Another bit of information which Mosconas gave me was that some Arabs and Greeks breed from slave-women, who are kept for profit just as cattle are in England. The children born under these circumstances are sold by their fathers.
Having had a long chat with Mosconas, I next paid a visit to Herr Schumann’s collection of wild animals. I found a large building and yard occupied by them. Schumann himself was away some distance from Kassala, amongst the Beni-Amir tribe, where he had a zareeba. He collected animals there, and sent them on to his manager at Kassala. Just before the rainy season commenced, about May, he would go on himself, with quite an army of attendants, across the Nubian Desert to Souâkin with his collection; then take them to London, Liverpool, Hamburg, Vienna, and America, where they would be sold. Here he had four giraffes, four gazelles, three fine antelopes, as tame as lambs, a nice, amiable little baby elephant, five young lions, chained to rickety old posts, which rattled up, as they darted at a passer-by, in a very alarming manner, nine infant leopards, two or three young hyænas, eight ostriches, some wild hogs, baboons, tiger-cats, and other animals.
CHAPTER XII.
CAMELS FROM THE ATBARA—THE MUDIR—GORDON PASHA’S CHARACTER IN THE SOUDAN—FERTILITY OF THE SOUDAN.
January 15th.—Messrs. Colvin and A. James, with their attendants, returned this afternoon from the Atbara, having purchased thirty-four camels. This rather astonished the natives here, who had no idea that we could do without theirs, and quite thought we should be obliged eventually to buy their camels, and of course give them a good price. Whilst our friends were gone to the Atbara, we bought sixteen camels, eight ponies, a number of sheep, and some milk-giving goats, so that we could have milk with our porridge every morning for breakfast. It was decided to-day that we must hire a few more camels for our march from here to the Beni-Amirs, and leave Kassala on the 17th.
January 16th.—Mosconas dined with us to-night; he says that a year ago King John’s nephew, of Abyssinia, whilst fighting with some of the Arab tribes, was killed, and that a Shukeryiah Arab took out his heart and ate it on the spot. He said that these Hadendowahs, Beni-Amirs, Shukeriyahs, Hamrans, and others, are always fighting, either with the Abyssinians or amongst themselves, and that in consequence of the frequent raids made by the Egyptian governors on the Arabs for taxes, the latter frequently hide their money in the ground, putting oil on it to prevent discolouration. He also informed me that the present Mudir of Kassala was a very sharp fellow, and extremely successful in squeezing money out of the poor Arabs, but that Gordon Pasha, when he was Governor of the Soudan, was very kind and lenient, frequently remitting taxes when he thought they were unduly pressed.
Now my own opinion of Gordon Pasha is that he was a just, honest, and honourable man, whose sole aim was, not to extort all he could from these poor Arabs, and so make himself popular at head-quarters, but to do that which was simply right between man and man, just to those who employed him, and to those whom he ruled. I believe I should not be far wrong in saying that all Egyptian governors who preceded and succeeded him were extortionists. What a charm his name had in the Soudan, amongst different tribes in different parts! I have noticed that when Gordon’s name was mentioned the Arab’s countenance would become radiant with pleasure, as if calling up recollections of a good friend in bygone days, and with a significant, “Ah! Gordon Pasha,” they would begin to expatiate on his good qualities in such a way that I could not help thinking that he had more influence amongst them than any man living. The fact is, that these poor down-trodden Arabs had, unknowingly, adopted one of our own texts, “Prove all things, hold fast that which is good.” Gordon Pasha was kind to them, and when he passed his word he would keep it, whether it clashed with the interests of the Khedive or not. He was the only man as a governor whom they trusted as children would their father, and who never forfeited their confidence. All his actions were summed up in the words justice, truth, and duty.
A wit’s a feather,