FATHER OHRWALDER'S VIEWS OF GORDON'S MISSION.
Ohrwalder describes his treatment at the hands of various
masters--The Nubas surrender and afterwards desert--News from
Khartum--The capture of the English mail--Its arrival at the
Mahdi's camp--The Mahdi decides to advance on Khartum--Brief review
of events in Khartum and Berber--Ohrwalder's views on Gordon's
mission--The Mahdi sets out for Khartum--Mohammed Ali Pasha's
defeat and death--Colonel Stewart, Mr. Power, and others leave
Khartum in ss. "Abbas"--Description of their wreck and treacherous
murder.
The war with Jebel Dair dragged on a long time; the Nubas fought with
desperate courage. I used to hear of their bravery from the Dervishes
who frequented my master's house. After about a month my master was sent
to Birket, where he was ordered to collect the Arabs and send them on to
Rahad. At this place he practised unprecedented cruelty. A man found
drinking marissa he ordered to be flogged with eighty lashes, until the
poor victim's bowels fell out. During his absence I was sent back to my
old master, Sheikh Idris, where I continued to lead a wretched
existence, eating out of the horses' nose-bag and quenching my thirst
from the share of water which was allotted to the animals. The ground
was my bed, the sky my roof.
Every morning when I got up I had to shake off the scorpions from my
clothes, into which they had crept during the night. It is curious that
the sting of these animals, which at other times was always most
painful, caused me little trouble or irritation. The filth in the camp,
owing to the entire absence of all sanitary rules, caused the flies to
increase prodigiously; eating during the daytime was impossible, for
one would have eaten as many flies as food.
I still suffered threats and insults here as in other places, and many a
time did I intentionally put my head in danger in the hope that death
would release me from these savages. Sheikh Idris was annoyed at my
ill-treatment, but what could one man do with these hordes of fanatics?
One day after a review I was asked by Idris to have breakfast with him
in his hut; after breakfast he began to talk confidentially with me, and
said that the Prophet Mohammed had expressly forbidden the ill-treatment
of priests and hermits. He then said that Egypt had lost the Sudan, and
that Gordon would not be able to withstand the Mahdi; most of the fikis
and sheikhs had already submitted to the Mahdi, and the Sudan was in
their hands. When I pointed out the great difficulties he would have in
traversing the deserts to Wadi Halfa, he remarked that the Mahdi's
undertaking was not likely to be hindered by the death of a few thousand
men? I then argued that it was most unlikely that the white Moslems
would ever accept a black Mahdi; and that, moreover, according to the
traditions, the Mahdi would appear in Mecca. He replied, "God is the
Lord of all," by which he meant to say that God can make a black Mahdi.
We had a long conversation about the Mahdi, and it seemed to me that
Sheikh Idris did not believe in him, but had merely joined him in the
hope of gain and rewards. Idris also added, "By what right should we be
ruled by the Turks? can we not govern ourselves?" If there had been many
more sensible and enlightened men like Sheikh Idris, it is probable that
Mahdiism would have taken a very different form; but Idris was an
exception--most of the principal emirs were uneducated and ignorant
savages. It was God's will that this Idris should fall later on in the
battle of Argin in 1889, fighting against Wodehouse Pasha.
A few days after this conversation, my original master, Abdullah Wad en
Nur, arrived from Jebel Dair to obtain the Mahdi's instructions as to
the future conduct of the war. The Mahdi presented him with a very good
horse. Khalifa Abdullah asked him what he intended to do with me, and
advised him that when he again went to the Nuba country he should take
me with him and put me in the front so that the Nubas might kill me.
Sheikh Idris told me this, and Khalil Hassanein, Roversi's old clerk,
who had obtained a good place in the beit el mal, brought me three
dollars for the journey. I was delighted with the idea of a change, for
I could not have been worse off than I was at Rahad.
