The soldiers’ boys receive pay from the day of their birth, and having attained their eleventh year, are drafted into the ranks as drummers or pipers; when they subsequently increase in strength they advance to the musket. On the whole, a military anarchy may be almost said to reign predominant; and it is indeed an arduous undertaking for the colonel to keep order among these undisciplined troops. Their present commander, however, appears to be better fitted to the task, and also to have the design of paying greater attention to the subject; for he insists upon a more rigid discipline, but will tolerate no ill-treatment; and I am convinced that he is most likely to succeed in bringing about an improved subordination, as everything may be expected from the negroes by stimulating their ambition.
The Bedouins, those children of the desert, enticed by vain promises from their native plains, to them still dear, though neglected by nature, are to be pitied indeed; for they have but slight hopes of ever being able to return to their homes; receive a miserable pay after waiting for it for a long time, like the rest of the troops; and are expected to find themselves in clothing, horses, and accoutrements out of their own pockets. Their sheikh must supply all deficiencies, and if a man lose his horse is forced to procure him another, whilst the Bedouin has to resign all claims on pay, until the sum the new animal cost is defrayed; and thus it often happens that the poor fellow must serve during three or five years gratuitously. The government allows no compensation, even if the horse be killed on actual service. It will now be understood what kind of services may be expected from these men. Although they are not deficient in personal valour, in cases where it is required, and are certainly equal to the rest of the troops in courage and bravery, if they do not surpass them; yet they never confidently meet the enemy, as a natural consequence of this absurd system, for they are always thinking of their horses, on these occasions, and often take to flight at the most decisive moment, to avoid sustaining a loss. It has frequently even happened on slave-hunts in which service they are generally employed, that the van-guard, on being surprised by the enemy, has turned to the right about in disorderly flight, and thrown the infantry, by which it was to be supported, into confusion; so that the latter were obliged to retreat in all haste, and to form again, in order to stand the charge of the pursuing enemy. If the government were to treat the Mogghrebeen like the rest of the cavalry, and when they had lost a horse in service, were to provide them with another, or at least to allow some proper indemnification, they would prove a far more efficient body of men. This corps is, moreover, not treated as it deserves; for if one of them happen to be on the sick list he is not even admitted into the infirmary. Certainly, as far as my experience bears me out, they are far better off in this respect than those who have the misfortune to be received into the hospital at Lobeid, whilst under the direction of medical men who have pursued the whole course of their studies from beginning to end at Abusabel.[53] There is more discontent among these Bedouins or Mogghrebeen, as they are also termed, (although they constitute the less number of the body,) than in any other corps. The greater part of them are quartered at Lobeid, the rest are distributed over the country, where they perform a species of gens d’armes duty. The circumstance of their being used by the government as catchpolls, and the excess of which they are frequently guilty in their ill-humour and discontent, render them obnoxious to the natives, and they themselves take no pains to heal the breach or to remove this ill impression. They are of robust constitution, and can defy the climate and all weather. An instance presenting the opportunity of convincing myself of their capability of bearing more than ordinary men came under my own observation. It appears, indeed, an adventure á la Münchhausen, but I can vouch for the truth, for I was not the only person present at the time, but several thousands witnessed the feat:—The governor held a review of all the troops prior to a march, the occasion was a slave-hunt. After inspecting the Mogghrebeen, he commanded them to dismount; in the confusion attending this movement, a horse broke loose and ran away. Some of the men pursued it on horseback, whilst others endeavoured to catch it on foot: and thus it happened that a Bedouin who tried to stop the animal came in collision with it, his forehead, indeed, striking the front of the horse. Both man and beast instantly fell, the horse dead on the spot, but the man survived the shock for several days.
Their arms consist of a long gun, two pistols, and a sabre; their colours are a green silk flag, which they regard as sacred, and two kettle-drums attached to the saddle-bow of the drummers are beaten on a march by way of music, which is, of course, very monotonous. These troops are irregulars, and their attacks are always made with impetuosity, and in the greatest disorder. Hence the first moment is decisive, whether they shall keep the ground, or seek their safety in a precipitate flight.
