A PRISONER AT LARGE
The disappearance of Joseppi, followed by the death of Adlan, threw me
into a state of almost abject despair; there appeared to be no hopes
of my ever being released from the Saier, and after the replies given
by Abdullahi to Wad Adlan and the Muslimanieh when they interceded for
me, my friends outside evidently abandoned all hope also. But I was
to have an interesting fellow-prisoner whose deceptions on Abdullahi
and others were indirectly to lead to my release. It will take many
generations of Gordon College teachers to uproot the firm belief of
the Soudanese in “jinns” (spirits, sprites, and fairies) and in the
supernatural powers claimed to be possessed by certain communities
and individuals. Centuries of most transparent deceptions have not
shaken their belief, so that it was no wonder the Mahdi found many
imitators in the miracle-working line, and that these people found
thousands of believers. The more these charlatans failed in their
endeavours to produce powder from sand, lead from dust, and precious
metals from the baser ones, the more credence was given to the next
professing alchemist who came |171| along. A man named Shwybo of the
Fellati country (near Lake Chad), had driven a good trade in Omdurman
by inducing people to give him large copper coins to be converted into
silver dollars; he had offered his services to Wad Adlan, but as the
Beit-el-Mal had been mulcted in some thousands of dollars already by
people like him, Adlan refused to entertain any of his propositions.
On the death of Adlan, Shwybo offered his services to the Khaleefa,
and the Beit-el-Mal. The Kadi was instructed to inquire into his
pretensions; Shwybo professed to have power over the jinns who
converted copper into silver; a number of his dupes presented
themselves to the Kadi, and complained that Shwybo’s jinns had not only
not converted the coins given them to work upon, but had stolen the
coins into the bargain. Shwybo pleaded that the action of the jinns was
in consequence of the want of faith of the complainants, and to their
curiosity in trying to see the jinns at work; the jinns would never
work in the presence of strangers; no one but himself might be in the
place where the converting of the metals was in progress. Shwybo was
given about a hundred dollars’ worth of copper coins, and incense,
drugs, spices, etc., to a further value of nearly two hundred dollars,
which were taken from the Beit-el-Mal, and charged to the account of
the Kadi. The incense, drugs, and spices were to propitiate the angry
jinns; but to ensure their not being disturbed at work, the Kadi said
Shwybo had better carry out his experiments in the Saier where Idris
would see he was not interfered with. |172|
He was given a hut apart from the rest, where he set to at once
with his incantations and incense burning. Idris and a number of
the prisoners were invited to go and see the coins buried in the
ground—the jinns having been propitiated. A quarter of an hour’s
incantation was given, Shwybo speaking a language which must have been
as unintelligible to himself and his jinns as it was to us. A similar
incantation had to be given each day until noon on the following
Friday, as it was at this hour each week that the jinns finished off
any work they had in hand. On the Friday, at noon, we were asked to
go to Shwybo’s hut, and on the earth being removed, sure enough the
copper coins had disappeared, and silver dollars had replaced them!
The next Friday only part of the coins had been converted, when Shwybo
remembered that the jinns had not been fed, and must be hungry. They
had delicate tastes; asseeda they would not eat, so they were liberally
supplied with roast chickens, pigeons, white bread, milk, eggs, etc.
We were not permitted to see them eat, but we were allowed to see the
clean-picked bones and empty egg-shells! Something went wrong again,
for on the following Friday it was discovered that none of the coins
had been converted; evidently Shwybo had run through his stock of
dollars.
Idris, at the request of the Kadi, asked me my opinion of the whole
thing, as Shwybo wished to have another try. I replied that little
children in my country would not be deceived by such trickery, and
that if the Kadi wanted to spend his money on food, he had better buy
food for the starving women and children, and not |173| waste it on
supposed jinns. Whether my reply, or the conviction that he had been
duped angered him, I cannot say, but Shwybo received a severe flogging.
Not a cry escaped his lips; he laughed at the Saier, telling him to
strike harder. The flogging over, he told Idris that although his
silver-working jinns had flown off, and through no fault of his, his
gold-working jinns had come to his succour, and had interposed their
bodies between his and the lash. Idris, as I have already pointed
out, was the incarnation of superstition and credulity, and it was
only necessary for Shwybo to tell him that his faithful gold jinns
could convert lead into gold, to set Idris collecting dollars from the
prisoners on the Nebbi Khiddr account. With these he set up a special
laboratory for Shwybo in the house of Wad Farag, one of the gaolers—and
a reputed son of Idris. Shwybo was provided with a number of small
crucibles, two sets of Soudanese bellows, with a couple of slave boys
to work them, a quantity of lead and a number of packets of drugs and
powders from the Beit-el-Mal pharmacy. Farag was told to keep an eye on
him, and see that he did not purloin any of the gold when it appeared.
