PRISONERS IN THE SOUDAN.
Native rising in the Bahr-el-Ghazal--Fall of Rumbek,
Gaba-Shambe, and Bor--Lupton Bey a prisoner--The Emir
Karam-Allah--Siege of Amadi--Heroic conduct of negro
troops--Transfer of seat of government from Lado to
Dufilé--Letter from the Mahdi--Battle of Rimo--Emin Bey at
Wadelai--Dr. Junker amongst the Lango--Emin Bey’s army,
fortifications, and boats--Dr. Junker prepares to start for the
coast.
It was in Lupton Bey’s province of the Gazelle that the insurrectionary
movement first broke out. The Denka betook themselves to arms, and
for eighteen months waged a determined and sanguinary war against the
Government troops; and in spite of Lupton making a levy of all the
force at his disposal, he was unequal to the task of suppressing the
revolt.
The Nuer, the Agar, and various other tribes of the Rol River, were not
long in following the lead of the Denka, and the Egyptian station at
Rumbek was captured and destroyed.
[Illustration: BARI WARRIORS.
(_From a Photograph by Herr Richard Buchta._)]
With reference to this trying period, speaking on the 20th of May
1887 at a meeting of the Geographical Society of Paris, Dr. Junker
said--“Throughout the critical circumstances of that time Lupton Bey’s
conduct was most admirable. His letters, dated from every quarter of
the province, attest that he was ubiquitous in pursuit of his fugitive
adversaries. The details of that arduous struggle are not well known in
Europe, and consequently the general public has never duly appreciated
Lupton’s merits. That war of the Denka for eighteen months against the
Government troops, was more desperate and murderous than the subsequent
encounters with the Mahdists in the province of Emin Bey.”
Within a year Lupton was engaged in more than twenty battles. To
aggravate his difficulty, the Arabs, who favoured the rebellion, sent
reinforcements to maintain the conflict, and in spite of the most
heroic efforts to suppress it, the insurrection kept on spreading until
it reached the western tribes of the Equator province. At the end of
1883 the Bari began to make a movement, and at the beginning of the
following year the station of Gaba-Shambe, with its entire garrison,
fell into the hands of the rebels, a loss which was quickly followed by
that of Bor.
Henceforth, Emin’s province lay open to the encroachments of the
insurgents.
It was just at this time that Gordon arrived at Khartoum, and the
blockade of that town was commencing. Communication with the north was
already cut off, as Fashoda, situated on both sides of the Nile at the
confluence of the Sobat and the Bahr-el-Ghazal, was in the hands of the
Mahdi’s followers, who kept continually advancing to the south.
Deserted by a portion of his troops, Lupton was unable to hold out. In
May he was reduced to extremities and compelled to surrender himself a
prisoner. He was taken to Kordofan. No long time elapsed before there
was not a soldier who remained faithful to the Khedive, and every
station, with its ammunition and provisions, passed into the hands of
the Arabs.
[Illustration: BARI WOMEN.
(_From a Photograph by Herr Richard Buchta._)]
At Lado, on the 27th of May, the three Europeans received a letter from
Lupton, making them aware of his misfortune. At the same time came a
message from a certain Emir Karam-Allah, a _soidisant_ lieutenant
of the Mahdi’s, calling on Emin, as Governour of the province, to
appear personally before him and make submission. Emin was in
perplexity, but was anxious above all things to gain time. He sent
word to the Emir that, being desirous to avoid useless bloodshed, he
would not refuse to appear before him, but that the hostility of the
natives against him was so great that he could not venture to leave his
quarters; he represented that his departure would be the signal for a
general mutiny, and added that, while he was thus careful to protect
the lives of his soldiers, he was nevertheless willing to hold the
province as being under the Mahdi’s authority; finally declaring that
he could not think of quitting his post until a successor had been
appointed, and that he should accordingly wait for further instructions.
Without loss of time, however, he concentrated all his force.
Abandoning all outlying stations, he gathered his troops into one body,
and proceeded to make preparation for an attack which he foresaw was
imminent.
At the close of the year 1884 things had indeed become serious, and a
report was spread that a large force, commanded by the Emir Karam-Allah
in person, was marching upon the station of Amadi, just five days’
journey from Lado.
The rumour was only too true. Amadi had to sustain a siege, and for
nineteen days its gallant little garrison, composed entirely of negro
soldiers under Soudanese officers, maintained a resistance. At last,
coming to the end of their resources, they made a desperate dash, and
breaking through the line of the besiegers, succeeded in effecting a
retreat into the Makraka country.
