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ISMAILIA.
A NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION
TO CENTRAL AFRICA FOR
THE SUPPRESSION OF THE SLAVE TRADE
ORGANIZED BY
ISMAIL,
KHEDIVE OF EGYPT.
by SIR SAMUEL W. BAKER, PACHA, M.A., F.R.S., F.R.G.S.,
Major-General of the Ottoman Empire, Member of the Orders of the Osmanie
and the Medjidie, late Governor-General of the Equatorial Nile Basin,
Gold Medallist of the Royal Geographical Society, Grande Medaille d'Or
de la Societe de Geographie de Paris, Honorary Member of the
Geographical Societies of Paris, Berlin, Italy, and America, Author of
"The Albert N'yanza Great Basin of the Nile," "The Nile Tributaries of
Abyssinia," "Eight Years' Wanderings in Ceylon," "The Rifle and Hound in
Ceylon," etc. etc
Contents.
Chap.
I. Introductory
II. English Party
III. The Retreat
IV. The Camp at Tewfikeeyah
V. Exploration of the Old White Nile
VI. The Start
VII. Arrival at Gondokoro
VIII. Official Annexation
IX. New Enemies
X. Destruction of the Shir Detachment
XI. Spirit of Disaffection
XII. Vessels Return to Khartoum
XIII. Moral Results of the Hunt
XIV. The Advance South
XV. The Advance to Lobore
XVI. Arrival at Patiko
XVII. The March to Unyoro
XVIII. March to Masindi
XIX. Restoration of the Liberated Slaves
XX. Establish Commerce
XXI. Treachery
XXII. The March to Rionga
XXIII. Build a Stockade at Foweera
XXIV. No Medical Men
XXV. I Send to Godokoro for Reinforcements
XXVI. Arrival of M'Tese's Envoys
XXVII. CONCLUSION
Appendix
Index
PREFACE.
An interval of five years has elapsed since the termination of my
engagement in the service of His Highness the Khedive of
Egypt, "to suppress the slave-hunters of Central Africa, and to
annex the countries constituting the Nile Basin, with the object
of opening those savage regions to legitimate commerce and
establishing a permanent government."
This volume--"Ismailia"--gives an accurate description of the salient
points of the expedition. My thanks are due to the public for the kind
reception of the work, and for the general appreciation of the spirit
which prompted me to undertake a mission so utterly opposed to the
Egyptian ideas of 1869-1873; at a time when no Englishman had held a
high command, when rival consulates were struggling for paramount
influence, when the native officials were jealous of foreign
interference, and it appeared that slavery and the slave trade of the
White Nile were institutions almost necessary to the existence of
Egyptian society.
It was obvious to all observers that an attack upon the slave-dealing
and slave-hunting establishments of Egypt by a foreigner--an
Englishman--would be equal to a raid upon a hornets' nest, that all
efforts to suppress the old-established traffic in negro slaves would be
encountered with a determined opposition, and that the prime agent and
leader of such an expedition must be regarded "with hatred, malice, and
all uncharitableness." At that period (1869) the highest authorities
were adverse to the attempt. An official notice was despatched from the
British Foreign Office to the Consul-General of Egypt that British
subjects belonging to Sir Samuel Baker's expedition must not expect the
support of their government in the event of complications. The
enterprise was generally regarded as chimerical in Europe, with
hostility in Egypt, but with sympathy in America.
Those who have read "Ismailia" may have felt some despondency. Although
the slave-hunters were driven out of the territory under my command,
there were nevertheless vast tracts of country through which new routes
could be opened for the slave caravans to avoid the cruising steamers on
the White Nile, and thus defeat the government. The Sultan of Darfur
offered an asylum and a secure passage for all slaves and their captors
who could no longer venture within the new boundaries of Egypt. It was
evident that the result of the expedition under my command was a
death-blow to the slave trade, if the Khedive was determined to persist
in its destruction. I had simply achieved the success of a foundation
for a radical reform in the so-called commerce of the White Nile. The
government had been established throughout the newly-acquired
territories, which were occupied by military positions garrisoned with
regular troops, and all those districts were absolutely purged from the
slave-hunters. In this condition I resigned my command, as the first act
was accomplished. The future would depend upon the sincerity of the
Khedive, and upon the ability and integrity of my successor.
