Ismailia by Sir Samuel White Baker (read aloud books txt) 📖

"disperse," and all the men immediately set to work to light fires and prepare the food that had been already supplied for their dinners. I believe this was the only day of real enjoyment that the troops had had. The hours passed in rest and sleep until sunset.

I had invited fourteen of the officers to dine with me, and our party of eighteen was easily accommodated on the roomy poop-deck of my diahbeeah.

The Englishmen had a table to themselves in the garden, and were regaled with roast beef and real English plum-pudding, that, having been brought out in tins for Christmas Day, could not be found during the voyage; therefore it added to the feast of the "day of annexation," and was annexed accordingly by English appetites. This was washed down and rendered wholesome by a quantity of pure filtered water from the river Nile, which was included in the annexation; and was represented in the Nile Basin mixed with Jamaica rum, sugar, nutmeg, and lemon-juice from the fruit of the trees planted by the good Austrian missionaries at Gondokoro. Little did they think, poor fellows, of the jollification to which their lemons would subscribe when they first sowed the good seeds.

When dinner was over, we repaired to the large divan tents, where refreshments were arranged, and the magic lantern was prepared for the amusement of officers and men. This was an admirable machine, and was well explained by Lieutenant Baker. No one had ever seen such an exhibition before, therefore it caused immense satisfaction. One of the representations that was most applauded, was, Moses going through the Red Sea with the Israelites, followed by Pharaoh. The story being well known to all Mohammedans, the performance was encored with such energy that Moses had to go through the Red Sea twice, and they would have insisted upon his crossing a third time, had the slide not been rapidly exchanged for another subject.

The formal ceremony of annexation was over, and it was necessary to decide upon the future.

I had issued the following Camp Regulations:--

1. "No person shall cut or in other ways destroy any tamarind or oil tree under any pretext whatever. Neither shall any tree whatsoever be either cut or damaged within a distance of 2,000 paces from the flag-staff or camp.

2. "No person shall stray beyond 2,000 paces of the flag-staff or camp without permission either from the Pacha or Raouf Bey.

3. "No person shall trade in ivory, neither shall any person accept ivory as a present or in exchange; neither shall any person shoot, or cause to be shot, elephants: all ivory being the property and monopoly of the government of His Highness the Khedive of Egypt.

4. "No person shall either purchase or receive slaves as presents or in exchange.

"Any person transgressing by disobedience of the above laws will be punished as the will of Baker Pacha may direct. "S. W. BAKER."

My men were hard at work erecting magazines and building the station, and had I not issued the above regulations, they would have cut down every ornamental tree in the neighbourhood. Although the mission-house had disappeared, the foundations remained; I dug them up and procured sufficient sound bricks to build a powder-magazine, which I covered with a galvanized iron roof and protected my ammunition.

Several of the Egyptian soldiers deserted. These people, who were for the most part convicts, although professing Islamism preferred to live with the natives, to the steady discipline of military life.

One evening, the sentry, on guard before the house of Lieutenant Baker and Mr. Higginbotham, was observed by Mr. Baker's soldier servant (a black) to lay his rifle on the ground and to enter stealthily the doorway of his hut. Abdullah Maseri, the servant, lost no time in running towards the hut, which he quietly entered in the dusk, without being perceived by the thief within, who in the absence of Mr. Baker was pillaging his boxes.

Abdullah quietly crept up behind him, pinned him by the back of the neck, and held him until he obtained assistance. There was no escape from conviction, therefore I sentenced the thief to receive 100 lashes and to be, confined in irons.

While he was undergoing the punishment he yelled for mercy, saying, "I will confess-I will confess all. It was I who entered the Pacha's room at Tewfikeeyah. It was at me that the Pacha fired the pistol! Put me in irons, but don't flog me; I will confess all."

This man was an Egyptian belonging to the "Forty Thieves," and he now confessed his former delinquency. He was secured in irons and placed under a guard. The fellow had been a professional thief, and during the night he managed to slip off his irons and make his escape, no doubt with the connivance of the sentry.

The fact of the natives receiving the deserters was enough to suggest the suspicion that they were tampering with the troops. Although the Baris would neither work nor assist in any manner, they continued, in spite of my warning, to swim their cattle across to the pasturage on the mainland occupied by the troops.

I again gave the sheik Allorron notice, that if he continued to drive his cattle to the forbidden pasture, they would be confiscated.

On the following morning they returned to the mainland as usual, not the slightest notice having been taken of my repeated and official warning.

