The Project Gutenberg EBook of Emin Pasha, by M. C. Plehn This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Title: Emin Pasha Life Stories for Young People Author: M. C. Plehn Translator: George P. Upton Release Date: June 7, 2019 [EBook #59691] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EMIN PASHA *** Produced by D A Alexander, Stephen Hutcheson, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by the Library of Congress) Emin Pasha EMIN PASHA LIFE STORIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE EMIN PASHA Translated from the German of M. C. Plehn BY GEORGE P. UPTON Translator of “Memories,” “Immensee,” etc. WITH FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS A. C. McCLURG & CO. CHICAGO A. C. McCLURG & CO. 1912 Chapter I The Father of His People II The Slave Question III The Carpenter of Dongola and the Mahdists IV Calm Before the Storm V The Enemy Approaches VI Casati’s Adventure VII In Need of Help VIII Stanley Comes to the Relief of Emin IX The Meeting at the Lake X The Mutiny XI The Tragedy at Jambuja XII Again in the Dark Forest XIII Fresh Troubles XIV The March to Zanzibar XV Emin’s Misfortune XVI New Plans v vi vii COPYRIGHT A. C. MCCLURG & CO. 1912 Published September, 1912 THE · PLIMPTON · PRESS [W · D · O] NORWOOD · MASS · U · S · A Translator’s Preface Emin Pasha, sometimes called “the father of the Equatorial Provinces,” is a notable figure in the records of African exploration. He was preëminently a scientist and was devotedly fond of zoölogy and botany. Amid all his cares of office, his sufferings from the hardships of African exploration, his neglect and ill-treatment at the hands of the Khedive and his ill-health and growing blindness, he pursued his scientific investigations with passionate ardor. No African explorer ever had the welfare of the Soudanese more at heart than he, and yet he met a cruel fate at the hands of treacherous Arabs and was murdered while studying his favorite plants and birds. In all his long career he never injured anyone, but constantly strove for the welfare of the natives and retained his confidence in them after it was apparent to almost everyone else that they were treacherously conspiring against him. The German author now and then hints at friction between Emin Pasha and Stanley, and is inclined to blame Stanley for indifference as to Emin’s fate after he had been sent to bring him relief. The friction, if it existed, was probably due to the different temperaments of the two men. Emin Pasha was conservative, blindly attached to the Soudanese, certain he could govern them by mild measures, a quiet, reserved scholar passionately devoted to scientific pursuits and at home in Africa, rather than an explorer. Stanley was a man of action, bold, and dashing, who, in the phrase of the day, might be called “a hustler.” It is undoubtedly true that at times he had little patience with Emin’s slowness and cautiousness and his scientific absorption which sometimes rendered him oblivious to dangers besetting him. G. P. U. CHICAGO, July, 1912 Contents PAGE 11 21 26 33 39 45 57 61 70 75 80 85 88 92 96 99 XVII Ferida’s Departure XVIII Again in the Heart of Africa XIX Again with the Soudanese XX To the West XXI Emin’s Death Appendix Emin Pasha A Serious Accident to Emin First Meeting of Stanley with Emin Pasha The Snow Mountain Major Wissmann ix 11 12 13 101 104 109 113 118 125 Illustrations Frontispiece 41 71 94 105 Emin Pasha Chapter I The Father of his People As the famous traveller, Dr. Junker,[1] came in sight of the town of Lado[2] on the Nile, on the twenty-first of January, 1884, after a year’s stay in the Soudan, he felt that all his privations and dangers were at an end, though many hundreds of miles still separated him from his home. After having been deprived so long of nearly everything that we consider the ordinary necessities of life, after wandering alone in the wilderness, in primeval forests and over sunburned plains, among cannibals and cruel man-trafficking Arabs, he knew that he would find a white man in Lado who could speak his native tongue,—a zealous scholar and finely cultured man, who would acquaint him with everything from which he had been excluded so long—a friend who would welcome him with a cordial grasp of the hand; in a word, Emin Pasha, that heroic governor of the Equatorial Provinces, whose strange fate and cruel murder filled the whole civilized world with astonishment and sympathy. After a short day’s march through the country of the Bari,[3] the traveller was certain that the end of his journey was not far distant. How different were the well-cultivated farmlands from the wilderness, interspersed here and there with Arab settlements. The negroes had their property well protected, their herds were grazing in all directions, and the people of the numerous villages did not flee, but kept calmly about their work. Dr. Junker’s servants were astonished when they saw that in this country the stronger did not appropriate the property of the weaker and that the Turkish government had