by G. A. Henty
Chapter 15: Khartoum.
There was no pause or rest for the troops who had been fighting, for somany hours, in the heat of the African sun. It was all important tooccupy Omdurman before the remnants of the Khalifa's army reached it;and as it was known that the Khalifa himself had returned there, it washoped that he might be captured.
It was ten o'clock when Macdonald's brigade fired their last shot. Inhalf an hour, the troops went forward again. The field presented aterrible appearance, being thickly dotted with dead, from the SurghamHill across the plain; and round, by the Kerreri Hills, to the spotwhere Macdonald's brigade had made their stand. There werecomparatively few wounded; for, wiry and hardy as they were, thewounded Dervishes, unless mortally hit, were for the most part able tocrawl or walk away; which they had done unmolested, for on eachoccasion after the bugle sounded cease firing, not a shot was fired atthem. But of dead there were fully ten thousand, scattered more or lessthickly over the plain.
From the position in which they were placed, the Egyptian troops, asthey marched south, passed the spot where the Khalifa's flag was stillflying, as it had been left after its last defenders had fallen.Slatin, who was with the army, rode over the plain at the Sirdar'srequest, to ascertain if any of the Dervish leaders were among thefallen. He recognized many, but the Khalifa, his son Ed Din, and OsmanDigna were not among them. The last-named had ever been chary ofexposing himself, and had probably, as was his custom, viewed thebattle from a safe distance. But round the flag were the Khalifa'sbrother, Yacoub, and ten or twelve of the leading emirs.
On our side, the loss had been comparatively light. Our total number ofcasualties, including the wounded, was five hundred and twenty-four;towards which Macdonald's brigade contributed one hundred andtwenty-eight. Marching steadily on, the force halted in the outlyingsuburb of Omdurman, at midday, to obtain much needed food and water. Assoon as the cavalry had watered their horses, they were sent round tothe south of the town to cut off fugitives, and some of the gunboatsmoved up to their support.
Deputations of the townsfolk, Greeks and natives, came out and offeredto surrender. They said that the Khalifa was in his house, and that hehad about a thousand of his bodyguard with him, but that they could notoffer any successful resistance. The town was full of fugitiveDervishes; many thousands of them were there--among them a great numberof wounded.
At half past four the Sirdar, with his staff, entered the town;accompanied by Maxwell's Egyptian brigade. Only a few shots were fired.The Dervish courage was broken. It was to the followers of the Prophet,and not to the infidels, that the plains of Kerreri had proved fatal.It was their bodies, and not those of the white soldiers, that werestrewn there so thickly. The promise of the Khalifa had been falsified,the tomb of the Mahdi was crumbling into ruins, the bravest of theirtroops had fallen--what more was there to be done?
As Slatin Pasha rode in at the head of the troops, he was instantlyrecognized by the people, among whom, for years, he had been aprisoner; and on his assurances that mercy would be shown to all, ifthere was no resistance, numbers of the Dervishes came out from theirhouses and huts, and laid down their arms.
The women flocked out into the streets, uttering their long andquavering cries of welcome. To them the entry of the British was arelief from a living death, as almost all were captives taken in war,or in the Dervish raids upon quiet villages. They could scarce even yetbelieve that they were free--that their tyrants were slain orfugitives.
Intense was the surprise and relief of the population, when they weretold that there would be no looting--no harm done to any by theconquerors; that all would be free, if they chose, to depart to theirhomes, and to take their few belongings with them.
The scene in the town was awful--the stench overpowering! The Dervisheswere absolutely ignorant of all sanitary methods--pools of the foulestslush abounded, and thousands of dead animals, in all stages ofdecomposition, lay about the streets. Among them were numerous deadbodies, principally of girls and women, who had been killed by theirbrutal husbands or masters, to prevent them from falling into the handsof the British. There were also many dead Dervishes, and othersdesperately wounded.
Strangely enough, the latter did not seem to regard their victoriousenemy with the hate that had been exhibited by many of the wounded inthe field; and some of them half raised themselves, and saluted theSirdar and his staff as they passed along.
