A Prisoner of the Khaleefa/Chapter 19
CHAPTER XIX
RUMOURS OF RELIEF
Soon after the departure of Onoor Issa I was saved any further trouble in the way of scheming for excuses to get out of the Saier. Awwad-el-Mardi, the successor of Nur-el-Gerafawi as the Amin Beit-el-Mal on the appointment of the latter as director of the Khaleefa's ordnance stores, had been approached by Nahoum Abbajee and others on the subject of the extraction of gold and silver from certain stones which had been discovered in the neighbourhood. Awwad sent Nahoum to see me about the erection of a crushing-mill or furnaces. My interview with Nahoum was a stormy one. It commenced by his upbraiding me for the pranks I had played in smashing the arsenal punching-machine when we were associated in the establishment of a mint. The more I laughed the angrier Nahoum became; he is deaf, and like most deaf people, invariably speaks in an undertone, which is as distressing to the hearer as is the necessity he is under of bawling back his replies. It is next to impossible to hold a conversation with a deaf person without the natural result of raising the voice exhibiting itself in the features; the annoyance is there plain
enough, but when the face flushes with the unwonted exertion, your deaf friend thinks you are getting angry, and follows suit. This is precisely what Abbajee did. He showed me his specimens, and I bawled into his ear, "Mica — not gold, not silver — mica;" and he yelled back, "Gold, silver, gold." The noisy discussion, accompanied as it was with gesticulations, attracted other prisoners around us, and Nahoum went off in high dudgeon.
When he had gone, a few of my friends asked why I did not offer to assist him, and even if the thing was a failure, they thought I was clever enough to find something else to do; but, as they said, "promise anything provided it gets you out of the Saier." There were excellent reasons, but which I might not confide to them, why any work I undertook to do should occupy months, and, if necessary, years in completion. To offer to assist Nahoum in extracting gold and silver from such stones meant that two or three weeks at the outside would evidence our failure to do so, and then it was Saier again for me. Whether any work I undertook to do for the Khaleefa was to end in success or failure was immaterial to me; but it was very material that the result, whatever it was to be, should not be attained for months, as by the time my guides returned, the conditions surrounding my escape might have so changed as to necessitate an entire change in plans and programme. They might even entail the guides' return to Cairo or the frontier, and this occupied months. But the advice to accept Nahoum's proposals and trust to luck for discovering some other excuse for remaining out of the Saier when failure could no longer be concealed, appealed to me, and, in reply to my offer of assistance, a messenger came from the Khaleefa ordering the Saier to hand me over to the director of the Beit-el-Mal. His other instructions were that the bars and heavy chains were to be taken off my feet and legs, and that I was to be secured by a single pair of anklets connected with a light chain. While this change was being made I received the congratulations of the gaolers and prisoners, and (February, 1896) was escorted out of the prison by two guards to enter upon a new industry which had in it as much of the elements of success as would accompany an attempt to squeeze blood out of a cobbler's lap-stone. I had not forgotten Shwybo's fate.
When I reached Khartoum, Awwad-el-Mardi had not yet arrived. It was the month of Ramadan, and as all transactions were in abeyance until after sunset, I was not allowed to land until Awwad arrived to hand me over officially. I was left alone on one of Gordon's old steamers, moored at the spot where Gordon fell, and where the victorious Sirdar and his troops landed to conduct the burial service. During the hours I had to wait gazing at the ruined town and the dismantled palace which saw the martyrdom of as good a man and soldier as ever trod this earth, I ruminated over his blasted hopes and my own. I shall not pretend to call to mind all the thoughts which surged through my brain as I paced alone over the shell-and bullet-splintered deck; but you can imagine what they were when I reflected that I was the only European in the Soudan who had fired a shot for Gordon, and that I was now a captive in the hands of the successor of the Mahdi, gazing at the ruined town from which, just eleven years ago, we had hoped to rescue its noble defender. I should be ashamed to say that when Awwad did at last come I was not in tears.
