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The River War

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At the beginning of 1898 it was clear to those who, with the fullest
information, directed the foreign policy of Great Britain that no results
affecting the situation in the Soudan could be expected from the Macdonald
Expedition. The advance to Khartoum and the reconquest of the lost
provinces had been irrevocably undertaken. An Anglo-Egyptian force was
already concentrating at Berber. Lastly, the Marchand Mission was known
to be moving towards the Upper Nile, and it was a probable contingency
that it would arrive at its destination within a few months. It was
therefore evident that the line of advance of the powerful army moving
south from the Mediterranean and of the tiny expedition moving east from
the Atlantic must intersect before the end of the year, and that
intersection would involve a collision between the Powers of Great Britain
and France.

I do not pretend to any special information not hitherto given to
the public in this further matter, but the reader may consider for himself
whether the conciliatory policy which Lord Salisbury pursued towards Russia
in China at this time--a policy which excited hostile criticism in England
--was designed to influence the impending conflict on the Upper Nile and
make it certain, or at least likely, that when Great Britain and France
should be placed in direct opposition, France should find herself alone.

With these introductory reflections we may return to the theatre of
the war.

On the 7th of September, five days after the battle and capture
of Omdurman, the Tewfikia, a small Dervish steamer--one of those formerly
used by General Gordon--came drifting and paddling down the river.
Her Arab crew soon perceived by the Egyptian flags which were hoisted on
the principal buildings, and by the battered condition of the Mahdi's Tomb,
that all was not well in the city; and then, drifting a little further,
they found themselves surrounded by the white gunboats of the 'Turks,'
and so incontinently surrendered. The story they told their captors was a
strange one. They had left Omdurman a month earlier, in company with the
steamer Safia, carrying a force of 500 men, with the Khalifa's orders to
go up the White Nile and collect grain. For some time all had been well;
but on approaching the old Government station of Fashoda they had been
fired on by black troops commanded by white officers under a strange flag
--and fired on with such effect that they had lost some forty men killed
and wounded. Doubting who these formidable enemies might be, the foraging
expedition had turned back, and the Emir in command, having disembarked
and formed a camp at a place on the east bank called Reng, had sent the
Tewfikia back to ask the Khalifa for instructions and reinforcements.
The story was carried to the Sirdar and ran like wildfire through the camp.
Many officers made their way to the river, where the steamer lay, to test
for themselves the truth of the report. The woodwork of the hull was marked
with many newly made holes, and cutting into these with their penknives the
officers extracted bullets--not the roughly cast leaden balls, the bits of
telegraph wire, or old iron which savages use, but the conical
nickel-covered bullets of small-bore rifles such as are fired by civilised
forces alone. Here was positive proof. A European Power was on the Upper
Nile: which? Some said it was the Belgians from the Congo; some that an
Italian expedition had arrived; others thought that the strangers were
French; others, again, believed in the Foreign Office--it was a British
expedition, after all. The Arab crew were cross-examined as to the flag
they had seen. Their replies were inconclusive. It had bright colours,
they declared; but what those colours were and what their arrangement
might be they could not tell; they were poor men, and God was very great.

Curiosity found no comfort but in patience or speculation.
The camp for the most part received the news with a shrug. After their
easy victory the soldiers walked delicately. They knew that they belonged
to the most powerful force that had ever penetrated the heart of Africa.
If there was to be more war, the Government had but to give the word,
and the Grand Army of the Nile would do by these newcomers as they had
done by the Dervishes.

On the 8th the Sirdar started up the White Nile for Fashoda with
five steamers, the XIth and XIIIth Battalions of Soudanese, two companies
of the Cameron Highlanders, Peake's battery of artillery, and four Maxim
guns. Three days later he arrived at Reng, and there found, as the crew
of the Tewfikia had declared, some 500 Dervishes encamped on the bank,
and the Safia steamer moored to it. These stupid fellows had the temerity
to open fire on the vessels. Whereat the Sultan, steaming towards their dem,
replied with a fierce shell fire which soon put them to flight. The Safia,
being under steam, made some attempt to escape--whither, it is impossible
to say--and Commander Keppel by a well-directed shell in her boilers
blew her up, much to the disgust of the Sirdar, who wanted to add her
to his flotilla.

