Appendix…

Appendix

HISTORY AND RELIGION OF THE SHILLUKS.

In the beginning was Jo-uk, the Great Creator, and he created a great white cow, who came up out of the Nile and was called Deung Adok. The white cow gave birth to a man-child whom she nursed and named Kola (Kollo); Kola begat Umak Ra or Omaro, who begat Makwa or Wad Maul, who begat Ukwa. These people lived in a far off country, nobody knows where. (Bahr El Ghazal (?), Jur tribe (?) according to linguistic links).

Ukwa was one day sitting near the river when he saw two lovely maidens with long hair rise out of the river and play about in the shallows. He saw them many times after that, but they would have nothing to do with him and merely laughed at him. It should be mentioned that their lower extremities were like those of a crocodile.

One day Ukwa found them sitting on the banks, so he came up behind and seized them. Their screams brought their father, Ud Diljil, out of the river, to see what was the matter. Ud Diljil, whose right side was green in colour and in form like a crocodile, whilst his left side was that of a man, protested mildly, but allowed Ukwa to take away his daughters and wed them, merely giving vent to a series of incorrect prophecies regarding them.

Nik-kieya, the elder sister, gave birth to two sons and three daughters, and Ung-wad, the younger, to one son only, named Ju, or Bworo. The eldest son of Nik-kieya was named Nyakang (Nik-kang or Nyakam) and inherited the pleasing crocodilian attributes of his mother and grandfather. Meanwhile Ukwa married a third wife, whose eldest child, a son, was named Duwat.

On Ukwa’s death there was a furious quarrel between Nyakang and Duwat as to who should succeed Ukwa. It ended by Nyakang, with his sisters Ad Dui, Ari Umker, and Bun Yung, his brother Umoi and his half-brother Ju, acquiring wings and flying away to the south of the Sobat. Here they found the Shilluk country inhabited by wicked Arabs, so they drove them out and founded a most successful kingdom. According to their genealogy this would have been about 1200 A.D., or later.

Nyakang had a creative power which he used greatly to the advantage of the kingdom. In order to people the vast territory more quickly, he proceeded to create a people from the animal life he found in the forests and rivers. From crocodiles and hippopotami, and from wild beasts and cattle, he created men and women. When these had brought forth many children, the parent stock was removed by death, so that the children might not know of their origin.

The new creation and their offspring form the Shulla race or common people, in distinction from the direct descendants of Nyakang’s family. The latter continue to bear authority and fill the priestly function to this day. All outside the royal and priestly line are accounted Shullas.

Nik-kieya still exists. She never died and never will. The western part of the Sobat and part of the White Nile near there is her favourite abode. She often appears, usually in the form of a crocodile, but at times in different forms and always in the river or on its banks. No sacrifices are ever offered to her. When she wishes, she takes what is required from among men and beasts; and when it is so, the people must not complain; indeed, it is an honour when Nik-kieya is pleased to take her sacrifice of man or beast from a family.

Nik-kieya becomes judge also in certain difficult cases, it is said, particularly in cases of illegitimate children. When the man accused denies fatherhood, the case is turned over to Nik-kieya. The disputants are taken to the river bank, and along with them a goat. They are then put into the river, and the one that Nik-kieya carries off is judged guilty, and he or she is left in the hands of Nik-kieya, to be punished. The beauty of this method is that a consciousness of guilt, added to a belief in and fear of Nik-kieya often causes confession, and thus the case is ended. It is not quite clear why the goat is taken to the river. It may be to give Nik-kieya a chance for a sacrifice without taking a human being, or it may be because a goat tied close to the river will attract crocodile from quite a distance. To Nik-kieya are ascribed many wonderful miracles, and it is feared also that in actual practice she becomes a cloak for sin.

Around this mythical being and her demi-god son are wrapped many superstitions, not the least of which is that sacrifices to and the worship of, the great deity Jo-uk, are carried out by the intermediary of Nyakang, the demi-god.

Jo-uk is recognised as the father and source of all life, of evil as well as good. He is treated rather as a deity to be feared and propitiated, but he enters into the small relations of life all the same, and most incidents, such as death, sickness, going on a journey, etc., are referred to his action. The Shilluks believe that Jo-uk is everywhere, and that man when he dies goes to Jo-uk; but whether anything happens to him in consequence seems doubtful.

To Jo-uk sacrifices are made at least once a year, at the beginning of the rainy season, and much of good and evil are attributed to him. This sacrifice consists in the slaying of an animal by the priest of each village for the people of his village, assembled at the house of the “Nyakang.” The animal is slain with a holy spear, and the flesh divided among the people, cooked and eaten. Then follows a dance, with much drinking of merissa to make their hearts merry. For this sacrifice and dance, which is apparently the sum of their worship, there are especial houses. But in each village there is a small temple, similar in structure to the larger one. In this, or more correctly, around this, the elders of the people assemble for the transaction of all serious business, and call their gods to witness in all covenants. No village is without this small temple, and it is the only building on which any ornamentation is attempted. It is called the house of Nyakang, not the house of Jo-uk.

In cases of illness sacrifices are made to Nyakang. The Shilluks bury their dead inside the confines of their villages close to the house where the deceased had lived, killing a bullock at the wake, the horns of which are set up to mark the place of interment.

[Sidenote: History.]

After Nyakang there have been, including the present one, 26 kings. The following is the list[131]:—

1. Nyakang. 15. Nyadok.

2. Dag (Dok). 16. Akwot.

3. Odage. 17. Ababdo.

4. Kudit. 18. Awin.

5. Dokodo (Dakkode). 19. Akoj.

6. Boj (Boiwj). 20. Nedok (Nyadok).

7. Tugo (Tuka). 21. Kwad Keir (Kwat Ki).

8. Nya Dwai (Nya dwi). 22. Ajang (Ajung).

9. Nya Ababdo. 23. Gwin Kun (Kwoe Kon).

10. Muko (Mu Kao). 24. Yor Adodit (Yur).

11. Nya To (Nya Ta). 25. Akol.

12. Nyakong (Nik Kang). 26. Kur Wad Nedok.

13. Okun (Ukon). 27. Fadiet Wad Kwad Keir.

14. Nya Gwatse (Nkwaji).

Kur Wad Nedok was appointed king by the Dervishes as a reward, it is said, for betraying Mek Yor Adodit to them. During Kur’s absence in Omdurman, Akol was appointed mek by the Shilluks. Ak Kwo Kwan, son of Akol, is a pretender to the throne, but has few adherents.

It is related that all kings from Dag to Nyadok were killed by the Shilluks. Kwad Keir, Ajang, and Gwin Kun fell by the hand of the “Turks.” Yor fell in fight with the Dervishes. Kur abdicated. Akol is dead; he is said to have been shot by the Dervishes. The descendants of the kings are called “Gwared,” in contrast with the ordinary Shilluks, who are called “Ororo.” The royal descendants form the upper class, while the Oroko are at the beck and call of the kings.

The idea of kingship is implanted wherever the Gwared exist, and the latter are numerous. It is, therefore, not easy to exterminate the idea of royalty.

Royalty in this country is royalty, both by selection and inheritance at the same time. It is so by selection because the leading men of the country select the king from a variety of claimants, and by right of inheritance, inasmuch as only sons of kings are entitled to ascend the throne.

The right of accession to the throne is acknowledged as belonging primarily to the sons of the late king.

[Footnote 116: In 1904 the amount of gum exported from Kordofan is expected to be 219,300 kantars. One kantar = 100 lbs.]

[Footnote 117: See table of Baggara Genealogies on p. 334.]

[Footnote 118: Gabra, north-west of Omdurman, must not be confused with Gabra El Sheikh, near Kagmar.]

[Footnote 119: The rainfall at El Obeid from March to October, 1904, amounted to 12·16 inches; the maximum temperatures registered in 1904 were 108° in April and 107° in May, the lowest being 45° in February.]

[Footnote 120: Some of these names are not now recognisable.]

[Footnote 121: Chiefly from “Fire and Sword in the Sudan.”]

[Footnote 122: It was rumoured at Omdurman (May, 1904) that Abesher, the capital of Wadai, was occupied by the French on the 20th December, 1903. This rumour, however, appears to be unfounded.]

[Footnote 123: For detail of frontier, vide App. G, p. 337.]

[Footnote 124: Not to be confused with Bir El Melha on the Arbain road west of Debba.]

[Footnote 125: Taken from “Fire and Sword in the Sudan.”]

[Footnote 126: For description of the Baggara Arabs, vide p. 179, also their Genealogical Table on p. 334.]

[Footnote 127: The dukhn is ready for harvesting 90 days after sowing.]

[Footnote 128: Mother was not real wife of Sultan.]

[Footnote 129: Compiled chiefly from Reports from Major Matthews, the Rev. Father Banholzer (R.C. Mission, Lul), and the Rev. J. K. Giffen (American Protestant Mission, Sobat). The Editor is under much obligation to Father Banholzer for his kindness in writing him a special description, and to Rev. J. K. Giffen for allowing him to make use of his MS. for part of the Appendix.]

[Footnote 130: Total rainfall at Kodok, January-October, 1904, was 19·4 inches.]

[Footnote 131: From Father Banholzer’s memo. The Rev. J. K. Giffen gives an almost identical list, and includes an extra king.]

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us

IX. NORTH-WESTERN SUDAN

* * * * *

COUNTRY WEST OF THE NILE, SOUTH OF LAT. 22° AND NORTH OF KORDOFAN.

This district readily lends itself to division for description into three sections, viz.:—

1.—Desert west of the Nile, north and west of Wadi El Gab, including Arbain road (for detailed report of which vide Appendix, Part III, Vol. II.).

2.—Wadi El Gab.

3.—Bayuda Desert.

SECTION 1.—DESERT WEST OF NILE, NORTH AND WEST OF WADI EL GAB.

The country west of the Nile from Halfa to Kerma merits little description. Desert of the most arid description comes down close to the banks of the river, west of which all is uninhabited and waterless, with the exception of the few oases, for as far as is known upwards of 300 to 400 miles. The desert itself varies from hard, often stony sand or gravel-covered plains, to undulating moving sand dunes and rocky hills of lime, granite, or basalt. Remains of petrified forests are occasionally met. The amount of mineral wealth discovered in this inhospitable region is not yet definitely known.

Here and there a very limited amount of vegetation is met, at some spot where the water of one of the rare rainstorms that pass over this district has chanced to collect, but more often one may travel for miles and miles over country devoid of any vestige of animal or vegetable life.

The whole of this desert region, including the wells and oases, is uninhabited. It is, however, visited occasionally by roving bands of Hawawir and Kababish in search of natron or wild dates, as also by raiding parties of the Bedaiat, a tribe living to the north of Darfur, who only recently drove off camels grazing within 80 miles of Dongola.

The following is an extract from a report by Captain H. Hodgson, February, 1903, descriptive of the country west of the Wadi El Gab.

“Beyond the limits of the Wadi El Gab, on the western side, there seems to be a belt of country in which water is easily found, but is undrinkable. Of the two water pans I have tried, namely Murrat and Butta, the one is very bitter and the other has a distinct smell of sulphuretted hydrogen—Arabs use these waters medicinally as purgatives.

[Sidenote: Jebel Abiad.]

“I reached and ascended the plateau of Jebel Abiad at what I reckon, roughly, to be 100 miles west from the river at Khandak. In 1901 I found the northern extremity of this range to be 98 miles from the river at Dongola. It is, on the eastern side, a high steep bluff, exposing the white rock (gypsum) from which it gets its name. It extends continuously from where I stood, both north and south, as far as the horizon.

“The surface of the plateau is shingle and sand; it slopes gently down on the western side.

[Sidenote: Wadi Natrun.]

“I reached the Natrun valley on the 31st January. It is not literally a valley, but an undulating plain stretching south and south-west as far as the horizon. From south-east to north-east it is bounded by a high range of steep hills of black rock; from north-east to north-west by high broken rocky ground with isolated conical hills; to the west, by low gravel hills. On the distant horizon, north-west, is a high range of hills. Close under the bluff on the eastern side of the plain are two thickets of selem bushes, growing luxuriantly and suffering in places from over supply of water. This is very plentiful and near the surface, the sand being brown and damp, but it is not the best water in the valley. The southern of these two thickets is called Melani. An isolated peak in the northern centre of the plain, called Jebel Kashaf, lies at a bearing of 315° mag. from Melani. The best water, called Bir Sultan, lies 3 miles from Melani at a bearing of 278° mag. and due south of Jebel Kashaf. On the ground called Bir Sultan (which includes an area of about ¼ square mile, covered with tussocks of Halfa grass, etc.), I found three or four pans of good water, the soil below the sand being white clay. There is a small clump of date seedlings near the biggest spring.

There is plenty of evidence of natron in the valley, but the place, where most of the digging is done and where the thickest seam of natron is reported to be, is 2,400 yards from Jebel Kashaf and to the west of it, at a bearing of 310° (mag.). The diggings are in what looks like a dry salt pan left by the sea, except that the sand is very red. The method of collecting it is as follows: About 2 to 4 inches depth of sand is cleared away until the natron, a substance resembling a yellowish rock salt, is reached; the top part is usually bad, being half sand. Then there is a seam ½ to 2 inches thick, of good natron, and again below a little bad natron, and then below all sand again. Sometimes all the natron is spoilt by being mixed with sand. Near the natron diggings is a large thicket of selem bushes, and besides this and at Melani, there is a clump of date trees and selem north-east of Jebel Kashaf and another thicket of “littel” scrub, besides plenty of halfa, tamam, taklis, and halaf grass etc. A party of 400 or 500 camels could live some months in the valley on the grazing only. Good shelter can be obtained from the wind, and there are plenty of garids etc. to make tukls. Gazelle plentiful.

[Sidenote: Arbain road.]

“The Arbain road lies along very high land, and anyone traversing the road during the winter months should, if possible, march with the wind, i.e., from north to south. The cold was intense, and the shelter from north wind nil, as all hills are steep on the north side and slope gradually away to the south.

“At Sultan, Lagia, and Selima this is reversed, and the hills are steep on the south side. This change in formation accounts probably for the presence of water.”

[Sidenote: Game.]

This desert region is the haunt of the Addax, the rarest of Sudan antelopes. Specimens have been killed near Tundubi.

Wells and Oases.

[Sidenote: Sheb-Nakhla district.[132]]

NAKHLA.—Situated about 80 miles north-west of Halfa. Named after the single date palm overhanging the wells. Surrounding the hill on which this date palm stands is a narrow valley about 80 yards wide. Throughout this depression water can be obtained at a depth of 3½ to 5 feet. The water is of better quality than that of any of the neighbouring wells and is abundant. There is practically no grazing or fuel here; the latter can be obtained, however, at a distance of 2 to 3 miles.

HASSAB EL GABU.—About 10 miles west (?) of Nakhla. This well is situated on the top of a circular sandhill 30 yards in diameter. Good water is found at a depth of 2 feet, as it may be almost anywhere between Nakhla and Sheb. Good grass for camels.

BIR SULEIMAT.—11 miles (?) from Nakhla. Good grazing. Water bitter, but plentiful.

BIR SEDERI.—28 miles from Nakhla. Water bitter. Little grazing. Dom palm covered sandhills 100 yards from well.

EL HAAD.—33 miles from Nakhla (direction uncertain). No well, but good grazing on “Haad” grass.

SHEB.—40 miles W.S.W. of Nakhla. Is the southernmost water in the Sheb district. Well 4 feet deep and same in diameter (October, 1902). Water plentiful, but brackish and aperient. Good grazing and plenty of firewood. This is a watering place on the Arbain road.

TERFAUI (I).—About 6 miles north of Sheb, situate in a small oasis in a broad wadi said to lead from the oasis of Selima to the Nile by way of Kurkur. This valley is bounded on the west by precipitous sandstone cliffs. There is a group of trees here 250 by 300 yards. Good grazing for camels. The water is drinkable. Immediately to the west of Terfaui is a pass over which the usual road to the northern oases of Beris, etc., passes. This is usually a watering place on the Arbain road.

ABU HUSSEIN.—About 35 miles north-west of Sheb. Consists of a clump of trees and bush-covered mounds about 30 feet high. There are three more places exactly similar to Abu Hussein, two being to the eastward and one to the west. They are all about 5 miles apart and lie in a general line from east to west. Water may be found at a depth of 1½ feet at any of them, and here and there between them. Good water and plentiful. Grazing also good.

TERFAUI (II).—16 miles north-west of Abu Hussein or about 50 miles north-west of Sheb. It consists of small mounds of sand covered with long green grass. Water plentiful at depth of 4 to 5 feet, grazing good, consisting of tufts of long grass, over an area of about 1 mile by ¾ mile. There used to be three dom palms here, but these were burnt down by Captain Ross in 1894 on account of the snakes which infested them.

KASSABA.—The northernmost well in the Sheb district is at Naseib, 15 miles north of Kassaba. At Kassaba the water is not good, but many old wells point to its having been much used in former days. Situated in an open plain about 26 miles N.N.W. of Sheb. A watering place on the Arbain road.

SELIMA OASIS.—Selima lies on the Arbain road about 78 miles south of Sheb and 55 miles west of the river at Sagiet El Abd. Halfa is about 120 miles to the north-east. It is perhaps the most important oasis in the western desert of the Sudan, as not only must caravans using the Arbain route almost necessarily stop here for water, but its dates and salt are probably of considerable value from a commercial point of view.

Mr. James Currie, who visited this oasis in October, 1901, thus describes it:—

“A most beautiful place. It would be most difficult to find without a guide, as it is really only a large hole in the desert. The descent to it is very steep indeed. There are three wells, a good many date trees, and good grass. One sees the remains of an old Christian convent, moderately well preserved, but the point of interest attaching to it is that it has apparently been built out of the ruins of something much older, to judge from the inscribed stones one notices. There are abundant salt deposits near, and a huge petrified forest, which extends further than I had time or inclination to go.”

Captain H. Hodgson (February, 1903) writes with reference to this oasis:—

“Besides the old salt workings, which are capable of considerable development, there are some 2,000 fruit-bearing date trees. My estimate may not be very near, but I spent two hours with two other men counting in order to get this idea, and in this time counted 685 female trees, and covered only about one third of the ground. The trees are uncleaned with very thick undergrowth, and are being ruthlessly hacked in order to enable the Arabs (Hassanab from Kosha) to get at the fruit. Dates of the following species were collected: Kulma, Agwa, Barakawi, and Gawa. The first and second are both of considerable commercial value: the Agwa trees seem the most numerous.”

TUNDUBI.—For description of this oasis vide Route Report Dongola to Bir Sultan, Vol. 2. The addax is found near here.

LAGIA.—Vide Route Report Dongola to Lagia, Vol. 2.

BIR SULTAN.—Vide Route Report Dongola to Bir Sultan, Vol. 2.

TURA.—An oasis said to lie about 150 miles south-west of Lagia, which is approximately 160 miles north-west by west from Dongola. Here there is said to be a sulphurous lake about ½ mile long, known as Tura El Bedai. Water, if obtained from holes dug on the margin of the lake, is said to be tolerably sweet and drinkable. There are many wild date trees here, for the fruit of which the Kababish and Bedaiat have been long accustomed to fight.

SECTION 2.—WADI EL GAB (KAB).

The Northern Branch of the Wadi El Gab.

(By Major A. E. Turner, R.A., December, 1884.)

The northern branch of the Wadi El Gab extends from Hannek to the village of Sawāni, 20 miles due west of El Ordi, or Kasr Dongola.

It is a flat tract mostly sandy, but there are many stony plains and occasional rocky hills, as well as plains where salt and lime crop to the surface. The natives collect the salt, and carry it to the villages on the Nile, where they barter it for grain, etc. There are many wells, and round these wells the straw-built huts are congregated, forming villages; there are numerous, and some very fine, palms, both dom and date, near the wells, and these in some places mark the site of deserted villages, where the wells have dried up.

The people at the present time (1884) have very few camels,[133] except milch and young. They have sold a great many, and a good many are employed by contract between Dongola and Sarras on the west bank.

The villages are all built near the wells, and in deep reddish sand.

There is no ground for cultivation whatever, and hardly any grass (halfa or other); the trees are palms, acacias (the latter very fine and old).

[Sidenote: Lagia.]

[Sidenote: Abu Naama.]

[Sidenote: El Mungur.]

Leaving Hafir and the Nile, the road leads S.S.W., crossing a plain covered with stones and shingle, with scanty mimosa shrubs; at 9 miles a low ridge is mounted, and the Wadi El Gab is visible with the village of Lagia and its palms 5 miles distant. At 13½ miles, the ruins of three old buildings are met, one on the west, two on the south side of the road; one of the latter is a ruined convent or monastery, and its cells are visible. Many of the palms are burnt, having been destroyed by their owners who went to join the Mahdia. 4 miles S.S.W. is the village of Abu Naama. Seven miles south-west the village of El Mungur, which has two good wells.

[Sidenote: Abu Baguga.]

[Sidenote: Abu Halfa.]

Two miles south-west of El Mungur is the well and village of Abu Baguga, and 1 mile south-west of it that of Abu Halfa.

[Sidenote: Sarari, Dukur, deserted.]

[Sidenote: Ain El Bir, deserted.]

[Sidenote: Mount El Kwais.]

After going 2 miles S.S.W., the road goes W.S.W., and a ¾ mile further lies, on the east of the road, the village of Sarari, now deserted, and that of Dukur on the west, also deserted. At 3 miles further, the deserted village of Ain El Bir, a mile from the road on our left (east), and just beyond it a solitary rocky hill called El Kwais.

[Sidenote: Goz El Fugar.]

[Sidenote: Bayuda.]