not disturbed them. As the expedition neared the station, shots were fired as a welcome. The advancing boys and carriers made way and Junker perceived a body of men in faultlessly white garments coming to meet him. At their head he at once recognized his friend, Dr. Emin Pasha, a slim, almost haggard man of little more than medium height, with a small face, dark full beard, and deep-set eyes, whose sight was rendered keener by spectacles. His demeanor and movements impressed one with his composure and self- control. His external appearance betrayed an almost painful neatness. He and his attendants rode mules and six black soldiers in white uniforms followed him. To Dr. Junker it appeared a festal procession and tears came to his eyes. He sprang from his horse and greeted his friend first, then the others. The rest of the distance 14 15 to the station was made on foot, the two eagerly conversing. What a change there had been at Lado since Dr. Junker last saw its miserable rush huts, six years before. At that time, Emin had just begun his difficult administration. The changes which they saw all about them testified eloquently to the governor’s abilities. The man holding this high position in the Soudan arose from humble circumstances. His real name was Edward Schnitzer. He was born at Oppeln in Silesia, in 1840, and shortly after his family removed to Neisse, where many of his relatives are living to-day. We know little about his youth, but we are told that the boy was an enthusiastic naturalist, fond of making collections of flowers and insects, and even at that time noted for his reserve and thoughtfulness. Both these characteristics are observable in the man. The study of nature was his principal recreation and compensated for his lack of human intercourse. But his conscientious devotion to science and his aversion to publicity leave us little knowledge of his accomplishments or his real sentiments. Even his most intimate friends knew little of his inner nature, and while his letters to European scholars reveal his varied activities, yet they are of no value in throwing light upon his nature, which makes it difficult to understand some of the actions of the man. Edward Schnitzer studied medicine in Breslau and Berlin in 1863- 64 and took the doctor’s degree. It was his love of nature that led him to go abroad. He went to Trieste and Antivari, and from there, with a Turkish companion, Hakki Pasha, to Trebizond. He soon succeeded in gaining respect and influence. His facility in adapting himself to the habits of the places where he was stopping, the remarkable ease with which he learned languages (he spoke Turkish and Arabic as if they were his native tongues), and the success which attended his medical practice, quickly brought him fame and importance; and when, as was the custom in those countries, he changed his German name to a foreign one (Emin, “the Faithful”), he was hardly recognizable as a European. In the company of Hakki he explored Arabia and then went to Janina and Constantinople. When his protector died, the young physician returned home and devoted himself entirely to scientific pursuits. But soon the monotony of everyday life and its quiet regularity, the colorless northern landscape, and frequent cloudy skies became unendurable, and he suddenly decided to make a change. In 1876 he went south again, this time to Egypt. He reached there at just the right time, for the enterprising Khedive, Ismail Pasha, was attracting large numbers of Europeans to his country because of his extension of the limits of the ancient kingdom of Pharaoh far to the south and the west. Emin placed himself at the disposition of Gordon Pasha as a physician, Gordon at that time being governor of Hat-el-Estiva. He soon recognized Emin’s importance, and intrusted several diplomatic missions to negro chiefs in the south to him. When Gordon resigned his position in 1878 to enter upon a wider field of action, Emin became his successor and governed a territory in the Equatorial Provinces which stretched from Lado to the equator and was as large as France, Germany, and Austria combined. Emin owed his elevation to the post of governor to Dr. Junker’s recommendation. Consequently the latter was very anxious to know what he had accomplished in the wilderness, so far away from civilization. As Emin conducted his guest to his private divan, it seemed to him a palace, though it would have been a very unassuming structure to us. It stood upon a plaza, on the bank of the Nile, in the form of a spacious, enclosed rectangle. On the east side, towards the river and also towards the north, was the house, surrounded by rows of dark green lemon trees, between the servants’ and watchmen’s cabins. On the west side of the plaza 16 17 18 19 were two larger cabins and a great sun awning which made a most comfortable lodging for the traveller and his company. Emin’s house had doors and windows, but the entrances of the other dwellings were fitted with curtains. The houses were built of brick and stood in regular order upon