The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-01-27


Suakim. On shipboard began the pleasant rela-
tions which have always been maintained between
Gordon and myself. / had occasion to remark,
however, for the first time, the eccentricities
which render him hopeless enigma even to his
most intimate friends, but which in turn have
contributed to make him famous and fasten
upon him the character of hero he affects so
much to despise In a desultory conversation
which took place on the deck of the Latif
few hours after departure, he surprised me by
telling me that the English minister at Cairo,
General Stanton, had opposed my nomination,
and urged the impolicy Of having any but En-
glish officers attached to him. He said to me:
II like Americans. I served with Ward and
Burgevine In China, and was determined not
to give up to Stanton You must look out for
On the 2Sth of February we took the desert
for Berber, 2S8 miles distant. Gordon's impa-
tience and haste soon broke down our escort Of
fifteen soldiers At Bir Haritree halt was
made Nazzer and Osman, GordOn's servants,
sEere a long way in the rear. and there was no
one to make coffee Gordon was in great rage,
and to my horror discovered, wher they came
up, that both of them were very drunk, and, in
endeavoring to dismount, fell from their camels.
Gordon, livid with rage, fell upon them and
belabored them soundly with a stout stick.
They suddenly found their legs, and, pursued by
Gordon, striking and kicking them at every
STEP finally got away, and doubtless took the
road back to Suakim. The Bishareen gathered
around us and greatly admired the empty wine
bottles which We threw them. Gordon, who
seemed fascinated by these people, took out his
pocket mirror. held it up to the eyes of a BiSh-
areen, who saw himself doubtless for the first
time. Osmau, our guide, said to him: ''If you
look at it very long you will become blind"
whereupon the Bishareen leaped to his feet in
great terror and ran away, holding on to his eyes
with his fingers, much to the amusement OF
Gordon, who gave him the mirror He said to
me: HE looks quite like Shakespeare now,
doesn't he?"
At Khartoum we were received with all the
pomp and circumstance of military pageantry.
Salutes were fired, and the people of Khartorm
hailed us with an enthusiasm which had been
kindly manufactured to order by the courteous
lsmall Ayoube, the governor. He gave dinner
in honor of Gordon and Monsignor Camboni. of
the Austrian Catholic mission, nj. HanZell. the
Austrian consul, the notables and the officers of
the garrison were present Monsignor retired
early in the evening, but NJ. Hanzell became
very drunk, and when the Khartoum ballerinas.
composed of dozen more dusky maidens of
Abyssinian type, naked, commenced to dance,
he so forgot his consular dignity that he joined
them IN mimic movement amid the plaudits of
the guests. Not so, however Gordon Shocked
and exasperated, he bounded from the divan and
abruptly left the banquet. This was the COM
mencement of those 'skirmishes" of which ne
speaks in his book, Colonel Gordon in Central
Africa" which ultimately ended in Ayoube's re-
call to Cairo and the merging of Khartoum into
the Gordonlan government
ment at the necessary delay and inspection of
material, stores, including several light -draughJ
steamers, which were to be put together stored
IN the magazines. He came, to me and said:
Long, | can't stand these receptions. 1t will
kill me. / must have one half hour to say my
prayers. But we must give dinner in return"
thought no more of it; but the next day, whilst
IN the magazine room, begrlmed with dust and
dirt, an orderly came to me- 'Colonel Gordon
Pacha wonts you at once" Ifound him engaged
washing plates. setting n ad
and cuffed all the servants around him in anger
and disgust at their want of savoir faire He
pitched into me, reproache6 me with having
thrown all the work upon him, etc. | did not
know whether to be angry or to treat it good
humoredly. The ridiculous situation, however,
prevailed, and, whilst unable to control my
laughter, helped him with hearty good will to
put our banquet table in order. The dinner was
quite success, although it would have been an
ignominious failure unless had quietly asked
the Governor to send me his own excellent Turk
sh cook.
We left Khartoum on the23d of March for Con
dokoro, our future seat of government on the
steamer Bordene Twenty six days on board
steamer gave me exceptional insight into Gordon's
character. DR.. Schweinforth, his most intimate
friend, has said of him: ''At times he is con-
descending, affable and cordial; again he storms
at everybody. is rough, crusty and unapproach-
able. His plans are changed even during their
execution, and his actions only proceed in a
straight line when carried along by his en-
thusiasm." In his quiet humor there is soft,
engaging magnetism about him which greatly
attracts, but when he is 'low," as he terms it,
one must stand from under. A popularity of
his temper may be seen in the spasmodjc efforts
to express himself when excited He applies to
almost any language the system of pigeon
English used in China. 1t is laconic, and an
enonomy of pronouns and time, as we'll
Gordons impatience so great that when
the steamer would stop to wood up he would
reach forward and hurl at El Captain the COM
mander, a volley Of fierce CALCULATIONS, and in
one case forced him to resume the journey with
insufficient fuel, necessitating our dropping back
with the tide. The manner of the Arabs and
their procrastination were unendurable to Cor
don. and made him act at times AS if he were
crazy. Lieutenant Hassan Wassit had been at
tached to Gordon as aide e-de-camp. Hassan is a
mideyed, bashful Arab, and very slow in his
and mock him with many grimaces he lover
come with fear) would sit with downcast eyes,
and frequently found him, after one of his in:
terviews with Gordon, crying bitterly.
In the short intervals of my stay in camp, 60
ing to and from expeditions, l had occasion to
remark singular habit adopted, he said, in
China "When l wish to be alone 1 place a
hatchet and flag at my door" During the in
terval of this cloister spell l respected
his wishes and never allowed him to
he disturbed. Once onlv when an attack on
the camp was about to be made, entered his
hut found him seated at table, upon which
was an open Biole, and near by bottles of cognac
and sherry for it must not be thought that Cor
don's pety forbids him the use of spurious liq
uors, nor does he make any such pretense. l
agree with him that their use, within reason, is
a decided prophylactc against the deadly jungle
fever Certainly it has proven so in our case,
for of the original members of the expedition
Gordon and myself are the only survivors. He
was clustered once, / remember, when / re-
turned from Khartoum to find the camp badly
policed and the sentries in the habit of sleeping
upon their posts l caused them to cry the hour
every fifteen minutes in order to insure their
vigilance. The ''Wanad Ethneen' Post No l.
~ ETC.. screamed from the stentorian lungs of
the blacks so angered Gordon that he came out
and said, ''Now, Long. / shall go mad if you
don't stop those men, 1t was discontinued, and
the soldiers resumed their maps as formerly.
WAR PREPARATIONS IN ITALY.
EnsrlaIad and Itals. IIaxaonEcr&Ia A Of In,