th h i s yo uth b ut th e s ub s e que n t l e tt e r s a r e un us
,

va l ua b le a s di s cuss i n g s ubj e c t s o f un i ve rsa l a n d pe rm a n e n t i n te re s t .

R E C O LL E C T I O NS O F A U BR E Y D
VE R E .

In one v olum e , de my 8 v o .
, wi th po rt ra i t, 1 6s .

It is fte n tha t h a ve th e pri vi l e ge o f pub l i s h i n g

'

not o
'
we
re m i n i s ce n c e s o f a m a n wh o a , d i s t i n g ui sh e d po e t h i m s e l f ca n l o o k ,

upo n a pe r s o n a l a c qua i n ta n c e
wa s b o r n a n d b re d i n a l i t e ra ry
g r e a t e s t th i k
n e r s a n d wri t e r s o f

i g s i s o c ie t y b ut a s fri e d s e n j o’y in g
n n ,
n

i n te lle c tua l ta s te s But Mr d e Ve re s r e m

. .

l i te ra r y c ircl e s A s a C a tho l i c h e wa s
.

Ca rd i n a l Ne wm a n a n d Ca rd in a l Ma n n i n g .

m a n y e xc i t i n g po l i t i ca l c ha n ge s ,

s to ri e s to te ll pe rva de d wi th
,

c o un t ry .
 Ne w B o o ks and A n n o un ce m en ts .

A ME MO I R
’
O F A NN E
C o ffeg e C a t
J . C LOUG H ,

q ui n ci pa t o f t ut
i am i bg e

HC OU
. .

By h e r Ni e ce , B ERT A L GH .

In o ne v o l um e , 8y o .
, 1 z s. 6d .

Th e na me of M i ss Cl
h Pri c ipa l o f Ne wn ha m C o lle g e Ca mb ri dge
o ug ,
’
n , ,

is fa m i lia r to a ll wh o a r e i n te re s te d i n wo m e n s e duca t i o T h e s to r y o f n .

h e r l ife i s i n de e d s y n o n ym o us wi th th e s t o r y o f th e m a r ve ll o us d e ve l o p
, ,

m e t wh i c h ha s ta ke n pla c e d u i g th e pa s t fi fty y e a r s i n th e pro v i s io n

n r n

o f h ig h e r t e a c h i g fo r g ir l s a d wo m e n
n T h e e a l i e po rti o
n o f th e
. r r n

b o o k c o n ta i s a s i n g ula rl y i n t e re s ti n g fra g m e n t o f a uto b i o g a ph y wh i c h

n r

g i v e s a k e y to th e h i g h m o t i v e s a n d s t r o g p ri n c i pl e s th a t o r d e r
n e d a d n

g o v e rn e d th e w h o l e o f M i ss C l o u g h ’
s l o g l ife T h e r e s t o f t h en w o r k .

ha s b e e n wri tte n by a n i e c e M i ss B e r th a C l o ug h wh o a c te d a s h e r
, ,

a un t s s e c re ta r y a t Ne wn h a m fo s e v e ra l y e a rs a n d l i ve d wi th h e r o n
’
r ,

t e rm s o f th e clo se st i n ti m a cy Ma n y va lua b l e r e m i n i s c e n c e s ha ve a l so
.

be e n c o n tri b ut e d by fo rm e r pupi l s o f Mi ss C l o ug h s T h e wo rk i s ’
.

furn i s he d with two a d m ira bl e po tra i t s re pro duc e d i n ph o to g ra vure o n e

r , ,

fro m th e we ll k n o wn pi cture b y J Sha n n o R A i Ne wn ha m C o lle g e

-
. n, . .
, n ,

th e o th e r fro m a ph o to g ra ph b y M s Fr e d e ri c k M y e s r
‘ To k n o w r
. .

M i ss C lo ug h i s to l o ve h e r we re th e wo rd s o f o n e wh o h a d a m pl e
’
,

o ppo r t un i t i e s o f j udg i n g a n d th e y m a y we ll s e r v e a s a co m p e h e n
,
r

s i ve m o tto fo r th i s v o l um e .

T H E C IT Y O F BL O O D .

g g cco un f o f tBe ®en i n p eb i fi o n .

H
n

By R B A C O N, C m ma n de r R N

H
. . o . .

I llus t ra te d b y W . . O VER END .

In o ne v o l um e , de m y8 vo .
, 7 s 6d . .

p e
C
d i
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ti o
mma n d e r B a co n
n, 8
1 97 e g i.v e s H i n

o f th e i n c i d e n t s o f th e e xpe di t i o
th
wa s th e Na va l
i s v o l u m e a n i n t e r e s t i
I n te ll ig e n ce Offi ce r to
n g a d l u
o f th e c o un t ry a n d i t s pe o l e a d
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B e n i n Ex
d a cc o u n t n
th e

p ,
n

o f th e c i t y wh i c h h a s b e e n t i ll n o w th e c a pi ta l o f un e lig h te n e d n

pga a n i s m a d no f s u pe r s t i t i o u s b a b a ri t y M Or v e r e d h a s
. i ll u s t rr
a t ed
. n

th e wo r k fr o m s ke tc h e s a d d e s c ript i o n s b y th e a uth o r
n .
 ’
4 Mr Edwa r d . Am o ld s

S T YL E .

By WALT ER R A LEI G H ,
Pr o fe sso r o f En g li sh Li t te r a ur e a t Un i v i ty C ll
e rs o e ge , Li v e r po o l
’
A utfi or f
o R aéer t L o ui s Stev en so n , e tc.

On e vol .
, c ro wn 8vo .
, 55 .

’
r f r l i h
P o e ss o R a e g s wo rk i t rl r v i
s a m a s e y e e w o f s y e i n lite ra tu t l
I d e a s w th e p o b e m s a n d un c o n s o f s y e , th e m e a n n g o f
t l ith r l f ti t l i
l
a n d i ts e e m e n s t I sut v e ys R o m a n c a n d a ss c
t . ti Cl i
s y n o n ym s, o f v a n e ty o f e xp e ss o n , o f m e a p o I c o n s de s
r i t h r t i r .

r l ti
e a o n o f th e a u o to th r hi i
s a ud e n c e , th e us e s o f uo a o n , he o
.
q t ti r t r
c o rr upt i o n s .

-
ROM E TH E M ID D L E O F TH E
W O RL D .

By A L IC E G A R D NER ,
Le c t ur e r in H
it s o ry a t Ne wn h a m C o l ie g e ;

W i th I ll us tra t i o n s an d Ma p . Cr o wn 8vo .
, 3 s 6d . .

