The long succession of events, of which I have attempted to give some
account, has not hitherto affected to any great extent other countries
than those which are drained by the Nile. But this chapter demands a
wider view, since it must describe an incident which might easily have
convulsed Europe, and from which far-reaching consequences have arisen.
It is unlikely that the world will ever learn the details of the subtle
scheme of which the Marchand Mission was a famous part. We may say with
certainty that the French Government did not intend a small expedition,
at great peril to itself, to seize and hold an obscure swamp on the
Upper Nile. But it is not possible to define the other arrangements.
What part the Abyssinians were expected to play, what services had been
rendered them and what inducements they were offered, what attitude
was to be adopted to the Khalifa, what use was to be made of the local
tribes: all this is veiled in the mystery of intrigue. It is well known
that for several years France, at some cost to herself and at a greater
cost to Italy, had courted the friendship of Abyssinia, and that the
weapons by which the Italians were defeated at Adowa had been
mainly supplied through French channels. A small quick-firing gun
of continental manufacture and of recent make which was found in
the possession of the Khalifa seems to point to the existence or
contemplation of similar relations with the Dervishes. But how far these
operations were designed to assist the Marchand Mission is known only to
those who initiated them, and to a few others who have so far kept their
own counsel.
The undisputed facts are few. Towards the end of 1896 a French
expedition was despatched from the Atlantic into the heart of Africa
under the command of Major Marchand. The re-occupation of Dongola was
then practically complete, and the British Government were earnestly
considering the desirability of a further advance. In the beginning of
1897 a British expedition, under Colonel Macdonald, and comprising
a dozen carefully selected officers, set out from England to Uganda,
landed at Mombassa, and struck inland. The misfortunes which fell upon
this enterprise are beyond the scope of this account, and I shall not
dwell upon the local jealousies and disputes which marred it. It is
sufficient to observe that Colonel Macdonald was provided with Soudanese
troops who were practically in a state of mutiny and actually mutinied
two days after he assumed command. The officers were compelled to fight
for their lives. Several were killed. A year was consumed in suppressing
the mutiny and the revolt which arose out of it. If the object of
the expedition was to reach the Upper Nile, it was soon obviously
unattainable, and the Government were glad to employ the officers in
making geographical surveys.
At the beginning of 1898 it was clear to those who, with the fullest
information, directed the foreign policy of Great Britain that no
results affecting the situation in the Soudan could be expected from the
Macdonald Expedition. The advance to Khartoum and the reconquest of the
lost provinces had been irrevocably undertaken. An Anglo-Egyptian force
was already concentrating at Berber. Lastly, the Marchand Mission
was known to be moving towards the Upper Nile, and it was a probable
contingency that it would arrive at its destination within a few months.
It was therefore evident that the line of advance of the powerful army
moving south from the Mediterranean and of the tiny expedition moving
east from the Atlantic must intersect before the end of the year, and
that intersection would involve a collision between the Powers of Great
Britain and France.
I do not pretend to any special information not hitherto given to the
public in this further matter, but the reader may consider for himself
whether the conciliatory policy which Lord Salisbury pursued towards
Russia in China at this time--a policy which excited hostile criticism
in England--was designed to influence the impending conflict on the
Upper Nile and make it certain, or at least likely, that when Great
Britain and France should be placed in direct opposition, France should
find herself alone.
With these introductory reflections we may return to the theatre of the
war.
