THE FALL OF DARFUR.
Dara besieged by Madibbo--I make a Successful
Counter-Attack--The Overthrow of Darho--I decide to remain at
Dara--The Defeat of Kuku Agha--A Strange Expedient for
concealing Letters--An Armistice proposed and accepted between
Myself and the Besiegers--I resort to Stratagem to gain
Time--Zogal writes from El Obeid, and describes the Annihilation
of the Relief Expedition--I review the Situation and decide to
surrender--Interview with Zogal at Shieria--The Mahdists enter
Dara--Madibbo and his War-drums--Horrible Tortures inflicted on
the Inhabitants who had concealed Money--The Siege and Fall of
El Fasher--Letters from Egypt--The dreadful Fate of Major
Hamada--The Fall of Bahr el Ghazal--I leave for El Obeid.
By this time I had recovered from my disease (_filaria medenensis_), and
felt strong enough to undertake another expedition; but the number of my
trusted followers had sadly diminished, and our stock of rifle
ammunition was getting very low. Said Bey Guma still affirmed that it
was impossible for him to send me any from Fasher, owing to the fact
that the Zayedia and Maheria Arabs had begun to show signs of defection,
and had been raiding cattle in the neighbourhood of the town, which they
had refused to restore.
All my hopes were now centred in the success of the Hicks expedition.
Fortunately at that time I knew nothing of the route they had chosen,
nor of the demoralised condition of the force. For almost a year I had
received no news direct from Khartum, and latterly, in order to keep up
the spirits of the men, I had to have recourse to stratagem, by
asserting that I had received news of great victories for the Government
forces. These scraps of news I of course concocted myself, and wrote out
in the form of messages, which when received were read out with great
_éclat_ before the assembled troops, and were greeted by the salute of
guns and general rejoicings. As a matter of fact, about this time I did
receive a little slip of paper from Ala ed Din Pasha, informing me that
His Highness the Khedive had officially appointed me commandant of the
troops in Darfur, and that it was the intention of the Government to
send a strong force to chastise the rebels and re-establish authority. I
despatched copies of this note to Fasher and Kebkebia, with orders that
it should be read publicly and salutes fired. I gave the bearer of the
letter a public reception, and loaded him with presents; he announced
that when he left Khartum the expedition was being prepared, and
described the force as certain to be victorious. Those who really knew,
hesitated to credit the glowing accounts of the appearance of the
troops; but at the same time their hearts were full of glad expectation.
A few days later, Khaled Wad Imam, whom I had sent to Kordofan to
collect news, returned, and gave me a verbal message from Zogal, as the
latter thought it inadvisable to write; he sent me his best regards, and
confirmed the news just received as to the intention of the Government
to despatch an expedition against the Mahdi. Khaled, however, told me
privately that many refugees had reached El Obeid from Khartum, and had
reported that several vultures had been seen hovering over the troops
when they were out practising manoeuvres; and that this was a most
unlucky omen for their success. He then proceeded to give me a detailed
account of the Mahdi and his doings, and after a time I had little doubt
that at heart he had become one of his adherents; but I took good care
not to let him see what I had discovered, and thanked him for his
loyalty and good service; at the same time I gave secret instructions
that he should be carefully watched. A few days afterwards a man was
intercepted wandering off to Shakka, bearing a letter from Khaled to
Madibbo, in which he told him to be prepared to meet him shortly, in
order to aid him in his enterprise. I was also informed by my servants,
who were friendly with Zogal's household, and to whom I gave money, in
order to give the latter presents, that Khaled was really Zogal's secret
and confidential agent, and was always at his house in the fort, where
he made himself completely at his ease; that he had privately warned
Zogal's wives to be ready to fly with him, as the people in Dara were
soon to endure hard times; but that the women had refused to obey the
summons, and had made a great commotion.
I now ordered Khaled to be seized and brought before me, he admitted he
had received Zogal's orders to take his wives away to some safe refuge
beyond my jurisdiction, and his two special ones he had ordered to be
brought to him in Kordofan. It was on this account he had written to
Madibbo.
It was now abundantly clear to me that Zogal, influenced by his
relative's enormous successes, had definitely decided to join him, and
had thus broken the solemn agreement between him and myself. I now sent
for Zogal's brother, Fiki Nur, and some of his relatives, and in the
presence of the Kadi, the commandant and officers, I openly explained
the situation, telling them that their relative was now disloyal to
Government and had broken his promise, and that therefore I considered
they were all of his opinion and in consequence quite untrustworthy. Of
course they denied it; but I had them all arrested, placed Khaled in
chains, and had his and Zogal's property confiscated and removed to the
Beit el Mal, while that of the other persons arrested was sequestrated.
Sending the Kadi to Zogal's house, I told him to inform the women that
they should stay where they were, and I should have them cared for as
before; his Bazingers, however, I incorporated with the Government
forces. Amongst those arrested was Zogal's son-in-law, Idris, who, being
of a different tribe, I proposed releasing; but he refused, and said he
preferred to go to prison with his relatives. Before being marched off,
he asked to be allowed to speak to me privately, and then told me that,
according to the custom of the country, it would be most dishonourable
for him not to go to prison with the rest of the family, but he wished
to assure me of his absolute loyalty. He then informed me that Zogal,
before his departure, had secretly assembled the three officers whom I
imagined to be most loyal to me, and they had sworn to him that should
he send them news that Mohammed Ahmed was really the Mahdi, they would
all join him. I thanked him for this most important information, the
truth of which I had little reason to doubt, and at his own request I
allowed him to go to prison with the rest.
My difficulties were now increasing daily, one might almost say hourly.
Zogal's disloyalty did not disturb me very much, as I had long suspected
it; but I was greatly put about by the unsatisfactory news of the state
of the expeditionary force. Zogal was, I knew, an astute man; had the
news from Khartum been really disquieting to the Mahdi, I felt sure that
he would have stayed at El Obeid, according to our arrangement, to watch
events; but now he had intentionally broken faith with me. Could it be
that he had been befooled by the Mahdi's doctrines and preaching? I wish
I could have thought this possible, but I knew him too well. He was, so
to speak, playing his cards, with the absolute conviction that he would
win; and so he did.
Madibbo now collected a force of horsemen and Bazingers, and advanced to
Karshu, a day's journey south of Dara, where he desolated the country
and derided the Beni Helba for their timidity. Taking fifty horsemen and
one hundred and fifty regulars, I marched out from Dara at night and
surprised Madibbo at sunrise. He was completely unprepared for this
sudden attack, and barely escaped with his life on a horse which he
mounted barebacked; but his entire camp fell into my hands, and we
captured his well-known copper drums. Unfortunately Mohammed Bey Tia,
one of my best and most faithful officers, and who was ever to the front
in pursuit, was shot dead by some Bazingers hidden behind the trees; I
had also a few men killed and several wounded. But although we had
scored a success, we could not be said to have inflicted a heavy defeat
on our enemies; we had brushed them off as one drives flies off meat,
only to let them settle again.
A few days after my return to Dara news arrived that the Mima Arabs had
attacked the military post on the road to Fasher, the garrison of which
had been reduced by Said Bey Guma to thirty men, all of whom had been
killed. Said Bey informed me that he had despatched three hundred and
fifty regulars and four hundred horsemen under Omar Wad Darho to
chastise them and re-occupy the post; but the messenger who brought this
letter, and who had the greatest difficulty in reaching me, reported
that the Arabs were collected in considerable force, and were ready to
attack the expedition on its arrival.
