Читать книгу Ten Years' Captivity in the Mahdi's Camp 1882-1892 - Josef Ohrwalder - Страница 14

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THE SIEGE OF EL OBEID.

Terrible sufferings of the besieged—The Kababish—Fall of Bara—Fall of El Obeid—The Mahdi enters the town—Fate of the El Obeid Mission—Cold-blooded murder of the brave defenders—The Dervishes live a life of ease in El Obeid—The Mahdi makes laws—He sends out proclamations—Prestige increased by capture of town—News from Khartum—Bonomi and Ohrwalder summoned before the Mahdi—The interview.

The garrison in El Obeid now began to suffer from the effects of this close siege and blockade. The necessaries of life were failing rapidly; the price of provisions had gone up enormously. The commonest food, known as "dokhn" (a kind of millet) rose to 150 dollars, and eventually to 500 dollars the ardeb. Meat had almost entirely given out. Our Mission brethren in the fort possessed one camel, which was nothing but skin and bone, and which was sold for 1,000 dollars, and two days afterwards the purchaser offered it for sale for 1,500 dollars. Eventually the butcher bought it for 2,000 dollars. A chicken went for thirty dollars; eggs a dollar apiece; a loaf of sugar fifty dollars, and twenty dollars for a pound of coffee. A thimbleful of salt cost a dollar. The above were the prices a month after the close investment had begun. Butter and oil could not be had for any money. The poor began to starve quite at the beginning of the siege, and soon were dying in considerable numbers. A little later, matters came to a terrible pass. All the camels and cattle being finished, donkeys, dogs, mice, and even crickets were consumed, as well as cockroaches, which were considered quite tit-bits; white ants, too, were eaten.

And now the deaths by starvation had reached an appalling figure. The dead and dying filled the streets; the space within the fortifications being so limited, there was not room for all the people, and in consequence many lay about in the streets and open spaces. The air was poisoned by the numbers of dead bodies lying unburied, while the ditch was half full of mortifying corpses. Scurvy and dysentery were rife; the air was black with the scores of carrion-kites, which feasted on the dead bodies; these ugly birds became so distended by constant gorging that they could not even fly away, and were killed in numbers by the soldiers, who devoured them with avidity.

Later on gum became the only food; there was a quantity of this, but it brought on diarrh[oe]a, and caused the bodies to distend—indeed, numbers died from eating it. The ground was dug up in all directions in search of the white ants' nests; and the food which they had collected for the winter was greedily consumed. Some poor sufferers eked out a miserable existence by living on the undigested food found in the excrement of animals; all sorts of leather, shoes and sandals, were boiled and eaten. It was a terrible sight to see these human skeletons—their eyes sunk into the backs of their heads, wandering about in search of food. The Mudir extorted all the corn and money he could from the rich merchants, but of what good was a mere handful of corn to the soldiers? They became desperate, all discipline was at an end and they often broke into the houses by night in search of food.

During all this time the Dervishes outside kept on shouting out curses and insults, deriding those within for eating dog's-meat, for, during all this terrible famine in the city, there was abundance of food in the Dervish camp, and this made the besiegers bolder and more insulting than ever, for they knew that the town was practically in their hands. We often tried to establish some sort of communication with our Mission brethren in the city, but we never succeeded in getting any reliable information about them. At length, towards the end of December, we managed, through the kind offices of George Stambuli, to send in a letter and received a reply from the Father Superior, Johann Losi, which was brought to us by one of our female slaves. The news it contained was heart-rending; all our brethren were down with scurvy—that is to say, Father Rossignoli, brother Locatelli, and four sisters, whilst Father Losi himself was on the point of death. For a month they had lived on nothing but dokhn and rice; everything else was gone. Father Losi sent us some clothes, which were a godsend to us, and also 200 dollars, while we in return could do nothing for our poor besieged brethren. A few days later we heard that Father Losi died on the 27th of December of scurvy.

