A Prisoner Of The Khaleefa - free ebook by Charles Neufeld

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A Prisoner Of The Khaleefa

Charles Neufeld

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A Prisoner of the Khaleefa; Twelve Years’ Captivity at Omdurman. By Charles Neufeld.

A Prisoner of the Khaleefa; Twelve Years’ Captivity at Omdurman. By Charles Neufeld.

The calumnies of critics—My female slave—Real object of my journey—Preliminary arrangements—General Stephenson’s letter . . . 1–7 Engagement of guides—A neglected warning—Hasseena accompanies the party—Dervishes reported on the road—Non-arrival of Hogal—Dervishes sighted at Selima Wells . . . 8–14 Different routes over the desert—A quarrel amongst the guides—Scouts sent out—Hassan convicted of error—Zigzagging in the desert—A council of war—Surprised by the dervishes—The fight—Taken prisoners .

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INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

My first feelings after reading the bulk of these, and when the sensation of walking about free and unshackled had worn off a little, was that I had but escaped the savage barbarism of the Soudan to become the victim of the refined cruelty of civilization. Fortunately, maybe, my rapid change from chains and starvation to freedom and the luxuries I might allow myself to indulge in, brought about its inevitable result—a reaction, and then collapse. While ill in bed I could, when the delirium of fe

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CHAPTER I. I START FOR KORDOFAN.

CHAPTER I. I START FOR KORDOFAN.

Before leaving Assouan for Cairo, I had made an agreement with Hassib el Gabou, of the Dar Hamad section of the Kabbabish tribe, and Ali el Amin, from Wadi el Kab, to act as guides for us as far as Gebel Ain, where we hoped to find Sheikh Saleh. Gabou was in the employ of the military authorities as spy, receiving a monthly gratuity or pay. He and Ali el Amin were each to receive three hundred dollars for the journey, a hundred and fifty dollars each to be paid in advance, and the remainder at t

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CHAPTER II. BETRAYED BY GUIDES.

CHAPTER II. BETRAYED BY GUIDES.

There are five caravan routes running from Selima Wells—that furthest west leading to El Kiyeh, the next to El Agia, and the one in the centre leading to the Nile near Hannak, with a branch running to Wadi el Kab. Our objective being to meet Sheikh Saleh at Gebel Ain, we should have taken the route leading to El Agia, and this we had selected, because, as it was well out in the desert, there was little likelihood of our encountering any roving bands of dervish robbers. When we had been on the ro

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CHAPTER III. IN THE HANDS OF THE DERVISHES.

CHAPTER III. IN THE HANDS OF THE DERVISHES.

I was handed over to two men, who were held responsible for my well-being; Hasseena and Elias were placed together in the charge of others, and we were ordered to seat ourselves a little distance away. The dervishes had with them military tents which must have been taken at Khartoum, and one was soon pitched. Here the Emirs and principal men met to hold a conference and inquiry. Darb es Safai and others were taken up one by one, and the question put to them direct, “Where are the rifles and the

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CHAPTER IV ARRIVAL IN DONGOLA

CHAPTER IV ARRIVAL IN DONGOLA

Instead of our starting off the next morning at sunrise, a sort of “fantasia” was held. This consisted of men riding up and down the camp with mimic combats between individuals—a sort of circus display. Stricter watch was placed over me, and my guards warned against allowing me to hold conversation with any one. At sunset we were off again, and the following day halted in the desert, El Ordeh (Dongola) being then, I was told, a few hours’ distant. We rested probably a couple of hours, and marche

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CHAPTER V THE REAL HISTORY OF THE CAPTURE

CHAPTER V THE REAL HISTORY OF THE CAPTURE

“He (Nejoumi) captured in the Oasis of Selima a large part if not the whole of the rifles. This was mainly owing to the imprudence of an enterprising German merchant named Charles Neufeld, who had accompanied the convoy, and, desirous of obtaining a supply of water, had descended to the Oasis, where he was captured by the enemy.” “. . . Most of them were killed, and a few, including Neufeld, were taken captive to Dongola; there they were beheaded, with the exception of Neufeld, who was sent to O

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CHAPTER VI DONGOLA TO OMDURMAN

CHAPTER VI DONGOLA TO OMDURMAN

During the early part of the night of April 27, the Amin Beit-el-Mal told me to prepare for my journey to Omdurman, as Wad Nejoumi had sent for me. There was little preparation I could make, except to beg some sesame oil to rub over my face, shoulders, back, and feet. The woollen shirt and clothing I had been allowed had not been sufficient to protect me against the burning rays of the sun, and the skin was peeling away from my face, shoulders and back, while my feet were blistered and cut. My s