When the first lot of lead was melted, Shwybo drew Farag’s attention
to its reddish colour, proving that the conversion was taking place;
then Farag retired while Shwybo uttered another incantation; on being
called in again, and the cover being removed from the crucible, a
bright yellow mass was seen, from which strong fumes arose. Farag was
told to cover up the crucible quickly, which he did, and left the room
with |174| Shwybo to allow of the jinns completing their work and
cooling the metal. Farag went off to Idris and the Kadi, telling them
that the conversion of the lead to gold had actually taken place; that
he had seen the gold for himself. The Kadi was dubious, but as Idris
only was employing Shwybo on this work, he declined to come into the
prison to see the gold turned out. When it was believed that the work
was complete, Idris, Farag, and Shwybo proceeded to the laboratory, and
lo! the crucibles were found empty. Shwybo thereupon accused Farag of
having stolen the block of gold, and a pretty row ensued; the prison
and the prisoners were searched, and the gold not being found, Farag
was flogged to make him disclose its hiding-place. Shwybo essayed a
second attempt, but as Idris insisted upon remaining in the laboratory
from beginning to end, the jinns refused to work, and then Shwybo was
flogged. One would have thought that, after this, people would see
that Shwybo was duping them, but he continued to collect money for
conversion from the prisoners, and now and again was able to give to
an earlier dupe one or two dollars he had received from a later one.
Complaints were made against him though, and he received repeated
floggings to make him discontinue his frauds, dying in the prison as a
result.
It was while Shwybo was working away at his alchemistic frauds that
Hassan Zecki, an old Egyptian doctor, and then in charge of the medical
stores of the Beit-el-Mal, came into the Saier in connection with
the drugs being purchased on Shwybo’s account; Zecki had known me
by name for some time, for I had |175| in my practice as “medicine
man” frequently sent him notes for the medicines I required, and not
knowing the Arabic terms, I used the Latin names for such drugs as I
was acquainted with. From this, Zecki must have come to the conclusion
that I was a qualified chemist, and as at that time his assistant,
Said Abdel Wohatt was, and had been for some time, trying to extract
saltpetre in Khartoum and the neighbourhood, Zecki questioned me as to
its production in Europe, but I had to admit that I had only seen the
crystals obtained in the laboratory when at the University, and had no
experience of their production on a commercial scale. I told Zecki what
little I knew of testing the crystals, and you may imagine my surprise
when three days later I was summoned before Yacoub to explain the
manufacture of saltpetre.
The new Amin Beit-el-Mal—El Nur El Garfawi—came to the Saier after
sunset, and conducted me to Yacoub’s house. One thinks rapidly under
such circumstances, and by the time we reached Yacoub’s house I had
my tale thought out. I saw that if I declared that I could not do the
work I should not be believed, and would be flogged and have extra
irons placed on me for contumacy. To lead them on to believe that I
could manufacture saltpetre meant my release from prison. After a
long discussion with Yacoub, it was arranged that I was to construct
three large tanks, about six feet long and four feet high, in which
impregnated earth was to be mixed with water, and the solution drawn
off and allowed to |176| evaporate. Believing that I should be set to
make these tanks or reservoirs, I suggested them, as their construction
would necessitate the removal of my chains. The following morning I was
called to the anvil, the rings holding the heavy iron bar were cut and
forced open, and the heavy ankle-chain I was wearing was replaced by a
piece of light awning chain taken from one of Gordon’s steamers. I was
thankful even for this relief, as it removed a dead weight of fifteen
to twenty pounds of iron from my feet. Under an armed escort I was
taken to the Nile, where I found awaiting me the Emirs Yacoub, Ahmed
Fedeel—who is now causing trouble on the Blue Nile—Mohammad Hamad'na
Allah—Zobheir Pasha’s old Wakeel—and a party of thirty to forty workmen
with materials for the tanks. Whenever Abdullahi gave an order,
immediate execution of it followed.
I had existed in the vile-smelling Saier for nearly four years, and you
can imagine how I enjoyed the two hours on the river reaching Halfeyeh.
On arrival at this place, we were met by El Fiki Amin, a Fellati then
in charge of the works. He did not disguise his displeasure at my being
taken there, as he evidently considered it a slight upon himself.
He was extracting the saltpetre from mounds, mixing the earth and
water in pierced jars lined with fine matting, allowing the solution
to filter through, and then boiling it down to obtain the crystals;
his appliances were very primitive, but he was producing a very good
quality of saltpetre in “needles.” Yacoub ordered me to search the
ground for any deposits, and, coming |177| to a dark damp patch, I
tasted the earth, and, believing saltpetre to be present, I mixed
some of the earth with water, pouring off the solution into a small
coffeepot, and setting it to boil. More solution was added as the water
boiled away, and at the end of two hours I had a small deposit of a
thin syrupy consistence; pouring this upon a burnt brick, the moisture
was absorbed, leaving the crystals behind, and these on being placed
on hot charcoal burned away. I next took some of the earth, dried it,
and rubbing it fine, allowed it to fall in a thin stream on to the
fire; the “sissing” and occasional coloured sparks convinced them that
a valuable deposit had been discovered, and Hamad'na Allah was sent to
Omdurman to inform the Khaleefa.