I felt more acutely than I did when first taken to Khartoum to be "impressed," and still more acutely than when I was hurriedly bundled into the old Mission to start the saltpetre works. For the first time since my captivity I had been left absolutely alone. I was sitting on one of that fleet of "penny steamers" which, had Gordon not sent down the Nile to bring up his rescuers, might have saved him and the Soudan in spite of the wicked delay resulting from the attempt to make a theatrically impressive show of an expedition intended to be one of flying succour to the beleaguered garrison and its brave commander, praying for months for the sight of one single red coat. Gordon, I had been told, towards the end, called the Europeans together in Khartoum, and telling them that, in his opinion, the Government intended to sacrifice him, recommended them to make their escape. A deliberate attempt to sacrifice him could not have succeeded better. What wonder, when such thoughts as these and many others had been affecting me for hours, that when Awwad came, as darkness was setting in, the darkness of night had settled too upon my mind. He, believing that my chains were the real cause of my depression, ordered that they should be exchanged immediately for lighter and smoother ones, for the anklets and chains given me by Idris were rough in the extreme.
After being officially handed over to the Governor of Khartoum, the question arose as to my quarters. I was offered quarters in his house, but I had already experienced life amongst his Baggara bodyguard, and begged hard to be allowed to live in the same place with Nahoum Abbajee and Sirri — the former telegraph-clerk at Berber, with whom I was to work. We were given the house of Ghattas, an old slave-dealer, to live in. It was one of the best houses left standing in Khartoum, and boasted an upper floor, which was taken possession of by Nahoum Abbajee as head of what I might call the gold syndicate, while Sirrt and I shared the ground floor. In the East the West is reversed; you climb to the garret with your rising fortunes, and descend with them, as they fall, to the lower floors. Instead of having Saier or Baggara guards to watch me, Awwad gave me some slaves from the Beit-el-Mal as guardians, and they had, in addition to watching me, to perform the household duties; in fact, they were my servants.
After the evening prayers, Awwad called together the employés of the arsenal and my guards, and explained to them that I was no longer a Saier prisoner; that my chains were left on only to prevent the Government people taking me; that I was "beloved" of the Khaleefa, and was to be treated as his friend, and that if any one treated me differently, he would be sent to take my place in the Saier. Awwad then taking me aside under the pretence of giving me instructions from the Khaleefa, said, "I am your friend; do not be afraid; if you cannot find gold and silver, tell me of anything else you can do, and I will see that the work is given to you, so that you may not be sent back to the Saier." As Awwad was then a perfect stranger to me, I at first had suspicions in my mind as to the genuineness of his friendship; but he was a Jaalin, and I trusted him.
We were told to get to work at once with the extraction of the precious metals. As the engineer, I had to design and superintend the construction of the furnaces to be made by Hassan Fahraani (the potter), who also supplied the crucibles. Our first furnace crumbled to pieces after being started, and a stronger one had to be made. Then the crucibles gave out. We did all we could to coax gold and silver out of those stones, and obtained some extraordinary results. We added earth, common salt, saltpetre, oxide of lead — anything and everything to the split stones in the crucibles. Sometimes we found the crucible and its contents fused together. The only thing we actually found which gave an idea that we were working for metals was a small shiny black ball, very much resembling a black pearl, and this Hamadan at once took possession of and carried off to Abdullahi, telling him that it only required time for us to succeed. Hamadan, being our chief, was much interested in the work, and he was doubtless looking forward to the day when part of the contents of the crucibles would find its way to him. But our experiments were destined never to be finished. About April, 1896, rumours first, and then precise news, reached Omdurman that the Government troops were again advancing. Then came the startling news that Dongola had been taken, only to be followed by the news of the capture of Abou Hamad. The fulminate factory presided over by Hassan Zecki had run short of ingredients, and as the stock of chlorate of potash ordered from Egypt had not arrived, it was believed that now the troops held all the country between Dongola and Abou Hamad, it would have no chance of getting through. Abdalla Rouchdi, the chemist of the Beit-el-Mal, had, with Hassan Zecki, failed to produce chlorine, as had also others, therefore we were ordered to experiment at once. Nahoum was sent over to the Beit-el-Mal to collect all appliances, chemicals, and anything else he chose to lay his hands upon. Our establishment was growing, and Hamadan was delighted at having under his charge people who were to do so much for Mahdieh. But the chlorine required for the production of the chlorate of potash refused to appear. Our laboratory was a dangerous place to visit, for we had jar upon jar containing mixed acids, and explosions were the order of the day. Nahoum had a lively time, deaf as he was. Once, and once only, Hamadan made pretence of understanding our experiments; he took a good inhalation from a vessel which had in it a mixture of various acids with permanganate of potash. He was almost suffocated, but he was much impressed, and told the Khaleefa what devoted adherents he had when we would work in such a poison-laden atmosphere.