The garrison frequently attempted small sorties, in the hope that they might be able to secure a sheep or bullock, or some wood, and these always caused some excitement in the camp. When anything of this sort took place, the usual cry was "Et Turki Marak" ("The Turks are coming out"), then the camp suddenly woke up, and, like a swarm of ants, moved towards the town to drive the garrison in again. On these occasions quantities of ammunition were expended without much result. In the meantime the Mahdi continued his daily preaching against the vanities of this life, of his divine message, and of the approaching end of the world. During these sermons the people stood wrapped in wonder and astonishment at the Mahdi's great wisdom.

The Egyptian guns frequently fired into the camp, and on two occasions shells burst close to our hut, but did no harm. The Dervishes also returned the fire, but their shots always fell far beyond; had they only been skilled in the working of the guns they had, the fortifications would have become untenable in a day, but the Mahdi seemed purposely to wish to prolong the siege, and to thus compass the death of its defenders through famine. The wells were only about one kilometre distant from the forts, and in consequence within easy range of the fire of the besieged; but the Mahdi was quite regardless of this, and often formed up his troops there—a proceeding which generally resulted in his losing some men.

It was about this time that the principal sheikhs of the powerful Kababish tribe, viz. Saleh and Tome, the sons of Sheikh Salem, came to pay their allegiance to the Mahdi. As a gift they brought him two hundred camels, and he in return ordered a great military display and a special bombardment of El Obeid in their honour. The two sheikhs did not, however, take a great interest in these proceedings; and one day Saleh suddenly took himself off, and from that date became the Mahdi's sworn enemy, until the day of his death, when, as we shall presently see, he was one of the last of the great sheikhs who was overthrown by the Mahdi. His brother Tome was suddenly thrown into chains without any warning, the Mahdi giving as his reason that the Prophet had appeared to him in a vision and told him to do so.

Towards the end of November, news arrived that a further reinforcement of troops had left Khartum for El Obeid. This information occasioned a great stir in the camp, because there was some idea that English troops had been sent. These must have been the arrival of the first batch of troops destined eventually to form part of the Hicks Expedition; but even then it was too late to send any help to El Obeid.

One day it came to the Mahdi's ears that provisions were being smuggled into El Obeid, where they were sold at enormous prices, and to stop this he made the investment still closer. Some of the smugglers were caught, and as a punishment their right hands were cut off, and their handless arms tied to their necks; they were then led round the camp as a warning to others.

Meanwhile, as the siege of El Obeid was drawing to a close, other places in Kordofan were falling into the Mahdi's hands. The town of Bara had been reduced to great straits. A force marching to its relief under Abu Kuka, was attacked by Fiki Minneh: the majority were killed, and it was only through the bravery of Surur Effendi that a few hundred of them succeeded in reaching the town. The notorious Nur Angar, who was on the walls of the town, rendered no assistance during the siege, and went over to the enemy. At length, on the 5th of January, Bara was forced to capitulate through famine, and the garrison was sent to the Mahdi's camp.

The victory was celebrated by a salute of guns, and the unfortunate garrison in El Obeid took this to be the approach of relieving troops; but the Mahdi made it known to Said Pasha that, on the contrary, it was in celebration of the fall of Bara—an incident which caused the gloom to deepen over the doomed city; and all hope of delivery was abandoned. Yet the Mudir still continued to hope against hope that he should be relieved from Khartum, and his sanguine spirit kept up the courage of the garrison. But it could not last much longer; the soldiers were too weak even to hold their rifles in their hands, and Said Pasha realized that further resistance was useless. In desperation, therefore, he proposed to blow himself up in the powder magazine, and this he certainly would have done had not the senior officers urged that in doing so numbers of other lives would have been sacrificed as well. There was now nothing left to be done but to surrender, and this event took place on the 19th of January, 1883.