C
H
O NT EN T S

m b c
i w R o e e a m e th e M dd e o f th e Wo r d —u A ug us us ,
o i l l t
Hi Hs viii v rih vi riCc st
. . .

h t
w a h m iii r
e d i d fo r Ro e — Ne o a n d i s i m e s i T ra j a n
T .
-
. h . v .

a dr a n —
v
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.
-
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n h —
. . t t . .

a d t e
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T eod
. o a n d J s i ia
u n
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m i m
E p e n Ro e
r i m r rs —
x E pe o a n d Po pe s — xi
. . Ki n g s a n d P . .

xii R
. i e n i th e T ri bun e xiii
z —
Th e M e d i c i Po pe s —
.xiv Th e . . .

Wi o u a M i d d e
th t l .

FIFT Y S U PPE R S .

By C o l o e l K EN N EY H E R B ER T
n ,

’
A u tlz o r o f Co m m o n -sem e Co o ke fy , e tc.

C ro w n 8vo .
, c lo th , 25 . 6d .

A c o m pa n i o n v o lum e to th e po pula r b o okl e t s , Fifty D in n e rs ,

B r e a k fa s ts a n d Fi fty Lun ch e s
’
,
’
.
 ( FO R
M O R E BE A S T S
W O R S E C I L D R E N ) H
H
.

By . B . and B . T . B .
,

’ ’
A utfi o r s qf Th e B a d Ch i ld s B o ok f
o B ea sts .

On e vo l .
, 4 to .
, 3 s 6d
. .

Th i s i s a co m pa n i o n vo l um e to th e b o o k by th e sa m e a utho r s wh i
a ppe a r e d l a s t C h ri s t m a s a n d wa s v e r y wa r m l y r e c e i v e d It is ho p .

tha t th e pre se n t wo rk wi ll b e e qua lly a cc e pta ble fro m th e i rr e sistib ,

’
d ro ll e y o f i t s i ll us t ra t i o s a n d i ts fa s c i n a t i n g n o n s e n s e v e r s e s
r n .

FI R E A N D S W O R D IN TH E SU D A
By SLAT I N PA SHA .

T ra n s l a te d a n d Ed i t e d b y C O LO NEL W I NG AT E C
'

,
. B .
,

C hie f o f th e I n t llig
e e n ce D e pa r tm e n t Eg ypt i an A r my .

A n e w, r e v i sed, a n d c z ea /p e r ed z tz b n o
'

f 1 11 1 s
'

f a m o us
’

wo r k .

I ll us tra te d
ri ce 65 . P .

In th i s e d i t i o n th e b o o k h a s b e e n th o ro ug hl y re v i s e d by th e a uth o r

o m i tt i n g c e rt a i n m a tt e r s o f t e m po ra r y i n t e r e s t a n d m a k i g i t a s fa r , n

p o ss i b l e a s t a n da r d wo rk o f pe r m a n e n t v a l ue fo r y o un g a n d o ld T .

s tri k i n g i ll us t ra t i o n s by Mr T a l bo t Ke ll y h a ve b e e n re ta i n e d
. .

t x l t
Th e s o r y o f th e e pe r i e n ce s o f S a i n Pa sh a a s a r ul e r , a so d e r , a n d a ca p i e l i tv
t t ki
th e Sud a n i s o n e o f the m o s s r i n g r o m a n ce s o f m o d e r n m es T h e r e ur n o f ti t t
i ti t l v
.

i i
d s n g u sh e d o ffi ce r , a f e r a d sa ppe a r a n ce o f e e e n ye a r s a n d m o r e , fr o m w
t t b tt
Fa h e r O h r wa ld e r wi h i e r r e co e c o n s ca ls a
“
ng ll t i
g r a e , a n d th e pe r i lc l li v i v
t
i n cid e n s o f h is e sca pe a n d flig h t, fo r m i n h e m se e s a n e r a o r d n a ry a e B ut t lv xt i tl t
t b k t
.

i n e r e st o f th e o o i s m uch i n cr e as e d b y th e i m po r a n ce wh ch , i n th e m i n ds i
l tt l
En g i sh pe o ple , a a ch e s to th e m e a n ch o y e e n s i n wh ch h e o r e a pa r , a n d b y t l v t i b t
n a r r a ti v e i n wh i ch t i t
h s wi n e ss r i se n fr o m th e d e a d r e o pe n s th e s o r o f th e g t t y
t r g
a e d y o f K h a r o um
’
p t
— S e a ker . .

Wh e t h e r Sla ti n s wo r k i s m o r e i m po r t a n t a n d a tt r a ct i v e a s a
’
po we r ful e xh o r ta ti
on a subj e ct o f th e g r e a t e s t po l i t i ca l i m po r t a n ce a n d o f s pe cia l
n a i o n a l sig n fi ca r t i
bl li b il t
fr o m th e n o e En g sh l o o d sp i n th e Sud a n , o r a s a ch a p e r o f h um a n e xpe r i e n t
wh e re in r u h fa r s ur t t
pa sse d fi cti o n i n h a r - r e a d h e sca i b
pe s a n d d e e d s o f d a r i n g e yo t b
t bl l
wh a se e m e d po ss i e , i t wo u d b e d i ffi cul t to d e cid e b ut th e wh o e r e su i s o n e l lt t
p l t i l l
a ce s h s v o um e o n a sh e f o f i ts o wn , n o t m e r e y as th e oo o f th e d a y, b ut a s l b k
t it t
a u h o r y fo r a ll i m e o n th e g r e a t
M a h o m m e da n uph e a a i n th e Suda n , wh i ch vl
a cco m pa n i e d by t
a n a m o un o f h um a n sla ug h e r a n d s uffe r in g h a d e fi e s ca lcula ti o t t t
 th ew Move ls .

PA U L ME RC E R .

¢a fe o f (Bepm fa n ce a m o n g wi ffio n s
H
.

By th e on . an d Re v .
JA M ES ADD ERL EY .

/f
A ut z o r o
‘Ste lz m R e m a m ’
p .

On e vol .
, c ro wn 8vo .
, 3 s 6d . .

’
An o th e r s to ry fro m th e pe n o f th e a uth o r o f St e ph e n R e m a x i s r

c e rta i n to a tt ra c t wi d e s pre a d i n t e re st a n d a tt e n t i o n a m o n g th e th o us a n d s
o f e v e r y ra k o f s o c i e t y wh o h a v e re a d th a t b ri ll i a n t s k e t c h
n Th i s s t o r y .

‘ ’
i s o n e o f th e sa m e c h a ra c te r d e al i n g a s d id Ste ph e n R e m a rx wi th
, , ,

th e b e a ri n g o f r e l i g i o n upo n e ve ry da y l ife I t i s wri tt e n in th e s a m e

.

e pi g ra mm a t i c s t y l e wh i c h n o d o ub t c o n t ri b ut e d to r e n d e r th e s e ri o us
’
p pu r o s e o f M r .A d d e r l e y s e a r l i e r s t o r y po pul a r wi th th e g e n e ra l r e a d i g n

pub h c .

JO B H IL D R E D .

Qr ti s f cute C a r pe n ter .

By Dr . R ICHA R D S .

Ed i t e d by ELLEN F . P INSENT .

