Sir Samuel Baker, who died at the end of the year 1893, aged
seventy-three, will always be remembered for the splendid work he
did in the Soudan during the four years he ruled there, and for his
explorations in Africa.
In earlier life he had done good service in Ceylon, had been in the
Crimea during the Russian war, and had superintended the construction
of the first Turkish railway.
Then, at the age of forty, he turned his attention to African travel.
Accompanied by his wife, he left Cairo in 1861; and, after exploring
the Blue Nile, arrived in 1862 at Khartoum, situated at the junction
of the White and Blue Nile. Later on he turned southward. In spite of
the opposition of slave owners, and without guide or interpreter, he
reached the Albert Nyanza; and when, after many perils, he got safely
back to Northern Egypt, his fame as an explorer was fully established.
His was the first expedition which had been successful in penetrating
into Central Africa from the north. On his return to England he was
welcomed with enthusiasm, and received many honours.
In the year 1869, at the request of the Khedive of Egypt, Sir Samuel
undertook a journey to the Soudan to put down the slave trade.
He was given supreme power for a period of four years. In December,
with a small army of about 1500 men, he left Cairo for Gondokoro,
about 3000 miles up the Nile, accompanied by his wife. It was a
terrible journey. His men fell ill, the water in the river was low
in many places, and the passage blocked up. At times he had to cut
channels for his ships; the men lost heart; and, had the leader not
been firm and steadfast, he would never have reached his destination.
On one occasion he found his thirty vessels stranded, the river having
almost dried up. Nothing daunted, he cut his way through a marsh,
making a progress of only twelve miles in about a fortnight. At the
end of this time he found it was impossible to proceed further along
that course, and had to return to the place he had left and begin
again.
Still, in spite of all obstacles, he made steady progress.
At Sobat, situated on the Nile above Khartoum, he established a
station, and had a watch kept on passing ships to see that no slaves
were conveyed down the river.
One day a vessel came in sight, and keeping in the middle of the river
would have passed by without stopping. But Sir Samuel, having his
suspicions aroused, sent to inspect it.
The captain declared stoutly he had no slaves aboard. He stated that
his cargo consisted simply of corn and ivory. The inspector was not
convinced, and determined to test the truth of this statement. Taking
a ramrod, he drove it into the corn. This produced an answering scream
from below, and a moment later a woolly head and black body were
disclosed. Further search was made, and a hundred and fifty slaves
were discovered packed as close as herrings in a barrel. Some were
in irons, one was sewn up in a sail cloth, and all had been cruelly
treated.
Soon the irons were knocked off and the poor slaves set free, to their
great wonder and delight.
Sir Samuel arrived at Gondokoro on the 15th of April, 1871. Already
two years of his time had expired. In addition to checking the slave
trade, he had been commissioned to introduce a system of regular
commerce. He set to work at once to show the people the benefits of
agricultural pursuits. He got his followers to plant seeds, and soon
they were happy enough watching for the green shoots to appear.
But before long they began to suffer from want of food. The tribes
round about had been set against them by the slave hunters, and would
supply them with nothing; so that Baker, in the midst of plenty,
seemed likely to perish of starvation. However, he soon adopted
energetic measures to prevent that. Having taken official possession
of the land in the name of the Khedive he seized a sufficient number
of animals for his requirements.
The head man of the tribe and his followers were soon buzzing about
his ears like a swarm of wasps; but seeing he was not to be frightened
by their threats they showed themselves ready enough in the future to
supply him with cattle in return for payment.
His own soldiers were nearly as troublesome as the natives. They
were lazy and mutinous; the sentries went to sleep, the scouts were
unreliable, they were full of complaints; whilst round about him were
the natives, ready to steal, maim, and murder whenever they could get
an opportunity.
His life was daily in danger; and, so as not to be taken unawares, he
organised a band of forty followers for his personal service. On these
men he could always rely. They were proud of the confidence placed
in them, and were ready to go anywhere and do anything. By a strange
perversity they were nicknamed "the forty thieves," though they were
amongst the very few who were honest.
