The break-up of the White Nile slave-trade
involved the depression of trade in Khartoum, as the market had supplied
the large bands of slave-hunters. The ivory of the numerous adventurers
still remained in the White Nile stations, as they feared confiscation
should their vessels be captured with the ever accompanying slave cargo.
Thus little ivory arrived at Khartoum to meet the debts of the traders
to the merchants in Cairo and Alexandria. These owed Manchester and
Liverpool for calicoes supplied, which had been forwarded to the Soudan.
The direct blow at the White Nile slave-trade was an indirect attack
upon the commerce of the country, which was inseparably connected with
the demand of the Soudan employers of brigands.
This slight outline of the situation will exhibit the difficulties of
the Khedive in his thankless and Herculean task of cleansing the Augean
stables. He incurred the wrath of general discontent; his own officials
accused him of deserting the Mahommedan cause for the sake of European
Kudos, and while he sacrificed his popularity in Egypt, his policy was
misconstrued by the powers he had sought to gratify. He was accused of
civilizing "through the medium of fire and sword" by the same English
journals which are now extolling the prowess of the British arms in
Caffraria and the newly-annexed Transvaal!
In this equivocal position it would have been natural either to have
abandoned the enterprise at the termination of my own engagement, or to
have placed a Mahommedan officer in charge of the new provinces. 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. It had been
necessary to commence operations below stream, to enable the blocks of
vegetation to escape when detached by cutting from the main body.
The White Nile was restored to navigation a few months after my return
to England, and was clear for large vessels by the time that Colonel
Gordon arrived in Khartoum.
I had originally sent up six steamers from Cairo to ply between Khartoum
and Gondokoro; these had been simply employed as far as Fashoda station,
but as the Nile was now open, they at once established a rapid and
regular communication with the equatorial provinces. The terrible
difficulty had vanished, and Gondokoro was linked with the outer world
from which it had been excluded. The appliances which had been prepared
with much care could now be utilized. With the river open, supplies and
reinforcements could be immediately forwarded, and the ivory which had
accumulated in the government stations could be brought to market. In
addition to the physical advantages of restored communication, a great
moral change was effected throughout the officers and troops; they felt
no longer banished from the world, but accepted their position as
garrisons in Egyptian territory.
At Gondokoro I had constructed a steel steamer of 108 tons, and I had
left ready packed for land transport a steamer of the same metal 38
tons, in addition to two steel life-boats of each 10 tons, for
conveyance to the Albert N'yanza. At Khartoum I had left in sections a
steamer of 251 tons. All these vessels had been brought from England and
conveyed with incredible trouble upon camels across the deserts to
Khartoum.
Before my arrival in the Soudan the entire river force of steamers upon
the Blue and White Niles was represented by four very inferior vessels.
I had added six from Cairo, and built a seventh; thus I left a force of
eleven steamers working on the river, exclusive of two in sections.
The stations garrisoned by regular troops were -
1. Gondokoro, N. lat. 4 degrees 54 minutes.
2. Fatiko, N. lat. 3 degrees 2 minutes.
3. Foweera, N. lat. 2 degrees 6 minutes.
4. Fabbo, N. lat. 3 degrees 8 minutes.
By the newly-raised irregulars -
5. Farragenia.
6. Faloro.
In this position of affairs Colonel Gordon succeeded to the command in
the spring of 1874. Although the Bari tribe, which had been subdued, was
nominally at peace, it was hardly safe to travel through the country
without an armed escort.