Presently, there was a commotion in the crowd. The wall of the greatgranary had been breached, by some of the lyddite shells, and the grainhad poured out into the street. The natives near ran up to gather it;and, finding that they were not molested by the British, the newsspread rapidly. The crowds in the streets melted away; and theinhabitants, for the most part half starved, made a mad rush to thespot, where in a short time many thousands of men, women, and childrenwere hard at work, gathering and carrying off the grain.
In the meantime the Sirdar, with a party of Maxwell's brigade, passedalong by the side of the great wall enclosing the buildings, and squaremile of ground, in which were the Khalifa's house, the tomb of theMahdi, the arsenal, storehouses, and the homes of the principal emirs.
As soon as they had turned the corner of the wall, in view of the tomband the Khalifa's house, a brisk fire was opened by the garrison.Fortunately, the wall was not loopholed, and they had to get on the topof it, or on to the flat roofs of the houses, to fire. Maxwell's mensoon silenced them, and on the troops passing in through the breaches,and along the wall, most of the Dervishes at once surrendered.
For a time, further advance was barred by an inner wall, that stillintervened between them and the Khalifa's house. After the gunboats'fire had cleared away a number of the Dervishes clustered outside thesouth wall, the Sirdar and his staff entered by a gateway, and movedtowards the Khalifa's house. This was searched by Slatin Pasha, andseveral officers and soldiers; but, to the general disappointment, itwas found that the Khalifa had escaped but a short time before,carrying with him his treasure; his wives having been sent off, as soonas he returned from the field of battle.
The Mahdi's tomb was a ruin. A large portion of the dome had beenknocked away, and the falling fragments had smashed the iron railingsthat surrounded the tomb, itself.
There was nothing more to be done. The pursuit of the Khalifa, mounted,as he would be, on fresh horses, was out of the question. It wasalready almost dark, and men and horses had been at work since beforedaybreak. The town was in a very disturbed state--large numbers of theDervishes were still possessed of their arms, and the greater portionof the troops were withdrawn from the pestilential town. Next morning alarger force was marched in, and the work of disarmament completed.
The cavalry went out and scouted the country, and brought in largenumbers of prisoners. The men belonging to the tribes that hadrenounced Mahdism--Jaalin and others--were at once allowed to leave fortheir homes; and numbers of others, whose appearance was peaceful, andwho had at once given up their arms, were also released; but there werestill no fewer than eleven thousand prisoners, among them some of theKhalifa's emirs.
Many of the townspeople had started, the previous evening, for thefield of battle; to bury the bodies of their friends who had fallen,and to bring in the wounded. Of the latter, after our own men had beenattended to, fully nine thousand received aid and attention from theBritish doctors.
On the morning after the occupation, the work of purification began.Great numbers of the unwounded prisoners, and of the townspeople, wereset to work to clean the streets; and, in a couple of days, the widerthoroughfares and avenues had been thoroughly cleansed.
Having but little to do, Gregory went into the Khalifa's arsenal. Thisbuilding was full of war material of all kinds; including a perfectlyappointed battery of Krupp guns, numbers of old cannon, modernmachine-guns, rifles and pistols; mixed up with musical instruments,suits of chain armour, steel helmets, hundreds of battle flags, andthousands of native spears, swords, and shields. Besides these thecollection comprised ivory, percussion cap
s, lead, copper, and bronze,looms, pianos, sewing machines, boilers, steam engines, agriculturalimplements, ostrich feathers, wooden and iron bedsteads, paints, Indiarubber, leather water bottles, clothes, three state coaches, and anAmerican buggy. There were also a modern smithy, where gunpowder,shell, bullets, and cartridge cases were made and stored; and awell-appointed engineers' shop and foundry, with several steam engines,turning lathes, and other tools. The machinery had been brought fromGordon's arsenal at Khartoum, where the foreman had been employed; andthe workmen were, for the most part, Greeks.