At first I was handed over to a fiki, who bothered me with his useless
and nonsensical talk; his name was Mahmud, and he came from Tuti Island,
near Khartum; he joined the Mahdi after Hicks's defeat, and brought a
donkey and a few dollars with him. The first thing he did was to sell
his donkey and purchase a concubine, but in two days the latter purchase
ran away, so he lost both his donkey and his money. He then joined the
Khalifa Abdullah, who recommended him to Idris as a good man to instruct
me in the right way; but instead of convincing me of the Mahdi's
divinity, I very soon convinced him of the reverse, and it was by no
means difficult to do so; the fiki used frequently to go to the beit el
mal to try and get a concubine, but no one took the smallest notice of
him. On the other hand he used constantly to see the numerous concubines
of Idris, who was rich, while he was but a poor man. From this I made
him understand that the chiefs of Mahdieh sought only how they could
best gain riches and honour at the expense of their poorer brethren.
Soon afterwards he fell sick at Rahad, and there was no one to look
after him or care for him; I knew that in his heart he had had quite
enough of the Mahdi, but he was ashamed to acknowledge it before me. One
night, not hearing his voice in the miserable hut which had been given
to him, I looked in and found him lying stretched out dead on the
ground. I felt sorry for the poor creature who had died away from his
own home.
Another reason which made me glad to go away to Dair, was that I was
ill and suffering much from my old complaint, which forced me to
frequently retire outside the camp amidst the jeers of the Arabs; but
suddenly the ray of hope which had come to me with the thought of a
change to the mountain, was as suddenly extinguished, for it transpired
that Idris had arranged with Abdullah, without my knowledge, to leave me
at Rahad.
The war against the Nubas was continued, and from Rahad I could see the
columns of smoke ascending, showing where the villages had been burnt by
these cruel Dervishes. At length these poor but brave mountaineers,
overwhelmed by superior numbers, became discouraged, and agreed to
submit on condition that they should remain free, and be allowed to live
in their mountains. The Mahdi approved, for the Dervishes were quite
worn out with their long and bloody war. The brave inhabitants descended
from their hills--men, women, and children--in astonishing numbers, and
established themselves at the foot of the mountain, and near the Dervish
camp, while Mek Kumbo and the principal chiefs went to the Mahdi to take
the Bea'a (oath of allegiance).
There was now great rejoicing. The Mahdi received them kindly, gave them
presents, and handed back to them those who still remained in the beit
el mal; but before they left his presence he ordered them and their
wives and children to follow him to the White Nile. This was quite
contrary to the agreement made between them, but the Mahdi cared little
about honour and keeping his word, his main object was to attain his
point by any fraud or deception he could practise. The Nubas promised to
do so, and went back to their camp; but on talking to their people, they
agreed to escape during the night, preferring rather to starve in the
caves and recesses of their own mountains, than to leave their native
country. Like one man, they rose and fled to the hills, and the fight
was once more renewed. Many of them fought with the most stubborn
desperation; several were killed, but the Dervish loss was also very
heavy. The Nubas retired into the inmost recesses of the hills, where
the enemy could not possibly follow them. On one occasion the Dervishes
all but captured Mek Kumbo; his horse and lance fell into their hands,
but he himself escaped.
At length, thoroughly exhausted by this tedious and interminable war,
they returned to Rahad; but heavy rain had fallen, the Khor was now a
rushing torrent, and here hundreds of Mahdiists were drowned--victims to
their rash fanaticism--for they believed that the Mahdi's power could
save them from the wild impetuous stream. Many of them crossed on
angaribs (native beds), to each post of which an inflated skin was
attached.
Towards the end of June, 1884, Slatin Bey arrived at Rahad. The Khalifa
Abdullah ordered the big war-drums to be beaten, and the whole of the
cavalry left the camp to meet him and escort him in. The Mahdi received
Slatin very kindly, and he was attached to Khalifa Abdullah's followers.
Abdullah delighted in collecting foreigners around him. One day Father
Bonomi and I were summoned by Abdullah to meet Slatin, and this gave me
a chance of meeting Father Bonomi, whom I had not seen for months.
It was about this time that Marietta Combotti, one of our black girls,
came from Khartum to Rahad. After Hicks's defeat we sent her to Khartum
to inform our people there about our condition and about the Mahdi's
power, and urged everyone to leave Khartum as soon as possible. We gave
her some letters which were sewn into the end of a mat. Consul Hansal
had assisted Combotti in every way, and had given her several things for
us, such as clothes, money, and medicines. She had suffered greatly on
the journey, had been put in chains, and all she had succeeded in saving
was her money. She had been away seven months.
