2. Sultan Hamed Wad Musa bound himself to enter into commercial relations with the Congo Free State, and establish intercourse between it and the Darfur frontier districts, and agreed to give protection to all officials of that State travelling in his country.
3. The Congo Free State bound itself to assist Sultan Hamed Wad Musa in all his undertakings, and uphold his authority in the country.
This treaty was signed in August, 1894, by Hamed Wad Musa and the representative of the Congo Free State; and was witnessed by Sultan Zemio and the Sultan of Tiga, the names of the two latter being written in European characters.
I hurriedly translated these papers verbally to the Khalifa, and was much interested in seeing how, on this occasion, his curiosity got the better of his suspicions; though he did all he could to prevent me from noticing this.
"I did not summon you," he said, "merely to translate these letters, which, after all, are of not the smallest importance to me, though I have instructed Mahmud Ahmed to drive out these Christians, who are only travellers, and in small numbers, from the Bahr el Ghazal Province; but I have also a proposal to make to you. I look upon you as one of us,—as my friend and faithful adherent,—and I have decided to publicly make known this fact by giving to you as a wife one of my cousins,—one of my next of kin. What have you to say to this?" This offer did not greatly surprise me; for he had several times hinted as much. I was perfectly well aware that his object was not to publicly show appreciation of me, but to have me carefully watched in my own house. He wished to place me under surveillance in order to discover if I had any secret relations with outside countries. Through trusty friends, I had ascertained that he earnestly sought some plausible grounds for making me, as he called it, "harmless;" but in doing so he wished to justify his action before the public, by showing me more consideration as a foreigner than if I had been a native. I knew too well, however, that a man of his unscrupulous determination, who had not spared his best friends, such as Ibrahim Adlan and Kadi Ahmed, would not hesitate to take full advantage of the slightest proof of my disloyalty in order to rid himself of me.
"Sire," I replied, "may God bless you, and give you victory over all your enemies. I feel highly honoured by your magnanimous offer; but hear of me, I pray you, the truth. Your relative is not merely descended from royalty, but from the Prophet himself. She therefore deserves to be treated with every consideration. Unfortunately, I have a very quick temper, and at times have great difficulty in controlling myself. Domestic quarrels would undoubtedly arise, which might be the cause of estrangement between you, my master, and myself. My only desire is to remain in your greatest favour. I pray God this may ever be so; for I dread the occurrence of anything which might cause me to fall into disfavour."
"I have known you now intimately for ten years," said the Khalifa; "and I have never known you to be thoughtless or quick-tempered. I have often presented you with wives, and they have never complained to me of domestic quarrels. It is true, however, that I have heard you have either made presents of them to your servants, or have given them their liberty. It seems to me that although you pretend to be one of us, you really wish to adhere to the manners and customs of your tribe. [He did not refer to religion, as I suppose he thought that might hurt my feelings.] I mean that you wish to have only one wife."
"Sire," I replied, "you have often honoured me with presents of slaves; but you surely do not wish me to be their slave. If I have married them to my servants, or sent them away, it is because they have been disobedient, or have behaved badly. You have been misinformed, if you think that I wish to adhere to the custom of my country to have only one wife; for I have already three."
"Very well," he said, "I believe you; and so you refuse to marry my cousin?"
"Sire," I replied, "I do not refuse; but I merely inform you of my uncertain temper, so that I may prevent unpleasantness in the future. Indeed, I am highly honoured by your kind offer; and I beg you to try and see if I am worthy of it." He understood perfectly well that what I had said was tantamount to a refusal; and he closed the conversation by making a sign to me to withdraw. This offer had placed me in a most difficult position. I thoroughly understood the Khalifa. By not joyfully accepting his offer, I had hurt his pride; and now I longed more than ever for liberty. Some months before, I had sent a Sudanese merchant to Cairo, and had begged the Austrian Consul-General to place, through him, the necessary means at my disposal to effect my escape. But how often had I attempted negotiations of this sort through merchants and others, and how often had I been doomed to disappointment and failure.