During his absence, the Fellati told Yacoub that the burning of the
crystals was no proof that they were saltpetre; I was therefore told to
produce a quantity to be submitted to Zecki and the Greek Perdikaki,
the Khaleefa’s gunpowder manufacturer. Hassan Zecki came to Halfeyeh
to examine the crystals and declared them good; Perdikaki sent a Greek
employed with him, but he not being able to give an opinion, took the
crystals to Perdikaki, who sent me a message to the effect that they
were useless, but that rather than I should be sent back to prison
he would say they were good on condition I tried to produce further
quantities in “needles,” and not in grains. On Hassan Zecki presenting
his report to the Khaleefa, and telling him that I should have some
large pans sent out to me, he sent off |178| a number of large copper
boilers, and an officer’s camp bath. The latter must have been taken
from Khartoum or Hicks Pasha’s army. The Fellati grew very sullen,
and Yacoub, knowing that the Khaleefa was entirely dependent upon the
Fellatis—the only people who seemed to understand the extraction of the
saltpetre—rather than offend the man, asked me if I thought I could
not find deposits elsewhere. I suggested looking further north, but
this would not do. He wanted a place close to Omdurman—where I could
be watched. I then suggested Khartoum, but the Khaleefa would not at
first hear of my transfer there. What probably decided him was, that
when I had been two weeks at Halfeyeh, Hasseena came to tell me Makkieh
was dead, and the Khaleefa, hearing of the loss, and believing that
there was now nothing to hold me in the Soudan, agreed to the transfer
to Khartoum, as there a better watch could be kept upon me. I was not
sorry to leave Halfeyeh, for although the place offered every facility
for my escape, I saw that I had a jealous and bitter enemy in the
Fellati, who was then spying on my every movement. It was certain that
he would frustrate any plans I might make for flight, and suspicion
would have been aroused immediately if any of the guides came to me
there.
Hamad'na Allah was made director of the Khartoum saltpetre works!
Abdel Wohatt was his second, and I was to work under the orders of
Wohatt. On arrival at Khartoum, January, 1891, I was also placed in
charge of Khaleel Hassanein, the director of the arsenal, and all
three had to answer for me with |179| their lives. Wohatt was given
the chapel of the Mission as a house to live in; I was given one of
the priest’s rooms opposite the arches. Windows, doors, every scrap of
wood, metal, and ornaments had been taken from the place; it was almost
a complete ruin, but the garden had been kept in excellent condition,
its produce—dates, figs, oranges, limes, and vegetables—being sold
on account of the Beit-el-Mal. Wohatt, when arranging his sleeping
quarters, found the altar in his way, and made two or three ineffectual
attempts to pull it down; failing, he utilized it as a resting-place
for household rubbish, and here cocks crowed and hens hatched out their
broods.
When we came to construct saturation tanks, it was proposed to take the
material from the walls of the Mission, but I told Hamad'na Allah and
Wohatt that as we had to live in the place, it would be far better to
repair than further demolish; so the necessary materials were brought
from outside by the fifty to sixty slaves sent over to assist us in
making the tanks and carrying the earth from the mounds. While the
construction of the tanks proceeded, we had to extract saltpetre in
the boilers, etc., sent to us at Halfeyeh, and which had been brought
with us; we produced maybe four to five pounds per diem on an average
during a period of six months—the time we were occupied in building
the tanks. Perdikaki made some gunpowder with our first consignment;
it was a failure. The good fellow, though, mixed it with some powder
from the old Government stock, and sent us another warning. My chief,
Abdel Wohatt, was the |180| son-in-law of Ali Khaater, the director
of the Omdurman arsenal, to whom our saltpetre went in the first
instance; Perdikaki telling him of the bad quality, Khaater, fearing
for his son-in-law, mixed our next consignment with an equal quantity
of saltpetre from the old Government stock in his stores, and thus it
passed muster, although Perdikaki complained again that it was only
half purified. However, the powder made with it would explode, though
it did leave about 25 per cent. of ash. The Fellati, hearing of the
success, came to Khartoum to examine our product, for the secret of
producing pure crystals was believed to be in the hands of the Fellati
only, and, as a matter of fact, in the Soudan, it is. Again he declared
the crystals were useless for the purposes they were intended for; but
as Abdel Wohatt had been a dispenser in the Egyptian Army, and as such
was supposed to be a chemist, and I, as a medicine man, being similarly
credited, we won the day. Fellati appealed to Perdikaki, but got no
satisfaction in that quarter. But Perdikaki was not long to be troubled
with the rival saltpetre makers; on the sixth anniversary of Gordon’s
death, some tins of powder in his factory exploded, killing him and
those working with him.