What with sickness and fighting and losses encountered on the way up
the river, Baker's force was now reduced to about five hundred men, in
place of the twelve hundred whom he had once reviewed at Gondokoro.
Still, he did not despair of accomplishing, with God's help, the
mission on which he had been sent.
In January, 1872, with his wife and only two hundred and twelve
officers and men, he started south on a journey of three or four
hundred miles into the region where the slave trade was carried on
with the greatest activity.
He had arranged with one of the chiefs to supply him with two thousand
porters to carry the goods of the expedition; but when the time came
not a single man was forthcoming. So his soldiers had to be their
own carriers for a time. At a later date he was enabled to hire five
hundred men to assist him to transport his goods, and presented each
with a cow as a reward for his services. All took the cows readily
enough, but sixty-seven of the carriers did not appear at the time
appointed. The others were extremely desirous of going to look after
them; but Baker, knowing their ways full well, thought it better to
lose the services of the sixty-seven men rather than to allow this;
for he felt sure if they once returned to search for their companions
there would be no chance of seeing a single one of them again.
After many perils he reached the territory of Kabbu Rega on the
Victoria Nile. The king was apparently friendly at first. But on
several occasions the war drums sounded, and although no violence was
actually offered yet Sir Samuel thought it well to be on his guard.
He therefore set his men to work to build a strong fort. They cut
thick logs of wood, and planted them firmly in the ground, prepared
fireproof rooms for the ammunition, and were in the course of a few
days ready in case of emergency.
These preparations had been made none too soon.
[Illustration: Burning the king's Divan and Huts.]
A few days later a very strange thing happened. The king sent Sir
Samuel a present of some jars of cider. This he gave to his troops. A
little while afterwards one of his officers rushed in to say the men
had been poisoned.
It was really so. The men who had drunk of the cider were lying about
in terrible pain, and apparently dying. At once Sir Samuel gave them
mustard and water and other emetics, and they were soon better. But he
knew that trouble was at hand.
Next morning he was standing at the entrance to the fort with one of
his men when a chorus of yells burst upon his ear. He told his bugler
to sound the alarm, and was walking towards the house to get a rifle
when the man beside him fell shot through the heart.
The fort was surrounded by thousands of natives, who kept up
a continuous fire, and the bushes near at hand were full of
sharp-shooters. But the fort was strong, and its defenders fought
bravely; the woods were gradually cleared of sharp-shooters, and the
natives, ere long, broke and fled.
Then Sir Samuel sent a detachment out of the fort, and set fire to the
king's divan and to the surrounding huts to teach the people a lesson
for their treachery.
But the place was full of foes. A poisoned spear was thrown at
Sir Samuel, and every day he remained his force was in danger of
destruction, so he determined to go on to King Riongo, whom he hoped
would be more friendly.
It is wonderful that the party ever got there. First of all it was
found that they would probably be a week without provisions; but,
happily, Lady Baker had put by some supplies, and great was the
rejoicing when her forethought became known.
Then it was discovered that the country through which they had to pass
was full of concealed foes. From the long grass and bushes spears were
constantly hurled at them, and not a few of the men were mortally
wounded. Sir Samuel saw several lances pass close to his wife's head,
and he narrowly escaped being hit on various occasions.
But, at last, Riongo's territory was reached. The king was friendly,
and for a time they were in comparative safety.
By April, 1873, Baker had returned to Gondokoro, and his mission
ended. It was, to a great extent, the story of a failure, so far as
its main purpose was concerned, owing to the opposition of the men who
were making a profit by dealing in slaves; and who, whilst appearing
to be friendly, stirred up the natives to attack him. But, failure
though it was, he had done all that man could do; and the expedition
stands out as one of the most glorious efforts which have been made
against overwhelming odds to put an end to the slave trade.