One had a broken thigh, and the
bullet remained in the leg. Two had smashed ankle-joints, in one of
which the ball remained fixed among the bones. Some of the prisoners
were also wounded and one shortly died.
Wat-el-Mek's hand was much lacerated, in addition to the loss of the
middle finger.
I dressed all the wounds with a weak solution of carbolic acid. After
some trouble, I extracted the bullet from the broken thigh, and set the
bone. (This man was one of "The Forty"; and about two months after the
wound he was again on duty, and only slightly lame.)
Wat-el-Mek had two excellent English double-barrelled guns. That
destroyed by the "Dutchman" was a gun by Blissett of London, which had
been given to him by Captain Speke when he parted at Gondokoro: the
other was my own old gun, that I had given to Ibrahim when I travelled
with him during my first journey in Africa.
On the 3rd August I took evidence against Abou Saood. Mohammed
Wat-el-Mek, and a prisoner named Besheer, who was an officer in the same
company, both swore upon the Koran, that in firing at me "they had only
obeyed the orders of Abou Saood, who had instructed them to attack me
and the government troops should I attempt to interfere with their
proceedings."
Wat-el-Mek declared upon oath that he had always wished to serve me, but
he had been prevented by Abou Saood and others; and he had now been
rightly punished.