Amongst other things Consul Hansal sent us a photograph of our new and
highly-honoured bishop, Monsignor Imbrien, of the Tyrol. Marietta also
brought a letter from the consul to me describing the condition of
Khartum, and the defeat of Baker Pasha, about which we had heard
nothing. The consul further added: "We hope that the English will
energetically push forward into the Sudan, or we shall be lost. Our
condition is desperate." This letter was dated early in January, 1884.
Hansal also sent us the _Tyroler Volksblatt_ newspaper, published in
Posen, and in it I was surprised to read an account of my own death. The
paper said I had been captured by the Mahdiists, and had died of fatigue
and ill-treatment. So my friends believed I was dead! and, indeed, I
felt then that death could not be far distant. My complaint was worse
than ever, and I was suffering from scurvy as well. We did indeed feel
grateful to the unfortunate Hansal who had done all he could to
alleviate our distress; but God has disposed otherwise. How I wish poor
Hansal had taken our advice and gone home.
The state of moral darkness in which we lived, the constant insults,
being gazed upon by such multitudes, being at the mercy and sport of
these savages, just as if one were a monkey or other curious animal, all
had a dulling effect on one's spiritual nature, and I felt that I must
be losing my mind; but yet in all these trials and afflictions God did
not leave us. Again a ray of hope shone through the obscurity.
We had already heard something about English troops, but the information
was very vague. One of the Mahdi's messengers, who took the Mahdi's
answer back to Gordon in Khartum, told me that Gordon had received him
well, had given him some bakshish, not like the God-forsaken Mohammed
Said Pasha, who had executed the Mahdi's messengers; but, prior to his
departure, Gordon had warned him in the following words:--"Go, tell the
Mahdi that I have only to stamp my feet on the ground, and thousands of
Englishmen will at once spring up." I believed this story, for I did not
think the messenger was clever enough to invent it; besides, I felt sure
that Gordon must have known quite well that he alone was utterly unable
to extinguish the fire of this gigantic revolt. But at length all these
reports were fully confirmed.
It was Friday. The Khalifas were out on parade, when two camels,
carrying an English mail, arrived. Khalifa Abdullah at once left the
review, and sent for Klootz to read the letters. Klootz came at once to
me and said that an entire English mail for Gordon had been captured
near Omdurman. It was clear from several letters that English troops
were advancing into the Sudan from three directions; that is to say,
from Suakin to Berber, from Korosko to Abu Hamed, and from Dongola,
where there were 20,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry. There was a
telegram from Cairo to Assuan announcing General Graham's advance; a
touching little letter from a young girl to her father in Khartum, whose
name I forget. In this letter she told of the alarm she felt for her
father's safety, and how she prayed daily that her father might not meet
the same fate as General Hicks. In another letter Gordon was informed
that £60,000 had been sent to him.
All these letters had been sent from Berber to General Gordon by Joseph
Cuzzi, who had written a letter to Gordon to that effect in Italian. One
letter said that it was well known that the Khalifa Abdullah was the
moving spirit of the revolt, and that the Mahdi merely supplied the
religious element; but Klootz did not translate this in the Mahdi's
presence. When the latter got up to go, Klootz translated this sentence
to the Khalifa Abdullah, who was delighted with this flattering remark.
Cuzzi's Italian letter was concealed by Klootz, who afterwards brought
it to me. In this letter Cuzzi briefly informed General Gordon that he
was forwarding the letters; that he had sent a messenger to Sawakin to
come to an understanding with General Graham, and that the rebels at Abu
Hamed had seized a number of the Government boats. He added that Gordon
should have no anxiety about Berber, as long as Hussein Pasha Khalifa
was Mudir. But in this matter he proved to have been completely
deceived.
The general import of all these letters convinced the Mahdi that the
English were in earnest. He therefore decided to take no action for a
time, and to remove the camp to the foot of the mountain, where it was
his intention to await their advance.
But soon after came the news that Berber had fallen, and that General
Graham had returned to Sawakin, and this decided the Mahdi to advance on
Khartum.