After this incident the expedition continued its progress up the White Nile.
The sudd which was met with two days' journey south of Khartoum did not in
this part of the Nile offer any obstacle to navigation, as the strong
current of the river clears the waterway; but on either side of the channel
a belt of the tangled weed, varying from twelve to twelve hundred yards in
breadth, very often prevented the steamers from approaching the bank to
tie up. The banks themselves depressed the explorers by their melancholy
inhospitality. At times the river flowed past miles of long grey grass and
swamp-land, inhabited and habitable only by hippopotami. At times a vast
expanse of dreary mud flats stretched as far as the eye could see.
At others the forest, dense with an impenetrable undergrowth of
thorn-bushes, approached the water, and the active forms of monkeys
and even of leopards darted among the trees. But the country
--whether forest, mud-flat, or prairie--was always damp and feverish:
a wet land steaming under a burning sun and humming with mosquitoes
and all kinds of insect life.

Onward and southward toiled the flotilla, splashing the brown water
into foam and startling the strange creatures on the banks, until on the
18th of September they approached Fashoda. The gunboats waited, moored to
the bank for some hours of the afternoon, to allow a message which had
been sent by the Sirdar to the mysterious Europeans, to precede his arrival,
and early in the morning of the 19th a small steel rowing-boat was observed
coming down stream to meet the expedition. It contained a Senegalese
sergeant and two men, with a letter from Major Marchand announcing the
arrival of the French troops and their formal occupation of the Soudan.
It, moreover, congratulated the Sirdar on his victory, and welcomed him
to Fashoda in the name of France.

A few miles' further progress brought the gunboats to their destination,
and they made fast to the bank near the old Government buildings of the
town. Major Marchand's party consisted of eight French officers or
non-commissioned officers, and 120 black soldiers drawn from the Niger
district. They possessed three steel boats fitted for sail or oars, and a
small steam launch, the Faidherbe, which latter had, however, been sent
south for reinforcements. They had six months' supplies of provisions for
the French officers, and about three months' rations for the men; but they
had no artillery, and were in great want of small-arm ammunition.
Their position was indeed precarious. The little force was stranded,
without communications of any sort, and with no means of either
withstanding an attack or of making a retreat. They had fired away most of
their cartridges at the Dervish foraging party, and were daily expecting
a renewed attack. Indeed, it was with consternation that they had heard of
the approach of the flotilla. The natives had carried the news swiftly up
the river that the Dervishes were coming back with five steamers, and for
three nights the French had been sleeplessly awaiting the assault of
a powerful enemy.

Their joy and relief at the arrival of a European force were undisguised.
The Sirdar and his officers on their part were thrilled with admiration at
the wonderful achievements of this small band of heroic men. Two years had
passed since they left the Atlantic coast. For four months they had been
absolutely lost from human ken. They had fought with savages; they had
struggled with fever; they had climbed mountains and pierced the most
gloomy forests. Five days and five nights they had stood up to their necks
in swamp and water. A fifth of their number had perished; yet at last
they had carried out their mission and, arriving at Fashoda on the 10th
of July, had planted the tricolour upon the Upper Nile.

Moved by such reflections the British officers disembarked.
Major Marchand, with a guard of honour, came to meet the General.
They shook hands warmly. 'I congratulate you,' said the Sirdar, 'on all you
have accomplished.' 'No,' replied the Frenchman, pointing to his troops;
'it is not I, but these soldiers who have done it.' And Kitchener, telling
the story afterwards, remarked, 'Then I knew he was a gentleman.'

Into the diplomatic discussions that followed, it is not necessary
to plunge. The Sirdar politely ignored the French flag, and, without
interfering with the Marchand Expedition and the fort it occupied,
hoisted the British and Egyptian colours with all due ceremony,
amid musical honours and the salutes of the gunboats. A garrison was
established at Fashoda, consisting of the XIth Soudanese, four guns of
Peake's battery, and two Maxims, the whole under the command of Colonel
Jackson, who was appointed military and civil commandant of the
Fashoda district.

At three o'clock on the same afternoon the Sirdar and the gunboats resumed
their journey to the south, and the next day reached the mouth of the Sobat,
sixty-two miles from Fashoda. Here other flags were hoisted and another
post formed with a garrison of half the XIIIth Soudanese battalion and the
remaining two guns of Peake's battery. The expedition then turned
northwards, leaving two gunboats--the Sultan and the Abu Klea--at the
disposal of Colonel Jackson.

