In dealing with the Chieftains of the tribes which dwelt on the shores of the lakes, the Governor was above all to try to win their confidence. He must respect their territory, and conciliate them by presents, and whatever influence he gains over them, he must use in the endeavour to persuade them to put an end to the wars, which they so often make on each other in the hope of carrying off slaves. Much tact would be needed, for should he succeed in stopping the slave trade, while wars were still waged among the chiefs, it might well come to pass that, for want of a market, the prisoners would, in such a case, be slaughtered. Should he find it needful to exercise a real control over any of these tribes, it will be better to leave to the chieftains the direct government. Their obedience must be secured by making them dread his power.
He made the journey to Khartoum without any mishap or serious difficulty, reaching there
in May, 1874, and was installed in office on the fifth. A royal salute from the government house guns was fired in honour of this event; the new Governor-General was, of course, expected to make a speech, after the order of his predecessors. But all he said was, “With the help of God I will hold the balance level.” This was received with the greatest enthusiasm, for it evidently pleased the people more than if he had addressed them for an hour. His attention was soon directed towards the poverty-stricken and helpless people all around him. He caused special enquiries to be made; then he began to distribute his gifts of charity to all who he believed were really in need; and in three days he had given away one thousand pounds of his first year’s salary. He had not been long in the Soudan before he realized the tremendous responsibilities he had assumed; and with all his strength of character, and his trust in his Almighty, ever-present Friend, it is not to be wondered at that when alone in the trackless desert, with the results of ages of wrong-doing before him, this man of heroic action and indomitable spirit sometimes gave way to
depression and murmuring; although this was exceedingly rare. If we remember what he had already done and suffered for down-trodden humanity. And that now he was doing heroic work for the true hero’s wages—the love of Christ, and the good of his fellow-men. He was labouring not for himself, but as the hand of God in providence, in the faith that his work was of God’s own appointing. The wonder is that in the face of perils so dangerous, work so difficult, and sufferings so intense, that his spirit was not completely crushed and broken. We must bear in mind, his work there was to secure peace to a country that appeared to be bent on war; to suppress slavery amongst a people to whom it was a second nature, and to whom the trade in human flesh was life, and honour, and fortune. To make and discipline an army out of the rawest recruits ever put in the field, to develop and grow a flourishing trade, and to obtain a fair revenue, amid the wildest anarchy in the world; the immensity of the undertaking, the infinity of detail involved in a single step toward this end, the countless odds to be faced; the many pests, the deadly climate, the nightly and daily alternations of overpowering heat, and of bitter cold, to be endured and overcome; the environment of bestial savagery, and ruthless fanaticism;—all these contributed to make the achievement unique in human history.
He was face to face with evil in its worst form, and saw it in all its appalling effects upon the nation and its people. He seemed to have everything against him, and to be utterly alone. There stood in front of him the grim ruined land. He faced it, however, as a saint and soldier should do; he stood for right, truth, and for God.
“He would dare to do right. Dare to be true
He had a work that no other could do;
He would do it so wisely, so bravely, so well,
That angels might hasten the story to tell.”
After some time he writes:—
“How the Khedive is towards me I don’t know, but thank God he prevents me caring for any one’s favour or disfavour. I honestly say I do not know anyone who would endure the exile and worries of my position out here. Some might fear if they were dismissed, that the world would talk. Thank God! I am screened from that fear. I know that I have done my best, as far as my intellect would allow me, for the Khedive, and have tried to be just to all.”