THE SIEGE OF EL OBEID.
Terrible sufferings of the besieged--The Kababish--Fall of
Bara--Fall of El Obeid--The Mahdi enters the town--Fate of the El
Obeid Mission--Cold-blooded murder of the brave defenders--The
Dervishes live a life of ease in El Obeid--The Mahdi makes laws--He
sends out proclamations--Prestige increased by capture of
town--News from Khartum--Bonomi and Ohrwalder summoned before the
Mahdi--The interview.
The garrison in El Obeid now began to suffer from the effects of this
close siege and blockade. The necessaries of life were failing rapidly;
the price of provisions had gone up enormously. The commonest food,
known as "dokhn" (a kind of millet) rose to 150 dollars, and eventually
to 500 dollars the ardeb. Meat had almost entirely given out. Our
Mission brethren in the fort possessed one camel, which was nothing but
skin and bone, and which was sold for 1,000 dollars, and two days
afterwards the purchaser offered it for sale for 1,500 dollars.
Eventually the butcher bought it for 2,000 dollars. A chicken went for
thirty dollars; eggs a dollar apiece; a loaf of sugar fifty dollars, and
twenty dollars for a pound of coffee. A thimbleful of salt cost a
dollar. The above were the prices a month after the close investment had
begun. Butter and oil could not be had for any money. The poor began to
starve quite at the beginning of the siege, and soon were dying in
considerable numbers. A little later, matters came to a terrible pass.
All the camels and cattle being finished, donkeys, dogs, mice, and even
crickets were consumed, as well as cockroaches, which were considered
quite tit-bits; white ants, too, were eaten.
And now the deaths by starvation had reached an appalling figure. The
dead and dying filled the streets; the space within the fortifications
being so limited, there was not room for all the people, and in
consequence many lay about in the streets and open spaces. The air was
poisoned by the numbers of dead bodies lying unburied, while the ditch
was half full of mortifying corpses. Scurvy and dysentery were rife; the
air was black with the scores of carrion-kites, which feasted on the
dead bodies; these ugly birds became so distended by constant gorging
that they could not even fly away, and were killed in numbers by the
soldiers, who devoured them with avidity.
Later on gum became the only food; there was a quantity of this, but it
brought on diarrhoea, and caused the bodies to distend--indeed,
numbers died from eating it. The ground was dug up in all directions in
search of the white ants' nests; and the food which they had collected
for the winter was greedily consumed. Some poor sufferers eked out a
miserable existence by living on the undigested food found in the
excrement of animals; all sorts of leather, shoes and sandals, were
boiled and eaten. It was a terrible sight to see these human
skeletons--their eyes sunk into the backs of their heads, wandering
about in search of food. The Mudir extorted all the corn and money he
could from the rich merchants, but of what good was a mere handful of
corn to the soldiers? They became desperate, all discipline was at an
end and they often broke into the houses by night in search of food.
During all this time the Dervishes outside kept on shouting out curses
and insults, deriding those within for eating dog's-meat, for, during
all this terrible famine in the city, there was abundance of food in the
Dervish camp, and this made the besiegers bolder and more insulting than
ever, for they knew that the town was practically in their hands. We
often tried to establish some sort of communication with our Mission
brethren in the city, but we never succeeded in getting any reliable
information about them. At length, towards the end of December, we
managed, through the kind offices of George Stambuli, to send in a
letter and received a reply from the Father Superior, Johann Losi, which
was brought to us by one of our female slaves. The news it contained was
heart-rending; all our brethren were down with scurvy--that is to say,
Father Rossignoli, brother Locatelli, and four sisters, whilst Father
Losi himself was on the point of death. For a month they had lived on
nothing but dokhn and rice; everything else was gone. Father Losi sent
us some clothes, which were a godsend to us, and also 200 dollars, while
we in return could do nothing for our poor besieged brethren. A few days
later we heard that Father Losi died on the 27th of December of scurvy.
