I saw the loving
couples standing hand in hand. Some of the girls were pretty, and my
black troops had shown good taste in their selection. Unfortunately,
however, for the Egyptian regiment, the black ladies had a strong
antipathy to brown men, and the suitors were all refused. This was a
very awkward affair. The ladies having received their freedom, at once
asserted "woman's rights."
I was obliged to limit the matrimonial engagements, and those who were
for a time condemned to single blessedness were placed in charge of
certain officers to perform the cooking for the troops and other
domestic work. I divided the boys into classes; some I gave to the
English workmen to be instructed in carpenter's and blacksmith's work;
others were apprenticed to tailors, shoemakers, &c., in the regiment,
while the best looking were selected as domestic servants. A nice little
girl, of about three years old, without parents, was taken care of by my
wife.
When slaves are liberated in large numbers there is always a difficulty
in providing for them. We feel this dilemma when our cruisers capture
Arab dhows on the east coast of Africa, and our government becomes
responsible for an influx of foundlings. It is generally quite
impossible to return them to their own homes, therefore all that can be
done is to instruct them in some useful work by which they can earn
their livelihood. If the boys have their choice, they invariably desire
a military life; and I believe it is the best school for any young
savage, as he is at once placed under strict discipline, which teaches
him habits of order and obedience. The girls, like those of other
countries, prefer marriage to regular domestic work; nevertheless, if
kindly treated, with a due amount of authority, they make fair servants
for any rough employment.
When female children are about five years old they are most esteemed by
the slave-dealers, as they can be more easily taught, and they grow up
with an attachment to their possessors, and in fact become members of
the family.
Little Mostoora, the child taken by my wife, was an exceedingly clever
specimen of her race, and although she was certainly not more than three
years old, she was quicker than most children of double her age. With an
ugly little face, she bad a beautifully shaped figure, and possessed a
power of muscle that I have never seen in a white child of that age. Her
lot had fallen in pleasant quarters; she was soon dressed in convenient
clothes and became the pet of the family.
On June 17, 1 sent the No. 9 steamer to Khartoum with the post, together
with three sons of Quat Kare, who were to represent their father at the
divan of Djiaffer Pacha. The old man declined the voyage, pleading his
age as an excuse. Mr. Wood also returned, as his health required an
immediate change to Egypt. On the 25th, four vessels arrived from the
south, two belonging to Kutchuk Ali, one to Agad, and one to a trader
named Assaballa, from the Bahr Gazal. The latter had thirty-five slaves
on board. The others had heard, by some vessels that had gone up from
Khartoum, that I had formed a station near the Sobat, and had captured
the vessel and slaves of Kutchuk Ali, thus they had landed their slaves
at the Bahr Giraffe station. The Bahr Gazal vessel having arrived from a
different direction had not received the information. I seized the boat
and cargo, and liberated the slaves.
On board the diahbeeah of Kutchuk Ali were four musicians, natives of
Pongo, on the river Djoor. Their band consisted of two iron bells, a
flageolet and an instrument made of hard wood that was arranged like the
musical glasses of Europe. The latter was formed of ten pieces of a
metallic sounding-wood suspended above long narrow gourd shells. Each
piece of wood produced a separate note, and the instrument was played by
four sticks, the ends of which were covered with india-rubber. The
general effect, although a savage kind of harmony, was superior to most
native attempts at music.
The station of Tewfikeeyah had now assumed an important aspect, and I
much regretted that when the time should arrive for our departure to the
south it would be abandoned: however, I determined to keep all hands
employed, as there is nothing so demoralizing to troops as inaction. At
the same time there was a general dislike to the expedition, and all
trusted that something might happen that would prevent another attempt
to penetrate the marshes of the Bahr Giraffe. There was much allowance
to be made for this feeling. The seeds of dangerous disorders, that had
been sown by the malaria of the swamps, had now exhibited themselves in
fatal attacks of dysentery, that quickly formed a cemetery at
Tewfikeeyah.
The Egyptian troops were generally sickly and dispirited, and went to
their daily work in a slouching, dogged manner, that showed their
passive hatred of the employment.
I arranged that the sailors should cultivate a piece of ground with
corn, while the soldiers should be employed in a similar manner in
another position. The sailors were all Nubians, or the natives of
Dongola, Berber, and the countries bordering the Nile in the Soudan.
These people were of the same class as the slave-hunter companies, men
who hated work and preferred a life of indolence, lounging sleepily
about their vessels. I quickly got these fellows into order by dividing
them into gangs, over which I placed separate headmen, the captains of
vessels; one superior officer commanded, and was responsible for the
whole.
They only worked six hours daily, but by this simple organization I soon
had thirty acres of land cleaned. The grass and roots were burnt in
piles, the ashes spread, and the entire field was dug over and sown with
barley, wheat, and dhurra.
