The Memoirs of Admiral Lord Beresford
sacks of grain, wood fuel, bedding and loot. The after-hold held the
possessions, including loot, of the commandant. Below the forward
turret slave-girls ceased not from cooking _dhura_-cakes. Rats swarmed
everywhere; the whole ship exhaled a most appalling stench; and the
ship's company shouted and screamed all day long.
First there was the commandant, who was theoretically in chief command
of the ship, and who commanded the soldiers on shore; then there was
the officer commanding the regular soldiers, Soudanese. He was black,
and so were his men, who were freed slaves. The officer commanding the
Artillery was an Egyptian. The Bashi-Bazouk contingent was composed of
Shagiyehs--who were of the tribe ruled by Khashm-el-Mus--of black
slaves, and of half-castes. Their officers were Turks, Kurds, and
Circassians. The captain of the ship was a Dongolese, and his sailors
were blacks. Under the captain were numerous petty officers, such as
the chief of the sailors, the chief of the carpenters, and so forth.
The chief engineer and his staff were Egyptians. The Reis (pilot) and
his assistants were Dongolese.
Into this wild medley, in the _Talahawiyeh_, Sir Charles Wilson brought
a company of Mounted Infantry; and thus reinforced, we steamed down
river; while I lay in the cabin, in a good deal of pain, and chatted to
Khashm-el-Mus, who became a great friend of mine. He was a short,
grey-bearded, dignified man of middle age, owning great power over his
own people. He remained loyal to Gordon under very trying conditions,
and he stuck by us to the last.
Near Shendi, one of Khashm-el-Mus's men came on board and reported that
the force advancing from Berber had met the fugitives from Abu Klea and
had come no farther. Another Shagiyeh gave the same information. The
people of Shendi fired on the steamers, which replied {286} with ten
rounds of shell from each gun. We then went about and returned to
Gubat. At my request, Sir Charles Wilson conferred upon Mr. Ingram, of
_The Illustrated London News_, the rank of acting-lieutenant in the
Royal Navy. Ingram had been of the greatest service. He had brought
his own launch up from Korti, volunteered to the Desert Column, and
fought gallantly at Abu Klea and at the reconnaissance of Metemmeh. As
all the naval officers had been killed or wounded, and I was
comparatively helpless, I was delighted to secure Mr. Ingram, who was
exceedingly useful.
His subsequent history was remarkable. He was killed while hunting big
game in Africa, and was buried upon an island which was afterwards
washed away. The story goes that the manner of his death and the
bearing away by a flood of his remains, were the fulfilment of a curse,
which fell upon him when, in spite of warnings, he purchased a certain
Egyptian mummy.
Sir Charles Wilson, being assured that no attack was intended from the
direction of Berber, began immediately to prepare for his expedition to
Khartoum. Most unfortunately, I was compelled to retire into hospital;
but I was able to issue instructions which I hope were of use. At Sir
Charles Wilson's request, I advised him to take the two larger and
better protected steamers, _Bordein_ and _Talahawiyeh_.
The work of preparing them began next morning, 23rd January. The first
thing to be done was to sort out from their crews the Egyptians, Turks,
Kurds, Circassians, the "hens" whom Gordon had refused to have again in
Khartoum, and to man the two vessels with Soudanese sailors and
soldiers. Captain Gascoigne and Lieutenant Stuart-Wortley toiled at
this tiresome job nearly all day.
At my suggestion, the people removed from the steamers were placed in a
camp by themselves up stream, on the Khartoum side of Gubat; so that in
the event of a force advancing from Khartoum, and the consequent revolt
{287} of the "hens," we should not be placed between two fires. The
military objection was that they would foul the water; which was
obviated by my building wooden piers projecting into the stream.
An engine-room artificer from the Naval Brigade was sent on board each
steamer, in which they went to work to repair defects. Wood for the
steamers was obtained by cutting up the _sakiehs_, or water-wheels, up
and down the river, a slow process as performed by natives receiving
orders through interpreters. Khashm-el-Mus was placed in command of
the _Bordein_, and Abd-el-Hamid of the _Talakawiyeh_. Sir Charles
Wilson was to go in the _Bordein_, together with Captain Gascoigne, 10
non-commissioned officers and men of the Royal Sussex, one petty
officer and one artificer Naval Brigade, and no Soudanese soldiers. In
the _Talahawiyeh_ were Captain L. J. Trafford, in command of 10
non-commissioned officers and men of the Royal Sussex, one of whom was
a signaller, one engine-room artificer Naval Brigade, and some 80
Soudanese soldiers. The _Talahawiyeh_ towed a _nuggar_ carrying about
50 Soudanese soldiers and a cargo of grain for Khartoum. According to
Gordon's express desire, the British troops were clad in red tunics,
which, being borrowed from the Guards and the Heavy Camel Regiment,
were far from being a regimental fit.
By the time the preparations were complete, it was too late to start
that night, and the Royal Sussex, folded in their red tunics,
bivouacked on the bank.
During the day, the entrenchments upon the hillside and by the river
were strengthened; and the same evening a convoy and an escort under
the command of Colonel Talbot started for Jakdul to fetch stores.
Captain C. B. Piggot, the man who knew not fear, carrying dispatches to
Korti, accompanied them.
