Thence he
travelled to Cairo, expressly to complain to the Khedive's government of
the manner in which he had been treated by me.
Thus the greatest slave-trader of the White Nile, who was so closely
connected with the Soudan government that he was a tenant who had rented
a country WHICH DID NOT BELONG TO EGYPT, now applied to that government
for protection against my interference with his murders, kidnapping, and
pillaging, which were the accompaniments of his slave-hunting in Central
Africa.
The fact of this renowned slave-hunter having the audacity to appeal to
the Egyptian authorities for assistance, at once exhibits the confidence
that the slave-traders felt in the moral support of certain official
personages who represented public opinion in their hatred to the
principal object of the expedition.
The various links in the chain which united the interests of Abou Saood
with certain officers who were opposed to the spirit of the enterprise
will be at once perceived.
From the very commencement, this man had been the chief intriguer who
had endeavoured to ruin the expedition. He had fraternized with the
Baris when they were at open war with the government.