A few days later, the faithful Muslem Wad Kabbashi, Sheikh of Hilla
Shieria, brought me the mournful news of the complete overthrow of Darho
and his men. It appeared that Darho had advanced against the Mima at
Woda, where they had been joined by the Khawabir, Birket, and Manasera
Arabs. He had begun the attack with his horsemen, who, driven back,
retired in headlong flight on the infantry square, followed by an
overwhelming number of Arabs; the regulars, firing alike on friend and
foe, were scattered by this living avalanche, and twelve only had
escaped the slaughter, while of the four hundred horsemen, one hundred
and eighty were saved; the gun, arms, and ammunition were all lost, and
the road between Fasher and Dara was now completely cut.
It was of immediate necessity to communicate with Fasher; but I had the
greatest difficulty in procuring messengers to take a letter to Said Bey
Guma, ordering him--if he had not already done so--to at once make all
preparations for defence, buy up all the available corn in the town,
and, if possible, carry out my previous instructions to withdraw the Om
Shanga garrison.
About a month previous to this event I had proposed to my officers to
abandon Dara and retire on Fasher; but my suggestion had been
unanimously vetoed. The question had of course two sides to it, and as I
clung ardently to the hope that the expedition from Khartum would
succeed in relieving us, I did not force the project. Should the
Egyptian army defeat the Mahdi, then the whole of Darfur would be saved;
if, on the other hand, it should fail, then how could we at Fasher stand
against the whole Sudan? My ammunition was running very low, and I was
puzzled as to how to replenish my waning stock. I had sufficient powder
and shells, but lead was my difficulty. However, I refilled the empty
Remington cases, by melting down the bullets for the percussion guns and
muskets, of which a small quantity still remained, and I also made
copper bullets out of the supply of that metal which was in store from
the mines of Hofret en Nahas, and which I augmented by buying up the
bracelets and anklets of the Black women who much affected copper
ornaments.
Muslem Wad Kabbashi now brought in news that Abo Bey, at the head of
some Mima and Khawabir Arabs, was encamped near Shieria. I was
unfortunately at this time suffering from fever, and was too weak to sit
on a horse; but I could think of no one to whom I could intrust a large
command, and therefore decided to send Kuku Agha, a brave Sudanese, with
only eighty men to attack Abo Bey, then only eight hours distant from
Dara. Muslem Wad Kabbashi offered his services as guide, and they left
that evening at sunset with our best wishes for their success. The
following evening Wad Kabbashi returned wounded, accompanied by only ten
men. "Where are Kuku Agha and the soldiers?" said I, in a state of
considerable agitation. "Scattered or killed," he calmly answered. "But
do not distress yourself, several are following after me; I left in all
haste to bring you the news." "But how did it occur? Tell me," I said.
He now seated himself on the edge of my carpet, so as not to soil it
with his blood, and began: "We marched all night with only one short
halt; but Abo Bey, who had been largely reinforced the previous day, got
news of our coming, and, ordering his camp-fires to be lighted, he went
into ambush on our line of march. Towards dawn he attacked us suddenly,
when we were quite unprepared. In the dark I became separated from Kuku
Agha, who was making for some rising ground to the north, whilst I began
retiring to the south, with a few soldiers who had collected around me.
Alternately fighting and retiring, I at last reached here, and I hope
that Kuku Agha is following with the remainder of the men."
Two days passed in anxious expectancy; only four men came in, and there
was now no doubt that the rest had perished.
Omar Wad Darho's defeat, followed by this last disaster now greatly
encouraged the rebels; and those who had been previously held back by
fear, joined _en masse_. Muslem Wad Kabbashi brought his family into
Dara, saying he preferred to conquer or die with us. Hassan Wad Saad
Nur, whose pardon, it will be remembered, I had procured in Khartum, and
whom I had brought with me on my own guarantee to Dara, to whom I had
given a house just outside the fort, and, when his horse died of
disease, I had given him another, and who, being a native of the place,
I had intrusted with procuring news, now sadly disappointed me.
Unmindful of all the benefits I had bestowed on him, under the pretence
of visiting a relative he mounted the horse I had given him, and rode
straight to El Obeid, where he became one of the Mahdi's faithful
followers.
Madibbo, enraged at the loss of his precious war-drums, which in the
Sudan counts as a disgraceful defeat, now collected all his Arabs, and
sent word to his neighbours to join him in laying siege to Dara. For a
long time past, communication with Khartum had become impossible, the
Mahdists were fully on the alert, and any men I attempted to send with
letters were invariably intercepted. On one occasion, when fighting
against the Beni Helba Arabs, I managed to send a letter to Egypt by a
caravan marching along the Arbaïn road to Assiut. But now the various
methods of concealment which I had successfully employed, such as fixing
letters between the soles of shoes or sandals, soldering them into the
inside of ablution water-bottles, or placing them in hollow spear
staves, had all been discovered. One morning, whilst inspecting the
fort, I noticed some soldiers giving a donkey medical treatment. It was
lame in the fore-leg; and, having thrown it on the ground, they
proceeded to make an incision in the shoulder, in which they placed a
small piece of wood, so as to tighten the skin, across which they made
several transverse slits, and then, taking out the stick, poured in
powdered natron. The idea at once struck me that I might conceal a
letter in this way under the skin. I therefore procured a good-sized
donkey, and, in the privacy of my own house, I repeated the operation I
had just seen performed, inserting in the first cut a small note
describing the situation, which I enclosed in a goat's bladder. The
entire size of the communication in its cover did not exceed that of a
postage stamp. I then sewed up the wound with silk thread, and the
donkey walked without the smallest difficulty. The man to whom I
intrusted this mission subsequently told me that he had delivered the
packet to Ala ed Din Pasha at Shatt a day or two before the expedition
started for El Obeid, and the latter had told the messenger a reply was
unnecessary, but that he should accompany the force to El Obeid, whence
he would despatch him to me with a letter.
The various tribes, obedient to Madibbo's summons, had now collected a
day's march from Dara. Abdullahi Om Dramo, Sheikh of the Messeria Arabs,
alarmed that he should lose his property, had unwillingly joined
Madibbo, and it was through him I received this information. Ismail Wad
Barnu and Bakr el Begawi had also come to Dara with their families for
protection, and had constructed a small zariba for themselves about six
hundred yards from the fort, which the rebels had attempted one night to
attack, but had been driven off, with the assistance of some soldiers.
I was now, however, in a sorry plight as regards ammunition. The total
in charge of the men and in the magazines amounted to twelve packets per
rifle; and if I had attempted to risk a fight, at least half would have
been at once expended. Relief I knew was still far off, and the question
was how to hold out till then with this slender quantity of cartridges.
In order to gain time, I now had recourse to the following stratagem.