It pleased many people and some members of the press in England to
disbelieve the sincerity of the Khedive. He was accused of annexation
under the pretext of suppressing the vast organization of the White Nile
slave-trade. It was freely stated that an Englishman was placed in
command because an Egyptian could not be relied upon to succeed, but
that the greed of new territory was the actual and sole object of the
expedition, and that the slave-trade would reappear in stupendous
activity when the English personal influence should be withdrawn. Such
unsympathetic expressions must have been a poor reward to the Khedive
for his efforts to win the esteem of the civilized world by the
destruction of the slave-trade in his own dominions.
Few persons have considered the position of the Egyptian ruler when
attacking the institution most cherished by his people. The employment
of an European to overthrow the slave-trade in deference to the opinion
of the civilized world was a direct challenge and attack upon the
assumed rights and necessities of his own subjects. The magnitude of the
operation cannot be understood by the general public in Europe. Every
household in Upper Egypt and in the Delta was dependent upon slave
service; the fields in the Soudan were cultivated by slaves; the women
in the harems of both rich and middle class were attended by slaves; the
poorer Arab woman's ambition was to possess a slave; in fact, Egyptian
society without slaves would be like a carriage devoid of wheels--it
could not proceed.
The slaves were generally well treated by their owners; the brutality
lay in their capture, with the attendant lawlessness and murders; but
that was far away, and the slave proprietors of Egypt had not witnessed
the miseries of the weary marches of the distant caravans. They
purchased slaves, taught them their duties, fed and clothed them--they
were happy; why should the Khedive of Egypt prohibit the traffic and
thus disturb every household in his territory?
There is no Hyde Park or Trafalgar Square in Egypt, there are no
agitators nor open-air meetings, fortunately for the modern ruler, or he
would have had an unpleasant expression of the popular sentiment at the
close of my administration. The break-up of the White Nile slave-trade
involved the depression of trade in Khartoum, as the market had supplied
the large bands of slave-hunters. The ivory of the numerous adventurers
still remained in the White Nile stations, as they feared confiscation
should their vessels be captured with the ever accompanying slave cargo.
Thus little ivory arrived at Khartoum to meet the debts of the traders
to the merchants in Cairo and Alexandria. These owed Manchester and
Liverpool for calicoes supplied, which had been forwarded to the Soudan.
The direct blow at the White Nile slave-trade was an indirect attack
upon the commerce of the country, which was inseparably connected with
the demand of the Soudan employers of brigands.
This slight outline of the situation will exhibit the difficulties of
the Khedive in his thankless and Herculean task of cleansing the Augean
stables. He incurred the wrath of general discontent; his own officials
accused him of deserting the Mahommedan cause for the sake of European
Kudos, and while he sacrificed his popularity in Egypt, his policy was
misconstrued by the powers he had sought to gratify. He was accused of
civilizing "through the medium of fire and sword" by the same English
journals which are now extolling the prowess of the British arms in
Caffraria and the newly-annexed Transvaal!
In this equivocal position it would have been natural either to have
abandoned the enterprise at the termination of my own engagement, or to
have placed a Mahommedan officer in charge of the new provinces. Instead
of this, His Highness adhered most strictly to his original
determination, and to prove his sincerity he entrusted the command to an
English officer of high reputation, not only for military capacity, but
for a peculiar attribute of self-sacrifice and devotion. Colonel C. E.
Gordon, R.E., C.B., was appointed Governor-General of the Soudan and
equatorial districts, with supreme power.