The Nubas now began to give some difficulty. No sooner had the Dervishes
abandoned their camp at the foot of the mountain, than the Nubas
rendered all roads in the vicinity of Rahad, and for a considerable
distance, unsafe. Slaves going out to gather wood or straw were suddenly
swooped down upon by these bold mountaineers, who killed or captured
them. In this way they revenged the cruelties which they had suffered.
The Mahdi was quite unable to subdue these blacks, and his failure to do
so was a great blow to his pride.
I may here remark that at this period of the Mahdieh religion, violation
of moral laws was very severely punished. One of the Mahdi's bodyguard
caught _in flagrante_ in the practice of a species of immorality by no
means uncommon in Eastern countries, both culprits were led out in
chains and beheaded in the presence of the assembled multitudes.
Before following the Mahdi on his march to Khartum, it is advisable here
to take a brief review of the events which had occurred in Khartum,
Berber, and the Gezireh.
The catastrophe which had overtaken General Hicks's force filled the
inhabitants of Khartum with indescribable dismay. Several of them
returned to Egypt, and the members of the Austrian Mission, with their
blacks, quitted Khartum on the 11th of December, 1883. Fortunate were
those who seized this chance of escape before the roads became blocked!
General Gordon's arrival in Khartum gave fresh life and hope to the
inhabitants. Great were the rejoicings, and a magnificent reception was
prepared for the long-expected deliverer. This reception took place on
the 18th of February, 1884, and must have greatly encouraged General
Gordon in his undertaking; but it was not Gordon's individual presence
which so greatly inspired the people. What could Gordon do alone,
against the now universally worshipped Mahdi? The nature of the revolt
was not political; the Sudanese had no intention of establishing an
empire under the Mahdi's rule, and, even had this been the case, it is
very improbable that Gordon's mediation would have been of any avail.
[Illustration: THE GOLD MEDAL STRUCK BY GORDON TO COMMEMORATE THE SIEGE
OF KHARTUM.]
The movement was a religious movement, and was not limited to the Sudan
alone; the Mahdi's intention was to subdue the world. He was a prophet,
and in his own and the estimation of his followers he was a greater man
than the Prophet Mohammed. The world was to come to an end in his time.
Had Gordon only known beforehand how boundless was the wild fanaticism,
and how completely the Mahdi's followers were intoxicated by it, he
would never have accepted the mission. As it appeared to us in Kordofan,
and to the Mahdi himself, Gordon's undertaking was very strange; it was
just as if a man were attempting to put out an enormous fire with a drop
of water. Gordon's name alone could not suppress the revolt, and it was
not on account of his name that the Khartum people rejoiced at his
arrival; it was because they looked on Gordon as an English
representative, and that he was only the precursor of an English
expedition sent to take possession of the Sudan for England. That is
what made the people glad, and caused them to put aside all idea of
departure. Had they not been certain that an English expedition was
coming, not a soul would have remained in Khartum, and I have no
hesitation in saying that had the Egyptian Government not sent Gordon,
then undoubtedly the evacuation originally ordered could have been
carried out without difficulty.
Those who escaped massacre in Khartum have often told me that they were
perfectly ready to leave, and it was only Gordon's arrival that kept
them back; but Gordon's arrival without troops had rather disappointed
them. Had he been accompanied by five hundred British bayonets, his
reputation in the Sudan might have been maintained, and probably the
Mahdi would never have left Kordofan.
Gordon himself committed a mistake, by which he gave a death-blow to
himself and his mission. On his way to Khartum he stopped at Berber and
interviewed the Mudir Hussein Pasha Khalifa; he imprudently told him
that he had come up to remove the Egyptian garrisons, as Egypt had
abandoned the Sudan. At Metemmeh also--a strong place between Berber and
Khartum, and the headquarters of the powerful Jaalin tribe--he committed
a similar imprudence, by giving the same information to Haj Ali Wad
Saad, the emir of Metemmeh.
This Haj Ali was a man held in great respect, on account of his just
dealings, and afterwards, when he died in Omdurman, there was public
mourning for him. The fact, indeed, that the Khalifa had pardoned him
after "marissa" had been found in his house, sufficiently indicates how
greatly he was respected. Both Haj Ali and Hussein Pasha Khalifa
informed all their principal people about the decision of the
Government, and it was this announcement that made these faithful
sheikhs, who were then trembling in the balance, throw in their lot
with the Mahdi. Why should they remain loyal to a Government which had
decided to give up their land? Had they remained faithful, what had they
to expect when the Mahdi prevailed? It was this announcement of Gordon's
which was the main cause of the fall of Berber, which place was
essential for Gordon's plan of operations.
