Ten Years' Captivity in the Mahdi's Camp 1882-1892

F. R. Wingate

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• Publié par: suin
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 38
• Langue: English

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of Ten Years' Captivity in the Mahdi's Camp
1882-1892, by F. R. Wingate
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Title: Ten Years' Captivity in the Mahdi's Camp 1882-1892
Author: F. R. Wingate
Release Date: June 18, 2010 [EBook #32875]
Language: English
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Father Ohrwalder, The Sisters Catterina Chincarini and Elisabetta Venturini and The Slave
girl Adila
From a photograph by Stromeyer & Heyman, Cairo.
Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd.TEN YEARS' CAPTIVITY
IN THE
MAHDI'S CAMP
1882-1892
FROM THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPTS OF
FATHER JOSEPH OHRWALDER
LATE PRIEST OF THE AUSTRIAN MISSION STATION AT DELEN, IN KORDOFAN
BY
MAJOR F. R. WINGATE, R.A.
DIRECTOR OF MILITARY INTELLIGENCE, EGYPTIAN ARMY; AUTHOR OF 'MAHDIISM AND THE EGYPTIAN SUDAN'
WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
BY WALTER C. HORSLEY
THIRD EDITION
LONDON
SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY
LIMITED
St. Dunstan's House
FETTER LANE, FLEET STREET, E.C.
1892
(All rights reserved.)LONDON:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, Limited,
STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.
PREFACE.
-----After the fall of Khartum in January 1885, various attempts were from time to time made to effect theFATHER OHRWALDER.
release of some of the European prisoners who had fallen into the Mahdi's hands during the early
stages of the Sudan revolt.
These attempts were for the most part attended with little result. The causes of their failure, and eventual success in
one instance, are fully described in the following personal narrative of Father Ohrwalder.
As Father Ohrwalder is the first European who has escaped from the Sudan since 1885, I was fully occupied with him
during the few days immediately following his arrival in ascertaining, for official purposes, the actual situation in the
Sudan, and that completed, we had many interesting conversations on the historical events which had occurred in these
revolted districts during the last ten years.
[A]Having but recently completed a resumé of these events, which had been largely compiled from the statements of
natives who had escaped, I was not unnaturally desirous to verify, by the independent witness of Father Ohrwalder, the
accounts which they had given, and I further begged Father Ohrwalder to carefully read over the book and point out the
errors. It was with considerable satisfaction that I learnt from him that the facts had been faithfully recorded; but the flood
of light which he was enabled to throw on many obscure passages, and the great interest attaching to the narrative of an
active participator in so many of these now historic occurrences, induced me to suggest that he should set to work, while
the memory of these events was fresh in his mind, to write a personal narrative of his varied and terrible experiences, of
which the general public have hitherto learnt but the bare outline.
It should be borne in mind that the circumstances under which Father Ohrwalder lived in the Sudan precluded him from
keeping any written record of his life; it was therefore agreed that I should supervise his work which, I need scarcely add,
it has given me great pleasure to do. Father Ohrwalder's manuscript, which was in the first instance written in German,
was roughly translated into English by Yusef Effendi Cudzi, a Syrian; this I entirely rewrote in narrative form. The work
does not therefore profess to be a literal translation of the original manuscript, but rather an English version, in which I
have sought to reproduce accurately Father Ohrwalder's meaning in the language of simple narration.
England and the British public in general have shown so much interest in the stirring events which have occurred in the
Sudan, and in which many gallant British officers and men have lost their lives, that it is Father Ohrwalder's desire that the
narrative of his experiences should be published in the first instance in England, as his modest tribute to the nation which
struggled so gallantly, and so nearly successfully, to effect the relief of Khartum and the rescue of those unfortunate
Europeans who, like himself, had fallen into the hands of a cruel and merciless enemy.
It seems almost incredible that such sufferings as the European captives endured did not long ago bring to them the