The battle was fought on Friday, the 2nd of September. On Sunday aflotilla of boats, containing detachments from all the British andEgyptian regiments, and every officer who could be spared from duty,proceeded up the river to Khartoum. The ruined and deserted city lookeddelightful, after the sand, dirt, and wretchedness of Omdurman. Thegardens of the governor's house, and other principal buildings, had runwild; and the green foliage was restful indeed, to the eye, after thewaste of sand, rock, and scrub that had been traversed by the army onits way from Wady Halfa.
The vessels drew up opposite a grove of tall palms. Beyond themappeared what had been the government house. The upper story was gone,the windows were filled up with bricks, and a large acacia stood infront of the building.
The troops formed up before the palace, in three sides of a square--theEgyptians were to the left, looking from the river, and the British tothe right--the Sirdar, and the generals of the divisions and brigades,facing the centre. Two flagstaffs had been raised on the upper story.The Sirdar gave the signal, and the British and Egyptian flags were runup. As they flew out, one of the gunboats fired a salute, the Guards'band struck up "God Save the Queen!" and the band of the 11th Soudanesethen played the Khedive's hymn, while the Generals and all presentstood in salute, with their hands to the peak of their helmets. TheSirdar's call for three cheers for the Queen was enthusiasticallyresponded to, every helmet being raised. Similar cheers were then givenfor the Khedive, the bands again struck up, and twenty-one guns werefired.
As the last gun echoed out, the Guards played the Dead March, in Saul;and the black band the march called Toll for the Brave, the latter inmemory of the Khedive's subjects, who had died with Gordon. Then minuteguns were fired, and four chaplains--Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist,and Catholic--by turns read a psalm or a prayer. The pipers then waileda dirge, and finally the Soudanese bands played Gordon's favouritehymn, Abide with Me.
At the conclusion, General Hunter and the other officers shook handswith the Sirdar, one by one. Kitchener himself was deeply moved, andwell he might be! Fourteen years of his life had been spent inpreparing for, and carrying out, this campaign; and now the great taskwas done. Gordon was avenged. Of the Dervish host, the remnant werescattered fugitives. The Mahdi's cause, the foulest and mostbloodstained tyranny that had ever existed, transforming as it did aflourishing province into an almost uninhabited desert, was crushedforever; and it was his patient and unsparing labour, his wonderfulorganization, that had been the main factor in the work. No wonder thateven the Iron Sirdar almost broke down, at such a moment.
The bugles sounded, and the troops broke up their formation; and, forhalf an hour, wandered through the empty chambers of the palace, andthe wild and beautiful garden. Another bugle call, and they streameddown to the water's edge, took to the boats, and returned to Omdurman.
The long-delayed duty, which England owed to one of her noblest sons,had been done. Gordon had had his burial. None knew where his bonesreposed, but that mattered little. In the place where he was slain, allhonour had been done to him; and the British flag waved over the spotwhere he disappeared, forever, from the sight of his countrymen.
On Gregory's return, he found Zaki in a state of the highestexcitement.
"Why, what is the matter with you, Zaki?"
"Oh, master, I have found my two sisters!"
"That is good news, indeed. I am very glad to hear it, Zaki. How didyou find them?"
"While you were away, Master, I had been walking through the town; andwhen I was passing near the outskirts, a woman came to a door, andlooked very hard at me. Then she suddenly drew aside the cloth from herface and cried, 'Surely it is Zaki!'
"Then I knew her--she was my elder sister. Then another woman came tothe door--it was my younger sister, and you can imagine my joy. Bothhad been married to Baggaras, who had carried them off. Their husbandshad gone to the battle, and had not returned; and some neighbours whohad gone to the battlefield, next day, brought back news that they hadfound both bodies; so one sister came to stay with the other. Peoplehad told them that it was safe to go out, and that no one was injuredwho did so; but they had a store of grain in the house, and theydecided to wait and see what happened.
"One of them, seeing me come along, and observing that I belonged tothe Jaalin, came out to ask me the news; and they were as delighted asI was, at our meeting."
"And your mother, do they know anything of her?"