Haj Ali, shortly before his death, and when in great suffering, reviewed
the misery which the Mahdi had brought upon the Sudan, and the part he
himself had taken in it, and he then said that it was nothing but the
knowledge of the intention of the Government to abandon the Sudan which
made him join the Mahdi. "How," he said, "could I have remained loyal to
a Government which I knew intended to leave me in the lurch afterwards?
I would only have been paving the way for the Mahdi's vengeance."
At the time Haj Ali said this he was in doubt about the Divine nature of
the Mahdi, and spoke openly to people on these matters. "But," he added,
"at that time every one thought only of himself. Gordon thought only how
he could save himself and the Egyptians, and we thought how we could
save ourselves and avert the Mahdi's vengeance by taking his part; so we
went to Berber, joined with the Ababdeh, besieged and took the town, and
then cut Gordon's communications with Egypt."
Gordon was soon destined to see with his own eyes what a fatal mistake
he had made, but only when it was too late.
No notice was taken of Gordon's peaceful proclamations; the revolt was
now widespread, and masses of fanatical Dervishes were gradually
encircling Khartum. Mohammed Wad el Besir, the sheikh El Obeid--a man
held in great respect in the Gezireh--his sons, and the Fiki Medawi
advanced on the town from the south. On the 16th of March, 1884,
Gordon's troops were heavily defeated, and their leaders were executed
by Gordon for treachery.
Another blow fell on Gordon by the surrender, at Fedasi, of Saleh Wad
el Mek, with 1,400 men, to the emir Abu Girgeh. Still Gordon did not
despair of success, and it was his individuality which inspired the
inhabitants of Khartum with hope.
Saleh Wad el Mek's surrender greatly encouraged the Dervishes. Rebels
were also gathering to the north of Khartum. The Jaalin of Metemmeh and
the Ababdeh, as I previously stated, prepared to attack Berber. Hussein
Pasha Khalifa, Sheikh of the Ababdeh, who had been Mudir there since the
18th of December, 1883, remained faithful to the Government, but his
subordinates paid no attention to him; and it was largely due to the
influence of these officials that numbers of local sheikhs joined the
Mahdi.
The Ababdeh, Barabra, and Jaalin, under the supreme command of Mohammed
el Kheir, now besieged Berber. Eight days later the town was taken by
storm, and most of the garrison and a number of inhabitants were
massacred. Joseph Cuzzi had attempted to escape, but he was caught and
sent to Khartum to endeavour to induce Gordon to surrender. He was
subsequently sent on to the Mahdi at Rahad.
Gordon's communications with the north were now cut. After Saleh Pasha's
surrender, the number of besieging Dervishes increased greatly, and Abu
Girgeh growing bolder, seized the village of Buri, where he built a fort
and began to shell the town. Gordon therefore, on the 2nd of May, sent
out a considerable force, which attacked Abu Girgeh, drove him out of
his position, and all but succeeded in capturing him. Thus did Gordon,
although hemmed in on all sides, maintain a bold front, and employed
every art of war to keep the Dervishes from investing the town more
closely.
To return now to the Mahdi at Rahad. He was at this time in full
preparation for departure to the siege of Khartum, and, as usual, he
despatched Abu Anga, Wad Nejumi, Wad En Nur, and Wad Gubara, with all
his best troops in advance. As I have previously related, Cuzzi, who
arrived at Rahad at the end of June, had been previously sent by the
Dervishes to Khartum to try and induce Gordon to surrender, and Gordon
had given strict orders that he should not be permitted within the
walls. When, therefore, he arrived at Rahad, the Mahdi received him very
well, loaded him with presents, and then sent him back with George
Clementino to Khartum as bearer of letters to Gordon. He arrived at the
Dervish camp at the same time as Nejumi. Clementino was permitted to
converse with the Greek consul, Leontides, but Cuzzi returned to Berber.