A ut w/f
r o
‘ e m z ’s Ca se ’
j y , No P la ce f or Repen ta n ce,
’
e tc.

On e vol .
, c ro wn 8vo .
, 3 s . 6d .

T h e wo rk o f Mr s Pi n se n t h a s a l re a dy a tt ra c te d th e a tte n ti o n o f th e
.

e a d in g pu b l i c a n d o f l i t e ra ry c ri t i c s fo r th e s t re n g th o f h e r wri t i n g a n d
‘

d e ri n g o f c o un t ry l i fe a n d c h a ra c t e r T h i s n o v e l i s we ll .

e puta tio n sh e h a s a l re a d y a tt a i n e d by Je n n y s
’

’
R e pe n t a n c e .
 ’
8 Mr E dwcm l A r n o ld s
.

TH E KIN G W ITH T W O FA C E S .

By M E CO LER I D G E
. .
,

Auth o r of /
T z e Sew n Sl eeper s o
p / z esus,
’
e tc.

On e vol .
, c ro wn 8vo .
,
65 .

Re a d e r s wh o r e co ll e c t th e re m a rka b l e i n t e re st o f Mi ss Co l e ri dge
’
fi r st n o v e l T h e Se v e Sl e e pe r s o f Eph e s us wi ll b e g la d to k n o w th
,
n ,

i n th i s n o v e l sh e a g a i n b a s e s th e s t o ry upo a ro m a n t i c i n c i de n t n

h i st o ry ta ke n o n th i s o cca s i o n fro m th e h i s to ry o f Swe de

, , , T n.

c h a ra c te r s o f th e s to y a e d ra wn wi th fo rc e a n d de xt e ri ty a n d th e wo x
r r ,

i s o n e o f s tri k i g o rigi n a li t y
n .

TH E SO N O F A PE A S A N T
'

B y ED WA R D McNU LT Y ,

’ ’
M
’
A uth or f
o z stfi er O Ry a n , e tc.

On e vo l .
, c r o wn 8v o .
,
6s .

’ ’
Misth e r O R ya n wa s th e a uth o r s fi r st a tte m pt a t fi ctio n ,
a tt ra c te d a tt e n t i o n fo r th e c l e v e r n e ss o f i t s s a t ire , a n d a s a fa i th ful
h um o r o us sk e t c h o f I ri s h l ife ‘T h e So n o f a P a
.
’
e s a n t i s a s to r
r a t e r l e th —
a n o v e l r a th e r th a n a s k e t c h o f I ri s h l ife , b ut i t e x
g e n g
th e s a m e ri c h a ppr e c i a t i o n o f th e h um o r o us a n d pa th e t i c s i de o f I
c h a ra c te r

H
.

N ET ER D YK E .

By R .
J CHA
. R LETO N ,

’
A uth o r qf Newca stle To wn , e tc.

On e vo l .
, c ro wn 8v o .
, 63 .

‘Ne th er d ke
y s a i r
o m a n c e o f th e e b e o n o f fo y -fi v e
’
I g i r ll i rt . t
i t r q
s tir r i n g a n d p c u e s ue a cc o un t
o f th e a d e n u e s o f P n c e v t r ri
wh ic h will b e like ly t o be a cc e p a b e b o t l
to b o y s a n d to a ll th
v t r
ad en u e .
 ’
Mr Edwa r d A m o ld s
.

’
( th e 5 po r ts m an s l i b r ary
i t d b y th e RIG H H H
.

Ed e T ON S IR ER B E RT M AX W E LL B A RT M P .
, .
,
.

A R i ss ue i h d s m v l um s
e- , n f c t i
an ao d et t i i g b
o ks e , o er a n r re an en er a n n oo
sp t c e fully s e l c t e d b y th Ed i t
or , ar ed i ll us t t d b y th b s t s p rti e o r, a n ra e e e o
rt sts f th d y d wit h e p d ucti s f ld pl te s
a i o e a , an r ro on o o a .

Li b r y Ed i ti 1 5 V l ume ar on, 5 . a o .

L rg e P pe Ed iti
a l( imi te d t 2 c pi s ) 2 g ui e a s v lume
a r on o 00 o e , n a o .

E R C V N RY w i t I t h i k th i d Sp t Lib ‘ '
T he A L OF O E T f ry es n e ea o a o r sm a n s ra r
ex ll t
ce enS any w f ll w v i
o ne. o m p t th t li b y f h ld b k b
no o a r o us s or s a a ra r o t e o oo s ro u
e ry tt t i v
o

g i will b
’
o ut a a n e v a ra c e
H P A YN G B t w it J t h l fw k t b ppl
.

Si R r A LP W E- A LL EY, ar r es : us t e c a ss o or o e o u
h lv m ki g m t bl
.
,

ly i g A pl
g él
lue i hie r n t e s h e es o r n t d on t e s o n -r o o a e. ea s ur e o r ea ,
se e , a
’
n e.

VOLUME I .

THE LI FE OF A FOX A ND THE D I ARY , OF

H U N TS MAN
H Hs Hmbl H
.

By T O M A S S M IT , Ma te r o f th e a e do n a n d Py tch ly e o un d

W i th I ll ust ti s b y th
ra on
G H
e Au
J
th
A LLA N D
o r, and Co l o ur e d P l a te s by
/
. . .

It w ill b e a cla ss c o i f fo x-h un t i g t ill th

n e e nd o f ti me .
’
Yo r ks z i r e P o st .

A S PO R T I N G T O U R TH R O U GH THE NORT E
PA R T S OF E N GL AND A ND GR EAT PA R T OF
VO LU M E II .

H
THE H I GH L AND S OF S CO T LAND
H
.

B y C O LO NEL T T O R NT O N f Th v ill R y l i Y k sh i
.
, o o rn e o a , n or re

W i th th e O i g i a l Illus t ti s b y G AR R A R D
r n d th e Illus tr ti s ra on ,
an o r a on

C l u d Pl t s b y G E LO D GE o o re a e . . .

Sp t m f ll d
or s i pti will g l d ly w l
en o a h pt
escr w d i ti i
o ns a e co m e t e s um uo us n e e on ss ue
M Ed w d A
r. ld f C l l T T h t
ar rn o Sp t i g T
o wh i h h
o one l gb o rn o n s
'
or n o ur ,
”
c as on e

k D ly N w
.
’
—
°

b
sca r ce oo . az e s.

VO LU ME I I I .

THE S PO RT S M AN I N I R E LA ND .

By C O SM O P O LIT E
H
a .

W it h l l t s
B a ck a n d W h e D r a w n g l it i s by
H
Co o ur e d P a e and P . C EN
T R ENC , a n d r e pr o d u c ti
o n s o f th e O r g n a l Il us r a o n d r a wn i i l t ti s b yR A .

an d e n g r a e d W W ESTA LL, A R A v by . . . .

