"...This Latter Part We Had To Do On Camels..." From Korosko to Akasheh

 

 Date palms growing along the Nile.  "The natives had to pay a tax to the state for the right of gathering fruite from these trees..."

Underwood & Underwood, photographer. (ca. 1911) A typical Egyptian village in the Nile Valley. Egypt Nile River Valley, ca. 1911. May 22. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2004672940/.

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(Page 25 last line from previous post)  "...I asked him...(page 26)...one day if he did not find life monotonous on the top of the mountain alone to which he replied that he preferred being there to the bustle of the camp below. He almost regularly held service in the camp on Sunday evenings & they were enjoyed very much by those who attended them. He was granted a furlough whilst stationed at Korosko but he did not return again for when he got back to Cairo his liberty was redeemed by the American Missionary Society who retained his services as a missionary. To break the monotany (sic) of camp life concerts and theatrical parties used to be organized & carried out very satisfactorily & we were favored several times with original songs, composed & sung by a private soldier of the 79th (Cameron Highlanders). There is very little vegetation in and around Korosko...The Natives would grow their 2 crops of corn a year & then there are groves of date palms...

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...along the bank of the river & the Natives have to pay a tax to the state for the right of gathering fruite from these palm trees. They yield abundantly in the season, and generally the Natives put the fruite aside & dry them for the less productive seasons of the year. The Natives live very largely on dried dates during the winter & spring. They also use a quantity of dhuroo (dhurra?) a kind of red pea shaped grain peculiar to the Natives themselves.  Cotton is also grown in some parts of Egypt more especially in the lower part of Egypt. Sugar cane is also grown in lower Egypt sometimes 6 or 7 feet high...the cane itself is something in appearance like a bamboo with a large course grass top sometimes 1 1/2 ' or 2' wide. Oxen & camels are the chief kind of animels (sic) used for locomotion & work purposes but seldom you will see oxen yoked except for water raising...carrying is done principally by panniers..."

     Edward M. Spiers wrote about the Cameron Highlanders during their summer in Korosko in his The Victorian Soldier in Africa ;  "...When the soldiers faced lengthy encampments, as the Cameron Highlanders did, they made the best of it."  The Highlanders were based at Korosko for 10 months, and spent their time building mud huts, playing football and cricket, rowing on the river and forming their own theatrical company.

   In October of 1885 they were sent upriver to occupy the small fort of Kosheh which was the most southerly frontier post protecting the 87 mile railway from Wadi Halfa to Akasheh.  After the failure to rescue Gordon and the retreat back down the Nile, the British Government established an Egyptian Frontier Field Force comprised of British and Egyptian troops.  The struggle to stave off the Mahdists continued. 

Our reference map for this area of Egypt and Sudan.  Charles was stationed in Korosko, and then traveled by steamer, train and camel to Akasheh. By this time the Expedition had ended and the assembly of the Frontier Field Forces was beginning. Kosheh was the southern most outpost. 

  From here Charles King's narrative suddenly reverts to his orders to proceed to Akasha (Akasheh).  His timeline seems to fit in with the Highlanders departure date, namely, around October of 1885. He traveled by steamer, train, and then finished his journey by camel....

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"...after I had been at Korosko about 8 or 9 months & then received orders to proceed to Akasha a place 90 miles above Wadi-Halfa where is the second & longest cataract on the Nile...we done the journey from Korosko to Wadi Halfa by steamer & was not permitted to stay long on our upward journey at Wadi Halfa.  The Egyptian government had previously constructed a Railway from Wadi Halfa to Sarras some 12 miles crossing the worst part of the cataract, our government to make greater dispatch for transport purposes had decided to continue the line 18 miles further on & thus cross the whole of the cataract, so when we were going up we found a good bit of the line laid & was able to travel as far as Ambigul Wells (Ambigol) by train within about 16 or 14 (19?) miles from our destination this latter part we had to do on camels.  This I assure you is anything but pleasant for novices as the motion of the camel is quite....

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  ...unique and causes great pain to one unused to it...We however got to Akasha after several days travelling & took up our quarters & soon found out what our duties was to be here...It was intended as the Expedition was coming down the river to make this place the frontier station of Egypt so our job was to lay out & construct fortifications...we had several gangs of Native workmen at our disposal & we were kept going for several months at this, but occasionally relieved the monotony by repairing & repainting the boats that had been used in the expedition. I may say that the whole of the boats was whalers (two bow boats about 30 ft long), & fitted with rowing & sailing gear complete for each boat..."  (to be continued)...

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"Photograph of Cataract of Ambigole or Second Cataract" Photograph taken in Egypt by Anglo-Italian photographer Felice Beato 1884/5. National Archives UK. The train skirted the second cataract. 

 A rare day of good sailing on the Nile between Sarras and Dal, with voyageurs in the bows of the whalers. Orignally published in the Illustrated London News.  Reproduced from MacLaren 1978: plate 21.

 General Wolseley recruited almost 400 Canadian Voyageurs to help his expedition ascend the Nile.  It was the first time that a Canadian contingent served overseas.  They were recruited because they were known for their exceptional skills in navigating rough waters in small boats.  I can't imagine what they thought of the wild contrast between snow and sub-zero temperatures of their home country to the soaring heat and desert landscape experienced in Egypt and the Sudan. 

  They arrived in Alexandria on October 7th of 1884 and by October 26th had made it to Wadi Halfa to join the British soldiers who had piloted the whalers this far.  The tough work really began here, as the voyageurs encountered the second cataract and by a combination of rowing, sailing and towing from shore made their way slowly up the Nile. They encountered more cataracts, rough current, and submerged rocks that broke their boats apart. It was the Sappers job to repair the boats on the way.  Their navigational skills did help the column advance at a quicker pace through November and December. 

  Wolseley then sent his Camel Column across the Bayuda desert in hopes it would reach Khartoum faster while the River Column continued to fight its way up the river.  By the end of January all hope was lost for the rescue for General Gordon.  The River Column never made it to Khartoum, and the relief mission was now over.  The Column began its journey back down the Nile, at one point descending in 9 days what previously took 30 days to ascend.   On the way they were attacked by the Sudanese army in the battle of Kirbekan, but made it to Korti where General Wolseley let the Canadians continue on to Alexandria and eventually back home to Canada by March of 1885.  (From Voyageurs on the Nile by John Boileau in Legion Magazine Jan. 1, 2004). 

  Charles King, as a sapper, was also given the task of repairing and painting what whaler boats were left from the Expedition while he was stationed at Akasheh.  They were still being used by the  Frontier  Field Force in the fall of 1885.  Charles' service in the Expedition had ended, and he was now a part of the combined forces of the British and Egyptian troops.     To be continued.....