I gave orders to secure them. About ten men of the "Forty Thieves" quietly explained the order to the natives who guarded the cattle, and without any remonstrance they drove them to my station, and stood guard around the herd.

The natives returned to the island, and reported the affair to the sheik Allorron and his people.

Early on the following morning, the sheik, accompanied by fifteen headmen of villages and a number of natives, together with Tomby the interpreter, attended and formed a deputation. I received them beneath the shady tree near my diahbeeah. They looked very sheepish, and asked me, "Why had I confiscated their cattle?"

I explained the reason: and they at length acknowledged that they had no positive right of pasturage, as they had been driven from their country by the Loquia, and were it not for my presence they could not venture to drive their cattle to the mainland. At the same time they explained, that the extreme dryness of the season had exhausted the grass upon the island after the close grazing of the large herds; thus they had imagined I should not have any real objection to their pasturing upon the east banks, which, as I had no cattle, would otherwise be neglected.

I explained that the government must be obeyed, and that, as they had disobeyed every order, I should take charge of their cattle (about 200) until they showed a disposition to accept the Khedive's authority. At the same time, if the natives would bring thatch grass and assist the troops in forming the station (a work which they had always performed annually for Abou Saood's people), I would return them their cattle.

A long conversation ensued among the headmen, several of whom rose in succession, and addressed the meeting with great energy and fluency. They declared that there had been a general misunderstanding, but that they now began to comprehend their position. I informed them that they must themselves appoint a responsible sheik or headman, as many had refused to obey Allorron. I should regard one chief as their representative, and they as headmen must elect him at the present assembly. I should also place the power in the hands of the chief, whose orders must be obeyed by the headmen of the villages. This chief would be responsible to me for the acts of those beneath him, and I should punish all those who refused to acknowledge his authority.

The meeting ended most satisfactorily. The natives explained, that, although Allorron had been the ostensible sheik for a great length of time, the true sheik by actual descent was a chief named Morbe; but as his cattle had been carried off by the Loquia, he had lost his property, and also his influence among the people. In those savage countries the possession of property is considered absolutely necessary to a man in a high position.

Morbe was elected unanimously as the sheik responsible to the government. All headmen declared they would obey his orders; even Allorron appeared pleased that he had shifted his responsibility upon the shoulders of another. The headmen all promised that they would beat their drums and summon their people on their return to their villages, and that on the morrow they would collect bamboos and thatch-grass for any purpose we might require. The meeting ended by their agreeing to deliver a certain number of bundles in a given period: they also promised to supply the troops with oxen at a stipulated price. Morbe, the new sheik, then addressed me in the name of the assembly, and begged me to establish confidence and goodwill by returning them their cattle. I had expected this request. I therefore replied, that as they had attended my summons and promised obedience, I would test their sincerity by returning them not only their own cattle, but I would trust them with the care of my three large breeding cows which I had brought from the Rohr country; at the same time, I gave them fair warning, that if they broke the agreement now entered upon, I should not be in a hurry to return their cattle on a future occasion. They seemed to be, quite satisfied, and the meeting broke up.

They drove off the herd, together with my three cows, while my soldiers looked on with utter amazement and regarded me as thought I had lost my senses.

Although I had entered into this agreement, the natives had not the slightest idea of carrying out their promises. A few bundles of bamboos were brought, also some thatch-grass, but not an ox was given to the troops. The sheik of Belinian had refused to appear; and he alleged as an excuse that he feared treachery, since his father and family had been murdered when guests of Abou Saood. The Baris of Gondokoro had regained their cattle, and they did not trouble themselves about their contract, as they inwardly hoped that by starving us they might succeed in disgusting the troops, which would necessitate the abandonment of the expedition.

A few days after the breach of contract, Tomby, the interpreter, appeared, and told me that the Baris had refused to work, and that the government would not succeed in that country. The people wished me to join them with my troops, and to attack their old enemy, Loquia. I should then obtain cattle and sheep in the razzia, and the government would be independent.

This was the regular negro system which had originally introduced the slave trade throughout the White Nile. One tribe invariably requests the alliance of a superior force to attack some powerful neighbour: the prisoners of war become slaves. When trading adventurers first commenced on the White Nile, the natives sold ivory for beads and copper bracelets; and trade was fairly established. The armed companies of the traders were immediately invited to become allies, and attacks were made upon various tribes. The cattle and slaves became the property of the captors. The traders quickly discovered that it was far easier and more profitable to steal cattle and slaves to exchange for ivory, than to import goods from Khartoum. They commenced the system of cattle-lifting and slave-hunting, which rapidly increased until it arrived at the immense scale already described.

I preached morality hopelessly to