I do not attempt to describe the international negotiations and
discussions that followed the receipt of the news in Europe, but it is
pleasing to remember that a great crisis found England united.
The determination of the Government was approved by the loyalty of the
Opposition, supported by the calm resolve of the people, and armed with
the efficiency of the fleet. At first indeed, while the Sirdar was still
steaming southward, wonder and suspense filled all minds; but when suspense
ended in the certainty that eight French adventurers were in occupation of
Fashoda and claimed a territory twice as large as France, it gave place to
a deep and bitter anger. There is no Power in Europe which the average
Englishman regards with less animosity than France. Nevertheless, on this
matter all were agreed. They should go. They should evacuate Fashoda,
or else all the might, majesty, dominion, and power of everything that
could by any stretch of the imagination be called 'British' should be
employed to make them go.

Those who find it difficult to account for the hot, almost petulant,
flush of resolve that stirred the nation must look back over the long
history of the Soudan drama. It had always been a duty to reconquer the
abandoned territory. When it was found that this might be safely done,
the duty became a pleasure. The operations were watched with extravagant
attention, and while they progressed the earnestness of the nation
increased. As the tides of barbarism were gradually driven back, the old
sea-marks came one after another into view. Names of towns that were half
forgotten--or remembered only with sadness--re-appeared on the posters,
in the gazettes, and in the newspapers. We were going back. 'Dongola,'
'Berber,' 'Metemma'--who had not heard of them before? Now they were
associated with triumph. Considerable armies fought on the Indian Frontier.
There was war in the South and the East and the West of Africa. But England
looked steadfastly towards the Nile and the expedition that crawled forward
slowly, steadily, unchecked, apparently irresistible.

When the final triumph, long expected, came in all its completeness
it was hailed with a shout of exultation, and the people of Great Britain,
moved far beyond their wont, sat themselves down to give thanks to
their God, their Government, and their General. Suddenly, on the chorus of
their rejoicing there broke a discordant note. They were confronted with
the fact that a 'friendly Power' had, unprovoked, endeavoured to rob them
of the fruits of their victories. They now realised that while they had
been devoting themselves to great military operations, in broad daylight
and the eye of the world, and prosecuting an enterprise on which they had
set their hearts, other operations--covert and deceitful--had been in
progress in the heart of the Dark Continent, designed solely for the
mischievous and spiteful object of depriving them of the produce of their
labours. And they firmly set their faces against such behaviour.

First of all, Great Britain was determined to have Fashoda or fight;
and as soon as this was made clear, the French were willing to give way.
Fashoda was a miserable swamp, of no particular value to them. Marchand,
Lord Salisbury's 'explorer in difficulties upon the Upper Nile,'
was admitted by the French Minister to be merely an 'emissary of
civilisation.' It was not worth their while to embark on the hazards and
convulsions of a mighty war for either swamp or emissary. Besides, the plot
had failed. Guy Fawkes, true to his oath and his orders, had indeed reached
the vault; but the other conspirators were less devoted. The Abyssinians
had held aloof. The negro tribes gazed with wonder on the strangers,
but had no intention of fighting for them. The pride and barbarism of the
Khalifa rejected all overtures and disdained to discriminate between the
various breeds of the accursed 'Turks.' Finally, the victory of Omdurman
and its forerunner--the Desert Railway--had revolutionised the whole
situation in the Nile valley. After some weeks of tension, the French
Government consented to withdraw their expedition from the region
of the Upper Nile.