There was good reason why I should do all in my power to keep Hamadan interested and hopeful of grand results. Onoor Issa had sent me word by a messenger from Berber that he was at that town with letters and money for me, but that he had been detained by the Emir; he hoped, however, to be able to get away very soon and arrange my escape. Then the consignment of chlorate of potash put in its appearance — about twelve hundredweight, I was told — and Sirri getting hold of a small sample of it, we showed it to Hamadan to prove that we were just succeeding with our experiments. He was satisfied, as was also Abdullahi, and we were told to continue our work.
However, the tales which were coming in every few days were causing no little anxiety to the Khaleefa. None of us believed that the troops were coming across the desert in "iron devils," and it was some time before we understood that a railway was being built. Indeed we could hardly believe it. Whatever the "iron devil" was, it behoved the Khaleefa to look well to his arms and ammunition. Sheikh ed Din was sent on a round of inspection of stores and arsenals,[1] and discovered that a large quantity of the powder had caked with the absorption of moisture, that other large quantities were of very poor quality, and that the powder-stores in general were not as he thought they were. The Khaleefa threatened to cut a hand and foot off both Abd es Semmieh and Hassan Hosny, the directors of the factory, if they did not work the powder up again into a good explosive. Awwad, as the head of the Beit-el-Mal, came and asked if it was not possible to make some sort of machine for pulverizing the ingredients for the powder ; the work was then being done by hand. I tried to interest Nahoum Abbajee in the work, as it was about time we got clear of our alchemists’ establishment on some excuse or another, otherwise I foresaw trouble if Sheikh ed Din should inquire too closely into our work. But Abbajee thought that he had had quite enough of me in connection with experiments and machinery, and decided to be out of the affair altogether; he thought his life had been in enough jeopardy already. Sirri elected to remain.
I invented a powder machine on the principle of the old German “dolly” toy. We spent a few weeks, assisted by Hamaida, the head of the carpenters, in making a model, which worked beautifully ; and when it was shown to the Khaleefa, he was so delighted that he ordered my chains to be removed. The mortars were put in hand at once, also the beam which
was to lift and let fall the pulverizers, and then it was discovered that the machine could not be made to my dimensions. I knew this when I designed it, but I had hoped. that some one would have been sent south to try and find trees large enough to provide the beams, and so delay would be assured. Osta Abdallah and Khaleel Hassanein, jealous maybe of me, and fearing that their positions were in danger of being taken by myself, went to the Khaleefa, and told him that, in their opinion, I was only "fooling" with him. They also suggested that Awwad-el-Mardi was a friend of the Government, and was helping me on this account; but Yacoub, who was present, supported me. In the course of the interview, the Khaleefa said he had heard that in my country women and children made cartridges with machines, and as I must know all about it, I was to make him such a machine while the powder-mill was being constructed.
