CHAPTER XII.

CAMELS FROM THE ATBARA—THE MUDIR—GORDON PASHA’S CHARACTER IN THE SOUDAN—FERTILITY OF THE SOUDAN.

January 15th.—Messrs. Colvin and A. James, with their attendants, returned this afternoon from the Atbara, having purchased thirty-four camels. This rather astonished the natives here, who had no idea that we could do without theirs, and quite thought we should be obliged eventually to buy their camels, and of course give them a good price. Whilst our friends were gone to the Atbara, we bought sixteen camels, eight ponies, a number of sheep, and some milk-giving goats, so that we could have milk with our porridge every morning for breakfast. It was decided to-day that we must hire a few more camels for our march from here to the Beni-Amirs, and leave Kassala on the 17th.

January 16th.—Mosconas dined with us to-night;[155] he says that a year ago King John’s nephew, of Abyssinia, whilst fighting with some of the Arab tribes, was killed, and that a Shukeryiah Arab took out his heart and ate it on the spot. He said that these Hadendowahs, Beni-Amirs, Shukeriyahs, Hamrans, and others, are always fighting, either with the Abyssinians or amongst themselves, and that in consequence of the frequent raids made by the Egyptian governors on the Arabs for taxes, the latter frequently hide their money in the ground, putting oil on it to prevent discolouration. He also informed me that the present Mudir of Kassala was a very sharp fellow, and extremely successful in squeezing money out of the poor Arabs, but that Gordon Pasha, when he was Governor of the Soudan, was very kind and lenient, frequently remitting taxes when he thought they were unduly pressed.

Now my own opinion of Gordon Pasha is that he was a just, honest, and honourable man, whose sole aim was, not to extort all he could from these poor Arabs, and so make himself popular at head-quarters, but to do that which was simply right between man and man, just to those who employed him, and to those whom he ruled. I believe I should not be far wrong in saying that all Egyptian governors who preceded and succeeded him were extortionists. What a charm his name had in the Soudan, amongst[156] different tribes in different parts! I have noticed that when Gordon’s name was mentioned the Arab’s countenance would become radiant with pleasure, as if calling up recollections of a good friend in bygone days, and with a significant, “Ah! Gordon Pasha,” they would begin to expatiate on his good qualities in such a way that I could not help thinking that he had more influence amongst them than any man living. The fact is, that these poor down-trodden Arabs had, unknowingly, adopted one of our own texts, “Prove all things, hold fast that which is good.” Gordon Pasha was kind to them, and when he passed his word he would keep it, whether it clashed with the interests of the Khedive or not. He was the only man as a governor whom they trusted as children would their father, and who never forfeited their confidence. All his actions were summed up in the words justice, truth, and duty.
A wit’s a feather,
A chief’s a rod,
An honest man’s the noblest work of God.

As I am writing this (March 30th, 1884), I cannot help thinking that, had Gordon Pasha been sent out to the Soudan nine months ago, before the wave of rebellion had increased to raging billows, sweeping over the land, we should have been spared the painful events which have taken place there quite[157] lately, and by this time the Mahdi would have been little heard of. Then Gordon Pasha would have come on them like the noon-day sun, and all the tribes would have flocked round him as a deliverer, whilst the Mahdi would have been powerless, and relegated to the obscurity from which he had sprung. What a country Egypt and the Soudan might become under British rule! In Lower Egypt we should form a net-work of canals in communication with the Nile, as in the days of Pharaoh; then thousands upon thousands of acres, which to-day look sterile deserts, would be made to yield enormous quantities of sugar-cane, cotton, flax, dhurra, &c., and at least two crops in the year could be obtained. Politics I have nothing to do with. I am simply giving an expression to an opinion which I formed when in the Soudan and Egypt. This opinion I expressed in January, 1882, when in the Soudan, and subsequently very many times since in England. It is a source of great satisfaction to me that so eminent an authority as Sir Samuel Baker, F.R.G.S., entertains the same ideas. As things now are, extensive cultivation in the Soudan would be almost useless, the only means of exporting their products being by the very slow method of camels to the nearest sea-port; taxes would increase, and the only people who would derive any benefit would be the Egyptians, not the[158] Arabs. If we ruled there we would appoint an English governor, who would let the Arabs live on their own industry, if they had any, and, if not, bring the fallaheen there, and take only a reasonable share of taxation. We should put down a railway from Souakin to Kassala, from there to Massawah and elsewhere. We should sink wells, and erect engines which would pump up sufficient water to irrigate thousands of acres of the most fertile land. These lands require no manuring, nothing but clearing, scratching the rich alluvial deposit, and putting in the seeds. The crops when gathered could then be transported by rail to Souakin, which would soon become a flourishing port, could, in fact, be transferred direct from central Africa to any English port within three weeks or so. Senna, coffee, tobacco, cotton, sugar, flax, dhurra, wheat, oats, oranges, lemons, and I don’t know what, could be grown there without the least trouble, besides which, hides, honey, beeswax, and other things would be abundant. I was so struck, soon after we left Kassala, with the immensely fertile appearance of the soil, and the vast extent of country capable of cultivation, and of producing two crops a year at least, that I mentioned this to Mr. Colvin, as we rode side by side on our camels, afterwards making a note of the same in my diary.

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Every night of our stay at Kassala the monotonous beating of the tom-tom would commence about 8 p.m. and continue incessantly till about twelve, accompanied by the most extraordinary shrill trilling note of a female every now and then. It seems there had been a death in the family, and on all occasions of great joy and sorrow this unpleasant musical entertainment is at once provided. Mosconas tells me that, after a death, the mourners go on in this kind of way every night for about a month, and a very irritating performance it is to our untutored English auditory nerves. We found the white ants very troublesome here. They are very destructive little insects, and, I believe, will destroy everything but iron and stone. If a strong, solid, leather portmanteau be left on the ground for two or three nights, they will destroy it, but if two stones, sufficient to raise it an inch or two from the ground, be placed underneath, they will not touch it, and if we encamp on sand we are safe from them. They destroyed all the matting laid down in our tents during the few days that we were here, although it was taken up and beaten every day. Scorpions as well as white ants were frequently found underneath the matting. This is very cheap, indeed; we therefore secured a fresh lot.