At 9 miles the road mounts a ridge, and then descends into a sort of circular basin about 1 mile in diameter, surrounded by low hills. On leaving this at 10 miles, I saw the village of Goz El Fugar 1 mile to the left (east), and ¾ mile further I arrived at the village of Bayuda, on a sandy hill, with numerous palms; a considerable village.

[Sidenote: El Gumra.]

[Sidenote: Zalia.]

[Sidenote: El Kurmotai.]

After leaving Bayuda, the road goes south by east; at 1 mile on the right (west) lies the village of El Gumra, and 2 miles further, also on the west side, that of Zalia; at 7½ miles a large expanse, covered with palms and acacias, with two good wells, is reached, called El Kurmotai. From this the road goes south-east for 1½ miles to the village of Sawāni, the sheikh’s own village and chief village of the Wadi Gab. Some of the huts are built of mud, but mostly of straw.

[Sidenote: Sawāni.]

Sawāni is a very picturesque village with a large open space on the south side, bounded on three sides by trees, and on the fourth side lies the village.

[Sidenote: Um Hellal (1).]

[Sidenote: Um Hellal (2).]

The road to Dongola is due east; after 2 miles a low range of hills is crossed, at the east foot of which lies the small village of Um Hellal, at ½ mile further, a flat plain with much lime; at 4½ miles (2 miles further), another village, called also Um Hellal, on the north side, and 1 mile from the road is passed; a mile further, rocky ground is reached, which gradually rises, and 1 mile further the Wadi Gab ceases, and the road goes over bare, rocky, and broken ground to Dongola. The latter is 26 miles from Sawāni.

[Sidenote: Wells.]

The wells are very good, the water is, as a rule, near the surface, and the wells are lined with stone; the depth of water did not appear to be more than a few feet.

The sheikh told me that there is no settlement of his branch of the Kababish tribe south of Khandak, and that all is desert between that end of his valley (wadi) near Khandak to within a day’s march of Debba.

----------------+-------------+-------------------------------------- |Distance in | | miles. | Names of places.+-------------+ Description. |Intermediate.| ----------------+-------------+-------------------------------------- Hafir | |On the Nile. | | | |The road is in a S.S.W. direction, | |and is over a plain mostly covered | |with shingle and a few mimosa shrubs. | |At 9 miles, a ridge is mounted, | |whence the Wadi El Gab is visible. At | |12 miles, the valley is reached; and Lagia | 14 |at 14, the village of Lagia. | | El Mungur | 7 |The road is S.E. for 7 miles to El | |Mungur. | | Bayuda | 10¾ |The road goes S.S.W. for 2 miles; the | |rest of the way W.S.W. | | Sawāni | 9 |The road goes 7½ miles S. by E., then | |S.E. | | Dongola | 26 |The road due E into Dongola. +-------------+ Total | 66¾ | ----------------+-------------+--------------------------------------

WADI EL GAB.

(By Col. Colvile, Grenadier Guards, October, 1884.)

The Wadi El Gab is a sandy khor about 63 miles in length, running through the trough of a broader and rocky valley. Its general direction is north-west and south-west. It is inhabited by the Omatto section of the Kababish tribe, of which Sheikh Fadl Mula Wad Rekha is the chief. Its most southerly well is Marghum, 30 miles to the west of Khandak, and its most northerly is said to be 20 miles west of Hafir. Its only productions are wood and dates, both of which are plentiful. Its inhabitants do not appear to own any great number of camels; those to be seen at the various settlements being mostly milch nagas and their foals. Goats, which feed on the mimosa, are plentiful.

On leaving the Nile at Bakri the road at first crosses a flat sandy desert, destitute of vegetation; but after 7 miles a district is reached, thickly studded with low mimosa bushes. In the district are several Arab encampments, some of them as much as 4 hours’ journey from the nearest water. Fifteen miles from Bakri the country becomes more undulating, and the surface covered with firm gravel; and 10 miles further on, a range of hills running north and south is reached. Passing through a break in this range, the road follows for 3 miles a valley running nearly at right angles to the main one, and then strikes the track running down the Gab to the Abu Gussi-Kordofan road. Passing down a sandy valley, dotted with sand dunes, and sparsely studded with low mimosa scrub, the most southerly well, Bir Marghum, is reached, 7 miles north of the point where the valley first entered. The well is stone-lined, and the water is 20 feet below the surface and 4 feet deep. It is said that the well never runs dry; the water is good. For the next 6 miles the country continues to be scantily covered with low mimosa scrub; Bir El Ain is then reached, and the valley becomes more thickly and heavily wooded, and continues to be studded with fine acacia timber to El Sawani. Between El Ain and El Sawani are the following six wells:—

Abu Haweid. El Hudden.

El Bab. Bayuda.

El Harma. El Huffera.

They are all lined with stone, and about 4 feet of good water is found in each of them at from 3 to 4 feet below the surface. Nine miles beyond El Huffera, El Sawani, the chief settlement of this section of the Kababish, is reached. It contains many native huts and four mud dwellings. This well, like all the others (with the exception of El Marghum) is marked by a clump of palms.

The road to El Ordi, after skirting the valley for a few miles in a north-east direction, turns to the east and crosses 10 miles of broken rocky ground and low ridges. A tract of undulating ground is then reached, which extends to El Ordi. With the exception of small patches of acacia in some of the valleys, this district is wholly devoid of vegetation; it is uninhabited.

WADI EL GAB.

(By Colonel A. Hunter, C.B., D.S.O., November, 1896.)

The Gab does not realise expectation, nor fulfil the descriptions given of it. The hand and sand of destruction is everywhere visible. The wind, blowing prevalently north or north-west, rolls the sand along, the sand catches in the tamarisk bushes, in the roots and undergrowth of the palms, date and dom, till it piles over the bushes, and reaches towards the top of the palms or smothers them. The whole place has the appearance of a forest after a heavy storm: trees lying prone in all directions, but no effort is made at replanting or replacing. A few seedlings struggle into existence now and then. The sand moves on, leaving the palms crippled or dead. I have heard so much of the vegetation and grazing, and date trees, verdure, luxuriance, etc., of the Wadi El Gab—it never existed. Ruthless, and judging by events, not altogether unavoidable, neglect, has diminished the little there ever was. We know it carried a large head of camels, goats, and sheep, at least so it was supposed; but, barring goats and a few donkeys, the herds of the Kababish had to roam “for forty days in the wilderness” towards Darfur and Kordofan, and northwards to abreast Mahass and Sukkot, for their food. Water is found at from 12 to 20 feet below the surface; the Gab averages about 5 miles in breadth, patches of grass and thorn bush crop up at intervals, separated by rolling hills of rock and sand. Round the wells there are the miserable straw huts and mud houses of the tribesmen, with here and there groves of palms; no game to speak of. Gazelle exist in small numbers, and are very afraid of mankind. This is accounted for by the fact that the Arabs trap them, and hunt them with dogs, a breed of yellow greyhound. The trap is a round hoop, with thin strips of wood tied to the circumference, and the points of the strips meet at the centre, laid so that the strips make a slight cone, like the top of a basket. The gazelle browse on the thorn bushes; close to the bush the Arab puts the trap in a little hollow in the sand, cone downwards, places on the rim of the trap a running noose, to the other end of which is fastened a billet of wood. The whole is covered over with sand. The gazelle comes to feed off the sprouts of the bush; puts his foot into the noose; his foot slides through the apex of the spines of split wood; he kicks to free his foot, and so the noose tightens on his leg, and there he is, with a rope tied to his leg; he cannot kick off the rope, for the billet of wood drags the knot tight, and the trap prevents it slipping down, and the Arab then appears with his dogs, and chases the animal down.

Twelve miles west of Shemsi is Wadi El Butta, very much like the Gab in appearance. Addax and wild sheep are said occasionally to come here in summer. Water is near the surface, and is got by the animals by scraping. A curious feature is the occurrence over the whole face of the desert of patches of succulent plants and grasses which serve as food for camels and for goats.

Sawani to Bayuda, 9 miles. El Bab to Haweiya, 9½ miles.

At Haweiya, or Haweid, a number of wells, also at El Bab. They are part and parcel of one place.

Rode to El Marghum, the post occupied by the old Sheb post. I asked about these wells in the Gab, and got always the same answer. Those existing were dug by their ancestors, so long ago no one remembers, and ever since no one has been to the trouble to dig or explore for anything fresh. Well here deep, 18 or 20 feet, and stone faced.

THE WADI EL GAB.

(Sir W. Garstin G.C.M.G., April, 1897.)

No account of the Dongola province would be complete without some mention of this great depression which extends through the Western Desert from Hafir to Debba, a distance of some 125 miles. It is chiefly inhabited by the Kababish tribe of Arabs, who use it for grazing their flocks; and it contains numerous wells.

It has been thought that this depression might possibly be utilised as a storage reservoir or as a means for escaping the surplus water in an excessive flood. It is very doubtful whether it could thus be made use of. The wadi appears really to come to an end a few miles north of Hafir, and the nearest point to the river to be at a distance of some 10 miles.

The lowest portions of the Wadi El Gab must be considerably lower than the level of the river in flood, but by how much it is impossible, without levels, to say.

On leaving the Nile, in the direction of this valley, the country rises rapidly for some 4 miles. It then begins to fall away from the river, in a succession of terraces, until a total of about 10 miles have been traversed. The real edge of the wadi then commences. Its width at the northern end appears to be about 5 miles. The western edge is filled up with drift sand, which is gradually covering the palm trees. A well, measured at the Oasis of Lagia, showed the water level to be some 9 feet below the ground surface. The water was sweet and of good quality.

It would be useful to have the whole of this depression carefully levelled and surveyed. The area covered by it is very large, and supposing it were possible to fill it with water, the loss from evaporation would certainly be very great.

SECTION 3.—“BAYUDA DESERT.”

[Sidenote: General.]

The tract of country north of Kordofan, i.e., north of N. lat. 16° (approximately), bounded on the north and east by the Nile and on the west by the Wadi Melh has been called the Bayuda Desert, though this name is not applied to it by the Arabs.

[Sidenote: Inhabitants.]

It is inhabited by nomad Arabs, viz., on the east by the Kababish, chiefly the Omatto section under Sheikh Fadl Mula Wad Rekha; in the centre by the Hawawir, of which the Sauarab is the most important sub-tribe, under Sheikh Hassan Khalifa; and on the east by the Hassania, whose headquarters are at Jebel Gilif and Jakdul. In the extreme north, in the angle formed by the bend of the Nile, are the Monasir, who are, however, a sedentary tribe. These above-mentioned nomads wander a great deal according to the grazing, on the existence or absence of which, in many cases, depends the fact of wells being open or not.

[Sidenote: Cultivation.]

The Arabs cultivate their dura in certain well-known wadis, mostly in the more southern districts, according to the rainfall, which is, as a rule, not heavy, and very local, and varies considerably from year to year.

[Sidenote: Wadi Melh.]

The W. El Melh is a broad shallow depression, frequently a mile or more in width, having its origin near Um Badr. It is inhabited here and there by the Kababish. It reaches the Nile at Debba, though it has long since ceased, if ever, to discharge water into that river. For further description of this wadi, vide Route Report Dongola to El Fasher, Part III. This route is now seldom, if ever, used. Vide also report on El Ein, p. 210.

[Sidenote: Wadi Mogaddam.]

The next wadi of importance in this district is the Wadi Mogaddam which has its origin near Bagbag, about 60 miles south-west of Omdurman, and joins the Nile near Korti after a course of about 200 miles in length. For description of this wadi and the wells, etc., in it, vide Route Report Gabra to Korti, Part III.

[Sidenote: Gabra.]

The wells of Gabra in the Wadi Mogaddam, nearly 60 miles north-west of Omdurman, are an important Arab centre, there being many wells and a good deal of cultivation in the neighbourhood. The Arabs are principally Kababish, but Geriat and Hassania also come here. Gabra is under the Governor of Khartoum, but the boundaries of Dongola, Berber, and Kordofan Provinces are all within a few miles of it.

[Sidenote: Communications.]

Communications throughout this district are bad owing to scarcity of water. The principal trade routes are:—

(1) Debba-Fasher viâ the Wadi Melh (little used).

(2) Debba-El Obeid viâ Amri, Hobagi, and Haraza (used a little during rainy season).

(3) Debba-El Obeid viâ Amri, Elai, and Habisa (longer than (2) but more water).

(4) Debba to Omdurman[134] viâ Inderab, Gumr and Gabra (a good deal used).

(5) Debba to Omdurman viâ Elai and Gabra (little used).

(6) Ambugol and Merowe to Shendi (Metemma) (little used).

(7) Merowe to Berber viâ Sani (a good deal used).

(8) Merowe to Omdurman[134] viâ Hamboti and Wadi Bishara.

(9) Gabra to Korti (little used).

All the above routes except No. 8 are described in the route reports in Vol. II, and from them some idea of the country may be obtained. The traffic along No. (7) will presumably increase considerably on the completion of the Nile-Red Sea Railway.

(_From the Reports of the Surveying Parties employed by Mr. G. Kilgour and Mr. Fowler, C.E._, 1871-72, and other Sources.)

[Sidenote: Northern Bayuda Desert.]

The track across the Bayuda Desert, from Ambugol to Shendi, is comparatively easy going, and is fairly well supplied with water; but not being a main trade route, it is little used by caravans.

There are no difficult defiles or passes.

The tract of country traversed consists of extensive plains divided by ranges of low hills. It is very unlike the sterile and rocky deserts further north, and in many places shows abundant signs of vegetation. Wadis, pastures of long coarse grass, and many clusters of trees are met with, whilst, during the rainy season, the ground is susceptible of profitable cultivation in some parts.

This route is just within the limits of the tropical rains. The wet season lasts from May to August, but rain never falls for more than 15 days in any year. Sometimes there is no rain for two consecutive years.

There are no streams, the water sinking into the sand and disappearing within 24 hours after rain has fallen.

During exceptionally hot days small whirlwinds pass in great numbers, and carry across the desert sand and fine debris in columns upwards of 150 feet in height. They have a formidable appearance, but are really almost harmless. A very large one might upset a tent, but this performance represents their maximum effect.

The Bayuda Desert is inhabited merely by wandering Arab tribes, of whom the principal are the Hawawir, Hassania, the Sauarab, the Fadnia, and the Aonia.

They subsist almost entirely by keeping flocks of sheep and goats, and by breeding camels, wandering from spot to spot to the best herbage, at such distance from the wells as enables them to water their animals. They also trap the gazelle—so plentiful in this desert; and after the rains a certain amount of ground is usually cultivated by them, and small crops are obtained.

About 4 miles above Ambugol the wadi (valley or stream course) Abu Gir debouches into the Nile; this wadi takes its rise in the Jebel Gilif about 70 miles from the Nile; water is obtainable from shallow wells along its entire course in its bed; like most of the lower portions of the Bayuda Desert, it is thickly covered with vegetation.

[Sidenote: Vegetation.]

This consists principally of low “samr” bushes (spreading thorny acacia), occasional “sunt” trees (acacia arabica, 20 to 25 feet high), the milk plant (asclepia gigantea), the “marakh” (a green shrub), the “tundub” (a bush, some 15 feet high,), and “heglig” trees (20 to 25 feet high, and often with a diameter of trunk at 5 feet from the ground of 12 to 15 inches), the “mokert” (salvadora persica), and even occasionally the “dom” palm (hyphæne thebaica), of which the “dom” palm, the “usher,” and “marakh” are indicative of water close to the surface.

[Sidenote: Firewood.]

Best suited for firewood are the “sunt,” the “samr,” the “tundub,” and the “heglig,” the wood of the latter, I may mention, being used as the base on which the natives twirl a dry piece of “samr” root with the object of producing fire.

[Sidenote: Food for camels.]

Camels devour eagerly the younger branches of the “samr,” the succulent leaves of the marakh (camel thorn) and el gau (camel grass), both of the last-mentioned being plentiful in the Bayuda; indeed, this is a favourite district for breeding and rearing hagins (the lighter and faster class of camels).

[Sidenote: Sheep.]

Sheep, of which large flocks are owned by the Hassania, Aonia, and other wandering Bedawi tribes of the Bayuda, find, during the dry season even, ample food in the grasses of the plains near Jebel Gilif; whilst the fresher shoots of the marakh and tundub, with the juicy leaves of the usher, provide sustenance for the goats.

[Sidenote: Route from Ambugol.]

The readiest route from Ambugol is to strike for the desert close to the town, whence an easy slope, some 2 miles in length, rises to the desert plateau, here some 50 feet above the Nile bank. A shingly level plain is then traversed for about 3 miles, when the Wadi Abu Gir is struck, leading right up to Jebel Gilif, with an ascent of about 10 feet per mile.

The route now skirts the hill Jebel Abu Shenkawi, near to the salt diggings, and passing another clump of hills, Debba El Kebir, joins another camel route from the Nile at a point some 300 miles from Ambugol, where the Wadi Mofokakart debouches into the Wadi Abu Gir.

[Sidenote: First wells.]

This other camel track, after leaving Ambugol, follows the Nile to near Korti, a distance of some 4 miles, then, turning sharply to the right, passes by the Wadi Um Marra, and crossing the ridge of Nasaib El Ruchan, at a point some 300 feet above Ambugol, descends over rather broken ground to the Wadi Abu Gir, and from this point there is but one route. At about 37 miles from Ambugol the first wells are met; these are merely holes scooped in the sand, deepened as the subterranean waters fall, until either the sides fall in, or the whole of the excavations are obliterated by the rush of water down the wadi during the rainy season.

The water is drawn from these, and all similar wells in the Bayuda, by means of a rude skin bag; it is then poured into earth cisterns, on the surface, at which the camels, sheep etc., drink. It is so pure that a small quantity of salt, fairly plentiful in this desert, is mixed with it.

The wadi at this point, about 38 miles from Ambugol, which has hitherto been flat and sandy, with gently sloping sides, becomes much broken. Small metamorphic ridges, hills, and lava-like mounds close in, and petrified wood is strewn in all directions, showing that the belt of metamorphic rock that intervenes between the lower Nubian sandstone and the extensive granite rocks is being traversed.

[Sidenote: El Haweiyat wells.]

[Sidenote: El Mesalima.]

About 55 miles from Ambugol are the wells of El Haweiyat, of similar character to those described above; the plain of El Rechewa is left on the right, and quitting the Wadi Abu Gir, which turns abruptly to the left, the route crosses a curious plain, about 3 to 4 miles wide, called El Mesalima. This plain is surrounded by low hills, and without vegetation; it is intersected by veins of mountain limestone, much resembling marble, and I here found fossil remains of the Saurian type.

Leaving El Mesalima, the route now crosses the plain at the southern foot of the Jebel Gilif, passing across watercourses which, in the rainy season, carry off the drainage from the mountains. These streams issue from wild gorges, and are said to drain extensive plains, 20 or 30 miles distant; a statement corroborated by the fact that they bring with them much brushwood and small timber.

After issuing from the gorges these streams wander at will, cutting constant new channels over an irregular talus of boulders and debris they bring with them; at the foot of this talus, they collect and run down defined sandy channels from 1 to 3 miles long, whose permanent character is proved by their tree-covered banks; these large channels then break up into a number of smaller diverging channels, which lose themselves in a grass-covered plain to the south, fairly covered with trees and brushwood, and about 8 miles across; this plain is said to be covered with water during the rains to a depth of 3 or 4 feet.

[Sidenote: Abu Halfa wells.]

Water may be procured in any of these sandy channels by digging holes as described above; and at Abu Halfa, about 90 miles from Ambugol, are large wells of this description, at which large numbers of camels and flocks are daily watered.

After passing numerous pools of water still standing in basins worn out of the granite bed, the gorge, at a distance of some 7 or 8 miles from the entrance, widened out into a valley about ½ mile across; here there was a small lake, the edges fringed with bulrushes and dom palms, whilst the native huts, flocks, and even birds and conies showed the permanent character of the lake. I heard that many similar lakes exist in the recess of the Jebel Gilif, but the Arabs are extremely reticent on this point.

[Sidenote: Jebel Gilif range.]

[Sidenote: Jakdul wells.]

At about 79 miles from Ambugol the Jebel Gilif range, with its uniform precipitous face, breaks up into outlying spurs with intermediate plains. In one of these spurs, about 2 miles to the north of the route and 100 miles from Ambugol, are situate the wells of Jakdul; these consist of water-worn basins in the bottom of a granite gorge of similar character to those mentioned above. The largest of the pools is some 60 yards long and 10 yards broad, and it is stated never to have run dry.

The water is sweet, but the lower pools are much contaminated by the flocks constantly using them, and the sight of thousands of beetles issuing from the water at dusk is not inviting.

The upper pools, however, are much cleaner, and with care an ample supply of excellent water might be ensured.

No doubt there are many other reservoirs up this gorge as at Abu Halfa.

[Sidenote: El Faar wells.]

To the eastward of the wells of Jakdul, and about 8 miles from the camel track, are the wells of El Faar, consisting of holes dug in a sandy water-channel similar to those of the Wadi Abu Gir.

With Jebel Gilif the granite rocks are left, and the route traverses the upper Nubian sandstone, simple and metamorphic, to the river at Shendi, or rather Metemma.

[Sidenote: 115th to 125th mile.]

Between the 115th and 125th mile the route crosses a belt of drift-sand hills travelling from east to west, these are of the usual type, i.e., a crescent presenting its convex side and gentle slope to the wind; up this slope the sand is driven to the apex, whence, falling over and remaining at its natural angle of repose on the concave side, the hill gradually but surely advances, the highest of the sand hills in this locality are about 13 feet high, their rate of progress depending entirely on the strength of the wind; to a camel they are no obstacle as it winds amongst them at will.

[Sidenote: Abu Klea or Tleh wells.]