The b oo ki s o n e to be r ea d a n d e n o ye d . j ’
— S a tu r day R ev i ew .
 tDq m ee o f S po r t, ( tr ave l anb fl bventur e
H
.

RE CEN TI y P UB LkS . ED .

WIL D N O RWAY
W i th t h e Sw e d i s h H
H
Ch a pte r s on i g h l a n d s , J utl a n d , and Spi tz b e r g e n .

’
B y AB EL C A PMA N, A uth o r of W i ld Spa i n, e tc .

W i th s e v e n te e n full p g Ill us t ti us sm ll e r o e s b y th e
d CH A R LES W H
- a e d um ra o ns an n ero a n

A ut h Y MPER
or an .

D e m y 8v o .
, 1 65 .

‘Th e r e is n o t a ch a p e r t t i b k wh i h w ld b i dfl Sj
in h to r
t l it
ou t e m s se — e cta
er er t d d pl i t ti g b k f wild li
s oo c no .

A v y goo d , v y a ccur a e , an ee y n e re s n oo o te a n d n a ur a h I ll s o ry. — us

' '
tr a te a Sfi o r tz n g a n d D r a m a t c
t d t f bi d
i
ill
W b e r e a d w th k e e n n e r e s i i t t b h gl h h t f wild gy t e an er, t e un e r o am e , an d h t e s u en o r

It w ill
b e fo un d n o t o n y a n l i v l bl b d li gh tf l p i b ut a co m y th e p t h gl
s o r sm a n , t e an er,
it l gi t
n a ua e e u an on
'
a n d th e o r n h o o s Ti m es . .

TH R O U GH U N KN O WN A FR I CA N CO U N T R I E S .

T h e Fi r s t Expe d i t i o n fr o m S o m a li l a n d to La k e
Rud o l f a n d La m u .

tiv f sc l ti i ve rs
H
A Na r r a e o ie n ti fi c Exp o r a o n and Spo r t ng Ad n tu e .

B y A D O NA LD SO N S M IT
.
,
M . D .
,

W it h y th i r t y ll l t s s sm a ll e r Illus tr a ti o n s b y
H H
n e a rl fu -pa g e P a e a n d n um e r o u
A D . . M C C O R M C K , C A R LES W I
M ER, e tc Y P a n d d e ta i l e d M a ps
.
,
o f th e c o un r e tr a e r s e d ti s v .

r y l 8 O e Gui e a e t Supe ro a v o ., n n n .

W ill b f h g t t i t t
e o t t e t v ll d f i P ll M l l G tt to
s po r s m a n , r a e m an o
’
—

i f St l
rea e s n ere s er, an s c e n ce . a a az e e.
Si h p b li
’ “
h w k f "
n ce t e A h D k C
u i
ca t o n h b o n t n en t, t ere
v l i i ifi i p t d t h illi g i t t ld S i t h b k
o an ey s cr o ss t e ar as een no or o
Af i l '
r ca n tr a e q ua D D
n sc e n t m to m
b k f x iti g p t p t f d th l gi l f l
oo
g g
e c o r a n ce an r n n ere s r. ona so n s

ph i l
.
, ,

g h t A gl I d i h i k i f D Z T l /
As i i d
t Wdh l g id h b t x i
a oo o e c n s or , a ar ro m ts eo ra ca an e no o ca u se u n e ss , t e s e rv e s to
s an a on f h t e l t e to u o- n —

h l g l it tdi A i xpl ti th i b k i i i
s e es e y e ee r a z
pe r e n c e s o es n an s ar s az
il l f bl
.

e to t e fr n d s pe n sa e,
t ill fi d i i g w l th f x i t i g i id t
ar e c a ss o pe o p e n e re s e n ca n e o ra on s oo s
s po r s m e n w
'
n n l q ll d i i il w k S
ts pa es a ea o e c n nc e n s ra r e y e ua e n s m ar o r s.
'
—
t .

l a m e s s Ga z e tte .

ON VE L D T AND FARM
In Ca pe Co l o n y , B e c h ua n a l a n d , Na ta l , and t h e Tr a n s va a l.

B y F RA NC ES MC NAB .

W i th Ma p . C r o wn 8 y o .
, 300 pa g e s, 3 5 6d . .

{ tW e ll
A fr l C a
wo r h t th e s h o se it
n eres ed t i n th e a g i lt lr cu ur a vlp t
an d g e n era l de e o m en of So u h t
d it w th d i g th an
.

d e n tly r e co m m e n as ar m ore f m
f ll f i t t di v w i tt
or re a n an y a
T h e wh o e wo r
’
l
is u o n e re s k , an s, m or e o er, r en
e a de r G l o be
ti
. .

’ ’
a o n — D a z ly N e w s
. .
S O L D I E R I N G AND S U RVE YI N G IN BR I T I S H EAS
AFRI CA, 1 8 9 1 1 8 9 4 - .

Ah A c c o un t o f th e Sur e y fo r th e U g a n da Ra wa y, a n d th e a r v il v io us
i
C a m pa g n s i n th e B r t s h Pr o e c to r a te d ur n g th e a st fe w y e a s ii t i l r .

By Ma j o r J . R . MA C D O NALD , R E . .

I ll us tr a te d f m Sk tch e s a
ro e nd Ph o to g r a ph b y th e A uth o s ra n d nu me ro us
l s
P a n a n d a Ma p .

D e m y 8v o .
, 1 6s .

No t
co un r y g t i p t i l h i t i t h Ug d d t
i n th e wo r d h a s h a d
d f l m
t h gh
h b i tt g d d b y h t g gl f h t h v h d ti
rea er n e e o an
f li g
ar a s o r an an an a , an , s ra n
to sa y , ou t e t e s ru te n y e a r s e not
g h t th
er ee n s en en e re es o t e pa s a a
h b
to c o o l , o n e f d
‘
o un M j M dm on ld t s to r m sce n e s —
d th i x it i g b k f dv t g t th t w di g £ t
as een a e a c o rs i n e se y a or ac o na .

h w
railw M j M d ’ld i t wi th
o ne

d m
a y.
o rea

l l x ll t
s
a or
P ll M l l G
i d
s e
b l li t
ac
c
d h i t i l k ill
o na
n

—
oo
wr d hi h t l
o
es
a

a
e n ur e

co n s
a z e tte .
.
ca n
e ra
re
e
re
e ra r y a n
a e a re
s o r ca
s pe n
s
n

,
3 ,o o o , o o o
an s s
on
e e
an p a s are a e ce en . a

T h ill t t i f h t g ph
us ra d k t h b tt th y w h v
m p o o ra f th i p t e c e er an an
h D k C ti t d h p d i ti tly g d B l Ck l
e ons ro s an s es are e a e se e n o s ar
’ ' '

t e ar on ne n , an t e m a s are s nc oo . — uz y r om c e .

M E M O R I E S OF THE M O N TH S .

Le a v e s fr o m a Fi e ld Na t ur a l i t s No te b o o k
’

H H
s a
.

