A short time before the arrival of Suleiman, an extraordinary incident
had occurred at the Fatiko camp.
One morning, when the bugles blew the usual call, it was discovered that
the prisoner Lazim had escaped, although he had been secured in irons.
Fortunately, it had rained slightly during the night; thus it would not
be difficult to track his footsteps. I immediately sent for Shooli and
Gimoro, whose village was only 700 yards distant, to whom I promised a
reward of a cow, should they succeed in capturing the escaped felon.
They quickly got upon the track of the fugitive, and followed like
bloodhounds.
I have already described this fellow Lazim as having been one of the
ringleaders in the rebellion of the slave-hunters; and he was almost as
notorious a character as Ali Hussein. He was originally himself a slave,
and had escaped from his master at Khartoum many years ago, after which
he became one of the most determined slave-hunters.
I felt sure that it would have been impossible for him to have escaped
without the connivance of the sentry. I therefore ordered all the
soldiers that had formed the various night-guards over the prisoner to
be brought before me. As they stood in line, I simply told them that
"the prisoner had escaped, and that one of the men now present was
guilty of aiding and abetting. I could discover the fellow who had thus
disgraced himself as a soldier by simply looking at his face."
Having carefully examined the countenance of each man, I felt confident
that I had fixed upon the guilty person, as one individual quailed
beneath my eye, and at length looked down upon the ground. This happened
to be one of the worst characters in the force. I therefore at once
ordered him to be flogged.
During the infliction of punishment, this fellow not only confessed that
he had assisted in the escape of Lazim, but he made a clean breast of
several other delinquencies. He was accordingly put in irons, and
condemned to break stones for the new roads.
In the evening Shooli returned, but without the prisoner. Before he gave
his report, he begged me "not to be angry." He then described that he
had tracked Lazim's footsteps for a long way along the Fabbo road until
he had at length met several natives, who were coming towards him. These
men declared that they had met Lazim, who had managed to get rid of his
irons; but as he was unarmed, they knew that he must have run away. They
accordingly asked him for his pass from me, as it was well known that I
never allowed a man to go alone without a written order.
Lazim of course was unable to produce a paper. The natives, therefore,
insisted upon his returning with them to Fatiko, and upon his
remonstrating they seized him.
