WATSON PASHA 
 
COL, SIR CHARLES MOORE WATSON 
 
WATSON PASHA 
 
 A RECORD OF THE LIFE-WORK OF 
 SIR CHARLES MOORE WATSON, 
 
 K.C.M.G., C.B., M.A., 
 
 COLONEL IN THE ROYAL ENGINEERS 
 
 BY 
 
 STANLEY LANE-POOLE, Lnr.D. 
 
 WITH TWO PORTRAITS 
 
 LONDON 
 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 
 1919 
 
-> U a 
 
 
 
 DEDICATED BY SPECIAL PERMISSION 
 TO 
 
 FIELD-MARSHAL H.R.H. THE DUKE OF CONNAUGHT 
 
 K.G., K.T., K.P., ETC. 
 
 GRAND PRIOR OF THE ORDER OF THE HOSPITAL OF 
 ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM IN ENGLAND 
 
 (All rights reserved) 
 
PREFACE 
 
 I OWE so many thanks to Sir Charles Watson's 
 friends, whose names appear in this book, that to 
 enumerate them is needless. But I must record my 
 very special debt to Mr. Walter W. Skeat, M.A., late 
 F.M.S.C.S. When I was compelled by circumstances 
 to abandon for a time the completion of this Memoir, 
 Mr. Skeat came to my assistance, and, working with 
 great skill and much labour on the material with 
 which I and Lady Watson, who has been an invalu- 
 able helper, supplied him, he wrote most of the later 
 chapters of this book. I cannot sufficiently express 
 my gratitude to him for his most valuable work. 
 
 I must add that the spelling of Oriental names in 
 these chapters is not always consistent, because I 
 have often followed the manuscripts without altera- 
 tion. 
 
 S. L.-F. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAFTBR PAGE 
 
 I. INTRODUCTORY I 
 
 II. WOOLWICH AND CHATHAM (1863-1868) - II 
 
 III. PIONEER WORK (1868-1874) - 23 
 
 IV. WITH GORDON IN THE SUDAN (1874-75) - 40 
 
 V. WITH SIR LINTORN SIMMONS AT THE WAR OFFICE (1875- 
 
 1880) - 71 
 
 VI. THE CAPTURE OF THE CAIRO CITADEL (1882) - 99 
 
 VII. THE REORGANIZATION OF EGYPT (1883) - 135 
 
 VIII. THE FATE OF GORDON (1884) - - 150 
 
 IX. THE RED SEA COMMAND (l886) - 
 
 X. EGYPTIAN POLITICS AND SUAKIN (l886) - 1 82 
 
 XI. LATER OFFICIAL WORK IN ENGLAND (1886-1902) - 195 
 
 xii. THE "CALL OF THE EAST" (1905-1916) - 210 
 
 APPENDIX A - 224 
 
 |B ' - - Z$ 1 
 
 c - - 239 
 
 |E>. .... -243 
 
 VI 1 
 
WATSON PASHA 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 INTRODUCTORY 
 
 A LITTLE over thirty years ago I met Watson Pasha 
 for the first time. We happened to be staying at the 
 same hotel in Constantinople, but became known to 
 each other through the hospitality of Sir Lintorn 
 Simmons, then Governor of Malta, who was reviving 
 the memories of Crimean days yet thirty years earlier. 
 My cousin, A. G. Chesney, was then his aide-de-camp, 
 just as Watson had been a few years before when 
 Simmons was Inspector-General of Fortifications at 
 the War Office, and the younger aide was my bridge 
 of acquaintance with the elder. 
 
 Watson was then forty-two, a Major in the Corps 
 of Royal Engineers, but lately a General and Pasha 
 in the Egyptian Army. To talk with him no one 
 could have guessed that he had just come through a 
 disagreeable experience which led to his resignation 
 of the critical post of Governor-General of the Red 
 Sea Littoral, in which he was succeeded by his brother- 
 sapper, the afterwards famous Lord Kitchener. 
 Happy in meeting Sir Lintorn doubly his Chief, for 
 he had commanded the Royal Engineer Establish- 
 ment at Chatham in 1866-1868 when Watson was a 
 subaltern keenly interested in everything about the 
 Bosporus, and indefatigable in finding out all that 
 

 INTRODUCTORY [CH. i 
 
 was worth knowing for lie had an insatiably enquir- 
 ing mind his handsome looks, alert intelligence, 
 and charm of manner and conversation " la physiog- 
 nomic si vive, la parole si enjouee," as a French 
 friend said of him distinguished him among the 
 most distinguished, and one felt that here was a 
 personality possibly unique. 
 
 I happened to obtain through our Ambassador an 
 order from the Sultan which permitted me to view 
 the Imperial Treasury in the old Seraglio, then a much 
 rarer privilege than in later times. The irade was 
 made out for " His 'Excellency " (only once have I 
 enjoyed this brevet rank !) and " Her Excellency 
 and suite/' and thus opened the way for me to invite 
 my friends. Watson gaily accepted the role of my 
 Military Attache, Mrs. Watson consented to pose 
 for the occasion as " Her Excellency," and I collected 
 half a dozen student interpreters from Ortakoi to 
 represent my " suite." We were short of uniforms, 
 and our top-hats and frock-coats made a poor show 
 compared with the gorgeous panoply of the Sultan's 
 equerry, a Colonel in superb uniform, who rode 
 beside our carriage all the way to Eski Serai. We 
 saw the treasures, and amazingly rich and barbaric 
 they were one questions, Where are they now ? 
 and we had coffee in the beautiful " Baghdad ' 
 kiosk, attended by some forty obsequious effendis 
 on the scent for bakhsheesh ; and then we drove back 
 in triumph to Pera, with the Embassy kavass, a 
 resplendent image, on the box-seat. 
 
 The friendship thus begun in 1886 was renewed and 
 strengthened year by year, for we seldom lost sight 
 of each other for long; and the more one saw of the 
 Pasha, the better one appreciated him. The last 
 time I saw him was in January, 1916. He was then 
 as eager and interested as ever, and it was difficult 
 to realize that he was in his seventy-second year; nor 
 
CH. i] INTRODUCTORY 3 
 
 could I have imagined that in less than three months 
 I should be honoured with the duty of rendering the 
 last service I can do for my friend by telling the story 
 of his life's work. It is not an easy service; not 
 because his career was not full of interesting and 
 sometimes momentous activities, and offered, perhaps, 
 more variety of occupation than often falls to the lot 
 of even the usually versatile Royal Engineer, but 
 because he was reserved in an unusual and very 
 tantalizing degree, and hated talking about himself. 
 One had to discover him in the course of many talks, 
 and even then he could not be brought to reveal the 
 inner life which constitutes the real man. It is a 
 mistake to think that an Irishman's ready talk does 
 not cover a vast reserve. He was just as reserved 
 in his letters as in his conversation, and whilst reading 
 his papers for the purpose of this book I have found 
 myself continually praying, almost always in vain, 
 that he would " let himself go." He himself would 
 say, " It doesn't matter to other people what I think 
 or believe the only important thing, if ' important ' 
 is the word, is what I did; so please leave my inside 
 alone and look only at my work." Still, there are 
 hints of self-revelation here and there, and we shall 
 not have to do with a mere mechanism. The recol- 
 lections of friends, too, have helped to suggest some 
 contrasted sides of his character. 
 