In recounting this feat of arms, thus valorously accomplished by
negroes, Emin Pasha wrote to his friend, Dr. Robert Felkin, in
Edinburgh:--“Ever since the Arab occupation of the Bahr-el-Ghazal--I
will not say its conquest, since everything that has been gained has
been gained by treachery--we have been most vigorously attacked; and
I feel that I cannot give you an idea of the admirable devotion of
my black troops throughout this long war, in which for them at least
there can be no advantage. Destitute of the barest necessaries of life,
and with their pay long in arrears, they fought most resolutely, and
when at last, after nineteen days of hardship and privation, weakened
by hunger--the last shred of leather, the last boot having been
devoured--they forced a gap in the enemy’s ranks and made good their
escape.
“These brave fellows endured all this misery with perfect
disinterestedness, without prospect of reward, simply because they
were prompted by a sense of duty and were desirous of exhibiting their
bravery to the foe. Whatever doubts I may ever have had of the negro,
the history of the siege of Amadi has convinced me that in resolute
courage the black race is inferior to none, and in the spirit of
self-sacrifice is superior to many. Without any highly skilled officers
to direct them or give them orders, they performed miracles, and it
will be difficult for the Egyptian Government to give them any worthy
proof of its gratitude.”
The emergency became more pressing, and another change of headquarters
was soon imperative. In the north-west of the province the Mahdi’s
force continued to advance, while the prospect of an attack by
Karam-Allah upon Lado seemed more threatening. Accordingly Emin Bey
resolved upon a fresh concentration of his men upon the Nile, and
hastened to transfer the seat of his government from Lado to Dufilé,
whither were conveyed all the Coptic and Egyptian officials, as well as
all the Government papers and records.
Shortly after this a message was received from the victorious Emir
announcing that he was on his way to Lado. It was accompanied by a
transcript of a letter written by the Mahdi at Khartoum, dated the 28th
of January, communicating the intelligence of the fall of that town and
the death of Gordon.
“_Copy of a gracious order of our Lord the Mahdi--may he be
blessed!--to his representative Karam-Allah, Emir of the Bahr-el-Ghazal
and of the Equator_:--
“The devoted slave of God, Mohammed-el-Mahdi, son of Abdallah,
to his dearly beloved representative, Karam-Allah, son of the
Sheik Mohammed:--
“My son, receive my greeting! The blessing of the merciful God
be upon thee!
“I bid thee know that according to the infallible predictions of
God, and by His immutable goodness, the town of Khartoum, by the
aid of the living and immortal, was taken on Monday the 26th of
Jany. in the present year.
“Early in the morning, the troops of the faithful applied
themselves to their task, and, confident in God, they made an
assault. In less than half an hour the enemies of God were
in their hands; they were annihilated to a man; so too their
fortress.
“Strongly prepared for defence though they were, they yielded
at the first onslaught, dispersed by the hand of the Lord. Then
they sought safety in flight, crowded into the courtyards, and
closed the gates. Our army pursued them, put them to the edge
of the sword, attacked them with lances until their cries were
heard aloud, their tears outpoured, and they were stricken with
consternation. Not long were the faithful in getting the upper
hand of the survivors who had closed the gates; they captured
them and slew them, so that none but women and children remained
to defend the place.
“Gordon, the enemy of God, so long a rebel and insurgent, so
often warned by us and invited to place himself under the hand
of God, refused to submit; wherefore he has found his fate; he
has reaped in sorrow what he sowed in guilt; God hath sent him
to hell, there for ever to abide.
“Thus has the might of the unbeliever been destroyed. Thanks be
to God, the Lord of all the earth!
“On our side, ten died the death of the believer; not another
was wounded nor even bruised in the encounter. Behold the
Divine mercy! The victory is from God; before Him we prostrate
ourselves in adoration. Do likewise; and accept my greeting.
“12 REBI ACHIR, 1302.”
This mournful intelligence, confirmed by the non-arrival of the
ordinary Khartoum steamer, and coming so quickly after the tidings of
the Emir’s successes in the south, thoroughly opened Emin Bey’s eyes to
the gravity of the situation in which he was placed. The loss of Amadi,
following upon Lupton’s retirement from his various stations, and the
menaces which he now received from Karam-Allah, showed him only too
plainly that he was in danger of being immediately attacked.
It soon transpired that the Emir was advancing with the design of
attacking Rimo, a station near the Yei, north-west of Dufilé. Fearing
lest the little garrison should share the fate of that of Amadi, Emin
resolved to make a venture in its defence. Taking several battalions
of his troops, he set out and arrived at the spot in April, in time to
await the appearance of the Arabs; and on their approach, his troops,
assisted by the Mombuttu, made a rush upon them, and inflicted such a
sanguinary defeat, that they withdrew in all speed back again to the
north. Thus for the time all danger was warded off the stations on the
Nile.