The garrison frequently attempted small sorties, in the hope that they
might be able to secure a sheep or bullock, or some wood, and these
always caused some excitement in the camp. When anything of this sort
took place, the usual cry was "Et Turki Marak" ("The Turks are coming
out"), then the camp suddenly woke up, and, like a swarm of ants, moved
towards the town to drive the garrison in again. On these occasions
quantities of ammunition were expended without much result. In the
meantime the Mahdi continued his daily preaching against the vanities of
this life, of his divine message, and of the approaching end of the
world. During these sermons the people stood wrapped in wonder and
astonishment at the Mahdi's great wisdom.
The Egyptian guns frequently fired into the camp, and on two occasions
shells burst close to our hut, but did no harm. The Dervishes also
returned the fire, but their shots always fell far beyond; had they only
been skilled in the working of the guns they had, the fortifications
would have become untenable in a day, but the Mahdi seemed purposely to
wish to prolong the siege, and to thus compass the death of its
defenders through famine. The wells were only about one kilometre
distant from the forts, and in consequence within easy range of the fire
of the besieged; but the Mahdi was quite regardless of this, and often
formed up his troops there--a proceeding which generally resulted in his
losing some men.
It was about this time that the principal sheikhs of the powerful
Kababish tribe, viz. Saleh and Tome, the sons of Sheikh Salem, came to
pay their allegiance to the Mahdi. As a gift they brought him two
hundred camels, and he in return ordered a great military display and a
special bombardment of El Obeid in their honour. The two sheikhs did
not, however, take a great interest in these proceedings; and one day
Saleh suddenly took himself off, and from that date became the Mahdi's
sworn enemy, until the day of his death, when, as we shall presently
see, he was one of the last of the great sheikhs who was overthrown by
the Mahdi. His brother Tome was suddenly thrown into chains without any
warning, the Mahdi giving as his reason that the Prophet had appeared to
him in a vision and told him to do so.
Towards the end of November, news arrived that a further reinforcement
of troops had left Khartum for El Obeid. This information occasioned a
great stir in the camp, because there was some idea that English troops
had been sent. These must have been the arrival of the first batch of
troops destined eventually to form part of the Hicks Expedition; but
even then it was too late to send any help to El Obeid.
One day it came to the Mahdi's ears that provisions were being smuggled
into El Obeid, where they were sold at enormous prices, and to stop this
he made the investment still closer. Some of the smugglers were caught,
and as a punishment their right hands were cut off, and their handless
arms tied to their necks; they were then led round the camp as a warning
to others.
Meanwhile, as the siege of El Obeid was drawing to a close, other places
in Kordofan were falling into the Mahdi's hands. The town of Bara had
been reduced to great straits. A force marching to its relief under Abu
Kuka, was attacked by Fiki Minneh: the majority were killed, and it was
only through the bravery of Surur Effendi that a few hundred of them
succeeded in reaching the town. The notorious Nur Angar, who was on the
walls of the town, rendered no assistance during the siege, and went
over to the enemy. At length, on the 5th of January, Bara was forced to
capitulate through famine, and the garrison was sent to the Mahdi's
camp.
The victory was celebrated by a salute of guns, and the unfortunate
garrison in El Obeid took this to be the approach of relieving troops;
but the Mahdi made it known to Said Pasha that, on the contrary, it was
in celebration of the fall of Bara--an incident which caused the gloom
to deepen over the doomed city; and all hope of delivery was abandoned.
Yet the Mudir still continued to hope against hope that he should be
relieved from Khartum, and his sanguine spirit kept up the courage of
the garrison. But it could not last much longer; the soldiers were too
weak even to hold their rifles in their hands, and Said Pasha realized
that further resistance was useless. In desperation, therefore, he
proposed to blow himself up in the powder magazine, and this he
certainly would have done had not the senior officers urged that in
doing so numbers of other lives would have been sacrificed as well.
There was now nothing left to be done but to surrender, and this event
took place on the 19th of January, 1883.
The Mahdi and his hordes now entered El Obeid, and he made the Mudirieh
his residence. Guards under the command of mukuddums were posted outside
every large house, to prevent the notables escaping, to further extort
money and to search for treasure. Children, servants, and slaves were
kept aside, and by continual flogging were obliged to divulge the secret
hiding-places. The Mission buildings were of course entered by thousands
of Mahdiists. Father Bonomi and brother Locatelli lay sick, and the
sisters were completely exhausted. Hundreds of Dervishes struggled to
break into the narrow enclosure where the unfortunate brethren lay ill.