 For the record of his work the only thing he 
 would think worth relating the materials are ample, 
 and carefully preserved. The Pasha we always 
 called him by his Egyptian title had the character- 
 istically methodical mind of the Royal Engineer, and 
 kept and arranged his papers with extraordinary 
 precision. They lie before me in a series of drawers, 
 labelled, dated, docketed, and ranging from accounts 
 of his family, reports of his examinations, official 
 despatches, private correspondence on all subjects 
 
4 INTRODUCTORY [ CH .*i 
 
 connected with his career and with innumerable 
 interests outside it, down to the last article he wrote 
 and the letters about its publication in the very month 
 of his death. There is probably nothing concerning 
 his work that is not revealed in these systematically 
 ordered papers ; and this is saying much, for Watson's 
 energies were almost inexhaustible. He did not 
 know how to be idle, and the record of his life is 
 a catalogue of continuous intellectual movement. 
 When there was no work to be done, he made work 
 for himself, and no fatigue seems to have induced 
 him to rest. I remember an evening in his former 
 house at Thurloe Square when there were several 
 distinguished people to dinner, talking chiefly in 
 French. One would think that three hours of inces- 
 sant talk would be followed by a quiet rest, aided by 
 his favourite Egyptian cigarette; but when I looked 
 for him in his study near midnight, I found him at 
 a large table with wide sheets of paper covered with 
 figures before him. He was refreshing himself by 
 calculating the " wobbling " or " second rotation " 
 of the earth's axis in space ! Even when he was 
 enjoying his chief relaxation, travelling with his wife 
 all over Europe and the lands bordering the Mediter- 
 ranean, he was not content merely to see and admire : 
 he must work at something and discover all that could 
 be known about the architecture, language, and 
 history, of the places they visited. 
 
 It might be supposed that the very diversity of his 
 occupations argued a lack of purpose, a want of 
 definite object in life; but this would be to misread 
 his character. There was no lack of determination 
 about Watson; still less a want of will-power. He 
 made up his mind quickly, and stuck to his resolve 
 with what his opponents termed obstinacy. But 
 his purpose was simple and disinterested. From 
 early years he made it his rule never to ask for any- 
 
CH. i] INTRODUCTORY 5 
 
 thing and never to decline a task. If the duty laid 
 upon him was not what he would have chosen and 
 took him out of his own line, he nevertheless accepted 
 it and did his best with it. Hence the disconnection 
 of his various services was not his own doing. He 
 went where he was sent and bore with patience and 
 equanimity the interruption of a course of research 
 in which he excelled, in order to take up quite another 
 kind of work. Thus we find him at one time con- 
 ducting experiments in submarine mining and in- 
 venting improvements in what were then called 
 ' torpedoes/* only to leave others to complete what 
 he had begun, whilst he was turned on to the equip- 
 ment of military balloons, or was called away to the 
 Sudan by General Gordon, or again to Egypt to put 
 the seal on the taking of Cairo by his brilliant capture 
 of the Citadel. 
 
 Yet, while sent hither and thither on various duties, 
 there was one sheet-anchor that held him fast. No 
 offer, however tempting, could induce him to sever 
 his connection with the Corps. Others might drop 
 the R.E. and accept lucrative civil posts, but Watson 
 remained a loyal Royal Engineer Officer to the end 
 of his career. Anything that injured the Corps 
 roused his indignation, and in his last years there were 
 many changes that cut the loyal sapper to the quick. 
 
 It is a curious and well-authenticated fact that when 
 only a child of four years old he solemnly announced 
 his intention to become a Royal Engineer. None 
 of his family had belonged to the famous Corps, and 
 no one seems to know why he made this precocious 
 choice. Family history interests no one but members 
 of the family, and it is enough to say that the Watsons 
 had been capable men of business in Dublin since 
 Francis Watson, tracing a descent from people 
 settled at Bengeworth, near Evesham, in Worcester- 
 shire, came over from London to Dublin in the early 
 
6 INTRODUCTORY [CH. i 
 
 part of the eighteenth century, took a house in Capel 
 Street then occupied by good families, though now 
 by shops and became successively Warden and 
 Master (1743) of the Guild of Saddlers. His son 
 William in 1751 obtained " scholarship," a high 
 distinction, at Trinity College, and Watson's father 
 and the Pasha himself also graduated in the Uni- 
 versity of Dublin. There was thus a mixed tradition 
 of business and scholarship, which had its effect. 
 William Watson, the father, was a man of undoubted 
 aptitudes, well known as Chairman of the City of 
 Dublin Steam Packet Company, the interests of 
 which, especially as holders of the Government mail 
 contract, he defended with vigour and success. 
 His management of the Company was so able that 
 he was offered, I believe, and declined the chairman- 
 ship of the Cunard Line. It was remarked of him 
 that " he was an example of a man who, beginning 
 life without any special interest or influential friends, 
 formed by an unwavering course of industry and 
 integrity a prominent position of extreme usefulness 
 and singular repute."* The like may be said of the 
 son. 
 
 A busy man, often absent from home on the affairs 
 of the Company, the father had much less to do with 
 the bringing up of his children than their mother. 
 She was Sarah, daughter of the Rev. Moore Morgan, 
 Prebendary (like Swift) of Dunlavin in county Wick- 
 iow, and sister of the Dean of Waterford, descended 
 from a Welsh family long settled at Llantarnam, 
 near Caerleon, Monmouth. She was not strong, and 
 could not go much into general society, but she had 
 all the old, fast dwindling Irish spirit of hospitality, 
 and she devoted herself to making home delightful 
 to her children. There were six of them, two 
 daughters and four sons; Charles Moore Watson was 
 * Proceedings of Institute of Civil Engineers, Ixxv., pt. I. 
 
CH. ij INTRODUCTORY 7 
 
 the third child and second son, born at 25, Fitz- 
 William Place, Dublin, on July 10, 1844. His mother 
 was fortunately not only a very intelligent woman, 
 but shared the love of solid reading, which was 
 commoner in Ireland in the middle of the last century 
 than it is at present. The habit of reading aloud in 
 the long evenings, when dinner was much earlier 
 than now, kept the children together and, kindling 
 a common interest in the same subject, helped to 
 maintain that intense feeling of family union which 
 was one of the dominant influences in Charles's 
 subsequent career. 
 
 The home-life was singularly happy, cultivated, 
 and free from irritating control. The children enjoyed 
 unusual liberty under the wise mother. They were 
 all brought up together till they were almost grown 
 up, getting instruction somewhat casually from 
 visiting tutors, and rarely attending school. Indeed, 
 Charles only went to a Dublin day-school for a year, 
 and his education rested more upon his mother's 
 cultivated taste and his own passion for books of 
 every kind, on which he browsed as he pleased, than 
 upon any settled system of instruction. He showed 
 very early that alert mind which led his mother to 
 call him her " bright boy." " I would not like to 
 lose that name/' he told her when he was twenty-one, 
 and he signed his letters with it when he was a mature 
 man of forty. It was a beautiful thing to see him 
 and his brothers, as grown men, waiting devotedly 
 on their mother and deferring in reverence to her 
 insight and experience. We shall not be far wrong 
 if we ascribe to her influence much of the personal 
 charm and intellectual vitality which were specially 
 characteristic of her second son. He always looked 
 back upon his childhood as the happiest or, to use 
 his too favourite adjective, " pleasantest '" possible. 
 Writing to her from Woolwich, he says: " There are 
 
8 INTRODUCTORY [CH. i 
 
 so many places I remember being at with you, I 
 really sometimes feel I would give anything to have 
 jthat time back again: I was so awfully happy. 
 Whatever anyone may say, I don't believe that chil- 
 dren are not the pleasantest, though, of course, they 
 are made sorry about smaller things." And again: 
 " Certainly, if anyone was happy, I have always been 
 so, particularly when at home with you all." The 
 beloved home on which he began life retained its 
 sacred influence long after he had left it, and helped 
 to make him the cheerful, optimistic man he w r as, 
 even in the worst weeks of the Boer War or the 
 retreat from Mons. He never despaired, but con- 
 sistently maintained his doctrine that things would 
 " come out all right." 
 