Taking aside Om Dramo, whom I knew to be loyal to me, I told him to go
to the rebels, and as it were on his own initiative, and without my
knowledge, suggest to them they should propose an armistice. The same
evening Om Dramo returned, and informed me that the enemy were in great
strength, that the Mahdi had summoned them to the Jehad, and they called
upon me to surrender. I told him to return to them and say that I was
prepared to capitulate; but I would not agree to my life or that of my
soldiers being intrusted to the hands of Arabs against whom I had been
continuously fighting for more than a year. I said, however, that should
the Mahdi despatch a special delegate to me, I was ready to make the
necessary conditions of peace. Om Dramo left me with the promise that he
would do his utmost to induce them to accept my proposition, and I also
agreed that should a parley be necessary, I was prepared to meet them
under the large Adansonia tree, a few hundred yards from the fort. Some
hours later Om Dramo returned radiant, and told me that the Arab chiefs,
who had now been appointed Emirs, fully concurred in my proposal, and
were ready to meet me under the tree; Madibbo had alone dissented, and
urged the siege to be continued until I should be forced to surrender.
I arranged for the meeting to take place at sunrise the following
morning, and made a solemn oath to Om Dramo that should we not arrive at
an understanding, the lives of all the Emirs would be perfectly safe,
and they should be allowed to return unmolested; as an equivalent I
demanded that the Emirs should come to the meeting quite alone.
Early the next morning my faithful intermediary arrived, and told me the
chiefs had come; I therefore at once went out, accompanied only by my
two servants. The Kadi and Farag Effendi begged to be allowed to go with
me; but I thought it would give the Arabs greater confidence if I went
alone. I therefore told them to wait in one of the batteries about four
hundred yards from the tree.
On arrival at the rendezvous, Om Dramo brought forward his friends Abo
Bey, of the Berti tribe, Mohammed Bey Abu Salama, of the Maalia, Helu
Wad Gona, of the Beni Helba, and Hamed Wad Nuer, of the Habbania. All of
them shook hands with me cordially, and we took our seats just as if
nothing had happened between us. I now ordered my boys to hand round
dates, not alone with the object of showing them hospitality, but also I
wished them to know that I still indulged in these luxuries, in spite of
the hard times. I then inquired for Madibbo, and they replied that he
had refused to come to the meeting, but perhaps if we arrived at some
definite arrangement, he might join the majority. I explained that I was
ready to submit to the Mahdi, but I had no intention of surrendering
myself and my people to the Arab tribes. "Tell me now," said I, well
knowing how jealous they were of each other, "to which of you should I
hand over my arms and my horses?" They replied that they were just as
before; that is to say, each one head of his own tribe, independent of
the other, but at the same time all fighting in the common cause of the
Mahdi. After a long palaver, it was at last agreed that I should send a
letter to the Mahdi, announcing my submission, by the hands of one of my
own people, who should be accompanied by two of their delegates. All
should proceed together to El Obeid. On Abo Bey's suggestion,
hostilities at Om Shanga were to cease, and it was further agreed that
the delegate sent by me should be either a Turk or an Egyptian. I
suggested a certain Mohammed el Gretli, who was well known to them. He
had formerly been a kavass, and later a leader of twenty-five horsemen;
he had a light complexion, long fair moustache, and had also been
employed as tax-collector; in him the Arabs concluded they had secured
an influential man. Pending the Mahdi's reply, it was agreed there
should be an armistice, during which the various tribes should retire to
their districts, and all hostilities should cease, while the ground in
front of the fort should be utilised as before as the market-place, in
which all business transactions could be conducted without let or
hindrance. By this arrangement I hoped to gain time to gather a
considerable supply of corn, cattle, etc. We both solemnly swore on the
Kuran to each adhere faithfully to our respective pledges, and then
separated, to meet again at two o'clock to read the letter to the Mahdi
and despatch it forthwith.
When I returned, the Kadi and Farag Effendi were greatly pleased with
the agreement; and, directing Gretli to be ready to start, I proceeded
to write two letters, one to the Mahdi, and the other to the garrison of
Om Shanga.
At the appointed time we again met under the tree; but Madibbo was still
absent, and on inquiry I was told that he entirely disagreed with the
arrangement, and charged me with merely attempting to delude and cheat
them. All the other Emirs, however, declared they were perfectly ready
to adhere to the conditions to which we had sworn, and that if Madibbo
did not care to join, he was free to stay away. My letter to the Mahdi
ran as follows:--
In the name of the Most Merciful God. From the slave of his God,
Abdel Kader Salatin [Slatin] to Sayed Mohammed el Mahdi. May God
protect him and confound his enemies! Amen! For a long time I
have been defending the province which the Government confided
to my care, but God's will cannot be fought against. I therefore
hereby declare that I submit to it (God's will) and to you,
under the condition that you send one of your relatives, with
the necessary authority to rule this country, and to whom I
shall hand it over. I demand a pledge from you that all men,
women, and children within the fort shall be spared. Everything
else I leave to your generosity.
My letter to the Om Shanga garrison, demanded by Abo Bey, ran thus:--
_To the Commander of the Garrison at Om Shanga_:
Circumstances have compelled me to write to the Mahdi regarding
the surrender of Darfur, under certain conditions. Abo Bey, who
takes this letter to you, will raise the siege; and you are
hereby instructed to cease from all hostilities. I forbid you,
in my capacity as commandant of the troops, to hand over to the
enemy any war material, except in my presence.
(Signed) _Governor-General of Darfur
and Commandant of the Troops_,
SLATIN.
Abo Bey objected to this last sentence; but when I explained to him that
the main point was that I submitted to the Mahdi only, he was satisfied.
Before Gretli left, I told him to point out to the Mahdi that the
surrender of Darfur before the impending battle was fought would
probably bring upon him a number of difficulties from which, at such a
time, he would prefer to be free, and I also warned him to tell Zogal.
As a last request, Abo Bey and Mohammed Abu Salama asked me to liberate
Zogal's relations from prison; but this I told them the Mahdi's deputy
alone could do. Our palaver having ended to the complete satisfaction of
all parties, the meeting broke up, and we separated.
Gretli now proceeded to the Emir's camp; at sunset we heard the beating
of the war-drums announcing his departure, and soon afterwards the
besiegers quitted the neighbourhood of Dara. I sent spies to see if
Madibbo was still staying behind; but they returned, and reported that
he had gone with the rest. It appeared that he had only decided to go at
the last moment.
Communication with Fasher was still interrupted; but sometime afterwards
I received a letter from Said Bey Guma to the effect that although the
tribes were in revolt, they had not attacked the town, but had prevented
all communications with the outside world.
The days which now passed were for me full of anxious expectancy. I knew
that by this time Hicks's force must have almost reached El Obeid, and
that the decisive battle, on the result of which hung all our hopes and
fears, was about to be fought. I used to frequent the market and chat
with the people on all the topics of the day. Every one was aware that a
large army was advancing on El Obeid, but none yet knew how it was
progressing.
At length, towards the end of November, to my unutterable grief, rumours
began to circulate that the army had been defeated, and although they
sounded suspiciously near the truth, still we could not absolutely
credit them; but a day or two later, definite news was received that the
expedition had been annihilated. Gloom settled down on us all. After so
many hardships and such constant trouble to at length fall into the
hands of the enemy, without the smallest chance of escape! Yet could it
be possible the news was grossly exaggerated? A flicker of hope still
remained, only to disappear finally when information was received that
Zogal had arrived at Om Shanga, and that the garrison had surrendered to
him as Mudir Umum el Gharb (Governor-General of the West), appointed by
the Mahdi.