broad streets which were intersected by narrower rectangular thoroughfares. The numerous huts of the natives were constructed of straw and palm leaves. These light buildings lasted only about three years, for termites[4] and borers were busied in their destruction day and night, and they were frequently destroyed by fire in the dry season. Emin could preserve his collections only by the most constant care. Thousands of stuffed birds, his papers, diaries, and provisions had to be guarded against indefatigable insects. The termites especially swarmed in the inner passageways of the house, infested the beds and shelves and made havoc with Emin’s stores. The arrangement of the divan was simple and recalled the comforts of home. A long massive work table was covered with writing materials, another with meteorological instruments and periodicals, and European chairs stood at each. At the side was a small library on shelves and upon several round iron tables were various useful articles, such as are common with us. All the tables had neat covers. In two corners were chests and cases and flowered curtains hung at the doors and windows. The morning hours were spent by the two friends in conversation, but the dinner with table napkins and changes of plate was so surprising to our traveller, unaccustomed to such luxury, that it nearly took away his appetite. One morning Emin invited his friend for a walk to his storehouse and the government garden, of which he was very proud. Countless lemon and banana trees, full of fruit, shaded the passageway. Bitter oranges, sweet lemons, oranges and pawpaws, which are somewhat like our melons, only sweeter, were also cultivated. White and yellow and exceedingly fragrant flowers and golden and red fruit shone in the dark foliage everywhere. Emin had also imported pomegranates, small fig trees, and grapevines. Of vegetables there were our cucumbers, several kinds of cabbage, all the Arabian vegetables, as well as the cassava, the sweet batata,[5] and sugar cane. The government made a profit out of the garden as the surplus of its products was sold daily for a fixed sum. There were such gardens at all the stations and Emin exerted himself to supply the natives with seeds of all kinds and instructions how to plant them so that they might have the benefit of fruit and vegetables. He explained, however, that the negroes were so easy-going and childlike by nature that he always had trouble with them. They cultivated rice, coffee, cotton, and all the products of Emin’s garden, but in spite of all his admonitions they would never remember to retain seed corn. So, when the time came for sowing, appeals for seed were made on all sides and the governor was kept busy in sending for it. The negro had no anxiety for the coming day, for “Father Emin” was in Lado. A visit was next made to the drug department, from which a shaded walk led to the back of the garden, where there were several cabins for the use of the sick. The walk was a charming one, as it was shut off from the vegetable garden near by by hedges of flowers. They now reached a spot where the walk widened and Dr. Junker uttered an exclamation of joyous surprise. A lovely picture was before him. Under a canopy of blue and purple flowers and green vines sat a beautiful Arabian woman upon cushions rocking a charming child upon her knees. It was the little Ferida, Emin’s daughter, early bereft of her mother. She greeted her father with a joyous outcry, took the outstretched hand of the unknown guest in the most friendly manner, and gazed at him with indescribably 20 21 22 deep, dark, serious eyes. She was a solitary child, without companions of her own age, without playthings or instruction, who would have had plenty of companions in Europe. She had to be carefully protected from the dangers of the tropical world, from snakes and deadly scorpions, which frequently made their way into the house through open windows. She could never leave the garden and go down to the river, for beasts of prey, which they often heard howling not far away, frequently attacked people and dragged them off. So Ferida had to stay the whole day with her dark-skinned nurse, a tall woman in a scarlet undergarment and white loose wrapper, eagerly waiting for the evening hour when the father would have time to see his darling. At such times the serious man and the lovely child would sit close to each other upon a bench in the dense shade of the bananas, watching the play of the shadows which the bluish moonlight made through the foliage upon the dark red ground. Over all reigned a mysterious silence, only broken by the rustling of the banana leaves. Great bats flitted like spirits through the air. “The father of the four wings,” as the Arabs call the nightjar, with its long fantastic feathers, which in flying give it the appearance of a dragon, flew noiselessly about. Bluish lights marked the course of the great “lamp carriers,” the tropical fireflies, and whirring night butterflies fluttered about, hardly visible to the eye in their dark