For ten years I had been so chained and weighted with iron that it was only with effort I was able to raise my feet from the ground in order to shuffle from place to place; the bars of iron connected with the anklets had limited the stride or shuffle to about ten or twelve inches. When freed from all this, I ran and jumped about the whole day long like one possessed; but the sudden call upon muscles so long unused resulted in a swelling of the legs from hips to ankles, and this was accompanied with most excruciating pains. I had just got the drawings ready for the cartridge-machine when I was compelled to lie up. This gave Osta Abdallah and Hassanein another was to lift and let fall the pulverizers, and then it was discovered that the machine could not be made to my dimensions. I knew this when I designed it, but I had hoped. that some one would have been sent south to try and find trees large enough to provide the beams, and so delay would be assured. Osta Abdallah and Khaleel Hassanein, jealous maybe of me, and fearing that their positions were in danger of being taken by myself, went to the Khaleefa, and told him that, in their opinion, I was only “fooling” with him. They also suggested that Awwad-el-Mardi was a friend of the Government, and was helping me on this account; but Yacoub, who was present, supported me. In the course of the interview, the Khaleefa said he had heard that in my country women and children made cartridges with machines, and as I must know all about it, I was to make him such a machine while the powder-mill was being constructed.
For ten years I had been so chained and weighted with iron that it was only with effort I was able to raise my feet from the ground in order to shuffle from place to place; the bars of iron connected with the anklets had limited the stride or shuffle to about ten or twelve inches. When freed from all this, I ran and jumped about the whole day long like one possessed; but the sudden call upon muscles so long unused resulted in a swelling of the legs from hips to ankles, and this was accompanied with most excruciating pains. I had just got the drawings ready for the cartridge-machine when I was compelled to lie up. This gave Osta Abdallah and Hassanein another chance to approach the Khaleefa, and again they suggested that I was "fooling."
Awwad was sent for, and in reply to the Khaleefa, said that he believed I was doing my best, and would certainly succeed; that had he not believed in me himself, he would never have recommended him to employ me on such important works. Yacoub again took my part, and said that whoever did not assist me, or whoever hindered me, would be considered an enemy of Mahdieh. Although, as he admitted, he did not understand the machines, yet in his opinion "there must be something in the head of the man who invented them, and he was better employed in the arsenal than idling his time in the Saier." Awwad also said that if Osta Abdallah and Hassanein had not and could not find the materials for the construction of the machines, he believed that I could make another one with such materials as they had. This decided the matter — both machines were to be proceeded with; but the Khaleefa agreed to my being put into chains to prevent my escaping, and on the thirteenth day of my freedom the chains were replaced. Being unable to move from my house, the joiners, with a lathe, their tools and material, were sent to me, as the Khaleefa wished the machine to be completed as rapidly as possible. Abdallah Sulieman, the chief of the cartridge-factory, was then employing upwards of fifteen hundred men, and the Khaleefa wished to release them for fighting purposes.
My efforts to obtain either the original models or photographs of them not having so far been successful,
I have had models of the machines made here. Those interested in mechanics will discover for themselves the mechanical defects and unnecessary complications introduced into them. I was working under the supervision of fairly good mechanical engineers, so that defects might not be made too glaring. Some were detected and rectified, but the main defects were not seen, being beyond the powers of calculation of Abdallah; and Hamaida, who could and did see them, was enjoying the pranks which were played. The various ideas I had picked up while associated with Gordon's old corps were now standing me in good stead. When the model of the cartridge machine was taken over to Abdullahi, instead of being pleased with it he was furious: Berber had been taken! Hesaid, "I want cartridges, not models;" and gave orders that I should be taken from my house, kept at work all day in the arsenal, and locked up at night in the arsenal prison with the convicts employed there as labourers.
To gain more time, I insisted upon a full-sized wooden model of the cartridge-machine being first made for the metal workers to work from. Yacoub had given orders that all the material and labour of the arsenal was to be put at my disposition. While the wooden model was being made, I occupied myself in selecting the metal required, and in doing this I laid hands upon everything Osta Abdallah required for the ordinary works in hand. I appropriated the paddle axle of one of the steamers, as I said I required this to be cut with eccentric discs, and did my best to smash the best lathe with it, to give me still more time; but the lathe stood the strain, and four or five discs were actually cut in the axle.