Meanwhile events were passing at Fashoda. The town, the site of which
had been carefully selected by the old Egyptian Government, is situated on
the left bank of the river, on a gentle slope of ground which rises about
four feet above the level of the Nile at full flood. During the rainy
season, which lasts from the end of June until the end of October,
the surrounding country is one vast swamp, and Fashoda itself becomes
an island. It is not, however, without its importance; for it is the only
spot on the west shore for very many miles where landing from the river is
possible. All the roads--mere camel-tracks--from Lower Kordofan meet at the
Government post, but are only passable in the dry season. The soil is
fertile, and, since there is a superabundance of sun and water, almost any
crop or plant can be grown. The French officers, with the adaptive thrift
of their nation, had already, in spite of the ravages of the water-rats,
created a good vegetable garden, from which they were able to supplement
their monotonous fare. The natives, however--aboriginal negroes of the
Dinka and Shillook tribes--are unwilling to work, except to provide
themselves with the necessaries of life; and since these are easily
obtained, there is very little cultivation, and the fertility of the soil
may be said to increase the poverty of the country. At all seasons of the
year the climate of Fashoda is pestilential, and the malarial fever attacks
every European or Egyptian, breaking down the strongest constitutions,
and in many cases causing death. [The place is most unhealthy, and in March
1899 (the driest season of the year) out of a garrison of 317 men only 37
were fit for duty.--Sir William Garstin's Report: EGYPT, No. 5, 1899.]

On this dismal island, far from civilisation, health, or comfort,
the Marchand Mission and the Egyptian garrison lived in polite antagonism
for nearly three months. The French fort stood at the northern end.
The Egyptian camp lay outside the ruins of the town. Civilities were
constantly exchanged between the forces, and the British officers repaid
the welcome gifts of fresh vegetables by newspapers and other conveniences.
The Senegalese riflemen were smart and well-conducted soldiers,
and the blacks of the Soudanese battalion soon imitated their officers in
reciprocating courtesies. A feeling of mutual respect sprang up between
Colonel Jackson and Major Marchand. The dashing commandant of the XIth
Soudanese, whose Egyptian medals bear no fewer than fourteen clasps,
was filled with a generous admiration for the French explorer. Realising
the difficulties, he appreciated the magnificence of the achievement;
and as he spoke excellent French a good and almost cordial understanding
was established, and no serious disagreement occurred. But, notwithstanding
the polite relations, the greatest vigilance was exercised by both sides,
and whatever civilities were exchanged were of a formal nature.

The Dinkas and Shillooks had on the first arrival of the French
made submission, and had supplied them with provisions. They knew that
white men were said to be coming, and they did not realise that there were
different races among the whites. Marchand was regarded as the advance
guard of the Sirdar's army. But when the negroes gradually perceived that
these bands of white men were at enmity with each other--were, in fact,
of rival tribes--they immediately transferred their allegiance to the
stronger force, and, although their dread of the Egyptian flag was at first
very marked, boycotted the French entirely.

In the middle of October despatches from France arrived for Marchand
by steamer; and that officer, after reading them, determined to proceed to
Cairo. Jackson, who was most anxious that no disagreement should arise,
begged him to give positive orders to his subordinate to maintain the
status quo, as had been agreed. Marchand gladly consented, and departed for
Omdurman, where he visited the battlefield, and found in the heaps of slain
a grim witness of the destruction from which he had been saved, and so on
to Cairo, where he was moved to tears and speeches. But in his absence
Captain Germain, who succeeded to the command, diverged from his orders,
No sooner had Marchand left than Germain, anxious to win distinction,
embarked upon a most aggressive policy. He occupied the Dinka country
on the right bank of the river, pushed reconnoitring parties into the
interior, prevented the Dinka Sheikhs from coming to make their submission
at Fashoda, and sent his boats and the Faidherbe steam launch, which had
returned from the south, beyond the northern limits which the Sirdar
had prescribed and Marchand had agreed to recognise.

Colonel Jackson protested again and again. Germain sent haughty replies,
and persisted in his provoking policy. At last the British officer was
compelled to declare that if any more patrols were sent into the Dinka
country, he would not allow them to return to the French post. Whereat
Germain rejoined that he would meet force with force. All tempers were worn
by fever, heat, discomfort, and monotony. The situation became very
difficult, and the tact and patience of Colonel Jackson alone averted a
conflict which would have resounded in all parts of the world. He confined
his troops strictly to their lines, and moved as far from the French camp
as was possible. But there was one dark day when the French officers worked
in their shirts with their faithful Senegalese to strengthen the
entrenchments, and busily prepared for a desperate struggle. On the other
side little activity was noticeable. The Egyptian garrison, although under
arms, kept out of sight, but a wisp of steam above the funnels of the
redoubtable gunboats showed that all was ready.