The Mahdi and his hordes now entered El Obeid, and he made the Mudirieh his residence. Guards under the command of mukuddums were posted outside every large house, to prevent the notables escaping, to further extort money and to search for treasure. Children, servants, and slaves were kept aside, and by continual flogging were obliged to divulge the secret hiding-places. The Mission buildings were of course entered by thousands of Mahdiists. Father Bonomi and brother Locatelli lay sick, and the sisters were completely exhausted. Hundreds of Dervishes struggled to break into the narrow enclosure where the unfortunate brethren lay ill. The crosses which the sisters wore round their necks were wrenched off and broken to pieces with axes. Sister Concetta Corsi, who was then one of the strongest, flew at these cruel intruders and made them wonder at the boldness of a poor weak woman. Some of them then entered with drawn swords, and, pointing their lances within an inch of her bosom, they threatened her with instant death if she made the slightest resistance; but she answered, "You are dogs, and not men!" whereupon one of those standing near her gave her a blow on the face, which broke several of her teeth and made her mouth pour with blood.

Three days after the Mahdi's entry into El Obeid, our missionaries were taken before him, and in a solemn assembly he tried in vain to force them to become Moslems. They were then sent forth with nothing but the clothes they wore, in company with the other survivors of the siege, to the Dervish camp.

Our little party was now increased by the arrival of Father Rossignoli, brother Locatelli, who was then more dead than alive being carried on an angarib (native bedstead), and four sisters, who were all suffering from scurvy. They were brought to our hut, and our meeting could not be otherwise than a sad one. The sisters were accompanied by a girl named Bianca Limona, who, though a Sudanese, had quite a fair face, and resembled an Albino. Gordon, when travelling from Darfur to El Obeid, came across a youth of a similar type, whom he brought to the Mission, and suggested that he should marry the girl; but he being a fanatical Mussulman, the girl absolutely refused.

Bianca, being of no trade value, was permitted by the Dervishes to remain with the sisters. All the other Mission blacks remained with the soldiers, but the young ones were sold. From amongst the Christian girls the Mahdi selected two as concubines—an Abyssinian and a black; the latter had been well brought up, had learnt handiwork of different sorts, and she soon became the head of all the concubines.

The Dervishes captured quantities of arms and ammunition in the fort, also a considerable amount of rough gold, goods of all sorts, and furniture. This was all carried off to the beit el mal; the floors were all dug up in search of hidden treasure, and even dead bodies were disentombed and examined. The body of Father Losi, who had died a month before, was pulled up and searched, as it was believed he had a quantity of money. I must here recount an episode which will give an idea of the wonderful fidelity of our poor blacks, and their affection for us. Father Losi had purchased a little black boy in El Obeid, and for the ten long years during which this brave missionary had worked continuously for the welfare and happiness of the blacks, his boy Said served him most faithfully, and during all the horrors of that dreadful siege this boy never left the side of his "Father," as he used to call Father Losi. When Losi died, the boy used to spend most of the day weeping over his grave, and one day he was found lying stretched on the grave quite dead—he had died of grief.

The Mudir, Said Pasha, and the senior officers were, for a time, placed under guard, and refused, even on pain of death, to say where the treasure was; but when Said Pasha heard that his concubine and servants had been cruelly flogged and beaten to make them divulge, he at length handed over all his property to the Mahdi, and £6,000.

A few days after the fall of El Obeid a fire broke out on the north side of the camp; the strong wind drove the flames to the adjoining huts, and soon half the camp was ablaze. We had to run from our hut, which was soon afterwards enveloped in flames, and we were again obliged to encamp in the open. However, our good friend Stambuli succeeded in procuring a small tent for us. The Mahdi now ordered the whole town of El Obeid to be occupied by the Arabs, but it was not nearly large enough to hold all the people, consequently an enormous circle of huts soon surrounded the town, and we ourselves erected a small one, just beyond the precincts of the Mahdi's camp, having some Greeks and Syrians, who had been turned out of El Obeid, as our neighbours.

