THE SOUDANESE 163 



for all, to throw in their lot with the mutineers and to fight 

 to the bitter end against the avenging hand of England's might, 

 which was already overtaking the other murderers. I felt that I 

 was appreciably near death, for the bearing of the soldiers was 

 most menacing. 



Fortunately, the Effendi's voice was heard shouting over and 

 over again : " It is not war against the fort." This no doubt 

 helped to save us and the fort. None of the soldiers seemed to 

 know exactly what was to be the next step, and whether or not it 

 was to be open mutiny against the Government. They had not 

 yet quite made up their minds whether I was to be killed. Pre- 

 sumably no one had a private grudge to avenge on my person, 

 and not a few of them may have been at one time or another 

 under my hands for medical treatment. I endeavoured to get 

 them under control by pointing out that the fort had to be 

 defended against the supposed common enemy. Gradually I 

 regained some authority over them, and they obeyed me so far, 

 that they went to guard various positions which I indicated, such 

 as the bastions, the powder magazine, and the ammunition store. 

 But when I wanted to leave the fort, to attend to what was 

 happening outside, they firmly but politely refused to let me 

 out, on pretext that my life would be in danger. For a short 

 time -I was practically a prisoner inside the fort in the hands of 

 the Soudanese soldiers. 



In the meanwhile a number of shots were being fired outside 

 the fort, and the sky had become lurid with burning huts. The 

 first rumour, as brought to me by Fadlemula Effendi, that the 

 sergeant-major had been killed by Wanyoro at Bekamba's kraal, 

 no doubt led to the insubordinate soldiers attacking Bekamba. 

 The unfortunate chief requested to be taken to the fort, and had 

 reached in his cart the open space in front of the fort, when 

 some of the soldiers ordered the man who pulled Bekamba's cart 

 to lie down and submit to a flogging. Knowing that resistance 

 was vain, the poor fellow lay down, and then some one shot 

 him through the back, dead on the spot. Thereupon another 

 soldier blew out Bekamba's brains. The dead bodies were 

 plundered and stripped. 



When the Effendi joined me, I managed with him to leave 

 the fort, in order to put a stop to the disturbances going on out- 

 side. The burning kraals had made the night as light as day. A 

 dreadful sight met my eyes. There, near the fort, lay the naked 