B y th e Ri g h t on . Sir ER B ERT MAX W ELL, Ba r t , . MP . .

it f u Ph t g v u Illust ti s 6
C r o wn 8 v o .
,
w h o r o o ra re ra on ,
s .

I i v y l g ti i w h v d pl t b k th i D ly Ck d
t s a er on m e s n ce e a e r ea so e as a n a oo as s.
’—
az
’
r om
'
e.

M t g h l w i tt
’ ’
os bl d f a re e a F ldy an re s y r en. — ze

t f t l vi g tl B l R
.

F w b k w ill fi ll h i dl pl
’ ’ '
e oo s t e e m o m en s o a co u n ry - o n m an m ore e asa n y
—
n tz s z e vi ew
t l h g h i d i ti f b i d lif d f h w f b t d fi h h
.

Th t e - t e t e cl e
t h h i t d i f l tl t f y th d l g
a ys o e as s an
d f f g
e e a sy s e rap c e sc r p o ns o r e an o s e s,
y , ,

k h f t uc t o n s o a n - ore m m e n d,
th i d lig h tf l v l
s e tc es o s po r e a ppy n ro p an o ra en s o an e
w l
,
’ ‘
w
e n s ur e a f arm e co D l N w
me or s e u o um e . — a z y e s.

FI S H TA IL S A ND S O M E T R U E ONE S
H
.

By B RA D N O C K A LL, Auth o r of Ro ug h Mi s ch a n ce .
’

W it h an o r ig i l Et h i g b y th
na
Il l us t ti s by T ra
c

on
n
. H
e
M C LA C LA N
.
t
A u h o r , a n d twe
H .
lv full p g e
e - a

C r o wn 8 y o .
,
6s .

t gli g i i v v
i
H
'
Th s is o ne o f th e be s bo o k s of an n r e m n sc e n c e s I ha e e e r co m e a cr o ss . Ga le:
l
A p e a sa n co m a n o n t p i f or an an gl h lid
er s
’
o a y.
’
—
Gl a sg m u ld er a .

i tt
W y, in t e e s a s h b t t t e, and a b d i g w i th h t i i t t h gl Th e ill
pi t l v
sy m to t e a n
t
x d i gl g t i
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By MA U D O X END EN .

Cr o wn 8vo .
,
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Cr o wn 8v o .
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Add e r l e y to ry o f a Ve n t ure in Eth i c s

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RE CEN TL Y P UB L IS HD E .

WA S TE D RECORDS OF DI S E AS E
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THE C A N GE S OF D EATH A ND O THE R S TU D I E S ,

B y KA R L PEA R SO N , A uth o r f T h e Eth i c

o of Fr e e T h o ug h t,
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CO N TENTS OF VO L I T h e C h a n ce s o f D e a tt
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D e my 8vo .
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m es .

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THE CALCULUS FOR E NGI NEE RS

H
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JO N PER RY , F R S . . .

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t d i v i ty f t i t t i v x i
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.

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sy o .
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Pul itz e r — T E R OMANCE OF P RI NCE EU ENE G Ah I dyll un de r

E RT R W i th t vu
.

N p l a o eo n th e 1rs By A L B P UL ITZE n um e r o us Ph o o gr a re
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s ra o n s. T wo o s , de m y 8 vo 2 1 s.

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,

Ral e i gh ROBE RT L O UI S STE VEN SON

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rac e ro ar d e s s or re er c re a YR
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Ro ch efor t T E A D VEN T UR E S o r MY LIFE By E NR I

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, ar e cr o n vo . , 2 5.

Ro e b u ck A U TOB I O G RAPH Y AN D L E TTE RS

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—
( S ee p ag e .

Sa n tl e y STU D EN T AN D SI N G E R
— T h e R e m i n i s ce n c e s o f
CH R ES S N
.

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r C w 8 on. o r ra . ro n vo . , c o , s. .

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[pra cti ca l 5 ci e n ce m an uals

H
.

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S TEAM BOILER S B y G EO R GE A LL I D AY , a e D e m o n s l t t ra t o r a t th e
Fi t t ti
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n sb ur y T e ch n i l
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8 vo .
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L ec ur e r and D em o n s ra o r i n th e S e m e n i '
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[ I a pr epa r a tz on .
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pa s ti m es .

Br own —
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PO UL TRY-KEE P I N G AS AN I N D U STRY FOR FAR ME R S
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4 to , cIo t . 5 .

B r own I N D U STRIA L PO ULTRY-KEEP I N G B y ED WA R D B ROW N

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.

Illu t t d k h i fly i t d d f tt g
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ll t m t h ld
.

- e rs
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.

— B y E B R OW N Full y .

ill u t t d N w Ed it i
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s ra e 6d e on. ro n vo , IS . .

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. .

-
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Cun n i n gh am T E D RAUGH T S POCKE T MAN UA L By J G —

C U NN NG H A M
.

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n um u di g m ero 6d s a ra s, 2 s

H
.

H
.

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. .

d y C B f ca r o 1 on an o n o ra r ano n o r s o or o

HH
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Pl

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.

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Gossi p T E C E SS POCKE T MAN UAL By G

— D G o ss xp
A P k t G ui d wi t h u m d Ill u t t i
. . . . .

oc eu Sp i m G m e Sm ll 8 6d n ero s ec en a es an s ra o n s. a vo . 25.

H H
.
.

H ar tsh o r n e O L D EN GLI SH GLASS E S ( See pag e —

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H o l e A BOOK A B OUT T E GA R D EN AN D T E GAR D ENE R

H
—

By th V y R S R EY N O L D S
.

e erOL E D fR h t S
e v. d d ti C w . , ea n o oc es er. e co n e 1 o n. ro n
8 vo .
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H ol e —
A B O UT ROS ES ( See pag e
A BOOK .

H ol t FANC Y D R E SS E S D E S C R IB E D By A R D ER N H OLT
—
An
A l ph b ti l D i t i F t
.

t u t
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ay fe y C
ca u m W i h full f th D
c onar o a nc os es a cco n s o e r e s se s .
Ab u t 6 Ill u t t i b y L I LL I A N Y O U NG M y f th m
.

o 0 l u d O
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Ke n n e y H e r b e r t F I F TY B REAKFA S T S : c o n ta i n i n g a g re a t
H
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Ken n e y H e r b e r t F I F TY D I NNE RS By C o l o n e l KENN EY
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ER BERT Sm ll 8 l th 6d . a vo .
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Ke n n e y H e r b e r t
ER BERT S m 11 8
F I FTY LUNC ES By C o l o n e l KENNEY
l th 6d
Ke n n e y—H e r b e r t F I F TY S UPPERS ( See pa g e
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—
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.