happy release of death they so ardently longed for; but it was not to be. The door of escape, which they had thought
closed to them for ever, suddenly opened, and they did not fear to risk the dangers and perils of that terrible desert
journey, with scanty food and water, and the sure knowledge that they must ride for bare life; re-capture would have
ended in certain death, or, at best, perpetual incarceration in a prison, the horrors of which beggar description. In spite,
however, of all he has endured, Father Ohrwalder longs for the time when it may be possible for him to return to the
Sudan and continue the Mission work so suddenly and hopelessly interrupted since 1882.
I am greatly indebted to Mr. Walter C. Horsley for the admirable manner in which he has executed his portion of the
illustrations. The remainder are chiefly from photographs, taken by Mr. Lekegian in his photographic studio in Cairo, of
Dervish prisoners captured at the action of Toski, and of refugees who have recently reached Cairo from Equatoria,
through the territory administered by the Imperial British East Africa Company.
F. R. Wingate.
Cairo, 30th July, 1892.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] Published under the title of 'Mahdiism and the Egyptian Sudan.' London: Macmillan & Co. 1891.
CONTENTS.
-----INTRODUCTION.
FATHER OHRWALDER'S JOURNEY TO THE SUDAN.
PAGE
Description of Kordofan and Dar Nuba—The Mission Station at Delen 1
CHAPTER I.
THE MAHDI AND HIS RISE TO POWER.
The rise of the Mahdi—Early successes—Personal appearance—His
6
Khalifas described—Military organization—Makes new laws—He summons El Obeid to surrender
CHAPTER II.
FATHER OHRWALDER AND HIS COMPANIONS TAKEN CAPTIVE.
The storm rises in Dar Nuba—The Baggara begin to raid—Khojur Kakum of Delen—Mek Omar
besieges Delen—The slave guard deserts the Mission—The priests and nuns surrender—They 22
are sent to the Mahdi
CHAPTER III.
THE MISSIONARIES AND THE MAHDI.
Description of El Obeid—Said Pasha's system of defence—The Mahdi's followers encircle the town
—Townspeople desert to the Mahdi—Unsuccessful attack on Government buildings—Dervishes
34driven off with loss of 10,000 men—The missionaries brought before the Mahdi—Threatened with
death—Preparations for the execution—Reprieved at the last moment—The Mahdi's camp
described—Death of some of the missionaries—Illness of remainder
CHAPTER IV.
THE SIEGE OF EL OBEID.
Terrible sufferings of the besieged—The Kababish—Fall of Bara—Fall of El Obeid—The Mahdi
enters the town—Fate of the El Obeid Mission—Cold-blooded murder of the brave defenders—
52The Dervishes live a life of ease in El Obeid—The Mahdi makes laws—He sends out
proclamations—Prestige increased by capture of town—News from Khartum—Bonomi and
Ohrwalder summoned before the Mahdi—The interview
CHAPTER V.
THE MAHDI'S VICTORY OVER HICKS PASHA.
The European captives learn that General Hicks is advancing—Slatin Bey's defence of Darfur—His
heroism—The Mahdi prepares to resist Hicks—The march of the Hicks Expedition—Extracts from
the diary of Major Herlth—Colonel Farquhar's gallantry at Rahad—Gustav Klootz deserts to the 72
Mahdi—Klootz's interview with the Mahdi in which Ohrwalder and Bonomi act as interpreters—The
expedition advances towards Shekan—Is surrounded and annihilated—Description of the battle—
The Mahdi victor of Kordofan
CHAPTER VI.
THE MAHDI'S TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO EL OBEID.
Fall of Darfur—Slatin surrenders—The Mahdi's divinity credited after the annihilation of Hicks—King
Adam of Tagalla—Stambuli's kindness to the European captives—Gordon writes to the Mahdi—
Power's letter—The sisters seized and distributed amongst the emirs—They are tortured—The
91missionaries turned into slaves—The terrible journey to Rahad—The Greeks come to the help of
the sisters—The proclamation concerning the treatment of priests and hermits by Mohammedans—The Mahdi at Rahad—Ohrwalder's interviews with the Mahdi concerning religion—The
Dervishes attack the Nubas
CHAPTER VII.
FATHER OHRWALDER'S VIEWS OF GORDON'S MISSION.
Ohrwalder describes his treatment at the hands of various masters—The Nubas surrender and
afterwards desert—News from Khartum—The capture of the English mail—Its arrival at the
Mahdi's camp—The Mahdi decides to advance on Khartum—Brief review of events in Khartum 114
and Berber—Ohrwalder's views on Gordon's mission—The Mahdi sets out for Khartum—
Mohammed Ali Pasha's defeat and death—Colonel Stewart, Mr. Power, and others leave Khartum
in ss. "Abbas"—Description of their wreck and treacherous murder
CHAPTER VIII.
THE SIEGE AND FALL OF KHA