The crosses which the sisters wore round their necks were wrenched off
and broken to pieces with axes. Sister Concetta Corsi, who was then one
of the strongest, flew at these cruel intruders and made them wonder at
the boldness of a poor weak woman. Some of them then entered with drawn
swords, and, pointing their lances within an inch of her bosom, they
threatened her with instant death if she made the slightest resistance;
but she answered, "You are dogs, and not men!" whereupon one of those
standing near her gave her a blow on the face, which broke several of
her teeth and made her mouth pour with blood.
Three days after the Mahdi's entry into El Obeid, our missionaries were
taken before him, and in a solemn assembly he tried in vain to force
them to become Moslems. They were then sent forth with nothing but the
clothes they wore, in company with the other survivors of the siege, to
the Dervish camp.
Our little party was now increased by the arrival of Father Rossignoli,
brother Locatelli, who was then more dead than alive being carried on an
angarib (native bedstead), and four sisters, who were all suffering from
scurvy. They were brought to our hut, and our meeting could not be
otherwise than a sad one. The sisters were accompanied by a girl named
Bianca Limona, who, though a Sudanese, had quite a fair face, and
resembled an Albino. Gordon, when travelling from Darfur to El Obeid,
came across a youth of a similar type, whom he brought to the Mission,
and suggested that he should marry the girl; but he being a fanatical
Mussulman, the girl absolutely refused.
Bianca, being of no trade value, was permitted by the Dervishes to
remain with the sisters. All the other Mission blacks remained with the
soldiers, but the young ones were sold. From amongst the Christian girls
the Mahdi selected two as concubines--an Abyssinian and a black; the
latter had been well brought up, had learnt handiwork of different
sorts, and she soon became the head of all the concubines.
The Dervishes captured quantities of arms and ammunition in the fort,
also a considerable amount of rough gold, goods of all sorts, and
furniture. This was all carried off to the beit el mal; the floors were
all dug up in search of hidden treasure, and even dead bodies were
disentombed and examined. The body of Father Losi, who had died a month
before, was pulled up and searched, as it was believed he had a quantity
of money. I must here recount an episode which will give an idea of the
wonderful fidelity of our poor blacks, and their affection for us.
Father Losi had purchased a little black boy in El Obeid, and for the
ten long years during which this brave missionary had worked
continuously for the welfare and happiness of the blacks, his boy Said
served him most faithfully, and during all the horrors of that dreadful
siege this boy never left the side of his "Father," as he used to call
Father Losi. When Losi died, the boy used to spend most of the day
weeping over his grave, and one day he was found lying stretched on the
grave quite dead--he had died of grief.
The Mudir, Said Pasha, and the senior officers were, for a time, placed
under guard, and refused, even on pain of death, to say where the
treasure was; but when Said Pasha heard that his concubine and servants
had been cruelly flogged and beaten to make them divulge, he at length
handed over all his property to the Mahdi, and £6,000.
A few days after the fall of El Obeid a fire broke out on the north side
of the camp; the strong wind drove the flames to the adjoining huts, and
soon half the camp was ablaze. We had to run from our hut, which was
soon afterwards enveloped in flames, and we were again obliged to encamp
in the open. However, our good friend Stambuli succeeded in procuring a
small tent for us. The Mahdi now ordered the whole town of El Obeid to
be occupied by the Arabs, but it was not nearly large enough to hold all
the people, consequently an enormous circle of huts soon surrounded the
town, and we ourselves erected a small one, just beyond the precincts of
the Mahdi's camp, having some Greeks and Syrians, who had been turned
out of El Obeid, as our neighbours.
For about fifteen days most of the inhabitants of the town--clerks,
Government officials, and Copts, were closely guarded and continually
flogged to make them disclose the hiding-places of their treasure. Most
of the principal people were handed over to the emirs. Said Pasha was
placed in charge of Ismail Wad el Andok, and sent to Aluba; Ali Bey
Sherif was sent to Birket, and several of the Coptic clerks were sent to
Singiokai. Ahmed Bey Dafallah and Major Yesin were dragged to Shakka.