It would have taken them another year to cut the remainder at the rate the work was progressing, and probably four years to make the machine; then when it was finished there would have been an accident, and some people would have been killed or maimed, for that paddle axle would have come tearing through the machine with the first revolution. I was taking a fiendish delight in destroying every good piece of metal I could lay my hands on under pretence of its being required for the machine; the copper and brass which I appropriated interfered considerably with the production of the cartridges, and the skilled workmen whom I kept employed delayed for months the finishing touches to the new powder-factory on Tuti Island: But there could be no going back now. Abdallah was my sworn enemy; but I knew that the more I destroyed under his own eyes, the less risk there was of his going to the Khaleefa again to induce him to believe that the whole of my work was, as he called it, "shoogal khabbass" — all lies, for Abdallah himself would get into trouble for not having discovered it before all the damage had been done.
While still engaged on collecting material for the machine (for no sooner was one lot cut up when it was discovered that some mistake had been made in either length or thickness, so that another raid had to be made on the stores), the steamer Safa was brought up and beached opposite Mokran fort for repairs. Instead of being allowed to settle on a cradle running the whole length of her keel, she was supported only amidships, and her bow and stern tore away. All the boats were at this time in the charge of the Beit-el-Mal, and when Osta Abdallah condemned the Safia, and said it was impossible to repair her, Awwad-el-Mardi, fearing the Khaleefa's displeasure at such a time, asked me if it was not possible to repair her. Taking with us a number of men discontented with Osta Abdallah, we examined the boat, and declared that she could be repaired. Awwad was pleased, and I was appointed superintendent of this work too. My superintendence consisted in hiding below and smoking surreptitiously.
Sometime in August, 1897, Onoor returned to Omdurman, and sent messages to me through Umm es Shole. The import of them will be seen from the following letter, which I was able to write and smuggle over to him; the letter was to be delivered to the first officer he came across:—
News was coming each day of the most alarming description for the Khaleefa; tales of big gunboats coming to reconnoitre Khartoum, and the "iron devil" (the railway) creeping forward, decided him on collecting everything under his eyes. All stores were hurried over to Omdurman; a hundred and fifty to two hundred men were sent over to destroy the mission house, mosque, and other buildings in Khartoum, as the Khaleefa was determined to leave no place of shelter for any troops who succeeded in landing there. I was looked upon with the greatest suspicion, as there was no concealing, try as I might, my anxiety to glean every bit of news possible about the expedition, and I was also in a fever of excitement expecting the return of Onoor. Each day was bristling with opportunities for escape, provided there was a man with a camel ready for me on the opposite shore. With the dozens of boats and hundreds of men employed in transferring the arsenal to the other side of the river, a successful escape was assured; but Onoor never came. Towards the end of November, 1897, I was taken over with the last of the arsenal material to Omdurman, and put into the Saier prison, only until, as I was told, a house could be got ready for me in the Beit-el-Mal, where we were to complete the powder-and cartridge-machines.
- ↑ A few errors have crept into the report submitted to the Earl of Kimberley in April, 1895, after the escape of Slatin.
On page 4 it is stated that the church of the Austrian Mission in Khartoum was utilized as the repairing shops of the arsenal. The church was never put to sucha purpose. The account I have given of the purpose to which it was put is the correct one.
On page 7 it is stated "Neufeld started the first saltpetre refinery in Khartoum." This may or may not be correct, but it is very misleading. The refining of saltpetre for the Khaleefa was a big industry.in Darfour and the environs of Omdurman and Khartoum long before I had anything to do with it. The account I have given as to how I came to be connected with this industry may be relied upon as being correct, while there are many living witnesses, irrespective of the stock of my saltpetre still existing, to prove that I deliberately prevented "the refining of saltpetre" so far as it lay in my power to do so.
In the following paragraph to that quoted, it is stated that the powder-factory was at Halfeyeh. It never was. It was first in Omdurman, and, after the explosion, was gradually removed to Tuti Island. The transfer was not complete when I left Khartoum for the Saier in November, 1897.
On page 10, when speaking of the coins in circulation, it is said, ‘‘This decrease in the intrinsic value of money is an interesting indication of the decline of dervish power and government.” The inference to be drawn from my account of its depreciation is just the reverse, but is the correct inference to be drawn.