"She was killed, Master," Zaki said sorrowfully. "I thought possibly itwould be so. The Dervishes did not carry off old women. They killedthem, and the little children. I had never hoped to see her again; butI did think, when we entered Omdurman, that my sisters might be here."
"What are they going to do?"
"They will go down to Berber. I have told them that many of the peoplehere are going down, and that they will find no difficulty in joining aparty. They are sure to find people they know, at Berber, for most ofthe Jaalin who have escaped have gone there, since we occupied theplace. I told them that I would give them what money I had; for, sinceI have been in my lord's service, I have had no occasion to spend aughtthat he has paid me."
"I have no doubt, Zaki, that I can arrange for them to go down in oneof the empty store boats. I believe that many of the captives who havebeen released will be sent down that way; and, of course, I shall beglad to give your sisters enough to keep them, for some time, atBerber."
"My lord is too good," Zaki said gratefully.
"Nonsense, Zaki! You saved my life, and I owe you a great deal. I willgo down, at once, to the river--that is, if your sisters are ready tostart tomorrow--and I have no doubt the transport officer will give mean order, for them, to go in one of the boats."
As he had expected, he had no difficulty in making arrangements.Several of the native boats, that had already landed their stores,would leave on the following day; and Gregory obtained an order for thepassage of the two women. He then drew some money from the paymasterand, on his return to headquarters, gave Zaki a hundred dollars for hissisters.
The black was overpowered with joy and, going off, returned with thetwo girls--for they were little more. Each took one of Gregory's hands,and pressed it to her forehead and heart, and murmured her thanks.
"Do not thank me," he said. "It is but a small part of the debt that Iowe your brother. I do not know whether he has told you that he savedmy life, at the risk of his own."
"I have been thinking, my lord," Zaki said, "that it would be well forthem to go down in the boat as far as Dongola. Our village is not manymiles from that place, and many of our people fled there; and doubtlessthey will return to their villages, and plant their fields, now thatthey have no longer any fear of the Dervishes. At any rate, they arecertain to meet friends, at Dongola."
"Very well, I will get the order altered. There will be no difficultyabout that. I shall be very glad to know that you will have a home togo to, when this war is quite over."
"I shall never go, as long as my lord will keep me," Zaki said,fervently.
"I certainly shall not part with you, Zaki, as long as I remain in thiscountry, which will probably be for a long time."
The next day, Zaki aided in carrying his sisters' goods down to theriver bank, and saw them on board one of the native craft, whichcarried also fifteen or twenty other fugitives.
"Now, Mr. Hilliard," General Hunter said, that morning, "you can devoteyourself to the object for which you came here. Unquestiona
bly, theremust be many among the prisoners who fought at El Obeid. You may gatherall particulars of the battle, from their lips.
"The greater portion of the white troops will march down the country,at once. Of course, I don't know what your plans may be; but unless youhave a very good reason to the contrary, I should certainly advise youto retain your position in the Egyptian army. A great deal of work willhave to be done, before matters are quite settled down; and then civiladministration of some sort will, of course, be formed, under which youwould certainly obtain a far better post than you could hope to get, athome."
"I have quite made up my mind to do so, sir. Certainly, when I leftCairo, I had no idea of remaining permanently in the service; but Ihave been so exceptionally fortunate, owing largely to your kindness,that I have been seriously thinking the matter over; and am quitedetermined that, if I can obtain an appointment, I will remain here. Ihave no ties, whatever, either in Lower Egypt or in England; no way ofearning my living there; and possibly, as I have begun so early, I mayrest, in time, in what will no doubt become an important branch of theEgyptian administration."
"I am glad to hear that you take that view. We all grumble at theSoudan, and yet there are few of us but would be sorry to leave it; andthere can be no doubt whatever that, under our administration, it will,in time, become a magnificently rich and fertile province."
Being relieved from other duty, at present, Gregory went to the greatyard near the mosque, called the Praying Square, where the majority ofthe Dervish prisoners were confined. Addressing a man of somefive-and-forty years, he asked him, in Arabic, whether many among theprisoners had fought against Hicks, at El Obeid.
The man hesitated.