For about fifteen days most of the inhabitants of the town—clerks, Government officials, and Copts, were closely guarded and continually flogged to make them disclose the hiding-places of their treasure. Most of the principal people were handed over to the emirs. Said Pasha was placed in charge of Ismail Wad el Andok, and sent to Aluba; Ali Bey Sherif was sent to Birket, and several of the Coptic clerks were sent to Singiokai. Ahmed Bey Dafallah and Major Yesin were dragged to Shakka. Evil reports were spread about them, and it was rumoured that both the Mudir and Ali Bey Sherif had written to Khartum, consequently the Mahdi issued orders that the gallant defenders should be killed, justifying his action by saying that the Prophet had, in a vision, ordered him to do so. Ali Bey Sherif was beheaded close to the tent occupied by his wife and two children, who were afterwards taken over by Sayid Abdel Kader, the Mahdi's uncle. Said Pasha was most cruelly slaughtered with axes at Aluba; he was greatly disliked by the people, who called him "Jurab el Ful" ("Sack of beans") because he was so stout. Ahmed Bey Dafallah and Major Yesin were executed at Shakka. Such was the end of the brave defenders of El Obeid, who, in truth, deserved a better fate.

The Mahdi, having thus made away with his enemies, was able to breathe more freely, and, as if to excuse himself for his horrible cruelty, he published a vision, in which he said that he had been told that Said Pasha did not go to hell, but as he (the Mahdi) had earnestly begged it, he was permitted to go to paradise.

During the siege there was much friction between the Mahdi and Fiki Minneh, whose capacity for drinking marissa and stealing booty came to the Mahdi's ears. As long as Minneh was useful to the Mahdi he forbore with him; but when El Obeid fell, he sent for him and forcibly made him divide his booty. Fiki Minneh therefore returned in a sulky mood to Tayara, and from that time became the Mahdi's enemy. He openly collected a quantity of dokhn, and brought together his fighting force. The Mahdi therefore despatched Abu Anga, the Commander-in-chief of his forces, Abderrahman en Nejumi and Abdullah Wad en Nur, with a large number of men. Making a forced march, they appeared suddenly at Tayara, and the Gowameh followers of Minneh fled on the first volley. Minneh's brother, uncle, and two sons were captured and beheaded on the same spot where Minneh himself had slain the soldiers and their wives and children the previous year; their heads were hung up in the market-place at El Obeid as a warning to others.

The Mahdi and his emirs now began to live a life of ease; the latter occupied the various buildings around the Mudirieh and made themselves comfortable: they placed no restrictions on themselves in the way of food and drink; there was money in abundance and supplies were plentiful, consequently sensuality and luxurious living were substituted for the abstemious life which the Mahdi doctrine had at first inculcated. The principal emirs delighted in extensive harems and a show of splendour. Jibbehs were still worn, but their ragged condition, which was essential in the early days, gave way to as much embellishment as such a garment would admit of. The emirs vied with one another in their wealth of slaves, cattle, horses and donkeys; their sword-hilts were now embellished with silver. In place of lying on the dirty ground, their clothes full of vermin, they assumed the luxurious and comfortable mode of life of the Turks and Egyptians. So shocked, indeed, was the Mahdi's uncle, Sherif Mahmud, when he arrived from Gedir to see the drunken and debauched lives led by the emirs, more especially by Wad en Nejumi, that he induced the Mahdi to order the latter to reduce his harem by twenty wives, who were subsequently sold in the beit el mal as slaves. At the same time the Mahdi issued the strictest orders against luxurious living, and insisted that no gold and silver ornaments should be worn. He further ordained that in future the dress should consist of a takia (or skull cap) made of the leaves of the dwarf-palm, round which a turban should be worn with end hanging down; the jibbeh (or coat); a pair of drawers; and a girdle made of straw. This made rather a becoming uniform to these swarthy warriors.

