Chapter 2

Under Burning Skies

At Berber, above the Fifth Cataract, a dehabieh lay waiting for the travelers,-a long spacious vessel with lofty masts and heavy sweeps.

Grace was delighted at the change, having enjoyed more than enough of the violent shaking inseparable from camel-riding. The huge, high-stepping beast is a hard trotter; let the rider hold on as desperately as he may, the shocks are like to dislocate every bone in his body.

Then the dahabieh,-like all boats of its kind,-had such a fine classical air about it. It recalled Cleopatra's bark breasting the waters of Cydnus. This gabarit has not changed a whit for two thousand years or more. This particular dahabieh had its English improvements and modifications, and was well provided with deck-chairs and every luxury. It was a delight merely to sit still and watch the banks of the river glide past, with their clumps of mimosas and slender date-palms, lying back the while in the deep reclining seat sheltered from the blazing sun by the canvas awning kept continually wet.

Above all when they came to the Nubian desert, did the hard dry sand reverberate a sky of molten fire. Not a breath of wind ruffled the surface of the stream, while the rowers, bent over their oars with a slow, rhythmical movement, pulling a long, lazy stroke that was anything but fatiguing. The passage promised to be a lengthly one; but Grace manifested no signs of impatience. The departure from London, her farewells to her family, had racked her nerves. Train, and steamboat, and train, again had been extremely harassing; all the way to Brindisi she had been feverish, falling into a restless doze the instant she sat down. The Mediterranean with its short ground swell and chopping seas had made her ill. But no sooner was she fairly disembarked at Alexandria than she grew interested, charmed with the East and its marvels of light and color.

With all a child's curiosity she had gazed at the first negro she came across, for all the world as if she had never seen such a phenomenon in London. The particular black in question was a tall Nubian, slender and supple as a snake, with an eye at once suppliant and insolent, dressed in a patchwork of filthy, many-colored rags,-a loafer about the quays, dock-hand when he could find nothing to steal, at other times procurer and professional bully. Noticing the interest he aroused in the beautiful white lady, a lady actually wearing real jewelry, the negro smiled a broad-lipped smile, that revealed the ivory of a magnificent set of teeth. Wriggling fawningly, he drew near to beg bakhsheesh. He even ventured on a suggestive gesture of more than doubtful decency.

Possibly before now he had had to do with some vicious European lady, a rich merchant's or tourist's wife. For caprices are sudden and strange in this land of the Pharaohs, and tales are told of consuls', even of ambassadors' wives, who have been fain to try what a negro was like,-and a dirty negro at that, fellows the stench of foul sweat about whose persons is enough to make a common sailor's doxy sick!

Grace was terrified, and beat a hasty retreat to put herself under her Uncle Dick's protection, who with uplifted stick dashed forward incontinently to chastise the scoundrel.

"Insolent blackguard! that's how they all are!" growled Uncle Dick, as he gazed after the Nubian making good his escape among the bales that encumbered the quay. But henceforth Grace knew better, and took good care how she made eyes at niggers.

Once on the Nile, aboard the dahabieh, she reveled luxuriously in the delicious coolness of the nights. All day long, beneath the blazing sun, a heavy lassitude weighed down body and soul. The suffocating subtle heat penetrated through wood and clothing, and scorched even in the shade. But at night, beneath the moonlight that sparkled round the oars, it was pure happiness to sit out on the deck and listen to Uncle Dick's yarns. The worthy man was a garrulous talker, though by no means devoid of wit and intelligence, and possessed of great powers of observation. Too much of a gentleman to ask any direct question, he expected from day to day Grace would explain to him the reason of her quarrel with James. Still Uncle had his little eccentricities; and was to the last degree inquisitive and obstinate. He took care to guide the conversation the road he wished it to go, and to lead it back by the most devious paths towards the subject he longed to hear more about.

Grace had made a deep impression on the old bachelor's heart, cold and a trifle selfish as it was. He had begun to feel a very tender, though restless and anxious, affection for the young girl, and invariably treated her like a spoilt child, object of inexhaustible indulgence. Sometimes, after a good supper, he would shake his head and murmur half audibly to himself:

"All the same, if only I'd married! ... I might have had a daughter like Grace, flesh of my flesh and blood of my blood ... Yes! but then, I must have got married first!"

Meantime, on the upper deck, swinging rhythmically in her rocking-chair, her little bare feet playing in her loose Eastern slipper, looking almost transparent in the silvery light under the diaphanous clouds of flowing muslin that formed her frock, her yellow hair a pale gold in the moonbeams, Grace would ask for story after story.

