The Greek told the Greek Consul that the Mahdi was perplexed to know what on earth I was doing up here, as I had no part or lot in the Soudan. I expect this question is more perplexing for others than the Madhi (myself included). I must confess that the pepper business has sickened me; I had hitherto hoped I had to do with a regular fanatic, who believed in his mission, but when one comes to pepper in the finger nails, it is rather humiliating to have to succumb to him, and somehow I have the belief that I shall not have to do so. One cannot help being amused at this pepper business. Those who come in, for pardon, come in on their knees, with a halter round their neck. The Mahdi rises, having scratched his eyes and obtained a copious flow of tears, and takes off the halter! As the production of tears is generally considered the proof of sincerity, I would recommend the Mahdi’s recipe to Cabinet Ministers, justifying some job. The nails (so say the Greeks) must be long! to contain the pepper.
September 15.—Another escaped soldier came in this morning; reports that they are waiting orders of the Mahdi, and do not mean to attack the lines. Charity thinketh no evil. She was not in the Soudan, for I declare, what with the tricks of the officials here, Charity would have had a bad time of it.
They say the Mahdi, when he goes out and sees a woman carrying a jar of water, rushes at her and begs to be allowed to carry the water. He rushes up to the Sitt[43] even as I do, only I have not tried the water-carrying.
It appears that the pepper business is of old date in the Soudan, and not invented by the Mahdi.
The strength of eastern potentates is the seclusion they live in; they are sacred. Once they are known, they are done for, and perhaps the Mahdi coming here will do for him. As long as he could put the misdeeds of his subordinates on them, he was all right, but when the people see that he does nothing to rectify wrongs, his prestige ought to go.
This afternoon one of Seyd Mahomet Osman’s family came up from Shendy; he reports the Stewart expedition having passed Shendy,[44] that they captured a large boat with grain and twenty-four slaves, which was collecting taxes for the Arabs. He reports as true the arrival of troops at Dongola; that the Mudir of Dongola has quieted his province; that the Arab chief Mahomet el Khair, of Berber, on hearing troops had come to Dongola, sent round to collect the Arabs, promising them $20 a month, half responded to the call, and came to Berber and asked for their pay. Mahomet el Khair sent them to a house where he said the money was (the Government money, the celebrated £60,000 which was given to me at Cairo!) When they entered the house, no money was found, and Mahomet el Khair explained it by saying the devil had caused it to enter the earth! He then pretended that the Mahdi had sent for him, and bolted. He seems to have seen he could not hold out. If he goes to the Mahdi, and does not account in some better way for the disappearance of the money, I fear it will go hard with him, for the Mahdi, although he allows certain freedom in miraculous events, is likely to be chary in allowing such events among his followers, especially when they affect his pocket.
Another captured soldier escaped and came in. He says the Arabs begin to notice these diminutions of their men, and to be very strict. Nearly all the soldiers knew me personally in Darfour.
As for the £60,000 which has been lost and stolen by Soudan Arabs, it is only a tithe of what has been stolen from the Soudan by the Egyptian Pashas, that effete race, so I do not regret it.
We hope to finish another of those small steamers in twenty days, like the Abbas (which went down to Dongola with Stewart), and in another forty days to complete another one, this will complete the four steamers bought by Colonel Prout[45] in 1878; one of them, the Mahomet Ali, is in the hands of the Arabs, having been surrendered by Saleh Bey.
I should not be surprised if Berber surrendered to Stewart’s expedition. It was a miserable defence it made, and the people were never very much inclined for the Mahdi. I cannot help thinking Cuzzi was at the bottom of its surrender.