At 150 miles from Ambugol are the wells of Abu Klea, or strictly speaking Abu Tleh (Tleh equals a particular kind of grass), artificial pits of similar character to those already described; the water is good and rarely fails; they require of course frequent cleaning out.

[Sidenote: Shebakat wells.]

At Shebakat, near the 168th mile, is a large well about 12 feet in diameter, sunk to a depth of 50 feet through the sandstone to a bed of water-bearing gravel; the water is brackish but the supply perennial.

[Sidenote: Metemma.]

At 175 miles from Ambugol, Metemma is reached; the town is about 1 mile from the Nile, but the plain between is occasionally flooded. The water supply is from wells kept up by percolation from the river, and is therefore excellent.

Hence to Khartoum, as stated above, the river is navigable for nearly the entire year, vide Chap. X.

[Sidenote: Rainy season.]

The rainy season in the Bayuda Desert is uncertain, as this is the extreme northern range of the tropical monsoon; there may be showers in May, but the true rains fall in June, July, or August. Some years may pass without any at all, and then a perfect deluge floods the country and refills the pools and wells.

[Sidenote: Water.]

The conformation of the Jebel Gilif is such, that notwithstanding the large amount of water running off during the rains, a considerable quantity is stored at high levels, gradually finding its way into the sand-filled wadis, through permeable granite augites and diorites, of which Jebel Gilif is composed.

[Sidenote: Sinking wells.]

These wadis are crossed at intervals by spurs of trap rock, that serve the double purpose of keeping up the level of the wadi, which would otherwise rapidly degrade, and of affording, so to speak, “artesian” vents, up which the water, confined between the beds of the “Nubian” sandstone below, finds its way into the loose sand above. In sinking wells, spots should be selected where the vegetation in the wadis is of a brighter hue, and where heglig and the dom palm exist. In December, 1871, water was found in many such places, never more than 15 feet below the surface. The trap dyke in the vicinity will provide any quantity of fairly bedded stone with which to line the sandy sides of the well; the way I should suggest, would be, in the first place, to dig through the sand until water be reached, and then to excavate the ground in a circle of say, 24 feet diameter, lining it with a dry stone wall 3 feet in thickness, in this should be built, at intervals, pieces of hard wood, of which there is a large quantity, in order to form a rude ladder; as soon as the water is reached, a Norton’s tube pump should be driven some 6 feet or more; this will prevent the accumulation of insect life, to be found in any open pools in the vicinity, and prevent other pollution; then, when this runs dry, the excavation should be again carried down to the lowering water level, and a well of internal diameter of 14 feet be built with a dry stone wall of say, 2 feet thick (the word in India for this form of well is “butcha”), the Norton tube driven down, and the process repeated as the waters lower. Were it possible to procure lime readily, the well might be sunk from the top, as is so habitually done in India, but the only limestone found in the Bayuda is at the plain of El Mesalima, as mentioned above.

The stone near these wells, and of which as described above, the supply will be practically unlimited, may be used in constructing defensive works, whilst there will be in their neighbourhood large quantities of fuel, and a considerable amount of bush that will serve as fodder for the camels.

A considerable quantity of sheep, milk, etc., may be procured from the neighbouring tribes.

[Sidenote: Jebel Gilif.]

The Jebel Gilif presents a certain source of danger (during the expedition, 1884): this consists of, in places, an almost precipitous face of some hundreds of feet in height, at the foot is an irregular talus formed by the degradation of the face, and by the stones and boulders brought down the “khors” (ravines) with which it is intersected. These “khors” are, in many places, near their debouchure from the mountains, very narrow (in places only one camel can pass at a time), with steeply precipitous sides, the bottom being of granite rock, polished by the materials carried down in the torrents of the rainy season, and in many places half blocked up with boulders and débris. As these “khors” rise to the level of the range they widen out into valleys, well supplied with wood, water, forage, etc., where large numbers of men could be kept concealed for a considerable period.

Report on El Ein.

[Sidenote: Situation.]

El Ein is situated about 130 miles from Debba up the Wadi El Melh. The general trend up the wadi is S.S.W. At El Ein on the western bank, for some 60 miles northwards and a short distance southwards, is a precipitous escarpment of rugged outline, but extremely uniform in height, known as Jebel Makakush. El Ein is a gorge in this, the northern promontory of which is surmounted by a rock of curious shape and is called El Serg.

There are two places where water is obtainable along the route from Debba to El Ein, one called Mahtul about 30 miles from Debba has two wells, and the other is Soteir another 30 miles further on. The latter is the better water, but the quantity is small. On the arrival of the writer the well had been emptied by watering a troop of camels, and his men stated there was not enough water to fill waterskins for from two to three hours. At El Ein there is good and abundant water, while grazing may be found almost anywhere along the Wadi El Melh, but from about 30 miles south of Soteir it lies only along the western side, and is much less abundant than further north.

[Sidenote: Geology.]

The formation at El Ein is a series of undisturbed sedimentary beds lying horizontally, most of which are sandstones or grits. This overlies unconformably a much older series of gneisses and schists which are exposed in the lower parts of the Wadi El Melh along the foot of the Makakush escarpment a few miles north of El Ein.

The sandstone series is continuous all the way to Debba, and extends over very large tracts of the Sudan.

[Sidenote: Mineral deposits.]

There are no indications of any mineral deposits of value at El Ein in any of the beds exposed.

[Sidenote: Old workings.]

At several points, especially along the sides and just above the stream-bed, there are natural caves in the sandstone. For some little distance a very soft underlying bed has been weathered away undermining a harder upper one, the unsupported portions of which have broken off and fallen, or cracked and bent over, leaving open gashes. The general appearance of all this very much resembles that of an ancient shaft nearly filled up with débris, though a careful examination leaves no doubt that the phenomena are natural.

[Sidenote: Ancient buildings.]

On either side of the gorge about opposite the well is a cluster of ancient houses, while on a hill some way up the gorge and on the south side are some five more.

The houses are all of similar design approximately round, and are well built, without mortar, of unhewn stone laid in courses; the walls are about 2 feet thick, and many of the stones are of great size. The doorways of most of them face down the valley, but a few are on the opposite side. Many have additional rooms built forming segments of circles.

These buildings are more substantial, and differ in other respects from those usually seen round ancient mines in the Sudan. The only implements noted were two crushing stones; these, however, have not been used for crushing quartz (the matrix in which gold usually lies), being of ordinary millstone and not hard enough for that purpose. They were in all probability only the usual stones for crushing grain.

Across the entrance to the gorge is a wall probably originally 6 to 8 feet high, but now in ruins. It is built of unhewn stones, fairly well coursed, without mortar. The sides are vertical. This runs across the flat space at the entrance to the gorge and a little way up the northern slope. The stream bed lies in a creek some 15 feet below the level of the ground on which the wall stands, and there is no evidence of this waterway ever having been blocked.

In view of this as well as of the general construction of the wall, it is impossible that the structure was a dam, but I should imagine it was probably built for defence, and the gorge was used as a place of refuge against marauding bands by a people whose flocks usually grazed in the valley below.

[Footnote 132: This district is not actually in the Sudan, but owing to its proximity to Halfa, some description of the wells in it is given here.]

[Footnote 133: This remark applies equally now (1903).]

[Footnote 134: Cost of camel transport by this route varies from 55 P.T. to 75 P.T. per kantar.]

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us

Chapter X

* * * * *

COMMUNICATIONS.

Communications in the Sudan are carried on by:—

A.—Railway. D.—Riding and Transport animals

B.—River. E.—Post and telegraph.

C.—Roads.

There is no wheeled transport, except a few carts in the larger towns drawn by camels, mules, or oxen, and an experimental system of wheeled transport, rough carts drawn by oxen, in the Bahr El Ghazal.

Motor transport is in an experimental stage, and has only proved a partial success up till now, chiefly owing to the generally sandy nature of the ground and the present lack of roads.

There is a light railway at Khartoum which it is intended to run in conjunction with a tramway at Omdurman.

[For practical details and hints regarding Communications in the Sudan, see “Notes for Travellers and Sportsmen in the Sudan”[135] (price PT.5), “Sudan Almanac”[135] (price PT.5), and “Notes on Outfit for the Sudan” (price PT.2), all obtainable from the chief booksellers in Cairo or the Agent-General, Sudan Government, War Office, Cairo.

These are recommended as being indispensable for intending travellers.]

SECTION 1.—RAILWAYS.

[Sidenote: Historical.]

To Said Pasha (1860) is due the first idea of connecting the Sudan by railway with Lower Egypt. Mougel Bey reported on the subject, but, owing to the expense involved, the project was abandoned.

The first attempt at actually laying a railway in the Sudan dates from the time of the Khedive Ismail Pasha.

After a preliminary study in 1865-66, by Messrs. Walker and Bray, the Khedive sent up, in 1871, Mr. J. Fowler, C.E., to settle on the best routes for putting the Sudan into railway communication with civilisation. After some time spent in preliminary surveys, Mr. Fowler decided on a line which, starting from Halfa, would run up the eastern Nile bank, cross the river about Amara, and roughly follow the left bank to Ambugol. From here it would strike across the Bayuda desert, viâ Jakdul, to Metemma, cross the river again here, and continue along the right bank to Khartoum North.

From Debba a line was to be laid direct to El Fasher, capital of Darfur.

In the Eastern Sudan, meanwhile, a line was to be laid from Suakin, viâ Sinkat, to cross the Atbara and strike the Nile opposite to Khartoum.

These routes were accurately surveyed, and the railway from Halfa was actually begun and carried along the right bank to about Sarras. It was then abandoned, partly for financial reasons and partly at the desire of General Gordon, who considered that the country was not yet ripe for works involving such a considerable outlay.

During the 1884-85 expedition the railway was continued for some 40 miles, but in consequence of the evacuation of the Sudan it was dropped, and the portion beyond Sarras was destroyed by the Dervishes.

In 1896, when operations became imminent, the Sirdar began laying a line from Korosko southwards, but this was soon abandoned, and the original railway was continued in April, 1896, in the direction of Dongola. This line was completed after considerable difficulties, as far as its present terminus, Kerma, on 4th April, 1897.

The main line, striking from Halfa across the desert to Abu Hamed, was commenced on 1st January, 1897, and, after a stoppage of 22 days for want of material, reached Abu Hamed, 230 miles, on 31st October, 1897. It was laid at the great rate of about a mile a day, the maximum speed for one day being 5,200 yards. The record for 1 month was 48 miles; this was during October, 1897.

It eventually reached Khartoum North (Halfaya) on the last day of 1899.

The Suakin-Berber railway was boldly taken in hand during the Suakin expedition in the spring of 1885, but only a few miles were laid, and it was then abandoned.

The route for the future Nile-Red Sea railway has now been decided on and surveyed (1902-03), and the laying has been commenced from both ends.

The present lines from Halfa to Khartoum North and Dongola (Kerma) were laid primarily to supply an army in the field; the route, method of laying, and materials, were all chosen with this object in view.

Partly as a consequence of this, nearly 50 per cent. of the line is in the desert.

The main line is 575 miles, and the Kerma line is 203 miles long.

The gauge of the lines is 3 feet 6 inches, the same as the Cape railways. Single line throughout (except at the crossing-places).

Goods trains on the Khartoum line have to carry 7,000 gallons of water to enable them to cross the waterless desert sections; this considerably reduces the useful carrying power of the line.

The Kerma line runs through very rocky country, and has sharp curves and steep gradients. It is liable to washouts, and, as its cost is prohibitive in proportion to the traffic receipts, it will be abandoned in December, 1904, and the Dongola Province will be later connected to the main line by a branch line to Abu Hamed.

Khartoum line, steepest gradient 1 in 125; sharpest curve 960 feet radius.

Kerma line, steepest gradient, 1 in 50; sharpest curve 500 feet radius.

The Nile-Red Sea line will leave the main line about the mouth of the Atbara, will run up this river to about Khor Hudi (15 miles), and then branch off north-eastwards over the desert to Suakin, viâ Sinkat Pass. It is now in course of construction, and should be finished by the summer of 1906. Besides this and the Abu Hamed-Merowe branch, which is to be shortly commenced, other projected railway extension is from Omdurman to El Obeid, Suakin to Kassala, and Khartoum (N.) to opposite Wad Medani.

KHARTOUM LINE.

--------------------+-----------+------------------------------------ List of Stations. |Miles from | Remarks. | Halfa. | --------------------+-----------+------------------------------------ Halfa[136] | 1 |See pp. 23 and 85 for description. | | Halfa (Camp)[137] | 0 | „ p. 23 „ „ | | Nos. 1 to 9 | |In desert—these are only loops for | |crossing trains; wells at miles 77 | |(No. 4) and 126 (No. 6); telegraph | |station at latter, besides small | |shops and engine pit. | | Abu Hamed[137] | 230 |Battlefield is 1½ miles south of | |Station. Bath rooms in Station for | |use of passengers. | | Dagash | 248 |Country between here and Berber | |little inhabited or cultivated. | | Abu Dis | 267 | | | Shereik | 291 | | | Abu Sillem | 318 |In desert. | | Abidia[137] | 343 | | | Berber North[136] | 361 |Starting point for desert roads to | |Suakin and Kassala. | | Berber South | 363 | | | Suakin Junction | 384 |Line from Suakin will join in here. | | Atbara | 385 |Girder bridge over the Atbara, | |1,050 feet long. | | El Damer[137] | 392 |Many villages from here onwards; | |much cultivation and cattle. Thick | |scrub in parts; fertile soil. Chief | |town of Berber Province. | | Zeidab | 404 | | | Aliab | 416 | | | Mutmir | 429 | | | Kabushia | 448 |Pyramids of Merowe about 3 miles | |north of Kabushia, about 2½ miles | |east of railway. | | Taragma | 460 | | | Shendi[137] | 471 |Headquarters of Cavalry. District | |Headquarters of railway—Southern | |Section—and office of District | |traffic manager. | | El Goz | 483 | | | Wad Ban Naga | 496 |Nagaa temples 23 miles to the S.E. | |(vide Appendix D). | | El Meiga | 511 | | | Jebel Gerri | 524 | | | Royan | 538 | | | Wad Ramla | 547 |Zubeir Pasha’s residence (Geili) | |close by. | | Kubalab | 560 | | | Khartoum North[137] | 575 |Terminus—on right bank of Blue | |Nile, opposite Khartoum. --------------------+-----------+------------------------------------

From about 1st April to 15th December there are two expresses each way weekly between Halfa and Khartoum North; one of them has sleeping and dining cars attached with a restaurateur, but the other has only ordinary first, second, and third class carriages.

Passengers travelling by the latter must make their own arrangements for meals; the first and second class carriages have small kitchens in them for the use of passengers’ servants.

From about 15th December to 1st April there are two expresses weekly, each having sleeping and dining cars and restaurateur. There are also two local passenger trains each way weekly between Abidia and Khartoum North all the year round.

For fares and freights apply to Agent-General, Sudan Government, Cairo, or Traffic Manager, Halfa.

Time occupied on journey, Halfa to Khartoum, by passenger trains, 28 hours; by goods trains, 47 hours.

KERMA LINE.[138]

------------------+------------+------------------------------------ List of Stations.| Miles from | Remarks. | Halfa. | ------------------+------------+------------------------------------ Halfa[139] | 1 | | | Halfa (Camp)[139] | 0 | | | Sarras | 33 |On river. | | Ambugol | 64 |In desert; wells. | | Akasha | 86 |On river. | | Kosha[139] | 105 |On river; small shed and workshop; | |railway strikes south across desert. | | Kuror | 137 |In desert. | | Dalgo | 164 |Railway rejoins river. | | Kerma[139] | 203 |On river; shed and workshops. ------------------+------------+------------------------------------

Kerma is about 30 miles north of Dongola. Transport between these two either by steamer, donkey, or camel, according to state of river.

Passenger accommodation on the Kerma line is of a rough description. Rates according to class of vehicles.

[Sidenote: General.]

Gross receipts of Sudan Government Railways during 1902, £E.194,000, of which £E.103,000 on Government account; in 1903 the receipts were £E.137,000.

Goods trains on both branches run according to the requirements of the traffic, usually one train each way daily. For rates, etc., apply Traffic Manager, Halfa.

Stations are open for receipt of goods from 7.0 A.M. to 4.30 P.M., and for delivery of goods from 7.0 A.M. to 5.0 P.M.

[Sidenote: Light railways.]

There is a miniature railway in Khartoum used for passengers, etc., but beyond this no light railways have yet been constructed in the country. There seem to be openings for these towards Kassala, Gedaref, and El Obeid, but the time has not yet come.

SECTION 2.—RIVER COMMUNICATIONS.

The Sudan freight, passenger, and postal communications are carried out by river from Shellal to Halfa, Kerma to Merowe on the Dongola reach, and to stations south of Khartoum by steamers and sailing boats.

SHELLAL-HALFA (226 MILES).

On the Shellal-Halfa reach for this purpose are five stern-wheel steamers, 2 screw tugs, 11 troop barges, 8 sailing barges (including one of 500 tons carrying capacity), and 44 sailing gayassas belonging to the Sudan Government; there are also about 110 gayassas on hire for carriage of supplies, stores, etc.

A fast steamer service twice a week for through mails and passengers runs in connection with the Egyptian and Sudan railway services. This service is carried out by two steamers.

A slow service for local mails and passengers and freight also runs twice weekly.

The steamer passenger service carries private passengers, but no private freight is taken either by Government steamers or sailing boats. This is taken by private companies, Messrs. Thos. Cook, etc.

Arrangements are made to load both ordinary passengers and cargo at North End, Aswan, and for steamers and boats to pass through the dam locks. The fast mail steamers start from above (i.e., south of) the dam.

“DONGOLA REACH” (222 MILES BETWEEN 3RD AND 4TH CATARACTS).

On the Dongola reach there are two stern-wheel steamers, two troop barges, and 15 sailing gayassas belonging to the Government; some small nuggars are also being built for the use of districts.

One steamer is for the use of the Mudir, and the other runs a fortnightly service between Dongola and Merowe during low Nile, and from Kerma to Merowe when the river permits.

The river between Kerma and Dongola is always navigable for lightly-loaded steamers, but when the river is low there are one or two dangerous rocky places, and it is not considered advisable to run a regular service. This portion is therefore principally navigated by sailing boats during this period.

Steamers and sailing boats are available for the carriage of private passengers and goods.

The river is only navigable a short distance upstream of Merowe at certain times of the year.

KHARTOUM AND SOUTH.

There are three screw and seven stern-wheel armed gun-boats; the latter being frequently used for transport work. The screw boats are kept as station “guard ships” at the southernmost Blue and White Nile posts and at Khartoum. In addition to the gunboats there are five stern-wheel steamers and one new paddle steamer of about 100 to 120 feet long for post, passenger and freight service. For local work or special duty there are four very old paddle steamers of Gordon’s time, two screw tugs, and four launches, as well as 20 barges capable of carrying troops, animals, and freight.

[Sidenote: Regular services.[140]]

A monthly service, 13 days, runs to Gondokoro, the most northerly Nile post of Uganda, leaving Khartoum on the 15th, and returning from Gondokoro for the north about the 29th of each month, arriving at Khartoum about the 10th.

This steamer calls at all intermediate stations south of Goz Abu Guma.

A monthly service (9 days) runs up the Bahr El Ghazal to Wau and Meshra El Rek, or as near as the state of the river will allow, leaving Khartoum on the 1st of each month; starting on the return journey on the 12th, and arriving at Khartoum about the 19th. These steamers also call at all intermediate stations south of Goz Abu Guma.

The weekly service from Khartoum every Tuesday to Goz Abu Guma and intermediate stations, returning on Sundays, is now carried out by the private company below-mentioned.

A steamer runs occasionally up the Sobat, as required, between the middle of May and end of December.

A steamer runs twice a day between Omdurman, Khartoum, and Khartoum North. A chain-steam-ferry also connects Khartoum and Khartoum North.

The Blue Nile is open for navigation by steamer only for about six months of the year (beginning of June to beginning of December), and a fortnightly service leaving Khartoum every alternate Wednesday then runs to Wad Medani and back. From there to Roseires a monthly service is maintained.

The stern-wheel post steamers have each 8 to 10 cabins, and are capable of towing two double-decked troop barges each. They can then take 300 or 400 troops each, or about 80 tons of freight.

A large proportion of the transport of supplies, stores, building materials, etc., is carried in sailing boats (nuggars and gayassas), of which the Government owns 125. They are generally of from 10 to 50 tons carrying capacity each.

Private passengers and freight are carried by the steamers; boats and occasionally steamers can be hired when available.

[Sidenote: Non-Government steamers.]

Two steamers (stern-wheel) and seven steel barges have been put on the river at and south of Khartoum by a private company (The Sudan Development and Exploration Company), and carry passengers and freight.

[Sidenote: Native boats.]

The native sailing boat, called nuggar, is found all along the Nile in considerable numbers. It varies in size, from a capacity of a few ardebs to that of about 200 ardebs (25 tons). These boats are very strongly built of thick hard timber, occasionally half-decked, and fitted with one mast and lateen sails, and very long oars, mostly crooked. They are not so high in the bows nor as graceful as the Lower Nile boats (gayassas). They are mostly employed in carrying grain or gum. The chief native boat-building yards are at Omdurman, Dueim, and Goz Abu Guma, and on the Blue Nile at Senga.

Small and cumbrous rafts, rowed by one or two men, are sometimes seen; these are mostly used for carrying timber.

The ambach canoe, composed of a thick bundle of that pith-like cane tied together, turned up at the bows, and propelled by a paddle, is seen up the White Nile, and in the higher reaches, dug-out canoes, holding from one to six men, are used, both for transport and for hunting purposes.

A still more primitive method of water transport is that of inflated skins, or empty jars with the mouth closed by a skin.

RED SEA.

