We arrived at the village of Wat Shely, only three
days from Khartoum. Saat was dying. The night passed, and I expected
that all would be over before sunrise; but as morning dawned a change
had taken place; the burning fever had left him, and, although raised
blotches had broken out upon his chest and various parts of his body, he
appeared much better. We now gave him stimulants; a teaspoonful of araki
that we had bought at Fashooder was administered every ten minutes on a
lump of sugar. This he crunched in his mouth, while he gazed at my wife
with an expression of affection; but he could not speak. I had him well
washed and dressed in clean clothes, that had been kept most carefully
during the voyage, to be worn on our entree to Khartoum. He was laid
down to sleep upon a clean mat, and my wife gave him a lump of sugar to
moisten his mouth and relieve his thickly-furred tongue. His pulse was
very weak, and his skin cold. "Poor Saat," said my wife, "his life hangs
upon a thread. We must nurse him most carefully; should he have a
relapse, nothing will save him."
An hour passed, and he slept. Karka, the fat, good-natured slave woman,
quietly went to his side; gently taking him by the ankles and knees, she
stretched his legs into a straight position, and laid his arms parallel
with his sides. She then covered his face with a cloth, one of the few
rags that we still possessed. "Does he sleep still?" we asked. The tears
ran down the cheeks of the savage but good-hearted Karka as she sobbed,
"He is dead!"
We stopped the boat. It was a sandy shore; the banks were high, and a
clump of mimosas grew above high-water mark. It was there that we dug
his grave. My men worked silently and sadly, for all loved Saat. He had
been so good and true, that even their hard hearts had learned to
respect his honesty. We laid him in his grave on the desert shore,
beneath the grove of trees.
Again the sail was set, and, filled by the breeze, it carried us away
from the dreary spot where we had sorrowfully left all that was good and
faithful. It was a happy end - most merciful, as he had been taken from
a land of iniquity in all the purity of a child converted from Paganism
to Christianity. He had lived and died in our service a good Christian.
Our voyage was nearly over, and we looked forward to home and friends;
but we had still fatigues before us: poor Saat had reached his home and
rest.
On the following morning, May 6, 1865, we were welcomed by the entire
European population of Khartoum, to whom are due my warmest thanks for
many kind attentions. We were kindly offered a house by Monsieur
Lombrosio, the manager of the Khartoum branch of the "Oriental and
Egyptian Trading Company."
I now heard the distressing news of the death of my poor friend Speke. I
could not realize the truth of this melancholy report until I read the
details of his fatal accident in the appendix of a French translation of
his work. It was but a sad consolation that I could confirm his
discoveries, and bear witness to the tenacity and perseverance with
which he had led his party through the untrodden path of Africa to the
first Nile source.
While at Khartoum I happened to find Mahommed Iler! the vakeel of
Chenooda's party, who had instigated my men to mutiny at Latooka, and
had taken my deserters into his employ. I had promised to make an
example of this fellow; I therefore had him arrested and brought before
the divan. With extreme effrontery, he denied having had anything to do
with the affair. Having a crowd of witnesses in my own men, and others
that I had found in Khartoum who had belonged to Koorshid's party at
that time, his barefaced lie was exposed, and he was convicted. I
determined that he should be punished, as an example that would insure
respect to any future English traveller in those regions. My men, and
all those with whom I had been connected, had been accustomed to rely
most implicitly upon all that I had promised, and the punishment of this
man had been an expressed determination.
I went to the divan and demanded that he should be flogged. Omer Bey was
then Governor of the Soudan, in the place of Moosa Pacha deceased. He
sat upon the divan, in the large hall of justice by the river. Motioning
me to take a seat by his side, and handing me his pipe, he called the
officer in waiting, and gave the necessary orders. In a few minutes the
prisoner was led into the hall, attended by eight soldiers. One man
carried a strong pole about seven feet long, in the centre of which was
a double chain, riveted through in a loop. The prisoner was immediately
thrown down with his face to the ground, while two men stretched out his
arms and sat upon them. His feet were then placed within the loop of the
chain, and the pole being twisted round until firmly secured, it was
raised from the ground sufficiently to expose the soles of the feet. Two
men with powerful hippopotamus whips stood one on either side. The
prisoner thus secured, the order was given. The whips were most
scientifically applied, and after the first five dozen the slave-hunting
scoundrel howled most lustily for mercy. How often had he flogged
unfortunate slave women to excess, and what murders had that wretch
committed, who now howled for mercy!