 To his early life at home, too, he doubtless owed 
 in some degree tjie quietly religious spirit his mother's 
 example inspired. Though he never talked of such 
 things, his letters and his acts all point to a quiet 
 trust in the purpose of God, always provided one 
 11 does one's duty." I do not intend to dwell on what 
 Watson himself deliberately veiled, but it must be said 
 that, whilst brought up in a circle of what we in England 
 should call ultra-Protestants, he was never a bigot. 
 He continued to be a Protestant and a Unionist to 
 the end, and was proud of his Dublin birth and of the 
 soft accent of the well-bred, which he never lost or 
 tried to lose. He was proud to be an Irishman, and 
 had all the Irishman's pride. I have heard him called 
 a " rebel," but this meant only that he had the 
 Irishman's dislike of most party governments and 
 the Irishman's love of argument for argument's sake; 
 not that he had the smallest sympathy for " Nation- 
 alism " or rebellion. He had, indeed, no admiration 
 for the haphazard opportunist policies of English 
 Cabinets, but from his youth up he was convinced 
 that the Irish had chiefly themselves to thank for the 
 
CH. i] INTRODUCTORY 9 
 
 kind of government they got and deserved . Writing 
 from Woolwich in 1865 to his elder sister, he says: 
 1 I wonder will Ireland ever be like other countries, 
 and be able to get on in the world without abusing 
 other people; as if everything that happened to it 
 was not the fault of the Irish themselves." In this 
 opinion he never changed ; Ireland was perhaps the 
 only subject on which his optimism failed him. 
 
 In one respect this happy life at home had its 
 drawback. It made him almost indifferent to out- 
 side friendships. Family affection satisfied him, 
 and he did not yearn for other friends. This, I think, 
 was characteristic of him throughout his life. He had 
 mor-e difficulty than most men in making intimates, 
 partly by reason of his inveterate reserve, but largely 
 because he did not feel the need of them, since he had 
 at first his family, and later his wife, who shared all 
 his interests and made his home far more attractive 
 to him than any other place on earth. Many friends 
 attached themselves to him as the years went on, but 
 it always appeared with a few privileged exceptions 
 to be a case of " 1'un qui baise et 1'autre qui tend 
 la joue." His really intimate friends were few; his 
 devoted admirers, men and women, many. He kept 
 most of them at arm's length, and nothing was more 
 characteristic of him than this attitude of interested, 
 kindly, but rather critical, aloofness. His never 
 going to a Public School or sharing the common 
 residential life of a University confirmed this attitude, 
 by precluding those ardent school and college friend- 
 ships to which most of us owe very much. It is true 
 he did go to Trinity College, Dublin, and always took 
 a special pride in adding M.A. to the many letters 
 that his distinguished career affixed to his name. He 
 entered Trinity College, Dublin, in July, 1861, at the 
 age of seventeen, and was placed in the first division 
 with entrance honours in French and German 
 
io INTRODUCTORY [CH. i 
 
 modern languages had always been a strong point 
 in the home training and he took first honours in 
 mathematics at the three term examinations in 1862. 
 But he did not live in Trinity, and thus missed the 
 intimacies of college life ; while the system, permitted 
 in Dublin University, of keeping terms by examina- 
 tions in place of residence enabled him to take his 
 Bachelor's degree (February, 1866; M.A., June, 1869) 
 whilst a cadet at Woolwich, merely running over to 
 Dublin for the examinations. Most of his time, 
 moreover, during the two year^ he was a student of 
 Trinity College, Dublin, was absorbed in preparation 
 for Woolwich, under the tuition of a good " grinder " 
 or army " coach " a tuition which was so thorough, 
 or perhaps it should rather be said which met with 
 so brilliant a response in the pupil, that Watson took 
 first place at the entrance examination at the Royal 
 Military Academy in July, 1 863 . 
 
 Something, no doubt, was lost by this lack of the 
 full experience of corporate life in school and Univer- 
 sity, but probably more was gained in the building 
 up of character. A joyous and reverent home-life 
 armoured the young cadet for the battle of life with 
 weapons that are not always forged in colleges. A 
 devoted son and brother, he went forth with clean 
 mind and wholesome life, inspired by sound influences 
 and dominated by a stern sense of duty, to find his 
 place in the world. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 WOOLWICH AND CHATHAM 
 (1863-1868) 
 
 THE salient facts in Watson's career as a cadet at the 
 Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, are that he 
 entered at the top of the 138 competitors for the 
 34 cadetships ; that he kept his place as first in every 
 term examination, and he came out first in the final 
 examination in December, 1865, with a total of 
 29,715 marks, for which he received the Pollock Gold 
 Medal, awarded to " the most distinguished cadet/ 1 
 at the hands of Sir George Pollock himself. Jekyll 
 (now Sir Herbert), who was over two thousand marks 
 below Watson, got the sword of honour, awarded for 
 " exemplary conduct," although Watson was what 
 was termed " senior responsible," and had never got 
 into any scrape or been placed under arrest during 
 the whole of his cadetship. This excited some 
 comment among people who did not know the rules, 
 and the Governor wrote to Mr. William Watson to 
 explain that his son was entitled to the sword as well 
 as the medal, but that " it had been decided that the 
 same cadet should not get both if the second had also 
 done well."* Watson was also awarded first prizes 
 for artillery, fortifications, photography, and geology. 
 It is a brilliant record, and needs no comment. 
 
 * See Sir C. M. Watson's chapter on " The Story of a Batch, 
 1863-1865," in Captain Guggisburg's entertaining story of the 
 Royal Military Academy, entitled " The Shop " (Cassell and Co., 
 1900), to which the present chapter is indebted. 
 