The Sudan Government owns a steamer of 420 tons, the “Mukhbir,” which plies between Suez and Suakin at irregular intervals as occasion requires.

SECTION 3.—ROADS.

The Sudan is almost entirely flat, except along its eastern frontier and in parts of Southern Kordofan, S. Bahr El Ghazal, and Darfur. Theoretically it should be possible to traverse it from end to end without difficulty, for it is almost everywhere good “going” for animals, though not for wheeled transport; but practically communication is everywhere limited by questions of wells and water supply, in many parts by the presence of thick and thorny bush, and in some parts by swamps.

The main cross-country roads (including some leading outside the Sudan) are:—

1. The Darb El Arbain (40 days’ road), between El Fasher (Darfur) and Assiut (Egypt). (Vide Appendix, Part III., Vol. 2.) Little used except by occasional smugglers.

2. Korosko-Abu Hamed. Little used since the railway was built.

3. Debba-Khartoum. Date caravans, Dongola to Omdurman.

4. Korti-Metemma. Date caravans, Dongola to Shendi, etc.

5. Berber-Suakin. Will be superseded by railway.

6. Suakin-Tokar-Kassala.

7. Berber-Kassala.

8. Khartoum-Abu Haraz-Gedaref-Kassala.

9. Omdurman-El Obeid.

10. El Dueim-El Obeid. Gum caravans.

11. El Obeid-El Fasher. Road to Darfur.

12. Renk-Jebel Gule-Roseires. Lately opened.

13. Shambe-Rumbek-Tonj-Wau-Deim Zubeir. Bahr El Ghazal supply caravans’ road.

14. El Fasher-Shakka. In Darfur.

15. El Fasher-Abesher. Darfur-Wadai road. (Vide p. 189.)

16. Kassala-Massawa

17. Gedaref-Gallabat-Lake Tsana. Trade route from Northern Abyssinia.

18. Kirin to Melut. Trade route from Eastern Abyssinia (not yet opened).

19. Gore to Abwong. Ditto.

See Vol. II for detailed descriptions of roads throughout the Sudan.

SECTION 4.—RIDING AND TRANSPORT ANIMALS.

The animal which is the most suitable for each district of the Sudan naturally varies according to the locality. Roughly, it may be said that north of the 12th parallel the camel is the most useful animal. On the hilly slopes of the Abyssinian plateau the mule and donkey are indispensable, and these are also employed in the Bahr El Ghazal (vide Chap. VII). In Southern Kordofan bulls are used for riding, and a certain amount of stuff is carried on pack-oxen; whilst in the low-lying, as well as in the hilly, districts of the Upper Nile human porterage is employed.

[Sidenote: Horses.]

The horse is bred and used for riding purposes in Southern Kordofan, in parts of the Dongola province, and in the northern part of the Gezira between the White and Blue Niles, but, probably owing to his inability to travel long distances without water, is not thickly distributed any where, and a really good one is rarely to be purchased. Some Abyssinian ponies and country-breds are to be had near that border, price £E.4 to £E.5. The principal horse-owning tribes in the Sudan at present are the Homr and Messeria Baggara in south-west Kordofan.

[Sidenote: Camels.]

The great breeding-grounds of the camel are to be found in the desert between the Nile (north of Berber) and the Red Sea; and in the Kababish and other country in Southern Dongola, in the Hadendoa country, and in Northern Kordofan. In these districts a very fine stamp of camel is produced, much lighter, faster, and better-bred-looking than the slow, heavy transport camel of Lower Egypt.

Thousands of camels are bred in these parts and owned by the various nomadic tribes; but it is not easy to obtain them in large numbers, for the owners are, as a rule, disinclined to sell.

The camels of the Kababish and neighbouring tribes are fully engaged in the transport of gum and dates, and in other parts constitute the sole wealth of their owners, who will not part except at comparatively high prices.

The price varies from £E.9 in the Kassala and Suakin districts to £E.15 in the Dongola province, and fancy prices are sometimes paid for particularly good riding camels.

Average cost of camel hire PT.8 to PT.12 per diem, including baggage saddle, head rope, forage, and attendant.

Price of native riding saddle (maglufa) £E.2 to £E.5.

Sudan camels easily carry 350 lbs., and occasionally carry up to 500 lbs.

[Sidenote: Mules.]

Mules are only obtainable from the Abyssinian borderland, chiefly at Gedaref, Gallabat, Roseires, and Itang, though, unless plenty of notice is given, not many are obtainable even at these markets. These mules are small, but good and hardy, suited to pack transport, though not suitable, owing to their small size and weight, to draught work. Price, £E.5 to £E.1O. Can carry 150 to 180 lbs.

[Sidenote: Donkeys.]

Donkeys make excellent transport animals; they can go longer without water than mules. They are obtainable in most parts of the Sudan, price £E.3 to £E.10, or, to hire, PT.5 per diem. The Sudan donkey does for both riding or baggage work. The Abyssinian donkey is smaller and cheaper, £E.1½ to £E.3, and better for transport work, especially in hilly country, being less liable to sore backs, but he generally permits no one to ride him. Large quantities are to be had in Gedaref and Gallabat. Can carry 100 to 150 lbs.

[Sidenote: Oxen.]

Pack oxen, occasionally used in Southern Kordofan and the Bahr El Ghazal, can only carry light weights up to 150 lbs., and are very slow movers. For draught work they have been so far successfully tried in the Bahr El Ghazal.

[Sidenote: Carriers.]

Human carriers are only obtainable with difficulty on the Upper Nile and in the Bahr El Ghazal. They carry 50-lb. loads besides their rations.

Elephants are still a dream of the future as regards pack and transport work.

SECTION 5.—POSTS AND TELEGRAPHS.

[Sidenote: Posts.]

In March, 1897, a Sudan postal service was commenced. The first office opened was at Halfa camp, and following in the wake of the Army, offices were opened in the same year at Kerma, Dongola, Korti, and Merowe, and a regular bi-weekly mail was established.

In 1898 offices were opened at various places between Berber and Khartoum, and the postal service was rapidly further extended over a great part of the Sudan. In February, 1901, the postal and telegraph services were combined, and the head office was transferred from Cairo to Khartoum North, and subsequently in 1902 to Khartoum.

There are now 26 post offices in the Sudan open to the money order service, and a travelling postmaster issues and pays money orders at stations on the Halfa-Kerma Railway.

There are various other offices open dealing with correspondence, sale of stamps, and ordinary parcel service (vide below).

An increasing amount of money passes through the post in the shape of money orders. In 1902, a total of £E.355,000 was paid in at Sudan offices by the public for transmission, and a total of £E.145,000 was paid out. The figures in 1901 were £E.267,500 and £E.107,700 respectively.

Mails in the Sudan are carried by railway, steamers, camels, donkeys, or runners, according to the locality.

Mail services now extend to Gallabat, Roseires, Gondokoro, Meshra El Rek, and Nahud.

Mails are exchanged weekly with Eritrea at Sabderat.

(For details of post offices, vide Egyptian Postal Guide, 1904, p. 175.)

[Sidenote: Telegraphs.]

The telegraph now, besides connecting with Suakin and Kassala, reaches to Gallabat, Taufikia (W. Nile), Roseires, and El Obeid. A line from Khartoum through Geteina and Kawa to Goz Abu Guma is now in course of construction, and when the Nile-Red Sea Railway is commenced, a telegraph line will be built along it.

At the beginning of 1905 a telegraph line will be laid from Meshra El Rek to Wau, and thence probably viâ Rumbek to the Bahr El Jebel. Communication between Meshra and Taufikia is to be maintained by oil launches.

Till 1902 white ants were a great source of annoyance, but since steel bases have been used for telegraph poles this has, to a great extent, ceased. Creosoted poles also do not appear to be attacked by them.

Elephant and giraffe in the more southern districts are, however, likely to continue a somewhat frequent course of interruption of communication.

A reconnaissance was made in April, 1904, south of Taufikia and another from El Obeid to Nahud and Foga with a view to further extensions of the wire. In the winter of 1904-05 the line will be laid from Meshra Rek to Wau, but there is a great difficulty in connecting with Taufikia.

There are now 3,074 miles of telegraph line (3,469 miles of wire), and 35 telegraph offices, in the Sudan (vide below).

Wireless telegraphy has not been lost sight of, but will not be adopted, at any rate, for the present.

79,500 private telegrams were forwarded from Sudan offices in 1903, as against 57,700 in 1901 and 66,000 in 1902.

[Sidenote: Telephones.]

A telephone system was established between Khartoum, Omdurman, and Khartoum North, with an exchange in the Government buildings, Khartoum, in February, 1903. There are at present 45 offices connected to the exchange.

Instruments and stores have been ordered to extend the system to enable private subscribers in the towns to be connected. A sub-exchange at Khartoum North was installed in January, 1904, and another has been ordered for Omdurman.

LIST OF SUDAN POST AND TELEGRAPH OFFICES.

Abidia — t. | Kawa 6 — | Abu Hamed 2 t. | Kerma 2 t. | Bara aaa 6 — | Khartoum 1 t. | Berber 1 t. | Kodok 2 t. | Debba 2 t. | Korti 6 — | Dalgo 5 — | Kosha 2 t. | Dongola 2 t. | Melut 6 t. | Dueim 2 t. | Merowe 2 t. | El Damer 2 t. | Nahud aaa 6 — | El Obeid aaa 2 t. | No. 6 Station — t. | Erkowit 6 t. | Omdurman 1 t. | Gallabat aaa 2 t. | Renk 4 t. | Gedaref aaa 2 t. | Roseires 4 t. | Geteina 6 — | Sarras 5 — | Goz Abu Guma 4 t. | Sennar 4 t. | Goz Regeb aaa 6 — | Shendi 1 t. | Halfa 1 t. | Senga[141] 2 t. | Halfa (Camp) 1 t. | Suakin 1 t. | Khartoum North 1 t. | Taufikia (W. Nile) 2 t. | Kamlin 2 t. | Tokar aaa 2 t. | Kassala aaa 2 t. | Wad Medani 2 t.

EXPLANATION OF THE ABOVE NUMBERS.

1 Office admitted to ordinary and registered correspondence, ordinary and insured parcels, inland ordinary and telegraphic money orders, and foreign ordinary money orders.

2 Office admitted to ordinary and registered correspondence, ordinary parcels, inland ordinary and telegraphic money orders, and foreign ordinary money orders.

3 Office admitted to ordinary and registered correspondence, and ordinary parcels.

4 Office admitted to ordinary and registered correspondence, and ordinary parcels in arrival.

5 Office served by travelling post for ordinary and registered correspondence, ordinary parcels, and inland and foreign ordinary money orders.

6 Rural service for delivery of ordinary and registered correspondence, and ordinary parcels.

aaa Office admitted to the exchange of parcels not exceeding 3 kilogrammes.

t. Telegraph office.

[Sidenote: Mails]

MAILS.

Weekly between Halfa, Dongola, and Merowe.

Twice a week between Halfa, Berber, and Khartoum.

Weekly between Berber and Suakin.

Weekly between Berber, Kassala, and Gedaref.

Weekly between Suakin and Tokar.

Weekly between Gedaref and Gallabat.

Weekly between Khartoum, Dueim, Goz Abu Guma, and El Obeid.

Fortnightly between Khartoum, Kodok, Taufikia, Kanisa and Meshra El Rek.

Letters, etc., are taken at their owner’s or addressee’s risk by an occasional steamer to Gondokoro (Uganda).

Weekly between Khartoum and Wad Medani.

Weekly between Wad Medani and Gedaref, Sennar, Senga, and Roseires.

Weekly between El Obeid and Nahud.

Fortnightly in Suakin and Kassala.

All the above mails call at the intermediate postal stations and post offices.

Fortnightly between Suez and Suakin.

Fortnightly between Suakin and Aden.

Weekly between Kassala and Keren for Massaua.

Closed mails are now exchanged between London and the Sudan.

Mails for the Sudan are sorted on the mail steamers between Shellal and Halfa.

N.B.—No mails can be delivered at any other stations than those mentioned as postal stations or post offices above.

[Footnote 135: Brought yearly up to date.]

[Footnote 136: Telegraph office in town.]

[Footnote 137: „ „ station.]

[Footnote 138: This line is to be abolished altogether in December, 1904.]

[Footnote 139: Telegraph office.]

[Footnote 140: Liable to alteration.]

[Footnote 141: For Karkoj.]

=PART II.=

=HISTORICAL.=[142]

* * * * *

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us

Chapter I

* * * * *

FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE ARAB INVASION (A.D. 640).

The name of Ethiopia,[143] or Kush, was applied in ancient times vaguely to the East African interior south of Egypt, from about lat. 24° to about lat. 9°. (The name of Nubia, as representing the more northern portion of “Ethiopia,” say between the 3rd and the 1st Cataracts, does not appear till Roman times, but for convenience sake that portion will be so termed in the following account. It was termed Kenset by the Ancient Egyptians.)

The whole tract was, as we know, for the most part sandy or rocky desert, rich in minerals, interspersed with oases, but contained along the course of the Nile a valuable strip of territory; while, south and south-east of the point where the Nile receives the Atbara, it spreads out into a broad and fertile region, watered by many streams, diversified by hills and woodlands, and of considerable fertility; of this but little now remains. This ancient Ethiopia did not, in all probability, include the present Abyssinia.

At no time did the whole of this vast tract—1,000 miles long by 800 or 900 broad—form a single state or monarchy. Rather, for the most part, was it divided up among an indefinite number of states, or rather of tribes, some of them herdsmen, others hunters or fishermen, very jealous of their independence, and frequently at war one with another. Among the various tribes there was a certain community of race, a resemblance of physical type, and a similarity of language. Their neighbours, the Egyptians, included them all under a single ethnic name, speaking of their land as Ta Kes, Kesh, or Kush, and of the inhabitants as Kashi or Kushi—a term manifestly identical with the Kush of the Hebrews. They were a race cognate with the Egyptians, but darker in complexion, and coarser in feature, not by any means negroes, but still more clearly allied to the negro than the Egyptians were. Their best representatives in modern times are believed to be the Gallas and the like, who are probably their descendants.[144]

From the earliest times there appears to have been a constant infiltration from South Arabia into Abyssinia[144] and the Eastern Sudan; indeed, the dynastic Egyptians themselves are believed by some high authorities to have been a Semitic tribe which came over from Arabia, landed somewhere about Massaua (?), and proceeded northwards along the coast, leaving colonies as it went, till it struck the valley of the Nile viâ Kosseir, the Wadi Hammamat, and Kena (or Koptos). Here they found the Neolithic “New Race,” and exterminated or expelled them (?); but it is doubtful how far this New Race extended up the Nile valley.

[Sidenote: B.C. 4000 (?).]

The earliest mention that we have of the land south of Egypt dates from the time of Snefru (? 3rd or 4th Dynasty), who conquered the land of the Negroes, and took captive 7,200 men and women, and 200,000 cattle.

[Sidenote: B.C. 3400 (?).]

An inscription of the Fifth Dynasty informs us that King Assa sent one Ba Ur Tettu to the “Land of Ghosts, which is south of the land of the Negroes,” to fetch him some Pygmies. The quest was successful, and is confirmed (?) by some dwarfish skeletons found in the tombs of that period.

This would seem to show that there were communications, and possibly even a brisk commerce, between the countries at an even earlier date.

[Sidenote: B.C. 3230.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 3200.]

In the time of the Sixth Dynasty Una, a high official under Pepi I, raised Sudanese levies, natives and negroes, to fight in Eastern Egypt and Sinai. He also cleared a canal in the 1st Cataract (of which there are now no traces), and Nubian chiefs, whom he had fought and conquered five times, brought wood for him. Mer-en-Ra (of Sixth Dynasty) sent one Her-Khuf three times to Nubia on trading expeditions, and he returned with ivory, ebony, etc., which would seem to show that he had penetrated some distance. He reached Amani, Arerthet, Meskher, Terres, etc., but the locality of these places is unknown. At this period the Nehes—negroids of the Sudan—occupied the country as far north as Aswan; some of their tribes were termed the Aam, Wauat, etc., the latter living probably near Korosko.

By the end of the Early Empire, B.C. 2530 (First to Tenth Dynasties), Egyptian armies had certainly advanced into the Eastern Sudan.

[Sidenote: B.C. 2500.]

In the Eleventh Dynasty there was regular communication between Egypt and the debateable land of Punt, and we are told that one Hennu, in the reign of Seankhka, made a trading expedition thither by sea, viâ Kosseir, for unguents. This is not the place in which to discuss the position of the land of Punt, but it seems probable that it lay somewhere in the “horn” of Africa, and was not as far south as the Pungwe or Rhodesia, as some have recently tried to prove.

[Sidenote: B.C. 2460.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 2430.]

The next we hear of Nubia is that Amenemhat I (Twelfth Dynasty) conquered the Wauat and Machaiu Nubians, and then raided the Libyans to the west; and 30 years later his son, Usertsen I, sent an armed caravan under Ameni into Ethiopia and “enlarged the borders of Egypt between the 1st and 3rd Cataracts.”

[Sidenote: B.C. 2366.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 2325.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 2317.]

The Nubians attacked the quarries at Aswan in the following reign (Usertsen II), but were repelled, and in the next generation a serious expedition on a large scale was undertaken by the great Usertsen III. This monarch worked through the canal in the 1st Cataract, conquered the “abominable Kash,” and at the 2nd Cataract he set a boundary stone. Eight years later he beat the Kash again, and built the great temples and forts of Semna and Kumna, 40 miles south of Halfa, to guard the defile of the Nile. He also issued edicts for the prevention of any natives from descending the Nile in boats or otherwise, except for the purpose of trade.

[Sidenote: B.C. 2300.]

A few years later Amenemhat III cut a Nile gauge in the rock near Semna, and this is visible to this day. The height of the Nile flood is curiously enough, marked as being 26 feet higher than it is now. (This was the monarch who also built the Labyrinth in the Fayum.)

The statues of Sebek Hetep III on Argo Island probably prove that the kings of the Thirteenth Dynasty occupied and garrisoned the present province of Dongola; but for the following 600 years no further records are available (Hyksos period).

[Sidenote: B.C. 1700.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 1660.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 1630.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 1628.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 1610.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 1600.]

During the Eighteenth Dynasty (B.C. 1700 to 1400), Ethiopia was a good deal en évidence. Amâsis I invaded Nubia, slaughtered the “Anti of Kenset” somewhere south-east of Halfa, and returned; Amenophis I sent punitive expeditions to the Eastern Sudan and took many prisoners; Thothmes I had a river fight with the Nubians, killed their king, and fastened his “vile dead body” to the bows of his boat; he proceeded as far as Kerma (Tombos) and probably beyond, and set up a Viceroy as Prince of Kush; and two years later he proceeded again thither viâ the canal above-mentioned, clearing it out on his way. A few years afterwards, Thothmes II raided Nubia severely, killing all males except “one of the damned sons of the Chief of Kesh,” whom he used as a footstool. Under Queen Hatshepset[145] the Nubians paid tribute to Egypt, but revolted against her successor, the great Thothmes III. This monarch, however, seems to have crushed them in an expedition through the 1st Cataract, and to have consolidated the Egyptian conquests in Ethiopia.

[Sidenote: B.C. 1590. B.C. 1560. B.C. 1500.]

Amenhotep II, son of Thothmes III, again overran Nubia on a large scale, and his successor, Amenhotep III, extended the Egyptian frontier to the 4th Cataract and possibly to the Atbara, building a large temple to Ammon at Napata, which lay close to Jebel Barkal (the present Merowe) near the foot of the 4th Cataract.

[Sidenote: B.C. 1400.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 1333.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 1360.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 1300. B.C. 1200.]

About this date there was formed a priestly colony at Napata,[146] in close touch with the Egyptian religion, and forming a strong link between the two countries. Civilization appears to have greatly increased in the Napata region, but the Nubians to the north seem to have remained in a barbaric condition, for we find Rameses I making an expedition against them, and the great Rameses II forcing them to pay tribute. The father of the latter, however, Seti I, as well as his son, devoted his chief energies in Nubia to erecting temples and works,[147] and more particularly to digging for gold, minerals, and precious stones in the Eastern Desert. Starting from Kubban, opposite Dakka, Rameses II dug wells in the Wadi Alagi and other regions and worked gold mines with considerable result. The warlike operations in these regions of himself and his successors, Manephtha and Rameses III, seem to have been chiefly confined to beating the Libyans in the Western Desert.

[Sidenote: B.C. 966.]

Meanwhile the hierarchy of Napata was growing in power. The Ethiopians of this region, a plastic race, adopted to a considerable extent the Egyptian civilization, worshipped Egyptian gods in Egyptian shrines, and set up inscriptions in the hieroglyphic character and in the Egyptian, as well as the Nubian, tongue. Napata and the Nile valley both below it and above it, was already half Egyptianised when, on the establishment of the Sheshonk Libyan (Twenty-second) Dynasty in Egypt (B.C. 966), the descendants of Herhor of Thebes resolved to quit their native country and remove themselves into Ethiopia, where they had reason to expect a welcome. They were probably already connected by marriage with some of the leading chiefs of Napata, and their sacerdotal character gave them a great hold on a peculiarly superstitious people. Retaining their priestly office, they became at once Ethiopian monarchs, and High Priests of the Temple of Ammon, which Amenhotep III had erected at Napata. Napata, under their government, flourished greatly, and acquired a considerable architectural magnificence. Fresh temples were built, in which the worship of Egyptian was combined with that of Ethiopian deities; avenues of sphinxes adorned the approaches to these new shrines; the practice of burying the members of the royal houses in pyramids was reverted to, and the necropolis of Napata recalled the glories of the old necropolis of Memphis.