On the 20th of December, 1883, Mohammed el Gretli arrived at the gate of
the fort dressed in a jibba, and was brought in to me. He related to me
in full detail the heart-rending news of the complete overthrow of the
expedition, of which he himself had been a witness; he also brought me a
letter from Zogal, calling on me to surrender; and to prove the disaster
which had overtaken the Egyptians, he sent me several of the principal
officers' commissions, a number of reports on the situation, and the
journals of Colonel Farquhar and Mr. O'Donovan. At the same time Gretli
informed me that Om Shanga had surrendered, and that Zogal was staying
in Bringel; with him were Abderrahman Wad Ahmed Sharfi and Said Abd es
Samad, both relatives of the Mahdi, besides the Emirs, Omar Wad Elias
Pasha, Gabr Wad et Tayeb, Hassan Wad en Nejumi, and several others,
accompanied by their rayas (flags).
To keep this news secret was quite out of the question; I therefore
summoned the Kadi and the leading merchants, and directed Gretli to
repeat to them what he had just told me. This over, I sent for the
officers in whom I trusted, and told them to talk over the matter
between themselves, and come to a decision without my interference, as I
should reserve to myself the right of accepting or rejecting their
proposals as I thought best.
That evening Farag Effendi and Ali Effendi Tobgi, the commandant of the
artillery, told me that the officers had decided to surrender to the
Mahdi but not to Zogal Bey. They stated their reasons for coming to this
decision very simply: every one, from the highest to the lowest, was now
absolutely convinced that we had not the smallest chance of relief; the
total force of regulars in Dara amounted to five hundred and ten men, of
whom a large number were quite useless; the spirit of the troops was
such as to render all idea of eventual success quite out of the
question; the ammunition was scarcely sufficient to last out one fight
if we were attacked or if we took the offensive. Both the officers
pointed out that I should never succeed in getting the men to fight any
longer; they had made up their minds to surrender, and they urged that
there was now no other course open. I told them I would carefully
consider the matter, and would give them an answer the following
morning.
That night I did not close my eyes. To think that after all the dangers
and difficulties through which we had passed, there was no other course
now open but to submit! And after that what was to be our fate?
I reviewed the situation from beginning to end during those sleepless
hours. For four years I had struggled alone to uphold the Government's
authority in the province which had been intrusted to my care,--first
against the local revolts, which I had suppressed; and latterly against
the great fanatical movement which had attacked the very roots of my
administration, and whose canker-worm had spread into the branches, till
at length the leaves withering one by one, the tree was all but dead.
In short, this strange fanaticism had thoroughly taken possession of my
officers and men; they had openly held out against it as long as it was
possible for me to dangle before their eyes the prospect of an immediate
reassertion of Government authority, through the anticipated success of
the Egyptian expedition under Hicks, and the consequent advantages which
would accrue to one and all of those who had loyally served the
Government. By every means in my power I had striven to prove to my
officers and men that the Government must eventually succeed; but at
length the crash had come, and all prospect of relief was absolutely and
entirely gone. I had struggled against intrigues from within and
without, with what success the reader can judge. With the small amount
of ammunition that remained, I might have made a vain struggle for a few
hours; but would my officers and men have obeyed my orders? They had no
wish and no heart to fight; they knew as well as I did the futility of
it; and why should I call on them to sacrifice themselves, and perhaps
their wives and children, to a cause to which they were no longer
attached?
Looking at the matter entirely from a general point of view, I had no
doubt in my own mind that capitulation was not only the right course,
but was practically inevitable. Having arrived at this conclusion, I had
now to turn to the personal aspect; and the solution of this problem was
to me beset with the greatest difficulties. As an officer, the idea of
surrender to such an enemy was repulsive in the extreme. I had no fear
of my own life; I had risked it sufficiently during the past four years
to effectually dispose of any notion that my surrender was occasioned by
any want of personal courage,--on that point I felt sure that, if
spared, I could without the smallest difficulty vindicate my action to
my military superiors; but the very word "surrender" was repellant to
me, and doubly so when I thought over the consequences which must
follow to me--a European and a Christian--alone amongst thousands and
thousands of fanatical Sudanese and others, the meanest among whom would
consider himself superior to me. It is true I had nominally adopted the
religion of the country; but this I had done merely as a means of
stifling the injurious opinions which I knew existed in the minds of
officers and men, that the cause of my defeat lay in my being a
Christian. My ruse had succeeded to a greater extent than I had
expected, but the proceeding had been a distasteful one to me. I had no
pretensions to holding very strict religious views on the expediency or
otherwise of the step I had taken; nevertheless, at heart I was, I
believe, as good a Christian as the majority of young men of my
acquaintance, and that being so, a continuance of the life of religious
deception I was then living was by no means a prospect which I
appreciated. Moreover, I was well aware that my surrender would place me
absolutely and entirely in the hands of this mock-religious reformer,
and that not only should I have to show myself to be a Moslem in the
ordinary sense of the term, but to carry out the rôle surrender would
entail on me, I must be prepared to pursue this religious deception to
its fullest extent,--I must become a devotee, and henceforth I must show
myself heart and soul a Mahdist!
Can any one imagine that this was a pleasing prospect? Nevertheless, I
confess that the religious considerations involved in the step I
contemplated--although they weighed with me to no small extent--did not
occupy my mind so fully as the considerations in regard to my duty.
Generally speaking, I felt it to be my duty to surrender, and make no
further sacrifice of life in a cause which could not now, by any
possibility, succeed. There was no particular reason, however, why I
should voluntarily submit to the indignities and practical slavery which
must follow on my personal surrender; to be accessory to my own death
occurred to me more than once, but my nature revolted against this
thought. I was young, my life during the past four years had been one
of anxious responsibility, but of stirring adventure as well, and I had
no particular desire to bring it to a close, even with the dark prospect
in front of me. God in His mercy had spared me almost miraculously in
this constant fighting, and perhaps He would still spare me to be of use
to the Government I had tried to serve most loyally.
These were the thoughts which were uppermost in my mind when the dark
hours of anxious meditation gave place to the first streaks of the dawn
of perhaps the most memorable day of my life. Yes, I concluded, there is
nothing for it now but submission; I must become, so to speak, the slave
of those whom I have governed, I must be obedient to those who in every
respect are my inferiors, and I must, above all, be patient: if by a
careful practice of these I should succeed in saving my life and
eventually recovering my liberty, no doubt the experience which I should
gain would be valuable to the Government in whose service I still was.
With this determination and resolution I rose, and dressed for the last
time for many a long year in the uniform, the honour of which I had done
my utmost to uphold, now to be discarded for the Mahdist garb, in which
I was to play an entirely new part in life; but beneath it would beat a
heart as truly loyal as ever to Government, and filled with a
determination that, come what might, if it were God's will I should be
eventually restored to liberty, the strange experiences which it would
now be my fate to undergo might be turned to useful account. It was now
to be a case of my wits against those of my new masters,--who would win?
I did not quail from the contest, though I should have had no little
excuse for doing so, could I have scanned the future, and seen before me
the long years of servitude, and the double life which I should be
compelled to lead, in order to carry through the resolution at which I
had now arrived.
The next morning, the two officers arrived; I showed them Zogal's
letter, calling on me to surrender peacefully, and to meet him on the
23rd of December at Hilla Shieria, where he would personally hand me the
Mahdi's letter; he further wrote that, in accordance with his present
instructions, my life and those of all the men, women, and children in
the fort should be spared, and we should be afforded all protection.