On the 7th of September, five days after the battle and capture of
Omdurman, the Tewfikia, a small Dervish steamer--one of those formerly
used by General Gordon--came drifting and paddling down the river. Her
Arab crew soon perceived by the Egyptian flags which were hoisted on the
principal buildings, and by the battered condition of the Mahdi's Tomb,
that all was not well in the city; and then, drifting a little further,
they found themselves surrounded by the white gunboats of the 'Turks,'
and so incontinently surrendered. The story they told their captors was
a strange one. They had left Omdurman a month earlier, in company with
the steamer Safia, carrying a force of 500 men, with the Khalifa's
orders to go up the White Nile and collect grain. For some time all had
been well; but on approaching the old Government station of Fashoda they
had been fired on by black troops commanded by white officers under
a strange flag--and fired on with such effect that they had lost some
forty men killed and wounded. Doubting who these formidable enemies
might be, the foraging expedition had turned back, and the Emir in
command, having disembarked and formed a camp at a place on the east
bank called Reng, had sent the Tewfikia back to ask the Khalifa for
instructions and reinforcements. The story was carried to the Sirdar and
ran like wildfire through the camp. Many officers made their way to the
river, where the steamer lay, to test for themselves the truth of the
report. The woodwork of the hull was marked with many newly made holes,
and cutting into these with their penknives the officers extracted
bullets--not the roughly cast leaden balls, the bits of telegraph wire,
or old iron which savages use, but the conical nickel-covered bullets of
small-bore rifles such as are fired by civilised forces alone. Here was
positive proof. A European Power was on the Upper Nile: which? Some said
it was the Belgians from the Congo; some that an Italian expedition had
arrived; others thought that the strangers were French; others, again,
believed in the Foreign Office--it was a British expedition, after all.
The Arab crew were cross-examined as to the flag they had seen. Their
replies were inconclusive. It had bright colours, they declared; but
what those colours were and what their arrangement might be they could
not tell; they were poor men, and God was very great.
Curiosity found no comfort but in patience or speculation. The camp for
the most part received the news with a shrug. After their easy victory
the soldiers walked delicately. They knew that they belonged to the most
powerful force that had ever penetrated the heart of Africa. If there
was to be more war, the Government had but to give the word, and the
Grand Army of the Nile would do by these newcomers as they had done by
the Dervishes.
On the 8th the Sirdar started up the White Nile for Fashoda with five
steamers, the XIth and XIIIth Battalions of Soudanese, two companies of
the Cameron Highlanders, Peake's battery of artillery, and four Maxim
guns. Three days later he arrived at Reng, and there found, as the crew
of the Tewfikia had declared, some 500 Dervishes encamped on the
bank, and the Safia steamer moored to it. These stupid fellows had
the temerity to open fire on the vessels. Whereat the Sultan, steaming
towards their dem, replied with a fierce shell fire which soon put
them to flight. The Safia, being under steam, made some attempt to
escape--whither, it is impossible to say--and Commander Keppel by a
well-directed shell in her boilers blew her up, much to the disgust of
the Sirdar, who wanted to add her to his flotilla.
After this incident the expedition continued its progress up the White
Nile. The sudd which was met with two days' journey south of Khartoum
did not in this part of the Nile offer any obstacle to navigation, as
the strong current of the river clears the waterway; but on either side
of the channel a belt of the tangled weed, varying from twelve to
twelve hundred yards in breadth, very often prevented the steamers
from approaching the bank to tie up. The banks themselves depressed the
explorers by their melancholy inhospitality. At times the river flowed
past miles of long grey grass and swamp-land, inhabited and habitable
only by hippopotami. At times a vast expanse of dreary mud flats
stretched as far as the eye could see. At others the forest, dense with
an impenetrable undergrowth of thorn-bushes, approached the water, and
the active forms of monkeys and even of leopards darted among the trees.
But the country--whether forest, mud-flat, or prairie--was always damp
and feverish: a wet land steaming under a burning sun and humming with
mosquitoes and all kinds of insect life.
Onward and southward toiled the flotilla, splashing the brown water into
foam and startling the strange creatures on the banks, until on the 18th
of September they approached Fashoda. The gunboats waited, moored to the
bank for some hours of the afternoon, to allow a message which had been
sent by the Sirdar to the mysterious Europeans, to precede his arrival,
and early in the morning of the 19th a small steel rowing-boat was
observed coming down stream to meet the expedition. It contained a
Senegalese sergeant and two men, with a letter from Major Marchand
announcing the arrival of the French troops and their formal occupation
of the Soudan. It, moreover, congratulated the Sirdar on his victory,
and welcomed him to Fashoda in the name of France.