Napata was also a place of much wealth. The kingdom whereof it was capital reached southward as far as the modern Khartoum, and south-eastwards stretched up to the Abyssinian highlands, including the valleys of the Atbara and its tributaries, together with most of the tract between the Atbara and the Blue Nile. This was a region of reputed great natural wealth, containing many mines of gold, iron, copper, and salt, abundant woods of date palm, almond trees, and ilex, some excellent pasture ground, and much rich meadow land suitable for the growth of dura and other sorts of grain. Fish of many kinds and excellent turtle abounded in the Atbara and the other streams, while the geographical position was favourable for commerce with the tribes of the interior, who were able to furnish an almost inexhaustible supply of ivory, skins, and ostrich feathers.

[Sidenote: B.C 966-800.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 760-733.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 730-667.]

In course of time the Napata kingdom extended its sway to Aswan, and even to Thebes. The kings of the Twenty-second (Libyan) Dynasty did not attempt to make Egyptian authority felt south of Aswan, and at last the Nubian opportunity came. In about 734 B.C., Piankhi, King of Napata, seeing the weakened and divided sway of the Twenty-third Dynasty, chose a favourable moment in the revolt of Taf Nekht, Prince of Sais and Memphis, swooped down on Egypt, assaulted and occupied Memphis, and became master of the country. Bak-en-Renf, sole representative of the Twenty-fourth Dynasty, was killed; the whole of Egypt, with the exception of a portion of the Delta, became a province of Ethiopia, and the Twenty-fifth Dynasty was composed of Ethiopian princes.

[Sidenote: B.C. 700.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 672.]

These Kings were named Shabaka (Sabaco), Shabataka, and Taharka (Tirhakah), the latter of which trio delivered Hezekiah from Sennacherib. He was, however, heavily defeated by Esarheddon, son of the latter, somewhere near Tel-el-Kebir, and Egypt was overrun by the Assyrians.

[Sidenote: B.C. 652.]

Fierce fighting continued for the next 20 years between Ethiopia and Assyria over the prostrate body of Egypt, and the latter was reduced to utter ruin. Finally Mi-Ammon-Nut, Prince of Napata, and son (?) of Taharka, partly relieved the country from the Assyrians, but he had no successors, and died soon afterwards.

[Sidenote: B.C. 650 (?).]

[Sidenote: B.C. 648 (?).]

[Sidenote: B.C. 590 (?).]

Psammetichus I (Twenty-sixth Dynasty), of Libyan descent, finally shook off the Assyrian yoke a few years later. His connection with Ethiopia is chiefly confined to the fact that a large number of his troops (200,000 to 240,000, according to ancient authorities—but this number must be grossly over-stated) quitted him as a protest against the favouritism shewn to his foreign (Greek and Lydian) mercenaries, and took service with Ethiopia. Several versions of this story exist, but no serious disturbance of the balance of power would seem to have resulted. Herodotus states that they[148] were given land to the south of Meroe, in the land of the Macrobii (Sennar?). His descendant Psammetichus II appears to have attacked Ethiopia, and it is stated that Nebuchadnezzar II, after beating Necho, the previous king, made a fruitless expedition into Nubia.

[Sidenote: B.C. 566.]

As far as can be gathered the following kings of Ethiopia succeeded Piankhi between about 730 and 525 B.C.; little is known about them except what is given below:—

Ra Usr Maat.

Mer-Ka-Ra.

Wach-Ka-Ra.

Aspelta, 625 B.C. Killed a colony of raw-meat-eaters at Barkal.

Pankhaluru, before 560 B.C.

Heru-Sa-Atef, Amen Sa Meri. A great warrior. 560-525 B.C.

Nastasenen, 525-517 B.C. Ruled over Kenset and the kingdom of Alut (Napata and Soba?); conquered many people.

Between the years 625 and 560 the capital seems to have been shifted from Napata to Meroe. The kingdom ruled by these monarchs included Alwa, a place identified with the later Soba on the Blue Nile. The connection with Egypt was weakened; Heru-Sa-Atef found the royal palace at Napata in ruins and restored it; his successor Nastasenen re-visited it and went on a journey of inspection as far north probably as the 3rd Cataract, but Meroe was the principal seat of his kingdom. Nastasenen mentions on his inscription five campaigns, apparently against the rich pastoral peoples of the Eastern Desert, from whom he captured in all nearly 2,000,000 head of cattle, sheep, goats, etc. At Meroe, about 40 miles to the south of the Atbara, at a place now termed Bagarawiya, were built temples and pyramids copied from Napata.

[Sidenote: B.C. 527]

It was in his reign that, according to Herodotus, Cambyses, first king of the Twenty-seventh Dynasty (Persian), sent an Embassy into Ethiopia, and on this being received by the natives with jeers, collected a large army and sent it south against them. He detached 50,000 men from the army when it arrived at Thebes against Siwa, or more probably Kharga, Oasis, but these were all overwhelmed by a sandstorm and were never heard of again. The remainder, ill-supplied with food or transport, marched into a desert on the way south, ate their transport animals, and finally began on each other; the greater part undoubtedly perished of hunger and thirst. It is impossible to trace where the disaster happened (Arbain road?), but it appears not to have been very far south, perhaps no further than the latitude of Aswan. The latest critic (Heinrich Schäfer) argues from Nastasenen’s inscription that Cambyses sent, in concert with the desert expedition, another one by river. This latter expedition seems to have reached the 3rd Cataract, where it was met and defeated by Nastasenen; this is, however, not yet universally accepted. Cambyses is reported to have himself reached the “Island” of Meroe, to have built a town there, and to have named it after his sister Meroe, who died there; but this is certainly a fable.

Between B.C. 525 and 260 came 11 more kings, but their chronology is more than doubtful, and little is known of them beyond their names, which are as follows:—

Heru Nekht.

Sekheper en Ra, Senka Amen Seken.

Khuka Ra, Athlenersa (and four other names).

Kheper ka Ra Amen Netek.

Amen-tani-Ralbath.

Amen Arit, Kenthahebit.

Ankh Ra Ra, Arkenkhernlu.

Kenrethreknen.

Khenem ab Ra, Amenarkneb.

Kalka, Kaltela.

Ankh nefer ah Ra, Amen Mer Aser.

These names are here given for reference in case of future discoveries.

[Sidenote: B.C. 300.]

About 300 B.C. (?), or perhaps earlier, the frontier of Egypt was then fixed at a point about 80 miles south of Aswan.

[Sidenote: B.C. 260.]

Ark Amen, better known as Ergamenes, who was brought up at the court of Ptolemy II, was a man of some character, for besides building a temple at Dakka he set a new fashion in Priest-Kings by refusing to commit suicide at the request of the priests and by executing those who demanded it.

[Sidenote: B.C. 210.]

In the days of Ptolemy V, Nubia caused trouble to Egypt, and the Egyptian king added the country between Aswan and Napata (?) to his possessions, dividing it into 13 districts.

In later Ptolemaic times the kings of Ethiopia evidently became more negroid, and owned barbaric names; and as time went on, the Kingdom of Meroe seems to have been governed by a series of queens or queen-mothers, bearing the title of Candace. Little is known of this period.

[Sidenote: B.C. 30.]

When Egypt became a Roman province, an embassy from Ethiopia arrived at Philæ, and the king of the country near Khartoum was taken under Roman protection.

[Sidenote: B.C. 22.]

Eight years after, a Queen Candace attacked Aswan and routed the Roman garrison there. She was, however, heavily defeated by the Prefect Petronius, who pursued her as far as Napata (?) and destroyed that town, leaving Roman garrisons there and near to Dongola.

[Sidenote: A.D. 200.]

In the time of Strabo, who visited Egypt during the government of Ælius Gallus, Petronius’s successor, Aswan was again the frontier, the Romans having, as he observes, “confined the province of Egypt within its former limits.” Philæ then belonged “in common to the Egyptians and Ethiopians.” This did not, however, prevent the Cæsars from considering Lower Ethiopia as belonging to them or from adding to the temples already erected there.

The descendants of the priest-kings of Ethiopia seem to have died out about A.D. 200.

Strabo says the Ethiopians above Aswan consisted of the Troglodytæ, Blemmyes, Nubæ, and Megabari. The Megabari and Blemmyes inhabited the Eastern Desert north of Meroe, towards the frontiers of Egypt, and were under the dominion of the Ethiopians.[149] The Ichthyophagi[150] lived on the shore of the Red Sea; the Troglodytæ, from Berenikê southwards, between it and the Nile; and the Nubæ, an “African” nation, were on the left bank, and independent of Ethiopia, which country, he states, did not extend north of Halfa.

[Sidenote: A.D. 296.]

From Procopius we learn that in A.D. 296, in the reign of Diocletian, these Nubæ, or Nobatæ, were brought from the Oasis of El Kharga, and given the country above Aswan, on condition of their protecting Egypt against the incursion of the Blemmyes. This treaty was annually ratified by a religious sacrifice, according to the rites of the ancient Egyptian religion, on the Island of Philæ, in which the Roman garrison took part. There are still the remains of the wall which Diocletian built across the valley near here; and, according to some authorities, not venturing to trust entirely to the Nubians to defend the Egyptian frontier, he agreed to pay a yearly tribute both to the Nubians and the Blemmyes.

[Sidenote: A.D. 330.]

A few years afterwards two young Christians of Tyre, Edesius and Frumentius, were, on their return journey by sea from India (?), kidnapped on the coast of Abyssinia. According to their story they became advisers to the widow of the king who had captured them, and used all their influence to promote Christianity in the land. They succeeded so well that Frumentius, on his return to Alexandria, was consecrated by Bishop Athanasius and returned to Abyssinia, where he spent the rest of his life in proselytizing, with excellent results.

[Sidenote: A.D. 451.]

Little or nothing is known of the history of internal or Upper Nubia during these centuries, but the Blemmyes continued to give trouble to the Roman rulers of Egypt. They gradually succeeded in occupying the five towns of the Commilitium Romanum, making Talmis or Kalabsha their capital, and even penetrated into the Thebaïd, where in A.D. 451 Maximinus, the general of Marcian, was forced to make a treaty with them for 100 years. But it was soon broken by the barbarians.

[Sidenote: A.D. 400-500.]

In the fifth century the Nubians, whose religion at that time was chiefly limited to star-worship, were gradually converted by monks and others of the Alexandrian Church. The first important convert was one Bahriya (?), nephew of the king, and he built many churches and monasteries.

[Sidenote: A.D. 545.]

During the sixth century the entire nation adopted Christianity. In A.D. 545 their King Silko defeated the Blemmyes and took the already well-known town of (old) Dongola for his capital.

The Egypto-Roman-Christian remains at Nagaa[151], and those of the kingdom of Alwa, or Soba, then under the King of Nubia, may belong to this or even to an earlier period, for there are legends of Christianity having penetrated to the Blue Nile in the third century, and St. Mark is reported to have preached in the Sudan, or at all events, in “Ethiopia,” in the first century, A.D. 1.

[Sidenote: A.D. 560.]

In the days of Justinian there seems to be no doubt that Christianity was the established religion of the whole of Ethiopia and Nubia.

[Footnote 142: Authorities:—Acknowledgments to the works of Dr. Budge, Prof. Rawlinson, Mrs. Butcher, etc., as mentioned in Appendix H, and to some notes of Mr. Crowfoot, for history up to a.d. 1493.

A.D. 1493 to 1837. — Col. Stewart, “Report on the Sudan, 1883,” and various other writers.

„ 1837 to 1882. — From “Report on the Egyptian Provinces of the Sudan.” I.D., 1884.

„ 1882 to date. — Compiled from various authorities, mainly Col. Wingate’s works, Intelligence Reports and Publications, &c.

]

[Footnote 143: Ethiopia is nowadays considered to mean Abyssinia, and is the word employed by the ruler of that country to denominate his dominions.]

[Footnote 144: Vide also Appendix E.]

[Footnote 145: This lady sent a large (five-ship) trading expedition to Punt, and did much business in gold, incense, and gum, in consequence.]

[Footnote 146: Vide Appendix D, p. 311.]

[Footnote 147: e.g., Abu Simbl, Gerf Husên, Derr, Wadi Sebûa, etc.]

[Footnote 148: Referred to by Herodotus (430 B.C.) as Automoloi; their descendants were later known as Sebridæ or Sembritæ, see p. 319 for an explanation of the story.]

[Footnote 149: Query—the ancestors of the present Bisharin and Ababda?]

[Footnote 150: The inhabitants of Elephantine Island, Aswan, were also thus termed in the 6th century B.C.]

[Footnote 151: Vide p. 315.]

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us

Chapter II

* * * * *

FROM THE ARAB INVASION TO THE TIME OF MOHAMMED ALI.

[Sidenote: A.D. 640. A.D. 643.]

[Sidenote: A.D. 653.]

After the Arab invasion and conquest of Egypt, Abdalla ibn Said was sent by ’Amr, at the command of Omar, with 20,000 men (?) into Nubia. The natives, however, offered a most stubborn defence and fought to the death. Their bowmen showed particular skill, and although the Moslems were eventually victorious, they judged it expedient to retreat across the frontier. The Nubians now exhausted themselves in objectless raids northwards, and irritated the Arabs to such a pitch, that ten years afterwards, the same general marched again into the country with the resolute purpose of subduing it.

The result was that Abdalla penetrated as far as (old) Dongola, bombarded the great church there and laid it in ruins. King Kalidurat thereupon concluded a friendly treaty with him, the chief clauses of which were that he should supply 400 slaves a year, and allow the Mohammedans to build a mosque at Dongola.

[Sidenote: A.D. 700.]

As regards the rest of the Sudan, it is said that between the first and second century after the Mohammedan Era the Arabs of the tribe of Beni Ommia, being hard pressed by the Beni Abbas tribe, began to emigrate from Arabia in small numbers to the opposite shores of the Red Sea, and to settle in the districts about Sennar, on the Blue Nile. Whether the Beni Ommia led the van of the great Arab invasion it is impossible to say, nor is it known whether all the tribes chose the Red Sea road. Some authorities appear to think that several came into the Sudan from Egypt and Marocco.

Be this as it may, the fact remains that the Beni Ommia settled gradually in the districts round Sennar, the inhabitants of which were negroes belonging to the tribes of Fung, Hameg, etc.

The Beni Ommia, becoming gradually stronger, by degrees succeeded in becoming the masters of the whole of the Sennar districts, and converted the negroes to Islamism.

During the next two centuries the ever-increasing demands of the Arabs for slaves began to press on the country, and the Christian kingdoms, which had meanwhile been increasing in population, refused to pay tribute in this commodity.

[Sidenote: A.D. 831.]

Many Arabs began now to settle in the Sudan, and purchased lands from the inhabitants. In order to put a stop to this, Zacharias, King of Nubia, despatched his son, George, through Egypt to Baghdad, to see how the land lay. He was graciously received by the Khalif Mutassim, who loaded him with presents, and gave him a house in Cairo. Eventually he returned after most successful negotiations, and all idea of open rebellion was dropped by the Nubians.

[Sidenote: A.D. 878.]

[Sidenote: A.D. 880.]

Nearly 50 years later Nubia was the scene of a filibustering expedition on a large scale. One Abu Abdelrahman “el Omari,” hearing of the ancient gold mines in the Eastern Desert, equipped a party to work them. He found a great deal of gold, but being obstructed by the local Arabs, he gradually pushed his way to Shankir, south of Dongola, and with his increased following attacked the Nubians under King George and beat them. His subsequent adventures read like a romance, but he was eventually driven out and murdered.

[Sidenote: A.D. 950.]

[Sidenote: A.D. 956.]

In the following century the Christian kingdoms gradually became strong enough to resist the Arabs, and on occasions they even invaded Upper Egypt. In A.D. 956 the Nubians seized Aswan, but were cut off by a flanking movement instituted from the Red Sea, by the Moslem General Kafur, and lost Deir Ibrahim, a stronghold 136 miles south of Aswan.

[Sidenote: A.D. 967.]

Eleven years later, however, they again invaded Egypt and recovered their country as far as Akhmim.

[Sidenote: A.D. 969.]

Two years afterwards Johar, a Greek renegade general of the Khalif Moiz, seeing the necessity of guarding his southern frontier, sent an embassy to the then King of Nubia (another George), inviting him to embrace Islam and pay his tribute as of old. The chief ambassador was one Ahmed ibn Solaim, and the account he writes of the Sudan in those days is exceedingly interesting.

He describes the province which extended from 6 miles south of Aswan to Halfa as well-watered, carefully cultivated and abounding in vineyards. Beyond this no Moslems were allowed inside Nubia on pain of death. Between the 2nd and 3rd Cataract was a terrible desert, from which, however, precious jewel-polishing stones were obtained (?). Beyond this lay the kingdom of Makorra, with capital at Dongola, and south of this was the Kingdom of Alwa, which was stronger and more fertile, but did not produce so many vines and palms as Makorra. Both kingdoms he describes as being amazingly fertile in herds and crops, far more so than Egypt (!).

He arrived at Suia (Soba), capital of Alwa, which was situated at the confluence of the Blue and White Niles, and, besides noting the excellence of their camels, horses, meat and beer, states that the town was “adorned with magnificent buildings, great houses, churches enriched with gold, and gardens. The King also wears a crown of gold, for this metal is very abundant in his dominions.” Amongst other things he remarks that the Christians belonged to the Jacobite Church of Egypt, and that their books, originally written in Greek, had been translated into their own language. He also refers to a road leading from Shankir to Suakin.

Ibn Solaim’s mission met with every courtesy but no success, and his report convinced Johar that he would act wisely in leaving Nubia severely alone.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1092.]

[Sidenote: A.D. 1172.]

In A.D. 1092 the Kings of Ethiopia and Nubia were so powerful that the Moslems of Egypt feared to persecute the Christians; but 80 years later the Nubians were conquered by the brother of Saladin and forcibly converted to Mohammedanism.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1227.]

Fifty years afterwards the Nubians were again defeated and gave up to Egypt the Northern part of their Kingdom.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1271.]

In A.D. 1271 King David of Nubia attacked Aswan, but was repulsed by the Khalif Bibars. The Mohammedans overran Nubia as far as Dongola, seized the northern province and imposed onerous conditions, one of which was the revival of the slave tribute.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1287.]

Sixteen years later the Khalif Kalaun sent another expedition to Dongola, beat King Shemamun, left a garrison and retired. The Nubians promptly expelled the garrison, and the expedition was repeated, only to end in the same result. Thenceforward Shemamun was left in peace.

From this time onwards the Sudan apparently became the hunting ground of rival Arab slave-dealing tribes. The Christian kingdoms at last took to fighting among themselves, and their downfall became a mere question of time.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1317.]

Thirty years later the great mosque was built at (old) Dongola, and kept up by the Christian inhabitants.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1325.]

In A.D. 1325 the Moslems persecuted the Christians in Egypt to such an extent that the King of Abyssinia threatened to divert the Blue Nile unless they ceased.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1375.]

Fifty years later we find civil wars and slave trade rife in the Sudan, whilst in the region of Aswan the Kenz, royal descendants of Ethiopia, pursued the trade of brigands, much to the detriment of all communications.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1493.]

The rise of the kingdom of Sennar now commenced. By degrees the distinction between Arab and negro on the Blue Nile had diminished, whilst in 1493 the name of Beni Ommia is no longer heard of, and the old tribal names of Fung, Hameg, and others reappear.

In that year Amara Dunkas, the Sheikh of a sub-section of the Fung, either through the fortune of war or his superior capacity, succeeded in getting himself declared king of all the Fung tribes. He then allied himself with Abdulla Gemda el Kerinani, the powerful chief of the Keri district (east of the Blue Nile), and conquered all the country on both sides of the river between Fazogli and Khartoum.

These districts were inhabited by negroes belonging to the Nuba tribes, some of whom after the conquest remained in the country, while others emigrated into the mountains of Fazogli and Kordofan. Those who remained embraced Islamism, intermarried with their conquerors, and, losing their language and nationality, were soon lost in the tribes known collectively under the name of Fung.

Of these tribes some settled in towns, while others retained their nomad habits, such as the (1) Khamir, (2) Rebia, (3) Kakhtan, (4) Kenana, (5) Kawahla, (6) Geheina, (7) Beni Shaker, (8) Beni Ziban, (9) Beni Abbas. From this last have descended the Kababish, Ferara, Beni Selim, and Ahamda. The latter two tribes are Baggara, or owners of cattle and horses. (Vide p. 179 and Appendix F.)

Some of these tribes are now to be found along the banks of the White and Blue Niles.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1523.]

In 1523 Amara Dunkas was succeeded by his son Abdul Kader.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1539.]

In 1539 Abdul Kader was succeeded by his son Nule.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1545.]

In 1545 Nule was succeeded by his son Amara.

Amara was surnamed Abu Sakakin; during his reign Sheikh Abdalla Gemáa died, leaving the Province of Keri to his son.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1553.]

In 1553 Amara died. Between that date and 1596 four kings, all of the family of Dunkas, succeeded each other.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1596.]

In 1596, in the reign of Adlan, Sheikh Agib, a descendant of Gemáa and Governor of Keri, rebelled. Adlan defeated him near Alati. His children fled to Dongola, whither Adlan sent Sheikh Idris to offer them a free pardon and invite them to Sennar. They came, and Adlan invested the eldest with the Government of Keri.

This emissary of Adlan’s, Sheikh Idris, was celebrated for his ability. He is also said to have lived to the great age of 147. During this reign many learned men came from Cairo and Baghdad.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1603.]

In 1603 Adlan was succeeded by his son Baadi.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1606.]

In 1606 Baadi was succeeded by his son Rubat.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1635.]

In 1635 Rubat was succeeded by his son Baadi Abu Dign (Father of the Beard).