The Mahdi passed the month of Ramadan in Rahad, and it was not until the
8th of August that he set out for Khartum. The whole population, like a
swarm of bees, accompanied him on the same road which Hicks had taken.
The people joyfully undertook this long journey through pathless
districts, and at a time when the rainfall was heaviest. Camels, too,
were expensive and difficult to procure; but, in spite of all these
obstacles, fanaticism was more pronounced than ever. There were in all
upwards of 200,000 people, and at Shirkeleh the cavalry numbered 4,000.
To defeat such an enormous force as this, a European expedition was
necessary, not the weak force at Gordon's disposal.
Throughout the entire route fresh cavalry joined, whilst the herds of
cattle which the Arabs drove along served as food, and meat was then
cheap enough. Numbers of animals died during the march, and the road was
plainly marked by an unbroken line of dead camels, donkeys, horses, and
oxen. The route lay from Shirkeleh to Shatt, and thence to Duem. Here a
halt was called for a few days to collect stragglers. All notion of
working in the fields was abandoned, and agricultural pursuits were
entirely dispensed with. Thus it happened that on the Mahdi's arrival at
Omdurman the Dervishes were in great want of grain.
The Mahdi arrived at Omdurman on the 23rd of October, 1884, but the
whole of the stragglers did not reach it till early in November.
Everything had been prepared. Gordon was surrounded by numerous enemies,
still he did not despair.
In August both Niles had risen considerably; the Blue Nile had arrived
almost at its full height, while the White Nile had overflowed its low
bank, and now swept past Fort Mukran and the houses in Khartum. So high
was it, that a dam had to be constructed to keep the water within
bounds. At high Nile the White river is very broad; and at a later date,
when I crossed over from Omdurman to the roughly built fort which has
long since been destroyed, I was sea-sick. But as the river fell it left
the ditch full of mud, and this proved a source of great danger. When
the river was high, Gordon made several successful counter-attacks.
Mohammed Ali Pasha went up the Blue Nile to a place near Gereif, and on
the 30th of August fell upon the Arabs, utterly defeating them. This
brave leader also attacked the old Sheikh El Obeid at Halfaya, and
captured a quantity of dhurra and cattle. Khartum breathed once more,
and it seemed as if all would be well; the bands played in the evening,
and the town was full of joy, which, alas, was soon to be turned to
sadness.
Mohammed Ali Pasha, emboldened by his late successes, advanced again on
the Sheikh El Obeid, whom he defeated near El Eilafun; but, advancing
into the desert to renew the attack on the 4th of September, he and
upwards of 800 of his troops fell into an ambush and were slaughtered.
This proved a very severe blow to Gordon, and Khartum being now closely
invested, he decided to send a steamer north to communicate with the
Government, and give them full information of the state of affairs.
As the Nile was now high, it was thought the small steamer _Abbas_ would
be able to make her way safely to Dongola. The _Abbas_ left Khartum on
the 10th of September, and was accompanied by two other steamers towing
boats, in one of which were a number of Greek, and in the other Syrian
merchants. These steamers ran the gauntlet of shot and shell till past
Berber. When a short way beyond that town, the steamers _Mansureh_ and
_Safia_ turned back, and reached Khartum only with the greatest
difficulty, being fired upon throughout almost the entire distance. The
_Abbas_ continued her journey north, and drew up for the night at a
small island. The two boats which had been cast off when the other
steamers left, now passed the _Abbas_, but were driven on to some rocks
by the wind, and here they had to stop for the night to repair. The next
morning the _Abbas_ passed them, and Colonel Stewart urged them to push
forward. The Greek boat started, but it was some time before the Syrians
could set sail; and again they were driven on to the rocks, where they
remained firmly fixed.
In the meantime the Dervishes at Berber, who had gained possession of
the steamer _El Fasher_ when the town fell into their hands, at once
sent her off in pursuit, together with two large sailing boats. The
_Fasher_ soon came up with the wrecked Syrian boat, which now made a
sign of truce, was boarded and taken possession of. The Dervishes,
having obtained all information, left one of their boats in charge of
their capture, and then pursued the Greek boat, with which they soon
came up, and, having secured her, the _Fasher_ continued her pursuit of
the _Abbas_. She proceeded almost as far as Abu Hamed, but here the
captain refused to take her any further, as he feared running her on to
a rock. So she returned to Berber with her captured boats, in which
there were in all twelve Greeks and fifteen Syrians. Of the latter,
eight were males, five females, and two children.