This appointment extinguished the delusions which had been nourished by
the Soudan authorities, "that at the expiration of Baker Pacha's rule
the good old times of slavery and lawlessness would return." There was
no longer any hope; the slave-trade was suppressed, and the foundation
was laid for the introduction of European ideas and civilization. It
will now be interesting to trace an outline of the advance of Egypt
during the last five years.
The main difficulty in my original enterprise was the obstruction of the
White Nile by the accumulation of matted vegetation, which impeded
navigation, and actually closed the river. Upon arrival at Gondokoro,
after the tedious process of cutting through 50 miles of swamp and
vegetable matter, via the Bahr Giraffe, I had requested the
Khedive to issue an order that the Governor of Khartoum should
immediately commence the great work of re-opening the White Nile.
His Highness without delay forwarded the necessary instructions, and in
two years the work was completed by Ismail Ayoob Pacha, with the loss of
several vessels which had been overwhelmed by the sudden bursting of
vast masses of floating swamps and entangled reeds. It had been
necessary to commence operations below stream, to enable the blocks of
vegetation to escape when detached by cutting from the main body.
The White Nile was restored to navigation a few months after my return
to England, and was clear for large vessels by the time that Colonel
Gordon arrived in Khartoum.
I had originally sent up six steamers from Cairo to ply between Khartoum
and Gondokoro; these had been simply employed as far as Fashoda station,
but as the Nile was now open, they at once established a rapid and
regular communication with the equatorial provinces. The terrible
difficulty had vanished, and Gondokoro was linked with the outer world
from which it had been excluded. The appliances which had been prepared
with much care could now be utilized. With the river open, supplies and
reinforcements could be immediately forwarded, and the ivory which had
accumulated in the government stations could be brought to market. In
addition to the physical advantages of restored communication, a great
moral change was effected throughout the officers and troops; they felt
no longer banished from the world, but accepted their position as
garrisons in Egyptian territory.
At Gondokoro I had constructed a steel steamer of 108 tons, and I had
left ready packed for land transport a steamer of the same metal 38
tons, in addition to two steel life-boats of each 10 tons, for
conveyance to the Albert N'yanza. At Khartoum I had left in sections a
steamer of 251 tons. All these vessels had been brought from England and
conveyed with incredible trouble upon camels across the deserts to
Khartoum.
Before my arrival in the Soudan the entire river force of steamers upon
the Blue and White Niles was represented by four very inferior vessels.
I had added six from Cairo, and built a seventh; thus I left a force of
eleven steamers working on the river, exclusive of two in sections.
The stations garrisoned by regular troops were--
1. Gondokoro, N. lat. 4 degrees 54 minutes.
2. Fatiko, N. lat. 3 degrees 2 minutes.
3. Foweera, N. lat. 2 degrees 6 minutes.
4. Fabbo, N. lat. 3 degrees 8 minutes.
By the newly-raised irregulars--
5. Farragenia.
6. Faloro.
In this position of affairs Colonel Gordon succeeded to the command in
the spring of 1874. Although the Bari tribe, which had been subdued, was
nominally at peace, it was hardly safe to travel through the country
without an armed escort.
Colonel Gordon's first effort was in favour of conciliation, with the
hope of inspiring a friendly spirit among the chiefs. At the same time
he resolved to offer a chance for reform to the slave-hunter Abou Saood,
who he considered might amend his ways, and from his knowledge of the
people become a useful officer to the government. Unfortunately, the
leopard could not change his spots, and the man, to whom every
opportunity had been given, was dismissed and punished. It was
impossible to have discovered an officer more thoroughly qualified for
the command than Colonel Gordon. By profession a military engineer, he
combined the knowledge especially required for carrying on the
enterprise. He had extended the hand of friendship to the natives, but
when rejected with contempt and opposed by hostility, he was prompt in
chastisement. The wet seasons and attendant high flood of two years were
employed in dragging the 108-ton steel steamer up the various cataracts
which intervened between Gondokoro and Duflli (N. lat. 3 degrees 34
minutes). This portion of the river formed a series of steps caused by a
succession of cataracts at intervals of about 25 miles; between the
obstacles the stream was navigable. The natives of Moogi treacherously
attacked and killed the whole of a detachment, including the French
officer in command, during the absence of Colonel Gordon, who was
engaged in the operation of towing the steamer through the rapids only a
few miles distant. This open hostility necessitated the subjugation of
the tribe, and the establishment of a line of military posts along the
course of the river.