The rules regarding smoking and drinking were reiterated with greater severity. It was next to impossible to induce the Sudanese to give up smoking and chewing tobacco: a man would willingly give all the money he had to secure even a small quantity. Then the blacks, and especially the emirs, are much addicted to marissa drinking, which it was found still more difficult to stop; if men or women were caught in the act of smoking or drinking, they were obliged to walk through the market with the drinking bowl or tobacco on their heads, followed by an insulting and hooting crowd. It was sometimes the custom to break the bowl on the marissa drinker's head and drench him with its contents; this was the signal for all the children to throw mud and dust at the culprit until he became almost unrecognisable; he was then dragged before the kadi (or judge) in the market-place, where he received eighty unusually heavy blows, the first of which generally drew blood. The place was full of spies, who were always on the look-out to report smokers and drinkers to the Mahdi. Sometimes they forced their way into the houses, and finding nothing, would surreptitiously throw some tobacco on the floor, which they would then suddenly discover, and declare it to be the property of the owner of the house, who would be forthwith dragged off and thrashed unmercifully although perfectly innocent.

Justice was administered according to the Moslem law. Blasphemers of God or the religion were punished with instant death, as well as all those who disbelieved in the Mahdi. A murderer was at once beheaded, no extenuating circumstances were ever admitted. A thief was deprived of a hand and a foot; adultery between married persons was punished by beheading the man and stoning the woman, but in the latter case a necessary proof was that the woman should be with child. Illicit intercourse between unmarried persons was punished with eighty lashes; these laws regarding immorality were, however, in the case of slaves, relaxed to some extent, and they were, as a rule, punished by flogging only. Persons found concerned in the making of eunuchs were beheaded, though curiously enough the khalifas and emirs all retained eunuchs for their harems. Slaves freed by the Egyptian Government were not recognised as such, and were again forced to become slaves. A slave's witness was not accepted in a trial. All important cases were judged before the Mahdi, who sentenced persons as he thought fit. The Mosaic law—an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth—was generally practised. The relations of murdered persons generally carried out the sentences on the criminal, provided that the judge approved. Punishment could be modified or cancelled altogether by the payment of money. In addition to the Mahdi, his relatives and the khalifas were permitted to judge cases—a proceeding which resulted in great confusion and miscarriage of justice. The market-place was the chief centre of activity; here the judge held his court, and a profitable business he made of it by substituting money for punishments.

Shortly after the fall of El Obeid the Mahdi set himself to regulate his finances. The Kordofan Arabs, who had gained many successes over the Government, and who had really taken up the Mahdi's cause in anticipation of the loot they would acquire, were ordered to bring all their booty—down to the smallest article—to the Mahdi at El Obeid, and to enforce this order, parties of Dervishes were sent out in various directions to forcibly drive in the Arabs, who now regretted that they had so precipitately joined the Mahdi in the first instance. Everything was brought to the beit el mal, and there publicly sold; of the proceeds, one-fifth was given to the Mahdi personally, and the remaining four-fifths were set aside as administrative revenue, but in point of fact a considerable portion of this sum also found its way into the Mahdi's private treasury. A native of Dar Mahas, named Ahmed wad Suleiman and a great favourite of the Mahdi, was given unlimited control over the beit el mal treasury. His master had had a divine revelation, pointing out that he was the one man to hold this responsible position, and in consequence he was unassailable. Whenever the Mahdi rode out on horseback, Ahmed held the reins and walked barefooted at the horse's side.

All learned men were despised and disliked by the Mahdi, for he not unnaturally recognised a danger in their combating his claims by reference to divine books. Consequently all such documents were ordered to be burnt, and any one who concealed a book did so at the risk of his life. The Mahdi's object was to keep the people in ignorance by proclaiming that he was the centre of all light and knowledge; there were even flatterers to be found who asserted that they had seen flashes of light darting out of his head! He frequently indulged in visions, sometimes representing that he had been taken up in the spirit to the heavens, where he conversed with God and His Prophet. To doubt the truth of these visions was an unpardonable offence. He entirely abolished all the rules and customs practised by the Government. The wearing of the tarbush (fez) was strictly forbidden; if any one was seen wearing one, it was instantly pulled off and torn to shreds. All Government registers were burnt, and debts contracted with the Government considered cancelled. He ordered his adherents to call themselves Foggara[E] or Asyad.[F]

His usual custom was to pray on a small straw mat placed in the divan of the Mudirieh and in the presence of all his followers; a slave generally stood beside him with a pillow on which he either sat or knelt, as the case might be. When the prayers were over he received the visitors, conversed on matters of general interest, read his letters, and discoursed on the manners and customs of the Turks with the object of making his hearers despise and laugh at them. He plunged wildly into the sensual delights of his immense harem. In place of wine he substituted a drink much appreciated in the Sudan, consisting of date syrup mixed with ginger, of which he drank quantities out of the silver cups taken from the Mission Church in El Obeid.

