That there is any assistance to be expected, under the circumstances, from the Khedive, is quite a delusion. It is commonly supposed that the ruler of Egypt is a despot of the purest water; this, however, is a great mistake. In many respects the Egyptian Government is extremely mild; criminals and officials who have been remiss in their duty are rarely severely punished, and the only delinquency that it will not overlook is the refusal to pay taxes; and even here matters would not be so bad, if it were not that the disorderly administration involves the officials in making encroaching demands. The Viceroy has little power over the higher authorities, who manage to sneak behind the Crescent of Stamboul; he is no more than a Viceroy; the high-sounding Persian title of Khedive which he assumes is in reality no more than a title. He can only issue his orders, and then all boats that come down the White Nile are confiscated; and in Khartoom especially, where it is good policy to make a stir in the eyes of the European residents, all kinds of repressive measures are proposed; in displaying their zeal in the cause, the authorities often commit acts of the greatest injustice, and Mohammedans sometimes find their wives and families sequestrated as slaves, merely because they happen to be black. Such proceedings afford a fine opportunity for the subordinate officials to make a harvest out of the injured people by extorting ransom-money, and by making other extortionate demands. I can myself bear witness that several of my servants were deprived of their wives and children and put into chains, and I had to write to the Minister, and accompany the people to Cairo myself, before I could get justice done to them and their rights restored; and all this was only for the purpose of throwing dust in my eyes and inducing me to report upon the wonderful energy displayed by the local government in Khartoom.
But meantime, the caravans find their way just the same as ever through Darfoor and Kordofan to Dongola and Siout, and still they are brought from Abyssinia through Gallabat to the Red Sea, and no one sees them but the traveller. In Kordofan, where there is a resident Egyptian Governor, the trade is truly enormous, and there is now as well the slave-trade from Darfoor. Siout, the common termination of the roads, is the only place where this trade can be cut off, and that could only be effected by the heaviest sacrifices for the commerce of Egypt. The conquest of Darfoor by the Egyptians would consequently be a great step in advance; but I most emphatically protest against Ismail Pasha being allowed to send Turkish troops into the heathen negro-countries, for it may literally be said that “where they have been, no grass will grow.” The kindest thing that the enlightened ruler of Egypt can do for these lands is to leave them alone; they are not productive, and if they were, they are too far from the navigable rivers to make any of their products that are in less demand than ivory of any mercantile value.
FOOTNOTES:
[82] The Baggara butter is of an excellent quality. It is packed in wicker baskets, which are made impervious to damp by being smeared inside with the pulp of the balanites.
[83] The Fakis who come from Darfoor are probably the only people in the world who still practise the abominable business of emasculating boys, and eunuchs are rapidly becoming more rare.
[84] These belong to the tribes of the Sehre, the Nduggoo, the Fakkerey, the Baddoh, and the Tabboh, &c.
[85] A rottoli is equal to 15 oz. 13 drs. avoirdupois. Thirty rottoli is here a somewhat imaginary weight, being not worth more than eighteen Egyptian rottoli.
[86] The portrait on the following page is that of a Babuckur slave bound by a leather rope. Her piteous expression of countenance shows her distress at her condition.
[87] The accompanying illustration represents one of the daily scenes in my travelling life, and may serve to give an idea how slavery degrades a woman almost to a level with the brutes. A newly-captured slave, with the heavy yoke of the sheyba fastened to her neck, has been sentenced to work at the murhaga, whilst a boy, who has been placed as a spy to keep a constant watch upon her conduct, holds up the yoke in order that it should not interfere with the freedom of her movements.
[88] I should point out that the total number of the soldiers maintained in the Bahr-el-Ghazal district by the twelve great mercantile firms in Khartoom amounts to 11,000. I have here given the lowest computation.