After much trouble, at the expiration of two years the steamer was
dragged to an utterly impassable series of cataracts south of Lobore.
This line of obstruction extended for the short distance of about twelve
miles, beyond which the river was navigable into the Albert N'yanza.
Several vessels had been towed up together with the steamer from
Gondokoro, and the 38-ton steel steamer and two life-boats which had
been thus conveyed, were now carried in sections to the spot above the
last cataracts at Duffli, where they could be permanently reconstructed.
Signor Gessi was entrusted with the command of the two life-boats upon
their completion, and had the honour of first entering the Albert
N'yanza from the north by the river Nile.
The 38-ton steamer was put together, and the 108-ton (Khedive), which
had been left a few miles distant from Duffli, below the cataracts, was
taken to pieces and reconstructed on the navigable portion of the Nile
in N. lat. 3 degrees 34 minutes.
The plan of connecting the equatorial Lake Albert with Khartoum by steam
communication which I had originated, was now completed by the untiring
energy and patience of my successor. The large steamer of 251 tons was
put together at Khartoum, to add to the river flotilla, thus increasing
the steam power from four vessels, when I had arrived in 1870, to
THIRTEEN, which in 1877 were plying between the capital of the Soudan
and the equator. The names of Messrs. Samuda Brothers and Messrs. Penn
and Co. upon the three steel steamers and engines which they had
constructed for the expedition are now evidences of the civilizing power
of the naval and mechanical engineers of Great Britain, which has linked
with the great world countries that were hitherto excluded from all
intercourse.
There is still some mystery attached to the Albert N'yanza. It has been
circumnavigated by Signor Gessi, in the steel life-boats, and
subsequently by Colonel Mason of the American army, who was employed
under Colonel Gordon. Both of these officers agree that the southern end
of the lake is closed by a mass of "ambatch," and that a large river
reported as 400 yards in width flows INTO the Albert N'yanza. On the
other hand, the well-known African explorer Mr. Stanley visited the lake
SOUTH of the ambatch limit, to which he was guided by orders of the King
M'tese;. At that spot it was called the "M'woota N'zige;," the same name
which the lake bears throughout Unyoro, therefore there can be no
reasonable doubt that it is the same water. The description of the
ambatch block and the river flowing into the lake explains the
information that was given to me by native traders, who declared they
had come by canoe from Karagwe;, via the Albert N'yanza, but that
it would be difficult without a guide to discover the passage where the
lake was extremely narrow and the channel tortuous into the next broad
water.
Colonel Gordon has continued the amicable relations established by
myself with the Unyoro chief Rionga, and with M'tese;, King of Uganda.
The commercial aspect of the equatorial provinces is improving, but our
recent experience in South Africa must teach the most sanguine that very
many years must elapse before the negro tribes become amenable to the
customs and improvements of civilized communities.
The expedition of 1869 which His Highness the Khedive entrusted to my
command laid the foundation for reforms which at that time would have
appeared incredible in Egypt. The slave-trade has been suppressed
through the agency of British influence, persistently supported by the
Khedive; Darfur, the hot-bed of slave-hunting, has been conquered and
annexed; Colonel Gordon has the supreme command of the entire Soudan;
Malcolm Pacha is commissioned to sweep the slave traffic from the Red
Sea.
