Two Hundred Men Of The 7th Egyptians Were Towed In
Barges To Assist In Hauling The Steamers In The Difficult
Places.
The current was, however, too strong, and it was found necessary to leave
three barges, containing 160 soldiers, at
The foot of the rapids.
Nevertheless, as the cataract was not considered a very formidable barrier,
Major David determined to make the attempt. Early on the 5th, therefore,
the Tamai tried the ascent. About 300 local Shaiggia tribesmen had been
collected, and their efforts were directed - or, as the result proved,
mis-directed - by those few of the Egyptian soldiers who had not been left
behind. The steamer, with her engines working at full speed, succeeded in
mounting half the distance. But the rush of water was then so great that
her bows were swept round, and, after a narrow escape of capsizing, she
was carried swiftly down the stream.
The officers thought that this failure was due to the accidental fouling
of a rope at a critical moment, and to the fact that there were not enough
local tribesmen pulling at the hawsers. Four hundred more Shaiggia were
therefore collected from the neighbouring villages, and in the afternoon
the Teb attempted the passage. Her fortunes were far worse than those of
the Tamai. Owing to the lack of co-operation and discipline among the local
tribesmen, their utter ignorance of what was required of them, and the want
of proper supervision, the hauling power was again too weak. Again the bows
of the steamer were swept round, and, as the hawsers held, a great rush of
water poured over the bulwarks. In ten seconds the Teb heeled over and
turned bottom upwards. The hawsers parted under this new strain, and she
was swept down stream with only her keel showing. Lieutenant Beatty and
most of the crew were thrown, or glad to jump, into the foaming water of
the cataract, and, being carried down the river, were picked up below the
rapids by the Tamai, which was luckily under steam. Their escape was
extraordinary, for of the score who were flung into the water only one
Egyptian was drowned. Two other men were, however, missing, and their fate
seemed certain. The capsized steamer, swirled along by the current,
was jammed about a mile below the cataract between two rocks, where she
became a total wreck. Anxious to see if there was any chance of raising
her, the officers proceeded in the Tamai to the scene. The bottom of the
vessel was just visible above the surface. It was evident to all that her
salvage would be a work of months. The officers were about to leave the
wreck, when suddenly a knocking was heard within the hull. Tools were
brought, a plate was removed, and there emerged, safe and sound from the
hold in which they had been thus terribly imprisoned, the second engineer
and a stoker. When the rapidity with which the steamer turned upside down,
with the engines working, the fires burning, and the boilers full -
the darkness, with all the floors become ceilings - the violent inrush
of water - the wild career down the stream - are remembered, it will be
conceded that the experience of these men was sufficiently remarkable.
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