In spite, however, of all this luxurious living, the Mahdi did not omit to publish his new propaganda far and wide. He wrote several letters to the inhabitants of the Gezireh (the country between the Blue and White Niles), calling on them to rise, and threatening all those who refused to obey the summons. Numbers flocked to his standards, partly through fear and partly because they recognised the inability of the Government to cope with the revolt. It was at this time that he despatched Osman Digna, who afterwards became so notorious, to the Eastern Sudan. This fanatical adherent of the Mahdi copied the example of his master in every respect, wearing neither shoes nor sandals, and only riding during exceptionally long marches, his argument being that as the Mahdi deigned to walk the earth, he thereby made it holy. A force was now despatched to capture Sheikh Tome of the Kababish, who was reported to be in friendly communication with Khartum. The unfortunate man was attacked by night, captured and dragged off in chains with his wife, child, slaves, and camels to El Obeid. The Mahdi was prepared to pardon him, but Khalifa Abdullah insisted on beheading him, which was done; this cruel act terrified the remainder of the tribe. During the last fifteen days of Ramadan the Mahdi attended to no public business, but gave himself up to fasting and prayer. The holidays following Ramadan were set aside for military parades and man[oe]uvres, which served to rouse the fanatical ardour of his now numerous followers.

A NATIVE WOMAN OF DONGOLA.

About this time a letter came from Mustafa Yawer, the Mudir of Dongola, to Osman Tobji; the latter was a most generous man, who gave much of his money to the poor and to widows and orphans, especially during the siege of El Obeid; Tobji had thus won the honour and respect of all, and on the fall of the town the Mahdi returned to him the property he had captured; thereupon he at once set to work to relieve the distressed Egyptian families who had been turned out of house and home, and whose property had been taken. In his letter Mustafa Yawer asked his friend Tobji if Mohammed Ahmed were the real Mahdi or not; this letter came into the Mahdi's hands, and Tobji was at once sent for and asked what reply he intended to give. Osman answered, "When the sun has risen over the horizon it is visible to all, and no further proof of its existence is required—thus if the Mahdi be the true Mahdi, his works will bear witness of the truth." This evasive answer did not however satisfy the Mahdi, who obliged Tobji to sign a letter declaring that Mohammed Ahmed was the true Mahdi, and this letter was then despatched to the Mudir of Dongola.

The Mahdi was well versed in the art of winning over people. His unruffled smile, pleasant manners, generosity and equable temperament, though at times somewhat severe, all tended to enhance the popular idea of him. He attributed the execution of Said Pasha and Ali Bey Sherif to the Khalifa Abdullah, and when the two little sons of the latter were brought to him, the smiling hypocrite wept for their father's fate. The popular belief in him and his cause almost amounted to worship: women especially raved about him and thought him the most handsome of men. They swore by him in the words "Hakk rabb el Mahdi" (By the Mahdi's God) or "Hakk Sayidna el Imam" (By our Lord, the Imam); all solemn oaths and statements began with the words "Aleik el Mahdi el Muntaser" (By the Victorious Mahdi); his virtues were extolled in poems, and constant reference was made to his good looks, wisdom, stature and to his repeated victories over the Turks. The beggars used to learn off by heart special laudatory verses, and by reciting them from house to house they were sure to be given alms; to such an extent was this laudation carried that if a beggar sang songs in which the Prophet's name occurred, he was at once interrupted and told to substitute the Mahdi's for the Prophet's name; at every street corner his praises were sung; soldiers on the march sang of his glorious victories; female slaves gathering wood, or laden with corn, or grinding it between the stones—all sang the same refrain, which indeed might be called the Mahdi's national anthem, and began with the words "Mahdi Nur Ainana" (the Mahdi is the light of our eyes), or "El Mahdi kammal et Turk fi Kana" (the Mahdi conquered—lit. gave their full to—the Turks at Kana).