dress. All nature was filled with the deepest peace. Then Emin would tell her of his quiet peaceful life in the far northern cities; of his joyous yet strenuous student life in beautiful Berlin; of his journey over the blue sea, which Ferida cannot yet imagine, notwithstanding his description of it; of Constantinople and its splendid palaces with their golden domes; of the desert, with its burning sun and the silence of the dreamy nights, when the stars are unnaturally bright; of brown and black people with their different habits and costumes; of wars and adventures; of the terrors of forest fires, and of the curious dwellings of the negroes. Then he would describe the plants, birds, and four-footed animals he had studied so closely and tell her fables and romances that he had heard on his many journeys from the natives, so that his child, who had no story books, might at least have a pretty one of her own father’s telling. Chapter II The Slave Question Dr. Junker greatly enjoyed the quiet, peaceful life which his friend was leading on the extreme frontier of civilization, but many serious questions were troubling him, and he availed himself of the first leisure moments to ask Emin about the condition of the slave trade in the Soudan. “I heard in Europe,” he said, “that this shameful business was to be entirely suppressed and yet I have been for a year among these unfortunate people in the district of Bahr-el- Ghazal and have seen how the Arab robbers in armed bands have fallen upon the poor negroes, carried off the young women and boys, driven away their herds, often burned their villages, and left ruin and desolation in their wake. It is dreadful to think that so many of these poor captives have perished on the way from hunger and brutal treatment and that they have been needlessly sacrificed. And yet it is asserted that the Egyptian government has abolished the slave trade and made the exporting of blacks impossible.” Emin replied in his deep, sonorous voice: “You have touched perhaps the most painful wound from which the welfare and civilization of this region, so richly blest by Nature, are suffering. 23 24 25 But where shall one begin to cure the evil? The negro people of the interior sell their prisoners, captured in their petty wars, and look upon it as their surest source of revenue. The Niam-Niam and other tribes simply eat their prisoners, and it is surely a step in advance if they sell instead of eat the unlucky victims. Those Arab hordes which have invaded the Soudan from Egypt and Nubia with their hireling soldiers are the worst. They have established fortified stations from which they systematically conduct their hunting expeditions. “The Nile officials should not let them escape with their black plunder, but no Egyptian or Turk can resist ‘backsheesh,’ and they know a thousand ways in which they can transport their black freight by night to the shores of the Red Sea and get it into Arabia. Those slaves which are actually sold for household servants are often better off, for most of the Moslems are kind to their servants. There is not much work for them, for every household has from twenty to thirty and sometimes fifty servants and they stay with the family to the end of their lives, for the Turks consider it dishonorable to sell their servants. But man-hunting is not the less objectionable on that account, and yet how are these dealers to support themselves? The government has monopolized the ivory business and there is nothing else to be found in the interior. The Moslems have learned no kind of hand work and they would rather starve than do it. I have driven that hangman’s brood from my domain, but it was not accomplished without hard fighting. You can hardly imagine what a multitude of lazy, useless vagabonds live upon the poor negroes. “The people supply them with ivory, grain of various kinds, honey, wax, and butternut oil, but none of this comes to the government storehouse. It is all lavished in the most scandalous manner by the officials upon their hangers-on and dependents. These people not only pay for nothing, but they take everything they can. In the Amadi district, for instance, there are at least ten thousand negroes, and they had to support two thousand good-for-nothings by their field labor, for they have neither hunting nor live stock. They did not even allow these poor men to work quietly in their fields. If any complaint was made, in two days five hundred of them were carried off. But I have subdued them by fire and sword, and to-day my negroes enjoy their possessions and their families are brought up without the fear that their half-grown children will be carried off by brute force. “It is difficult to succeed here, for the government does not support me and almost feels as if the officials were justified in robbing the negroes, as it sometimes cannot pay them for a year at a time. But the greatest absurdity is the edict issued from Khartoum, forbidding merchants to go to these provinces. During the whole six years of my administration here only nine