CHAPTER XVII.

REVOLT OF THE EGYPTIAN TROOPS.

The situation in the Equatorial province--First mutiny of the troops--Emin at Mswa--Revolt of the garrison at Laboré--Arrest and imprisonment of Emin and Jephson--Arrival of the Mahdists at Lado--Dervish ambassadors at Dufilé--Message from Omar Saleh--Capture of Rejaf--Revolt of the Bari--Anarchy--Second battle at Rejaf--Emin and Jephson at liberty--Siege of Dufilé--Defeat of the Mahdists--Emin at Tunguru.

In realising the events that occurred in the province of the Equator from the time that Stanley left Lake Albert in May 1888 to the date of his return in the following January, it is requisite to bear in mind what must have been the true relation subsisting between 1500 armed and semi-barbarous mercenaries and the solitary European, devoted by taste and education to the study of science, and only placed by adventitious circumstances in the position of a military governor. It was a position in which he was supported by no authority except the prestige of his nationality and official rank; and for four years he had been unaided and uncheered by any communication with the civilised world. Little by little his authority declined, and with it declined also the consciousness of stability on the part of the man who thus saw years pass on without bringing relief to a situation which could hardly do otherwise than continually become more difficult, embarrassing, and critical.

Possibly some stringent and severe measures adopted at first, and the enforcement of capital sentence in several cases, might have nipped the first signs of mutiny in the bud, and have obviated their reappearance. But it should be asked, was it to be expected of Schnitzer, the physician and the botanist, any more than of Livingstone, the conciliating missionary, that he should exhibit the stern energy and the sharp decision of a Stanley or a Wissmann?

As matter of fact, it is plain that for a considerable period Emin Pasha had had little beyond a semblance of power. Whenever he required anything of consequence to be carried out, he could not simply issue an order, he had to submit a request to his Egyptian and Soudanese officers that what he desired should be done. These officers, as a rule, were unfortunately nearly all of that wily and hypocritical class who had caused so much misery and disappointment to Baker and Gordon; they were such as had recently betrayed Khartoum and massacred its valiant defender.

The position of things in the province had become worse than dubious, and an outbreak sooner or later was inevitable. The arrival of the relief expedition precipitated the event.

Report was circulated among the troops that an armed force was close at hand, coming from the south, and that it was the object of the strangers to carry Emin Pasha off by an unknown route. In consequence of this, 190 soldiers at Dufilé, instigated by their officers, entered into a compact that they would at once seize his person, and thus prevent his leaving their country, if he were to leave it at all, by any other route than the northern route, which they knew, and by which they had come.

Emin was made aware of this plot by his faithful adherent Major Awach, and by some of the officers of the second battalion, at whose suggestion he left Wadelai, retreating to Mswa, one of the other settlements on the Lake. Mswa at that time was under the command of Shukri-Aga, a brave and intelligent officer, who had been promoted to his present rank in recognition of the services he had rendered in the campaign against the Mahdists of Karam-Allah in 1884.

When a detachment of the first battalion arrived at Wadelai and learnt that the officers of the second battalion had advised Emin to withdraw, there was a vehement outbreak of wrath. The Commandant at Wadelai was seized and beaten with the kurbatch; the rebel soldiers, moreover, carrying off with them to Dufilé a number of people as hostages.

This had been the actual state of things at the time when Stanley first arrived with his expedition at the margin of Lake Albert; but Emin does not appear to have disclosed to Stanley what was the extremity to which matters were reduced. Very likely, in the kindness of his disposition, he was indulging the hope that the arrival of the Europeans would reassure his followers, and would be effectual in the restoration of order, so that the mutinous soldiers would be brought back to their allegiance. As he wrote to Stanley: “The first battalion in the northern garrisons has always been extremely averse to any proposal of retreat to the south. But now that you have come, and as several of the soldiers remember seeing you at Mtesa’s court when they were there with M. Linant de Bellefond in 1876, and as others know you personally, and still more by hearsay, it is quite probable that they may change their minds. They must now be convinced that there is another way to Egypt besides that to the north, because they will see that you have succeeded in getting here by it.”

