Ernest Gambier-Parry

“ And yet there we were, a picked force, armed with every scientific means to effect our end—everything, from an air balloon, with its gas compressed and brought all the way from Chatham, to mule batteries of screw-guns, Gardners, and rockets, and to rifles of the most perfect pattern and greatest rapidity of fire. And all this to war against what? A foe worthy of our steel? ”

“ It always is more or less rough in the Red Sea, and there is almost sure to be a strong wind blowing either up or down it. I know this time the sea was quite high enough to make some of us feel very uncomfortable. We had lost sight of the coast since leaving the Gulf of Suez, but as the sun went down in a mist on the evening of the 6th of March, there stood up against it the sharp peak of some great mountain, and then we knew that the end of our journey was approaching, and that the next morning would see us saying good-bye to the comforts of board ship-life, for we should be off Suakin. ”

“ We had been the first ship to leave England, and were very keen to be the first to arrive at Suakin; so our disappointment may be imagined when we suddenly discovered that we were going dead slow, and that something was wrong with our boilers. By the next morning these were repaired, and though we had lost a good bit of our start, we were still ahead of the other transports. We all began to feel the heat very much, and what little wind there was happened to be right behind us, so we regularly panted for breath in the middle of the day. ”

“ These long-suffering creatures are by no means sweet at any time, more especially after having been crowded up in the hold of a ship, where red mange has spread among them, and where fleas and ticks have multiplied innumerably. Our camels were from all parts. The finest to look at were those from India. They were much taller than either the Egyptian or the Berbera camels, some of them being nine feet to the top of the hump, and were able to carry heavier loads; but for all this they were nothing like so handy as the Berbera camels with their Aden drivers. ”

“ A few years passed, and when the war broke out in Egypt, in 1882, Osman Digna espoused the cause of his old friend and companion, Arabi, and became one of England's bitterest foes as the Mahdi's lieutenant. In appearance Osman Digna is a fine-looking man, tall and well-proportioned, though rather fat. He wears a long black beard, and has lost his left arm. He never gets on a horse, and in the few engagements in which he has thought fit to risk his valuable life he has always been present on foot. ”

“ When you see a camel open his mouth and give vent to a loud gurgling sound, a large red-coloured inflated bag as big as a good-sized melon appearing at the same time from his throat, my advice would be, to those who are strangers to camels, to stand off! A well-bred camel may be known by the fineness of his coat and the smallness of his hind feet.
The camels from India came accompanied by native drivers, and a certain number of transport officers from the Indian Transport Staff. ”

“ Many people labour under the idea that a camel can and will, with comparative comfort to himself, go for a considerable length of time without water. That he can do so I do not wish for one moment to deny, but that he does so only with a corresponding loss of power was apparent to us all at Suakin. ”

“ The speed is limited to five miles an hour, and setting aside constant stoppages, the risk of running aground, and the compulsory halts for the night after 6 p.m., there is nothing to relieve the monotony of the surrounding scenery. The canal is hemmed in by banks on each side, and as these are in many places high, a sense of breathlessness and suffocation is experienced. We were very unfortunate, as we had only reached the first Gare, some seven miles from Port Said, when the vessel in front of us went aground, and in spite of much tugging and hauling could not be got off again. ”

“ We were all on board Transport No. 7 by one o'clock, and by three o'clock that afternoon were clearing our decks of visitors and saying good-bye to many friends, while bands played and crowds cheered again and again on the wharf. It is always an impressive sight watching troops embark for active service, but one thing there is no doubt about—it is worse for those that are left behind on the shore than for those in the ship.
The next morning we were out of sight of Old England, and getting into what seemed like dirty weather ”

“ Suakin has been formed by nature as the principal port of the Egyptian Sûdan and the Nile provinces, but has never risen to a position of any pretension, and even now its prosperity is only comparative. The place was formerly held directly subject to Turkey, but in 1865 it was sold and handed over to the Viceroy of Egypt. The inhabitants depend for their water supply on two or three wells about a mile from the town, and also on rain-water, which is collected during the wet season in a large sort of reservoir at the same place. ”

