278 



EGYPT. 



disavowed, Colonel Gordon took with him only 

 a small escort, but the governor of Khartoum 

 was ordered to support him if called upon. 

 His artillery force consisted of one mitrailleur, 

 as being more portable than any field-gun. 

 He was accompanied by two young English- 

 men, J. Eussell, son of Dr. William H. Kussell, 

 the well-known correspondent of the London 

 Times, and Mr. Anson, son of the English ad- 

 miral and a relative of Colonel Gordon. The 

 immediate object of the new expedition was 

 believed to be not so much the suppression of 

 the slave-trade, which would be an impossible 

 task in the present condition of the interior, 

 as to obtain a more complete knowledge of 

 that immense territory which may be desig- 

 nated as the district of the head-waters of the 

 Nile. The opening up of this country, the 

 utilization of its resources, and commercial 

 union with or annexation to Egypt, are the 

 grand objects in view, in the carrying out of 

 which the Khedive is more inclined toward 

 conciliatory measures than arbitrary force, and 

 trusts to judicious management rather than to 

 the sword. The disappearance of the slave- 

 trade will be a natural consequence of the en- 

 terprise if successful, for, as the country be- 

 comes better known, and is brought into more 

 direct communication with the civilized world, 

 so, in a like measure, will the pursuit of the 

 slave-hunter grow more and more precarious, 

 until eventually,, when the whole length of the 

 Nile is the scene of busy traffic, 'it will die 

 away altogether. Colonel Gordon, accompa- 

 nied by his chief-of-staff, Colonel Long, an 

 American, Lieutenant Hazzan EfFendi Wafti, 

 both of the Egyptian army, and a small party 

 in all less than a score of persons left Cairo 

 by special train for Suez, whence he embarked 

 oil board a private Government steamer for 

 Suakim, at which point he entered Africa and 

 pushed across the Suakim Desert to Khartoum, 

 where he organized his forces and awaited 

 the arrival of the luggage, stores, and ammuni- 

 tion, which left Cairo a few days later in 

 charge of Mr. TV. J. Kemp, an English en- 

 gineer. Including the persons named, the ex- 

 pedition under command of Colonel Gordon 

 consisted of one American and three Egyptian 

 officers, two English engineers, three inter- 

 preters, a native doctor for the soldiers, and 

 250 Egyptian soldiers. The aim of Colonel 

 Gordon was to launch, on the lake Albert N'y- 

 anza, one or more of the steamers which were 

 brought up for the purpose by Sir 8. Baker, 

 but left by him in the neighborhood of Gondo- 

 koro, where they have remained ever since. 

 It was feared they would be found to have 

 suffered considerably from the effects of damp 

 and of marauding natives more particularly 

 as they were lying in detached pieces at differ- 

 ent points of the route and that much time 

 and trouble would have to be expended to 

 rerider them again fit for the work for which 

 they were designed. The bulk of the men 

 constituting the expedition, as well as stores, 



were sent in advance to Gondokoro. In July, 

 Mr. Anson, one of the two young Englishmen 

 accompanying Colonel Gordon, succumbed to 

 the murderous climate. According to reports 

 received by the Egyptian Government in the 

 month of September, Colonel Gordon was then 

 engaged in gaining a firm footing at the mouth 

 of the Sobat, and in securing the control of 

 the navigation on the Sobat, Bahr-el-Gebel, 

 and Bahr-el-Ghasal. The Egyptian Govern- 

 ment prepared to send to Colonel Gordon a 

 number of boats made in sections, and to be 

 transported in cases on camels, for the explora- 

 tion of the lakes Albert N'yanza and Victoria 

 N'yanza, and the final solution of the problem 

 as to the sources of the Nile. The trial of the 

 first of these boats was made in September, at 

 Kasr o' Nil Palace, in presence of the Khedive 

 and a numerous attendance of ministers and 

 officials. This little vessel is made of teak, 

 and consists of sixty-four pieces ; she is con- 

 structed to be packed in four cases. The boat 

 was constructed in Alexandria, under the di- 

 rection of Captain McKillop, R. N., who, to- 

 gether with Colonel Gordon's agent, Mr. Cur- 

 zon Thompson, sailed the little craft across the 

 Nile. The Khedive was much pleased with 

 the result, for this boat was designed entirely 

 by himself, and is an evidence of the deep in- 

 terest he takes in the Gordon expedition. 

 Some larger boats, built on the same princi- 

 ple, are to follow, one of them a steamer. 

 The little craft, after her trial, was taken to 

 pieces and repacked in her cases (which can 

 be formed into a useful pontoon). The Egyp- 

 tian Government expects that certain positions 

 through which all trading parties to the inte- 

 rior are obliged to pass will be secured by 

 Colonel Gordon, and that, as the sale of arms 

 and ammunition is forbidden under penalty of 

 death, and none can trade or hunt elephants 

 without a Government license, a very short 

 time may give the Egyptian authorities perfect 

 control in those regions. 



The most important event in the history 

 of Egypt during the year 1874 was the Avar 

 against the Sultan of Darfour, which resulted in 

 the annexation of another large country to the 

 dominions of the Khedive. A full account of 

 the origin of this conflict between the two 

 countries, giving also interesting information 

 on the Sultan and the people of Darfur, is con- 

 tained in a letter from the celebrated traveler 

 Dr. Nachtigal to Prof. Bastian of Berlin, dated 

 El Obeid, in Kordofan, August 20, 1874.* Dr. 

 Nachtigal had just arrived at El Obeid after his 

 visit to Darfour. The ruler of this country, 

 Sultan Brahim, had been prepared for his ar- 

 rival in Darfour by letters from Khartoum, 

 which the Egyptian Government had sent at 

 the request of the German consul-general in 

 Alexandria. The Sultan received Dr. Nachtigal 

 kindly, but denied to him the permission to 

 travel in the country, on the ground that the 



* Published in Vertmnrlluntren der Gesellschaft fur 

 Erdkunde zn Berlin, 1874, No. '8. 