Evil reports were spread about them, and it was rumoured that both the
Mudir and Ali Bey Sherif had written to Khartum, consequently the Mahdi
issued orders that the gallant defenders should be killed, justifying
his action by saying that the Prophet had, in a vision, ordered him to
do so. Ali Bey Sherif was beheaded close to the tent occupied by his
wife and two children, who were afterwards taken over by Sayid Abdel
Kader, the Mahdi's uncle. Said Pasha was most cruelly slaughtered with
axes at Aluba; he was greatly disliked by the people, who called him
"Jurab el Ful" ("Sack of beans") because he was so stout. Ahmed Bey
Dafallah and Major Yesin were executed at Shakka. Such was the end of
the brave defenders of El Obeid, who, in truth, deserved a better fate.
The Mahdi, having thus made away with his enemies, was able to breathe
more freely, and, as if to excuse himself for his horrible cruelty, he
published a vision, in which he said that he had been told that Said
Pasha did not go to hell, but as he (the Mahdi) had earnestly begged it,
he was permitted to go to paradise.
During the siege there was much friction between the Mahdi and Fiki
Minneh, whose capacity for drinking marissa and stealing booty came to
the Mahdi's ears. As long as Minneh was useful to the Mahdi he forbore
with him; but when El Obeid fell, he sent for him and forcibly made him
divide his booty. Fiki Minneh therefore returned in a sulky mood to
Tayara, and from that time became the Mahdi's enemy. He openly collected
a quantity of dokhn, and brought together his fighting force. The Mahdi
therefore despatched Abu Anga, the Commander-in-chief of his forces,
Abderrahman en Nejumi and Abdullah Wad en Nur, with a large number of
men. Making a forced march, they appeared suddenly at Tayara, and the
Gowameh followers of Minneh fled on the first volley. Minneh's brother,
uncle, and two sons were captured and beheaded on the same spot where
Minneh himself had slain the soldiers and their wives and children the
previous year; their heads were hung up in the market-place at El Obeid
as a warning to others.
The Mahdi and his emirs now began to live a life of ease; the latter
occupied the various buildings around the Mudirieh and made themselves
comfortable: they placed no restrictions on themselves in the way of
food and drink; there was money in abundance and supplies were
plentiful, consequently sensuality and luxurious living were substituted
for the abstemious life which the Mahdi doctrine had at first
inculcated. The principal emirs delighted in extensive harems and a show
of splendour. Jibbehs were still worn, but their ragged condition, which
was essential in the early days, gave way to as much embellishment as
such a garment would admit of. The emirs vied with one another in their
wealth of slaves, cattle, horses and donkeys; their sword-hilts were now
embellished with silver. In place of lying on the dirty ground, their
clothes full of vermin, they assumed the luxurious and comfortable mode
of life of the Turks and Egyptians. So shocked, indeed, was the Mahdi's
uncle, Sherif Mahmud, when he arrived from Gedir to see the drunken and
debauched lives led by the emirs, more especially by Wad en Nejumi, that
he induced the Mahdi to order the latter to reduce his harem by twenty
wives, who were subsequently sold in the beit el mal as slaves. At the
same time the Mahdi issued the strictest orders against luxurious
living, and insisted that no gold and silver ornaments should be worn.
He further ordained that in future the dress should consist of a takia
(or skull cap) made of the leaves of the dwarf-palm, round which a
turban should be worn with end hanging down; the jibbeh (or coat); a
pair of drawers; and a girdle made of straw. This made rather a becoming
uniform to these swarthy warriors.
The rules regarding smoking and drinking were reiterated with greater
severity. It was next to impossible to induce the Sudanese to give up
smoking and chewing tobacco: a man would willingly give all the money he
had to secure even a small quantity. Then the blacks, and especially the
emirs, are much addicted to marissa drinking, which it was found still
more difficult to stop; if men or women were caught in the act of
smoking or drinking, they were obliged to walk through the market with
the drinking bowl or tobacco on their heads, followed by an insulting
and hooting crowd. It was sometimes the custom to break the bowl on the
marissa drinker's head and drench him with its contents; this was the
signal for all the children to throw mud and dust at the culprit until
he became almost unrecognisable; he was then dragged before the kadi (or
judge) in the market-place, where he received eighty unusually heavy
blows, the first of which generally drew blood. The place was full of
spies, who were always on the look-out to report smokers and drinkers to
the Mahdi. Sometimes they forced their way into the houses, and finding
nothing, would surreptitiously throw some tobacco on the floor, which
they would then suddenly discover, and declare it to be the property of
the owner of the house, who would be forthwith dragged off and thrashed
unmercifully although perfectly innocent.