Whether it was this fortunate exploit of the Egyptian troops that
rescued the Equatorial provinces from further incursions by the bands
of the Arabs, or whether the Emir was recalled by the Mahdi, who was
concerned at the presence of an English expedition near Khartoum, there
are now no means of judging; but certain it is that Lado, where the
rebels had been daily expected to appear before the fences, was left
undisturbed, and it was soon ascertained that the Emir had led his men
by forced marches towards Kordofan.
Obviously it was still the duty of Emin Bey to be on his guard against
any fresh surprise. He came to the conclusion that it was desirable
that he should for the third time change the seat of his government,
and issuing orders for the evacuation of his western stations in the
Makraka country, he proceeded to draw off all his force and his last
reserve of ammunition to Wadelai, his most southern station on the
river.
Further than this, as all hope of succour from the north had been
dispelled by the gloomy tidings that had reached him of the fate of
Khartoum, he began to turn his eyes towards Zanzibar, whither it
was agreed that Dr. Junker should be despatched with the object, if
possible, of opening communication with the coast.
The Doctor started. Ascending the Nile from Dufilé to Meshra, he
reached the residence of Anfina, the Lango chief, a faithful ally of
Emin’s, whence he endeavoured to enter into negotiations with Uganda.
His efforts were vain. The road to the south, like the road to the
north, was closed not only to the white men themselves, but also to the
transit of their messengers and despatches.
Thus was Emin Pasha isolated from the world, and thrown back upon
himself and the fidelity of his followers.
For ten months, from January to November 1885, did Dr. Junker persevere
in his wanderings amongst the Lango, between Anfina’s quarters and
Foweira, once a station of the Egyptians; and then, finding all his
proceedings futile, he made his way back to Wadelai.
At that period the situation may be thus described. The province,
after having been for six months relieved of the presence of the
Mahdi’s troops, was comparatively quiet. So far as regarded the natives
everything was satisfactory; the Bari alone had shown any symptoms
of rebellion, and these were promptly suppressed. At Emin’s disposal
there were about 1500 regular troops armed with Remington rifles,
the whole of these being negroes, except about forty Egyptians who
were specially told off for the artillery; they were commanded by ten
Egyptian officers and fifteen Soudanese, and all remained staunch in
their allegiance.
“In spite of their utter destitution,” wrote Emin, “in spite of their
being without pay and almost without clothes, these soldiers continue
dutiful and obedient. This is far more than could be expected.”
[Illustration: DR. JUNKER.]
The 1500 soldiers, parcelled out into companies varying from one
hundred to two hundred men, garrisoned ten stations; nine on the Nile,
namely, Lado, Rigaf, Bedden, Kiri, Muggi, Laboré, Khor Aju, Dufilé, and
Wadelai; the tenth, Fatiko, being in the Shuli country, on the road
from Dufilé to Mrooli.[5]
Communication between the different stations was maintained by two
steamers, the _Nyassa_ and the _Khedive_, which had been
brought into service during the time when Gordon was Governour for the
first time, and which could upon occasion be fitted out for defence.
The officials (Egyptian and Coptic) numbered somewhere about two
hundred; and if for each official, officer, and soldier there were
reckoned an average of not less than three women, children, and slaves,
the total would amount to a population of at least 10,000 souls,
constituting what the English newspapers have designated “Emin Pasha’s
people.”
Since 1885 the protection of Emin Pasha has by no means been the chief
difficulty. In one of his letters he writes:--“Since the retreat of
Karam-Allah and the dispersion of his troops by the natives on the
Kordofan frontier, peace has been unbroken; and I may also add that the
war has had the beneficial result of clearing the whole province of the
Bahr-el-Ghazal of slave-hunters.” What has given the greatest cause for
anxiety is the lack of stores and goods for barter, combined with the
fear of running short of ammunition and the impossibility of holding
communication with Europe.
In another letter Emin wrote:--“We have undergone terrible trials;
happily, however, we have proved the truth of the proverb, ‘Necessity
is the mother of invention,’ and we feel that we may well be proud
of the way in which we have managed for ourselves since we have been
deprived of all external aid. At all our stations agricultural work
is progressing well. We have grown cotton; we have learned both to
spin and to weave; as a specimen of what we can do I send you a pretty
little handkerchief of our own manufacture. We have introduced the
craft of shoemaking, and you would be surprised at what we have
produced. We make our soap of fat and ashes, and our candles of wax.
Hibiscus seed we find a fair substitute for coffee; we sweeten it with
honey. I must not forget also to tell you that we have grown some
splendid tobacco in our gardens. Except that I miss books, newspapers,
and materials for my scientific work, personally I am in want of
nothing.”
But it is remarkable how even in the times of his greatest anxiety,
Emin never failed in his scientific interest; in all the letters sent
by him, at various times, to Schweinfurth, Junker, Felkin, Hassenstein,
Behm, Allen, and others, detailing the circumstances under which he was
living, he speaks of his constant desire to make his long residence in
Africa profitable for the advance of science.
