After staying for about two weeks in Al-Dawa, Colonel Gordon and I, with his retinue, set out for Khartoum. We witnessed the fruits of our labor on our return from every region we had pacified, and their joy at the security, prosperity, and good order they now enjoyed, until we reached Khartoum, where we were received as a victorious conqueror would be. Upon our arrival in the city of Khartoum, which was in the early part of the year 1299 AH, Colonel Gordon and Ismail Pasha Abu al-Makamdar agreed to divide the steamers, boats, workshops, and their workers into two sections. The first would be for the governorship of Sudan, and the second for the Equatorial Province. In addition, it was agreed that the latter would be for the Equatorial Province. The order was issued to the Governor of Sudan to implement it. We took half of the shipyard workers, half of its equipment, and its machinery, and sent them with me to Lake Victoria, where Colonel Gordon ordered the establishment of a workshop at the station of Dufile on the northern shore of the western lake. Then, our share of the steamers (Burdin, Talhwein, Al-Safia, Al-Mansura, Al-Baba, and the Thamarah, the Rafas steamer, and the Ismailia steamer), whose equipment was in storage for repair. We also took about forty boats, large and small, and six large barges, and loaded them with all the provisions, ammunition, and everything needed for the Equatorial Province.

Regarding the establishment of the Equatorial Province office in Khartoum. After the transfer of the aforementioned steamers, equipment, and tools, Colonel Gordon decided to establish a separate office for the Equatorial Province, distinct from the governorship of Sudan. He appointed scribes and officials for it and allocated the necessary budget, naming it the "Office of the Equatorial Province."