Ke n n e y H e r b e r t CO MMO N S EN S E COOKE RY ba se d o n
ENN EY H
M d E g li h
o d C t i t l P i ipl W k d ut i D t il By C l l
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E R E RT
o o ne
v 5 pp 7 6d
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A . K - B La r g e cr o wn 8 vo .
, o er 00 .
, 5 . .

H
Sh o r l a n d C Y C LI N G FOR HEALT H AN D P LEA S URE Ey L
—

P R R A th R vi d d d it d b y F W
. .

f Wh l d W h li g
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8 6d
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ty C il f Hti g d C b i dg h i
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i é — IT E Le c t ur e r -

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O ln e vow 8 6d cr o n vo c o 25 . .

W IL D F L O WE RS I N ART AN D NAT URE

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B y J C L SPA R KES .

P i i p l f th N t i l A T i i g S h l S th K
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r nc a o g e a o na ra n n c oo ou e n sm to n , a n UR
t f th U i v i ty B t i l G d D b li W i th F ll p g
, . .

B ID G E,C ur a o r o e n e rs o a n ca ar e n s, u n. 21 u - a e:
C l d Pl t
o o ur e by G M N R y l 4t h d m ly ba es d g il t d g . . OO . o a o . , an so e o un , e e s, 2 1 5 .
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3130011 5 fo r th e L
H H
Hl t
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F l VE S I L L I N GS E A C .

S NO W -S ll ll t t
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H H U RI CE H H
C r o wn 8 v o c o h, 5
ll ll t t l t
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V Y
.

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H R R ET H
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By M A G A MA
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Illus tr a te d b y C R I S. MM ON D C r o wn 8y o c o h, 55
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l
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SH
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BA R ER O C K ; o r , T h e Is la n d o f P e a r s By E NA RY W i th n um e r o
ll t t i A N E LO g gilt d g
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I us r a o n s b y L C T SPE ED La r e cr o wn 8 v o , h a n ds o m e y b o un d , e e s, 55

Hll
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T R EE S I L L I N GS A ND SI X P E N CE E A C .

T A L ES F RO M it i W
Hti ll ill Qt t i
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lt
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b y E A LE M A N N l Sm a 4 to h a n d so m e y b o un d 1n c o h , 3 s 6d
NS H N
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H it Hll t ti OM S l t t
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B e a u fu y ll l us r a e d by M ss E A LE M A N N Sm a 4 to , h a n d so m e y b o u n d , 3 5 6d
v ll
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T E S EC R ET O F T E D ES ERT By E D FA i h n um e r o W
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ll fu pa g e I us r a C r o w1 1 8 v o h, 6d
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t t
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t
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I RD L t
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W ‘
T E D O U B L E E M P ER O R . By . LA C O W ES, Au h o r of Th e G r e
’
Pe r tc I us tr a e d C r o wn 8 v o
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HA E LAS A H
.
,
. .
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S W A L L O W ED Q B Y A N EA R T

H ’
U A KE . By E . D . FA . I llu
tr a te d C r o wn 8 v o 6d
r
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A RT MA N N T E A N A R C IS T ; 01
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T he D o o m of th e G ea t Ci
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H H
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lt
OUG TT e er ons
N
. .

C r o wn 8 o c o h S 6d
6d v

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A I M A L S K ET C IE h a
’
l-
Po pu ar Bo o of Na ur a l s or By Pr o fe sso r
L MRA
.

L O YD O G N F G S C r o wn
H H
8v o c10 th , 3 s 6d

Hv il H l i l ll t t itt i l l g g l
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,

T WO S I L L I N GS E A C .

’
T E C IL D R EN S FA V O U R IT E S ER I ES . A Ch a r m i ng Se r i e s
Ju e n e Bo o ks e a ch p e n t fu ly I us r a e d a n d wr e n i n s mpe an ua e to p e a se yo u
r e a de r s. Pr i ce 2 5
,

. e a ch ; or, gil dg t e e s, 2 5 . 6d
,

My Wo n der s My l
H
B o ok o f B o o k o f Pe r i s
v l St
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l
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My Bo ok o f Tr a e or i es My B o o k o f Fa i r y Ta e s
v t . .

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My B oo k o f th e Se a My Stor y B o o k o f An i m a l s .

l
.

My Rh y m e s fo r Yo u an d Me

H
Bo o k o f Fa b es .

ld
.

D ee d s o f Go . My Bo o k o f In v e n ti o n s .

H H
My Bo ok o f e r oi sm .

ON E S I L L I N G A ND S I X P E N C E E A C .

’
Eb e t lb t e n s 1 3011 1 S e r ie s

H H HN
.

A l l w it h F u ll -p a g e Ill u s t ra t io n s
E N O RT D M S
.

T E PA L A C E O N T E M O O R By E D A V P A A 1s 6d
N
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T O BY S P R O M IS E By A M O PK I SO 1 5 6d

HO R N
. . . . . .

M A ST ER M A G N U S By Mr s E M F i e l d I S 6d
H
. . . . . . .

M Y D O G PL A T O By M
H
C WA LL LEG 1 5 6d . . . . .

R D N ER
Ht
F R I END S O F T
is o ry a t Ne wn h a m ll g
Co ig
E O L D EN T I M E
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. By A L 1 C E G A
iti on. I ll t t dus r a e .
,
Squa r e 8 v o
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t ur e r
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 ’
3 0 Mr Eawa r d A r n o ld s
.

N A TI O N A L RE VI E W
THE .

Ed i t e d by L J M A XSE

H
. . .

Pri c e a l f a c ro wn Mo n thl y - -
.

’
Th e Na tio a l R e v i e w i s th e l e a d i n g U n i o n i s t a n d C o n se rva t i v e
n

R e v i e w i n G r e a t B ri ta i Si n c e i t pa ss e d i n t o th e c o n t ro l a n d e d i t o r
n .

s h i p o f M Le o M a xs e m o s t o f th e l e a de rs o f th e U n i o n i s t Pa r ty h a v e
: r .
,

c o t ri b ute d to i t s pa g e s i c l ud i n g th e Ma r q ui s o f Sa l i s b ur y M r A r th ur

H
n ,
n .
,

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n n.

o f th e m o n th wh i c h g i v e a m a s t e r l y r e v i e w o f th e i m po r t a n t e v e t s o f
, n

th e pr e c e di g m o n th fo r m a v a l ua b l e fe a t ur e o f th e R e v i e w wh i c h n o w
n , ,

o cc upi e s a un i q ue po s i t i o n a m o n g m o n thl y pe ri o d i c a l s .

P U B LI CA TI O NS O F T H
E I ND I A O FFIC E A ND O F T
G OVERNM ENT O F I ND I A .
,

H E

M r ED WA
. RD A R NO D L ,h a in g v b e e n a ppo i n e d t Publ i h s er to th e Se cr e t y
tt
ar of S a e

fo r I n d i a i n C o un c l, h a s i now o n l th sa e e ab v o e p b
u li t
cai ons at 37 B d f d St
e tor ree ,

S
. t r a n d, a n d i s pr e pa re d to s uppl y full i fo n r m ti a o n c o n ce r n i n g th em on a ppli t i ca o n.

