After all their hard work and suffering in attaining the promised
paradise, they found only additional labour awaiting them, as they had
to wander several miles in search of long thatch-grass and timber to
construct the new station, in which fatigue they were entirely
unassisted by the sullen inhabitants.
Added to these disappointments, the men were hungry, and no cattle could
be purchased from my new subjects, who were obstinate and refractory.
I had a serious conversation with Sheik Allorron, during which I clearly
defined our relative positions, and represented to him in the strongest
terms the folly of trusting to the support of Abou Saood and his people
against the government, as they were all subjects of the Khedive and
bound to obey my orders. At the same time I informed him of the absolute
necessity of cattle for the supply of the troops, which I promised to
pay for.
I clearly saw that the miserable policy of these people was to starve
the troops into the supposed necessity of evacuating the position, and
returning to Khartoum. I represented to Allorron the danger of trifling
with a hungry lion, at which he grinned, as a good joke, and immediately
replied: "If you want cattle, I will give you some of my people as
guides, and you can attack a neighbour of mine, and capture his herds,
which will last you for a long time." I replied, that I could not injure
any one who had not committed an offence, but as he for the last time
refused assistance, I should not permit his herds to graze upon my
pasturage; therefore I begged they might be confined to the island.
At the same time I officially invited Allorron and all the headmen of
the country, including the sheik of Belinian, to an entertainment. I
intended, formally and officially, to annex the country to Egypt.
On May 26, 1871, all was in order. A flag-staff about eighty feet high
had been neatly erected by Lieut. Baker on the highest point of land
overlooking the river. Every small bush had been cleared away, and the
position in the centre of an open park-like country would have formed an
admirable race-course. The troops, having had two days' rest to wash
their clothes and burnish up their arms and accoutrements, marched from
the station at Gondokoro at 6 A.M.
I had 1,200 men on the ground, including ten mountain rifled guns
throwing 8 and 1/4 lbs. shell.
In their clean white uniforms, with the neat koofeeia or sun-cloth,
which, covering the head, drooped gracefully upon the shoulders, the
troops showed to great advantage, as they marched with the band playing
from head-quarters to the flagstaff above my station. As they filed
through the green trees, and then formed into sections of companies as
they emerged into the open ground, the effect was exceedingly good, and
the sheik, Allorron, and his friends, the headmen of many villages,
looked with amazement upon a scene that was altogether new to them.
Having arrived opposite the flag-staff, the troops formed in line two
deep on the flat grassy surface of the heights above my station. The
long row of glittering bayonets and the gay uniforms of the officers
bewildered the astonished natives. All the sailors, servants, and
camp-followers were dressed in their best clothes. The prevailing
colours, white and red, looked exceedingly gay upon the close and even
surface of the green turf. My staff was composed of my aides-de-camp,
Lieutenant Baker, R.N., Lieut.-Colonel Abd-el-Kader, together with three
other officers, and Mr. Higginbotham. At that time the horses were all
in excellent condition.
Having ridden along the line and halted beneath the flag, the troops
formed three sides of a square with the flag-staff in the centre. The
fourth side, facing the river, was then occupied by the artillery, with
ten guns.
The formality of reading the official proclamation, describing the
annexation of the country to Egypt in the name of the Khedive, then took
place at the foot of the flag-staff. At the termination of the last
sentence, the Ottoman flag was quickly run up by the halyards and
fluttered in the strong breeze at the mast-head. The officers with drawn
swords saluted the flag, the troops presented arms, and the batteries of
artillery fired a royal salute.
This ceremony being completed, the troops marched past; after which,
they formed in order for a supposed attack upon an imaginary enemy, and
fired away about ten thousand rounds of blank cartridge in the advance
down the long slope which led to the temporary camp and tents erected
for the entertainment. Here the bugle sounded "disperse," and all the
men immediately set to work to light fires and prepare the food that had
been already supplied for their dinners. I believe this was the only day
of real enjoyment that the troops had had. The hours passed in rest and
sleep until sunset.
I had invited fourteen of the officers to dine with me, and our party of
eighteen was easily accommodated on the roomy poop-deck of my diahbeeah.
The Englishmen had a table to themselves in the garden, and were regaled
with roast beef and real English plum-pudding, that, having been brought
out in tins for Christmas Day, could not be found during the voyage;
therefore it added to the feast of the "day of annexation," and was
annexed accordingly by English appetites. This was washed down and
rendered wholesome by a quantity of pure filtered water from the river
Nile, which was included in the annexation; and was represented in the
Nile Basin mixed with Jamaica rum, sugar, nutmeg, and lemon-juice from
the fruit of the trees planted by the good Austrian missionaries at
Gondokoro.
