I was then informed by the same authority that Abou Saood had gone to
Cairo to appeal to the Khedive's government against my proceedings, and
to represent his TRADE as ruined by my acts.
This was a remarkable disclosure at the end of the last act; the moral
of the piece was thus explained before the curtain fell. The
slave-hunter par excellence of the White Nile, who had rented or farmed
from the government, for some thousands sterling per annum, the right of
TRADING in countries which did NOT belong to Egypt, was now on the road
to protest against my interference with his TRADE, this innocent
business being represented BY THREE VESSELS WITH SEVEN HUNDRED SLAVES
THAT WERE TO PASS UNCHECKED BEFORE THE GOVERNMENT STATION OF FASHODA.
I told Wat Hojoly that I did not think he would succeed upon this
occasion, but that I should certainly not lay hands upon him.
I had not received replies to my letters addressed to the Khedive,
therefore I was determined not to exert physical force again; at the
same time I made up my mind that the slave vessels should not pass
Fashoda.
After some delay, owing to a shallow portion of the river, we passed
ahead, and the fearful stench from the crowded slave vessels reeking
with small-pox followed us for quite a mile down the wind.