With this determination to adopt the ideas of Europe, the Khedive has
passed through the trying ordeal of unpopularity in his own country,
but, by a cool disregard for the hostility of the ignorant, he has
adhered to a policy which has gained him the esteem of all civilized
communities. He has witnessed the bloody struggle between Russia and
Turkey, and though compelled as a vassal state to render military
assistance to the Sultan, he has profited by the lesson, and has
determined by a wise reform to avoid the errors which have resulted in
anarchy and desolation throughout the Ottoman Empire.
In the year 1870 the slave-hunting of Central Africa was condemned.
Since that time Englishmen have been honoured with the special attention
of the Khedive, and have been appointed to posts of the highest
confidence. European tribunals were established in the place of consular
jurisdiction, British government officials have been invited to reform
the financial administration, and Mr. Rivers Wilson has been induced to
accept the responsible office of Minister of Finance. Nubar Pacha has
been recalled to office, and he must regard with pride the general
confidence occasioned throughout Europe by his reappointment. The
absolute despotism hitherto inseparable from Oriental ideas of
government has been spontaneously abrogated by the Khedive, who has
publicly announced his determination that the future administration
shall be conducted by a council of responsible ministers.
England has become the great shareholder in the Suez Canal, which is the
important link with our Indian Empire. At the alarm of war we have
already seen the fleet of steam transports hurrying through the isthmus,
and carrying native troops to join the British forces in the
Mediterranean. We have learnt to know, and the Khedive has wisdom to
understand, that the bonds between Egypt and Great Britain are
inseparable. At the same time we have been aided by the cordial alliance
of France in promoting the advance of free institutions and the growth
of European influence in the administration of the country. England and
France, who struggled in hostile rivalry upon the sands and seas of
Egypt, are now joined in the firm determination to uphold the integrity
of the great canal of Suez, and these powers and leaders of civilization
will become the guides and guardians of Egyptian interests. The reforms
already sanctioned with a new era of justice and economy will insure the
confidence of British capitalists; the resources of Egypt will be
developed by engineering skill that will control the impetuosity of the
Nile and protect the Delta alike from the scarcity of drought, and from
the risk of inundation. The Nile sources, which from the earliest times
had remained a mystery, have been discovered by the patience and
industry of Englishmen; the Nile will at no distant period be rendered
navigable throughout its course, and Egypt, which for actual existence
depends alone upon that mighty river, will be restored by British
enterprise, supported by the intelligence and good-will of its ruler, to
the position which it held in the pages of Eastern history.
1878.
S. W. B.
ISMAILIA.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
In the present work I shall describe the history of the Khedive of
Egypt's expedition, which I have had the honour to command, as the first
practical step that has been taken to suppress the slave trade of
Central Africa.
I shall not repeat, beyond what may be absolutely necessary, that which
has already been published in my former works on Africa, "The Albert
N'yanza" and "The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia," but I shall adhere to
the simple path taken by the expedition. This enterprise was the natural
result of my original explorations, in which I had been an eye-witness
to the horrors of the slave trade, which I determined, if possible, to
suppress.
In my former journey I had traversed countries of extreme fertility in
Central Africa, with a healthy climate favourable for the settlement of
Europeans, at a mean altitude of 4,000 feet above the sea level. This
large and almost boundless extent of country was well peopled by a race
who only required the protection of a strong but paternal government to
become of considerable importance, and to eventually develop the great
resources of the soil.
I found lands varying in natural capabilities according to their
position and altitudes--where sugar, cotton, coffee, rice, spices, and
all tropical produce might be successfully cultivated; but those lands
were without any civilized form of government, and "every man did what
seemed right in his own eyes."
In this dislocated state of society, the slave trade prospered to the
detriment of all improvement. Rich and well-populated countries were
rendered desolate; the women and children were carried into captivity;
villages were burnt, and crops were destroyed or pillaged; the
population was driven out; a terrestrial paradise was converted into an
infernal region; the natives who were originally friendly were rendered
hostile to all strangers, and the general result of the slave trade
could only be expressed in one word--"ruin."
The slave hunters and traders who had caused this desolation were for
the most part Arabs, subjects of the Egyptian government.