The third detachment of troops, stationed in Kordofan, consists of about forty men of artillery. I have been present at their ball practice, and have, therefore, had the opportunity of convincing myself of their performances. Of fifty balls scarcely one hit the target, and even the successful shot must be ascribed to perfect chance, for the men have not the slightest conception of charging or pointing their guns. The pieces of ordnance are in a most lamentable condition; the carriages, warped by the excessive heat, give no firmness to their bearings, and the officers and men have no idea of remedying the defect. Repair is totally out of the question, and thus these field-pieces are dragged about from place to place, as long as it is possible, when their services are required, charged, pointed at hazard at the object against which they are employed, and fired without further consideration. The effect of their balls may be easily guessed; during the first slave-hunts, when they attacked a hill, several shots were generally fired at an object without one ball ever taking effect. The negroes were, indeed, alarmed at the terrible report, and even put to the rout; but they soon became accustomed to the noise, and, subsequently, paid but little attention to it, when they perceived no other effect than noise and smoke. The artillery men are all Turks, and when they are enlisted at Cairo no one questions what their prior occupation consisted in; it is, in fact, all the same whether they were shoemakers or tailors by trade, they are enrolled as artillery, and must, henceforth, act in that capacity.
The military, in general, have a great deal to suffer, for, besides being hated by the people, as the executioners of the cruel punishments to which the poor natives are frequently condemned by the government, they do not lead the most agreeable life themselves, inasmuch as they are only paid once a-year. They are obliged to serve for the term of their natural lives, and are nothing but slaves in the strictest sense of the word. If a man fall sick, he is, indeed, admitted into the hospital, but this is a perfect place of horror to the soldier, for, as soon as he enters the infirmary, he may make his will and prepare for his latter end, so few are fortunate enough to escape with their lives. It would really be more humane to allow the soldiers to cure themselves after their own fashion; and I am convinced that the majority of those literally murdered by the doctors and apothecaries from sheer ignorance, would be yet living to put them to the blush. Before I was aware of the frightful mortality in the hospitals, I expressed my sorrow for the poor Mogghrebeen who are refused admission, and severely censured the government for its cruelty; but I subsequently convinced myself that they have every reason to think themselves fortunate in not being received into those houses of slaughter. I procured, indeed, the bills of mortality of the regiment, and that of the corps of Mogghrebeen, compared the number of deaths amongst the three thousand troops of the line and the number of patients in the hospital, with those of the eight hundred men, Bedouins, who receive no medical relief, but cure themselves by domestic remedies, and found a result of twenty-seven per cent. of deaths among those killed in the hospital above the rate of mortality of the Mogghrebeen, who are left entirely to themselves. The Egyptian doctors and apothecaries, scarcely escaped from the elementary schools and placed on their own footing, treat the sick soldiers like cattle, never dream of diagnosis, prescribe whatever enters their heads, and care very little whether they save a man’s life or murder him.
The hospital consists of a few hovels of clay, covered with a straw roofing; they are ill-ventilated, and, in the wet season, the rain beats in upon the sick soldiers through the narrow windows, as they are not furnished with glass; the cold nights, moreover, prove very severe trials, especially to those who are suffering from small-pox. The invalid lies on an angareb, and is left to his fate. The medical man hurries through the whole hospital in one single visit, which he pays after sunrise, prescribes what he has been reading up for the occasion at home, without inquiring into the disease, and every order is given on the principle of “Allah kerim!” I have several times had the opportunity of convincing myself of the unparalleled neglect with which the hospital patients are treated, for, on my arrival at Lobeid, I found but one European medical man, Dr. Iken, a native of Hanover, who was too ill to do duty, and shortly afterwards died. It is a common saying, that an apothecary is no physician, and, vice versâ; but we know by experience that there are many apothecaries who are sufficiently well educated to be able to prescribe a remedy in cases of urgent necessity; we may, however, form an idea of the want of medical knowledge of an Arabian apothecary, when the doctor of medicine is himself ignorant, and we may also guess what the poor patients who fall into their hands have to expect or suffer between them. In Europe, the sick soldier is desirous of being admitted into the hospital, because he is convinced that he will there receive speedy and certain relief. In Lobeid, the contrary is observed, for the invalided men are obliged to be dragged to the infirmary by force, because they stand in so much awe of this terrible place, that every disease increases as soon as they know that they are to enter the establishment; and thus the greater number keep their sufferings secret as long as they possibly can. The apothecary who performed the duty of the medical man in the infirmary paid his visit once daily, and, on his arrival there, it depended, properly speaking, on the nurses what medicines the patients should take. Of these subordinate functionaries, even, there was a great deficiency, for, as fast as they arrived from Cairo, they were taken off their duties and employed by the doctor and apothecary in private practice; for by these means they were enabled to earn more than their pay, for which they always had to wait twelve months. This extensive apothecary, who acted in the capacity of pharmaceutist and medical man, usually commenced a categorical conversation with the nurse, without seeing any one of the patients; the following dialogue took place during one of my visits to the establishment.
Apothecary.—“How is No. 1?”
Nurse.—“He is still feverish.”
Apoth.—“It cannot be helped, for I have not had a drachm of quinine for several months past, and I have no other febrifuge; he will get better in time without physic. How is No. 2?”
Nurse.—“He died last night.”