At length in a fortunate hour Marchand returned, reproved his subordinate,
and expressed his regrets to Colonel Jackson. Then it became known that the
French Government had ordered the evacuation of Fashoda. Some weeks were
spent in making preparations for the journey, but at length the day of
departure arrived. At 8.20 on the morning of the 11th of December the
French lowered their flag with salute and flourish of bugle. The British
officers, who remained in their own camp and did not obtrude themselves,
were distant but interested spectators. On the flag ceasing to fly,
a sous-officier rushed up to the flagstaff and hurled it to the ground,
shaking his fists and tearing his hair in a bitterness and vexation from
which it is impossible to withhold sympathy, in view of what these men had
suffered uselessly and what they had done. The French then embarked,
and at 9.30 steamed southward, the Faidherbe towing one oblong steel barge
and one old steel boat, the other three boats sailing, all full of men.
As the little flotilla passed the Egyptian camp a guard of honour of the
XIth Soudanese saluted them and the band struck up their national anthem.
The French acknowledged the compliment by dipping their flag, and in return
the British and Egyptian flags were also lowered. The boats then continued
their journey until they had rounded the bend of the river, when they came
to land, and, honour being duly satisfied, Marchand and his officers
returned to breakfast with Colonel Jackson. The meeting was very friendly.
Jackson and Germain exchanged most elaborate compliments, and the
commandant, in the name of the XIth Soudanese, presented the expedition
with the banner of the Emir who had attacked them, which had been captured
at Reng. Marchand shook hands all round, and the British officers bade
their gallant opponents a final farewell.

Once again the eight Frenchmen, who had come so far and accomplished
so much, set out upon their travels, to make a safe though tedious journey
through Abyssinia to the coast, and thence home to the country they had
served faithfully and well, and which was not unmindful of their services.

Let us settle the international aspect of the reconquest of the Soudan
while we are in the way with it. The disputes between France and England
about the valley of the Upper Nile were terminated, as far as material
cause was concerned, by an Agreement, signed in London on the 21st of March,
1899, by Lord Salisbury and M. Cambon. The Declaration limiting the
respective spheres of influence of the two Powers took the form of an
addition to the IVth Article of the Niger Convention, concluded in the
previous year. Its practical effect is to reserve the whole drainage system
of the Nile to England and Egypt, and to engage that France shall have a
free hand, so far as those Powers are concerned, in the rest of Northern
Africa west of the Nile Valley not yet occupied by Europeans.
This stupendous partition of half a continent by two European Powers could
scarcely be expected to excite the enthusiasm of the rest. Germany was,
however, soothed by the promise of the observance of the 'Open Door' policy
upon the Upper Nile. Italy, protesting meekly, followed Germany. Russia had
no interests in this quarter. France and England were agreed. The rest were
not consulted: and the Declaration may thus be said to have been recognised
by the world in general.

It is perhaps early to attempt to pronounce with which of the contracting
Powers the advantage lies. France has acquired at a single stroke, without
any serious military operations, the recognition of rights which may enable
her ultimately to annex a vast African territory. At present what she has
gained may be described as a recognised 'sphere of aspiration.' The future
may convert this into a sphere of influence, and the distant future may
witness the entire subjugation of the whole region. There are many
difficulties to be overcome. The powerful influence of the Senussi has yet
to be overthrown. The independent kingdom of Wadai must be conquered.
Many smaller potentates will resist desperately. Altogether France has
enough to occupy her in Central Africa for some time to come: and even
when the long task is finished, the conquered regions are not likely to be
of great value. They include the desert of the Great Sahara and wide
expanses of equally profitless scrub or marsh. Only one important river,
the Shari, flows through them, and never reaches the sea: and even Lake
Chad, into which the Shari flows, appears to be leaking through some
subterranean exit, and is rapidly changing from a lake into an
immense swamp.

Great Britain and Egypt, upon the other hand, have secured a territory
which, though smaller, is nevertheless of enormous extent, more fertile,
comparatively easy of access, practically conquered, and containing the
waterway of the Nile. France will be able to paint a great deal of the map
of Africa blue, and the aspect of the continent upon paper may please the
patriotic eye; but it is already possible to predict that before she can
develop her property--can convert aspiration into influence, and influence
into occupation--she will have to work harder, pay more, and wait longer
for a return than will the more modest owners of the Nile Valley. And even
when that return is obtained, it is unlikely that it will be
of so much value.

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