These people had deserted their agricultural occupations in the Soudan
and had formed companies of brigands in the pay of various merchants of
Khartoum. The largest trader had about 2,500 Arabs in his pay, employed
as pirates or brigands, in Central Africa. These men were organized
after a rude military fashion, and armed with muskets; they were divided
into companies, and were officered in many cases by soldiers who had
deserted from their regiments in Egypt or the Soudan.
It is supposed that about 15,000 of the Khedive's subjects who should
have been industriously working and paying their taxes in Egypt were
engaged in the so-called ivory trade and slave-hunting of the White
Nile.
Each trader occupied a special district, where, by a division of his
forces in a chain of stations, each of which represented about 300 men,
he could exercise a right of possession over a certain amount of assumed
territory.
In this manner enormous tracts of country were occupied by the armed
bands from Khartoum, who could make alliances with the native tribes to
attack and destroy their neighbours, and to carry off their women and
children, together with vast herds of sheep and cattle.
I have already fully described this system in "The Albert N'yanza,"
therefore it will be unnecessary to enter into minute details in the
present work. It will be sufficient, to convey an idea of the extended
scale of the slave-hunting operations, to explain that an individual
trader named Agad assumed the right over nearly NINETY THOUSAND SQUARE
MILES of territory. Thus his companies of brigands could pillage at
discretion, massacre, take, burn, or destroy throughout this enormous
area, or even beyond this broad limit, if they had the power.
It is impossible to know the actual number of slaves taken from Central
Africa annually; but I should imagine that at least fifty thousand are
positively either captured and held in the various zareebas (or camps)
or are sent via the White Nile and the various routes overland by Darfur
and Kordofan. The loss of life attendant upon the capture and subsequent
treatment of the slaves is frightful. The result of this forced
emigration, combined with the insecurity of life and property, is the
withdrawal of the population from the infested districts. The natives
have the option of submission to every insult, to the violation of their
women and the pillage of their crops, or they must either desert their
homes and seek independence in distant districts, or ally themselves
with their oppressors to assist in the oppression of other tribes. Thus
the seeds of anarchy are sown throughout Africa, which fall among tribes
naturally prone to discord. The result is horrible confusion,--distrust
on all sides,--treachery, devastation, and ruin.
This was the state of Central Africa and the White Nile when I was first
honoured with the notice of Ismail Pacha, the present Khedive of Egypt.
I had received certain intimations from the Foreign Minister, Nubar
Pacha, concerning the Khedive's intentions, a short time previous to an
invitation with which I was honoured by his Royal Highness the Prince of
Wales to accompany their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess during
their tour in Egypt.
It is almost needless to add that, upon arrival in Egypt, the Prince of
Wales, who represented at heart the principles of Great Britain, took
the warmest interest in the suppression of the slave trade.
The Khedive, thus supported and encouraged in his ideas of reform,
concluded his arrangements for the total abolition of the slave trade,
not only throughout his dominions, but he determined to attack that
moral cancer by actual cautery at the very root of the evil.
I was accordingly requested to draw up a plan for the proposed
expedition to Central Africa.
After some slight modifications, I received from the Khedive the
following firman:--
"We, Ismail, Khedive of Egypt, considering the savage condition of the
tribes which inhabit the Nile Basin;
"Considering that neither government, nor laws, nor security exists in
those countries;
"Considering that humanity enforces the suppression of the slave-hunters
who occupy those countries in great numbers;
"Considering that the establishment of legitimate commerce throughout
those countries will be a great stride towards future civilization, and
will result in the opening to steam navigation of the great equatorial
lakes of Central Africa, and in the establishing a permanent government
. . . . We have decreed and now decree as follows:--
"An expedition is organized to subdue to our authority the countries
situated to the south of Gondokoro;
"To suppress the slave trade; to introduce a system of regular commerce;
"To open to navigation the great lakes of the equator;
"And to establish a chain of military stations and commercial depots,
distant at intervals of three days' march, throughout Central Africa,
accepting Gondokoro as the base of operations.