But Emin had not taken account of the moral malady which was poisoning the minds of such a large proportion of the Egyptians in the Soudan army; he was not allowing for treason.

Whilst, in the middle of August, Emin Pasha and Mr. Jephson were retiring along the Nile from Dufilé to Rejaf, the troops of the first battalion were being agitated into revolt by one of their officers named Abdul Vaal Effendi. He assured them that Stanley had a commission from the English Government to carry off all the Egyptians and Soudanese in the province, with their wives and children, to Zanzibar, and that there they would be subject to punishment and reduced to slavery by the Christians. In such a land, where ignorance and fanaticism were universal, words like these acted as a train of gunpowder. There was mutiny at once.

It would appear to have been on the 18th of August, one day after Stanley’s reaching Banalya, where his rear-caravan had been in camp, that Emin Pasha and Mr. Jephson were arrested and were being carried as prisoners to Dufilé.

The leaders of the insurrection next summoned the officers to a divan, where all those who ventured to oppose the movement were so insulted and abused that for their own personal safety they were compelled to acquiesce. At the meeting the Pasha was formally deposed, and all the officers who sympathised with him were deprived of their commissions.

After all the revolution was the act of hardly more than half-a-dozen disaffected Egyptians, who by intimidation succeeded in rallying around them a certain number of officers and others. The soldiers, with the exception of those at Laboré, where the flame of insurrection was first ignited, took no part in the original outbreak, and only yielded to the pressure put upon them by their leaders. Indeed, it was to the fidelity of the troops that Emin owed his life; they resolutely maintained that no one should lay violent hands upon the governor, and to the utmost of their power withstood his being removed to Rejaf, the station on the extreme north.

Only a slight modification of affairs ensued during the following month of October. Mr. Jephson regained his liberty, but on the condition that he should not leave Dufilé; the Pasha was still kept in chains and might expect day by day to receive sentence of death.

Then came the sudden and startling intelligence that a Mahdist army, about 1500 strong, under the command of Omar Saleh, had made its appearance before Lado. The troops had been brought from Khartoum in three steamers and nine boats, and had made their encampment upon the site of the now abandoned station.

A few days later three dervishes arrived at Dufilé and demanded an audience of the governor of the province. They were the bearers of a long written message, of which the substance is given in the subjoined abbreviation:--

“From the servant of God, Omar Saleh, officer of the Mahdi, to whom we give reverential greetings.

“To the honoured Mahomed Emin, Mudir of Hatalastiva.

“May God lead him in the paths of His gifts. Amen.

“After greeting you, I would remind you that the world is a house of change and decay, and everything in it must one day perish. God is the Master of all His creatures.

“We are of the army of God. With our army is victory. Victory is to the believers. God help the Faithful. It is written in the Koran.

“The whole country is subject to the prophet. Hicks, Stewart, Gordon, all are dead. Make peace with the Mahdi.

“We have landed here with an army of the defenders of the faith. It is your duty to submit. Submit and be assured of a free pardon, of protection for your children and your property, and of the blessing of God. We bid you come and join us.

“And now be of good cheer and do not delay. I have said enough for one whose intelligence is bright as yours. Come to me and I will honour you. Become a true believer as the master wishes.

“May God bless and assist you in all you do. Salaam.”

The dervishes waited for a reply; the only answer that was vouchsafed was to seize them and put them all to death.

Preparations were at once made for resistance.

Within a few days the Mahdists had assaulted the station at Rejaf, killing five Egyptian officers, and a considerable number of soldiers. All the provisions as well as the ammunition fell into their hands. Simultaneously with the news of this disaster came the intelligence that the Bari, who had long been restless under the Egyptian rule, had revolted and joined the invaders.

From all the stations along the river there was forthwith a general stampede. The garrisons of Bedden, Kiri, and Muggi fled with their wives, children, and servants to Laboré, forsaking their posts and all the goods which they contained. Consternation reigned supreme. Inevitably the position of Emin and Jephson, who were still held captive by the rebels, was becoming more and more perilous.