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CHAPTER VII THROWN INTO PRISON

CHAPTER VII THROWN INTO PRISON

On entering the prison I found myself in the company of about a hundred poor wretches, Soudanese and Egyptians, and all chained. I was taken at once to an anvil sunk in the ground until the striking surface was almost level with it; first one foot and then the other had to be placed on the anvil, while more anklets with chains connected, were fitted to me. I had now three sets of shackles, and another ring and chain was fastened to my neck. During my twelve years in chains, and amongst the hundr

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CHAPTER VIII PRISON LIFE

CHAPTER VIII PRISON LIFE

My first spell in prison was one of four years. After nine months the rings and chains were removed from my neck, but the fetters I wore continuously—with the exception of thirteen days—during the whole of my captivity. A day-to-day record of my experiences is out of the question, besides being unnecessary, even were it possible to give them. I must content myself with a general description of the life passed there, and give an idea of the day’s routine. When I reached Omdurman, the prison prope

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CHAPTER IX MY FIRST CHANCE OF ESCAPE

CHAPTER IX MY FIRST CHANCE OF ESCAPE

It was during my first months in prison that Ahmed Nur ed Din of the Kabbabish succeeded in getting into prison, in the hope of effecting my escape. I had for some years had dealings with Nur ed Din in connection with the Intelligence Department, and also the caravan trade. When I left Wadi Halfa with Saleh’s caravan, Nur ed Din was then at Saleh’s camp with messages to him from the Government. On his return to Wadi Halfa, he heard of what had happened, and coming at once to Omdurman, he sent a

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CHAPTER X PRISON JUSTICE

CHAPTER X PRISON JUSTICE

What I have written previously concerning the Nebbi Khiddr history will, in the following notes of prison life, assist the reader in better understanding how such mutual and transparent deceptions might be practised by the Khaleefa and the gaolers as are related here. It will be remembered that the Khaleefa, following the example of the Mahdi, laid claim to the Nebbi Khiddr as his prophet or constant messenger—a sort of modern Mercury amongst the Soudanese; hence the mutual, but unacknowledged d

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CHAPTER XI A SERIOUS DILEMMA

CHAPTER XI A SERIOUS DILEMMA

As I write, there lie before me three successive paragraphs culled from a recent edition of a London paper. These paragraphs were intended to be, and doubtless were, amusing to their readers, but they contain inaccuracies. I have ascertained that one misstatement owes its origin to a report drawn up in connection with the guide’s account of the successful escape of Father Rossignoli. The facts connected with that flight, and my reported refusal to escape when the opportunity (?) offered, find th

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CHAPTER XII IBRAHIM WAD ADLAN

CHAPTER XII IBRAHIM WAD ADLAN

A favourable opportunity here presents itself for referring to that little-written-about, and, therefore, little-known strange character in Mahdieh—Ibrahim Wad Adlan, the Amin Beit-el-Mal. Maybe in no one else did he confide as he confided in me while we were fellow-prisoners, and maybe he did so only because he knew that I was an avowed enemy of Mahdieh, that I was at the time defying the Khaleefa to do his worst against me, and that my interests lay elsewhere than in the Soudan. There was also

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CHAPTER XIII THE TRUE HISTORY OF MY ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE

CHAPTER XIII THE TRUE HISTORY OF MY ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE

If I am wearying my readers with this long-drawn-out episode, which never seems to draw to a close, I may ask their forgiveness on the ground that weeks have been spent in collecting the links which were scattered between Europe and Omdurman, and without the links complete the tale might, and very reasonably so, have been disbelieved. The messengers I despatched with the first letters quoted, arrived in Assouan some time in January or February, 1889, and delivered the letters to Mankarious Effen

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CHAPTER XIV A PRISONER AT LARGE

CHAPTER XIV A PRISONER AT LARGE

The disappearance of Joseppi, followed by the death of Adlan, threw me into a state of almost abject despair; there appeared to be no hopes of my ever being released from the Saier, and after the replies given by Abdullahi to Wad Adlan and the Muslimanieh when they interceded for me, my friends outside evidently abandoned all hope also. But I was to have an interesting fellow-prisoner whose deceptions on Abdullahi and others were indirectly to lead to my release. It will take many generations of

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CHAPTER XV DIVORCED AND MARRIED