I ND I A N G O VERNM ENT M A PS .

A ny o f th e Ma ps i n t h i s m a g n i fi ce n t s e r i e s ca n n o w be o bt a in e d a t th e t t
sh o r e s

n o ti ce fr o m M r ED W A . R D A R NO D L , b
Pu lish e r to th e I n d i a O tfi ce .

/
T z e f o li o wi ng Ca l a Zeg ues f
o M r E a wa e d A m .
’
o ld s
’ '

P a bl z ea ti o n s wi ll
be sea t p ost f r ee o n a ppl z e a t
'
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C ATA L O G U E O F W O R KS O F G E N E RAL L I T E RA
T U RE .

G E NE RA L C AT A L O G U E OF E D U C AT I O NA L
W O R KS i n cludi n g th e pri n cipa l publi ca t i o n s o f Me ssr s G in n a n d Co m pa n y
,
.
,

t b
Educa io n a l Pu l ish e r s, o f Bo s o n a n d Ne w Yo r t k , and of Me ssr s . E . L .

Ke ll o gg a n d C o m pa n y, o f Ne w Yo r k .

H W O R KS
C A TA L O G U E OF FOR U SE IN EL E
M EN TA RY S C O O LS . Wi th Spe ci m e n Pa g e s .

I L L U ST RAT E D 01? B O O K S FO R P R ES E NT S
A N D P R IZ ES .
 3 11 661; to Zl utb o r s .

A
D
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t
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DD R
.
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.

H
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l
Pa u M e r ce r
.

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s am en t it EL L A CO MB E In G lo uce ste rsh
DR CH
s o ry a
ti l k
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c A as a G a rde n
MER I C N M E F H
. . .

i’la n t Lo r eo f Sha
O

A A GA I S ES EL L A C O MBE —T h e .

BA C O N C i t y f Blo d
H H
s pe a r e
—

WC ETT
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BALFO U R
.

T w lv u d d M il — FA rt nthe it
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LL NN
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Po wer o f G o d 1 EL — Ma s e r Ma g n us
F M NG
.
.

Se r m o n s LE I - Ar t o f
Re a d n g a n d S e a k i i
ki p
.

’
i
D a n a s Lo o n g G ass l FO R D —
O u th e T h r e sh o d l
FW R
.

Po e m s O ld a n d Ne w O LE
H
—E
ch o e s o f O ld C o un t i
N N M
Ht
L fe
f Mi g h t
y
.

BE SO — en o FR ES F IEL D — E
p o r a o n o f th e C x l ti
B KLY R ii
. .

ER E E f . e m n sce n ce s o a
‘
un s 03 5 11 8 0 o 0

R D NER F i
m an
B YN N
E W i th K lly C h i t l
O — e to
GA — r e n ds o f l
O de n T m e i
TCHFOR D T o mm y Atki
ra
.
.

B Ro m e : M dd e o f W o r d i l l
N
LA —

BO TTO M
ns
G A R ETT — Se e c o n s i n En
l ti
.

A S hi T ip li
UN
—
E sh Pr o s
un s ne r
v g
.

B SYLli b R ll t i
O
a
E —
s
. f h
ur
D f e co ec ons o t e ea n o
GA
GO RD N
T
O
-
.

— Pe r s
'

i
a Re
t t
D a e s Swe e h e a r
vi i t
s ed
y
B W W k P lt y K pi g CH N
.

RO N — G OS E —C
u ltiv ti
a o n a n d U se o f t
i ti
or 5 on ou
BRY N
r ee n
.

M ki E p
.

A — ar n ur o
Im a g n a o n
kt
e
BU A t ti
.

Th C i f h ‘ G 08 8 1 P — C h e ss Po c e Ma n ua l
RE T P L I C C H
LL - e r u se o t e n arc
BU R DG W ild Fl w i A
.
c
UB
.

BI E — G A S OO L S
o e rs n rt
li t i l S i
.

li ll
H
B G U MM ERE — Old En
uRG Ess .— Po ca c e n ce g sh Ba a ds
.

U
20
l t Ess t Be uv e
.

H
B TL E R .
— Se ec a ys o f Sa 1 n e 23
A DJ I R A
W
i
N
C A STO — T h e Ea r y Ch ar e r e d C o m
. l t
HA LL Fi h T il
—

A N S A N D ER SEN
.

S wQ
s a s

H
pa n cs —
M N
C H A P A — W i ld No r wa y T l
u
f m
. no ee n

H N
.
a es ro
L i f a d Le tt
H
C A R LETO — Ne th e r d yk e ARE —
f Ma r i Edg
e n e rs o
t w th
a
. .

'
C ER BUL I EZ — T h e T u o r s Se cr e t

H
or
H D OUR I T E I N A RR SO N — Ea l Vi t
.

C I L R E S FA V
A RTSH
'
SER ES I ia Li t r t u
H DR I N y . r c or n e a re
’

ERSC H
O R NE — O ld E
g li h G l a
C IL E S O U R SER ES
H LM L Y vt
n s s se s
.

C O O ND E E — A D e o e e EL L P i i B g g ars —
FF D
ar s a n
v tt e
. .

CL I O R — Lo e -Le e r s E i th A h

H
ERVEY —

UGH
. . r c e rc er
C LO -Me m o r o f A n
ne I C ou h i l R f f G ld
U N F
g ee o o
it I GG IN S
. .

C LO STO — Ea r y En g sh urn ur e l li N w G ui d P i

H
t th e e
t o e
.
ac
.

C L O W Es — D o ub e Em pe r o r l C oas
R DG Ki it F
.

C OLE I E— n g w h T wo OL E — A dd s s t W ki g M
NGW D
a ces re s e o
ti k tR
or n en
.

C OLL I OO — T h o r s e n . Bo o abo u o se s
T h e Bo n d wo m a n Bo o k abo u t h t e Ga r d e n
C OLL I Ns — A T r ea s ur y o f M n o r Br sh
. i iti L i ttl e T o ur i n A m e r i ca
L i tt l e T o ur i n Ir e a n d l
C OLVI LE — La n d o f th e N e Spr n g s il i M e m o r ie s

H
.

'
i
C o o m — S d n e y s D e fe n se o f Po e sy Mo r e Me m o r ie s
t
H F
’
Sh e e y s D e fe n ce o f Po e r y ll OLT — D r e ss e s D e sc r b e d i
H i li i
a n cy
M N N
23
t
.

C O S O POL IT E — Spo r sm a n i n Ir e a n d l O K I SO
P — ’
T o b y s Pr o m se i
N t
1 0
. .

C RA E ’
— G e o r g e s Mo h e r 6 o P K I Ns — Re
g o n s o f In d a i
U NN NGH
.
1
t
.
.