Justice was administered according to the Moslem law. Blasphemers of God
or the religion were punished with instant death, as well as all those
who disbelieved in the Mahdi. A murderer was at once beheaded, no
extenuating circumstances were ever admitted. A thief was deprived of a
hand and a foot; adultery between married persons was punished by
beheading the man and stoning the woman, but in the latter case a
necessary proof was that the woman should be with child. Illicit
intercourse between unmarried persons was punished with eighty lashes;
these laws regarding immorality were, however, in the case of slaves,
relaxed to some extent, and they were, as a rule, punished by flogging
only. Persons found concerned in the making of eunuchs were beheaded,
though curiously enough the khalifas and emirs all retained eunuchs for
their harems. Slaves freed by the Egyptian Government were not
recognised as such, and were again forced to become slaves. A slave's
witness was not accepted in a trial. All important cases were judged
before the Mahdi, who sentenced persons as he thought fit. The Mosaic
law--an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth--was generally practised.
The relations of murdered persons generally carried out the sentences on
the criminal, provided that the judge approved. Punishment could be
modified or cancelled altogether by the payment of money. In addition to
the Mahdi, his relatives and the khalifas were permitted to judge
cases--a proceeding which resulted in great confusion and miscarriage of
justice. The market-place was the chief centre of activity; here the
judge held his court, and a profitable business he made of it by
substituting money for punishments.
Shortly after the fall of El Obeid the Mahdi set himself to regulate his
finances. The Kordofan Arabs, who had gained many successes over the
Government, and who had really taken up the Mahdi's cause in
anticipation of the loot they would acquire, were ordered to bring all
their booty--down to the smallest article--to the Mahdi at El Obeid, and
to enforce this order, parties of Dervishes were sent out in various
directions to forcibly drive in the Arabs, who now regretted that they
had so precipitately joined the Mahdi in the first instance. Everything
was brought to the beit el mal, and there publicly sold; of the
proceeds, one-fifth was given to the Mahdi personally, and the remaining
four-fifths were set aside as administrative revenue, but in point of
fact a considerable portion of this sum also found its way into the
Mahdi's private treasury. A native of Dar Mahas, named Ahmed wad
Suleiman and a great favourite of the Mahdi, was given unlimited control
over the beit el mal treasury. His master had had a divine revelation,
pointing out that he was the one man to hold this responsible position,
and in consequence he was unassailable. Whenever the Mahdi rode out on
horseback, Ahmed held the reins and walked barefooted at the horse's
side.
All learned men were despised and disliked by the Mahdi, for he not
unnaturally recognised a danger in their combating his claims by
reference to divine books. Consequently all such documents were ordered
to be burnt, and any one who concealed a book did so at the risk of his
life. The Mahdi's object was to keep the people in ignorance by
proclaiming that he was the centre of all light and knowledge; there
were even flatterers to be found who asserted that they had seen flashes
of light darting out of his head! He frequently indulged in visions,
sometimes representing that he had been taken up in the spirit to the
heavens, where he conversed with God and His Prophet. To doubt the truth
of these visions was an unpardonable offence. He entirely abolished all
the rules and customs practised by the Government. The wearing of the
tarbush (fez) was strictly forbidden; if any one was seen wearing one,
it was instantly pulled off and torn to shreds. All Government registers
were burnt, and debts contracted with the Government considered
cancelled. He ordered his adherents to call themselves Foggara[E] or
Asyad.[F]
His usual custom was to pray on a small straw mat placed in the divan of
the Mudirieh and in the presence of all his followers; a slave generally
stood beside him with a pillow on which he either sat or knelt, as the
case might be. When the prayers were over he received the visitors,
conversed on matters of general interest, read his letters, and
discoursed on the manners and customs of the Turks with the object of
making his hearers despise and laugh at them. He plunged wildly into the
sensual delights of his immense harem. In place of wine he substituted a
drink much appreciated in the Sudan, consisting of date syrup mixed with
ginger, of which he drank quantities out of the silver cups taken from
the Mission Church in El Obeid.
