Instead
Of This, His Highness Adhered Most Strictly To His Original
Determination, And To Prove His Sincerity He Entrusted The Command To An
English Officer Of High Reputation, Not Only For Military Capacity, But
For A Peculiar Attribute Of Self-Sacrifice And Devotion.
Colonel C. E.
Gordon, R.E., C.B., was appointed Governor-General of the Soudan and
equatorial districts, with supreme power.
This appointment extinguished the delusions which had been nourished by
the Soudan authorities, "that at the expiration of Baker Pacha's rule
the good old times of slavery and lawlessness would return." There was
no longer any hope; the slave-trade was suppressed, and the foundation
was laid for the introduction of European ideas and civilization. It
will now be interesting to trace an outline of the advance of Egypt
during the last five years.
The main difficulty in my original enterprise was the obstruction of the
White Nile by the accumulation of matted vegetation, which impeded
navigation, and actually closed the river. Upon arrival at Gondokoro,
after the tedious process of cutting through 50 miles of swamp and
vegetable matter, via the Bahr Giraffe, I had requested the
Khedive to issue an order that the Governor of Khartoum should
immediately commence the great work of re-opening the White Nile.
His Highness without delay forwarded the necessary instructions, and in
two years the work was completed by Ismail Ayoob Pacha, with the loss of
several vessels which had been overwhelmed by the sudden bursting of
vast masses of floating swamps and entangled reeds.
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