A slave trade would quickly spring up between the Khedive's
officers and the slave-hunters of Abou Saood, unless I enforced the
strictest discipline. The expedition would represent a government slave
market for the reception of slaves captured by the Khartoum companies.
It may easily be imagined, that my determination to enforce obedience to
the newly-instituted reform caused bitter disappointment and disgust.
The government I had established afforded justice and protection to all,
whether freeman or slave. I had not interfered with the slaves that had
been the property of officers prior to my taking the command of the
expedition; these remained in their original position, with the simple
improvement, that they could not be ill-treated with impunity.
A poor little Abyssinian boy, about eleven years of age, had one day
crawled through the high river grass to escape the observation of the
sentries, and suddenly appeared on the deck of my diahbeeah to claim
protection. He was streaming with blood, and had been shamefully
ill-used by his master, who was a captain in the Egyptian regiment. The
boy demanded his freedom, and I immediately granted his release (This
boy, named Amam, was a great example to others in his general good
conduct and integrity. He accompanied us throughout the subsequent
trials of the expedition with much devotion, and he is now one of our
household in England).
This forfeiture of this child was a warning that had an excellent effect
in favour of the slaves, but was very unpopular among the force.
Although I regretted the ill feeling which existed on all sides, I
considered the position with patience; and I could not help admitting
that this was a natural and inevitable consequence of a sudden reform
which threatened so many interests.
At the same time, I was determined to carry out my mission without
shrinking from any consequences. I was ordered to suppress the slave
trade; therefore that slave trade should be suppressed; and I trusted
that time would eventually give me so improved a control over the
feelings of my people, that I might succeed in a reform and yet banish
all ill-will.
In the midst of anxieties, there was one lasting satisfaction in my
position. I had the power to execute absolute justice, and I wished for
no other reputation among my people, whether slaves or freemen, than the
confidence of pure equity to be obtained without delay. At all hours I
was accessible, and even the complaints of little children were attended
to with the same attention that was bestowed upon more important
appeals. I hoped by this line of conduct to be able at length to
incorporate myself with the expedition, and to gain the affection of my
people; without which, success would be impossible.
The terrible absence of discipline among the troops was a great
difficulty, but I had already improved them greatly. Since the mutiny of
the black division at Taka, in the year 1865, when they murdered their
officers, and committed many atrocities, the Egyptian officers had
always distrusted them.
I was told by the colonel, Raouf Bey, that if a black soldier were
punished, his comrades would probably mutiny, should he be a general
favourite. The extreme laxity of discipline was the result of a want of
vigour on the part of the officers.
At the commencement of the Bari war, the conduct of the troops, both
back and white, was disgraceful. I have seen them, in the presence of
the enemy, rush into a village and commence indiscriminate pillage: the
officers mingled with their men in a race for plunder. Several soldiers
had been killed by the natives upon such occasions, when separated from
the rest in search of spoil. The colonel had assured me that it was
impossible to prevent this sacking of villages, as it was the reward the
troops expected after a victory.
Fortunately my model corps, the "Forty Thieves," were always with me,
which enabled me to act decidedly. My lieutenant-colonel, Abd-el-Kader,
and the faithful Monsoor, were ready to carry out my orders on the spot.
When I caught the troops in disorderly pillage, I had the principal
actors seized and laid down on the instant in the centre of the men, and
administered fifty apiece with a stout bamboo.
The Soudani soldiers quickly perceived that the reins were tighter than
formerly; and I followed up the principle of stern punishment until I
obtained an absolute control, without the slightest attempt at
resistance to my authority.
I had learnt to like the Soudanis; there was an untiring energy in their
movements very unlike the Egyptians; they only required European
officers to become first-rate troops.
Although the force had much improved by the increase of discipline, they
would have much preferred the good old times of plunder and prisoners.
The officers had always looked forward to the glorious opportunity of
procuring a few slaves in Central Africa, although they could not
exactly define the manner of obtaining them: thus my severe orders upon
this subject caused a serious heart-burning, and a desire to give up so
barren an expedition.
The station was now complete, and well fortified by a ditch and
earthwork. My own little station was the picture of neatness. I had two
acres of the finest Egyptian cotton (galleen). Every inch of the knoll
was highly cultivated, the lawn was closely cut, and the diahbeeah,
which was our home, lay snugly alongside the bank, close to which was a
little summer-house, surrounded by a prolific garden. This was a little
gem of civilization set in the middle of savage Africa.