 Ji 
 
12 WOOLWICH [CH. ii 
 
 What we wish to know is something of the general 
 life of a cadet in the sixties, and the part Watson 
 played in it . We have his own memories, less reticent 
 than usual, recorded in Captain Guggisburg's " The 
 Shop/' and letters to his family add a little to the 
 picture. The couise in those days lasted over five 
 terms, or two years and a half. The day began at 
 6.15 with " defaulters' parade/ 1 breakfast at 7 in 
 summer and 8 in winter; and after prayers, known 
 then as " Ow-wow stuff/' from the mumbling pro- 
 nunciation of the Chaplain, came first-study parade, 
 when the cadets fell in by classes and were marched 
 to the class-rooms by the corporals on duty. 
 "Academy" lasted till n, followed by drill, and 
 dinner parade at i . Academy was resumed from 2 till 
 4, and then " we were free till 6, and hungry cadets 
 could have lunch of bread and cheese and beer in the 
 dining-hall. Third-study parade was at 6, and work 
 went on for two hours. Then came tea parade at 
 8; after that we could do as we liked till 10.30 p.m., 
 when all lights were put out." The food, Watson 
 says, was plain, but good and plentiful. Fires were 
 allowed in the bedrooms, but there was no hot water 
 in the baths, and cadets sometimes enjoyed the 
 healthy experience of breaking the ice before they 
 could get in. If they shirked their bath they were 
 liable to be ducked in uniform. At first the cadets 
 were four in a room, but on entering his second year 
 he had a bedroom to himself. It was then that he 
 began higher mathematics under the most brilliant 
 mathematician, perhaps, of his day, Professor 
 Sylvester, whose genius, however, was not equalled 
 by his power of teaching or keeping order, and the 
 cadets naturally took advantage of his abstraction. 
 
 " One plan was for a large number of them to drop 
 down behind their desks. Sylvester would suddenly 
 awake from the solution of some abstruse problem 
 
CH. n] PROFESSOR SYLVESTER 13 
 
 and see the class-room half empty. This made him 
 rush up and down, a movement which had been 
 prepared for by sprinkling the floor round his table 
 with wax matches, which went off in succession as he 
 stamped round, driving him quite wild. Another 
 trick was to fill his ink-bottle with chalk, which 
 clogged his pens and made him mad. But with all 
 his little ways he could teach well if he was allowed 
 his own method, and personally I owe a great deal 
 to him."* 
 
 October, 1 864, began with the huge explosion at the 
 Erith Powder Magazine, which shook the Academy; 
 and on the following day the Academy was rumbling 
 with a moral earthquake of its own. 
 
 ' The first symptom was a disturbance in the 
 class-room where Professor Sylvester presided. The 
 corporal on duty failed to quell it, and the assistant- 
 inspector of studies had to be called in . Then followed 
 a row of which I have forgotten the particulars, and 
 which ended in the rustication of two cadets. A little 
 later in the month came Charlton Fair, against 
 attending which there were very strict orders. Two 
 cadets were seen by an Officer at the fair, and placed 
 under ^ arrest on their return to barracks. After due 
 investigation of the case, they were added to the rusti- 
 cated, and when the order was read out on parade 
 it was received with a loud murmur. This, of course, 
 was a very serious military offence, and in consequence 
 one class was placed in arrest, and all the other cadets 
 were confined to barracks. This was regarded as an 
 unfair proceeding, as it punished the innocent as well 
 as the guilty. 
 
 " That night the disturbance culminated. One of 
 the field-guns on the parade was fired towards the 
 Governor's house, and all the swords which the 
 cadets carried during punishment drill were thrown 
 into the reservoir. One of the two cadets who had 
 been rusticated, but had not yet been sent away, 
 left his barrack-room and, jumping over the ditch, 
 made his escape. He was pursued by two of the drill- 
 
 * Watson in Guggisburg's " The Shop," pp. 106-107. 
 
14 WOOLWICH [CH. ii 
 
 Serjeants who jumped into the ditch after him and 
 then grappled together, each thinking the other was 
 the delinquent cadet. The latter in the meantime 
 got away." 
 
 A Board of Inquiry was sent down from London, 
 and immediately and very sensibly removed the ban 
 of confinement to barracks; but the causes of the 
 uproar, which seemed to be mainly commemorative 
 of the big mutiny of 1861, were not discovered. " I 
 really don't think there were any valid ones," wrote 
 Watson, " and can only suppose that it was due to 
 a bacillus of unrest which developed itself about once 
 in two years, generally in October." A cadet was 
 sent away for good, others rusticated, and some 
 corporals reduced to the ranks, with the disagreeable 
 result for Watson, who had not shared in the tumult, 
 that he was made a corporal and had to relinquish 
 his comfortable separate room to take charge of a 
 four-room in the front barracks. It meant more 
 duty and less spare time. His steady conduct led to 
 his appointment in January, 1865, as " responsible 
 under-officer " of B division; but things had for- 
 tunately quieted down, and the cadets gave him 
 little trouble. In fact, the only official act he records 
 of this period is his unsuccessful attempt to induce 
 the authorities to permit smoking in moderation, 
 and not to treat it, as they did, as a "military offence." 
 Many smoked, but " the crime was to be found out.' 
 When the prohibition was afterwards removed it was 
 discovered that, not being forbidden, smoking de- 
 creased. 
 
 Watson did not indulge in the pranks of cadets, but 
 neither did he greatly enjoy their company. His 
 reserve was against him. In May, 1865, after a year 
 and a half's experience of the Academy, he writes 
 to his mother: " I sometimes do not find it easy to get 
 on well faith other fellows; you know it was never 
 
. 
 CH. n] LIFE AT THE " SHOP " 15 
 
 much my way, and it often seems hard. I try to do 
 my best, and that is all I can do." He got on better 
 with the class in October, but in December he writes 
 rather doubtfully: "On the whole, it has been a 
 pleasant time, and I shall for some reasons be sorry 
 to leave the Academy, for others glad . Now, probably 
 we shall have a good while together." His heart was 
 still turned towards home. He is pleased when he 
 gets his term's " first " as usual. " If it makes you 
 happy, that is all I want, and what, to a great extent, 
 makes me work." He had made up his mind, as he 
 confessed afterwards, to be always first, and this 
 object outweighed all other interests, social and 
 sporting. He never cared for the usual field games 
 nor for fishing or shooting, though he played racquets 
 sometimes and enjoyed skating. Yet he was never 
 the " smug " or the prig, and his fellow-cadets liked 
 as well as respected him. But he was lonely, and his 
 letters are full of his longing for his own people. ' I 
 wish you could know how awfully, how terribly, I 
 want some of you to talk to," he tells his sister, and 
 he goes on to say how when these lonely fits are on 
 him he attacks his books " almost madly." ' This 
 can go to you, and I cannot. It is rather hard." He 
 is jealous of the posted letter which reaches her next 
 clay in Dublin while he is tied to Woolwich. These 
 letters are full of the books he was reading, and the 
 choice is indicative. They included Ruskin, the 
 " Imitatio," Kingsley, Carlyle's " Heroes," " In 
 Memoriam," and the Life of the Chevalier Bayard 
 " the man was always a favourite of mine." Over 
 his mantelpiece hung a portrait of Claverhouse. He 
 was reading a good deal of poetry, and was evidently 
 in a romantic mood, which he diligently strove to 
 conceal. Enthusiasm he could appreciate, as his 
 later devotion to Gordon proved, but he carefully 
 avoided the least expression of it. Most of his adjec- 
 
16 WOOLWICH AND CHATHAM [CH. n 
 
 tives (even "pleasant") are qualified by "rather." 
 He insists on " the pleasure of imagination," yet he 
 seldom exercised it except to himself. This deliberate 
 self -repression naturally robs his letters of charm, 
 nor can one expect much originality of criticism in the 
 chatty correspondence of a young cadet. One can- 
 not help feeling that he could have written very 
 differently if he had the right correspondent to draw 
 him out of his shell. In spite of his laborious and 
 solitary life he protests again and again that he was 
 happy. " I have come to the conclusion, and that 
 not till after due deliberation, that there never was 
 anyone happier than I have been hitherto." But one 
 feels that the happiness centred in home, not in the 
 life of the Academy. Like the dreamer in " Pilgrims 
 of the Rhine " (he writes to his sister), who lived his 
 real existence in his sleep, " I go home when I go to 
 bed, and am generally talking to you while I am asleep. 
 It is queer how perfectly certain I am sometimes that 
 I am at home." He hardly made the utmost of the 
 materials at hand. 
 
