November 21.—I do not believe one person has died of hunger during the 8-11/30 months we have been shut up. Ferratch Ullah Bey, in Omdurman, signalled, “Yes, I have 230,000 rounds, but I fire a lot every day.” Now this is a corker, for I do not believe he fires ten rounds without my personal knowledge, and I estimate his expenditure of ammunition at under 2,000 rounds per diem. By this I expect he wants me to open the road to him, and ammunition is only an excuse; but I do not care to risk a defeat, or a momentary success, attended with a lot of wounded (we have sixty wounded in hospital now). To-day year came the news to Kartoum of Hicks’ defeat. He left this on the 3rd September. The Greek Consul and the Greek doctor describes the arrival of news thus at Kartoum: At night came in the Bordeen with Coetlogon from the White Nile. The Greek Consul was in his house. Marquet, the French Consul, came to his house and said, “Come to my house, by the garden.” He went to Marquet’s house; he found Hussein Pasha Cheri, Ibrahim Pasha Haidar, Coetlogon, Power, and Hansall. He was told “Hicks is finished.” The Consul sent a telegram to Towfik, “Hicks finished.” Then Towfik sent a telegram that he would send up reinforcements that night. Towfik had a large party at the Abdeen Palace, and reports were rife that something bad was in the air, but nobody knew anything. Since that day no aid has come to Soudan. I hear that the day before yesterday two corporals (one who had come in from the Arabs), five soldiers, and a clerk, all Soudan soldiers, deserted to the Arabs. This was never reported to me. I expect the officers have robbed them.
Ferratch Ullah Bey, of Omdurman, signals he has only 43,000 rounds left. This, out of 230,000 rounds, and I feel sure he tells fibs, and is acting in order to force me to relieve him, which I shall not attempt. He says he has had twenty-five wounded and eleven killed. Church parades all round to-day. The Arabs fired at Bourré and at Tuti this morning.
To-day I discovered a robbery of Ruckdi, my old clerk, about which there could be no doubt whatever, so I have turned him out, and written to cancel his being made a Bey. A woman came in from the Arabs. She says the Expedition left Merowé for Berber, and that Mahomet Achmet will try, on Monday, the 24th November, to take Omdurman Fort. This is disagreeable news! However, I have done what I can, and one can do no more than trust now. What has been the painful position for me is that there is not one person on whom I can rely; also, there is not one person who considers that he ought to do anything except his routine duty. We have now been months blockaded, and things are critical; yet not one of my subordinates, except the chief clerk and his subordinate, appears to-day. I had to send for them, and wait till they came, perhaps an hour. “It is Friday, and it is unreasonable to expect us at the office,” is what they say. My patience is almost exhausted with this continuous apparently never-ending trial; there is not one department which I have not to superintend as closely as if I was its direct head. The officer who commanded the post from which the men deserted never told me, but says he told Ferratch Pasha. This Ferratch Pasha denies, and so it goes on, tissues of lies, and they no more care about being found out than not. It is indeed hopeless work, and yet, truly, they have been treated most handsomely in every way. Nearly every order, except when it is for their interest, has to be repeated two, and even three, times. I may truly say I am weary of my life; day and night, night and day, it is one continual worry.[244]
Our breastworks at Tuti are bothering the Arabs near Omdurman. A soldier came in from the Arabs; he had nothing to say of importance. We have got a breastwork also towards Goba, on the Isle of Tuti. I have given those improvident troops 15,000 okes of biscuits. I sincerely hope I may never be besieged with such a garrison another time. A slave came in, and reports “that Berber has been taken by the troops from Kassala, and that the Arab Governor of Berber arrived at the Mahdi’s two days ago (perhaps the caravan we saw yesterday);” also that “the four steamers have gone to Berber, one being disabled, or aground, or sunk!” If this is the case, it is that brute Nutzer Bey or Pasha who (keeping himself well under cover) has disobeyed my repeated orders as to “not taking the steamers against the guns, but to stay quietly at Shendy and wait for the Expedition.” The last order that I sent him was that “I would cancel his appointment as Pasha if he dared to disobey me again.” But of what avail is that?
November 22.—Slight firing at Bourré and Goba this morning. A soldier deserted to the Arabs last night, with his rifle.
A soldier and a slave came in from the Arabs. It appears more Shaggyeh deserted to the Arabs than the four I mentioned, but it seems perfectly impossible to find out the truth, or even the number of Shaggyeh there are.
I am terribly anxious for the fort at Omdurman, and am trying to devise some means of occupying the Arabs, and diverting their attention elsewhere. Omdurman Fort signals they are all right; they had another man wounded. Up to date we have had, passing through the hospital, 242 wounded. We have had some 1800 to 1900 killed (between 17th March and 22nd November).
This is the present state of affairs; the Arab camps are about five miles from the city.
Camp C is on river.