steamers have come up the Nile, and we are so destitute of absolutely necessary things that I have to economize, for instance, in writing paper in continual fear that my stock will give out before I can get more.” “I shall be delighted,” said Dr. Junker with a smile, “if I can help you with some trifles. I have still a hamper which I brought out of the wilderness that has not been touched, filled with all those objects that they do not care for there, and with which they would part for money.” “No, no, I do not need them,” replied Emin. “In a few weeks I shall be at home. How precious the word sounds!” But Junker produced his treasures, spread them out on the big tables, and invited Emin and his officers to help themselves. All were delighted. A little package of cigarette paper was instantly pounced upon. A little Parisian folding table with two leaves, a woven hammock and a large tent screen were given to Emin as a present. Books, various instruments, a revolver, and a 26 27 28 small gun were also very welcome. Dr. Junker’s servants and maids received for their share pearls, copper and bronze bracelets, needles, thread, knives, and scissors, which are used as a medium of exchange among the savages in place of money. Linen garments were also divided among them, but two pieces of woollen stuffs and a new costume were retained by Dr. Junker, as he reflected that he might have use for them later. Chapter III The Carpenter of Dongola and the Mahdists “The All-merciful God has placed the sword of victory in my hands and declares to all peoples that I am the Mahdi. He has designated me by the white scar upon my right cheek. In the uproar of battle I will follow the gleaming banner, borne by Asrael, the death angel, the destroyer of my enemies.” With these words Mohammed Achmet, the carpenter of Dongola, a settler upon the island of Aba, announced to the world his mission to purify Islam and found a kingdom of justice and happiness. This was in May, 1881. The attention of the Egyptian government was now fixed upon Mohammed Achmet. Hitherto it was hoped that they had only to deal with one of those fanatical outbreaks which are frequent in the Orient and quickly subside, but when the feast of Ramadhan occurred, the pallid apostle, haggard from his penitential fast, appeared with weapons in his hands. Several attempts to make him prisoner failed, which only tended to confirm the reports of his sanctity. Abu Saud was slain; and Raschid Bey, who tried to stem his victorious course, fell at the head of his overwhelmingly defeated troops. The Mahdi unfurled the banner of revolt in the country of Baggaria. There were many grounds for discontent in the Soudan. The venality of the officials, the unjust and oppressive tax levies, the partiality shown to agents had quietly and slowly created excitement among the people. As Emin told his friend, the attempted suppression of the slave trade had obstructed the sources of wealth and together with the extortionate taxes had impoverished the country without having beneficial effects of any kind. The hatred grew daily and this precept of the Koran found an echo in their hearts: “Slay those who would slay you. Slay them wherever you find them. Hunt them down, for the temptation to idolatry is worse than death.” The revolt was now in full blast. On the seventh of June, 1882, the army of Jussuf Pasha was surprised in the dense forests of Mount Kadas and annihilated. The Mahdi, as the result of this victory, secured large additions to his followers, sent an expedition to the south, invested Kordofan, and made himself master of the west bank of the Nile. In the meantime there was such unrest in Alexandria that the English government took steps to protect its own subjects and declared its readiness to conduct operations in the Soudan. Lieutenant Stewart was sent to Khartoum to study the revolt and suggest measures for suppressing it. Certain operations succeeded, but the results were not lasting. In September, 1883, a large army was organized in command of General Hicks. This new army, of one thousand men, five hundred horses, and fifty-five hundred camels, should have been a match for the irregular troops of the Mahdi. The beginning of operations was auspicious. At Alloba one detachment of Mahdists was dispersed and on the second of November, while marching through a thickly wooded region, General Hicks attacked the rebels and forced them to retreat. But on the fourth of November 29 30 31 they suddenly found themselves surrounded by a force over one hundred thousand strong and the heights resounded with the war cry, “Ti sebil Ellah,” the fatalistic invocation presaging destruction. All efforts were idle. Their heroic courage could not enable them to break through that wall of iron which blocked every possible avenue of escape. On the afternoon of November 7 (1883) the attack was universal, murderous, and desperate. It was no longer a battle, but a massacre. Hicks was killed and all his soldiers with him. Mohammed Achmet collected the heads of the slain and sent them