The steamer _Abbas_, after passing Abu Hamed, entered the Wadi Gamr
cataracts, which are very rocky and dangerous, and here she struck on a
rock near the village of Hebbeh, the inhabitants of which belong to the
Monasir tribe. Colonel Stewart had the baggage disembarked on an island,
on which the travellers now took up their abode until the expected Greek
and Syrian boats should arrive; but, after waiting two days, Stewart
sent his interpreter, Hassan Husni, with Mohammed Hilmi Gorab and the
captain, ashore, with instructions to see the sheikhs, and, by the offer
of presents and the promise of a good reward from the Government, to
induce them to supply camels to enable the shipwrecked party to continue
their journey to Dongola.
These messengers were well received by Sheikh Suleiman Wad Naaman, and
neither he nor his people were wearing jibbehs; they asserted that they
were thoroughly loyal to the Government, and added that it was only the
arrival of Sheikh Heddai that had made them pretend to be against the
Government. Suleiman said that he would assist the shipwrecked
passengers with the greatest pleasure, and so well did he conceal his
wicked treachery that the messengers returned to Stewart greatly elated
with their success. But in the meantime Suleiman had prepared a
treacherous trap, into which the over-confident passengers blindly fell.
He sent secret orders to all the people round about to prepare for a
fight, and then drove some camels along the river bank, to show that he
was preparing for the journey. Colonel Stewart ordered all the spare
ammunition to be thrown into the river, and then landed with the other
passengers.
Suleiman invited him and the consuls, Power and Herbin, to go into his
house, so as to make final arrangements with the camel-owners, and at
the same time he begged them to remove their arms, as the Arabs might
get alarmed and make difficulties about hiring their camels. An
artillery captain who was with Stewart begged him not to let go his
arms, as there might be treachery; but Stewart laughed at his fears, and
he, with the two consuls and the interpreter, entered the house, while
the others remained outside; they still retained their revolvers.
Suleiman begged them to be seated, and proceeded to present to them a
number of Arabs, who, he asserted, were the camel-owners.
The traitor had dates brought to them, and, so as not to offend him,
they took some. Then Suleiman stood up and lifted his leather
water-bottle, which was the prearranged signal for the Arabs to rush out
of their hiding-places and attack the guests. In a second the house was
full of armed men, who called upon them to throw down their revolvers
and submit; but before they had even time to do this, the Arabs rushed
upon them with their swords. Consul Herbin, who was standing near the
door, was the first to fall; his head was chopped off with an axe.
Consul Power and Colonel Stewart were soon cut to pieces. The
interpreter, Hassan, begged to be spared, crying out, "I am a Moslem! I
am a Moslem, and my name is Hassan!" So he was not killed, but received
a wound in the shoulder. The murderers then rushed off to the river bank
to attack the others, who were soon killed, except two artillerymen, who
jumped into the river, and a few servants. It was said that the
interpreter, Hassan, had arranged the betrayal, and I was afterwards
told that when he got into difficulties later, he sent a petition to
Mohammed el Kheir, in which he said that he was entitled to reward for
having secured Colonel Stewart's death. He is still living in Omdurman.
Suleiman sent all the correspondence he captured to the Mahdi, who thus
became thoroughly aware of Gordon's desperate condition. On the 22nd of
October he wrote to Gordon, informing him of the event, and summoned him
to submit, as he had no hope of receiving any relief.
This catastrophe was another terrible blow to Gordon. He had counted on
Stewart being able to inform the Government of the straits to which
Khartum was reduced, and the necessity of sending immediate help. The
state of Khartum now became very serious. Nejumi and the other forces
were clustering round Kalakala; there was daily fighting, and bullets
fell in the streets of Khartum. There were upwards of 10,000 Dervishes,
extending from Kalakala to Buri. Wad Gubara and Wad Sheikh el Obeid had
their camp at Khojali, on the right bank of the Nile, to the north. Thus
was Khartum surrounded by hordes of fanatical Arabs, who attacked the
starved and forsaken town from morning till night.