We arrived at Khartoum, a distance
of 200 miles by river, in three days, having accomplished the voyage
from Suez in the short space of thirty-two days, including stoppages.
Khartoum was not changed externally; but I had observed with dismay a
frightful change in the features of the country between Berber and the
capital since my former visit. The rich soil on the banks of the river,
which had a few years since been highly cultivated, was abandoned. Now
and then a tuft of neglected date-palms might be seen, but the river's
banks, formerly verdant with heavy crops, had become a wilderness.
Villages once crowded had entirely disappeared; the population was gone.
Irrigation had ceased. The night, formerly discordant with the creaking
of countless water-wheels, was now silent as death. There was not a dog
to howl for a lost master. Industry had vanished; oppression had driven
the inhabitants from the soil.
This terrible desolation was caused by the governor general of the
Soudan, who, although himself an honest man, trusted too much to the
honesty of others, who preyed upon the inhabitants. As a good and true
Mohammedan, he left his territory to the care of God, and thus, trusting
in Providence, he simply increased the taxes. In one year he sent to the
Khedive his master 100,000 pounds in hard dollars, wrung from the poor
peasantry, who must have lost an equal amount in the pillage that
accompanies the collection.
The population of the richest province of the Soudan fled from
oppression, and abandoned the country; and the greater portion betook
themselves to the slave trade of the White Nile, where, in their turn,
they might trample upon the rights of others; where, as they had been
plundered, they would be able to plunder; where they could reap the
harvest of another's labour; and where, free from the restrictions of a
government, they might indulge in the exciting and lucrative enterprise
of slave-hunting. Thousands had forsaken their homes, and commenced a
life of brigandage on the White Nile.
This was the state of the country when I arrived at Khartoum. The
population of this town, which was about 30,000 during my former visit,
was now reduced to half the number. The European residents had all
disappeared, with the exception of the Austrian Mission, and Mr. Hansall
the Austrian Consul; also an extremely tough German tailor, who was
proof against the climate that had carried off his companions.
I had given the necessary orders for vessels and supplies six months
previous; thus, I naturally expected to find a fleet ready for
departure, with the troops and stores waiting for instructions. To my
surprise, I discovered that my orders had been so far neglected, that
although the troops were at hand, there were no vessels prepared for
transport.