home as trophies. The cause of the prophet apparently was under divine protection. The revolt grew in importance and even the gentlest of the races made common cause with the victor. The fortune of war also favored the rebels in the eastern Soudan. In Egypt the affairs of the Soudan provinces were regarded as desperate, and its inability to put down such a formidable rebellion was clearly apparent. The English government advised the removal of the government officials and soldiers from the Soudan, which included Emin and his people. It was a heroic undertaking, but one without hope of success. The removal of sixty thousand people through a country in open revolt, swarming with fanatical rebels, without sufficient means of transportation or arrangements for subsistence, was inevitably destined to end in a catastrophe. For this difficult undertaking General Gordon, who had before this rendered important service in the Soudan, was again called upon. He offered himself freely and willingly. His was a nature whose courage increased with each new danger and was never troubled with thoughts of the morrow. At Berber he declared the independence of the Soudan, gave up the administration of Kordofan to the Mahdi, and re-enacted the laws for the suppression of slavery. On the eighteenth of February, 1884, he arrived at Khartoum and began at once to strengthen its defences. The magic of his name held the rebellion in check. Mohammed Achmet did not dare to resist him by force of arms until he had completely woven the threads of his mysterious plans. Gordon began to hope and devoted his entire attention to the evacuation of the Soudan. But in the east, at Suakim, things were going badly. The government’s troops were routed at El Teb and Sinkat, and Tokar fell. The rebels had the advantage of superior numbers. Thousands fell, but other thousands of the fanatics took their places. Gordon did not find a favorable opportunity to evacuate the Soudan. The English government would have nothing more to do with the matter, but public sentiment forced the premier, Gladstone, to authorize an expedition for the rescue of Gordon. It took a much longer time than was anticipated to organize this force. The year 1885 was an anxious one for Gordon. Daily and hourly he waited for news of his deliverers. In the meantime the Mahdi invested Khartoum. He knew that the magic of his name and the triumph of his cause would be established by this last decisive test and that he must concentrate all his efforts upon the Nile. The English were everywhere delayed. Time was pressing and delay was dangerous. Two steamers at last were sent to Khartoum under command of Lieutenant Wilson. They came in sight of Khartoum on the twenty-eighth of January, 1885, and were received with a fierce fire of artillery. The city was in possession of the Mahdi. Wilson again sailed down the Nile. Both steamers were wrecked upon rocks in the river and he himself reached the English camp with the sad news.[6] There were only a few survivors left to tell what happened at Khartoum. At seven o’clock on the morning of the twenty-sixth of January, 1885, there was unexpected alarm and uproar in the city. The air was filled with shouts and the people were rushing about in wild disorder. The plaza, where the governor’s palace stood, 32 33 34 35 resounded with fanatical and insulting outcries. They were calling for Gordon, “the enemy of God.” Violence followed threats. Guns were fired, efforts were made to break down the palace gates, fugitives were murdered. The city was turned into a hell of cruelty and bloodshed. Gordon, the man “without fear and without reproach,” had been betrayed and sold to the enemy by the very men he had befriended and whom he was seeking to help. At last the great door of the palace opened and a man in simple military uniform, his sword by his side and the distinctions he had earned upon his breast, stepped out. It was Gordon with his arms crossed upon his breast. He stepped back from the crowd and quietly surveyed it. His heroic majesty affected his bloodthirsty enemies and they were silent. It was the last sign of respect paid to the martyr by them. Suddenly a shot was fired and Gordon fell, pierced in the forehead. His head was carried upon a stake to the tent of Mohammed Achmet and his body was thrown into the Nile. A horrible massacre prevailed three days in the city. Chapter IV Calm Before the Storm It is a proof of Emin’s personal honor and importance, as well as of the confidence reposed in him by the negroes and Arabs, that this revolt could spread for a whole year without affecting Hat-el- Estiva more than by disquieting reports. It was natural for the natives to make common cause with the Mahdi, for the Egyptian government had burdened them with heavy taxation. But such was Emin’s high sense of justice, his compassion for the oppressed, and his strict dealing with unfaithful officials or plundering Dongolans that there was no thought of revolt. Here and there, however, he discovered traces of disquiet, but could not