Whilst we were talking over the matter, the orderly officer reported
that Abder Rasul Agha, with all the Bazingers, as well as the chief
merchant with his family, had deserted the town during the night, with
the evident intention of joining the enemy.
This was the last straw. It was absolutely clear to me that further
resistance was impossible. I therefore sent for my clerk and dictated to
him a letter to Zogal, giving in my submission and that of the garrison,
and agreeing to meet him at Hilla Shieria on the 23rd of December; this
I handed to Gretli, with instructions to take it to Zogal, who was now
to be called Sayed Mohammed Ibn Khaled.
The following day, in the afternoon, I assembled all the officers, and
told them that, as further resistance was not possible, I had concurred
in their proposals; that I was leaving Dara that evening in order to
meet Zogal the next day at Hilla Shieria, and that I would take the Kadi
with me, but would leave the officers to look after the garrison during
my absence. In a few words, which seemed to stick in my throat, I
thanked them for their loyalty, their readiness to sacrifice their lives
in the service of the Government, and their adherence to me; then,
warmly shaking each of them by the hand, and taking a general leave of
the civil officials, I departed.
At midnight, accompanied by my kavasses, Kadi Wad el Beshir, Sultan
Abakr el Begawi, Ismail Wad Barnu, and Muslem Wad Kabbashi, who remained
faithful to the last, I quitted Dara. During my service in Darfur I had
had many disagreeable experiences, but this journey was quite the
hardest. Not a word passed. We were all fully occupied with our
miserable thoughts. At sunset we made a short halt, but the food put
before us by the servants remained untouched. Our appetites had gone,
so we rode on. As we approached Hilla Shieria, I sent an orderly ahead
to see if Zogal had arrived, and he soon returned, stating he had been
there since yesterday, and was waiting for me. In a few moments we
reached the spot where he was standing, and, jumping off my horse, I
advanced to salute him; he pressed me to his heart, and assured me of
his entire friendliness, begged me to be seated, and then handed me the
Mahdi's letter. It merely stated that he had appointed Sayed Mohammed
Khaled as Emir of the West, had granted me pardon, that he had
commissioned his nephew to treat me with the respect to which my rank
entitled me, and to act with leniency and forbearance to all those who
were formerly Government officials. After I had finished reading the
letter, Zogal informed me that it was entirely owing to his good offices
on my behalf that the Mahdi had pardoned me, and that he would, of
course, do his utmost to help me. I thanked him for his kind sympathy.
The Emirs were then introduced to me: Elias, Tayeb, and Hassan Nejumi I
had met before. After partaking of food, Zogal discussed his intended
journey to Dara; whilst we were talking, one of my officers, Mohammed
Agha Suleiman, arrived, and, without taking the smallest notice of me,
went up and greeted Zogal most effusively; I at once recognised him as
one of the three officers whom I had been told were "Black Zogal's" (as
he was called) secret agents. Mohammed Khaled, as I must call him in
future, now took me aside, and spoke to me about his relatives and his
family. I told him that I had left them all well, and that the former
were still in arrest. He at once said he quite concurred in the steps I
had taken, which of course were in the interests of self-preservation,
and best for us both. We then started off, and encamped the same evening
near Dara. Several of the inhabitants and officials came out to greet
the new governor, already dressed in their Dervish clothes.
During my absence, Mohammed Khaled had directed Abd es Samad, who was at
Bringel with the Dervish troops, to move down towards Dara and occupy
the buildings to the south of the town, which had formerly belonged to
the Vizir Ahmed Shatta. Joined on his march by most of the country
people, he had arrived at the appointed place, had established friendly
relations with the townspeople and garrison, and had distributed
quantities of the new clothing in presents.
That night I again passed almost without closing my eyes. It was
Christmas Eve. I thought of home and of the beautiful Church festival
which was being celebrated there, whilst I, alone and defeated, was
handing over my men and arms to the enemy. In those still hours--they
were the saddest in my life--I passed in review all that had happened.
More fortunate by far were those who had fallen on the field of honour!
The next morning, Zogal officially received all those who had come out
to pay homage to him, and then ordered them and the troops under Abd es
Samad to march past. This over, he dismissed his relatives who had come
out to greet him, regretting the discomfort they had suffered under
arrest, and he then proceeded to his house outside the fort, having,
meanwhile, ordered my men to hand over their arms by companies,--a duty
which was performed with very scant regard for our feelings. The fort
was now garrisoned by Dervish troops, and this completed his occupation
of the country. The inhabitants flocked to him to give their oaths of
allegiance to the Mahdi, and later in the day the troops were paraded by
his order, to go through the same ceremony.
Madibbo, who had joined Abd es Samad at Bringel, and had come to Dara
with him, followed me home. We shook hands, and I begged him to be
seated; he then began: "You seem to be annoyed with me, and accuse me of
having broken faith with you: but now listen to me. I was discharged
from my position of head Sheikh by Emiliani, and proceeded to the Bahr
el Arab, where the Mahdi's summons reached me. I am a good Moslem, and
therefore I followed him; I beheld the Mahdi's divine nature, and
listened to his doctrines; I was also present at the marvellous
destruction of Yusef Shellali. I therefore believed in him, and am still
a believer. You of course trusted in your strength, and did not wish to
submit without fighting. We both fought, each seeking his own advantage:
I fought against the Government, but not against you personally. God
knows, I have never forgotten that you were friendly minded to me,
therefore let anger depart from your heart and be a brother to me!"
"I am not at all angry at what you have done," I answered, "you are but
one among many: and should I have been annoyed with you, your words have
quite reconciled me." "I thank you," said Madibbo. "May God strengthen
you, and as He has protected you hitherto, may He continue to protect
you!" "In truth," I replied, "I put my trust in Him. Still it is hard to
have to bear all that has now happened; but I suppose it must be!" "Not
so," he answered; "I am only an Arab, but listen to me. Be obedient and
patient; practise this virtue, for it is written, 'Allah ma es saberin'
[God is with the patient]. However, I have come to ask you something,
and my request is this: If you are really a brother to me, then, in
token of our friendship, I wish you to accept my favourite horse. You
knew him before; he is the Sakr ed Dijaj [the Chicken-hawk]." Before I
could reply, he had got up and gone outside, and in a few minutes
returned, leading his horse, which was the finest and most handsome
animal owned by the tribe; he then handed me the leading-rope. "I do not
wish to insult you," I replied, "by refusing to accept your present, but
I do not require it; I shall not want to ride much now." "Who knows?"
said the Sheikh. "Illi umru tawil bishuf ketir [He who lives long sees
much]. You are still young, and may often ride yet,--if not on this
horse, then on another." "You may be right, Madibbo, but now do you
accept from me this token of friendship," said I, pointing to his
precious war-drums, which my servants took up and handed to him; these
drums, it will be remembered, I had taken in the night attack on
Kershu. On the drums I also laid a sword which I had taken down from
the wall. "To-day," said I, "these are mine, and I can offer them to
you; to-morrow they may be another's." "I thank you, and accept them
gladly," said the Sheikh. "Only a short time ago your men captured my
war-drums; but, as the Arabs say, 'Er rigal sharrada urrada' [A man runs
away and comes back again],[9] and I may truly say I have fought many
times in my life, and sometimes I have run away, then I have returned
and have succeeded." Madibbo now ordered his men to carry off his drums,
and departed in great delight. His conversation had affected me
considerably. So I was now to be "obedient and patient; for he who lives
long sees much."