"But Uncle Dick, you are unkind! You're like all the great geniuses, and require no end of pressing. It's ages since first you promised to tell me the story of the Malidi."

"Little tease! Be good enough to inform me when I could have told it you. All the way to Italy, you were dreamy and melancholy. I quite understood; one does not quit country, friends and home, without leaving a bit of one's heart behind,-particularly when you're no great traveler ... On the boat, you were making horrid faces all the time, sea-sickness positively made you look almost plain. Was that a time to crave your attention for a yarn? ... Then when we were perched up on our respective camels, you and I, talking was out of the question ... Now, I am perfectly willing, if you are.

"In the first place, you must know the word 'Malidi, means Saviour, Messiah; the Mahommedans, like the Jews, are still expecting their Messiah. Only these rascally blacks of the Sudan are an exception; they believe him to have already arrived under the form of this negro Malidi,-a Dervish, that is to say a sort of errant monk. A kind of Mussulman Franciscan friar. What makes them the more firmly convinced is their unfaltering belief in his powers of prophecy and miracle-working ... has told them some fine crackers, which they have swallowed with the most unbounded credulity! ... Cannon balls aimed at his men melt away like water! He can send the plague on whomsoever he pleases! Lions lie down and lick his feet! ... His adherents one and all are persuaded, that if they fall in the cause of this odious imposter,-the holy cause, as they call it,-they will go straight to paradise, where they will taste every kind of carnal delight ... I could tell you a lot about his,-but there, it would hardly do for your ears, Miss Grace.

"Now I am coming to matters of history. I am able to speak as an authority, as I have been living at Khartoum for the last twenty years. When first I came, Kordofan was a safer country to five in than it is nowadays, and I think I may make bold to say there are few Europeans who know men and things in the Sudan as thoroughly as I do. In former days the country was independent, divided up into a number of miniature kingdoms, the different Sultans of which were forever at war with one another. Egypt brought them all to one mind, by dispossessing the lot. But you can form no sort of idea of all the cruel exactions, all the hateful acts of injustice, committed by the Egyptian functionaries,-who be it observed, were every bit as bad in their own country. Discontent was universal.

"But there was yet another cause of exasperation. Hitherto the traffic in 'black ivory' had been openly carried on in the Sudan, and Khartoum itself was famous as a slave market throughout the East. The Arab chiefs regularly started out, accompanied by well armed bands of followers. Establishing their headquarters in the Bahr-el-Gazal, on the borders of the Sudan, they used systematically to harry the neighbouring districts,-at once plunderers, thieves, traffickers and murders. Their merchandise cost them little to come by; a few changes of power, the hardships of the road, such was the price of their stock-in-trade. After appropriating whatever gold dust, ostrich feathers, ivory, gum, rubber, they could lay their hands on, they would set fire to the village. The old men they massacred; those in the prime of life they utilized as porters, loading them up with booty they had just acquired. They formed their captives into a long line, fastening them to each other, to guard against any attempts at escape,-a course they also adopted with the women and children. Then with many a savage lash of their cruel whips, the slavers would drive before them these herds of wretched human cattle. I had rather not tell you about the atrocities that occurred en route. Three quarters of the slaves perished on the march. Indeed this was precisely what the slave-hunters calculated upon; the tortures they made the negroes undergo were a test. Only the strong survived,-the only ones-likely to have a merchantable value.

"Khartoum was the depot where the ruffians sold to European dealers the merchandise resulting from these raids. And I am bound to admit that in business these same scoundrels showed a degree of punctuality and straightforward honesty not invariably to be met with among the merchant princes of the City of London. As for the slaves, these were bought up by middlemen, and were dispatched to Cairo, Constantinople and even Persia.

"Such a state of things could not possibly last. Ever since the days when Mis. Beecher Stowe wrote 'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' what gallons of ink have been shed on behalf of the poor nigger! Europe could not remain indifferent. The Government of her Britannic Majesty had made remonstrances to the Sultan and to the Khedive, who in due accordance with Turkish precedent and the customary duplicity of Orientals, at Constantinople as at Cairo, had replied by a series of fine promises,-and the traffic went on exactly as it had always done before.