 It was much the same at Chatham, where he joined 
 the Royal Engineers' Establishment as Lieutenant 
 on May 17,1 866. His commission was dated April 17. 
 His C.O., Major-General Lintorn Simmons, reported 
 to the Deputy- Adjutant-General, March 7, 1868, 
 that Lieutenant Watson, R.E., had completed his 
 course of instruction in two months' less time than 
 was allowed for it, and added that he 
 
 " is a good mathematician and draws neatly and well. 
 He applies himself most steadily and perseyeringly 
 to his work, all of which he has done very thoroughly 
 and very well. He is, moreover, very zealous, 
 attentive, and conscientious in the discharge of his 
 duties, and, being possessed of very superior abilities, 
 he gives every promise of becoming a most valuable 
 officer." 
 
CH. n] PARIS EXHIBITION, 1867 17 
 
 Watson had been one of a party who officially 
 visited the Paris Exposition of 1867, and the follow- 
 ing letter to his mother from the famous old sapper, 
 Sir John Burgoyne, dated September i, 1867, refers 
 to this visit : 
 
 1 We cannot hear too much of a good thing; and 
 though you have abundance of good accounts of the 
 satisfactory progress that your son, who is my 
 brother-officer, is making in the world, you will not 
 be sorry to hear more. 
 
 " Captain Stotherd, of the Royal Engineers, was 
 sent to the Paris Exhibition to collect information on 
 military engineering matters ; he had some officers to 
 assist him, selected for their zeal and knowledge; your 
 son was one of them. Captain Stotherd writes to me 
 on the subject of a rock-boring machine in which, 
 from description, I took an interest/ and begged him 
 to make enquiries. ' I got Lieutenant Watson, one 
 of the young officers who was at Paris with me, and 
 a very intelligent and promising officer, to write a 
 description of it which will go with the other reports ;' 
 and it is manifest that he was not aware that I took 
 any interest in Lieutenant Watson when he wrote : 
 
 ' I rejoice with you exceedingly that he is distin- 
 guishing himself so early. 
 
 " My dear Mrs. Watson, 
 " Yours faithfully, 
 
 " J. F. BURGOYNE. " 
 
 Burgoyne was then, at the age of eighty-six, still 
 Inspector-General of Fortifications, and he exerted 
 himself to forward Watson's wishes, which tended 
 towards service in India; but the plan fell through. 
 
 At Chatham there was, of course, more outside 
 society than at Woolwich, and Watson used occasion- 
 ally to spend the turn of the week with his relations 
 at Shortlands, near Bromley, and with friends, with 
 whom his engaging manner and easy talk made him 
 very popular ; but he shared as little as possible in the 
 balls and sports of the Corps, and " public ceremonies 
 
1 8 CHATHAM [CH. n 
 
 arc not much to my taste." Nor does he seem to 
 have been in the smallest degree touched by " affairs 
 of the heart." The " mania for getting married " 
 among his acquaintance astonished him. " It seems 
 odd to me to see the people we knew small married/' 
 he had written in 1864. " I don't quite like it; it 
 makes me seem older, though I feel as young as I did 
 ten years ago." Love-making was " amusing to a 
 spectator like myself/' he says three years later. " I 
 am getting rather out of practice in general female 
 conversation." 
 
 His chief enjoyment whilst at Chatham was in the 
 long walks which the practice of surveying required. 
 In a letter to his sister (July 9, 1867), he tells of a 
 ramble to Rainham and Boxley, through the wooded 
 lands of Kent : 
 
 1 There is nothing pleasanter than a walk through a 
 thick wood, where it is difficult to see more than a few 
 yards on each side, and you feel completely alone, 
 perhaps not meeting a human being for miles. I 
 never saw a greater variety of wild-flowers than grow 
 upon the hills here, all those we used to look for in 
 days past and many I do not know. They seem to 
 remind me of many things, but you may think that 
 absurd. The wild strawberries, too, acquire a glorious 
 perfection superior to any I have yet met with, both 
 in size and sweetness. We found a splendid bed the 
 other day, fortunately within the limits of our survey, 
 down in a deep woody valley where they are not 
 likely to be disturbed, so that I shall probably pay 
 it another visit. Taking it all round, the district 
 about here comes up to my ideal of English country 
 better than any I have yet been in. The farms, too, 
 with their orchards and other surroundings, look just 
 like what they are described in ' England's Yeomen ' 
 and other books of that kind. I have made acquain- 
 tance with several of the farmers, having to ask leave 
 to survey their land and also to obtain hop-poles to 
 make use of as trigonometrical marks." 
 
CH. n] RESOLUTIONS 19 
 
 A letter to his sister written a little later (April 26, 
 1870) is more self-revealing than usual with him. 
 Returning from home, he says, to active duties makes 
 him almost feel as if in changing his atmosphere he 
 became changed himself in mind and body. " At 
 home I am, as it were, still a boy ; but here the different 
 position adds years to my life and compels me to take 
 stand as a man in the eyes of those around me;" and 
 he goes on to reflect how much more difficult it must 
 be to start in life among those who will persist in 
 regarding one as still a boy. Yet he finds himself 
 every time he leaves home more sorry to go than ever 
 he was before. He does not look forward to foreign 
 service " with any very glowing feelings of pleasure," 
 but would rather serve his country at home. 
 
 1 To travel abroad is no doubt very agreeable and of 
 great value as an improvement of the mental powers '' 
 this somewhat condescending sentiment comes 
 oddly from one to whom travelling was afterwards 
 a chief delight and recreation " but foreign service 
 in the ordinary acceptation of the term means re- 
 maining at one station, and that probably an uninter- 
 esting and uninstructive one, for periods varying 
 from three to seven years, during which time the 
 faculties of the mind must, I should imagine, undergo 
 a more or less rapidly oxidizing process. . . . But 
 perhaps, after all, place is of far less importance than 
 action, and the principal thing to be considered is 
 not so much what we do or where we do it, as how we 
 do what we do a precept which you have probably 
 heard me give utterance to more than once before, 
 but which always strikes me as being a principle of 
 the first importance and one worthy of being recorded 
 as a corollary to that of St. Louis of France : ' Do not 
 say aught of which, if all the world knew it, you 
 would be ashamed to acknowledge, " I did or said 
 that." ' 
 
 " Of all sins, slothfulness is, in my opinion, one of 
 the most difficult to get the better of at least, in my 
 own case and prevents one doing half the good that 
 
20 CHATHAM [CH. n 
 
 one might do if only one could get the better of it and 
 cany out more fully the day-dreams of usefulness 
 which it is so easy to form in the imagination and so 
 very difficult to fulfil in actual practice. But it 
 really does appear almost impossible to get the better 
 of it perhaps in great part owing to our want of 
 faith and neglect of prayerfully looking to God for 
 assistance to overcome this evil ; for there is no doubt 
 that the more we pray and the more entirely we trust 
 in Him to help us, and the less we depend on ourselves, 
 the easier it is to conquer this as well as all other 
 temptations of the Devil. . . . You sometimes 
 abuse me for not speaking enough to others about 
 religion, but really the knowing what I myself do, or 
 rather what I do not do, greatly hinders my doing 
 so, as preaching withouf corresponding practice 
 would alwa}rs seem more likely to produce an evil than 
 a good effect. 
 