"I am not asking on the part of the Sirdar," Gregory said; "and you maybe sure that, if no punishment is inflicted against those who havefought against us now, there can be no thought of punishment, for athing that happened so many years ago. My father was, I believe, one ofthe English officers killed there; but as he spoke Arabic well, it isjust possible he was not killed; but, like Slatin and Neufeld, was keptas a slave, in case he might be useful."
"There are many here who fought against Hicks," the native said. "Imyself fought there, and nearly all the Baggara who are as old as I amwere there, also. I have never heard of a white man who escaped death.When we broke into the square, the English General and his officerscharged into the middle of us, and all fell. I was not close at thetime, but I saw their bodies, an hour afterwards."
"My father was not a fighting officer. He was the interpreter, and maynot have been near the others. When the attack by your people was made,I have heard that one of the Soudanese regiments held together, andmarched away, and that there was a white officer with them."
"That was so. Two days afterwards, we surrounded them. They foughthard; and at last, when we had lost many men, we offered that, if theywould surrender and become the Mahdi's men, they would be spared. Mostof them did so, just as some of our tribesmen, taken by you at Atbara,have now taken service with you."
"But the white officer--what became of him?"
"I cannot say," the native said. "I have no memory of him. He may havefallen before they surrendered--who can say? Certainly, I do notremember a white man being killed, after they did so. I will ask otherswho were there, and tomorrow will tell you what they say."
It was a busy day, in Omdurman. The army that had made such efforts,and achieved so great a triumph, marched in military order, with bandsplaying, through the town. The Sirdar had a double motive, in orderingthem to do so. In the first place, it was a legitimate triumph of thetroops, thus to march as conquerors through the town. In the secondplace the sight would impress, not only the inhabitants, but theDervish prisoners, with a sense of the power of those who, henceforth,would be their masters; and, undoubtedly, the show had the desiredeffect. The orderly ranks, as they swept along, the proud demeanour ofthe men, their physique and equipment, created a profound impressionamong the natives. Half of them were their own kinsmen, many of whomhad fought for the Khalifa, and had now aided in defeating him. Thiswas what had been accomplished by drill and discipline, and theinfluence of white officers. The Soudanese were evidently well fed andcared for; not even the haughty Baggara held their heads so high.
Especially admired were the artillery, battery following battery, inperfect order. These were the guns that had carried death into theranks of the Dervishes, against whose fire even the fanatical braveryof the followers of the Khalifa was unable to stand. When the marchpast was concluded, there was scarce one of the prisoners who would notgladly have enlisted.
On the following day, Gregory again went to the Praying Square. The manhe had the morning before seen, at once came up to him.
"I have enquired of many who were at El Obeid, my lord," he said. "Allsay that there was no white man in the camp, when the black battalionsurrendered, though one had been seen while the fighting was going on.Nor was the body of one found, where the fight had taken place on theprevious day. It was a matter of talk among the Dervishes, at the time;for they had lain in a circle round the enemy, and were convinced thatno one passed through their lines. Those who surrendered said that hehad taken the command, and had exposed himself to the hottest fire, andencouraged them; telling them that the more bravely they defendedthemselves, the more likely they were to obtain favourable terms. Thenight before, he had advised them to accept any offer the Dervishesmight make, but on the following morning he was missing, and none couldgive any account of what had become of him. The same tale is told byall to whom I have spoken."
The story made a profound impression upon Gregory. It seemed possiblethat the father, of whom he had no remembrance, might have been thesole white survivor of Hicks's army. True, there was nothing to provethat he was the white man who had joined the black battalion thatescaped the first day's massacre. There were other non-combatants:Vizitelly, the artist of the Illustrated London News, and O'Donovan,the correspondent of the Daily News. Either of these might also havebeen at any other portion of the square, when the attack commenced, andunable to join Hicks and his officers, in their final charge into themidst of the enemy.