Some time about June or July, 1891, our tanks were finished; in about
two months’ time we produced between five or six cwts. of crystals, and
then stopped work on account of the rains. These crystals were mixed
with an equal quantity of good crystals from the stores, and were sent
to the powder factory. It must not be imagined that at this time the
Khaleefa |181| was actually short of powder or ingredients for its
manufacture; there were, unknown to others in the town, very large
stocks indeed, which Abdullah was keeping as a reserve, but he wished
to add to that reserve as much as possible, and to expend only such
powder and ammunition as was then and there produced.
On the death of Perdikaki, Hassan Hosna—a Circassian, and, I believe,
formerly an officer in the old army—and Abdes Semmeer, formerly in the
ordnance section of the old army at Kassala, were placed in charge of
the powder factory. When our mixed product was used for the manufacture
of gunpowder, strange things happened. After a few cartridges made from
such powder had been fired, the barrel of the rifle was found coated
with a thick white fouling; then an inquiry was held. The rifles were
brought to us at Khartoum, and, pointing to the cleaning rods, I asked
what these were intended for; on being told for cleaning the barrel,
I asked whether it was not better to have a powder which left a white
ash which might be seen to a powder which left a black ash which could
not be seen. But, for once, my argument was of no use. Wohatt replied
that perhaps we were working on bad beds, and suggested our being
transferred somewhere else. Nothing was done at the time, and we worked
on for some more months; but as large quantities of saltpetre came in
from Darfur, and later, considerable quantities of good powder came
from Upper Egypt and by the Suakin route, Khaater was able to store
away our saltpetre, and supply |182| the factory with powder and
saltpetre from these sources.
The Upper Egypt and Suakin supplies were supposed to have been put
to the reserve, so that when cartridges exploded in the breeches of
the rifles, and destroyed the eyesight of a number of soldiers, our
saltpetre came in for the blame again. Another inquiry was held, when
we were told that the bullet did not leave the rifle, and that the
breech-blocks blew open. This, we argued, could not be the fault of
the powder, but of the rifle. Whatever the Khaleefa’s opinion might
have been, he sent off Wohatt to Alti on the Blue Nile, where, with a
number of Fellatis working under him, he was able to send considerable
quantities of “needle” saltpetre to Omdurman, while I continued at
the Khartoum works to turn out as poor a quality of saltpetre as
before. Abdel Wohatt is in Cairo now, and tells me that our precious
production—about two tons of saltpetre—is still lying unused in the
stores at Omdurman. Khaleel Hassanein and Ali Khaater are still alive,
and would doubtless smile at the legend that I “manufactured powder
for the Khaleefa to shoot English soldiers with,” particularly when I
forbade the use of wood ash in the saturation tanks, and this addition,
they knew later, was the Fellati secret for the purification of the
saltpetre.
While employed at the Mission-house in Khartoum, Father Ohrwalder
came on three or four occasions to see me, the last occasion being, I
believe, about a month before his escape. We would sit together talking
of old times, commiserate each other on our |183| hard lot, and
guardedly, very guardedly, breathe a hope that, in some way and by some
means, our release would come, but I have no recollection that we ever
confided to each other any plans for escape. Father Ohrwalder knew that
I had had letters written by some Greeks, but I do not think he knew of
any of my plans. That we did not openly discuss such plans now appears
to me strange—and yet it is not strange. Where all led for years a life
of falsehood, in which deception of self had a no less part than that
of others, suspicious of every one around us, trusting no one, what
wonder that deceit became a second nature, and that truth, honour, and
morality—that is to say, morality as preached in Europe—should have
retired to vanishing point!
When I heard of Father Ohrwalder’s escape, the conclusion I at once
jumped to was that my guides, seeing the impossibility of effecting
my escape from Khartoum, had come to some arrangement with him. How
fervently I cursed them all, but I did not pray for their recapture.
Even had I done so, it would have been useless. There was nothing,
provided you had money with which to purchase camels and arrange a
couple of relays in the desert, to prevent every one who wished to,
escaping from Omdurman. Your guides had only to lead you away from any
settlements; no pursuers could overtake you once you reached your first
relay, fast as their camels might go, and you would travel at twice the
speed the news of your flight could, besides having some hours’ start
of it. In the event of your coming |184| across any straggler on the
desert, a few dollars would silence his tongue, for the dollar is not
more “almighty” in America than it was in the Soudan. Supposing the
dollars did not appeal to him, and your bullet missed its mark, the
chances were a thousand to one against his picking up your pursuers on
the route you had come, for they would make to the settlements near
the river, and waste their time in useless inquiries, while you were
lengthening the distance between you.
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