Sir Samuel Mbitc JBafcer 585 



So, with the rank of Pasha and a commission for 

 four years, Sir Samuel Baker set out to execute this 

 large order. He had a flotilla of four steamers, and 

 a force of 1,650 men, with two batteries of artillery, 

 under his command. He was invested with absolute 

 and supreme power of life and death over his own 

 troops and the inhabitants of every district owning the 

 Khedive's sway through which he might pass. 



It would be beyond my province to dwell upon that 

 remarkable expedition. How completely it accomplished 

 its purpose in the face of desperate fighting and cruel 

 treachery, how obstacles apparently insurmountable 

 were heroically overcome, how the slave traders were 

 subdued and for the time crushed into submission, 

 how rogues and traitors met with their deserts, and 

 how Sir Samuel Baker proved himself equally admirable 

 as a soldier and an administrator, are not these things 

 all graphically and vividly told in that thrilling story 

 of heroism and adventure, "Ismaflia"? No doubt 

 Baker's triumph was but temporary. The snake was 

 scotched, but not killed. The slave trade reared its 

 head again after its stern suppressor had passed, and, 

 beyond leaving a memory of mingled terror and 

 admiration behind him, Baker's expedition had little 

 lasting effect. 



And all through those terrible four years Lady Baker 

 was ever at her husband's side. Sir Samuel tells us 

 that owing to her costume loose belted jacket, wide 

 trousers, and gaiters she was often mistaken for a 

 boy, and he was offered very big prices for her. When 

 the natives realised that she was a woman they mobbed 