find who or what caused it. Meantime he learned that the Mahdi had captured Kordofan. Governor Lupton Pasha was forced by his own people to give up Bahr-el-Ghazal. The enemy was near by. The non-arrival of the steamer increased his embarrassment. The government at Khartoum was in the greatest danger and could be of no help to him and he was greatly incensed at his seeming neglect. At last treason and revolt began to appear in Emin’s province. The worst thing was the great uncertainty and the daily conflicting rumors. Now it was reported that seven thousand Arabs were approaching and several stations had been lost. On the next day messengers appeared from Bor and Schamlee, very important points, some of whom said that these places had been captured, others that they were all right. The bad news, however, proved to be true. Here and there rebellious Arabs with their servants and slaves were making their way through the country to join the Mahdists at Kordofan. The garrisons of stations again found it necessary to levy upon provisions, whereupon the negroes attacked and killed them. Finally, a fugitive from Kordofan told a strange story. The Mahdi informed his followers that a great commander had come to Khartoum from the north with sixty thousand soldiers. He meant Gordon. Then he showed them three baskets and said in the most ecstatic manner: “In these baskets are the souls of all these strangers. The earth will swallow up twenty thousand of them. Twenty thousand will disappear in the air. The rest will be slain by the Mahdi, the true Prophet.” Emin was encouraged by the first part of the story. That so great an army should be near gave him courage and hope for release. The seven thousand Arabs which had been reported did not 36 37 appear, for they had gone to swell the force at Kordofan and the real enemy confined itself to the Arabian domains in the province. The west stations were strongly fortified. Several of the unimportant ones had been abandoned, but Amadi, a strong frontier fortress and the bulwark of Lado, was surrounded by ramparts and had a large garrison. It could resist the onrush of the enemy possibly until the rainy season, but after that help must come from Khartoum. Meanwhile the days slipped quietly by without bringing any decisive result, good or bad. Emin had grown gray from anxiety. He would not surrender his province to the enemy at any cost, but was it in his power to drive back the Mahdists when they came by hundreds of thousands? On the other hand, there were all his faithful ones, his negroes, who loved him like a father, exposed to an uncertain fate. He resolved to do everything possible to hold the government of this beautiful country, though he knew not whether there was still a government. The governor concealed his anxieties and doubts from his officials so as not to dishearten them and determined upon an undertaking which should divert the thoughts of the people from the uncertain future. He decided to strengthen the defences of Lado and with the help of the soldiers and natives to dig a deep moat around the station and utilize the dirt thrown out as trenches. The work was directed by Mahmoud Effendi, an Egyptian officer, who had served in the last Russo-Turkish war and was a very skilful engineer. Hundreds of men worked from morning until night and by the end of October the moat was extended to the river. The Nile was then at its high stage and the water flowed into this new canal, in which later draw wells were made for watering. At the main entrance to the station, from the west, a passageway was left. Dr. Junker advised the construction of a small drawbridge at that point and Mahmoud Effendi supervised and constructed it very skilfully, notwithstanding his scanty material. Emin and Dr. Junker in turn daily supervised the work, which was now progressing satisfactorily. Some little pieces were played by their trumpeter for the encouragement of the soldiers and Emin Pasha himself often enjoyed it among his sugar canes and lemon trees. In the meantime there was a lack of the most necessary things. They lived principally upon the red durra, a species of millet, which had a bitter and unpleasant flavor. There was a certain amount of meat on hand, far from sufficient, however, and in place of other drinks they were supplied with a liquor made by themselves and served in such abundance to the soldiers that it resulted in universal drunkenness. The coffee was almost too bad to drink, being adulterated with mallow seeds. Sugar had long given out and honey was used in its place. Emin had made a valuable collection of ivory with which in Europe he could have procured himself and his officials the choicest dainties and all imaginable pleasures. There, however, it would purchase nothing and it was unlikely that the valuable stuff could be taken to the coast and made of any use. Their clothing was in rags. Wool was spun by the negroes, but unfortunately the material was lacking. Skins were tanned and used as garments and they imitated a practice of the savages. They