In one of these letters, addressed to the late Dr. Behm of Gotha, after
saying that he anticipated that the Nuer, the Agar, and the Denka were
on the point of breaking out in an insurrection which it would be a
long and difficult task to suppress, he thus continues:--“To myself,
my residence in the Mombuttu country has been very satisfactory. I
have worked hard and made many new and interesting notes; I have put
together a vocabulary, and have tried generally to be as useful as
possible. Your suggestion that I should make an ethnological chart is
never out of my mind, and with reference to the work I have already
begun to collect some examples of the dialects.”
At a later date he wrote to Dr. Schweinfurth:--“Thanks to the many
newspapers and pamphlets which have reached me by way of Uganda, I
have now an ample stock of paper, and shall be able to resume the
preparation of the herbarium which I promised you.”
In another letter to Dr. Felkin, he writes:--“I have not forgotten
Professor Flower; according to his desire I have collected several
human skulls, also some skulls of chimpanzees, and some skeletons of
animals and Akka;... I have likewise a collection of shells from Lake
Albert.”
Such for three years, amidst incessant care and anxiety, was the life
of the three Europeans who were fated thus to be brought together and
blockaded on the Upper Nile.
When the attacks of the Arabs had ceased, and the revolts of the
natives had been suppressed, they deliberately set themselves to
meet their difficulties by developing the natural resources of the
country, and, though without means, contrived to get food, clothing,
and sustenance for the 10,000 men, women, and children over whom they
presided as protectors.
It was now the end of 1885; they had had no communication with Europe
since 1883, and they began to fear that they had been forgotten. Their
eyes were still towards Zanzibar, and although Dr. Junker had failed in
his first efforts to go there, it was deemed advisable that he should
again leave Casati to assist Emin in maintaining friendly relations
with the surrounding tribes, and once more endeavour to accomplish his
purpose. This time he would set out by way of Unyoro. The experiment
was full of hazard; yet all things considered, a white man accompanied
only by a small escort would have a greater chance of success than any
larger or armed expedition, which would assuredly rouse the alarm and
suspicion of the natives.
As to an exodus _en masse_ of the 10,000 officials, soldiers,
women, children, and slaves that made up the population of Wadelai,
Lado, and the other stations, that was a scheme not for a moment to
be entertained. Northwards, the way would be barred by the army of
the Mahdi; southwards, were unknown tribes in the lands watered by
the Welle and the Upper Congo, that had been reached indeed by the
civilising mission of the King of the Belgians, but of this of course
Emin had no intelligence, and was utterly ignorant; and lastly, on
the east was Uganda, where the bloodthirsty tyrant who ruled would be
certainly opposed to any passage of an armed expedition through his
domain.
Circumstanced as Emin was, it would have been madness to make such
a venture--unsupplied with either provisions or ammunition, to face
hostile tribes in a desert and unexplored country was simply to court
disaster; before his caravan had made much progress on its way, a large
proportion of his people would have succumbed to fatigue and privation,
even if they escaped being the victims of a bloody foe. Emin was not
foolhardy enough to think of conducting another “retreat of the ten
thousand.”
As to any thought for himself, of taking advantage of any opportunity
for escape, it would never enter his mind. As a Governour placed by
Gordon in command of the province of the Equator he could never for
a moment contemplate either forsaking the men who had so faithfully
adhered to him, or abandoning the country that had been committed
to his charge “in the cause of progress and civilisation.” “I shall
endeavour,” he writes to Dr. Felkin, “to bring to a good issue the
work for which Gordon sacrificed his blood; if not with his energy and
genius, I will at any rate labour in conformity with his instructions
and ideas. When he, my lamented chief, confided to me the oversight of
this province, he wrote ‘I nominate you in the cause of progress and
civilisation.’ Hitherto I have done my best to merit that confidence
which was reposed in me. The simple fact that I have been able to
maintain myself here in the midst of thousands of natives, with only a
handful of men of my own, is a proof that I have to a certain extent
succeeded, inasmuch as I am thoroughly trusted by the indigenous
population.
“I am now the sole surviving representative of Gordon’s Soudan staff.
Consequently, I hold it my stern duty to follow the path which he
pointed out. Moreover I am persuaded that there is a bright future
for these countries; sooner or later they will be included within the
ever-widening circle of the civilised world.”
It was therefore no way of personal escape for which Emin was looking;
at the same time he longed most earnestly for the opening of an avenue
of communication with Europe, by means of which his true situation
might be known, and along which materials might be brought, so that
he could continue his work on the scene where for so long he had
maintained his independence.
This was the general aspect of affairs when Dr. Junker again undertook,
at the peril of his life, to endeavour to reach Europe, there to plead
the cause of Emin and the Equatorial Soudan.