A few miles' further progress brought the gunboats to their destination,
and they made fast to the bank near the old Government buildings of
the town. Major Marchand's party consisted of eight French officers or
non-commissioned officers, and 120 black soldiers drawn from the Niger
district. They possessed three steel boats fitted for sail or oars, and
a small steam launch, the Faidherbe, which latter had, however,
been sent south for reinforcements. They had six months' supplies of
provisions for the French officers, and about three months' rations for
the men; but they had no artillery, and were in great want of small-arm
ammunition. Their position was indeed precarious. The little force
was stranded, without communications of any sort, and with no means of
either withstanding an attack or of making a retreat. They had fired
away most of their cartridges at the Dervish foraging party, and were
daily expecting a renewed attack. Indeed, it was with consternation that
they had heard of the approach of the flotilla. The natives had carried
the news swiftly up the river that the Dervishes were coming back with
five steamers, and for three nights the French had been sleeplessly
awaiting the assault of a powerful enemy.
Their joy and relief at the arrival of a European force were
undisguised. The Sirdar and his officers on their part were thrilled
with admiration at the wonderful achievements of this small band of
heroic men. Two years had passed since they left the Atlantic coast.
For four months they had been absolutely lost from human ken. They had
fought with savages; they had struggled with fever; they had climbed
mountains and pierced the most gloomy forests. Five days and five nights
they had stood up to their necks in swamp and water. A fifth of their
number had perished; yet at last they had carried out their mission and,
arriving at Fashoda on the 10th of July, had planted the tricolour upon
the Upper Nile.
Moved by such reflections the British officers disembarked. Major
Marchand, with a guard of honour, came to meet the General. They shook
hands warmly. 'I congratulate you,' said the Sirdar, 'on all you have
accomplished.' 'No,' replied the Frenchman, pointing to his troops; 'it
is not I, but these soldiers who have done it.' And Kitchener, telling
the story afterwards, remarked, 'Then I knew he was a gentleman.'
Into the diplomatic discussions that followed, it is not necessary
to plunge. The Sirdar politely ignored the French flag, and, without
interfering with the Marchand Expedition and the fort it occupied,
hoisted the British and Egyptian colours with all due ceremony,
amid musical honours and the salutes of the gunboats. A garrison was
established at Fashoda, consisting of the XIth Soudanese, four guns of
Peake's battery, and two Maxims, the whole under the command of Colonel
Jackson, who was appointed military and civil commandant of the Fashoda
district.
At three o'clock on the same afternoon the Sirdar and the gunboats
resumed their journey to the south, and the next day reached the mouth
of the Sobat, sixty-two miles from Fashoda. Here other flags were
hoisted and another post formed with a garrison of half the XIIIth
Soudanese battalion and the remaining two guns of Peake's battery. The
expedition then turned northwards, leaving two gunboats--the Sultan and
the Abu Klea--at the disposal of Colonel Jackson.
I do not attempt to describe the international negotiations and
discussions that followed the receipt of the news in Europe, but it
is pleasing to remember that a great crisis found England united. The
determination of the Government was approved by the loyalty of the
Opposition, supported by the calm resolve of the people, and armed with
the efficiency of the fleet. At first indeed, while the Sirdar was
still steaming southward, wonder and suspense filled all minds; but when
suspense ended in the certainty that eight French adventurers were in
occupation of Fashoda and claimed a territory twice as large as France,
it gave place to a deep and bitter anger. There is no Power in Europe
which the average Englishman regards with less animosity than France.
Nevertheless, on this matter all were agreed. They should go. They
should evacuate Fashoda, or else all the might, majesty, dominion, and
power of everything that could by any stretch of the imagination be
called 'British' should be employed to make them go.
Those who find it difficult to account for the hot, almost petulant,
flush of resolve that stirred the nation must look back over the long
history of the Soudan drama. It had always been a duty to reconquer the
abandoned territory. When it was found that this might be safely done,
the duty became a pleasure. The operations were watched with extravagant
attention, and while they progressed the earnestness of the nation
increased. As the tides of barbarism were gradually driven back, the
old sea-marks came one after another into view. Names of towns that
were half forgotten--or remembered only with sadness--re-appeared on
the posters, in the gazettes, and in the newspapers. We were going back.
'Dongola,' 'Berber,' 'Metemma'--who had not heard of them before? Now
they were associated with triumph. Considerable armies fought on the
Indian Frontier. There was war in the South and the East and the West
of Africa. But England looked steadfastly towards the Nile and the
expedition that crawled forward slowly, steadily, unchecked, apparently
irresistible.
