Ismailia | Page 5

the position of the Egyptian ruler when
attacking the institution most cherished by his people. The employment
of an European to overthrow the slave-trade in deference to the opinion
of the civilized world was a direct challenge and attack upon the
assumed rights and necessities of his own subjects. The magnitude of

the operation cannot be understood by the general public in Europe.
Every household in Upper Egypt and in the Delta was dependent upon
slave service; the fields in the Soudan were cultivated by slaves; the
women in the harems of both rich and middle class were attended by
slaves; the poorer Arab woman's ambition was to possess a slave; in
fact, Egyptian society without slaves would be like a carriage devoid of
wheels--it could not proceed.
The slaves were generally well treated by their owners; the brutality lay
in their capture, with the attendant lawlessness and murders; but that
was far away, and the slave proprietors of Egypt had not witnessed the
miseries of the weary marches of the distant caravans. They purchased
slaves, taught them their duties, fed and clothed them--they were happy;
why should the Khedive of Egypt prohibit the traffic and thus disturb
every household in his territory?
There is no Hyde Park or Trafalgar Square in Egypt, there are no
agitators nor open-air meetings, fortunately for the modern ruler, or he
would have had an unpleasant expression of the popular sentiment at
the close of my administration. The break-up of the White Nile
slave-trade involved the depression of trade in Khartoum, as the market
had supplied the large bands of slave-hunters. The ivory of the
numerous adventurers still remained in the White Nile stations, as they
feared confiscation should their vessels be captured with the ever
accompanying slave cargo. Thus little ivory arrived at Khartoum to
meet the debts of the traders to the merchants in Cairo and Alexandria.
These owed Manchester and Liverpool for calicoes supplied, which had
been forwarded to the Soudan.
The direct blow at the White Nile slave-trade was an indirect attack
upon the commerce of the country, which was inseparably connected
with the demand of the Soudan employers of brigands.
This slight outline of the situation will exhibit the difficulties of the
Khedive in his thankless and Herculean task of cleansing the Augean
stables. He incurred the wrath of general discontent; his own officials
accused him of deserting the Mahommedan cause for the sake of
European Kudos, and while he sacrificed his popularity in Egypt, his
policy was misconstrued by the powers he had sought to gratify. He
was accused of civilizing "through the medium of fire and sword" by
the same English journals which are now extolling the prowess of the

British arms in Caffraria and the newly-annexed Transvaal!
In this equivocal position it would have been natural either to have
abandoned the enterprise at the termination of my own engagement, or
to have placed a Mahommedan officer in charge of the new provinces.
Instead of this, His Highness adhered most strictly to his original
determination, and to prove his sincerity he entrusted the command to
an English officer of high reputation, not only for military capacity, but
for a peculiar attribute of self-sacrifice and devotion. Colonel C. E.
Gordon, R.E., C.B., was appointed Governor-General of the Soudan
and equatorial districts, with supreme power.
This appointment extinguished the delusions which had been nourished
by the Soudan authorities, "that at the expiration of Baker Pacha's rule
the good old times of slavery and lawlessness would return." There was
no longer any hope; the slave-trade was suppressed, and the foundation
was laid for the introduction of European ideas and civilization. It will
now be interesting to trace an outline of the advance of Egypt during
the last five years.
The main difficulty in my original enterprise was the obstruction of the
White Nile by the accumulation of matted vegetation, which impeded
navigation, and actually closed the river. Upon arrival at Gondokoro,
after the tedious process of cutting through 50 miles of swamp and
vegetable matter, via the Bahr Giraffe, I had requested the Khedive to
issue an order that the Governor of Khartoum should immediately
commence the great work of re-opening the White Nile.
His Highness without delay forwarded the necessary instructions, and
in two years the work was completed by Ismail Ayoob Pacha, with the
loss of several vessels which had been overwhelmed by the sudden
bursting of vast masses of floating swamps and entangled reeds. It had
been necessary to commence operations below stream, to enable the
blocks of vegetation to escape when detached by cutting from the main
body.
The White Nile was restored to navigation a few months after my
return to England, and was clear for large vessels by the time that
Colonel Gordon arrived in Khartoum.