This King attacked the Shilluk negroes and took a large number of slaves. The Shilluk inhabited the country on both sides of the White Nile south of Kawa. Thence he invaded the mountains of Tagale and destroyed Kordofan, where he again took a large number of slaves. On his return to Sennar he built a number of villages in that district for his prisoners.

The prisoners named these villages after those they had left, hence the number of villages now near Sennar with names similar to those in the Jebel Nuba, Tagale, and other districts about Kordofan.

In time these slaves supplied the Kings of Fung with recruits for their armies.

Besides his warlike enterprise, Baadi built the mosque now at Sennar, and furnished it with copper window bars.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1671.]

In 1671 he died, and was succeeded by his son Ansu. During this reign there was a great famine and an outbreak of small-pox.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1683.]

In 1683 Ansu was succeeded by his son Baadi el Ahmar. In this reign a number of the Fung tribes and the people of Keri under their prince, rebelled, but they were defeated with great slaughter, and the Prince of Keri was killed. Sheikh Hamed Walad el Terabi, a celebrated Sheikh, lived during this reign. His tomb is now at Sennar.

In 1699 Dr. Poncet, a French physician, on his way to Abyssinia visited Sennar, and found it a powerful kingdom in a flourishing condition.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1710.]

In 1710 Baadi was succeeded by his son Ansu II. This monarch caused such great dissatisfaction by his extravagance and debauchery that the Southern Fungs revolted, deposed the King, and placed a noble called Nur on the throne. This happened in 1714.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1719.]

In 1719 Nur was succeeded by his son Gaadi Abu Shilluk. In this reign the Abyssinian King Kedem Yasu invaded Sennar with a large army. He was, however, defeated with great slaughter by Sheikh Amin, near the village of Tekiya on the Dinder River. It is said that the reason for this invasion was that some presents sent by the King of France to Abyssinia had been seized by King Baadi.

After this great victory the renown of Sennar spread in all directions, and eventually reached Constantinople. Crowds of learned and celebrated men flocked into the country from Arabia, Egypt, and India. Notwithstanding this, in 1758 Baadi, owing to his bad administration was deposed and exiled. He was succeeded by his son Nasser.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1758.]

1758.—Under his rule the Hameg tribe became very powerful, and the Fung lost a great deal of their influence and prestige. In 1765 Nasser was killed by a rebellious vassal, and was succeeded by his son Ismail.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1774.]

In 1774 Ismail was deposed, exiled to Suakin, and succeeded by his son Adlan. During this reign many intertribal wars went on both in Sennar and Kordofan,[152] and the power and influence of the Hameg grew so great that they eventually became the masters of the King.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1786.]

In 1786 Adlan was deposed by the Hameg, and the kingdom of the Fung totally disappeared. Anarchy prevailed throughout the country, and the kings succeeded each other in such rapid succession that in the year 1788 four kings successively reigned. During the succeeding 33 years of anarchy the Hameg continued supreme, and under Sheikh Nasser they devastated the northern and eastern part of the Sudan with fire and sword.

[Footnote 152: Vide p. 184 (Darfur).]

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us

Chapter III

* * * * *

FROM MOHAMMED ALI’S CONQUEST TO THE END OF 1882.

[Sidenote: 1819. Invasion by Mohammed Ali.]

In 1819 Mohammed Ali, hearing of the anarchy prevailing in the Sudan, and wishing to introduce the benefits of a regular government of civilisation, and at the same time to occupy his troops, ordered his son Ismail, with a numerous army of regulars and irregulars, with many learned men and artisans, to invade the country.

Ismail reached Khartoum without meeting with any resistance, and thence marched on to Sennar. Here he found that of the two rivals to the throne of Baadi, Adlan had been murdered by Regab, and the latter had fled, leaving the kingdom to the Fung claimant, Baadi. The latter, however, had resigned his claims to Ismail.

[Sidenote: Ismail burnt at Shendi. 1822.]

At Sennar Ismail was joined by his brother, Ibrahim Pasha, and they together advanced to Fazogli. Shortly after, Ibrahim returned to Egypt, and the report spread that Ibrahim had been killed in the Fazogli Mountains. The Arab nomads immediately rose, but Ismail returned, defeated the rebels, and appointed new Sheikhs. He then went on to Shendi, on the Nile. The Mek (ruler) Nimr (tiger) of that place, wishing to be revenged of all the cruelties and barbarities Ismail had been guilty of, invited him and his followers to a great banquet at Shendi. During the banquet and while the guests were all more or less intoxicated, forage was piled round the tent and set on fire, and Ismail and all his followers perished (1822).

When the news of this catastrophe reached Kordofan, Ahmed Bey, the Defterdar, who had wrested that province from the Darfur Sultan, put himself at the head of a large army and marched on Shendi. When he reached Metemma, opposite Shendi, the inhabitants sent to ask for pardon. This was granted. One of the people, however, happening to throw a lance at the Defterdar, the pardon was at once rescinded, and a general massacre took place. The Mek el Nimr, however, escaped, and fled towards Abyssinia.

After this the Defterdar marched to Tuti Island, opposite Khartoum, where he again defeated the rebels with great slaughter. He then marched to Wad Medani, near Mesellemia, and then returned to Kordofan.

It is said that when Kordofan was conquered it was found that the Governor of the Province had the title of Magdum, which is a title only given to Palace eunuchs. It would appear that it was the custom of the Darfur Sultans to send eunuchs to govern provinces and districts.

[Sidenote: 1822.]

In 1822 Osman Bey was named Governor of the Sudan, and the Defterdar, Ahmed Bey, returned to Egypt. This was a year of rebellions and famines.

[Sidenote: 1826.]

[Sidenote: 1834.]

In 1826 Maho Bey was appointed Governor. Immediately afterwards Khurshid Pasha became Governor. He was renowned for his rectitude and honesty. He led several expeditions up the White Nile against the Dinka negro tribe, opposite Kodok, and also into the mountains of Tagale. In 1834 he went to Egypt for a few months. Towards the end of that year he marched to the Abyssinian frontier to repel the attack of the Abyssinians who were coming to the assistance of the Sennar rebels. The Abyssinians were defeated, and Adlan, their leader, was taken and impaled. During this year cholera and other diseases ravaged the country. In 1836 the Abyssinians, after attacking the Gallabat provinces, retreated into their mountains.

[Sidenote: 1839.]

Khurshid Pasha was the first Governor who taught the people of Khartoum to build with bricks, and to give up their huts made of skins and reeds. In 1839 he was recalled to Egypt, and was succeeded by Ahmed Pasha Abu Udn (Father of Large Ears).[153]

The annexation of the Sudan provinces thus took place more than three-quarters of a century ago. Mohammed Ali having dispersed the Mamelukes, and made himself master of Nubia, turned his attention towards the districts bordering the White and the Blue branches of the Nile. Gold was doubtless his main object, for he had heard rumours of mines of vast wealth; but we must also give him credit for an honest intention to introduce commerce and civilisation into the midst of the Negro tribes.

[Sidenote: Expedition by Mohammed Ali, 1838.]

In the autumn of 1838 Mohammed Ali himself, at the age of 69, started to visit Fazogli, and in 1840 and following years three large expeditions were organised. Although gold was not found in any important quantities, the provinces were reduced under Egyptian sway, the navigation of the White Nile was declared free, military stations were established on both rivers, and many slaves were brought back to swell the ranks of Mohammed’s army. Whatever may have been his dreams of civilisation, the result of Mohammed’s expedition and consequent government was to establish at Khartoum, not only the capital of the Sudan provinces, but also a central mart for a huge slave trade.

The provinces thus annexed were Kordofan, Sennar, and Taka (Kassala).

[Sidenote: Abbas Pasha, 1848-1854.]

Abbas Pasha, grandson of Mohammed, who ruled Egypt from 1848 to 1854, kept up his authority in the Sudan provinces by means of a large force, which was necessary for the purpose of collecting taxes from a discontented population. In 1853 the most southern Egyptian settlement was about 120 miles south of Khartoum, but in that year the first trading voyage to the Upper Nile was started by Mr. Petherick, the English Consul for the Sudan. He was soon followed by other traders, who established posts far up country, and organised armed bands under the command of Arabs. It was soon found that slave hunting paid even better than ivory, and raids were made on the surrounding tribes.

[Sidenote: 1854-1868.]

Said Pasha, the successor of Abbas, found the country in a deplorable condition; exhorbitant taxes, a depressed agriculture, and a disordered administration openly encouraging an open slave trade.

[Sidenote: Said Pasha reorganises Government at Khartoum, 1857.]

With the resolution of organising a better state of things, Said, in the year 1857, made a rapid tour through the provinces in question. At Berber he proclaimed the abolition of slavery, and at Khartoum he organised a new government for the five provinces then comprised in the Sudan, i.e., Kordofan, Sennar, Taka, Berber and Dongola. He ordered that the excessive taxes on the lands and waterwheels of the people should be discontinued, and postal services on fast camels organised across the desert. About the year 1860 the European traders sold their stations to their Arab agents who paid rental to the Egyptian Government, and the misery and ruin were increased tenfold.

To Said Pasha is due the first idea for making a railway to unite the Sudan with Lower Egypt; Mougel Bey was ordered to report on the subject, but the probable expense caused the project to be abandoned.

[Sidenote: Source of the Nile discovered.]

[Sidenote: 1858.]

The sources of the Nile had long been the object of much speculation, but comparatively little had been done to solve the question. Towards the latter end of the eighteenth century, Bruce had tracked the Blue Nile to its origin in the Abyssinian mountains, but the White Nile remained unexplored till Speke and Grant, carrying out in 1860-62 an expedition organised by the English Government, proved that the Victoria Nyanza, discovered by Speke[154] in July, 1858, was the source of the Nile.

[Sidenote: Sir S. Baker’s expedition in 1861.]

[Sidenote: State of the Sudan in 1864.]

In 1861 Sir Samuel Baker started on an expedition from Cairo viâ Khartoum, with hopes of meeting the travellers in question, and of making independent investigations on his own account. He was successful in both ways, and his explorations resulted in the discovery, in 1864, of Albert Nyanza Lake. His description of the Sudan at this period under the governorship of a certain Musa Pasha gives a melancholy picture of the results of Egyptian rule. He describes the provinces as utterly ruined and only governed by military force, the revenue unequal to the expenditure, and the country paralysed by excessive taxation; shut in by deserts, all communication with the outer world was most difficult; and the existing conditions rendered these countries so worthless to the State, that their annexation could only be accounted for by the fruits of the slave trade.

[Sidenote: Ismail Pasha, 1863.]

On Ismail Pasha coming to the throne in 1863, orders for the suppression of the slave trade were issued, and on Baker’s return journey in 1865, he found an Egyptian camp of 1,000 men established at Kodok in the Shilluk country for the purpose.

[Sidenote: Scheme for railway again brought forward, 1865-66.]

In 1865-6 the Khedive again brought forward the scheme for a Sudan Railway, and a study of the country from Aswan to Khartoum was made by Mr. Walker and Mr. Bray, but nothing came of it. About the same time Mr. Hawkshaw recommended the canalisation of the 1st Cataract, but this was strongly opposed by Mr. Fowler, who proposed as an alternative to construct a ship incline over land, using the mechanical force supplied by the descending water.

Ismail Pasha not only determined to extend his territories, but seemed in earnest to put down the slave trade.

The traders were chiefly Arab subjects of the Khedive, and the traffic was being carried out under the cloak of legitimate commerce. Khartoum was the headquarters for the trading companies, who leased from the Governor-General of the Sudan certain districts nominally for carrying on the ivory trade, for which they bought the monopoly. In these transactions the Government did not hesitate to lease territories over which they had not a vestige of right; in fact, any portion of Central Africa south of Khartoum was considered open to them for selling the monopoly. The result was that certain traders established themselves in, and claimed a sort of proprietary right to large districts, especially in that part which lies to the South of Darfur and Kordofan, and borders the course of the White Nile, now known as the Bahr El Ghazal. Traffic in slaves was the real business carried on, and for this purpose the traders organised armies of brigands, and formed chains of stations, of about 300 men each, throughout their districts. Raids were made on native tribes, who were obliged to submit, fly the country, or ally themselves to the slave hunters, to be used against other tribes; and anarchy prevailed throughout the country.

[Sidenote: 1869.]

In order to carry out the reforms it was necessary to annex the Nile Basin, to establish a sound government and commerce, and to open the Equatorial Lakes to steam navigation. The Khedive accordingly issued a firman to Sir S. Baker on 1st April, 1869, whereby he gave him absolute and supreme power over all the country south of Gondokoro.

Baker left Suez for Suakin in December, 1869, and proceeded to Khartoum, where the expedition was fitted out.

He experienced much opposition from officials, who were all more or less implicated in the slave trade. He also made the discovery that the very provinces he was about to annex were already leased by the Governor-General of the Sudan to a notorious slave-trader, named Ahmed Sheikh Aga, whose son in-law and partner, Abu Saud, was a still more notorious character.

Another expedition was being fitted out, at the same time, to the Bahr el Ghazal, for the purpose of establishing a settlement at some copper mines on the frontier of Darfur.

[Sidenote: Annexation of Gondokoro, May 26th, 1871.]

[Sidenote: Unyoro annexed, 14th May, 1872.]

In February 1870 Baker left Khartoum, and after several abortive attempts, with great difficulty succeeded in dragging his boats over the sudd in the Bahr El Zeraf and arrived at Gondokoro, and formally annexed this station, as “Ismailia,” on May 26th, 1871. In January, 1872, he left Gondokoro for the south, and on the 14th May of the same year, at Masindi, proclaimed Unyoro an Egyptian province. He organised military posts such at Masindi, Foweira, Fatiko, etc., and entered into friendly relations with M’tesa, the King of Uganda, thus establishing the Khedive’s rule to within 2° of the Equator. He dealt the slave trade a heavy blow by putting a stop to it in the annexed territory, as well as on the Nile, so that all exit for the traffic in the direction of Khartoum would have been closed if the officials could have been trusted.

[Sidenote: Baker returns to Cairo, August, 1873.]

In August, 1873, Baker returned to Cairo, and the Khedive put the Government of the Sudan on a fresh footing, by dividing it into provinces under responsible governors, more or less independent of the Governor of Khartoum. Thus Yusef Effendi was made Governor of Kodok, Ismail Yagub Pasha of Khartoum, and Hussein Khalifa of Berber.

[Sidenote: 1871. Railway scheme again taken up.]

In 1871 the railway scheme was again taken up; Mr. Fowler was employed by the Khedive to make careful surveys, and the result was an elaborately prepared project for making a line from Wadi Halfa, viâ Shendi, to Khartoum, with a plan for the passage of the 1st Cataract. Such a line would have been of vast importance in opening up the trade of Central Africa.

[Sidenote: 1874. Colonel Gordon appointed Governor of Equatorial Provinces.]

At the close of Sir Samuel Baker’s expedition, the Khedive, still anxious to consolidate his Empire, appointed Colonel Gordon, R.E., to carry on the work. Gordon arrived in Cairo early in 1874, and left for the scenes of his future operations on 21st February. His appointed task was to continue the reconnaissance of the Upper Nile, to establish a Government, and to destroy the slave trade. Accompanying him were Lieut.-Colonel Long, an American officer in the service of the Khedive, Lieut. Hassan Wassif, and a number of European civil employés. It was arranged that the territory over which the Governor-General of the Sudan now ruled was to be limited to the south by Kodok; Gordon to be Governor-General of the Equatorial provinces of the Nile, and the respective headquarters to be at Khartoum and Gondokoro.

[Sidenote: Slave stations broken up, 1874.]

Gordon left Khartoum in March, 1874, and reached Gondokoro the 15th of the following month, where he was cordially received by the Commandant, Rauf Bey. He found that the provinces in question were merely nominally under Egyptian control, there being but two garrisons, one at Gondokoro consisting of 450 men, 150 of whom were Egyptian soldiers, and a second at Fatiko of 200 Sudan soldiers. His first steps were to occupy Bor, an important position north of Gondokoro, and to send Colonel Long on an expedition to M’tesa, King of Uganda. He then in June, 1874, proceeded to break up three large slave-trading stations on the Bahr el Zeraf, and established a strong post at the Sobat junction, so situated as to be able to arrest all illegal traffic on the river. The liberated slaves he, in accordance with their own option, planted at Sobat, and encouraged them to turn their attention to agriculture, it being one of his ideas that most of the wars between the tribes were caused by the great deficiency of food.

During the summer of 1874, Rauf Bey returned to Cairo, and was given the command of the Harrar country. Gordon sent Gessi about the same time to make an inspection along the Bahr el Ghazal.

Abu Saud, notorious in Baker’s time, had accompanied Gordon from Cairo. The latter, though aware of his character, knew him to be a man of great influence among the slave-dealing communities, and determined to turn him to account. On first taking over the government at Gondokoro, he made Abu Saud his lieutenant, and employed many of the other slave dealers under him. This, however, was of short duration; Abu Saud soon got beyond himself, and, showing his true character, was speedily dismissed by Gordon; while, towards the end of the year, a clean sweep was made of all the other slave-dealing Dongolese, whose intrigues had seriously hampered Long’s expedition.

[Sidenote: September, 1874. Submission of chiefs round Gondokoro.]

On 11th September, 1874, 25 chiefs of the tribes round Gondokoro came in to pay homage to Gordon, a remarkable proof of the success of his rule, as up to this they had been at open enmity with the garrisons.

In October Yusef Bey, Governor of Kodok, intercepted a convoy of 1,600 slaves and 190 head of cattle from the stations of Ratatz and Kuchuk Ali on the Bahr El Zeraf.

About this time Gordon was making preparations for his expedition to the lakes. The sections of the steamers, which had been left at Gondokoro by Baker, were sent forward by carriers, to be put together at the Falls of Dufile, beyond which point there is a free passage to the lake Albert Nyanza.

It was decided to establish fortified posts at the following stations:—Labore, Dufile, Fatiko, and Foweira; this step was rendered necessary by the hostile attitude shown towards Colonel Long’s expedition by the King of Unyoro backed up by slave-traders.

[Sidenote: 1874. Representative sent to M’tesa.]

In consequence of the report of Colonel Long, who returned in October, Gordon arranged to send a trustworthy representative[155] to M’tesa, King of Uganda, who had shown himself to be friendly.

On the 21st November Gondokoro was abandoned as the headquarters in favour of Lado, a more healthy spot a few miles down the river, while another post was established at Rejaf, a short distance up the river.

At the close of the year 1874 Gordon reported the organisation of governmental districts along the whole line of his provinces, the chief stations being the following:—

1. Sobat, at the junction of the Sobat River with the Nile; garrison, 50 Sudan regulars.

2. Nasser, on the Sobat; garrison, 100 Dongolese irregulars.

3. Ghabatshambe (Shambe), 30 Sudan regulars, 150 Dongolese irregulars.

4. Makaraka, 20 Sudan regulars, 150 Dongolese irregulars.

5. Bor, 10 Sudan regulars, 150 Dongolese irregulars.

6. Latuka, 10 Sudan regulars, 100 Dongolese irregulars.

7. Lado. Headquarters, 180 Sudan regulars, 50 Egyptian regulars.

8. Rejaf, 80 Sudan regulars.

9. Dufile (Ibrahimieh), 10 Sudan regulars.

10. Fatiko, 250 Sudan regulars, 100 Egyptian regulars.

11. Foweira, 100 Sudan regulars, 100 Egyptian regulars.

The results of the nine months’ work are summed up by the Egyptian General Staff[156] as follows:—

1st. The White Nile had been mapped with very considerable accuracy from Khartoum to Rejaf by Lieutenants C. M. Watson and Chippendall, R.E.

2nd. The slave trade on the White Nile had received a deadly blow.

3rd. Confidence and peace had been restored among the tribes round Gondokoro, who now freely brought in for sale their beef, corn, and ivory.

4th. The work of opening a water communication between Gondokoro and the lakes had been seriously commenced.

5th. Communications had been established with M’tesa, and the connection of Lake Victoria with Lake Albert, by the way of the Victoria Nile, demonstrated.

6th. Government districts had been formed and secure posts with intercommunication established.

7th. New expeditions were organised and ready to commence.

CONQUEST OF DARFUR, 1874.

[Sidenote: Conquest of Darfur, 1874.]

During the year 1874 an important addition was made to the Egyptian possessions in the shape of the Province of Darfur.

Gordon writes:—“Dar For and Dar Fertit mean the land of the Fors and the land of the Fertits. The Fors and the Fertits were the original negro inhabitants; then came in the Beduin tribes, who partially conquered the country and made the Fors Mussulmans, giving them a Sultan. The Fors and the Beduin tribes, the one stationary and the other nomadic, live in peace, for their habits are different.”

The country of Darfur had never been subjugated, but had been governed by its own Sultans in unbroken succession for more than 400 years.[157] The inhabitants were not of the true negro type, and the numerous wandering Arab tribes paid tribute to the Sultan and formed the bulk of his fighting men. Darfur enjoyed the celebrity not only as a centre of commerce, but also as a large slave depôt, a fact which appears from the following correspondence which passed between Bonaparte and Sultan Abd-el-Rahman, surnamed “the Just.” During the French expedition to Egypt, “the Just” wrote to Bonaparte “In the name of God the compassionate, the merciful,” saying he was glad to hear that he had conquered the Mamelukes. The reply was as follows:—“Au Sultan du Darfour, 12 Messidor, an VII, au nom de Dieu, clément et miséricordieux, il n’y a d’autre Dieu que Dieu! au Sultan du Dar-fur Abd-el-Rahmân.

“J’ai reçu votre lettre: j’en ai compris le contenu; lorsque votre caravane est arrivée j’étais absent ayant été en Syrie pour punir et détruire nos ennemis. Je vous prie de m’envoyer par la première caravane 2,000 esclaves noirs ayant plus de 16 ans, forts et vigoureux: je les achèterai pour mon compte. Ordonnez votre caravane de venir de suite, de ne pas s’arrêter en route: je donne les ordres pour qu’elle soit protégée partout.