"The supreme command of this expedition is confided to Sir Samuel White
Baker, for four years, commencing from 1st April, 1869; to whom also we
confer the most absolute and supreme power, even that of death, over all
those who may compose the expedition.
"We confer upon him the same absolute and supreme authority over all
those countries belonging to the Nile Basin south of Gondokoro."
It was thus that the Khedive determined at the risk of his popularity
among his own subjects to strike a direct blow at the slave trade in its
distant nest. To insure the fulfilment of this difficult enterprise, he
selected an Englishman, armed with a despotic power such as had never
been intrusted by a Mohammedan to a Christian.
The slave trade was to be suppressed; legitimate commerce was to be
introduced, and protection was to be afforded to the natives by the
establishment of a government.
The suppression of the slave trade was a compliment to the European
Powers which would denote the superiority of Egypt, and would lay the
first stone in the foundation of a new civilization; and a population
that was rapidly disappearing would be saved to Africa.
To effect this grand reform it would be necessary to annex the Nile
Basin, and to establish a government in countries that had been hitherto
without protection, and a prey to the adventurers from the Soudan. To
convey steel steamers from England, and to launch them upon the Albert
Lake, and thus open the resources of Central Africa; to establish
legitimate trade in a vast country which had hitherto been a field of
rapine and of murder; to protect the weak and to punish the evil-doer,
and to open the road to a great future, where the past had been all
darkness and the present reckless spoliation--this was the grand object
which Ismail, the Khedive of Egypt, determined to accomplish.
In this humane enterprise he was firmly supported by his two Ministers,
Nubar Pacha and Cherif Pacha (an Armenian and a Circassian). The young
princes his sons, who are well-educated and enlightened men, took the
greatest interest in the undertaking; but beyond these and a few others,
the object of the expedition was regarded with ill-concealed disgust.
Having received full powers from the Khedive, I gave orders for the
following vessels to be built of steel by Messrs. Samuda Brothers:--
No. 1. A paddle steamer of 251 tons, 32-horse power.
No. 2. A twin screw high-pressure steamer of 20-horse power, 108 tons.
No. 3. A twin screw high-pressure steamer of 10-horse power, 38 tons.
Nos. 4, 5. Two steel lifeboats, each 30 ft. by 9--10 tons each.
These vessels were fitted with engines of the best construction
by Messrs. Pond & Co., and were to be carried across the Nubian
desert in plates and sections.
In addition to the steamers were steam saw mills, with a boiler that
weighed 8 cwt. in one piece--all of which would have to be transported
by camels for several hundred miles across the Nubian desert, and by
boats and camels alternately from Alexandria to Gondokoro, a distance of
about THREE THOUSAND MILES.
In the description of this enterprise, which terminated in the
suppression of the slave trade of the White Nile and the annexation of a
large equatorial territory to Egypt, I shall be compelled to expose many
abuses which were the result of misgovernment in the distant provinces
of Upper Egypt. It must be distinctly understood that his Highness the
Khedive was ignorant of such abuses, and that he took prompt and
vigorous measures to reform the administration of the Soudan immediately
upon receiving information of the misgovernment of that extensive
territory. Throughout the expedition his Highness has exhibited a
determination to succeed in the suppression of the slave trade in spite
of the adverse opinion of the public; therefore, when I expose the
abuses that existed, it must be accepted without hesitation that the
Khedive would have been the foremost in punishing the authors and in
rectifying such abuses had he been aware of their existence.
As a duty to the Khedive, and in justice to myself, I shall describe the
principal incidents as they occurred throughout the expedition. The
civilized world will form both judge and jury; if their verdict be
favourable, I shall have my reward. I can only assure my fellow-men that
I have sought earnestly the guidance of the Almighty in the use of the
great power committed to me, and I trust that I have been permitted to
lay a firm foundation for a good work hereafter.