When the final triumph, long expected, came in all its completeness it
was hailed with a shout of exultation, and the people of Great Britain,
moved far beyond their wont, sat themselves down to give thanks to their
God, their Government, and their General. Suddenly, on the chorus of
their rejoicing there broke a discordant note. They were confronted with
the fact that a 'friendly Power' had, unprovoked, endeavoured to rob
them of the fruits of their victories. They now realised that while
they had been devoting themselves to great military operations, in broad
daylight and the eye of the world, and prosecuting an enterprise
on which they had set their hearts, other operations--covert and
deceitful--had been in progress in the heart of the Dark Continent,
designed solely for the mischievous and spiteful object of depriving
them of the produce of their labours. And they firmly set their faces
against such behaviour.
First of all, Great Britain was determined to have Fashoda or fight;
and as soon as this was made clear, the French were willing to give way.
Fashoda was a miserable swamp, of no particular value to them. Marchand,
Lord Salisbury's 'explorer in difficulties upon the Upper Nile,'
was admitted by the French Minister to be merely an 'emissary of
civilisation.' It was not worth their while to embark on the hazards and
convulsions of a mighty war for either swamp or emissary. Besides, the
plot had failed. Guy Fawkes, true to his oath and his orders, had indeed
reached the vault; but the other conspirators were less devoted. The
Abyssinians had held aloof. The negro tribes gazed with wonder on the
strangers, but had no intention of fighting for them. The pride and
barbarism of the Khalifa rejected all overtures and disdained to
discriminate between the various breeds of the accursed 'Turks.'
Finally, the victory of Omdurman and its forerunner--the Desert
Railway--had revolutionised the whole situation in the Nile valley.
After some weeks of tension, the French Government consented to withdraw
their expedition from the region of the Upper Nile.
Meanwhile events were passing at Fashoda. The town, the site of which
had been carefully selected by the old Egyptian Government, is situated
on the left bank of the river, on a gentle slope of ground which rises
about four feet above the level of the Nile at full flood. During the
rainy season, which lasts from the end of June until the end of October,
the surrounding country is one vast swamp, and Fashoda itself becomes an
island. It is not, however, without its importance; for it is the only
spot on the west shore for very many miles where landing from the river
is possible. All the roads--mere camel-tracks--from Lower Kordofan meet
at the Government post, but are only passable in the dry season. The
soil is fertile, and, since there is a superabundance of sun and water,
almost any crop or plant can be grown. The French officers, with the
adaptive thrift of their nation, had already, in spite of the ravages
of the water-rats, created a good vegetable garden, from which they
were able to supplement their monotonous fare. The natives,
however--aboriginal negroes of the Dinka and Shillook tribes--are
unwilling to work, except to provide themselves with the necessaries
of life; and since these are easily obtained, there is very little
cultivation, and the fertility of the soil may be said to increase
the poverty of the country. At all seasons of the year the climate of
Fashoda is pestilential, and the malarial fever attacks every European
or Egyptian, breaking down the strongest constitutions, and in many
cases causing death. [The place is most unhealthy, and in March 1899
(the driest season of the year) out of a garrison of 317 men only 37
were fit for duty.--Sir William Garstin's Report: EGYPT, No. 5, 1899.]
On this dismal island, far from civilisation, health, or comfort, the
Marchand Mission and the Egyptian garrison lived in polite antagonism
for nearly three months. The French fort stood at the northern end.
The Egyptian camp lay outside the ruins of the town. Civilities were
constantly exchanged between the forces, and the British officers
repaid the welcome gifts of fresh vegetables by newspapers and other
conveniences. The Senegalese riflemen were smart and well-conducted
soldiers, and the blacks of the Soudanese battalion soon imitated their
officers in reciprocating courtesies. A feeling of mutual respect sprang
up between Colonel Jackson and Major Marchand. The dashing commandant
of the XIth Soudanese, whose Egyptian medals bear no fewer than fourteen
clasps, was filled with a generous admiration for the French explorer.
Realising the difficulties, he appreciated the magnificence of the
achievement; and as he spoke excellent French a good and almost cordial
understanding was established, and no serious disagreement occurred.