CHAPTER XV DIVORCED AND MARRIED

As if my troubles were not all-sufficient in themselves, Hasseena, in addition to the begging and other undesirable proclivities she had developed since the death of Makkieh, added that of thieving. She naturally devoted her talents in this direction to my friends, knowing that they would not, on my account, prosecute her. Numberless complaints came to me, and many a recommendation was made to get rid of her; but as she had been sent to me by the Khaleefa, I could not send her off without his sa

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CHAPTER XVI HOPE AND DESPAIR

CHAPTER XVI HOPE AND DESPAIR

While still a prisoner in the Saier, Mankarious Effendi, with Mohammad Fargoun and Selim Aly, engaged a man of the Ababdeh, Mohammad Ajjab, to make his way to Omdurman with a threefold object: he was to inquire if I was still alive; if so, to pay me a hundred dollars, and then to try and make arrangements for my escape. On arrival in Omdurman, Ajjab met two of his own people—Mohammad and Karrar Beshir—who recommended him, when he inquired about me, never to mention my name if he wished to keep h

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CHAPTER XVII A NEW OCCUPATION

CHAPTER XVII A NEW OCCUPATION

When Said Abdel Wohatt was transferred from the Khartoum to the Alti saltpetre works, his father-in-law, Ali Khaater, the storekeeper of the Omdurman arsenal, considered that he was no longer under the obligation of risking his neck by mixing the Khartoum product with the Fellati’s, or substituting it with good saltpetre in stock. A consignment of mine was consequently sent direct to the powder factory, and was used in making what Abd es Semmieh and Hosny, the directors, believed would be a good

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CHAPTER XVIII MY SECOND IMPRISONMENT

CHAPTER XVIII MY SECOND IMPRISONMENT

It was some days after my return to the Saier before I learned that I had been incarcerated against the wish of the Khaleefa and Yacoub; but Hamadan and Khaleel-Hassanein, fearing that I might escape, declined to be responsible for me any longer, arguing that Slatin’s escape had been effected through Government agents, and that mine would certainly follow. In deference to the wishes of Hassanein more than those of Hamadan, the Khaleefa ordered my return to the Saier, but it is very probable that

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CHAPTER XIX RUMOURS OF RELIEF

CHAPTER XIX RUMOURS OF RELIEF

Soon after the departure of Onoor Issa I was saved any further trouble in the way of scheming for excuses to get out of the Saier. Awwad-el-Mardi, the successor of Nur-el-Gerafawi as the Amin Beit-el-Mal on the appointment of the latter as director of the Khaleefa’s ordnance stores, had been approached by Nahoum Abbajee and others on the subject of the extraction of gold and silver from certain stones which had been discovered in the neighbourhood. Awwad sent Nahoum to see me about the erection

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CHAPTER XX PREPARING TO RECEIVE THE GUNBOATS

CHAPTER XX PREPARING TO RECEIVE THE GUNBOATS

When I returned to the Saier in November, 1897, it was as a visitor—a distinguished one at that. I was told that I was only to remain there until my quarters in the Beit-el-Mal were ready for occupation, when I was to leave the prison and continue the construction of the powder-and cartridge-machines, to the completion of which the Khaleefa and Yacoub were looking forward with no little interest and anxiety. But once inside the gates of the Saier, Osta Abdallah and Khaleel Hassanein determined t

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CHAPTER XXI NEARING THE END

CHAPTER XXI NEARING THE END

Events were now following each other in rapid succession. In the universal excitement prevailing, sleep was almost unknown, drums were beaten and ombeyehs blown continuously day and night, days and dates were lost count of; even Friday, that one day in the week in Mahdieh, was lost sight of by most, and the prayers were left unsaid. Councils of war were the order of the day—and night; and what tales we heard! The Emir Abd-el-Baagi had been entrusted by the Khaleefa and Yacoub with keeping in tou

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CHAPTER XXII AT LAST

CHAPTER XXII AT LAST

It will, I believe, surprise but few when I admit that it is next to impossible for me to remember and relate the incidents which occurred during my last night and day in the Saier. Added to the general excitement shared by every one, I had also to contend against the mental excitement which, earlier in the day, had almost deprived me of reason. From where I lay chained to a gang of about forty prisoners, I could hear the infuriated Baggara in the Umm Hagar heaping their curses on the head of th

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CHAPTER XXIII THE SIRDAR AND SAVAGE WARFARE

CHAPTER XXIII THE SIRDAR AND SAVAGE WARFARE

On the morning following the battle of Omdurman, a number of the townspeople came out to the camp, complaining of the rough usage which they had been subjected to at the hands of the Soudanese troops left in charge of the town, and of the looting of their houses. The majority, not knowing that the Sirdar and his staff were fluent Arabic scholars, brought their complaints to me, and asked me to interpret for them. In my then excited and half-dazed state, I rushed off to report the matters. Colone

