G.A. Henty - With Kitchener in the Soudan - a story of Atbara and Omdurman

"By the way, we have all got to sell our horses. There is no possibility of taking them down, and it is a question of giving them away rather than of selling, for of course the officers of the British regiments do not want to buy. I have a horse for which I gave twenty-five pounds at Cairo. You are welcome to him. You can give me a couple of pounds for the saddle and things."

" I am very much obliged to you, but it would be robbery."

" Not at all. If you won't take him, I shall have him shot to-night. A horse could not possibly pick up food here, and would die of starvation without a master; and it would be still more cruel to give him to a native, for they are brutal horse-masters."

"Well, in that case I shall be glad indeed to have him, and I am extremely obliged to you."

"That is right. If you will send your man round I will hand it over to him."

" As you are going to-morrow, it is likely that I shall go with you, for I am going down also as far as Abu Hamed for ten days."

" That will be pleasant, though I do not know that it will be so for you, for I own the majority of us are rather sour-tempered at present. Though we may be glad enough to go, one does not care to be sent off at a moment's notice, just as fractious children are turned out of a room when their elders want a private chat. However, for myself I am not inclined to grumble. I want to go, and therefore I do not stand on the order of going."

Later, General Hunter gave Gregory an order for a passage in a steamer on which the correspondents of the various newspapers were going down.

"What shall we take, master?" Zaki asked.

"Just the clothes we stand in, Zaki. I have got a couple of the Dervish Remingtons and several packets of ammunition. I will take them, and I can get four more. We will

take them all down, as we know the people about Hebbeh are not disposed to be friendly. I don't suppose for a minute that they are likely to show any hostile feeling, for you may be sure that the fall of Omdurman has spread by this time over the whole land, and they will be on their best behaviour. Still, it is just as well to be able to defend ourselves, and I shall engage four men at Abu Hamed to go with us. I shall leave all my kit here."

It was a pleasant run down the river to Atbara. The correspondents were all heartily glad to be on their way home, and the irritation they had at first felt at being so suddenly ordered away at the moment when so unexpected and interesting a development occurred, had subsided. They had witnessed one of the most interesting battles ever fought, had seen the overthrow of the Mahdi, and were looking forward to European comforts and luxuries again. At Atbara ail left the steamer, which was to take in stores and go up again at once, and proceeded by a military train with the first of the returned European regiments. At Abu Hamed Gregory left them.

His first enquiry was whether any boats were going down the river. He learned that several native craft were leaving, and at once engaged a passage in one of them to Hebbeh. He had no difficulty whatever in engaging four sturdy Arabs from among those who were listlessly hanging round the little station. While he was doing this Zaki bought food for six men for a week, and in less than two hours from his arrival at Abu Hamed Gregory was on board. The boat at once dropped down the river, and as the current was running strongly, they were off Hebbeh next morning at eight o'clock. A boat put off, and took Gregory and his party ashore. As they were seen to land, the village sheik at once came down to them.

"Is there anything I can do for my lord?" he asked.

"Yes; I have come here to ascertain whether any of those who were present at the attack upon the party who landed from the steamer over there, are still living here. There is no question of punishment. On the contrary, I have come here to obtain information as to some private matters, and anyone who can give me that information will be well rewarded."

"There are but three men alive who were here at the time, my lord; there were more, but they fled when the boats with the white troops came up from Merawi. I believe they went to the Dervish camp at Metemmeh. The three here are quiet and respectable men. They were asked many questions, and guided the white officers to the place where Wad Etman stood—it was there that those who landed from the steamer first rested,—and to the place where the great house of Suleiman Wad Gamr, Emir of Salamat, stood. It was there that the much-to-be-regretted attack on the white men was made. When the white army came up six months afterwards, they blew up the house and cut down all the palm-trees in the village."

" I was with the force that came up from Merawi last year. Will you bring me the three men you speak of? I would question them one by one. Assure them that they need not be afraid of answering truthfully, even if they themselves were concerned in the attack upon the white officers and the crew of the steamer, for no steps will be taken against them. It is eighteen years since then, and no doubt their houses were destroyed and their groves cut down when the British column came here and found the place deserted. I am ready to reward them if I obtain the information I require from them."

The three men were presently brought to the spot where Gregory had seated himself in the shade of one of the huts. Zaki stood beside him, and the four armed men took post a short distance away. The first called up was a very old man. In reply to Gregory's questions he said: " I was already old when the steam-boat ran ashore. I took no hand in the business; the white men had done me no harm, while the followers pf the Mahdi had killed many of my family and friends. I

heard what was going to be done, and I stayed in my house. I call upon Allah to witness that what I say is true!"

"Do you know if any remains of that expedition are still in existence?"

"No, my lord. When the white troops came here some months afterwards I fled, as all here did; but I know that before they destroyed Wad Gamr's house they took away some boxes of papers that had been brought ashore from the ship, and were still in the house. I know of nothing else. The clothes of the men on board the steam-boat were divided among those who took part in the attack, but there was little booty."

Gregory knew that at Wad Gamr's house but few signs of the tragedy had been found when General Brackenbury's troops entered. Blood-stained visiting-cards of Stewart's, a few scraps of paper, and a field-glass had alone been discovered besides the boxes of papers.

The next man who came up said that he had been with the party who fell upon the engineers and crew of the boat by the river-side. " I was ordered to kill them," he said. " Had I not done so I should have been killed myself."

" Do you know whether any booty was hidden away before the English came ?"

"No, my lord, there was no booty taken; no money was found on board the steamer. We stripped her of the brass-work and took the wood ashore to burn. The sheik gave us a dollar and a half a man for what we had done. There may have been some money found on the ship, but as his own men were on board first and took all that they thought of value I have naught to say about it."

" And you never heard of anything being hidden before the British troops arrived?"

The Arab shook his head. "No, my lord, but there may have been, though I never heard of it. I went and fought at Kirbekan, and when we were beaten I fled at once to Berber, and remained there until the white troops had all gone down the country."

"I may want to question you again to-morrow," Gregory said. " Here are two dollars. I shall give you as much more if I want you again."

The third man was then called up. He was evidently in fear. "Do not be afraid to answer me truly," Gregory said. " If you do so, no harm will come to you whatever share you may have had in the affair; but if you answer falsely and the truth is afterwards discovered, you will be punished. Now, where were you when this business took place?"