 " I have written just what I have been thinking 
 about, and it is to be hoped that }^ou will not think me 
 stupid and egotistical for having run like this, talking 
 about myself; . . . but sometimes it is pleasant to 
 put one's ideas upon paper just as they come into 
 the mind, if they are not likely to be severely 
 criticized." 
 
 One wishes he did it more often; but this dread of 
 criticism really i a self-conscious fear of wearing his 
 heart upon his sleeve for daws to peck at continually 
 cramped his expression of his real self, and only to 
 this sister, and rarely to her, did he unburden his 
 soul on the things that made up his inner life. His 
 remorse for slothfulness is peculiarly striking in one 
 who overcame the fault so triumphantly that in later 
 life one could scarcely imagine a more alert and 
 energetic character. 
 
 One amusing story of the Chatham days comes 
 from his brother-officer, now Major-General Sir Elliott 
 Wood, K.C.B., who was one of Watson's chosen 
 friends, and afterwards served with him in various 
 employments and campaigns. Writing to me (June, 
 
CH. ii] JOINS R.E. 21 
 
 1916), he recalls the life at Chatham, when he found 
 Watson 
 
 " decidedly sociable and bright in society, a good 
 talker and listener too; balls or dances were not in 
 his line, nor was the usual ' small talk ' about amuse- 
 ments, games, and sports; but for all that, he was a 
 distinctly cheery and a loyal and constant friend. 
 As a cadet I knew him to be of very high character 
 and of unusual intellectual attainments, and these 
 qualities, combined with straightforward honesty of 
 purpose, marked him throughout his life. 
 
 " He joined the R.E. at Chatham early in 1866, 
 some time after I did, and very soon he gave me the 
 worst quarter of an hour in my life, yachting in the 
 Medway. I had taken him out in a small cutter, 
 with no other ' hand/ though he knew nothing of 
 sailing; and we had gone beyond Sheerness, where 
 we turned to run home before the wind. I asked 
 him to ' boom out the foresail/ but as he did not then 
 know nautical terms, I recognized I must do it myself 
 if we were to overhaul another yacht with which we 
 were having a friendly race. I knew the danger of 
 giving him the helm even for a minute, but Watson 
 declared it would be child's play to keep her pointing 
 for a certain fixed mark; so with careful warnings I 
 gave him the tiller. I had only taken four steps 
 when I heard a shout and was knocked overboard, 
 but caught the shrouds with one hand, the yacht 
 heeling over greatly and my body being dragged 
 through the wafer. On hauling myself on board, 
 there was no Watson ! I rushed to the helm; the 
 tiller was gone and there was my friend bobbing about 
 in the choppy sea a hundred yards or more off ! 
 There was nothing to do but to make a rapid succes- 
 sion of very short tacks, hauling in first the mainsheet, 
 then running forward to the foresail, being compelled 
 to repeat the operation of going about at the will of 
 the boat. . . . 
 
 " The story indicated early Watson's Eastern 
 proclivities. Instead of steering from the well, he 
 had proceeded to squat cross-legged on the deck, and 
 while doing so the boom gybed, sweeping him into 
 the sea, and me afterwards. He had previously 
 
22 CHATHAM [CH. n 
 
 taken off his boots, had stuck to the tiller, and could 
 swim. 
 
 " His only comment on the situation was that he 
 was vastly amused at my ridiculous antics running up 
 and down the deck. Of course, he was unaware why 
 it was necessary." 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 PIONEER WORK 
 
 (1868-1874) 
 
 ON completing his course at Chatham, Watson was 
 sent to Ireland to take charge of the work of remodel- 
 ling the defences of Carlisle Fort, in Queenstown 
 Harbour. He joined at Cork, April 23, 1868, and put 
 up for a week at Whitegate, " rather cleaner than most 
 Irish villages," before taking up quarters in the fort. 
 The construction of the new defences in the harbour 
 was, of course, carried out under detailed instructions 
 from the War Office, and left no room for individual 
 initiative. Watson had sixteen sappers under his 
 command and a guard of marines ; the work went on 
 steadily but slowly, and the routine of drills, parades, 
 and inspections was monotonous. Watson was no 
 lover of the parade-ground, and disliked drills and 
 field-days ; though when Colonel Stotherd made him 
 his Adjutant, R.E., for the 2nd Division of the 
 Southern Army in the manoeuvres on Salisbury Plain 
 in August-September, 1872, he acquitted himself 
 with his usual efficiency, and was warmly thanked 
 by his Commanding Officer for his services. The 
 victory of the Southern Army at the " Battle of 
 Codford" gave him great satisfaction ; but it is amusing, 
 in these days of armies reckoned by millions, to read 
 that the whole force at the " Battle of Codford " 
 numbered 28,000 men. 
 
 The duty of superintending the defence works at 
 
 23 
 
24 PIONEER WORK [CH. in 
 
 Carlisle Fort did not take up much of his day, after 
 the early months of organizing and getting his men 
 into their swing. The rest of the time was spent 
 much more agreeably. There were few places in the 
 sixties and early seventies where a prepossessing young 
 soldier could enjoy life better than in county Cork. 
 The Irish landlords were not yet utterly despoiled, 
 and there were numerous country-houses within easy 
 distances where the famous hospitality of the Irish 
 gentry still abounded. They did not neglect the 
 staff at the forts of Spike Island, Camden, Carlisle, 
 and Haulbowline, and Watson, for his part, delighted 
 in riding or walking he kept a horse, but he was 
 always a good walker, and thought nothing of getting 
 wet through to one house after the other, to lunch 
 or dinner, or both, often sleeping where he dined. In 
 those days your Irish host seldom let you leave before 
 dinner, and he kept you for the night if he possibry 
 could. Watson seldom passed a day without several 
 visits, and it is clear that his hosts were charmed to 
 welcome him. 
 
 Throughout his life from 1864 to 1916 he kept a 
 careful Diary, of the " matter-of-fact " kind, every 
 day, putting down where he went, whom he met, and 
 so on, but here and there just a little of his feelings and 
 impressions peeps through, in a bashful and not too 
 explicit way. One can pick up a good deal about a 
 man's character and mode of life from even a matter- 
 of-fact Diary, and cryptic allusions shed interesting 
 lights. When we come across mysterious words 
 " chino psychonomy," '" spichopia," " ideology," for 
 instance in connection with interesting walks and 
 talks, we may look beneath the surface. Watson 
 prudently used initials, as a rule, to designate his 
 friends, and even these are altered here; but an 
 extract or two will show what is meant. 
 
