XV
In two weeks after starting from the neighborhood of Wâdi Haifa the caravan entered upon the region subdued by the Mahdi. They speedily crossed the hilly Jesira Desert, and near Shendi, where previously the English forces had completely routed Musa, Uled of Helu, they rode into a locality entirely unlike the desert. Neither sands nor dunes could be seen here. As far as the eye could reach stretched a steppe overgrown in part by green grass and in part by a jungle amid which grew clusters of thorny acacias, yielding the well-known Sudânese gum; while here and there stood solitary gigantic nabbuk trees, so expansive that under their boughs a hundred people could find shelter from the sun. From time to time the caravan passed by high, pillar-like hillocks of termites or white ants, with which tropical Africa is strewn. The verdure of the pasture and the acacias agreeably charmed the eyes after the monotonous, tawny-hued sands of the desert.
In the places where the steppe was a meadow, herds of camels pastured, guarded by the armed warriors of the Mahdi. At the sight of the caravan they started up suddenly, like birds of prey; rushed towards it, surrounded it from all sides; and shaking their spears and at the same time yelling at the top of their voices they asked the men from whence they came, why they were going southward, and whither they were bound? At times they assumed such a threatening attitude that Idris was compelled to reply to their questions in the greatest haste in order to avoid attack.
Stas, who had imagined that the inhabitants of the Sudân differed from other Arabs residing in Egypt only in this, that they believed in the Mahdi and did not want to acknowledge the authority of the Khedive, perceived that he was totally mistaken. The greater part of those who every little while stopped the caravan had skins darker than even Idris and Gebhr, and in comparison with the two Bedouins were almost black. The negro blood in them predominated over the Arabian. Their faces and breasts were tattooed and the prickings represented various designs, or inscriptions from the Koran. Some were almost naked; others wore "jubhas" or wrappers of cotton texture sewed out of patches of various colors. A great many had twigs of coral or pieces of ivory in their pierced nostrils, lips and ears. The heads of the leaders were covered with caps of the same texture as the wrappers, and the heads of common warriors were bare, but not shaven like those of the Arabs in Egypt. On the contrary, they were covered with enormous twisted locks, often singed red with lime, with which they rubbed their tufts of hair for protection against vermin. Their weapons were mainly spears, terrible in their hands; but they did not lack Remington carbines which they had captured in their victorious battles with the Egyptian army and after the fall of Khartûm. The sight of them was terrifying and their behavior toward the caravan was hostile, for they suspected that it consisted of Egyptian traders, whom the Mahdi, in the first moments after the victory, prohibited from entering the Sudân.
Having surrounded the caravan, they pointed the spears with tumult and menace at the breasts of the people, or aimed carbines at them. To this hostile demonstration Idris answered with a shout that he and his brother belonged to the Dongolese tribe, the same as that of the Mahdi, and that they were conveying to the prophet two white children as slaves; this alone restrained the savages from violence. In Stas, when he came in contact with this dire reality, the spirit withered at the thought of what awaited them on the ensuing days. Idris, also, who previously had lived long years in a civilized community, had never imagined anything like this. He was pleased when one night they were surrounded by an armed detachment of the Emir Nur el-Tadhil and conducted to Khartûm.
Nur el-Tadhil, before he ran away to the Mahdi, was an Egyptian officer in a negro regiment of the Khedive: so he was not so savage as the other Mahdists and Idris could more easily make himself understood. But here disappointment awaited him. He imagined that his arrival at the Mahdi's camp with the white children would excite admiration, if only on account of the extraordinary hardships and dangers of the journey. He expected that the Mahdists would receive him with ardor, with open arms, and lead him in triumph to the prophet, who would lavish gold and praises upon him as a man who had not hesitated to expose his head in order to serve his relative, Fatma. In the meantime the Mahdists placed spears at the breasts of members of the caravan, and Nur el-Tadhil heard quite indifferently his narrative of the journey, and finally to the question, whether he knew Smain, the husband of Fatma, answered:
"No. In Omdurmân and Khartûm there are over one hundred thousand warriors, so it is easy not to meet one another, and not all the officers are acquainted with each other. The domain of the prophet is immense; therefore many emirs rule in distant cities in Sennâr, in Kordofân, and Darfur, and around Fashoda. It may be that this Smain, of whom you speak, is not at present at the prophet's side."
Idris was nettled by the slighting tone with which Nur spoke of "this Smain," so he replied with a shade of impatience:
"Smain is married to a first cousin of the Mahdi, and therefore Smain's children are relatives of the prophet."
