THE RULER OF EGYPT. 797 



tinually witnessed, even while under commission from this 

 worthy, transactions which it hardly seemed could be without 

 his knowledge and approval, and although he had hardly 

 reached England before one of the most notorious slave-traders, 

 whom he had held a prisoner, was liberated and appointed to 

 positions of honor and trust, in the same department which he 

 had occupied. He may be sincere but he is weak. " It is," 

 writes Dr. Schweinfurth, "commonly supposed that the ruler 

 of Egypt is a despot of purest water ; this, however, is a great 

 mistake. In many respects the Egyptian government is ex- 

 tremely mild ; criminals, and officials who have been remiss in 

 their duty are rarely severely punished, and the only delinquency 

 that it will not overlook is the refusal to pay taxes ; and even 

 here matters would not be so bad, if it were not that the disor- 

 derly administration involves the officials in making encroach- 

 ing demands. The viceroy has little power over the higher 

 authorities, who manage to sneak behind the crescent of Stam- 

 boul ; he is no more than a viceroy, the high-sounding Persian 

 title of khedive which he assumes is in reality no more than a 

 title. He can only issue his orders, and then all boats that come 

 down the White Nile are confiscated, and in Khartoom espe- 

 cially, where it is good policy to make a stir in the eyes of the 

 European residents, all kinds of repressive measures are pro- 

 posed. In displaying their zeal in the cause, the authorities 

 often commit acts of the greatest injustice, and Mohammedans 

 sometimes find their wives and families sequestrated as slaves, 

 merely because they happen to be black. Such proceedings 

 afford a fine opportunity for the subordinate officials to make a 

 harvest out of the injured people by extorting ransom-money, 

 and by making other extortionate demands. I can myself bear 

 witness that several of my servants were deprived of their wives 

 and children and put into chains, and I had to write to the 

 minister, and accompany the people to Cairo myself, before I 

 could get justice done to them and their rights restored, and all' 

 this was only for the purpose of throwing dust in my eyes and 

 inducing me to report upon the wonderful energy displayed by 

 the local government in Khartoom. But meantime the cara- 

 vans find their way just the same as ever through Darfoor and 

 Kordofan to Dongola and Siout and still they are brought from 



