The
end justified the means.
At the commencement of the expedition I had felt that the object of the
enterprise - "the suppression of the slave trade" - was one for which I
could confidently ask a blessing.
A firm belief in Providential support has not been unrewarded. In the
midst of sickness and malaria we had strength; from acts of treachery we
were preserved unharmed; in personal encounters we remained unscathed.
In the end, every opposition was overcome: hatred and insubordination
yielded to discipline and order. A paternal government extended its
protection through lands hitherto a field for anarchy and slavery. The
territory within my rule was purged from the slave trade. The natives of
the great Shooli tribe, relieved from their oppressors, clung to the
protecting government. The White Nile, for a distance of 1,600 miles
from Khartoum to Central Africa, was cleansed from the abomination of a
traffic which had hitherto sullied its waters.
Every cloud had passed away, and the term of my office expired in peace
and sunshine. In this result, I humbly traced God's blessing.
FINIS.
APPENDIX.
A few extracts from the valuable work of Dr. Schweinfurth will throw a
light upon the spirit which animated the authorities, all of whom were
incensed at my having presumed to understand the Khedive's orders
literally respecting the suppression of the slave trade.
In page 485, vol. ii., he writes: - " The ill-feeling and smothered rage
against Sir Samuel Baker's interference nurtured by the higher
authorities, breaks out very strongly amongst the less reticent lower
officials. In Fashoda, and even in Khartoum, I heard complaints that we
(the Franks) were the prime cause of all the trouble, and if it had not
been for our eternal agitation with the Viceroy, such measures would
never have been enforced."
In page 477, vol. ii., he continues: - "Notwithstanding that Sir Samuel
Baker was still on the upper waters of the river, the idea was quite
prevalent in all the seribas, that as soon as the 'English Pacha' had
turned his back upon Fashoda (the government station in the Shillook
country), the mudir (governor) would relapse into his former habits, and
levy a good round sum on the head of every slave, and then let the
contraband stock pass without more ado. But for once the seriba people
were reckoning without their host. The mudir had been so severely
reprimanded by Baker for his former delinquencies, that he thought it
his best policy, for this year at least, to be as energetic as he could
in his exertions against the forbidden trade."
In page 470, vol. ii., Dr. Schweinfurth writes: - "I knew that Sir
Samuel Baker was upon the Upper Nile, and did not doubt that his
presence would have the effect of making the government take the most
strenuous measures against any import of slaves."
Page 429, vol.
