He wished to kiss my hand, and to assure me how little his
real character had been understood, and that he felt sure I had been
influenced against him by others, but that in reality I had no servant
so devoted as himself. He declared that he had only attacked the Shir
and stolen their cows in order to supply the government troops with
cattle according to contract. (Thus he had the audacity to assert that
the government would become the purchaser of cattle stolen expressly for
their use.)
In spite of these protestations, he could not explain his reason for
having returned the ivory to store, instead of transporting it to
Gondokoro. He therefore met the difficulty by a flat denial, as usual,
calling upon the Prophet as a witness.
Only a few days of his contract remained, at the expiration of which he
should have withdrawn his establishments from the country, according to
my written orders that had been given many months ago.
He had entirely ignored these orders, as he had never expected my
arrival; therefore he had concealed all such instructions from his
people, in the hope that my terms of service would expire fruitlessly at
Gondokoro, and that, after my departure, he would have little difficulty
in arranging for the future with his friend Raouf Bey, who would most
probably succeed to the command.