“ Turning to the left off the field railway, we marched along parallel with the earthworks of the town and about a mile from them, till at length we were halted on a bare piece of sandy desert—just a sample of the country for miles and miles, except that there was no scrub—and told that we were to start marking out our camp, and that tents would shortly be sent out to us. We accordingly piled arms and let the men take off their kits, as it was uncommonly hot. ”

“ The first point of any interest after leaving Port Said is the Lake Menzalah, or ancient Serbonian Bog, where the great plague of the fifth century B.C., which afterwards desolated Athens, originated, and from which too almost all the plagues which swept over Asia Minor and across Europe in the Middle Ages are supposed to have had their origin. The shores of the lake, as well as its shallow waters, are almost always covered with thousands upon thousands of flamingoes, standing all exactly in the same position and in lines fully three quarters of a mile in length. ”

“ The supply is at all times limited, and the quality of the water not particularly good, being strongly impregnated with salts. Towards the close of the dry season, when the water becomes very scarce, it turns thick, and is dark brown in colour. During the early autumn the climate is almost deadly for Europeans, and the natives themselves suffer greatly from sickness, the most prevalent complaints among them being dysentery and enteric fever. The shallow lagoons and damp marshy ground all round the north-west side of the town add considerably to the unhealthiness of Suakin. ”

“ Many of our camels were driven with the ordinary nose-rope and nose-peg, but I think this unnecessarily cruel, and though it is a check on refractory animals, I see no reason why an ordinary running nose-band should not be amply sufficient. Some of our camels were vicious, but not many of them; a few were kickers. The bite of a camel is very severe, and their kick, even with their soft feet, is quite sufficient to break a man's leg. ”

“ In September, the ratio of sick per month, that is, men who passed through hospital, was equal to fifty per cent of the total strength. During the ten months, counting from May last year to February this year, fourteen hundred men passed through this battalion; that is, a total of fourteen hundred men either died or were invalided during a short period of ten months. The weekly returns from which I have collected these statistics were prepared for the information of the officer commanding the battalion, who was in Suakin the whole time himself, and who kindly allowed me to look through them. ”

“ I ought not to omit to mention that during the interval two men arrived in camp, of foreign and uncertain origin, bringing with them something which always appeals at once to the soldier's heart—a barrel, of beer! Having obtained leave to sell to the men, the amount being limited to a pint a man, they very soon came to the end of their barrel, no doubt with a handsome profit to themselves. ”

“ We found three hundred pounds quite enough for the little Berbera animals, and also for the Egyptian, some of which last were too small and too young to be of any use, and never ought to have been bought even at a push. Loading a camel is not so easy a thing as it sounds, and though it depends mainly on balance, it depends also greatly upon the position of the load, and the lashing of the load in the celita to the saddle; unless great care is taken, a sore back will ensue, and the camel be rendered useless for some considerable length of time. ”

“ In a few days the details of the new expedition appeared in the press, a number of vessels were immediately chartered for conveying this forte to the scene of operations; and orders were sent out to India and Egypt for the immediate purchase of a large number of camels, mules, and horses, for the use of the Transport. A week followed during which the various portions of the force were inspected by H.R.H. the Commander-in-chief, and then every day a constant succession of transports left the shores of England carrying a force more perfectly equipped in every detail than ever force was before. ”

“ If a ship goes aground those behind it must stop too, though there is often plenty of room to pass. If demurrage is claimed by the owners of the vessels thus delayed the sum realized goes to the Canal Company. Again, the company compel every vessel to take one of their pilots; but if a vessel happens to go aground the pilot is not to blame, and moreover the damage that may be done to the banks of the canal by his running the ship ashore is at once claimed against the owners of the vessel. ”