Mohammed Khaled soon sent for me, and informed me that on his arrival at
Shieria he had despatched a letter by one of Wad Darho's relatives to
Said Bey Guma, summoning him to surrender, and had at the same time sent
a certain Abderrahman as his representative. He now called upon me to
write officially to him to hand over Fasher and summon every one to
submit. I replied that the clerks were no longer in my service, and that
the document could be made out, should he think it necessary, and I
would sign it. The orders to this effect were given, I signed them, and
Khaled, addressing the letter to the commander of the Fasher garrison,
despatched it at once.
The following morning the new Governor began his seizure of the state
moneys. The inhabitants of Dara, with the exception of all troops below
the rank of officer, and myself, being considered as Ghanima,[10] were
ordered out of their houses; they were only permitted to take with them
a few necessary cooking utensils and the clothes they wore, and were
ordered to collect in front of the police-station near the market,
whilst their dwellings were ransacked and the contents carried off to
the Beit el Mal which was opened in the Mudiria. As no money or
jewellery was found, all those suspected of having any were brought
before the Emirs, who ordered them to instantly produce it; and in
carrying out the search disgusting cruelties were perpetrated: they
flogged mercilessly, beat them with sticks or tied them by the legs head
downwards in wells until the rush of blood to the head rendered them
unconscious. Amongst those who exercised more cruelty than the rest was
my old Khartum friend Hassan Wad Saad en Nur, whom I reported, in his
presence, to Khaled. Hassan instantly turned to me, saying, "Do you
still think you are Governor-General of Darfur and can say what you
like?" I replied that he should be careful not to go too far, and
reminded him that it was I who secured his release from prison, and that
the horse he was then riding was mine. To this he answered impudently,
"It was God who released me, and it is God, and not you, who has given
me your horse to ride." Khaled, who heard these remarks, angrily ordered
him off, and said to me, "Take no notice of him, his father, Saad en
Nur, was the Sultan's slave, and slave-blood always shows itself."
As we were now alone, I complained to Khaled of the ill-treatment
visited on those who had shown complete submission, and I reminded him
of his pledge to protect all men, women, and children. "I am not going
to put any one to death," answered he, sharply, "but they have no right
to the money they are concealing; it is contrary to the arrangement, and
it must be taken from them by force." My experiences were beginning. I
went home, and here several of the poor people who had been turned out
of their houses came and begged me to give them something. I furnished
them with a little corn; but since our troubles began I had received no
pay, so had no money to offer them.
The male and female servants of the former officials were now
distributed amongst the Mahdists, but all the good-looking young girls
were put aside for the Mahdi himself.
Seven days after our surrender Khaled informed me that Said Bey Guma had
sent the principal officials to make their submission, and that he
himself was in the neighbourhood of the town awaiting further orders; he
therefore collected his forces and prepared to march out to meet him.
The delegates sent by Said Bey Guma were Omar Wad Darho and some of his
officers, Hanafi el Koreishi the grand Kadi, and Ali Bey Khabir. Khaled
received them with great satisfaction, and one of the clerks, coming
forward, presented the documents relating to the transfer of the
Government to Abderrahman; in these were included the lists of arms and
ammunition in store, the number of guns, etc. Khaled now took his guests
into the town and entertained them with the best of everything, pledging
himself to preserve, not only their lives and the lives of all the women
and children in Fasher, but also, when all the money and valuables were
collected, he promised that half would be returned to the owners. The
following day, however, it was rumoured that the Fasher garrison had
decided not to surrender after all, and in the evening news arrived that
Fiki Abderrahman had been warned to leave the city, which he had done,
and that all preparations were being made for defence. Khaled now
anxiously inquired of the messengers what had occurred to cause this
sudden change in Said Bey's intentions; but they replied it was not the
doing of Said Bey, but of some of the officers, who had been told by
refugees from Dara that their comrades had been badly treated, and they
had, therefore, decided to fight to the end.
Khaled now gave orders that all his people should prepare to advance at
once on Fasher, including the entire garrison, with their arms and
ammunition, with the exception of the officers, whom he ordered to
remain behind and to be carefully watched. He waited, however, two days
longer, in the hope that he might get different news; but as the first
account was further corroborated by some of Darho's men and Ali Khabir's
servant, who came in that evening from Fasher, he set out on 3rd January
to lay siege to the town, followed by large numbers of men marching by
various roads.
On 7th January he, his Emirs, and the Dara troops under Mohammed Agha
Suleiman, reached Wad Beraj, on the outskirts of the town, where they
pitched camp. The next day a letter was written which I was obliged to
sign, reminding Said Bey Guma and the officers of the agreement they had
made to surrender through Omar Wad Darho, Kadi Hanafi, and others.
My--or rather Khaled's--letter remained unanswered; for it was quite
understood in Fasher that, being now under Khaled, I had no other course
open than to obey his orders. The messenger who took the letter was told
to warn all those who complained of ill-treatment to come and state to
Khaled what they required; and this becoming known to the Fasher
garrison, several who had no desire to fight left the fort, and were
accepted in the Mahdist camp. Wad Darho's men, who lived outside the
fort, also came over to Khaled immediately, and orders were given to
begin the siege forthwith; the operations being intrusted to Darho.
I now asked Khaled to be allowed to talk to him privately, and I told
him plainly that this opposition on the part of the Fasher garrison was
entirely due to their fear of suffering in the same way as the Dara
people. This he quite admitted. I then told him I was very unwilling to
fight against those who had formerly been under my rule, and, as he was
well aware, the events of the last few days had considerably affected my
health; I therefore begged to be allowed to return to Dara. In reply to
my request he said that were it not that he liked me, he would most
certainly have punished me severely for the words I had just uttered;
nevertheless, he would allow me to return to Dara, on condition that I
pledged myself to abstain from any acts of hostility; at the same time
he showed me some letters which had been addressed to me, but which he
had opened. One of them was a reply to my report sent from the Beni
Helba country to Cairo regarding the desert road to Assiut. They had
been given to some Magharba Arabs to bring to me, and on their entry
into the country they had been arrested by the Saidia Arabs and kept as
prisoners, and on Khaled's arrival at El Fasher they had been sent on to
him. He allowed me to make notes of their contents. The letters were all
of old dates. One was from His Highness the Khedive Tewfik Pasha,
expressing his complete satisfaction with the services I had rendered,
urging me to continue to fulfil with diligence the duties of my
position, and telling me that he was despatching an army under Hicks
Pasha to subdue the rebels in Kordofan and restore peace. Another was
from H. E. Nubar Pasha, Prime Minister, who also expressed satisfaction
with my services, and repeated the information about the Hicks
expedition. The third was from Zubeir Pasha, who sent me his kind
regards, and asked me to make inquiries about the family of his son
Suleiman. As far as I knew, Suleiman had left only one child, who with
his mother I had handed over to the care of Omar Wad Darho with
instructions to take an early opportunity to send them to Zubeir's
relatives on the Nile. The mother, however, preferred to marry one of
Darho's relations, and she was charged with bringing up the child. The
feelings which I underwent on reading these letters can be better
imagined than described. How we had placed all our hopes on the success
of the Hicks expedition, and how rudely had those hopes been dashed to
the ground! However, I did my best to master my feelings, and handed the
letters back to Khaled, who was contentedly smiling at my agitation.