The Arabs delight in poetry, and during the night generally collected in parties, and seated on the sand sang the Mahdi's praises, the two principal singers keeping time by beating the ground with their sticks, while the rest joined in the chorus at the end of each verse. Inspired sometimes by their theme, they would stand up and flourish their swords in the air as if combating the Turks, shouting "Fi Shan Allah" (for God's cause). Thus the adulation of the Mahdi extended from the highest emir to the lowest slave, and woe to him who was ever heard to utter one word in deprecation or blame of the new Prophet, he would at once be pounced upon and beaten to death with sticks.

Sometimes the Mahdi was called "Khalifat er Rasul" (the successor of the Prophet), and sometimes even they dignified him with the sacred title of Nebbi (Prophet). In truth the Prophet Mohammed occupied in the people's minds quite a secondary position, and the celebration of his birthday was forbidden by the Mahdi.

On one occasion a dispute occurred between two men; one argued that the Mahdi would have a higher seat in heaven than the Prophet, while the other maintained that "God was higher than the Mahdi." The dispute waxed hot, and the case was referred to the judge, who settled the matter by saying that "the living was better than the dead," but at the same time the man who advocated the Prophet's claims was relegated to prison, not so much for asserting what was perfectly true, that "God was higher than the Mahdi," but that the tone in which he had said it was tantamount to an insult to the Mahdi. Naturally those Moslems who still had some sense of the orthodox creed were much annoyed at this decision.

Early in April a messenger arrived from Khartum with a letter from the Austrian Consul Hansal. Now as we were perfect strangers in El Obeid, people did not dare to associate with us; the messenger therefore handed over the letter to George Stambuli, who was then a man well known to every one. Stambuli, who supplied us with all the necessaries of life, now came to us in a state of great excitement, bringing the letter in which he hoped to find some news of the outside world. We opened the letter, which was long and well-written, and found that it was directed to the Mahdi. We read it and considered it a well-written letter; in it Hansal called the Mahdi "Sheikh," and begged him to release us, receiving as a ransom such a sum as he should demand, and which he (Hansal) was prepared to give. The bearer of the letter was then ordered to take it direct to the Mahdi, but fearing that its contents might compromise him, he gave it to Stambuli, who gave it as his opinion that the letter was useless, as he himself had been doing all in his power to effect our release, but was unable to do so. Father Bonomi, however, urged that as the letter was useless it was therefore harmless, and that there could be no objection to giving it to the Mahdi; consequently it was taken to him, and he expressed himself much pleased with it; although he admitted that the system of ransoming was in vogue during the days of the Prophet, he stated that it had been changed by him, as also was the tax per head formerly paid by Christians.

He, however, promised to give us protection until the coming of Sayidna Isa (Jesus Christ), when we should either have to turn Moslems or die; thus the letter was of no good to us, and on the following day a rumour was spread abroad that the Austrian Consul had joined the Mahdi. The messenger asked us to give him a few lines to take back, and thus prove that he had delivered the letter to us; so we and Stambuli complied, and the messenger left for Khartum; but he was followed by spies, and when at Korsi—one and a half day's journey distant—he was searched by them, and the letters found in the saddle-bag on the donkey, consequently he was arrested, brought back, and thrown into chains.