Le Général-en-Chef BONAPARTE.”

[Sidenote: Bellal’s expedition to Bahr El Ghazal destroyed by Zubeir, 1869.]

Dating from the days of Mohammed Ali’s expeditions, Darfur was in constant dread of Egyptian aggression, and the country was practically closed to all Europeans, who were regarded as spies. For many generations Darfur had sent annually a caravan containing ivory, feathers, gum, slaves, etc., to Egypt, bringing back in exchange cloth, beads, firearms, etc. In 1874, the slave trade having been stopped in Egyptian territory, the Governor of the Sudan seized all the slaves belonging to the caravan of that year; this was one of the causes which led to a rupture with the Sultan of Darfur.

In 1869 the power of the slave dealers in the Bahr El Ghazal had become so great that they refused to pay their rentals to the Egyptian Government. Conspicuous among them was a certain Zubeir Rahama, who, according to Dr. Schweinfurth, lived in princely style and was regarded as a kind of king.

With the object of re-establishing his authority in the Bahr El Ghazal provinces, and also of conquering Darfur, the Khedive sent a small force under the command of Bellal. This force was destroyed by Zubeir, who became the chief power in the country. The Sultan of Darfur, in the meantime, to meet Bellal’s threatened attack, had placed an embargo on corn along his southern frontier. This incensed the slave traders, who drew their supplies from Darfur, and a further cause of quarrel was the invasion of Bahr El Ghazal territory by Darfur troops in pursuit of slaves. Zubeir accordingly prepared for an invasion of the province. The Egyptian Government, seeing the danger of his acquiring fresh strength, determined upon taking the conquest into their own hands, giving out as a pretext that the repeated hostile expeditions of the Sultan had made it necessary to occupy Darfur. Two expeditions were accordingly organised—one from the north under the command of Ismail Yagub Pasha, and one from the south under Zubeir. In one of the ensuing battles the Sultan and two of his sons were killed, and Darfur fell into Egyptian hands. Zubeir was made a pasha, but he claimed a right to be made governor-general of the new province, and his acknowledged power was likely to make him formidable. His request, however, was refused, and though at first he intended to assert his independence, he, in the end, decided to push his claim at Cairo. Here he was, however, detained,[158] his son, Suleiman, of whom more hereafter, meanwhile taking his place in the provinces.

[Sidenote: Exploration of Darfur and Kordofan, 1874.]

Darfur having thus become an Egyptian province, the Khedive sent out two scientific expeditions, composed of staff officers and attachés, to report on the capabilities of the country. These left Cairo on the 5th December, 1874: one, under Colonel Purdy, was to enter Darfur on its northern frontier; the other under Colonel Colston, by the east from Kordofan. The latter expedition was afterwards commanded by Major Prout, when Colston was incapacitated by sickness. Reports of these expeditions were compiled by the Egyptian General staff.

RELATIONS WITH ABYSSINIA.

The relations between Egypt and Abyssinia have an important bearing on the history of the Sudan, and in future years are likely to exercise a still further influence on this portion of Africa.

The Turks and Arabs never succeeded in subjugating this country, although many attempts were made to that end. As far back as the sixteenth century the Turks had seized the port of Zula on the Red Sea, and in later times Suakin and Massaua; but, though based on these ports, they could make no headway into the Abyssinian hills, nor even occupy the coast provinces from Massaua to Suakin. During the aggressions of Ismail, son of Mohammed Ali, the Egyptians and Abyssinians came into collision from Kassala to Gallabat, and the Abyssinians were gradually pushed back to the mountains as their boundary, being hemmed in on all sides by Turks, Egyptians, and the tribes of the Galla country.

[Sidenote: Massaua transferred to Egypt, 1866.]

[Sidenote: English expedition, 1868.]

In 1866 Turkey transferred her interest in Massaua to Egypt in consideration of an increased tribute, and in 1867 the Khedive claimed authority as far as Zula, which is situated in Annesley Bay. Early in 1868 the English expedition to Abyssinia took place, and the Khedive, wishing for the countenance of England in his present and possible future encroachments on the Red Sea coast, did all in his power to assist the undertaking. Egyptian troops were offered to the British Government, though not accepted, and Kassala and Gallabat were spoken of as possible bases of operations. All this did not tend towards creating a good feeling between Egypt and Abyssinia.

When the Khedive, Ismail Pasha, was arranging his Sudan railway scheme, he proposed to make a branch line to Massawa, which would necessarily pass through the province of Bogos.

The Khedive claimed that Bogos had been conquered by Mohammed Ali, though as a matter of fact the borderland only had been held by the Egyptians, whilst the Abyssinians denied that they had ever relinquished their rights to the territory. Border war had been maintained till Said Pasha, the former Khedive, had withdrawn his troops, and Bogos for many years had remained neutral ground.

[Sidenote: Keren, capital of Bogos, occupied, 1874.]

In the summer of 1874 there was a certain Swiss resident at Massaua named Munzinger, who acted as consul for both England and France. Seizing the opportunity of the King of Abyssinia being at war with the Gallas, the Egyptian Government employed Munzinger to occupy Keren, the capital of Bogos, with 1,500 men. About the same time, Egypt also acquired the territory of Ailet, a province lying between Hamasen and Massaua, by the treachery of the Governor, who sold it to the Khedive.

Against these acts the King appealed to Europe, and especially to England, sending as his envoy Colonel Kirkman, a Scotchman, then in the service of King Johannes, but who had formerly been with Gordon in China. This mission had no practical result, and the relations between Abyssinia and Egypt were more strained than ever.

[Sidenote: Port of Zeila purchased by Egypt, 1875.]

In 1875 the Khedive purchased from the Sultan, for about £15,000 a year additional tribute, the port of Zeila, the base from which for many centuries Turk and Arab had unsuccessfully attacked Abyssinia; and in fact acquired at the same time all the Sultan’s nominal rights to the coast country from near Tajura to a point on the Indian Ocean, including Berbera, the transfer actually taking place in autumn, 1875.

ANNEXATION OF HARRAR, 1874.

[Sidenote: Harrar annexed, 1874.]

The province of Harrar was annexed by an expedition under Rauf Pasha, whom, it may be remembered, Gordon had relieved at Gondokoro in 1874. After the death of Emir Ahmed, Sultan of Harrar, mentioned by the traveller Burton, the inhabitants made Khalifa Sitra Emir. He was deposed after a three days’ reign by Mohammed; the latter oppressed his subjects, favouring the Galla tribes, and bullying the Mussulmans. The people asked the Khedive to take possession, and in the year 1874, Rauf Pasha, being sent up for the purpose, met with little opposition. He began his government by the unnecessary act of causing the Sultan to be strangled. The Sultan’s son went to Cairo to complain, but nothing was done.

GORDON’S EXPEDITION TO THE LAKES, 1875.

[Sidenote: 1875.]

Early in 1875 Gordon heard ill reports of Kabarega, King of Unyoro, who, with the old slave traders, was meditating treachery. He had already cleared his province of all those traders on whom he could lay hands, but 50 of them had escaped him, and taken themselves to the chief above mentioned. Rionga, Kabarega’s rival, now received Gordon’s support.

From the experience gained it became evident to Colonel Gordon that, in order to open up the Equatorial provinces, an outlet to the eastern coast must be made. The Nile was found to be impracticable as a waterway, owing to the numerous rapids, the obstruction formed by floating masses of vegetation (sudd), and the scarcity of wood. And as Gordon writes from Lado: “The only valuable parts of the country are the highlands near M’tesa, while all between this (Lado) and Khartoum is wretched marsh.”

[Sidenote: 1875.]

In January, 1875, Gordon proposed to the Khedive that he should establish a station at Mombasa Bay, 250 miles north of Zanzibar, and also take Formosa Bay, or rather a point, where the Tana and Ozi debouch, to the north of it. In making this proposition he was under the impression that the Tana was navigable as far as Mount Kenia, and that Lake Baringo was connected with the Victoria Nyanza, neither of which suppositions are true. The Khedive on his side proposed the mouth of the Juba as a base, and fitted out an expedition for the purpose of occupying it, of which more hereafter.

Gordon now set himself to transport a steamer from Lado to the lakes. The difficulties he had to contend with were very great, including the hostility of the border tribes, the obstacles to navigation, and above all, the useless material of which the Egyptian troops were composed. The heavy parts of the steamer had to be carried separately in large Nile boats (nuggars) to Dufile Falls, above which and up to the lakes the river is navigable. As he advanced, stations were established along the west bank of the river. This bank was more secure from attack by natives, as the mountains came within eight miles of it, and limited the sphere of their operations; while on the east bank the Bari tribe was very hostile. A party under Linant, one of Gordon’s officers, was here surprised and massacred.

As regards the finances of the expedition, Gordon writes from Muggi, in August, 1874:—“In a year he (the Khedive) has had £48,000 from the province, and I have spent, say, £20,000 at the outside, and have £60,000 worth of ivory here.” In September he says that he was entirely independent of the Sudan Government as regards supplies, and could raise them from his own resources. In this month parties were sent out to levy taxes in the shape of cattle on the hostile tribes, which had a salutary effect in keeping them quiet.

[Sidenote: Gessi Pasha.]

During Gordon’s absence, the Shilluk tribes in the neighbourhood of Kodok rose in rebellion against the oppression of the Government, and, had it not been for the presence of Gessi there at the time, Kodok would probably have been lost. Gessi was an Italian adventurer of great force of character; he joined Gordon’s staff in the summer of 1874, having, during the Crimean war, acted as interpreter to British troops.

The steamer reached Labore in December, great difficulties having been met with in getting the boats conveying it up the rapids.

JUBA RIVER EXPEDITION, 1875.

[Sidenote: The Juba River Expedition, 1875.]

In the autumn of 1875 the Khedive, having long had under consideration the advantage of opening up a line of communication from the Indian Ocean to the central provinces, sent out what is known as the Juba River Expedition. The command was given to McKillop Pasha (an English naval officer who died in 1879, and he was accompanied by Colonels Ward and Long, the former to survey the harbours along the coast and the latter to command an inland expedition. Colonel Gordon was to co-operate from the direction of Victoria Nyanza.

The anchorage at the mouth of the Juba River having been found inferior, the Expedition ran several miles further south to Port Durnford and the harbour of Kismayu; but here they encroached on the territory of the Sultan of Zanzibar. Several interests now clashed with the success of the enterprise. The British Government were bound more or less to the Sultan by treaties concerning the slave trade. The merchants of Zanzibar became alarmed for their equatorial trade, and the people of Aden for their supplies from the Somalis, who had been independent till Egypt had acquired a portion of their territory and levied taxes at their ports. The result was that, at the instance of Great Britain, the Egyptian Expedition was given up, but, on the other hand, the Khedive’s authority along the coast, as far as about 10° north lat. was tacitly acknowledged. Ismail Pasha was thus encouraged to think that he was entitled to the whole of the Red Sea coast, and could resist any pretensions of the Abyssinians to a port; while England believed that she had erected a safeguard against European settlement on the coast, and had opened the way to a Slavery Treaty with Egypt.

WAR WITH ABYSSINIA, 1875-1876.

[Sidenote: Abyssinia. Arendrup’s Expedition, 1875.]

[Sidenote: Destruction of Egyptian Army. 11.11.75.]

[Sidenote: Second expedition fitted out, December, 1875.]

During the same period other important events were passing in Abyssinia. Soon after the acquisition of the Port of Zeila by the Khedive, an Egyptian force was despatched to Massaua under Colonel Arendrup, a Danish officer in the Egyptian service. King Johannes had lately formed a new province (Ginda), which included the seaboard from the head of Annesley Bay to Amfila Bay and the Shoho, the Port of Zula, and the district of Ginda lying south of Ailet. This he had done to ensure the Port of Zula to Abyssinia, and he made Kirkman Governor of the new province, giving him the freehold for life. Kirkman accordingly had established his headquarters at Ginda, and ran up the British flag. In October, 1875, Arendrup’s force, having landed at Massaua, proceeded to Ginda, and took possession of it, and soon afterwards moved on Adua, the capital of Abyssinia. King John, however, having collected a large force, surprised and annihilated the Egyptian army at Gundet, killing 1,800 men and capturing 2,000 rifles, on the 11th of November. On the news reaching Cairo, another expedition on a larger scale was immediately organised, and the chief command given to Ratib Pasha, who was accompanied by Prince Hassan and several American officers in the service of the Khedive. The headquarters arrived at Massaua about the middle of December.

[Sidenote: Defeat of the Egyptians, 7th March, 1876.]

Owing however, to the disorganised state of the Staff and the difficulties of transport the army did not get under way till the middle of January, 1876. After tedious marches, it arrived at the Kaya Khor Pass, near which place, at Gura, it was met and heavily defeated by King John on 7th March, losing nearly 4,000 men and 8,000 rifles.

The Egyptians retired into a fort they had constructed at Kaya Khor, where, during the next two days, they were assailed by the Abyssinians. On the 11th of March, however, King John withdrew his forces, and peace negotiations were entered upon. The Egyptian army commenced its return march for Massaua on the 19th April.

Ratib now returned to Cairo, leaving Osman Pasha in command at Massaua.

[Sidenote: Walad Mikael.]

Walad (Wolda) Mikael, a former Governor of the Hamasen, and hereditary ruler of Hamasen and Bogos, who had joined the Egyptians during the campaign, now occupied himself in making a raid against the Hamasen territory of Abyssinia, which he laid waste in all directions. He then retired into Bogos and remained for some time at the Senhît Fort under protection of the Egyptians, who kept him as a menace to King John. The latter employed another chief, Shella Khan Alula, to watch him and to retaliate by ravaging the Bogos and Ailet countries. Menelik, King of Shoa, meanwhile had marched against King John, under the impression that he was worsted by the Egyptians, but he now returned to his own country.

The peace negotiations had come to an abrupt termination on account of the proceedings of Mikael, but in June, 1876, the King sent an envoy to Cairo to endeavour to have the boundary fixed, to secure certain privileges for Abyssinia at the Port of Massaua, and to obtain an Abuna (high priest) to fill the place of one who had died; offering at the same time the surrender of Hamasen if Walad Mikael were given up to him. The King’s representative was retained at Cairo, on one pretext or another, till December, when he was released through the influence of the British Consul.

[Sidenote: 1876.]

GORDON’S OPERATIONS, 1876-1879.

[Sidenote: Gessi navigates Lake Albert Nyanza, 1876.]

Early in 1876 Gordon made preparations for Gessi to proceed to Lake Albert Nyanza with two lifeboats, while he himself proceeded towards Lake Victoria.

He had now surveyed the river from Khartoum to Dufile, and from Foweira to Mruli. Gessi started in March, and succeeded in circumnavigating the lake in nine days, finding it to be only 140 miles long and 50 miles wide. The natives showed themselves hostile, and the west coast was inaccessible.

In January, Gordon had given up all idea of forming an expedition to meet that proposed from the Juba river; his reasons were that his troops were utterly untrustworthy and unfitted for such a task.

In July a steamer, brought up with much difficulty, was at length put together above the Dufile Falls, and the passage cleared to the Albert Lake.

A treaty was made with M’tesa recognising his independence, and Dr. Emin Effendi,[159] a German by birth, was sent to him as Gordon’s representative.

[Sidenote: Gordon leaves for England, October, 1876.]

In October Gordon left for Khartoum and thence for England, having handed over the government of his province to Colonel Prout. He had during the three years successfully checked the slave trade in the Equatorial provinces, and established the basis of a sound government, if such could be found under Egyptian rule. That he could not entirely suppress the slave trade was due to its huge ramifications, the despicable quality of his troops, and the resistance offered to all his endeavours by the government of the Sudan under Ismail Yagub Pasha.

[Sidenote: Gordon returns to Egypt, February, 1877.]

In February, 1877, Gordon, under pressure, returned to Egypt, and the Khedive made him Governor-General of the Sudan, uniting in one great province the Sudan, the Equatorial provinces, and the Red Sea provinces; thus giving him a district some 1,640 miles in length by an average of 660 in breadth, with three Wakils (deputy governors) for Sudan proper, Darfur, and the Red Sea provinces respectively. The Khedive drew his attention specially to the suppression of the slave trade and the improvement of the communications, and gave him powers to negotiate with Abyssinia in order to end the disputes with King John.

[Sidenote: Gordon goes to Abyssinia, 1877.]

Gordon at once proceeded, viâ Massaua, to the Abyssinian frontier to make a treaty, if possible, with the King. He found that there was no hope of bringing the matter to a satisfactory result till a stop was put to the raids of Walad Mikael. Just now a large portion of Gordon’s troops were withdrawn for service in the Turco-Russian war, and it was useless for him to think of using force against Mikael, while the news of a serious revolt in Darfur required his presence elsewhere. He therefore agreed to supply Walad Mikael with money and provisions, on condition that he gave up his attacks on Abyssinia. King John, taking advantage of this temporary respite, proceeded to attack Menelik, King of Shoa.

Gordon having visited Bogos, Kassala, Gedaref, and Sennar, proceeded to Khartoum; here he spent some time in carrying out reforms, amongst others in giving back to the Ulema their ancient privileges of which they had been deprived by the late Governor, Ismail Yagub Pasha. In May, however, he found himself obliged to start for Darfur.

[Sidenote: 1877.]

Harûn, a relative of the late Sultan of Darfur, and a claimant to the throne, took advantage of the discontent caused by the misgovernment of the province to raise a revolt in February, 1877. He had a very large number of men with him as the nomad tribes, who had not helped the Sultan when Darfur was conquered in 1874, now joined his standard.

These tribes were semi-independent under their own Sheikhs, and each of them could put from 2,000 to 6,000 horse or camel-men into the field. They were largely engaged in the slave trade, making raids on the negro tribes to the south, or buying slaves from other nomad tribes who lived out of range to the west. Though the traffic of the large slave caravans had ceased, yet there was still an extensive trade carried on by small dealers, which it was impossible to put down.

The Governor of Darfur at this time was Hassan Hilmi Pasha, who showed no energy, as up to May he had failed to render assistance to the stations of El Fasher, Dara, Kolkol, and Kebkebia, where the followers of Harûn had hemmed in the Egyptian garrisons. A force had, it is true, been sent from Foga for the purpose, but seemed unable to accomplish the task.

[Sidenote: Gordon arrives in Darfur, June, 1877.]

Gordon arrived himself at Foga on the 7th June, having dismissed, before his departure from Khartoum, Khaled Pasha, who had been sent to him as second in command.

In addition to the revolt in Darfur, Suleiman, son of Zubeir, was now at the head of the slave dealers to the south, and, having a large force at his command, was displaying a threatening attitude. Shakka was his headquarters, and the nest of the slave trade in that part. Gordon, considering the country was scarcely worth keeping, determined to call in all the outlying stations of Darfur, and merely maintain garrisons along the trunk road through El Fasher. Harûn was at Tine, and Gordon intended to move against him with the force at his disposal, reinforced by the garrisons of Taweisha, Dara, and Kagmar, in all about 3,000 men. In July he was at Dara, and Harûn retreated to Tura, whence he ravaged the country to the north, but, seeing Gordon was too strong for him, disappeared for the time.

[Sidenote: Meeting with Suleiman, August, 1877.]

Gordon was at El Fasher in August, but soon after left for Dara, where he heard that the slave dealers were gathering in force. Here he met Suleiman and ordered him to lay down his arms; after some hesitation Suleiman left a large number of his men with Gordon and returned to Shakka; to this place Gordon followed him about the middle of September, and sent him to the Bahr El Ghazal, while the other chiefs he dismissed to various places. The slave trade was thus broken up for the time being in this direction, and very large numbers of slaves were liberated. There were, however, upwards of 4,000 more slave hunters to be dealt with in the Bahr El Ghazal, but Idris, the chief of these, was friendly to Gordon.

[Sidenote: Mikael again giving trouble, 1877.]

Gordon now returned to Khartoum, viâ El Obeid, and proceeded immediately to Bogos, where he heard that Mikael had resumed hostilities. In March, Gordon had proposed to King Johannes that Egypt should retain Bogos, but be answerable for the conduct of Mikael. Now, however, seeing that the latter was not to be trusted, he proposed to King Johannes to join him in seizing and sending him to Cairo. To this Gordon received no answer, and Mikael continued his aggressive action.

On December 26th Gordon writes:—“I am now waiting for a letter from Ras Barion, the frontier General . . . I want to get Johannes to give a pardon to Walad Mikael’s men, in order that, if I have to attack them, I may be able to give them the chance of getting away. If I attack them now, with Abyssinia closed to them, they would fight desperately.”

[Sidenote: Visit of Gordon to Harrar, and dismissal of Rauf Pasha, the Governor, April, 1878.]

At the end of the year Gordon, getting no satisfaction, returned to Khartoum by Suakin and Berber, and, having paid a visit to Cairo, again started for the Red Sea provinces. Having touched at Zeila, he went on in April, 1878, to Harrar. Here he found Rauf, the Governor, had been guilty, not only of oppression, but also of illegal trading on his own account, and immediately dismissed him.

Fresh trouble now arose on the Abyssinian frontier. In March, Walad Mikael attacked, defeated, and killed Johannes’s general, Ras Barion, and got possession of Gordon’s letters, which revealed his real intentions. Mikael had been enabled to make this raid by the assistance rendered to him by Osman Pasha, Gordon’s Wakil, who supplied him with ammunition, and in addition received a congratulatory letter from the Khedive’s Minister of War, urging him to press on his conquest. However, he did not follow this advice; before long he came to terms with the King, and all seemed quiet for a time, though further troubles were soon to crop up.