"Your Effendina [the Khedive] thought he would defeat the Mahdi," said
he, "but the 'expected one' has turned the tables on him; there are
still harder times in store for these deluded Turks and Egyptians." I
smothered the retort which hung on my lips, and said nothing. "Be
obedient and patient" was Madibbo's advice; but how difficult it was to
follow it!
I then got up and took leave of Khaled, who lost no opportunity of
showing me that he was my superior, and then proceeded to Dara without
delay. I was really ill, and on my arrival there kept to my house for
some days; but the weeping and wailing of the unfortunate people gave
me no rest: they had been robbed of all their means of livelihood, and
now eked out a miserable and wretched existence as best they could.
Meanwhile the Mahdists were besieging Fasher, and had taken up their
position on the hill to the east of the fort, from which they were
separated by the Khor Tendelti; they had taken possession of all the
wells, both near the hill, as well as those in the valley. Said Bey Guma
was the actual commandant, though the preliminary success of the
garrison was principally due to the energy of the two officers, Said
Agha el Fula and Ibrahim Agha et Tagalawi. The former had been wounded
with me at Shakka, and I had sent him to his family at Fasher to
recover; the latter was an exceptionally brave officer, and had
considerable influence with the troops. As there was no water in the
fort, the continuance of the siege depended on the possession of the
wells. Said Bey Guma disposed of eight hundred and fifty rifles, which
were more than were required for the size of the fort; but Khaled was
still better off. Nevertheless, the Fasher garrison succeeded, after a
sharp contest, in regaining the wells, and the Mahdists were forced to
retire to Wadi Baraj; here, however, they were reinforced by a portion
of the Kebkebia garrison. Adam Amer had surrendered, and had despatched
a large party of Bazingers, under Babakr Wad el Haj, with several
regulars to Khaled's support; and with this addition to their strength
another attack was made, which resulted in the garrison losing the
wells.
Several heroic sorties were made; but after a seven days' siege the
garrison was obliged to submit, on the 15th of January, and Khaled, the
conqueror, entered the ancient capital of his new kingdom. After the
arms had been handed over and the fort occupied, the seizure of property
began, as at Dara, and similar, if not worse, cruelties were perpetrated
on the luckless inhabitants. Said Bey himself was, comparatively
speaking, more fortunate than other commanders; the greater part of his
property was confiscated, it is true, but he was not maltreated nor
insulted, and for the time being he and his family were banished to
Kobbé, where he was given a house, and was thus saved the misery of
seeing his comrades and inferiors being tormented.
Amongst the latter was a certain Major Hamada Effendi, who, in spite of
every effort to make him confess, persisted in declaring that he had no
money. One of his female slaves, however, told his persecutors that he
had a quantity of gold and silver, but she did not know where he had
concealed it. Consequently he was brought before Khaled, who called him
an unbelieving dog. Hamada Effendi, losing control of himself, retorted
that he was a wretched Dongolawi; and Khaled, furious at this insult,
ordered the unfortunate man to be flogged until he confessed the
hiding-place of his treasure. For three days in succession he received a
thousand lashes a day, but it was all in vain; had he been a block of
wood or stone, he could not have stood this awful flogging more
doggedly. To the repeated questions of his tormentors as to where his
money was, he merely answered, "Yes, I have concealed money, but it will
remain buried in the ground with me." Khaled now ordered the flogging to
be stopped, and the poor mangled man was handed over to the Mima Arabs,
who were told to guard him; and even they were struck with the
resolution of this officer, from whom no amount of torture could wring a
confession. Ibrahim Tegalawi, who had been called a "slave" by one of
the Emirs, deliberately shot dead his own wife, his brother, and then
himself; Said Agha Fula also preferred to commit suicide than undergo
torture. After these occurrences, Khaled gave orders to stop the
flogging, and banished the Egyptian officers to various places in the
neighbourhood.
Shortly after the fall of Fasher I received a summons from Khaled to
join him, and I arrived there early in February; he gave me Said Bey
Guma's house to live in, and told me that I might send to Dara for my
horses and servants, but as regards the house furniture, that must be
passed into the Beit el Mal as an "act of renunciation." I carried out
these instructions, and handed over all the property in my house in
Fasher to the treasurer of the Beit el Mal, Gaber Wad et Taib, only
retaining such things as were absolutely necessary for daily life. I had
heard on my arrival here of Hamada's heroism, and sought out the poor
old Major, whom I found in a truly terrible state. The gaping wounds
from his shoulders to his knees were mortifying rapidly, and his
tormentors used to pour over them daily a strong solution of salt and
water well seasoned with Sudan pepper, thus hoping to wring a confession
from him during the awful pain which ensued. But it was useless; he
absolutely refused to utter a word. In desperation I went to Khaled,
told him of the poor man's horrible condition, and begged him to allow
me to take him to my own house and treat him there. "He is dishonest,"
said Khaled; "he has concealed money and has publicly insulted me: for
this he must die a miserable death." "For the sake of our old
friendship," said I, "I beg and pray you will forgive him and hand him
over to me." "Well," said he at last, "I will if you will prostrate
yourself before me." In the Sudan this is considered a terrible
humiliation. The blood rushed to my face: to save my own life I would
never do such a thing; but if by this self-sacrifice I could rescue the
poor wretched man from his awful sufferings, I ought surely to do so.
For a moment I hesitated; then, with a fearful effort of self-control, I
knelt down, and laid my hands on his bare feet. He drew them back,
raised me up, and, apparently ashamed of having asked such a sacrifice
of me, said, "It is only for your sake that I shall liberate Hamada; but
you must promise that, should you find out where his treasure is, you
will let me know." I promised to do so, and he then sent a man with me
to Hamada. Calling up my servants I had him carried on an angareb, as
tenderly as I could, to my house, and washed his wounds, spreading over
them fresh butter to deaden the pain. It was quite impossible he could
live much longer. I gave him a little soup, and in a low voice he called
down all the curses of Heaven on his enemies. He lay in my house four
days, and then, calling me to his bedside, he motioned to the servants
to leave us; he now whispered, in words which were scarcely audible, "My
hour has come. May the Lord reward you for all your kindness to me! I
cannot do so, but I will show you that I am grateful. I have buried my
money--" "Stop!" said I. "Are you going to tell me where you have hidden
your treasure?" "Yes," he murmured; "it may be of some use to you."
"No," I answered, "I will not and cannot use it; I secured your release
from your tormentors on the one condition that, should I learn where
your money was hidden, I should tell Khaled your enemy. You have
suffered greatly, and are paying with your life for your determination
not to let your treasure fall into your enemy's hands; let it lie
unknown in the ground, it will keep silence!" Whilst I was talking,
Hamada held my hand; with a supreme effort he murmured, "I thank you;
may you became fortunate without my money! Allah Karim [God is
merciful!];" then, stretching out his limbs, and raising his forefinger,
he slowly muttered, "La ilaha illallah, Mohammed Rasul Allah," closed
his eyes, and died.
As I gazed at his poor mangled corpse my eyes filled with tears. How
much was I still to suffer before it came to my turn to enter into
everlasting rest? Calling my servants, I bade them bring in two good men
to wash the body, and wrap it in some linen I had procured; meanwhile, I
went to Khaled to inform him of his death. "Did he not tell you where
his money was buried?" said he, sharply. "No," said I, "the man was too
stubborn to betray his secret." "Then may God curse him!" said the Emir,
turning to me. "However, as he died in your house, you may bury him; he
really deserves to be thrown out like a dog on the dunghill." Quitting
him, I went home and buried poor Hamada, with the usual form of prayer,
just in front of my house.
