A.D. 1874. 235 6. Latuka, 10 Sudan regulars, 100 Dongolese irregulars. 7. Lado. Headquarters, 180 Sudan regulars, 50 Egyptian regulars. 8. Rejaf, 80 Sudan regulars. 9. Dufile (Ibrahiraieh), 10 Sudan regulars. 10. Fatiko, 250 Sudan regulars, 100 Egyptian regulars. 11. Foweira, 100 Sudan regulars, 100 Egyptian regulars.

The results of the nine months' work are summed up by the Egyptian General Staff* as follows : — 1st. The White Nile had been mapped with very considerable accuracy from Khartoum to Rejaf by Lieutenants C. M. Watson and Chippendall, R.E.

2nd. The slave trade on the White Nile had received a deadly blow. 3rd. Confidence and peace had been restored among the tribes round Gondokoro, who now freely brought in for sale their beef, corn, and ivory.

4th. The work of opening a water communication between Gondokoro and the lakes had been seriously commenced.

5th. Commimications had been established with M'tesa, and the connection of Lake Victoria with Lake Albert, by the way of the Victoria Nile, demonstrated.

6th. Government districts had been formed and secure posts with intercommunication established 7th. New expeditions were organised and ready to commence.

CONQUEST OF DARFUR, 1874.

During the year 1874 an important addition was made to the Egyptian possessions in the shape of the Province conquest of ofDarfur. Barfur,1874.

Gordon writes : — " Dar For and Dar Fertit mean the land of the Fors and the land of the Fertits. The Fors and the Fertits were the original negro inhabitants ; then came in the Beduin tribes, who partially conquered the country and made the Fors Mussulmans, giving them a Sultan. The Fors and the Beduin tribes, the one stationary and the other nomadic, live in peace, for their habits are different."

The country of Darfur had never been subjugated, but had been governed by its own Sultans in unbroken succession for more than 400 years. f The inhabitants were not of the true negro type, and the numerous wandering Arab tribes paid tribute to the Sultan and formed the bulk of his fighting men. Darfur enjoyed the celebrity not only as a centre of commerce, but also as a large slave depot, a fact which appears from the following correspondence which passed between Bonaparte and Sultan Abd-el-Rahman, surnamed " the Just." During the French expedition to Egypt, " the Just " wrote to Bonaparte " In the name of God the compassionate, the merciful," saying he was glad to hear that he had conquered the Mamelukes. The reply was as follows : — " Au Sultan du Darfour, 12 Messidor, an VII, au nom de Dieu, clement et misericordieux, il n'y a d' autre Dieu que Dieu ! au Sultan du Dar-fur Abd-el-Rahman.

" J'ai regu votre lettre : j'en ai compris le contenu ; lorsque votre caravane est arrivee j'etais absent ayant ete en Syrie pour punir et detruire nos ennemis. Je vous prie de m'envoyer par la premiere caravane 2,000 esclaves noirs ayant plus de 16 ans, forts et vigoureux : je les acheterai pour mon compte. Ordonnez votre caravane de venir de suite, de ne pas s'arrcter en route : je donne les ordres pour qu'elle soit protegee partout.

Le General-en-Chef Bonaparte." Dating from the days of Mohammed All's expeditions, Darfur was in constant dread of Egyptian aggression, and Belial's the country was practically closed to all Europeans, who were regarded as spies. For many generations Darfur had sent 1'*''','''.'', annually- a caravan containing ivory, feathers, gum, slaves, etc., to Egypt, bringing back in exchange cloth, beads, Qija" firearms, etc. In 1874, the slave trade having been stopped in Egyptian territory, the Governor of the Sudan seized destroyed by all the slaves belonging to the caravan of that year ; this was one of the causes which led to a rupture with the Zubeir, 1869. Sultan of Darfur.

In 1869 the power of the slave dealers in the Bahr El Ghazal had become so great that they refused to pay their rentals to the Egyptian Government. Conspicuous among them was a certain Zubeir Rahama, who, according to Dr. Sihweinfurth, lived in princely style and was regarded as a kind of king.

With the object of re-establishing his authority in the Bahr El Ghazal provinces, and also of conquering Darfur, the Khedive sent a small force under the command of Belial. This force was destroyed by Zubeir, who became the chief power in the country. The Sultan of Darfur, in the meantime, to meet Belial's threatened attack, had placed * " Provinces of the Equator," published by the Egyptian General Staff. + See p, 184.

2 I