But, notwithstanding the polite relations, the greatest vigilance was
exercised by both sides, and whatever civilities were exchanged were of
a formal nature.
The Dinkas and Shillooks had on the first arrival of the French made
submission, and had supplied them with provisions. They knew that white
men were said to be coming, and they did not realise that there were
different races among the whites. Marchand was regarded as the advance
guard of the Sirdar's army. But when the negroes gradually perceived
that these bands of white men were at enmity with each other--were, in
fact, of rival tribes--they immediately transferred their allegiance to
the stronger force, and, although their dread of the Egyptian flag was
at first very marked, boycotted the French entirely.
In the middle of October despatches from France arrived for Marchand by
steamer; and that officer, after reading them, determined to proceed to
Cairo. Jackson, who was most anxious that no disagreement should arise,
begged him to give positive orders to his subordinate to maintain the
status quo, as had been agreed. Marchand gladly consented, and departed
for Omdurman, where he visited the battlefield, and found in the heaps
of slain a grim witness of the destruction from which he had been saved,
and so on to Cairo, where he was moved to tears and speeches. But in his
absence Captain Germain, who succeeded to the command, diverged from
his orders, No sooner had Marchand left than Germain, anxious to win
distinction, embarked upon a most aggressive policy. He occupied the
Dinka country on the right bank of the river, pushed reconnoitring
parties into the interior, prevented the Dinka Sheikhs from coming to
make their submission at Fashoda, and sent his boats and the Faidherbe
steam launch, which had returned from the south, beyond the northern
limits which the Sirdar had prescribed and Marchand had agreed to
recognise.
Colonel Jackson protested again and again. Germain sent haughty replies,
and persisted in his provoking policy. At last the British officer was
compelled to declare that if any more patrols were sent into the Dinka
country, he would not allow them to return to the French post. Whereat
Germain rejoined that he would meet force with force. All tempers were
worn by fever, heat, discomfort, and monotony. The situation became very
difficult, and the tact and patience of Colonel Jackson alone averted
a conflict which would have resounded in all parts of the world. He
confined his troops strictly to their lines, and moved as far from the
French camp as was possible. But there was one dark day when the French
officers worked in their shirts with their faithful Senegalese to
strengthen the entrenchments, and busily prepared for a desperate
struggle. On the other side little activity was noticeable. The Egyptian
garrison, although under arms, kept out of sight, but a wisp of steam
above the funnels of the redoubtable gunboats showed that all was ready.
At length in a fortunate hour Marchand returned, reproved his
subordinate, and expressed his regrets to Colonel Jackson. Then it
became known that the French Government had ordered the evacuation of
Fashoda. Some weeks were spent in making preparations for the journey,
but at length the day of departure arrived. At 8.20 on the morning
of the 11th of December the French lowered their flag with salute and
flourish of bugle. The British officers, who remained in their own camp
and did not obtrude themselves, were distant but interested spectators.
On the flag ceasing to fly, a sous-officier rushed up to the flagstaff
and hurled it to the ground, shaking his fists and tearing his hair in
a bitterness and vexation from which it is impossible to withhold
sympathy, in view of what these men had suffered uselessly and what they
had done. The French then embarked, and at 9.30 steamed southward, the
Faidherbe towing one oblong steel barge and one old steel boat, the
other three boats sailing, all full of men. As the little flotilla
passed the Egyptian camp a guard of honour of the XIth Soudanese
saluted them and the band struck up their national anthem. The French
acknowledged the compliment by dipping their flag, and in return the
British and Egyptian flags were also lowered. The boats then continued
their journey until they had rounded the bend of the river, when
they came to land, and, honour being duly satisfied, Marchand and his
officers returned to breakfast with Colonel Jackson. The meeting was
very friendly. Jackson and Germain exchanged most elaborate compliments,
and the commandant, in the name of the XIth Soudanese, presented the
expedition with the banner of the Emir who had attacked them, which had
been captured at Reng. Marchand shook hands all round, and the British
officers bade their gallant opponents a final farewell.
Once again the eight Frenchmen, who had come so far and accomplished so
much, set out upon their travels, to make a safe though tedious journey
through Abyssinia to the coast, and thence home to the country they
had served faithfully and well, and which was not unmindful of their
services.