"At last one man, one single man, set himself resolutely to the task, and undertook to put a definite end to the abominable trade. You know Gordon,-the same who is now known as Gordon Pacha? Originally an English Officer, he went over to the Egyptian service with the consent and encouragement of the British Government. He is a man of extraordinary energy of character. A chronic sufferer from angina pectoris,-a very terrible complaint,-he is none the less a gallant soldier, a bold and sagacious leader of men, and a shrewd diplomatist, albeit he has never told a lie in his life, but is always straightforward and above-board, even when dealing with scamps. Gordon has done more for the abolition of slavery than all the European Congresses rolled into one. But established customs are not overthrown without creating malcontents. I tell you, my girl, of all grievances a man may have to put up with, the most intolerable and the one most certain to drive him into rebellion is any injury done to his self-interest. The slave-dealers were ready to a man to rise in revolt against Egypt, which was by way of decreeing their financial ruin. The only thing wanting was a leader. There was no lack of arms, but a head was to seek. Surely among all these section leaders, there must be some one qualified to take chief command. The fact is there were too many; each was as good as his neighbour, and all the rival claims mutually cancelled each other. They wanted a man to reconcile all competitors, a man of prestige so overwhelming that all might bow the head before him without humiliation or derogation of their individual authority.

"In this emergency a Dervish,-or wandering monk, began to attract public attention. This individual was a negro from Dongola, who made it his business to travel up and down the Sudan preaching. He penetrated even to the most insignificant villages, everywhere proclaiming that the Faith of Mahomet was on the wane, and that its decay and ruin was due to contact with the Christians. The simple populace fell readily under the spell of his rude eloquence, while Sheiks and traders approved his sentiments and swore to consecrate their persons and property to the holy cause.

"The Dervish came to El-Obeid, where dwelt a Marabout,-or Sage,-possessed of much influence and reputed to be a veritable Saint. This man withstood the new doctrines, recommending toleration of the Christians, and the building of more Mosques as a sufficient palliation. The reformer, who had hoped, under the Marabout's auspices, to begin the revolt at El-Obeid, left that holy city in dudgeon and disappointment. He went further afield, preaching hatred of the English and the Turk,-the abhorred Egyptian that is to say. He bewailed the calamities of Religion, and threatened the people with God's anger. Seconded by a mere handful of faithful followers, he seized the Isle of Abba in the White Nile, and proclaimed himself 'Malidi,' that is to say Saviour.

"Raouf Pacha was Governor of the Sudan on behalf of the Egyptian Government, and dispatched a trustworthy messenger to Mohammed-Ahmed,-such was the Malidi's name,-ordering him to repair to Khartoum, where the Governor of the Sudan wished to confer with him. Possibly the Malidi might have obeyed the summons,-and a whole host of calamities would have been avoided,-had not his adherents prevented any such step. As a matter-of-fact, he refused in such contemptuous terms that the Governor felt himself constrained to send two companies of Egyptian troops to seize his person. The bad feeling between the two Captains paralysed their men's activity. The Malidists fell upon the Egyptians with sticks, slaughtered them to the last man, and armed themselves with their muskets. Thus were the predictions of the Malidi confirmed,-to wit: That by God's good pleasure, he would communicate to his followers a superhuman strength that would enable them to scatter their enemies, like jackals, with sticks, and fill the souls of all who should resist him with terror. The disaster threw all Egypt into consternation. Large bodies of troops were sent against the Malidi; but the Officer in command was afraid to venture an attack, wasting his time in endless marches and countermarches, looking for the Malidists wherever he was quite sure they could by no possibility be found.

"The Dervishes presently evacuated the Isle of Abba and advanced to Tagalla without experiencing the smallest check. Pursuing their victorious march thence, they encamped before long at the foot of the mountain, the Djebel Guebir, the lofty plateau of which is inhabited by the Kawaklas. It is the site of a stone famous throughout Islam, a stone whereon the Prophet Mahomet is traditionally reported to have knelt and prayed. In humble imitation of the mighty Prophet, the Dervish, the monk errant Mohammad-Ahmad, fell to his knees on the sacred stone and prayed fervently; and this simple act of devotion confirmed the people in their belief that here indeed was the veritable 'malidi,' the Prophet's successor. His reputation grew and grew. Men kept pouring in from the remotest borders of the land to swell the numbers of his faithful adherents. All the thieves, robbers, outlaws, of the Sudan, came flocking to his banner. To all alike he promised booty galore, happiness in this world, and in that to come the joys of paradise, of Mahomet's paradise,-joys well within the comprehension of such-like ruffians, whose blood is heated red-hot by the African sun, joys of a totally different complexion from our Christian beatitudes ... You understand what I mean, eh?

"But it was the vile mob of slave-dealers that grew delirous with enthusiasm when they heard of the Malidi's first victory. There was not one of the traffickers but what made haste to submit to his rule. He was their ideal chieftain. Lacking all military talent, his prestige and authority arose merely from religion.