C A M — D r a ug h ts : Ma n ua l U D SON — L fe , A r t, a n d C h a ra c

H
I
U NC ll t ers
.

k
.

i i
H
C ST A E — R d n g Re co e c i o n s Sh a e spe a r e
v
.

D A V D ON kt t a r a r d Sha es e r e
p k a
I S .
— a n db o o o Dan e
t
U NT — W h a i s Po e r
.
y t
H UT CH INSON Th t F idd l F ll w .
— a er e o O X END EN .
— In t l e r ud e s

I N TER N A T I O N A L ED U CA T I O N SE I ES R PA ET — G W as
Re co r d s o f D sea se t ed i
R N t
.

JO H NST O N. — J l oe , a Bo y o f Ga lil ee
PEA SO
P Y l l
— T h e C h a n ce s o f D e a h
.

i
HR R
C a cu us fo r En g n e e r s
Y
E RR —
'
P I OSO I C VI
.

K A Y. — Om a ra h s am an HL PH AL RE EW
K NN Fifty B kf t PI K F
.

E E Y- E BE T . —
Fifty D i
rea as s E — T h r o ug h th e Sub A r ct1 c t
H
o re s
NG N t
.

n n ers PI L K I — An E o n P a -Fl e ld l i
Fifty L h un c e s N N
TO
PI SE T — Jo bil dre d
y g
n .

Fi fty S pp ’
u ers P LL K Fi t Y
O O -
'
f y e a r s Re m i m s ce n ce s
.

C o m m o n -se n s e i
In d a
Co o k PP i J
O E — M e m o r s o f Sir o h n a cdo n a l M
Mm ii
e ry
I H B RU C PORT i ti U
.

KN T- E. —
'
es o f Ma sh o n a sh M ss o n to i i
H
G e o A L — Br g a n da
l
.

and 1 3 M y M ss o n to Ab yss n a i i i i
K No x — t un e r s T h re e 28 PR C T I C AL S CI C M NU S
KNU F RD oly
A EN E A AL
t P C
.

t
Ht Mys
'

TS O — t th e Rue S
er y o 1 7 R ES O TT -A Ma sk a n d a M a r yr
t U
.
.

Ku Ns — T h e . T r e a tm e n t o f Na ur e i n P L ITZER — Ro m a n ce o f Pr n ce Eug e n
i .

D an
R A L EI G H R b t L ui St v
e

NG Ul
- o s e e n so n
v t o er
S t yl
’ .

LA — La m b s Ad e n ur e s o f

H
ysse s
D t i k e
RA N ME B tt l f F d i k th G
.

LEA ER — A u o b o g ra ph y o f Ro e b uc
C li t i l V l
SO —
es o re er c e tt
it
a
R YMON D
.

LE KY — Po m C v
.

ca a ue o f s o ry M h
NU v t Y A — us ro o a e
R C H EF T h Adv t
.

i
.

LE: PA — Se e n y ea r s o f Ir sh Li fe f My L

H
25
FF NGW
O O RT — e n ur e s o
ti R DD f th Fl t
e
.

ELL — A r t o f W n g -Sh o o n g i
.

LE I 1 B ll d
H oll
—
O a s o e ee
ik t
a
R DD
.
.

and M ll R dd
LEG — ow D c y we n r o un d W k by R
H
O - or s enne o
RO E U C K
.

l A t b i g ph y
.

th e W o r d 28 —

I ol y
B u o o ra
ik
.
.

LEG —I — ow D c and M l sa w En g
t t
.

land SA NTL EY — S ud e n a n d S n g e r i
H l t C H LL I t
.

LEG — My D o g P a o S E NG -E z a b e h a n Lyr cs li i
tli
. .

LOTZE Ph o so ph ca O u n e s il i l ’
B e n Jo n so n s T un b er
C P t lki
.

MA D NA LD
S RO E -A r t o f D e e r -S a
C O M i .
— e m o rs of Sir J o hn
SH A W -
A Te
. ng
B o o o f Nur s n g xt k i
Ma cd o n a ld ER R t
.

SH A D — A ph o n se D a ud e l
C ON
MA D A LD S ld i i - e r ng a n d Sur v yi H I LD
.

i
.

H
o e ng
S — C a m p n g a n d C a m p O utfi ts
i B i t i h E t Af i
S E

Hl
. .

H I LD k
.

i
Ht i
as r ca

Hl
r s 1 2
MA U D
n
' S E S — A m e r ca n B o o o f th e D o g
W
.

.
—
’
Wag ne r 5
a g n er 5 e ro e s
e ro n e s
24
22
S O R L A ND C yc n g fo r e a th a
. li
MA X W ELL. —
’
T h e Spo r sm a n 5 Li br a ry 1 0
P e a sur e
ICH L
E — T h e S o r y o f T wo Sa o n s t
.

l
Me m o r i e s o f th e Mo n h s t 1 2
S
TI N
.

Fi
C
M NA B — O u e ld a n d' a r m V t F 1 1
SL A
M H
- re a n d Swo r d 1 n th e Suda n
.

i
M C N LTY — M i sth e r O Rya n
U S IT — T h e L fe o f a Fo x
.

U k
.

1 7 T h r o ug h n n o wn Afri ca n
t
. .

S
M LN ER E g l d
f P
Eg ypt
on o a e a sa n
C o un ti
H
r es
I
A ol d T y b
.
— n an in
PI
S NNER — A Re uc a n E an g e s . l t t v li t .

MO NTR E R — W th W h il SO
rn
or
o n ee
e
STO NE — In a n d Be yo n d th e
. m a la ya s i
t f W C h ild H i t
.

M B T A T AM — Me n o f M g h

Hit l
o re ea s s or o r se re n
MO RGA N A i m l L i f H R t li t C
.

— n a e T A YE — Be s E z a b e h a n P a ys l
ti H
. . .

ab In s n ct and T O MA 5 — Swe d e n a n d th e Swe d e s

H N N ti
.

T O R TO — A Spo r n g T o ur
H
Psyc h o o g y f o r T e a ch e r s
t j i J tt
.

i Spr n g s o f C o n d uc T O LL EM A C E -Be n a m n o we
MO R PH OLO GY JO U R N A L O F W N NG ll t
.

T I I Re co e c i o ns o f L fe i a
MO R R SO N Lif P’r s i pt i W o rk
, .
‘
I — e 5 e cr on
M U NROE Fu S l T t h
.

W H IT E — Pl e a sura b l e Be e - ee pi n g K
— r ea s oo
R i ck D l
.

W I L D F O W E R S 1 N A R T A ND N a T v n
L
.
a e
d Sl d g

H
W I LL I A M S — Th e Ba yo n e t t h a t ca
S w h es no -s o an e es

NA SH Ba r
.

— k ero c o rn e
NA T I O N A L R EVI EW I CH LL
.

H
W N EST ER CO EG E

O MA N i t y f E g la d
.
— s or o n n YOU NG — G . e n e ra l As t ro n o m y