Still, it was at least possible that his father was the man who hadretired from the field, with the black battalion; and who had,afterwards, so strangely disappeared. If so, what had become of him,all these years? Had he made off in disguise, only to be murdered bywandering bands? Had he been concealed, for months, in the hut of afriendly tribesman? What had he been doing, since? Had he been killed,in trying to make his way down? Had he been enslaved, and was he stilllingering on, in a wretched existence?
He could hardly hope that he had fallen into friendly hands; for, hadhe been alive, he would surely have managed, with his knowledge of thecountry, to make his way down; or to reach Khartoum, when it was stillheld by the Egyptians.
At any rate, Gregory concluded that he might find out whether anyEuropean had arrived there, during the siege. He went down to theriver, and took a native boat across to Khartoum. At the ceremony, onSunday, many natives watched the arrival of the flotilla; and some ofthese might have been there, in Gordon's time. He had no great hopes ofit, but there was just a chance.
The flags were still flying over the governor's house, when he landed,and a detachment of Egyptian troops was stationed there. A nativeofficer came down, when he landed.
"I have come across to question some of the natives," he said. "Ibelieve some are still living here."
"Oh, yes, Bimbashi! there are a good many, scattered about among theruins. They come in, bringing fruit and fish for sale. I think theymostly live down by the riverside."
Gregory kept on, till he came to the huts occupied by the fishermen,and men who cultivated small plots of ground. He found several who hadlived at Khartoum, when it was captured; and who had escaped thegeneral massacre, by hiding till nightfall, and then making their wayup the river, in boats. None of them could give him the information hesought, but one suggested that he was more likely to he
ar from theGreeks and Turks, who worked in the Khalifa's arsenal and foundries; asthey had been spared, for the services they would be able to render tothe Mahdi.
Returning to Omdurman, he went to the machine shop. Here work hadalready been resumed, as repairs were needed by several of thegunboats. He went up to the foreman, a man of some sixty years of age.
"You were engaged in the city during the siege, were you not?" he said,in Arabic, with which he knew the foreman must be thoroughlyacquainted.
"Yes, sir, I had been here ten years before that."
"I am very anxious to learn whether any white man, who had survived thebattle of El Obeid, ever reached this town before its capture."
The man thought for some time.
"Yes," he said, "a white man certainly came here, towards the end ofthe siege. I know, because I happened to meet him, when I was goinghome from work; and he asked me the way to the governor's. I should nothave known him to be a white man, for he had a native attire; and wasas black, from exposure to the sun, as any of the Arabs. I gave himdirections, and did not ask him any questions; but it was said,afterwards, that he was one of Hicks's officers. Later, I heard that hewent down in the steamer with Colonel Stewart."
"You did not hear his name?" Gregory asked, anxiously.
"No, sir."
"Did he talk Arabic well?"
"Extremely well. Much better than I did, at the time."
"Do you remember how long he arrived before the steamer started?"
"Not very long, sir, though I really cannot tell you how long it was."
"After you were cut off, I suppose?"
"Certainly it was, but I cannot say how long."
"No one else, here, would know more about it than you do?"
"No, sir; I should think not. But you can ask them."
He called up some of the other workmen. All knew that a white officer,of Hicks Pasha's army, was said to have returned. One of themremembered that he had come down once, with Gordon, to see about somerepairs required to the engines of a steamer; but he had never heardhis name, nor could he recall his personal appearance, except that heseemed to be a man about thirty. But he remembered once seeing him,again, on board Stewart's steamer; as they had been working at herengines, just before she started.
After thanking the foreman, Gregory returned to the hut, where he andtwo other officers of Hunter's staff had taken up their quarters. Hewas profoundly depressed. This white man might well have been hisfather; but if so, it was even more certain than before that he hadfallen. He knew what had been the fate of Stewart's steamer, theremains of which he had seen at Hebbeh. The Colonel, and all with him,had accepted the invitation of the treacherous sheik of that village,and had been massacred. He would at least go there, and endeavour tolearn, from some of the natives, the particulars of the fate of thoseon board; and whether it was possible that any of the whites could haveescaped.
After sitting for some time, in thought, he went to General Hunter'squarters, and asked to see him. The General listened, sympathetically,to his story.