"The most powerful among all the slave hunters, Suleiman, had just been defeated in the Bahr-el-Gazal district by the Egyptian troops and his forces destroyed and scattered. His colleagues recognised that they must immediately band together.

"The first oattle was fought in December 1881-three years ago already. How times passes! The Egyptians, under the command of Rashid Bey, Mudir of Fashoda, were cut to pieces. The Malidi was thus able to increase the scope and spread of his proselytism without let or hindrance. Preaching Holy War, he unceasingly increased the number of his followers. Rifles and held-pieces captured from the Egyptians served to arm a chosen body of picked men. The others dashed into the fray with sabres and pikes.

"In June 1882, four thousand Egyptian soldiers sent to attack the Dervishes were again mowed down. So unexpected was the onslaught of the Malidists that very few of the Egyptians managed to escape. This meant another gain of 4000 Remingtons, besides cannon and munitions of war in abundance, all going to arm the Sectaries of Mohammad-Ahamd. By forced marches the Malidi advanced upon El-Obayd, the key of the Kordofan region. The town made a gallant defence, but its garrison proved unequal to resisting the advance of these hordes of desperate fanatics. Then followed a series of unparalleled atrocities and an indiscriminate massacre! It was at El-O-bayd that the Malidi established his capital. But simultaneously his emissaries spread in all directions, preaching his cause; they are to be found in the Sudan itself, and even in Egypt, while Khartoum swarms with the gentry. With all possible solemnity he adopted the title of "Malidiar Ra-soul," which means, Successor of the Prophet. His adherents call him "Saiyid,"-Tfte Master. In all respects, down to the smallest detail, he makes a point of copying the Prophet.

"A truly remarkable man, this same Malidi! I have seen him and talked with him. What is the origin of the influence he wields, I cannot say; but about the fact there is no question. I felt this magnestism myself. In spite of myself,-for I know him to be a mere imposter,-I came under the charm of his strange personality.

"He smiles unceasingly,-not the meaningless smile of man who does not know what to say, but a benevolent smile, expressive of intelligence and good nature. Moreover he has a definite purpose in thus parting his lips in an everlasting smile, as by this means he affords everybody ocular demonstration of the fact that in the upper row of his teeth, just in the centre, there is a slight gap or opening. In the Sudan this is a certain warranty of success according to the universally received popular superstition. His voice is soft and insinuating, and singularly pure in tone, while his conversation is cultured and expressed in carefully chosen language. He declares himself the messenger of God, and asserts that every order he gives is a direct inspiration from on high. In this way he fosters an unfaltering belief that to resist his will is to go counter to the authority of the Almighty.

"Just as Mahomed fled to Medina, so the Malidi withdrew to Guebir, where he prayed and worshipped, kneeling on the sacred stone. There it was he nominated his Khalifs, or Viceregents. He selected three from among those headsmen of tribes who were his earliest adherents,-all three desperate ruffians familiar with every form of robbery and murder. But the worst of the lot is Abdullahi, the chief of the Baggaras, the cattle-lifters. He is no mere negro, but a pure-bred Arab, cunning and cruel. And he is the Madhi's right-hand man! Each Khalif has under his orders a number of Emirs, or subordinate officers. Thus is organized a numerous and admirably disciplined army. Their weapons are of American manufacture,-the Remington rifles captured from the Egyptians.

So formidable has the Malidi's power grown that Europe will have to reckon with him. Now they are talking of sending out Gordon to Khartoum. But what in the world can he do single-handed? No doubt his prestige is enormous; the Arabs say he is a lion, which is their highest expression of praise, and the negroes laud his generosity and good nature. His worst enemies cannot but admit his admirable qualities. But in Africa no less than in Europe, reputation depends primarily on success,-and how can anybody reasonably expect Gordon to impress the enemy with the means at his disposal? Can anybody suppose he is going to crush the Malidi's forces, practically unaided? The Egyptians, his only allies, do not count; they will run away at the first blow, and leave Gordon to be massacred, just as they left Hicks Pacha. Ere peace is restored to this unhappy country, I foresee torrents of blood must yet be shed ... I am afraid,-I am afraid for you, Grace; I ought never to have dragged you here in my wake, into the midst of all these devils,-yellow and black!"

"What are you talking about, Uncle? Didn't I ask you myself?"

"Yes! after I had invited you, seeing that James ... Would to God James were with us..."

"But what are you afraid of? El-Obayd is a long way from Khartoum."

"Who knows what may happen? When the Malidi learns Gordon has come out all alone, as-likely as not he will want to make him prisoner; and to do that, he must begin by getting possession of Khartoum. Then..."

"Then what?..."

