ISMAIL, KHEDIVE OF EGYPT.
by SIR SAMUEL W. BAKER, PACHA, M.A., F.R.S., F.R.G.S.,
Major-General of the Ottoman Empire, Member of the Orders of the Osmanie
and the Medjidie, late Governor-General of the Equatorial Nile Basin,
Gold Medallist of the Royal Geographical Society, Grande Medaille d'Or
de la Societe de Geographie de Paris, Honorary Member of the
Geographical Societies of Paris, Berlin, Italy, and America, Author of
"The Albert N'yanza Great Basin of the Nile," "The Nile Tributaries of
Abyssinia," "Eight Years' Wanderings in Ceylon," "The Rifle and Hound in
Ceylon," etc. etc
Contents.
Chap.
I. Introductory
II. English Party
III. The Retreat
IV. The Camp at Tewfikeeyah
V. Exploration of the Old White Nile
VI. The Start
VII. Arrival at Gondokoro
VIII. Official Annexation
IX. New Enemies
X. Destruction of the Shir Detachment
XI. Spirit of Disaffection
XII. Vessels Return to Khartoum
XIII. Moral Results of the Hunt
XIV. The Advance South
XV. The Advance to Lobore
XVI. Arrival at Patiko
XVII. The March to Unyoro
XVIII. March to Masindi
XIX. Restoration of the Liberated Slaves
XX. Establish Commerce
XXI. Treachery
XXII. The March to Rionga
XXIII. Build a Stockade at Foweera
XXIV. No Medical Men
XXV. I Send to Godokoro for Reinforcements
XXVI. Arrival of M'Tese's Envoys
XXVII. CONCLUSION
Appendix
Index
PREFACE.
An interval of five years has elapsed since the termination of my
engagement in the service of His Highness the Khedive of
Egypt, "to suppress the slave-hunters of Central Africa, and to
annex the countries constituting the Nile Basin, with the object
of opening those savage regions to legitimate commerce and
establishing a permanent government."
This volume - "Ismailia" - gives an accurate description of the salient
points of the expedition. My thanks are due to the public for the kind
reception of the work, and for the general appreciation of the spirit
which prompted me to undertake a mission so utterly opposed to the
Egyptian ideas of 1869-1873; at a time when no Englishman had held a
high command, when rival consulates were struggling for paramount
influence, when the native officials were jealous of foreign
interference, and it appeared that slavery and the slave trade of the
White Nile were institutions almost necessary to the existence of
Egyptian society.
It was obvious to all observers that an attack upon the slave-dealing
and slave-hunting establishments of Egypt by a foreigner - an
Englishman - would be equal to a raid upon a hornets' nest, that all
efforts to suppress the old-established traffic in negro slaves would be
encountered with a determined opposition, and that the prime agent and
leader of such an expedition must be regarded "with hatred, malice, and
all uncharitableness." At that period (1869) the highest authorities
were adverse to the attempt. An official notice was despatched from the
British Foreign Office to the Consul-General of Egypt that British
subjects belonging to Sir Samuel Baker's expedition must not expect the
support of their government in the event of complications. The
enterprise was generally regarded as chimerical in Europe, with
hostility in Egypt, but with sympathy in America.
Those who have read "Ismailia" may have felt some despondency. Although
the slave-hunters were driven out of the territory under my command,
there were nevertheless vast tracts of country through which new routes
could be opened for the slave caravans to avoid the cruising steamers on
the White Nile, and thus defeat the government. The Sultan of Darfur
offered an asylum and a secure passage for all slaves and their captors
who could no longer venture within the new boundaries of Egypt. It was
evident that the result of the expedition under my command was a
death-blow to the slave trade, if the Khedive was determined to persist
in its destruction. I had simply achieved the success of a foundation
for a radical reform in the so-called commerce of the White Nile. The
government had been established throughout the newly-acquired
territories, which were occupied by military positions garrisoned with
regular troops, and all those districts were absolutely purged from the
slave-hunters. In this condition I resigned my command, as the first act
was accomplished. The future would depend upon the sincerity of the
Khedive, and upon the ability and integrity of my successor.
It pleased many people and some members of the press in England to
disbelieve the sincerity of the Khedive. He was accused of annexation
under the pretext of suppressing the vast organization of the White Nile
slave-trade. It was freely stated that an Englishman was placed in
command because an Egyptian could not be relied upon to succeed, but
that the greed of new territory was the actual and sole object of the
expedition, and that the slave-trade would reappear in stupendous
activity when the English personal influence should be withdrawn. Such
unsympathetic expressions must have been a poor reward to the Khedive
for his efforts to win the esteem of the civilized world by the
destruction of the slave-trade in his own dominions.
Few persons have considered the position of the Egyptian ruler when
attacking the institution most cherished by his people. The employment
of an European to overthrow the slave-trade in deference to the opinion
of the civilized world was a direct challenge and attack upon the
assumed rights and necessities of his own subjects. The magnitude of the
operation cannot be understood by the general public in Europe. Every
household in Upper Egypt and in the Delta was dependent upon slave
service; the fields in the Soudan were cultivated by slaves; the women
in the harems of both rich and middle class were attended by slaves; the
poorer Arab woman's ambition was to possess a slave; in fact, Egyptian
society without slaves would be like a carriage devoid of wheels - it
could not proceed.
The slaves were generally well treated by their owners; the brutality
lay in their capture, with the attendant lawlessness and murders; but
that was far away, and the slave proprietors of Egypt had not witnessed
the miseries of the weary marches of the distant caravans.