Nur el-Tadhil shrugged his shoulders.
"The Mahdi has many relatives and cannot remember all of them."
For some time they rode in silence; after which Idris again asked:
"How soon shall we arrive at Khartûm?"
"Before midnight," replied el-Tadhil, gazing at the stars which began to appear in the eastern part of the heavens.
"Shall we at that late hour be able to obtain food and fodder? Since our last rest at noon we have not eaten anything."
"You will pass this night with me and I shall feed you in my house, but to-morrow in Omdurmân you will have to seek for food yourself, and I warn you in advance that this will not be an easy matter."
"Why?"
"Because we have a war. The people for the past few years have not tilled the fields and have lived solely upon meat; so when finally cattle were lacking, famine came. There is famine in all the Sudân, and a sack of durra today costs more than a slave."
"Allah akbar!" exclaimed Idris with surprise, "I saw nevertheless herds of camels and cattle on the steppes."
"They belong to the prophet, to the 'Noble,'[1] and to the caliphs.—Yes—The Dongolese, from which tribe the Mahdi came and the Baggara, whose leader is the chief caliph, Abdullahi, have still quite numerous herds, but for other tribes it has become more and more difficult to live in the world."
Here Nur el-Tadhil patted his stomach, and said:
"In the service of the prophet I have a higher rank, more money, and a greater authority, but I had a fuller stomach in the Khedive's service."
But, realizing that he might have said too much, after a while he added:
"But all this will change when the true faith conquers."
Idris, hearing these words, involuntarily thought that nevertheless in Fayûm, in the service of the Englishmen, he had never suffered from hunger, and gains could be more easily secured; so he was cast into a deep gloom.
After which he began to ask further:
"Are you going to transport us to-morrow to Omdurmân?"
"Yes. Khartûm by command of the prophet is to be abandoned and very few reside there. They are razing the large buildings and conveying the bricks with the other booty to Omdurmân. The prophet does not wish to live in a place polluted by unbelievers."
"I shall beat my forehead before him to-morrow, and he will command that I be supplied with provisions and fodder."
"Ha! If in truth you belong to the Dongolese, then perhaps you might be admitted to his presence. But know this, that his house is guarded day and night by a hundred men equipped with courbashes, and these do not spare blows to those who crave to see the Mahdi without permission. Otherwise the swarm would not give the holy man a moment of rest—Allah! I saw even Dongolese with bloody welts on their backs—"
Idris with each moment was possessed by greater disillusionment.
"So the faithful do not see the prophet?" he asked.
"The faithful see him daily at the place of prayer where, kneeling on the sheep's hide, he raises his hands to God, or when he instructs the swarm and strengthens them in the true faith. But it is difficult to reach and speak with him, and whoever attains that happiness is envied by all, for upon him flows the divine grace which wipes away his former sins."
A deep night fell and with it came a piercing chill. In the ranks resounded the snorting of horses; the sudden change from the daily heat to cold was so strong that the hides of the steeds began to reek, and the detachment rode as if in a mist. Stas, behind Idris, leaned towards Nell and asked:
"Do you feel cold?"
"No," answered the little girl, "but no one will protect us now—"
And tears stifled her further words.
This time he did not find any comfort for her, for he himself was convinced that there was no salvation for them. Now they rode over a region of wretchedness, famine, bestial cruelties, and blood. They were like two poor little leaves in a storm which bore death and annihilation not only to the heads of individuals, but to whole towns and entire tribes. What hand could snatch from it and save two small, defenseless children?
The moon rolled high in the heaven and changed, as if into silvery feathers, the mimosa and acacia twigs. In the dense jungles resounded here and there the shrill and, at the same time, mockingly mirthful laugh of the hyenas, which in that gory region found far too many corpses. From time to time the detachment conducting the caravan encountered other patrols and exchanged with them the agreed countersign. They came to the hills on the river banks and through a long pass reached the Nile. The people and the camels embarked upon wide and flat "dahabeahs," and soon the heavy oars began with measured movements to break and ruffle the smooth river's depth, strewn with starry diamonds.
After the lapse of half an hour, on the southern side, on which dahabeahs floated upon the water, flashed lights which, as crafts approached them, changed into sheaves of red luster lying on the water. Nur el-Tadhil shook Idris' arm, after which, stretching out his hand before him, he said:
"Khartûm!"
- ↑ The Noble—brothers and relatives of the Mahdi.