We shall now leave Abou Saood in Cairo, where he spread the false report
of the massacre of Lady Baker and myself, which reached England and
appeared in the newspapers in April 1873.
After Abou Saood's departure from Fabbo, the influence of Wat-el-Mek
began to be felt, and many men flocked to the government standard.
Nevertheless, that station was a scene of anarchy. The slave-hunters
were divided among themselves. The party that followed Wat-el-Mek were
nearly all Soudanis, like himself, but the Arabs were split up into
companies, each of which had elected a separate leader. This dissension
was exactly what I desired, and I played the game accordingly. As I have
before stated, I wished to avoid physical force.
Ali Genninar, whom I had engaged at Masindi, was an excellent fellow,
and before Abou Saood deserted the country, he had been the first man to
arrive at Fatike and unite with the government. He now collected
sixty-five men, whom I at once enrolled, and having given them their
government flags, I started them off without delay to support Rionga in
Unyoro, and recalled Abd-el-Kader and his troops to Fatiko. At the same
time I sent Rionga many valuable presents.
There were several terrible scoundrels at Fabbo, among whom was
Salim-Wat-Howah, who, together with Lazim, had threatened to shoot Major
Abdullah in his own camp during my absence in Unyoro.