CH. in] CARLISLE FORT 25 
 
 " Otter hunt. Rode after hunt. Through Ros- 
 tellan to Castlemary, P. and Q. there. Eat nuts, and 
 
 walk (a very long dash). East wind. In 
 
 grape-house. Too large party; but with P., Q., and 
 R. to Ag, a ride to be remembered. P's horse cast 
 a shoe. Crossed Ferry. P. tired. Dined at Ag. 
 Rode home; nearly fell off horse. A sad day." 
 
 1 Wet morning. Rode to C. M. Roches', Ashgrove, 
 Glenmore, and walked with P. and eat gooseberries 
 in the deer-park; dined. ... P. stopped; took her 
 in to dinner. Rode home. Dark night." 
 
 ' Heard that P. was engaged to X. Talk at rail- 
 way. Last November. Cold and dreary. Little 
 sad. They drove back. I missed steamer and took 
 boat to Whitegate. Angry after dinner. Completely 
 puzzled." 
 
 She married another man, and there it ends. But 
 Watson, no doubt, had enjoyed it all while it lasted 
 the " gooseberries in the deer-park," of all odd places, 
 the frequent strawberry feasts, " a certain seat," and 
 many a ride and many a talk. " There are none of 
 Beauty's daughters," apostrophized by Moore, more 
 dangerous, and yet safer, than Irish girls : the paradox 
 needs no explanation to those who know them. They 
 gave the young sapper what would now be called " a 
 perfectly heavenly time ," and if he suffered a few bad 
 twinges and felt " a little sad," it was only the thorn 
 with the rose. It does not appear to have broken 
 his heart; in fact, one has a suspicion that, like 
 Captain McHeath, he was drawn in two ways and 
 could have been " happy with either." One could 
 scarcely roam about county Cork, and spend day after 
 day at Aghada, Castlemary, Ashgrove, Glenmore, 
 Corkbeg, and half a dozen other hospitable, pleasure- 
 loving houses, among such warm-hearted folk as the 
 Penroses, Fitz-Geralds, Longfields, Frenches, and 
 Roches, without " paying forfeit " to the delectable 
 daughters of Erin. Whatever the penalties, it was 
 worth it. And it is worth while too to glance at the 
 
 3 
 
26 PIONEER WORK [CH. HI 
 
 guarded entries in these Diaries, if only to disabuse 
 one's mind of the possible idea that the studious, 
 rather solitary cadet of Woolwich and Chatham days 
 was a dry kind of " smug," or the least little atom 
 of a prig. In county Cork, Watson proved that he 
 could enjoy country life and charming people with the 
 best, and had quite forgotten that he was u out of 
 practice in general female conversation," with which, 
 indeed, he seems now to have become agreeably at 
 home. 
 
 It was all very well to put off his sister with cold- 
 blooded descriptions as " she is a good girl and has, 
 I think, something in her "; or, " she is certainly not 
 what you would call pretty, but that is not a matter 
 of much consequence." One writes such things to 
 one's sisters, and they do not believe them. W T hen 
 he was actually inveigled by a fair lady into taking 
 a Sunday-school class for a time, we may be sure that 
 the sister was not deceived. 
 
 Yet in spite of a whirl of social pleasures, including 
 croquet then a comparatively new and doubtful 
 joy, said to have been first introduced into Ireland 
 from the South of France cricket matches, and 
 regattas, and even dancing now and then, he had 
 not lost his delight in solitary reading. He loved to 
 paddle in a canoe or dinghy to one or other of the 
 many quiet creeks in the spacious harbour, to read 
 his favourite books, and " to look at the sea for 
 there is a great deal to read in that, but I could not 
 put it into words "; it was " the real sea," not the 
 estuary of the Thames or even St. George's Channel. 
 Solitude still had its occasional sway over him, and 
 was his teacher, as it always is to men who can think. 
 Irishman as he was by birth, he had none of the 
 Irishman's toleration of squalor, nor of the delight 
 in funerals which furnish such rapturous joy to the 
 Irish peasant. He was disgusted with the drunken 
 
CH. in] CARLISLE FORT 27 
 
 debauch of the whole neighbourhood over the funeral 
 of his colleague Nugent, whose death by drowning 
 in the gale of October 12, 1870, deeply affected him. 
 He had often sailed with him in the yacht Ella, and 
 had so far got over the inexperience of Chatham days 
 that he sometimes sailed her himself. Watching the 
 bibulous crowd, he says that the Irish peasantry are 
 " removed but a few steps above uncivilized savages.' 1 
 11 I do not like funerals." 
 
 Of course, the three years were not spent wholly at 
 Carlisle Fort and its neighbourhood. Watson visited 
 his family in Dublin now and then, and several of 
 them came down to Queenstown. He went for a tour 
 in the Lake District and several times in the Scottish 
 Highlands, and was occasionally in London. In 
 June, 1869, he took his degree of Master of Arts at 
 Dublin. And then after being appointed temporarily 
 in April, 1871, Divisional Officer at Newbridge, he 
 was ordered to Chatham. " Left Carlisle Fort for 
 good," he writes in his Diary of October 27, 1871. 
 He was not sorry, for he wanted more interesting and 
 more original work, and he counted rightly on meeting 
 his lyiunster friends often in his frequent visits to his 
 people in Dublin ; he also spent a very happy " leave " 
 among them in county Cork in September, 1873. He 
 had enjoyed life exceedingly in the South of Ireland, 
 and had developed in many ways ; but he knew that 
 his career was not laid in country-houses, and that 
 life held something more for him than croquet, even 
 with the most delightful Irish girls. 
 
 Meanwhile an opening had occurred for special 
 work of a kind that brought into play the mathe- 
 matical and inventive talents which had been culti- 
 vated during his studious years at Woolwich and 
 Chatham. As early as the summer of 1867 he was 
 working at what he calls in his Diary " torpedo 
 project "; and in March, 1871, he had come over to 
 
28 SUBMARINE MINES [CH. m 
 
 England for a time to pass through a course of sub- 
 marine mining under Captain Stotherd, R.E., in the 
 electrical school and on board the Volta at Chatham. 
 In October, after his recall from Ireland, he joined 
 the first R.E. company of submarine miners in 
 November, and in the following January was put in 
 charge of the submarine experiments at Sheerness. 
 For two years he devoted most of his zeal to these and 
 similar experiments. 
 
 Submarine mines, since the beginning of the Great 
 War, have been the common talk of everybody ; but 
 in 1871 they were practically unexplored novelties. 
 
 " The use of submarines," wrote Watson (in 1908), 
 " in modern war ma}^ be said to date from 1 854, when 
 the Russians used a clumsy and ineffective kind of 
 mine, or ' torpedo/ as it was then called, in the 
 defence of the Baltic ports. These were mechanical 
 mines, containing a small charge of gunpowder, and 
 fitted with a somewhat rude device, by means of 
 which the charge was ignited when the mine was struck 
 by a ship. It was, however, in the American Civil 
 War that submarine mines were first used with 
 considerable effect, and the results obtained proved 
 so conclusively the great advantages of these novel 
 weapons that the question of their employment began 
 to be taken up by European Powers, with the view 
 of deciding upon the best form of mine, the most 
 satisfactory method of firing them, and the system of 
 employing them for the defence of harbours and 
 navigable waters. . . . England took up the subject 
 in the early sixties, and a long series of experiments 
 was carried out by the Royal Engineers at Chatham 
 and elsewhere, preparatory to the establishment of a 
 submarine mining service at military and commercial 
 harbours at home and abroad; . . . but it was not 
 until 1871, after the advantages of the submarine 
 defence had been clearly proved by the events in the 
 Franco-German War, that the Government definitely 
 decided to establish a submarine mining corps. The 
 fourth company of the Royal Engineers was detailed 
 for the service, the necessary stores were purchased 
 
CH. m] ' TORPEDOES " 29 
 
 out of a Vote of Credit, and a substantial foundation 
 was laid upon which to build up this most important 
 system of defence." 
 
