MAY 9 1884 THE CORNHILL MAGAZINE. MAY 1884. DIARY OF THE LAST EUROPEAN WHO RODE THROUGH THE DESERT FROM BERBER TO SUAKIN 6 THE fiat had gone forth-I was under sentence of death, for the doctors had declared I was dying, and had informed General Hicks that unless I quitted the Soudan I should be a dead man in three weeks. Now the fact is, my illness was due to no climatic cause,' but to erroneous medical treatment after being poisoned by drinking Nile water impregnated with the filth of an Egyptian camp. This occurred during the Senaar campaign-that victorious campaign in which for once, and once only, the Egyptian troops were brought to face the furious onslaught of the Arabs: I mean at the battle of Marabiah, four days south of Kawa, opposite the south-east side of the Isle of Abba, when, in solid square, our little army of 4,500 with six English officers beat back the swarms of Bagarras, led on by the desperately gallant chiefs of the Mahdi, who, like their Saracen ancestors, invariably attack à l'arme blanche-even though it be certain death to them. On the evening of July 15, at the hour of sunset-one of those glorious sunsets seen only in Central Africa-I embarked, on six months' forced leave, on my dahabeeah lying off Gordon's old quarters at Khartoum, where Baron von Seckendorf, Captain Massey, and myself had been billeted for six weeks on our return from the campaign above alluded to. Hicks Pasha, Colonel Farquhar, Colonel De Coëtlogan, Captain Massey, Captain Warner, and Captain Evans came to bid me fare 1 Notes from Col. the Hon. J. Colborne's (Hicks' Staff) Journal. VOL. II.—NO. 11, N. S. 21 well. Little did I think it would be the last. I was very angry with the doctors, as I inwardly felt I was recovering, although desperately pulled down and weak. Poor Hicks's last words to me were: Instead of being angry with the doctors, you ought to be excessively obliged to them.' I think so too! Vale! Vale! The ropes are cast off, and now as I drop down the river, the nodding plume-like foliage of the palm-groves of Khartoum is silvered by the moon, that Rising in glorious majesty, burnishing with a sheen of matchless beauty the fast-flowing river, whilst here and there stand out in sharply cut relief against the sky the graceful curves of the far-sweeping yards of the Nile boats lying tranquilly at anchor. My boat's crew consisted of twelve Arabs, varying in shade from a light olive to a dark brown. Under a fresh southerly breeze we sped rapidly down the stream. The monotonous sound-something between a creak and a groan -of the sakieh' wheels on the bank was from time to time relieved by the sharp cry of Hhales!' from the reis, whose crew responded by a vociferous 'Hader!' as they slackened sail to avoid the sudden squalls which abound on the Nile. Passing the ruins of Tamamat, we arrived in the course of the next day at the sixth cataract,3 a place which has proved fatal to many a Nile boat. The evidences of this were apparent, and The sakieh is an apparatus in universal use for irrigation. It consists of a vertical wheel suspended over the well or cistern. Over the wheel is hung an endless chain, the lower portion of which dips into the water. To this chain are fixed a series of earthenware pitchers, which, as the wheel revolves, carry the water from the well and deposit it in a trough or spout communicating with the channel of irrigation. The motive-power is furnished by oxen, and is communicated to the vertical wheel by means of a horizontal toothed-wheel, on the principle of the bevel-wheel in modern machinery. This is turned by the ox, who plods round in a circle, attached to a long shaft. The sakieh is invariably shaded by a tree or an artificial arbour. 2 Tamamat was burnt in 1844 during the slave revolt, which was to have broken out simultaneously at Senaar, Kassala, and Khartoum. The negroes who had fled were overtaken beyond Senaar and massacred. This so-called cataract is an irregular rocky obstruction, a somewhat tortuous passage through which was blasted by Moon-tur, a former governor, the only upright one they ever had. Under his direction one of the highest clusters of rocks in the Nile was cleared away in two months among other wrecks was one of a small steamer. The river at this point is held in the rigid embrace of precipitous rocks, whose base is clad with rank vegetation, though their summits stand out weird and naked against the sky. I was forcibly reminded of my passage up with General Hicks, when our steamer grounded, and we had to haul on our cable for a painful half-hour before we got afloat. We next reached Shendy, now a straggling village, shorn of its former importance as the head-quarters of the Shaygyeh tribe, a powerful race dwelling on the eastern bank of the Nile. Shendy, obscure as it is to-day, is noteworthy as having been a stronghold of resistance to Egyptian conquest. The flame of insurrection which burns so fiercely to-day has been long smouldering in Shendy, which was the scene of a terrible tragedy in 1821. Ismail Pasha, the son of the great Mehemet Ali, was sent by his father to collect tribute and obtain the submission of Nimr, the chief of the Shaygyehs, who had earned the sobriquet of the 'Tiger of Shendy,' on account of his ferocity. Ismail treated the 'Tiger' with contumely, and went so far as to strike him with the stem of his chibouk. This blow, however, seems to have struck a brilliant idea into his head. He no longer pleaded for time to meet the demands of Ismail, but promised immediate compliance, and retired from the presence of the bullying Pasha. He called together his family and the head-men of his former subjects, and represented to them the insatiable nature of the demands. They then hit upon a plan by which they thought to be relieved from all further spoliation. Camels, sheep, horses, corn, ‘dourra,' and money were collected and brought to the Pasha with the greatest alacrity and cheerfulness, and, moreover, the Egyptian troops were invited by the inhabitants to partake of a banquet. Every dainty which Shendy could afford was liberally provided for the Egyptians, who washed down their repast with copious libations of Merissa.1 The Pasha's guard and the sentries were treated with the same hospitality, and the most sumptuous food was placed before Ismail himself. Implentur veteris Bacchi.? 1 Merissa is a kind of beer in universal use in the Soudan and Upper Egypt, and is probably the same as that mentioned by Herodotus. It is made from maize (dburra), which is left to germinate in the sun and then reduced to flour by handmills. The flour is then converted into dough, boiled, and then left to ferment. It is a thick and unpalatable preparation. 2 For reteris Bacchi, read Merissa. |