Let us settle the international aspect of the reconquest of the Soudan
while we are in the way with it. The disputes between France and England
about the valley of the Upper Nile were terminated, as far as material
cause was concerned, by an Agreement, signed in London on the 21st of
March, 1899, by Lord Salisbury and M. Cambon. The Declaration limiting
the respective spheres of influence of the two Powers took the form of
an addition to the IVth Article of the Niger Convention, concluded in
the previous year. Its practical effect is to reserve the whole drainage
system of the Nile to England and Egypt, and to engage that France shall
have a free hand, so far as those Powers are concerned, in the rest of
Northern Africa west of the Nile Valley not yet occupied by Europeans.
This stupendous partition of half a continent by two European Powers
could scarcely be expected to excite the enthusiasm of the rest. Germany
was, however, soothed by the promise of the observance of the 'Open
Door' policy upon the Upper Nile. Italy, protesting meekly, followed
Germany. Russia had no interests in this quarter. France and England
were agreed. The rest were not consulted: and the Declaration may thus
be said to have been recognised by the world in general.
It is perhaps early to attempt to pronounce with which of the
contracting Powers the advantage lies. France has acquired at a single
stroke, without any serious military operations, the recognition
of rights which may enable her ultimately to annex a vast African
territory. At present what she has gained may be described as a
recognised 'sphere of aspiration.' The future may convert this into
a sphere of influence, and the distant future may witness the entire
subjugation of the whole region. There are many difficulties to
be overcome. The powerful influence of the Senussi has yet to be
overthrown. The independent kingdom of Wadai must be conquered. Many
smaller potentates will resist desperately. Altogether France has enough
to occupy her in Central Africa for some time to come: and even when
the long task is finished, the conquered regions are not likely to be
of great value. They include the desert of the Great Sahara and wide
expanses of equally profitless scrub or marsh. Only one important river,
the Shari, flows through them, and never reaches the sea: and even Lake
Chad, into which the Shari flows, appears to be leaking through some
subterranean exit, and is rapidly changing from a lake into an immense
swamp.
Great Britain and Egypt, upon the other hand, have secured a territory
which, though smaller, is nevertheless of enormous extent, more fertile,
comparatively easy of access, practically conquered, and containing the
waterway of the Nile. France will be able to paint a great deal of
the map of Africa blue, and the aspect of the continent upon paper may
please the patriotic eye; but it is already possible to predict that
before she can develop her property--can convert aspiration into
influence, and influence into occupation--she will have to work harder,
pay more, and wait longer for a return than will the more modest
owners of the Nile Valley. And even when that return is obtained, it is
unlikely that it will be of so much value.
It only remains to discuss the settlement made between the conquerors of
the Soudan. Great Britain and Egypt had moved hand in hand up the great
river, sharing, though unequally, the cost of the war in men and money.
The prize belonged to both. The direct annexation of the Soudan by Great
Britain would have been an injustice to Egypt. Moreover, the claim of
the conquerors to Fashoda and other territories rested solely on the
former rights of Egypt. On the other hand, if the Soudan became
Egyptian again, it must wear the fetters of that imprisoned country. The
Capitulations would apply to the Upper Nile regions, as to the Delta.
Mixed Tribunals, Ottoman Suzerainty, and other vexatious burdens would
be added to the difficulties of Soudan administration. To free the new
country from the curse of internationalism was a paramount object. The
Soudan Agreement by Great Britain and Egypt, published on the 7th of
March, 1899, achieves this. Like most of the best work done in Egypt by
the British Agency, the Agreement was slipped through without attracting
much notice. Under its authority a State has been created in the Nile
Valley which is neither British nor Ottoman, nor anything else so far
known to the law of Europe. International jurists are confronted with an
entirely new political status. A diplomatic 'Fourth Dimension' has
been discovered. Great Britain and Egypt rule the country together.
The allied conquerors have become the joint-possessors. 'What does this
Soudan Agreement mean?' the Austrian Consul-General asked Lord Cromer;
and the British Agent, whom twenty-two years' acquaintance with Egyptian
affairs bad accustomed to anomalies, replied, 'It means simply this';
and handed him the inexplicable document, under which the conquered
country may some day march to Peace and Plenty.