stripped the bark from certain trees and by careful scraping it produced a pliant stuff of a beautiful red or yellow color which hung from their shoulders in picturesque folds. Their shoes were very neat, for a skilful negro made them precisely like the European. Shoes were really indispensable there as the roads are so rough that unshod feet are easily injured. The Christmas festival drew near, but it brought no pleasure. Emin and Junker sat together one evening. They had not a drop of wine. For a year and a half they had had no news from the outside; not a word of encouragement had reached them. Many a time they felt 38 39 as if they should never again meet with their own kind, as if they were spellbound in a strange world among fierce savages and bloodthirsty men. Their simple and often scanty dinners were marked by a ceremoniousness and an expense in service which would seem amusing to an unprejudiced spectator. On New Year’s Day, 1885, Dr. Junker put on a fine, light gray European dress, saved over from better days, and came to wish the governor good luck. The officials went to the divan to greet him and were received in order according to their rank and served with sherbet, coffee, and cigarettes, treasures set apart for this day’s pleasure which gave all the more satisfaction as they had been so long deprived of them. During all this time Emin Pasha never left Lado. Notwithstanding all his anxiety his scientific activity remained unabated. He took observations of the weather every morning and entered them in his diary. He paid a skilful Arab, Gason Allah, for keeping up his collection of stuffed birds. The Arab came early in the morning to receive his orders concerning hunting expeditions and sometimes the region thereabouts was traversed a week at a time to secure birds of different kinds. Emin Pasha himself was too shortsighted for hunting; indeed he could hardly recognize a person ten steps away. His warm interest in scientific studies helped him pass away these lonesome hours. Thus we see the genial man in the midst of the alarming dangers which menaced him on all sides and the pressing cares which weighed him down, sitting quietly like a true philosopher and statesman and attending to his duties. Nothing can disturb his lofty thought, his proud calmness, his unshaken self-composure. He presents the type of a man whose mighty influence these uncultivated Arabs and negroes could not resist, and which strengthened all in holding out against the danger encompassing them on every side. Chapter V The Enemy Approaches Thus patiently waiting, each daily duty was accomplished. Then came alarming news from the north. Kerem Allah spread broadcast this proclamation of the Mahdi written in the bombastic style of the Orient: “In the name of God, the all merciful, all pitiful! Glory to God, our gracious Lord and our prayers and submission to our master Mohammed and his own. “This from Mohammed, the Mahdi, Son of Abdallah, to his representative, Kerem Allah, son of the Sheik Mohammed, upon whom may God shine in His goodness and ever protect. Amen! “Receive from me this greeting and the mercy and blessing of God. I desire you to know that in accordance with the unfailing promises of God and His unchanging goodness, the city of Khartoum was captured with the help of the Living and Eternal on Monday, the ninth Rebi Ahir of the current year, early in the morning. The soldiers of the faithful stormed the entrenchments with faith in God, the Lord of the world, and in a quarter of an hour or less the enemies of God fell into their hands. They were destroyed to the very last one and their defences also. Although they were strong they were shattered at the first attack of the army of God and sought 41 safety by rushing into the villages, but our army followed them and slew them all with sword and lance. The others who had closed their doors in their fright were taken prisoners and killed and only a few of the women and children were spared. But Gordon, the enemy of God, whom we have often admonished and warned to desist and surrender to God, has never consented since he was a rebel and leader before. So he met his fate, reaping what he had sowed, and God sent him to the place of His wrath, and thus the house of the unjust was destroyed, thanks be to God, Lord of the world, who chastises those who deserve it with fire and rewards the just with a home in Paradise. God protect thee from the faithless, Amen, with the sanction of the Highest and Greatest, the Sender of good. Only ten of our own followers died the death of faith in this victory and no others were injured. This is the mercy of God and from him is the victory for which we give Him thanks. And do the same and take my greeting. Kerem Allah Representative of the Mahdi in Bahr-el-Ghazal and Hat-el- Estiva January 28, 1885 A SERIOUS ACCIDENT TO EMIN Upon the heels of these dreadful tidings came the news that Amadi had fallen. Singularly enough this lesser calamity made more impression than the terrible event at Khartoum, for the connection