Khaled was a very cunning man, excessively strict with the former
Government officials, and unnecessarily lenient in his transactions with
the local population. He filled all important positions by his own
relatives, and although he strove by every means in his power to squeeze
all he could out of the country, he was specially careful to avoid the
risk of incurring popular discontent. He appropriated to himself the
greater part of the revenues, and every now and then he sent as presents
to the Mahdi and his Khalifas a batch of pretty girls, some good horses,
or some exceptionally fine camels, so as to retain his good reputation
in the household of his lord and master. He kept up great state, and
surrounded himself with an enormous household. He married Mariam Isa
Basi, the sister of the Sultan of Darfur, although she was over fifty
years old. This good lady had hundreds of male and female slaves, and
kept up her state in true Sudanese fashion. It did not seem to occur to
Khaled that any self-abnegation, as required by the Mahdi creed, should
be demanded of him. Every evening he caused a hundred dishes, plates,
and twisted mats, full of every variety of food, to be distributed
amongst his followers, who, seated at their ease under the palm-trees,
would sing the praises of the Mahdi, coupling every now and then his
name with that of their benefactor and Emir, Khaled.
At about this time a long letter, sent from Cairo to me, through the
Mudir of Dongola, by the hands of a trusty Arab, arrived. In it I was
ordered to concentrate the troops at Fasher, hand over the province to
Abd es Shakur bin Abderrahman Shattut, a descendant of the Darfur
Sultans, and move with all troops and war _matériel_ to Dongola. The
king's son in question was, however, still in Dongola, unable to find
means to come to Darfur; and I greatly doubt if his arrival would have
made the smallest difference in the situation. Concentration at Fasher
would have been rendered impossible by the defection of the officers and
men; and had I been able to collect sufficient troops ready to obey my
orders, and had I been able to march out with them and the war
_matériel_ unmolested, I could equally well have been able to stay in
the country and maintain my position; in which case the Egyptian
Government would have had in me a vassal of equivalent, if not greater,
fidelity than the powerless Abd es Shakur. Khaled showed me these
letters, and also gave me permission to write a few lines to my family
at home, which he allowed the Arab who brought the letters to take back;
but I do not think my letter ever reached its destination.
During all this time I remained quietly at my house, awaiting the
instructions of the Mahdi as to my movements. About the middle of May,
Khaled informed me that, owing to scarcity of water, the Mahdi had
quitted El Obeid and marched to Rahad, that he wished to know me
personally, and that, therefore, I should make preparations to start at
once.
News now reached us of the fall of Bahr el Ghazal, under Lupton Bey, and
of the despatch of the Emir Karamalla, as Mahdist Governor of the
Province. This Karamalla had formerly lived with his brother Kerkesawi,
who was commander of Lupton's Bazingers, and on the outbreak of the
revolt had proceeded with his brother's permission to El Obeid, where he
had been well received by the Mahdi. Appointed Emir, he was sent back,
and was immediately joined by all the Bazingers and most of Lupton's
officials, including finally his sub-governor, Arbab ez Zubeir, who had
hitherto served the Government most loyally. Thus deserted by all his
people, Lupton had no other course open than to capitulate, which he
did, without fighting, on 28th April 1884. Had it not been for the
defection of his own men and officials, Lupton, by a judicious
management of the Negro tribes, could have held his province against all
comers for years; but deserted by all, and by them sold over to the
Mahdists, he could not do otherwise than surrender.
Khaled wished Said Bey Guma to accompany me as well; he was still living
at Kobbé, and, in spite of his former intrigues against me, I agreed to
the proposal; also a certain Greek merchant named Dimitri Zigada asked
to accompany me, and Khaled gave him permission to do so. This man had
been long resident in Darfur, and had been a meat contractor for the
troops at Fasher and Kebkebia. Previous to my capitulation, he had
presented to me claims for £8,000 for meat supplied, which I had
granted, and my signature to that effect he sewed into his clothes.
Procuring the necessary camels, and confining ourselves to as few
servants as possible, as at that time of the year water was very scarce
along the road, we prepared for the journey.
Hearing that I could sell horses at a good price in Kordofan, I took
four of mine with me, hoping in this way to obtain sufficient money to
cover our daily expenses. At Khaled's express wish, I gave him the bay
pony which Gordon had presented to me. Said Bey had now arrived from
Kobbé, bringing with him only one wife; the remainder and his seven
children he had, to his great regret, been obliged to leave behind him.
About the middle of June, Zigada and I quitted Fasher, heartily glad to
leave the place where we had suffered so many hardships and bitter
experiences. Khaled supplied us with an escort of ten men under Fiki
Shakir, of the Berti tribe, and no doubt the latter was instructed to
keep a careful watch over us. In bidding him good-bye, I thanked Khaled
for his friendship, and begged him to be kind to the few remaining male
and female servants I had left behind me.
Our route lay through Toweisha _via_ Woda and Fafa; on the way we were
constantly exposed to the inquisitive importunity of the country people,
and had to submit to many an insulting remark regarding our present
situation, which they invariably said was much better than we deserved.
To save our horses, we marched slow, and on the fifth day reached
Toweisha, where, being our guide's native place, we stayed a few days;
during this time he treated us as his guests, and did all he could to
make us comfortable. On leaving, I gave his little daughters a few
ivory bracelets, which are much prized in Darfur, and which I had
brought with me in lieu of money; I also obtained a few dollars, which I
gave to our host in order to secure his friendship.
He told me confidentially that Khaled had particularly instructed him to
note carefully all we said to each other on the journey, and, should we
make disparaging remarks about the Mahdi and his doings, he was at once
to let Khalifa Abdullahi know; he asked me to tell my companions this,
so that they might take heed not to allow any ill-advised expressions to
drop which might be made fatal use of by those evilly-disposed to us. I
thanked him heartily for this confidence, and we took special pains to
say nothing of a compromising nature during the rest of the journey.
Passing through Dar Homr, we were subjected to the insulting curiosity
of the Messeria Arabs, and, continuing our journey towards El Obeid, we
procured water from the Baobab reservoir-trees, for which we had to pay
heavily, and at length reached that city. The Mahdi had left here as
Governor a most dissolute old relative of his named Sayed Mahmud; we
found him sitting on the ground in hot dispute with some merchants. I
told him who I was, and he had already been warned of our approach; but
he took not the slightest notice of us, keeping us standing for some
minutes. Eventually, he gave us a discourteous greeting, and sent one of
his men to take us to a house which was to serve as our lodging. An hour
later, they brought us a sheep, and a sack of corn as food for the
camels and horses, and directed us to attend public prayers. Dimitri
Zigada pretended to be ill; but Said Bey and I went and stayed in the
open court of the mosque from noon till sunset; during the whole of this
time, Sayed Mahmud and his staff instructed the congregation on the
beauties and high importance of the Mahdi's doctrine, and, turning to
us, urged us to serve him honestly and faithfully, or we should suffer
unheard-of punishments in this world, and hell-fire in the world to
come. At last, pleading fatigue after our long journey, we were allowed
to withdraw; and Mahmud directed us to proceed the next day to Rahad,
where the Mahdi was now encamped.