"I never, for a moment, thought that your father could have escaped,"he said; "but from what you tell me, it is possible that he did so,only to perish afterwards. But I can well understand how, having learntso much, you should be anxious to hear more. Certainly, I will grantyour request for leave to go down to Hebbeh. As you know, that placewas taken and destroyed, by the river column under Earle; or ratherunder Brackenbury, for Earle had been killed in the fight at Kirkeban.Numerous relics were found of the massacre, but the journal Stewart wasknown to have kept was not among them. Had it been there it would, nodoubt, have mentioned the survivor of Hicks's army, who was coming downthe river with him.
"The place was deserted when Brackenbury arrived. It certainly was so,when we came up. Since then, some of the inhabitants have probablyreturned; and may know of places where plunder was hidden away, on theapproach of Brackenbury's column. No doubt the offer of a reward wouldlead to their production.
"You may not have to be absent long. The British regiments are to godown at once, and several steamers will start tomorrow. I will give youan order to go with them. You will have no difficulty in getting back,for the Sirdar has already decided that the railway is to be carriedon, at once, from Atbara to Khartoum; and has, I believe, telegraphedthis morning that material and stores are to be sent up, at once. Mostof these will, no doubt, be brought on by rail; but grain, of whichlarge quantities will be required, for the use of our troops and of thepopulation of the town, will come on by water.
"But, no doubt, your quickest way back will be to ride to Abu Hamed,and take the train up to Atbara."
"I will be back as soon as I can, General. I am much obliged to you,for letting me go."
"I will tell the Sirdar that I have given you leave, and why. It is notabsolutely necessary, but it is always well that one's name should bekept to the front."
The next day, Gregory saw the General again.
"I mentioned, to the Sirdar, that you wanted a fortnight's leave, andtold him why. He simply nodded, and said, 'Let him have a month, if hewants it.'
"He had other things to think of; for, this morning, a small Dervishsteamer came down the White Nile. They had the Khalifa's flag flying,and had not heard of what had taken place, till one of the gunboats ranalongside her. Of course she surrendered, at once.
"It is a curious story they told. They left Omdurman a month ago withthe Sapphire, which carried five hundred men. The object of the voyagewas to collect grain. When they reached the old station of Fashoda,they had been fired upon by black troops, with some white men amongthem, who had a strange flag flying. The firing was pretty accurate,for they had forty men killed and wounded; and the emir in command haddisembarked, and encamped his troops from the Sapphire on the oppositebank, and had sent the small steamer back, to ask the Khalifa fororders.
"The story seemed so strange, and improbable, that I went down with theSirdar to the boat, which had been brought alongside. There was nodoubt that it had been peppered with balls. Some of the General's staffcut one of the bullets out of the woodwork, and these fully confirmedthe story. They were not leaden balls, or bits of old iron, but conicalnickel bullets. They could only have been fired from small-bore rifles,so there were certainly white men at Fashoda. Of course, no one canform any opinion as to who they are, or where they come from. They maybe Belgians from the Congo. They may--but that is most improbable--bean expeditionary party of Italians. But Italy is withdrawing, and notpushing forward, so I think it is out of the question that they areconcerned in the matter.
"The question seems to lie between Belgians and French, unless anexpedition has been sent up from our possessions on the great lakes.The Dervishes in the steamer can only say that the flag is not at alllike ours; but as their ignorance of colour is profound, they give allsorts of contradictory statements. Anyhow, it is a serious matter.Certainly, no foreign power has any right to send an expedition to theNile; and as certainly, if one of them did so, our government would notallow them to remain there; for, beyond all question, Fashoda is anEgyptian station, and within Egyptian territory; which is, at present,as much as to say that a foreign power, established there, would beoccupying our country."
"It seems an extraordinary proceeding, sir."
"Very extraordinary. If it were not that it seems the thing hasabsolutely been done, it would seem improbable that any foreign powercould take such an extraordinary, and unjustifiable, course. It islucky for them, whoever they are, that we have smashed up theDervishes; for they would have made very short work of them, and thenation that sent them would probably never have known their fate."