United States or Kyrgyzstan ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Higginbotham, and twenty of the "Forty Thieves," while Raouf Bey followed me with fifty Egyptian troops. It was absolutely necessary to push on. Tayib Agha had a native guide, therefore he and his gun could take care of themselves. Accordingly I pushed on ahead as an advanced guard, delighted to be quit of the impediment of artillery.
He took 200 men upon his arrival at Fabbo, and after having told his men to cut the throat of the sheik Werdella, who was a prisoner in the Fabbo camp under my special orders for protection, he went straight to Gondokoro to his friend Raouf Bey.
He had only occupied one island, and the natives were hard at work carrying off their corn from the islands to the south. I immediately sent troops to take possession. On 18th October I sent Raouf Bey to Gondokoro, with orders to despatch to Khartoum all the really sick and incapable, but upon no account to permit any man to return unless he was hopelessly invalided.
It was at this time too that he began to declare that he had a divine mission, and took unto himself the style of Mahdi the long-expected messenger who was to raise up Islam at first secretly among his chosen friends, but not so secretly that news of his bold step did not reach the ears of Raouf.
After this picturesque defiance it only remained for him and the Egyptians to prove which was the stronger. It must be admitted that Raouf at once recognised the gravity of the affair, and without delay he sent a small force on Gordon's old steamer, the Ismailia, to bring Mahomed Ahmed to reason. This was in August 1881.
In spite of my positive orders, that none but the really sick should be sent to Khartoum, Raouf Bey had in my absence sent away great numbers of troops who were in sound health, thus reducing the entire force of the expedition to 502 officers and men, including buglers, drummers, clerks, &c., exclusive of fifty-two sailors.
"I immediately ordered steam to be got up, and at 4.20 P.M. we started to return 120 miles to the wreck. It appears that Raouf Bey, with many other vessels, was in company with the lost noggur. To work in this country is simply heart-breaking; the material is utterly worthless, boats, officers, and men are all alike.
"I found that the main body under the colonel, Raouf Bey, had completed the channel about 900 yards long to lake No. 3. I ordered sail to be made immediately, and after five hours' hard work, as the channel was already beginning to close, we arrived in the open lake at 11.15 p.m., in which we found the fleet at anchor. "March 17.
Although the station was dirty and neglected, I must do Raouf Bey justice in acknowledging that he had paid much attention to the gardens on the islands, which were producing so abundantly that the troops received rations of vegetables daily. Raouf Bey had also shown determination, and had accepted great responsibility in shooting a soldier for desertion during my absence.
The intrigues to mislead and discredit him were incessant. Abou Saoud, who had been formerly banished by Sir Samuel Baker from the Soudan, and then taken into high favour by Gordon, turned out a fraud and a failure, while Raouf Bey, the nominee of the Khartoum Governor-General, was sent back in disgrace.
Word Of The Day