“ Here there are several mosques and buildings of some pretensions, as well as a large open barrack occupied by a battalion of Egyptian troops. Beyond this again comes the native town, composed of a great number of huts made of a sort of coarse grass matting spread over a framework of stout sticks in several thicknesses. Outside all are the earthworks and defences, running completely round and enclosing the whole place ”

“ We knew that, being soldiers, we went where we were told, and did what we were told when we got there, but beyond this I do not believe there was a man in the whole of this magnificent force who could have given you any intelligible reason for which we were fighting, if indeed his ingenuity enabled him to give you any reason at all. ”

“ How long he may be able to retain his position as the true prophet is a matter of doubt, but it is to be hoped that the poor deluded Arabs may be shown the folly of being carried away by the professions of a man whose sole aim is self-advancement, and who is ready to sacrifice everything, his religion included, for the attainment of this one end. ”

“ They lose these good looks, though, almost entirely as they grow older.
The population of the place varies a good deal; but, counting Italians, Greeks, and Egyptian soldiery, there must be at the time I am writing little short of eight thousand people here.
One of the chief points of interest to us in Suakin was Osman Digna's house; not that there was anything particular about the house, either inside or out. It stood close to the water's edge up a small creek on the south side of the town. A stick cut from Osman Digna's garden was considered a great trophy. ”

“ The Arab boys had their heads shaved with the exception of one tuft of hair, which was allowed to grow long, and this tuft was generally on the side and towards the back of the head, and gave them a very rakish appearance. Many of these little chaps are really nice-looking, with cheery faces and bright sparkling eyes. Their cheeks are almost always ornamented with three long slashes on each side, done with some sharp instrument when they are very young. I saw one or two little girls of twelve or fourteen years of age who were far prettier than I ever thought it was possible for blacks to be. ”

“ The town proper, or old town, consists of a number of low, flat-topped houses of the ordinary Eastern type, built right up to the water's edge. The thoroughfares or streets are of deep sand, there being no necessity for roads, as wheel traffic is unknown here. ”

“ Seeing is believing, however, and there were the single bell tents right enough. Even at home in summertime a bell tent is almost unbearable, but under a tropical sun it must have been frightful, and never ought to have been allowed for a moment. ”

“ I shall refer to the temperature that we experienced during the campaign further on.
The population of Suakin is very "mixed."
There are Arabs belonging to all the neighbouring tribes—Hadendowas, Amaras, Fadlabs, Beni Amers, Bisharems, and Shaharibs. There are also a number of Soumalis.
They are quite black in colour, and naked with the exception of a white cloth worn round the loins. The women, at least some of them, cover their faces with a thin white material, which they wear wound round them and over their heads. These are mostly the married women. ”

“ A private soldier took command of the piano, and, defying any interference on the part of the singer, continued to bang out an accompaniment sometimes at the top of the piano and sometimes at the bottom, but always alike utterly and hopelessly independent of time and key, However, every one appeared very well satisfied, and the pianist above all. ”

“ It is always a mystery where the things come from, but soldiers never seem at a loss if anything is required, never mind what it may be. In this way, and to our utter astonishment, the professional clown appeared rigged up in a complete fancy kit, with a wig, a very large false nose and spectacles, and a "billycock" hat. ”

“ Our lower lips would swell up to an enormous size and then break and fester. It was very painful, but when once cured we were not troubled again in this way, A good thick moustache was the best preventative, and I am sure a beard protected one's face a great deal. Some few of us shaved, but nearly all let their hair grow. ”

“ The Mohammedan religion appears to present peculiar attractions to the native tribes in Central Africa, and the false prophet is indebted for the number of his recruits to the enthusiasm of the converts to Mohammedanism, with whom the idea of the regeneration of Islam by force of arms is amazingly popular. ”

“ If cut once a week and kept short it is no trouble at all to keep clean. Another thing most of us did was to have our hair cut off quite short to the head, but I am not sure that this was a good thing. ”