In spite, however, of all this luxurious living, the Mahdi did not omit
to publish his new propaganda far and wide. He wrote several letters to
the inhabitants of the Gezireh (the country between the Blue and White
Niles), calling on them to rise, and threatening all those who refused
to obey the summons. Numbers flocked to his standards, partly through
fear and partly because they recognised the inability of the Government
to cope with the revolt. It was at this time that he despatched Osman
Digna, who afterwards became so notorious, to the Eastern Sudan. This
fanatical adherent of the Mahdi copied the example of his master in
every respect, wearing neither shoes nor sandals, and only riding during
exceptionally long marches, his argument being that as the Mahdi deigned
to walk the earth, he thereby made it holy. A force was now despatched
to capture Sheikh Tome of the Kababish, who was reported to be in
friendly communication with Khartum. The unfortunate man was attacked by
night, captured and dragged off in chains with his wife, child, slaves,
and camels to El Obeid. The Mahdi was prepared to pardon him, but
Khalifa Abdullah insisted on beheading him, which was done; this cruel
act terrified the remainder of the tribe. During the last fifteen days
of Ramadan the Mahdi attended to no public business, but gave himself up
to fasting and prayer. The holidays following Ramadan were set aside for
military parades and manoeuvres, which served to rouse the fanatical
ardour of his now numerous followers.
[Illustration: A NATIVE WOMAN OF DONGOLA.]
About this time a letter came from Mustafa Yawer, the Mudir of Dongola,
to Osman Tobji; the latter was a most generous man, who gave much of his
money to the poor and to widows and orphans, especially during the siege
of El Obeid; Tobji had thus won the honour and respect of all, and on
the fall of the town the Mahdi returned to him the property he had
captured; thereupon he at once set to work to relieve the distressed
Egyptian families who had been turned out of house and home, and whose
property had been taken. In his letter Mustafa Yawer asked his friend
Tobji if Mohammed Ahmed were the real Mahdi or not; this letter came
into the Mahdi's hands, and Tobji was at once sent for and asked what
reply he intended to give. Osman answered, "When the sun has risen over
the horizon it is visible to all, and no further proof of its existence
is required--thus if the Mahdi be the true Mahdi, his works will bear
witness of the truth." This evasive answer did not however satisfy the
Mahdi, who obliged Tobji to sign a letter declaring that Mohammed Ahmed
was the true Mahdi, and this letter was then despatched to the Mudir of
Dongola.
The Mahdi was well versed in the art of winning over people. His
unruffled smile, pleasant manners, generosity and equable temperament,
though at times somewhat severe, all tended to enhance the popular idea
of him. He attributed the execution of Said Pasha and Ali Bey Sherif to
the Khalifa Abdullah, and when the two little sons of the latter were
brought to him, the smiling hypocrite wept for their father's fate. The
popular belief in him and his cause almost amounted to worship: women
especially raved about him and thought him the most handsome of men.
They swore by him in the words "Hakk rabb el Mahdi" (By the Mahdi's God)
or "Hakk Sayidna el Imam" (By our Lord, the Imam); all solemn oaths and
statements began with the words "Aleik el Mahdi el Muntaser" (By the
Victorious Mahdi); his virtues were extolled in poems, and constant
reference was made to his good looks, wisdom, stature and to his
repeated victories over the Turks. The beggars used to learn off by
heart special laudatory verses, and by reciting them from house to house
they were sure to be given alms; to such an extent was this laudation
carried that if a beggar sang songs in which the Prophet's name
occurred, he was at once interrupted and told to substitute the Mahdi's
for the Prophet's name; at every street corner his praises were sung;
soldiers on the march sang of his glorious victories; female slaves
gathering wood, or laden with corn, or grinding it between the
stones--all sang the same refrain, which indeed might be called the
Mahdi's national anthem, and began with the words "Mahdi Nur Ainana"
(the Mahdi is the light of our eyes), or "El Mahdi kammal et Turk fi
Kana" (the Mahdi conquered--lit. gave their full to--the Turks at Kana).
