Ismailia | Page 4

and the Medjidie, late Governor-General of the Equatorial
Nile Basin, Gold Medallist of the Royal Geographical Society, Grande
Medaille d'Or de la Societe de Geographie de Paris, Honorary Member
of the Geographical Societies of Paris, Berlin, Italy, and America,
Author of "The Albert N'yanza Great Basin of the Nile," "The Nile
Tributaries of Abyssinia," "Eight Years' Wanderings in Ceylon," "The
Rifle and Hound in Ceylon," etc. etc

Contents.
Chap.
I. Introductory
II. English Party
III. The Retreat
IV. The Camp at Tewfikeeyah
V. Exploration of the Old White Nile
VI. The Start
VII. Arrival at Gondokoro
VIII. Official Annexation
IX. New Enemies
X. Destruction of the Shir Detachment
XI. Spirit of Disaffection
XII. Vessels Return to Khartoum
XIII. Moral Results of the Hunt
XIV. The Advance South
XV. The Advance to Lobore
XVI. Arrival at Patiko
XVII. The March to Unyoro
XVIII. March to Masindi
XIX. Restoration of the Liberated Slaves

XX. Establish Commerce
XXI. Treachery
XXII. The March to Rionga
XXIII. Build a Stockade at Foweera
XXIV. No Medical Men
XXV. I Send to Godokoro for Reinforcements
XXVI. Arrival of M'Tese's Envoys
XXVII. CONCLUSION
Appendix
Index

PREFACE.
An interval of five years has elapsed since the termination of my
engagement in the service of His Highness the Khedive of Egypt, "to
suppress the slave-hunters of Central Africa, and to annex the countries
constituting the Nile Basin, with the object of opening those savage
regions to legitimate commerce and establishing a permanent
government."
This volume--"Ismailia"--gives an accurate description of the salient
points of the expedition. My thanks are due to the public for the kind
reception of the work, and for the general appreciation of the spirit
which prompted me to undertake a mission so utterly opposed to the
Egyptian ideas of 1869-1873; at a time when no Englishman had held a
high command, when rival consulates were struggling for paramount
influence, when the native officials were jealous of foreign interference,
and it appeared that slavery and the slave trade of the White Nile were
institutions almost necessary to the existence of Egyptian society.
It was obvious to all observers that an attack upon the slave-dealing and
slave-hunting establishments of Egypt by a foreigner--an
Englishman--would be equal to a raid upon a hornets' nest, that all
efforts to suppress the old-established traffic in negro slaves would be
encountered with a determined opposition, and that the prime agent and
leader of such an expedition must be regarded "with hatred, malice, and
all uncharitableness." At that period (1869) the highest authorities were
adverse to the attempt. An official notice was despatched from the
British Foreign Office to the Consul-General of Egypt that British
subjects belonging to Sir Samuel Baker's expedition must not expect

the support of their government in the event of complications. The
enterprise was generally regarded as chimerical in Europe, with
hostility in Egypt, but with sympathy in America.
Those who have read "Ismailia" may have felt some despondency.
Although the slave-hunters were driven out of the territory under my
command, there were nevertheless vast tracts of country through which
new routes could be opened for the slave caravans to avoid the cruising
steamers on the White Nile, and thus defeat the government. The
Sultan of Darfur offered an asylum and a secure passage for all slaves
and their captors who could no longer venture within the new
boundaries of Egypt. It was evident that the result of the expedition
under my command was a death-blow to the slave trade, if the Khedive
was determined to persist in its destruction. I had simply achieved the
success of a foundation for a radical reform in the so-called commerce
of the White Nile. The government had been established throughout the
newly-acquired territories, which were occupied by military positions
garrisoned with regular troops, and all those districts were absolutely
purged from the slave-hunters. In this condition I resigned my
command, as the first act was accomplished. The future would depend
upon the sincerity of the Khedive, and upon the ability and integrity of
my successor.
It pleased many people and some members of the press in England to
disbelieve the sincerity of the Khedive. He was accused of annexation
under the pretext of suppressing the vast organization of the White Nile
slave-trade. It was freely stated that an Englishman was placed in
command because an Egyptian could not be relied upon to succeed, but
that the greed of new territory was the actual and sole object of the
expedition, and that the slave-trade would reappear in stupendous
activity when the English personal influence should be withdrawn.
Such unsympathetic expressions must have been a poor reward to the
Khedive for his efforts to win the esteem of the civilized world by the
destruction of the slave-trade in his own dominions.
Few persons have considered