"Why! you poor child ... don't you know what happened at El-Obayd? In that city there was a Catholic Mission,-Monks and Nuns. To begin with, the Dervishes wanted badly to massacre them, had not the Malidi personally interfered and guaranteed their lives. Meantime he distributed the Nuns among his Emirs,-all except two who were deemed too ugly and who were left under the protection of their Confessor, Father Ohrwalder. As soon as these pious ladies found themselves in the camp of the Dervishes, and gathered what was expected of them, their despair was heart-breaking. I would rather not relate all they had to undergo. But one of the Khalifs, the Khali Sheriff, used the pair of scissors one of the Sisters carried at her girdle to sever the cartilage separating the two nostrils of the poor woman!"

"The barbarous wretch! ... But, dear Uncle, why so down-hearted? Despair is not like you at all. Besides, anyway, you have nothing to reproach yourself with. Did not I beg you myself to take me with you?"

"True for you! and it needed all your spells, you little witch, to win my consent. ... Still I repeat it, it is all my fault. I ought never to have suggested to James to come and spend his honeymoon in the Sudan ... Poor James! I should not be a big surprised to see him land at Khartoum one fine day, all unexpectedly!"

"Oh! Uncie, you wrong him. He is far too much oi a gentleman ever to aare..."

"But, Great Scott, why not? There you go, you little

European gals! For a word, a look, a nothing, you take offence. Then, out with the big words, the sounding phrases! He would be no gentleman, if he dared to come? Maybe; but very certain, he would not be a man, if he didn't!"

"Ah, Uncle! here are things you don't know...! "

"No! I don't know. I don't ask your confidence, my lady. It's not the right thing for an old grey beard like me to be posing as a pretty girl's confidant. But I am very sure nothing very serious can have happened between James and you."

"On the contrary, Uncle, something extremely serious happened. And come what may, we must never, never see each other again."

"Come what may ... Do you quite realize the import of the words? I only wish you may never have to regret them! ... Now shall I tell you something? ... I have a sort of notion I did wrong,-yes! very wrong ... You quarreled with James the very evening I arrived in London, did you not? Surely I was wrong to force James to keep me company that night, when we emptied those two or three bottles of old sherry his people had reserved in a special bin against my homecoming ... No doubt about it, James was a rifle heated with the wine, and you thought him a big over ardent a lover. Quite enough to scare a young Englishwoman, and make her think the end of the world is come!"

He stopped abruptly, for Grace had suddenly burst into a fit of hysterical sobbing. Presently Uncle Dick resumed in a consoling tone:

"I don't tell you this to vex you, my dear..."

"Oh, no! Only I see now, James has been talking."

"Not one word! I take my oath, he has been as mom as you have yourself. But I'm sadly afraid that with your European bringing up, you look at a great many things from an entirely false point of view. There is a French saying tell us, every man has inside him a sleeping pig. A woman does wrong to wax indignant when the said pig awakes; it is almost invariably because she gave the animal a nudge herself."

"Oh! Uncle! can you really think . .

"I think you are the purest-minded girl in all the United Kingdom, but at the same time one of the prettiest and most attractive. Well! it's mighty heady, all that, for a young cavalry officer of thirty ... And then ... I think further that the most innocent of English girls, without one bad thought in her head, will often push flirtation to the extremest limits of propriety! ... What wonder if the man, once started, is for overpassing these last limits? ... Civilisation is a mighty fine thing,-but without a doubt it has transmogrified women into singularly artificial creatures."

A silence ensued. Presently the boatman hoisted the sails, and the dahabieh began slipping through the water, bending over before the night wind. From the shore came a song, a slow, melancholy chant. The voice, a woman's, sounded soft and melting through the darkness. The distance gradually increased, but the same clear voice still broke in on the calmness of the night, mounting up and up towards the star-strewn expanse of heaven.

"It is a funeral chant," Uncle Dick explained. "The poor woman is bewailing one of her kinsfolk."

The diahabieh kept tacking. Now and again a rattle of cordage would be heard, and the straining of the canvas as it bellied to the wind; besides the never ceasing lapping of the water along the vessel's sides. Crocodiles rose to the surface, and showed their monstrous misshapen heads above water. Along the banks, between the tall stems of the date-palms, scurried troops of jackals. Sudden bursts of wild, discordant, sardonic laughter echoed afar, the note of a prowling hyena. A mighty roar drowned all other sounds,-followed by a silence. Presently the roar was repeated, indignant, mournful and insistent. The Hon in heat was calling to his mate the lioness.

Bending gently to the breeze, the dahabieh slid softly over the Nile waters on her way to the Sixth Cataract.