The Arabs delight in poetry, and during the night generally collected in
parties, and seated on the sand sang the Mahdi's praises, the two
principal singers keeping time by beating the ground with their sticks,
while the rest joined in the chorus at the end of each verse. Inspired
sometimes by their theme, they would stand up and flourish their swords
in the air as if combating the Turks, shouting "Fi Shan Allah" (for
God's cause). Thus the adulation of the Mahdi extended from the highest
emir to the lowest slave, and woe to him who was ever heard to utter one
word in deprecation or blame of the new Prophet, he would at once be
pounced upon and beaten to death with sticks.
Sometimes the Mahdi was called "Khalifat er Rasul" (the successor of the
Prophet), and sometimes even they dignified him with the sacred title of
Nebbi (Prophet). In truth the Prophet Mohammed occupied in the people's
minds quite a secondary position, and the celebration of his birthday
was forbidden by the Mahdi.
On one occasion a dispute occurred between two men; one argued that the
Mahdi would have a higher seat in heaven than the Prophet, while the
other maintained that "God was higher than the Mahdi." The dispute waxed
hot, and the case was referred to the judge, who settled the matter by
saying that "the living was better than the dead," but at the same time
the man who advocated the Prophet's claims was relegated to prison, not
so much for asserting what was perfectly true, that "God was higher than
the Mahdi," but that the tone in which he had said it was tantamount to
an insult to the Mahdi. Naturally those Moslems who still had some sense
of the orthodox creed were much annoyed at this decision.
Early in April a messenger arrived from Khartum with a letter from the
Austrian Consul Hansal. Now as we were perfect strangers in El Obeid,
people did not dare to associate with us; the messenger therefore
handed over the letter to George Stambuli, who was then a man well known
to every one. Stambuli, who supplied us with all the necessaries of
life, now came to us in a state of great excitement, bringing the letter
in which he hoped to find some news of the outside world. We opened the
letter, which was long and well-written, and found that it was directed
to the Mahdi. We read it and considered it a well-written letter; in it
Hansal called the Mahdi "Sheikh," and begged him to release us,
receiving as a ransom such a sum as he should demand, and which he
(Hansal) was prepared to give. The bearer of the letter was then ordered
to take it direct to the Mahdi, but fearing that its contents might
compromise him, he gave it to Stambuli, who gave it as his opinion that
the letter was useless, as he himself had been doing all in his power to
effect our release, but was unable to do so. Father Bonomi, however,
urged that as the letter was useless it was therefore harmless, and that
there could be no objection to giving it to the Mahdi; consequently it
was taken to him, and he expressed himself much pleased with it;
although he admitted that the system of ransoming was in vogue during
the days of the Prophet, he stated that it had been changed by him, as
also was the tax per head formerly paid by Christians.
He, however, promised to give us protection until the coming of Sayidna
Isa (Jesus Christ), when we should either have to turn Moslems or die;
thus the letter was of no good to us, and on the following day a rumour
was spread abroad that the Austrian Consul had joined the Mahdi. The
messenger asked us to give him a few lines to take back, and thus prove
that he had delivered the letter to us; so we and Stambuli complied, and
the messenger left for Khartum; but he was followed by spies, and when
at Korsi--one and a half day's journey distant--he was searched by them,
and the letters found in the saddle-bag on the donkey, consequently he
was arrested, brought back, and thrown into chains.
The false news was now rapidly circulated that an English post had
arrived. Father Bonomi and I were at once summoned to read the letters.