It should be borne in mind that the chief object of the expedition to
Khartoum, apart from the necessity of communicating with Gordon
himself, was to produce a moral {288} effect upon the Mahdists;
Gordon's idea being that the presence of a small force of British
soldiers would inevitably convince the native that powerful
reinforcements might be expected immediately. In the journal of Sir
Charles Wilson (_From Korti to Khartoum_) he makes the following
comment:
"The original plan was for Beresford to man two of the steamers with
the Naval Brigade, mount his Gardner gun on one of them, and after
overhauling them, take me to Khartoum with about fifty men of the
Sussex Regiment. This was now impossible: all the naval officers were
killed or wounded except Beresford, who was himself unable to walk, and
many of the best petty officers and seamen were also gone. Beresford
offered to accompany me; but he had done himself no good by going down
the river the day before, and there was every prospect of his getting
worse before he was better. Besides, I felt I could not deprive the
force of its only naval officer, when it was quite possible the
steamers left behind might have to take part in a fight."
That possibility was fulfilled. In the event, if I may say so, it was
lucky that I was there.
At eight o'clock on the morning of the 24th January, the two steamers
started, flying the Egyptian flag, the slave-girls frying _dhura_-cake
under the fore turret, old Khashm-el-Mus smoking and drinking coffee on
the cabin sofa, both vessels crammed with yelling and joyous savages,
among whom were a bare score of British soldiers. They must pass
powerful batteries, a single shot from which would sink them, and
dangerous cataracts sown with rocks, and finally the guns of Omdurman,
which was now in possession of the enemy. And having survived these
perils, they might be unable to return, for the river was rapidly
falling. Slowly they steamed away against the strong stream, and
vanished; and for seven days we waited for news of that desperate
enterprise.
{289}
In Sir Charles Wilson's absence, the military command devolved upon
Colonel Boscawen, and after a few days, Colonel Boscawen being ill with
fever, upon Colonel Mildmay Willson of the Scots Guards. The actual
senior officer was myself. I issued a proclamation to the natives.
(_Translation_)
"To the people of the river districts.
"This is to make it known to you that we are the advanced portion of
the two great English armies which are now marching on Khartoum to
punish the rebels.
"We do not wish to do you any harm if you will come to see us. You
will receive no hurt; and we will pay you for your cattle and crops.
"If, however, you do not tender your submission, we will punish you
severely. Your cattle will be taken, your villages and _sakiehs_
burnt, and you yourselves will be killed, even as those unfortunates
who ventured to oppose us at Abu Klea and Metemmeh.
"Any person desirous of speaking with the English general should carry
a white flag, and come by the river bank alone. He will not be
detained, and he will be guarded from all danger.
"The SIRDAR
"Advanced Guard, English Army"
I was in hospital for only two days. The surgeon's knife relieved my
pain, and I was speedily healed. On the 26th January, and the
following day, I took the _Safieh_ down to Metemmeh and shelled that
place, covering the advance of a foraging party. There were daily
expeditions both by the river in the steamer, and by land, to get goats
and cattle, vegetables for the sick, and green-stuff for the camels,
which had already eaten up all the vegetation about the camp. We
weighed anchor daily at 6 a.m., taking a party of twenty picked shots
from one of the regiments. Small {290} parties of riflemen used to
fire at us from the left bank, but we had no casualties.
All the villages in the neighbourhood were deserted; but there was
nothing to be taken from them except a few beans and lentils, and the
native wooden bedsteads. A good deal of long-range sniping went on,
but no one was the worse for it.
The British sailors and soldiers had trouble with the native bulls,
which, docile enough with natives, resisted capture by white men.
Nusri Pasha, the Egyptian, who had come down in command of the
_Talahawiyeh_, was standing on the deck of the _Safieh_, watching my
men trying to compel a recalcitrant bull down the bank.
"Let me try," said Nusri Pasha. "He'll obey me. You see."
And he crossed the plank to the shore, and went up to the angry bull.
No sooner did the Pasha lay hand on the rope, than the bull charged,
caught the unhappy Egyptian between his horns, carried him headlong
down the slope and into the water, and fetched up against the steamer
with his horns fixed in the sponson, while Nusri disappeared into the
river, the beholders yelling with laughter. The Pasha was fished out,
chastened but not much the worse for his extraordinary escape. Had he
been impaled upon the horns, there would have been no more Nusri, tamer
of bulls.
Every night the tom-toms beat in Metemmeh; and on the 28th, there was a
great noise of firing, which we supposed to be the celebration of a
religious festival. Alas, it was something else.
On 31st January, Colonel Talbot returned from Jakdul with a large
convoy of supplies. He was accompanied by the second division of the
Naval Brigade, which, it may be remembered, had not arrived at Korti
when the Desert Column left that place. With the Naval Brigade came
Lieutenant E. B. van Koughnet, in command, Sub-Lieutenant Colin R.
Keppel (son of my old friend Sir Harry {291} Keppel), Surgeon Arthur
William May (now Surgeon-General Sir A. W. May, C.B.), and Chief
Engineer Henry Benbow (now Sir Henry Benbow, K.C.B., D.S.O.). Never
was reinforcement more timely; and it was with inexpressible pleasure
that I greeted my shipmates. Once more I had officers; in the
meantime, I had put the _Safieh_ into fighting trim; and now we were
ready for emergency. It came.
Every night I used to haul off the _Safieh_ into the stream; and I