The black or
Soudani regiment included many officers and men who had served for some
years in Mexico with the French army under Marshal Bazaine. The Egyptian
regiment turned out to be for the most part convicted felons who had
been transported for various crimes from Egypt to the Soudan.
The artillery were rifled mountain guns of bronze, the barrel weighing
230 lbs., and throwing shells of 8-1/4 lbs. The authorities at Woolwich
had kindly supplied the expedition with 200 Hale's
rockets - three-pounders - and fifty snider rifles, together with 50,000
rounds of snider ammunition. The military force and supplies were to be
massed in Khartoum ready to meet me upon my arrival.
I had taken extra precautions in the packing of ammunition and all
perishable goods. The teak boxes for snider ammunition, also the boxes
of Hale's rockets, were lined and hermetically sealed with soldered tin.
The light Manchester goods and smaller articles were packed in strong,
useful, painted tin boxes, with locks and hinges, &c. Each box was
numbered, and when the lid was opened, a tin plate was soldered over the
open face, so that the lid, when closed, locked above an hermetically
sealed case. Each tin box was packed in a deal case, with a number to
correspond with the box within.
