He seemed very
incredulous that it would actually be enforced; but I recommended him
not to make the experiment of sending cargoes of slaves down to
Khartoum, as he had done in previous years. He appeared to be very
confident that because his employer, Kutchuk Ali, had been promoted to
the rank of sandjak, with the command of a government expedition, no
inquiry would be made concerning the acts of his people. No greater
proof could be given of the insincerity of the Soudan authorities in
professing to suppress the slave trade, than the fact that Djiaffer
Pacha, the governor-general of the Soudan, had given the command of an
expedition to this same Kutchuk Ali, who was known as one of the
principal slave-traders of the White Nile.
"April 14. - One of my black soldiers deserted, but was captured. We also
caught a sailor who had deserted to the slave-hunters during our passage
up the river, but as we returned unexpectedly he was discovered. The
colonel, Raouf Bey, reported this morning that several officers and
soldiers had actually purchased slaves to-day from Kutchuk Ali's
station; thus, the Khedive's troops, who are employed under my command
to suppress the slave trade, would quickly convert the expedition into a
slave market. I at once ordered the slaves to be returned, and issued
stringent instructions to the officers.
"I saw this afternoon a number of newly-captured slave women and girls
fetching water under the guard of a scoundrel with a loaded musket. I
know that the station is full of slaves; but there is much diplomacy
necessary, and at present I do not intend to visit their camp.
"April 15. - To prevent further desertions, it was necessary to offer an
example to the troops. I therefore condemned the deserter who was
captured yesterday to be shot at noon.
"At the bugle call, the troops mustered on parade in full uniform. The
prisoner in irons was brought forward and marched round the hollow
square, accompanied by muffled drums.
"The sentence having been declared, after a short address to the men,
the prisoner was led out, and the firing party advanced. He was a fine
young man of about twenty years of age, a native of Pongo, who had been
taken as a slave, and had become a soldier against his will.
"There was much allowance for desertion under the circumstances, and I
was moved by the manly way in which he prepared for death. He cast his
eye around, but he found neither sympathy nor friends in the hard
features of the officers and men. The slave-trader's people had turned
out in great numbers, dressed in their best clothes, to enjoy the fun of
a military execution. The firing party was ready; the prisoner knelt
down with his back towards them, at about five paces distant.
