He Had By The Force Of Circumstances, And According To Former Usages, So
Far Tolerated The Acts Of The White Nile Traders As To Acknowledge Them
As Contracting Parties With His Own Government.
The most important
lessee had no less than ten stations situated within the territory under
my jurisdiction, for which he was paying a large annual rent.
I knew,
and the lessee, Achmet Sheik Agad, well knew, that his so-called trade
was simply brigandage. My former travels, as described in "The Albert
N'yanza," had led me behind the curtain, and the traders were well aware
that I knew every secret of their atrocities; thus my reappearance upon
the scene with rank of pacha and major-general, at the head of a small
army, together with the possession of absolute and supreme power, threw
the entire population into a state of consternation. The traders, as
Mohammedans and subjects, trusted to the protection of their own
governor-general. Already I had captured their vessels, imprisoned their
agents, liberated their slaves, and confiscated the ivory, subject to
the decision of the Khedive. Already I had caught the governor himself
(Ali Bey of Fashoda) in the act of kidnapping helpless women and
children, whom I had immediately insisted upon liberating, although I
had no legal jurisdiction in his province. I simply depended upon the
personal support of the Khedive, whose sincerity I never doubted; thus I
acted as I firmly believed the Khedive would have desired me to act
under the circumstances.
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