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CHAPTER XXIV BACK TO CIVILIZATION

CHAPTER XXIV BACK TO CIVILIZATION

I must leave it to my readers to try and imagine what my sensations were as I sailed away from Omdurman on the first stage of my journey to civilization and liberty. Remembering the reason which I gave my wife, manager, and friends, when I was begged to abandon my projected journey into Kordofan, knowing that others knew how I had comported myself before my captors and Abdullahi, I was conscious that I had nothing to be ashamed of in the production of a worse than useless saltpetre, which I coul

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CHAPTER XXV HOW GORDON DIED

CHAPTER XXV HOW GORDON DIED

When the news of the Sirdar’s splendid victory reached England, the British nation may be said to have breathed again, and when the great rush was made for the cheap edition of “Ten Years’ Captivity,” which was extensively advertised with my portrait to catch attention, the few known details of Gordon’s death became as fresh again in people’s minds as they had been years before. I was constantly asked to relate all I had heard concerning Gordon. When I had done so I was invariably met with quota

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Appendix I. Hassan Bey Hassanein.

Appendix I. Hassan Bey Hassanein.

When Gordon heard of the murder of Colonel Stewart and his companions, he held a sort of court-martial on himself, and, after reviewing all the arrangements which he had made for their safety, he came to the conclusion that Stewart must have been invited on shore and murdered. Then, as if endowed with second sight, he almost exactly described what actually happened. The Abbas , drawing less than two feet of water, ought not to have stranded, as it was High Nile. Treachery on the part of the crew

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Appendix II. Orphali.

Appendix II. Orphali.

The account which I have given of how Gordon died differs so very little in essentials from the account which I have since received from Khaleel Agha Orphali, and which has been read to Khartoum survivors with the idea of comparing the statements made with what was related at the time, that I think it advisable to allow my account to stand, and to append that of Orphali, giving a few details concerning Orphali himself. I might mention that Gordon was credited with having killed a much greater nu

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Appendix III. Translation of Letter.

Appendix III. Translation of Letter.

“In the name of God the Most Merciful, and thanks to God the Omnipotent and Generous, with prayers on Mohammad our Lord and his descendants; Greeting. “From the servant of his Lord Abdallah-el-Muslimani-el-Brussi (the Prussian), formerly named Karl Neufeld, to Stephenson the Englishman, at Cairo. “We have to inform you that, in conformity with your letter, dated March 1, 1887, addressed to us, and recommending us to Sheikh Saleh Fadlallah-el-Kabashi with regard to your projects, “We started from

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Appendix IV. Ibrahim Pasha Fauzi-gordon’s Favourite Officer.

Appendix IV. Ibrahim Pasha Fauzi-gordon’s Favourite Officer.

When Gordon arrived in Khartoum, in 1874, Ibrahim Pasha Fauzi was then a second-lieutenant. Gordon had applied to the then Governor-General of the Soudan, Ismail Pasha Ayoub, for four companies of soldiers to accompany him to the Equatorial Provinces. Ayoub was not at all pleased at Gordon’s mission, as he took it as a slight upon his administration, so that when Gordon’s application for troops was received, Ayoub selected for the purpose his most worthless men, with the double object of getting

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Appendix V. Ahmed Youssef Kandeel.

Appendix V. Ahmed Youssef Kandeel.

Ahmed Youssef Kandeel, though actually a civilian employé, held the rank in Khartoum, where he was born, of Lieutenant in the 3rd Soudan Artillery. He took part in many of the attacks on the dervishes during the siege, and fought with Bakhit Bey on the night the town was taken. He managed to fight his way to his house, and held out until the Mahdi’s orders came to stop the massacre of the inhabitants, when he gave himself up. His father, uncle, and brother had already been killed fighting. For s

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Appendix VI. The Soudan: Its Past, Present, and Future.

Appendix VI. The Soudan: Its Past, Present, and Future.

To the present generation the history of the Soudan may be said to commence with the date of its partial conquest by Mohammad Ali Pasha, the Viceroy of Egypt. To go further back than this is to compile from various sources, all more or less inaccurate, a mass of information which, where not misleading, would be next to useless to the would-be correct historian. Even the recent history of the benighted country has from force of circumstances been compiled from sources not the most reliable, and i

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