In July, 1878, Gordon heard of the revolt of Suleiman, Zubeir’s son, and despatched an expedition under Gessi to put it down. The history of Gessi’s campaign will be narrated later on.

The railway scheme at this time occupied the Governor-General’s attention. He considered that the natural outlet for the Sudan trade was from Berber to Suakin, and that the Nile railway idea was visionary. Under Ismail Pasha the work had been commenced, but had come to a standstill in 1877, after an expenditure of some £450,000, and the completion of about 50 miles of line from Wadi Halfa southward. Gordon’s proposal was to use the river where navigable, for small steamers, and to lay tramways in the intervening spaces. The Controllers, however, did not take up his scheme, and the other affairs of his Government prevented him from giving further attention to the subject.

At this time the operations for stopping the slave trade were in active progress, as shown by the fact that within two months 14 caravans had been taken.

[Sidenote: 1878.]

Towards the end of 1878, the Khedive determined to take the Harrar and Zeila districts out of Gordon’s control.

In December, Walad Mikael started to make his submission to King Johannes, and the latter entered into further negotiations with Gordon about the frontier.

One of the King’s demands was for an Abuna, or Archbishop. An Abuna was and is always obtained from the Coptic Church at Alexandria, and was the only person in Abyssinia who could ordain priests.

Gordon had some difficulty just then as to the disposal of 1,300 slave soldiers (“Bazingers”) who had remained faithful to the Government, and finally decided on sending them under Nur Bey Angara,[160] their chief, accompanied by two Europeans, to a zone of country between Wadai and Darfur. These soldiers had been originally kidnapped by Zubeir and trained to arms.

Though Gordon had pointed out that the destruction of Zubeir’s force was the turning point in the slave trade question, he could get no assistance from Cairo.

[Sidenote: The Slave Convention of August 4th, 1877.]

On August 4th, 1877, a Convention had been concluded between Great Britain and Egypt, by which all public traffic in slaves was at once prohibited, while the private trade in Egypt was to be suppressed in 1884, and in the Sudan in 1889. It is curious to note that although it was well known that Zubeir was mainly responsible for the slave trade of the past 10 years, yet he was now at Cairo being treated as an honoured guest, and Nubar Pasha even offered to send him to assist Gordon. The latter, however, declined the offer, and occupied himself by appointing European Wakils to all the frontier posts.

[Sidenote: Gordon starts for Kordofan, March, 1879.]

In March, 1879, Gordon set out for Kordofan. Not only was the revolt in full vigour in Bahr El Ghazal, but there were also risings in Darfur and Kordofan. In the former, Harûn had once more appeared on the scene, and in the latter, the insurgents were led by Subahi, formerly one of Zubeir’s chiefs, who had taken to slave dealing on his own account, had murdered the governor whom Gordon left at Edowa (Eddaiya?), and gone to the hills, where the Egyptian troops under Hassan Hilmi Pasha were making no efforts to attack him.

Gordon’s reasons for undertaking his present expedition were to help Gessi, to prevent partisans of Zubeir in Kordofan sending aid to the slave dealers, to cut off runaways, and to hinder Zubeir’s bands breaking into Darfur and joining Harûn. At the end of March he went to Edowa (Eddaiya), from which station Subahi with 400 men was only four days distant. Many captures of slave caravans now took place, the total number captured since June, 1878, being 63. Shakka was reached on 7th April, where a message was received from Gessi, asking for more troops and ammunition. Gordon now decided that it would be prudent to reinstate the Sultan’s family in Darfur, in the person of the son of Sultan Ibrahim, and telegraphed to the Khedive to send him down, as at that time he was kept at Cairo. In December, 1877, Gordon had found, imprisoned at Suakin, an ex-Vizier of Darfur; he had liberated him and sent him back to the province. Now he appointed him regent until the son of the deceased Sultan arrived from Cairo, and wrote to Harûn pointing out the uselessness of his further opposition, and inviting him to come in and assist to establish the new Sultan. In a letter written at this time he makes the following observation:—“If the liberation of slaves takes place in 1884 [in Egypt proper], and the present system of government goes on, there cannot fail to be a revolt of the whole country. . . . It is rather amusing to think that the people of Cairo are quite oblivious that in 1884 their revenue will fall to one-half, and that the country will need more troops to keep it quiet. Seven-eighths of the population of the Sudan are slaves, and the loss of revenue in 1889 (the date fixed for the liberation of the slaves in Egypt’s outlying territories) will be more than two-thirds, if it is ever carried out.”

[Sidenote: Gordon meets Gessi, June 25th, 1879.]

Gordon, leaving Shakka in April, went by Kalaka, Dara, El Fasher, to Kolkol, which he reached on 26th May; here he relieved the garrison, and returned to El Fasher. At the latter place he heard from Gessi of the capture of Suleiman’s stronghold, and was about to start for Khartoum, when learning that a force of Zubeir’s men was en route for Darfur, he returned to Taweisha, and, on June 25th, he met Gessi who informed him that the last of the rebel bands had been crushed. Leaving Gessi to follow up Suleiman, Gordon now left for Khartoum.

GESSI’S CAMPAIGN, 1878.

[Sidenote: Revolt instigated by Zubeir, 1878.]

Before Zubeir had left for Cairo to push his claims to the Governorship of Darfur, he had made his officers swear that if, during his absence, he sent them word to conform to the arrangements he had made under a certain tree, then they were to revolt.[161] He accordingly did send them orders on finding that his claims were not attended to. The extent of the insurrection was much larger than generally supposed; the chief slave dealers had in their plans apportioned out the provinces of the Sudan among themselves, and even gave out that they would not stop short of Cairo. They were backed up by numerous Arab tribes, and were powerful enough to tax the whole strength of Egypt. It was from the Arabs that most of the slave hunters were drawn, and they looked with scorn and hatred on the Egyptian rule.

Colonel Gordon wrote:—“There is no doubt that if the Governments of France and England do not pay more attention to the Sudan—if they do not establish at Khartoum a branch of the mixed tribunals, and see that justice is done, the disruption of the Sudan from Cairo is only a question of time. This disruption, moreover, will not end the troubles, for the Sudanese, through their allies in Lower Egypt—the black soldiers, I mean—will carry on their efforts in Cairo itself. Now, these black soldiers are the only troops in the Egyptian service worth anything.”

[Sidenote: July, 1878, expedition organised by Gessi.]

In July, 1878, Gordon, hearing that the son of Zubeir (Suleiman) had seized the province of Bahr El Ghazal, at once sent up an expedition commanded by Gessi.

Gessi started up the river, and on his way met with many slave nuggars, and even Government steamers, plying the slave trade under the eyes and with the connivance of the Egyptian Wakils. He first went to Shambe to collect reinforcements, and then struck off in the direction of Rumbek on the river Rohl. His march was greatly impeded by floods, and it was not till the first week in September that he reached the above-named place. Here he heard of the open revolt of Suleiman, who had surprised and massacred the troops at Deim Idris, and was laying the country waste in all directions. The Arabs now began to join Suleiman in large numbers, and his army soon numbered about 6,000 men, Gessi in the meantime had but 300 regulars, 2 guns, and 700 irregular troops; his communication with Khartoum was almost closed by the sudd in the river, which, moreover, together with the rains, caused the whole surrounding country to be flooded and made marching impossible. He accordingly fortified himself at Rumbek till November. He occupied the time in regenerating the province which he found labouring under gross abuses and a staff of corrupt officials.

[Sidenote: November, 1879.]

[Sidenote: Suleiman attacks Gessi, 28th December, 1879.]

[Sidenote: Second attack, 12th January, 1879.]

[Sidenote: Third attack, 28th and 29th January, 1879.]

He was at length able to leave Rumbek on the 17th November, and, after having met with some hostility from the natives on the River Jur, arrived at the Wau on 5th December, where he established a station. He found Suleiman had carried off upwards of 10,000 women and children, and the inhabitants about Wau were greatly incensed against the slave dealers. Having received reinforcements and been joined by a friendly Sheikh, Gessi marched for Deim Idris, which he reached about the middle of December. Suleiman was on his way towards Shakka, thinking himself protected by the floods from an attack from the south, but hearing of Gessi’s arrival at Rumbek he at once turned to attack him with 10,000 men. The attack took place on the 28th December, but was repulsed with great loss after severe fighting. On 12th January, 1879, Suleiman, having been reinforced, again assaulted Gessi’s post, and after two days’ heavy fighting was again driven back. Gessi in the meantime was running very short of ammunition, but in spite of this repulsed a third attack on the 28th and 29th of January. On 11th March, having received some ammunition, he attacked the stronghold of Suleiman, which was constructed of wooden huts and barricades made of trunks of trees. Having set fire to the whole by means of rockets he met and utterly routed the brigands as they sallied out, but had not sufficient ammunition to pursue them. By the beginning of February, Gessi had cleared off many of the slave dealers, and had liberated more than 10,000 of their captives; the result being that confidence was being rapidly restored, and the headmen of tribes were giving their allegiance to the Government.

[Sidenote: Deim Suleiman taken by Gessi, 4th May, 1880.]

On 1st May Gessi having received further reinforcements, marched on Deim Suleiman, which he took by assault three days later, capturing much booty. Suleiman himself escaped, and took refuge in a village some distance off. On the 9th May Gessi with 600 men started in pursuit, and after nine days’ absence returned to Deim Suleiman in triumph, having taken many of the slave dealers, although Suleiman, with Rabeh and Sultan Idris, two noted leaders, had escaped.

[Sidenote: Suleiman captured, 15th July, 1880.]

Though much had been done, the revolt was not, as Gessi thought, completely crushed, and in a few weeks, hearing that Suleiman was meditating a junction with Harûn, he at once went again in pursuit. On the night of the 15th July he surprised the enemy, and although he had only 290 men to their 700, he contrived to conceal the fact, and induced Suleiman to lay down his arms. Fearing that, by plotting with the rebel Abdelgassin, who was at no great distance, the prisoners might escape, he shot the 11 ringleaders, including Suleiman, and dismissed their men to their new countries. Gessi had now broken the neck of the revolt, and aided by the tribes whose families he had freed from slavery, he hunted down the remaining bands. Abdelgassin was caught and shot, and only Rabeh escaped to the west, where he eventually carved a kingdom for himself near Lake Chad, and was killed by the French in 1901 (v. Baron Oppenheim’s Monograph).

GORDON’S MISSION TO ABYSSINIA, 1879.

In August, Gordon arrived at Cairo and conferred with the new Khedive, Tewfik, on affairs in Abyssinia. Walad Mikael and Johannes’s general, Alula, were now plotting a joint attack on Bogos, and Gordon’s proposal that he should at once go and endeavour to settle matters with the King was eagerly accepted by the Khedive.

[Sidenote: Gordon goes to Abyssinia, 1879.]

He landed at Massaua on 6th September, 1879, and finding that Bogos was practically in the hands of the Abyssinians, started on the 11th to meet Alula. The next day he heard that Alula, by the King’s orders, had made a prisoner of Walad el Mikael and all his officers, and that Mikael’s son had been killed. On the 16th Gordon reached Gura, the rendezvous, and, at an interview with Alula, requested him to state the complaints of Abyssinia against Egypt. Alula, on the 18th, replied that he had better see the King himself, and Gordon accordingly left the following day for Debra Tabor, near Gondar. He arrived there on the 27th October. On the 28th October, the King stated his claims as follows:—“You want peace; well, I want retrocession of Gallabat, Beni Shangul, and Bogos, cession of Zeila and Amfila (ports), an Abuna,[162] and a sum of money from one to two million pounds; or, if his Highness likes better than paying money, then I will take Bogos, Massaua, and the Abuna. I could claim Dongola, Berber, Nubia, and Sennar, but will not do so. Also I want certain territory near Harrar.” Gordon asked him to put these demands in writing, and give the Khedive six months for reply. But the King would give no satisfactory answer. On the 6th November there was another interview. The King had evidently been put up to his first demands by the Greek Consul at Suez, who was with him at the time, and now neither liked to withdraw his demands, nor to put them in writing. After some further delays, the King at length gave Gordon a letter and let him go, which he accordingly did, and started for Gallabat, intending to go to Khartoum. Before reaching Gallabat, however, the King had him arrested and brought back through Abyssinia. He reached Massaua, after much privation, on 8th December, and then ended his connection with the Sudan and Abyssinia.

Shortly before his departure he had given up the district Unyoro, and the stations of Mruli, Kodj, Foweira, Keroto, and Magunga were accordingly evacuated by Egyptian troops. Masindi and Kisima had been given up two years before. The Somerset Nile was now the boundary of the Khedive’s territory, and new stations were formed to defend it, whilst the province of Makaraka was also incorporated. Dr. Emin Bey had been made Governor of the Equatorial provinces, with his headquarters at Lado, and under him were the three Mudirs of Makaraka, Kiri, and Magunga. Many improvements had been made in these provinces, and Lado was greatly increased in size and importance.

Rauf Pasha was Gordon’s successor at Khartoum, while a second pasha was given the government of Massaua and the adjacent coast, and a third was appointed to Berbera, Zeila, and the Harrar district. As Gordon pointed out to the Khedive, King Johannes was too much occupied with internal affairs to be able to give further trouble on the border for the present; but in the summer of 1880 the Somalis revolted, and Egyptian troops had to be sent to aid the Governor of Harrar.

Gessi, as Governor of the Bahr El Ghazal, was most successful; he had completely stamped out the slave trade, done much to encourage agriculture, and revived to a great extent the ivory trade.

On the departure of Gordon, however, and in the absence of a strong central government, the slave dealers again showed themselves in other parts, and before long slave caravans were once more on their road to Lower Egypt and the ports of the Red Sea.

[Sidenote: Railway scheme again entertained, 1880.]

Early in 1880 the railway scheme again seems to have occupied the attention of the Khedive, who then visited the Sudan, and expressed himself strongly in favour of a line from Berber to Suakin.

[Sidenote: Gessi’s death, 30th April, 1881.]

In September, 1880, Gessi, finding his position intolerable under Rauf Pasha, Governor-General of the Sudan, resigned his post, and, after having suffered great hardships on the way, on account of the steamers being stopped by the sudd, he at last reached Khartoum; meeting with a cold reception there, he managed to get to Suez, where he soon after died, 30th April, 1881, from the effects of the suffering he had endured. Lupton Bey, an Englishman,[163] succeeded him in the governorship of the Bahr El Ghazal.

In April, 1882, the Sudan was reorganised on paper, and was to be again under one Governor-General with four subordinate governors for the West Sudan, Central Sudan, East Sudan, and province of Harrar. Schools and seats of justice were to be established, and special arrangements to be made for the suppression of the slave trade.

INSURRECTION OF THE FALSE PROPHET, 1881.

[Sidenote: The Mahdi.]

The next great cause of disturbance in the Sudan was the appearance of the False Prophet.

For many years the creed of Mohammed had been making immense strides in Central Africa, where it seems to have a peculiar fascination for the native races; and high authorities estimate the number of converts to this religion at from eight to twelve millions. The idea of the regeneration of Islam by force of arms had gained a strong hold over the enthusiasm of these new converts, and on the appearance of the False Prophet in August, 1881, thousands flocked to his standard.

The person in question was a Sheikh named Mohammed Ahmed, the son of a carpenter, and a native of Dongola. He was born about the year 1848, and educated in a village near Khartoum, where he studied religion. In 1870 he became a Sheikh, and after a short stay at Kaka, near Kodok, he finally took up his residence on the Island of Aba. Here his influence much increased, he gradually acquired a great reputation for sanctity, and in time assembled a considerable number of dervishes or holy men around him. He augmented his influence by marrying daughters of the leading Sheikhs of the Baggara, and by his power and tact succeeded in merging together the various tribes.

The principles of his teachings were universal equality, universal law and religion, with a community of goods. All who refused to credit his mission were to be destroyed, whether Christian, Mohammedan, or Pagan.

The causes of the rebellion were ascribed to—

1. The venality of the officials, and the oppressive and unjust manner of collecting the taxes.

2. The suppression of the slave trade. Most of the supporters of the Mahdi, more especially the Baggara tribes, owed all their wealth to their traffic in slaves.

3. The military weakness of Egypt. This was not, however, any real cause of rebellion, as the troops in the Sudan would have been sufficient, had they been properly handled.

[Sidenote: 1881. May.]

In May 1881 the Mahdi first advanced his claims to being the prophet foretold by Mohammed.

[Sidenote: July.]

In July Rauf Pasha, then Governor of the Sudan, had his attention drawn to these pretensions. The Mahdi was then living at Marabia, near the Island of Aba.

[Sidenote: August.]

In August he publicly proclaimed his mission during the Feast of Ramadan, and small parties of troops were sent to dispose of him, but failed to do so. He first showed himself in force in the neighbourhood of Sennar, and then took refuge in the Shilluk country, finally taking up his position at Jebel Gedir, about 90 miles west of Kaka on the White Nile.

[Sidenote: 9th December.]

A force of 350 regulars, under one Rashid Bey, attacked the Mahdi, but were defeated with loss.

The latter, having recruited his force, began early in spring to threaten the province of Kordofan.

[Sidenote: 1882. 4th March.]

Rauf Pasha was now recalled, and Abd el Gader appointed in his place. Pending the arrival of the latter, Giegler Pasha was temporarily appointed.

[Sidenote: April.]

In April a concentration of troops was directed on Kaka, and 3,000 men collected there, whereby the garrisons throughout the country were much reduced.

[Sidenote: May.]

The rebels, taking advantage of this concentration, attacked Sennar, and had many minor successes in that part of the country, until they were dispersed by Giegler Pasha, who arrived about the middle of May.

[Sidenote: 11th May.]

Abd el Kader reached Khartoum on the 11th May.

[Sidenote: 14th May.]

On the 14th the Egyptian troops were successful in an action near El Obeid, the result of which, however, was unimportant.

Towards the end of May Yusef Pasha, Governor of Kodok, was ordered to march with the force from Kaka against the Mahdi, who was in the hills at Gedir. After great delays, Yusef set out with a large disorganised force of several thousand men and swarms of camp-followers; but the rains had begun, and progress was slow.

[Sidenote: 7th June.]

On the 7th June, the Egyptian army came face to face with the rebels in a densely wooded country. A zeriba was commenced, and the troops were formed up in hollow square, but the rebels broke in upon them, defeated, and utterly destroyed the whole force.

This crushing defeat placed the Egyptian Government in a critical position, and gave great impetus to the insurrection.

The Mahdi now sent a portion of his army, under Wad el Makashif, across the White Nile by the ford of Abu Zeid, to threaten Sennar. He remained himself for some weeks at Gedir, though detachments of his following were raiding in Kordofan.

[Sidenote: 24th June.]

On the 24th June the rebels attacked Bara, but were repulsed with heavy loss.

[Sidenote: 17th June.]

On the 17th an attack was made on Um Shanga, in Darfur, but was likewise repulsed; but towards Shakka an Egyptian force of 1,000 men was almost annihilated on the 20th July.

Many minor engagements were fought upon the lines of communication between Kordofan and Dueim, which resulted in favour of the rebels.

[Sidenote: August.]

At the beginning of August the Mahdi, with the bulk of his forces, was at Jebel Gedir; a second army was wasting Kordofan; a third stretched along the White Nile from Dueim to Geziret Aba on the north-east, and from Kaka to Marabia on the east bank.

[Sidenote: 19th August.]

The rebels were defeated at Bara, and El Obeid was revictualled.

[Sidenote: 23rd August.]

On the 23rd Dueim was attacked, but the rebels were here driven back with a loss of 4,500 men; and Makashif, who was advancing on Khartoum, was also defeated with heavy loss about the same time.

[Sidenote: 4th, 5th, 6th September.]

The Mahdi now took the field in person and advanced on El Obeid. On three successive days, he made desperate assaults on the garrison, but on each occasion he was repulsed with great slaughter. The rebels are said to have had 10,000 men killed, while the Egyptian loss is put down at 288. These disasters caused great loss of prestige to the Mahdi, who had never heretofore been defeated when personally leading.

[Sidenote: 24th September.]

A relief column of about 2,000 men was now sent from Dueim under Ali Bey Satfi, and was directed on Bara. This column had two engagements with the enemy, in the first of which it was successful, but the second time was defeated with a loss of 1,130 men, the survivors making good their retreat to Bara.

[Sidenote: 9th, 10th October. 10th November.]

In October Bara was attacked with great determination on two successive days, but the rebels were driven off with great loss. The Mahdi then blockaded both El Obeid and Bara. About this time an expedition under a Sheikh, sent against Dueim, was defeated, and the leader captured and hung at Khartoum.

At the end of the year El Obeid had a garrison of 3,000 men, and Bara 2,000; both were reported to be well provisioned. Reinforcements were daily arriving at Khartoum.

[Footnote 153: For subsequent Governors-General, vide p. 280.]

[Footnote 154: On a journey from the East Coast.]

[Footnote 155: Dr. Emin Bey.]

[Footnote 156: “Provinces of the Equator,” published by the Egyptian General Staff.]

[Footnote 157: See p. 184.]

[Footnote 158: Zubeir Pasha was permitted to return to the Sudan shortly after the fall of Omdurman (1898) and now resides at Geili on the Nile, about 30 miles north of Khartoum.]

[Footnote 159: Edward Schnitzer.]

[Footnote 160: Surrendered to Colonel Parsons at Gedaref (1898), and now living at Omdurman.]

[Footnote 161: This is altogether denied by Zubeir Pasha, and the Conference between him and Gordon in Cairo (1884) goes to show that there are two sides to this story. Slatin Pasha in “Fire and Sword” explains the other side. (F. R. W.)]

[Footnote 162: Archbishop.]

[Footnote 163: Captain of a Red Sea merchant steamer.]

(To face page 247.)

Spotted a typo or a problem in this chapter? Tell us