The false news was now rapidly circulated that an English post had arrived. Father Bonomi and I were at once summoned to read the letters. It occurred to us that our letters had probably been seized and that we were in some danger. I was not alarmed about my letter to Hansal, for I had written in German, and there was no one besides myself in El Obeid who understood German; but Bonomi's letters had been written in Italian, and there were several people who understood that language. As we entered the Mudirieh we saw Stambuli also coming. We were first taken to the Khalifa Sherif, who was lying on a straw mat in his hut; after greeting us, he lifted up the mat and drew out several letters, which we at once recognised as those we had written. The Khalifa asked us if we had written them, and we replied in the affirmative. He thereupon produced a piece of paper on which Bonomi had written that the messenger should receive six pounds. Father Bonomi translated this to the Khalifa; Stambuli was then called in, as he pretended to know a number of European languages, while in point of fact he knew little or nothing; when the paper was given to him to read he said that it contained a medical prescription, and this translation did not of course agree with Bonomi's version. Amidst the murmuring of the bystanders the Khalifa now rose and bid us follow him into the divan of the Mudirieh, and thence into the room adjoining that in which the Mahdi was sitting with the Khalifa Abdullah. The latter had to keep his bed, for his leg had been broken by a fall from a horse; he had collided with another horseman, and in falling had been badly kicked. Father Bonomi and Stambuli only were taken before the Mahdi, whilst I was left in the room outside; there were a Dervish and a Greek also in the room, and as I was sitting on the ground near the door, the Greek came up to me and told me that a sheikh wished to speak to me. I replied, "Let the sheikh come to me if he wants to speak to me; I have nothing to ask of him."

A few moments afterwards the sheikh came up to me in a furious rage, and without further ado attacked me with his fists, kicked me, and called me a Christian dog; then seizing me by the leg he dragged me out towards the gate, where he said he intended to cut off my head.

The sound of this struggle reached the Mahdi's ears, and he sent a eunuch to take me out of the sheikh's hands. Shortly afterwards the Mahdi himself, Bonomi, and Stambuli came out, and were rather pleased than otherwise that my incident with the sheikh had interrupted their somewhat painful conversation. The Mahdi did not appear angry, and as usual, smiled pleasantly all round; then, surrounded by his principal emirs, he performed the noonday prayers in the divan, while the multitude conformed to the prayers in the Mudirieh courtyard. This over, he sat down on his mat and opened his audience, whilst a slave standing behind him fanned him and drove off the flies. Numbers of people submitted their cases to him in a very low and humble tone of voice, and from the various gestures which took place, I concluded that he had given satisfaction to all. He then read aloud a letter from an influential sheikh in Khartum, whose name I have forgotten; after which a number of sheikhs came in to take the oath of allegiance.

During this ceremony the man taking the oath had to place his hand in the Mahdi's right hand; then the latter repeated the oath in the following words: "Thou consecratest thyself, thy children and thy property to the Mahdi. Thou shalt be guilty of no impurity; thou shalt not steal, nor drink alcohol; and thou shalt bind thyself to do thy duty in the Jehad." The person to whom the oath was administered sealed it with a solemn "Amen." If several persons took the oath together, they were obliged to repeat it in chorus, and at the conclusion they shouted "Fi Shan Allah." When the audience was over, we asked the Mahdi's permission to retire, which he allowed us to do.

Bonomi now gave us an account of his interview with the Mahdi and Khalifa Abdullah. They had thought that we had written letters to the Government at Khartum, but they could not read the letters which, in point of fact, contained nothing political. Bonomi had given the Mahdi a short resumé of their contents with which he seemed pleased, but Abdullah appeared dissatisfied.

For the next eight days we were in considerable danger, and the one topic of conversation was what should be done to us. It was the general idea that we were to be beheaded; but Stambuli was working his friends, and by dint of bribes the matter was hushed up, although I believe that we owed it principally to the good will and kindly disposition of the Mahdi. After about ten days we were summoned before a certain emir named Hajji Khaled, who made enquiries about the letters, and we told him that we were prepared to translate literally every word. Our fearless persistence impressed him, and he did not trouble us further.

Some of the European merchants could have translated the letters, but Stambuli bribed them with twenty pounds, and on the 26th of April, thirteen days after the letters had been intercepted, the Mahdi pardoned Stambuli at a public meeting, and handed them back to him; then in the presence of two trustworthy friends of the Mahdi, we translated them word for word into Arabic, and gave them back to the Mahdi, who, judging from their general tenour, appeared convinced of their harmlessness.