In addition to the steamers were steam saw mills, with a boiler that
weighed 8 cwt. in one piece - all of which would have to be transported
by camels for several hundred miles across the Nubian desert, and by
boats and camels alternately from Alexandria to Gondokoro, a distance of
about THREE THOUSAND MILES.
In the description of this enterprise, which terminated in the
suppression of the slave trade of the White Nile and the annexation of a
large equatorial territory to Egypt, I shall be compelled to expose many
abuses which were the result of misgovernment in the distant provinces
of Upper Egypt. It must be distinctly understood that his Highness the
Khedive was ignorant of such abuses, and that he took prompt and
vigorous measures to reform the administration of the Soudan immediately
upon receiving information of the misgovernment of that extensive
territory. Throughout the expedition his Highness has exhibited a
determination to succeed in the suppression of the slave trade in spite
of the adverse opinion of the public; therefore, when I expose the
abuses that existed, it must be accepted without hesitation that the
Khedive would have been the foremost in punishing the authors and in
rectifying such abuses had he been aware of their existence.
As a duty to the Khedive, and in justice to myself, I shall describe the
principal incidents as they occurred throughout the expedition. The
civilized world will form both judge and jury; if their verdict be
favourable, I shall have my reward. I can only assure my fellow-men that
I have sought earnestly the guidance of the Almighty in the use of the
great power committed to me, and I trust that I have been permitted to
lay a firm foundation for a good work hereafter.
CHAPTER II.
ENGLISH PARTY.
The success of an expedition depends mainly upon organization. From my
former experience in Central Africa, I knew exactly the requirements of
the natives, and all the material that would be necessary for the
enterprise. I also knew that the old adage of "out of sight out of mind"
might be adopted as the Egyptian motto, therefore it would be
indispensable to supply myself with everything at the outset, so as to
be independent of support hereafter.
The English party consisted of myself and Lady Baker; Lieutenant Julian
Alleyne Baker, R.N.; Mr. Edwin Higginbotham, civil engineer; Mr. Wood,
secretary; Dr. Joseph Gedge, physician; Mr. Marcopolo, chief storekeeper
and interpreter; Mr. McWilliam, chief engineer of steamers; Mr. Jarvis,
chief shipwright; together with Messrs. Whitfield, Samson, Hitchman, and
Ramsall, shipwrights, boiler-makers, &c. In addition to the above were
two servants.
I laid in stores sufficient to last the European party four years.
I provided four galvanized iron magazines, each eighty feet long by
twenty in width, to protect all material.
Before I left England I personally selected every article that was
necessary for the expedition; thus an expenditure of about 9,000 pounds
was sufficient for the purchase of the almost innumerable items that
formed the outfit for the enterprise. This included an admirable
selection of Manchester goods, such as cotton sheeting, grey calico,
cotton and also woollen blankets, white, scarlet, and blue; Indian
scarfs, red and yellow; handkerchiefs of gaudy colours, chintz printed;
scarlet flannel shirts, serge of colours (blue, red), linen trowsers,
&c., &c.
Tools of all sorts - axes, small hatchets, harness bells, brass and
copper rods, combs, zinc mirrors, knives, crockery, tin plates,
fish-hooks, musical boxes, coloured prints, finger-rings, razors, tinned
spoons, cheap watches, &c., &c.
All these things were purchased through Messrs. Silber & Fleming, of
Wood Street, Cheapside.
I thus had sufficient clothing for a considerable body of troops if
necessary, while the magazines could produce anything from a needle to a
crowbar, or from a handkerchief to a boat's sail. It will be seen
hereafter that these careful arrangements assured the success of the
expedition, as the troops, when left without pay, could procure all they
required from the apparently inexhaustible stores of the magazines.
In addition to the merchandise and general supplies, I had several large
musical boxes with bells and drums, an excellent magic lantern, a
magnetic battery, wheels of life, and an assortment of toys. The
greatest wonder to the natives were two large girandoles; also the
silvered balls, about six inches in diameter, that, suspended from the
branch of a tree, reflected the scene beneath.
In every expedition the principal difficulty is the transport.
"Travel light, if possible," is the best advice for all countries; but
in this instance it was simply impossible, as the object of the
expedition was not only to convey steamers to Central Africa, but to
establish legitimate trade in the place of the nefarious system of
pillage hitherto adopted by the so-called White Nile traders. It was
therefore absolutely necessary to possess a large stock of goods of all
kinds, in addition to the machinery and steel sections of steamers.
I arranged that the expedition should start in three divisions.
Six steamers, varying from 40 to 80-horse power, were ordered to leave
Cairo in June, together with fifteen sloops and fifteen diahbeeahs -
total, thirty-six vessels - to ascend the cataracts of the Nile to
Khartoum, a distance by river of about 1,450 miles. These vessels were
to convey the whole of the merchandise.
Twenty-five vessels were ordered to be in readiness at Khartoum,
together with three steamers. The governor-general (Djiaffer Pacha) was
to provide these vessels by a certain date, together with the camels and
horses necessary for the land transport.
Thus when the fleet should arrive at Khartoum from Cairo, the total
force of vessels would be nine steamers and fifty-five sailing vessels,
the latter averaging about fifty tons each.
Mr. Higginbotham had the command of the desert transport from Korosko to
Khartoum, and to that admirable officer I intrusted the charge of the
steamer sections and machinery, together with the command of the English
engineers and mechanics.