It occurred to us that our letters had probably been seized and that we
were in some danger. I was not alarmed about my letter to Hansal, for I
had written in German, and there was no one besides myself in El Obeid
who understood German; but Bonomi's letters had been written in Italian,
and there were several people who understood that language. As we
entered the Mudirieh we saw Stambuli also coming. We were first taken to
the Khalifa Sherif, who was lying on a straw mat in his hut; after
greeting us, he lifted up the mat and drew out several letters, which we
at once recognised as those we had written. The Khalifa asked us if we
had written them, and we replied in the affirmative. He thereupon
produced a piece of paper on which Bonomi had written that the messenger
should receive six pounds. Father Bonomi translated this to the Khalifa;
Stambuli was then called in, as he pretended to know a number of
European languages, while in point of fact he knew little or nothing;
when the paper was given to him to read he said that it contained a
medical prescription, and this translation did not of course agree with
Bonomi's version. Amidst the murmuring of the bystanders the Khalifa now
rose and bid us follow him into the divan of the Mudirieh, and thence
into the room adjoining that in which the Mahdi was sitting with the
Khalifa Abdullah. The latter had to keep his bed, for his leg had been
broken by a fall from a horse; he had collided with another horseman,
and in falling had been badly kicked. Father Bonomi and Stambuli only
were taken before the Mahdi, whilst I was left in the room outside;
there were a Dervish and a Greek also in the room, and as I was sitting
on the ground near the door, the Greek came up to me and told me that a
sheikh wished to speak to me. I replied, "Let the sheikh come to me if
he wants to speak to me; I have nothing to ask of him."
A few moments afterwards the sheikh came up to me in a furious rage,
and without further ado attacked me with his fists, kicked me, and
called me a Christian dog; then seizing me by the leg he dragged me out
towards the gate, where he said he intended to cut off my head.
The sound of this struggle reached the Mahdi's ears, and he sent a
eunuch to take me out of the sheikh's hands. Shortly afterwards the
Mahdi himself, Bonomi, and Stambuli came out, and were rather pleased
than otherwise that my incident with the sheikh had interrupted their
somewhat painful conversation. The Mahdi did not appear angry, and as
usual, smiled pleasantly all round; then, surrounded by his principal
emirs, he performed the noonday prayers in the divan, while the
multitude conformed to the prayers in the Mudirieh courtyard. This over,
he sat down on his mat and opened his audience, whilst a slave standing
behind him fanned him and drove off the flies. Numbers of people
submitted their cases to him in a very low and humble tone of voice, and
from the various gestures which took place, I concluded that he had
given satisfaction to all. He then read aloud a letter from an
influential sheikh in Khartum, whose name I have forgotten; after which
a number of sheikhs came in to take the oath of allegiance.
During this ceremony the man taking the oath had to place his hand in
the Mahdi's right hand; then the latter repeated the oath in the
following words: "Thou consecratest thyself, thy children and thy
property to the Mahdi. Thou shalt be guilty of no impurity; thou shalt
not steal, nor drink alcohol; and thou shalt bind thyself to do thy duty
in the Jehad." The person to whom the oath was administered sealed it
with a solemn "Amen." If several persons took the oath together, they
were obliged to repeat it in chorus, and at the conclusion they shouted
"Fi Shan Allah." When the audience was over, we asked the Mahdi's
permission to retire, which he allowed us to do.
Bonomi now gave us an account of his interview with the Mahdi and
Khalifa Abdullah. They had thought that we had written letters to the
Government at Khartum, but they could not read the letters which, in
point of fact, contained nothing political. Bonomi had given the Mahdi a
short resumé of their contents with which he seemed pleased, but
Abdullah appeared dissatisfied.
For the next eight days we were in considerable danger, and the one
topic of conversation was what should be done to us. It was the general
idea that we were to be beheaded; but Stambuli was working his friends,
and by dint of bribes the matter was hushed up, although I believe that
we owed it principally to the good will and kindly disposition of the
Mahdi. After about ten days we were summoned before a certain emir named
Hajji Khaled, who made enquiries about the letters, and we told him that
we were prepared to translate literally every word. Our fearless
persistence impressed him, and he did not trouble us further.
Some of the European merchants could have translated the letters, but
Stambuli bribed them with twenty pounds, and on the 26th of April,
thirteen days after the letters had been intercepted, the Mahdi pardoned
Stambuli at a public meeting, and handed them back to him; then in the
presence of two trustworthy friends of the Mahdi, we translated them
word for word into Arabic, and gave them back to the Mahdi, who, judging
from their general tenour, appeared convinced of their harmlessness.
FOOTNOTES:
[E] Pl. of Fakir, _i.e._ a poor religious mendicant--one who
has renounced the world.
[F] Pl. of Sayid, _i.e._ a master.