On the 7th of November, Jephson wrote from Dufilé to Stanley, urging the necessity of there being no loss of time. “Our position here,” he said, “is extremely unpleasant; for three months everything has been chaos and confusion; half-a-dozen conflicting orders are given every day, and no one obeys. The rebel officers are absolutely incapable of controlling the soldiers.” He proceeded to explain that the officers were now very much alarmed at what had happened, that they were reckoning very much on Stanley’s return to the Lake, and that he believed the great majority were quite ready to quit the province with him. “As for Emin and myself,” he added, “we are like rats in a trap. They will neither let us act or retire. Had this rebellion not happened, the Pasha would at least for a time have been able to hold the Mahdists in check; but as it is he is powerless to act.” “Unless,” he says finally, “you come promptly, I fear you will come too late, and that our fate will be that of the other defenders of the Soudan garrisons. Should we not succeed in getting out of the country, please remember me to all friends.”

But sad to relate, on that very date when Mr. Jephson was writing to Stanley that he must come soon, Stanley and Mr. Bonny had hardly reached the confluence of the Ihuru. They were some hundreds of miles away, and had to push along for more than two months before they could reach the Lake. The prospects of Emin and his partner in trouble were indeed becoming desperate.

Worse still did the look-out grow. The Egyptians, in an attempt to get Rejaf back from the Mahdists, were repulsed with heavy loss, and six of their leaders were killed; but the defeat had one happy result; it brought about Emin’s liberation from prison.

Mr. Jephson, writing on November 24th from Wadelai, thus describes the circumstances: “Among the officers killed were some of the Pasha’s worst enemies. The soldiers in all the stations were so panic-stricken and angry at what had happened that they declared they would not attempt to fight unless the Pasha was set at liberty; so the rebel officers were obliged to free him, and sent us to Wadelai, where he is free to do as he pleases, but at present he has not resumed his authority in the country; he is, I believe, by no means anxious to do so.

“Our danger, as far as the Mahdists are concerned, is, of course, increased by this last defeat, but our position is in one way better now, for we are further removed from them, and we have now the option of retiring if we please, which we had not before while we were prisoners. We hear that the Mahdists have sent steamers down to Khartoum for reinforcements; if so, they cannot be up here for another six weeks. If they come up here with reinforcements it will be all up with us, for the soldiers will never stand against them, and it will be a mere walk over.

“Every one is anxiously looking for your arrival, for the coming of the Mahdists has completely cowed them.”

Meanwhile the Mahdists were making rapid advances. After placing their headquarters at Rejaf, which the Egyptian troops had failed to recover, they had successively occupied Bedden, Kiri, Muggi, Laboré, and Khor-Aju. On November 25th they appeared before Dufilé and blockaded it for four days. The station, however, was in a good state of defence, having 500 men under the command of Emin’s lieutenant, Selim Bey. The garrison made a successful sortie, and the besiegers were repulsed, leaving no less than 250 dead upon the field. They then fell back upon Rejaf, and entrenched themselves, awaiting the arrival of their reinforcements.

This engagement, although it gave encouragement to the Egyptians, does not seem to have much improved the position of Emin, who retired to Tunguru, a station on a small island not far from the west shore of the Nyanza; whence on the 18th of December Mr. Jephson wrote again to Stanley: “The Pasha is unable to move hand or foot, as there is still a very strong party against him, and the officers are no longer in immediate fear of the Mahdists.

“Make your camp at Kavalli, send a letter directly you arrive there, and I will come to you.

“I trust you will arrive before the Mahdists are reinforced, or our case will be desperate.”

But at the time when this urgent letter was being written Stanley was far off. He had not yet arrived at Fort Bodo, which he did not reach until December 20th. It will at once be understood that his anxiety was only too well founded, and that he had not been wrong in attributing the long silence of Emin and Jephson to something untoward.