 One of Watson's most striking qualities was his 
 power of grasping the importance of new inventions. 
 He had the gift of prescience, and just as he foresaw 
 the coming role of the " torpedo " or submarine mine 
 in naval warfare, so did he prophesy and, as far as he 
 could, press upon the laggard authorities the future 
 importance of military airships. In the same way, 
 at a later date, he was a zealous prophet of Universal 
 Service at a time when even Lord Roberts *s warnings 
 were unheeded. Had Watson's counsels prevailed 
 at the War Office, we should have had a fleet of 
 airships before the Great War, and we should have 
 presented to Europe the deterrent spectacle of a 
 nation in arms, with vital effect upon the political 
 situation. 
 
 In 1871 a Corps Torpedo Committee, under the 
 presidency of Colonel Nugent, R.E., dealt with the 
 development of submarine mining, and Watson 
 worked partly under this Committee. But he had 
 also the very laborious and intricate task of designing 
 ab initio the mines and all the complicated apparatus 
 connected with them, and of starting a separate 
 department at Woolwich Dockyard, with all the 
 necessary workshops, testing-rooms, and store-rooms 
 for hundreds of miles of cable, etc., and all the 
 materials for their manufacture and supply. " There 
 were at the time no regulations for testing cables or 
 examining stores, and no sealed patterns. These all 
 had to be settled as the work went on. Fortunately, 
 I had some very good N.C.O.'s and hard-working 
 sappers, so the job was finished in what I believe was 
 considered a satisfactory manner." It was the kind of 
 work for which the Royal Engineer officer is peculiarly 
 qualified, and in which he usually delights. Watson 
 
30 SUBMARINE MINES [CH. in 
 
 evidently enjoyed it, and did it so well that he was 
 officially complimented when Mr. Cardwell, then 
 Secretary of State for War, who was keenly interested 
 in submarine mining, visited the new department in 
 May, with the Under-Secretary Lord Lansdowne. 
 This work occupied most of 1872. During this and 
 the following year the department was busy in pre- 
 paring and despatching submarine mining stores to 
 various stations, and the tedious process of testing 
 cables for observation mines took up a great deal of 
 Watson's time. 
 
 He did much more than this. In conjunction with 
 Lieutenant Hall, R.N., who was a member of the 
 Torpedo Committee, at the beginning of December, 
 1872, he carried out a series of important experiments 
 in explosives at Weston-super-Mare. 
 
 The objects of the experiments (to quote Lieutenant 
 Colonel C. H. Nugent 's preface to Watson's official 
 printed Report, January 3, 1873) were 
 
 (1) To obtain a comparison of the explosive 
 
 force of gunpowder, of picric powder, and 
 of compressed gun-cotton, when exploded 
 under similar conditions. 
 
 (2) To obtain a comparison of the explosive force 
 
 of nitrated gun-cotton and compressed 
 gun-cotton. 
 
 (3) To ascertain the effects of the depths of 
 
 immersion upon the explosions. 
 
 (4) To ascertain whether the explosive power of 
 
 compressed gun-cotton is affected by its 
 employment in a damp condition. 
 
 (5) To ascertain whether compressed gun-cotton 
 
 can be completely exploded when in a 
 thoroughly wet state. 
 
 Hundred-pound charges were used, and Weston- 
 super-Mare was chosen, because the level bottom of 
 
CH. in] SUBMARINE MINES 31 
 
 the bay is remarkably suitable for observing the effects 
 of the explosions, the mud being fairly uniform and 
 tenacious enough to keep its shape for two or three 
 tides, between which, at low water, the uncovered 
 craters bored by the explosions could be studied. 
 The results of these experiments were important. 
 The immense superiority of gun-cotton over gun- 
 powder in destructive effect was proved, and it was 
 discovered that gun-cotton in a wet state (thus 
 possessing none of the inflammable properties of the 
 dry material) was at least as effective as when dry. 
 This discovery led to the adoption of wet gun-cotton 
 as a destructive in both services for the next forty 
 years and more.* Further experiments were con- 
 ducted by Watson at Stokes Bay in April, 1873, to 
 estimate the effects of mines exploded at various 
 depths and at different distances from the objective, 
 and these were continued from time to time during 
 the year. His work was considered so important 
 that when Sir Lintorn Simmons wanted to get him 
 as his assistant at the Royal Military Academy he was 
 told by the Inspector-General of Fortifications that 
 Lieutenant Watson could not be spared. 
 
 The experimenter is almost necessarily also an 
 inventor. Experiments invariably lead to improve- 
 ments and adaptations. In June, 1874, Watson 
 submitted to the Admiralty a device which was 
 intended to supersede the spar " torpedo." His 
 invention consisted in a charge towed by a steam- 
 boat and electrically exploded when close enough to 
 an enemy ship. He had, however, been just fore* 
 stalled by a naval officer who designed what was then 
 known as the Harvey torpedo, an honourable relic 
 of the past which is now as dead as Greek fire. 
 Although his invention was not accepted, he was 
 
 * I am indebted to my son, Commander R. H. Lane-Poole, R.N., 
 for information 011 this subject. 
 
32 SUBMARINE MINES [CH. in 
 
 recognized as a leading authority in submarine 
 mining, and already in January, 1874, he had been 
 invited by the Committee of the Royal Artillery 
 Institution to contribute a paper on the subject to 
 the Proceedings. 
 
 By this time Watson's store department at Wool- 
 wich was in full working order; designs were stan- 
 dardized, and his pioneer work in this department 
 was ended. His corps of submarine miners, however, 
 was gradually enlarged, more companies of Royal 
 Engineers were added from time to time, and Militia 
 and Volunteer submarine mining divisions were 
 raised and thoroughly trained in all the technicalities 
 of the science. All this had been planned by Watson 
 in a memorandum dated as early as Ju\y 12, 1872. 
 
 11 These Militia and Volunteer units," he wrote long 
 afterwards (1908)^ " were probably among the best 
 of the Auxiliary Forces in the United Kingdom, and 
 had an esprit de corps which was remarkable. 
 Speaking generally, the submarine defence of the 
 fortified naval harbours at home and abroad was 
 entrusted to the Royal Engineers and Militia, while 
 the Volunteers were specially employed in connection 
 with the defence of commercial ports at home, each 
 division for the district in which the officers and men 
 of the division lived. It would be difficult to imagine 
 a better way of utilizing Militia in the defence of their 
 country, as they would serve in time of war in the 
 places with which they were thoroughly acquainted, 
 and for the protection of their own homes." 
 
 While the personnel of the submarine mining 
 service had thus been admirably organized, the 
 material had also steadily improved in excellence 
 and completeness, and was certainly equal to that 
 of any country in the world. The submarine mines 
 used were electrical, and therefore quite innocuous 
 to friendly vessels, as they could not be exploded 
 except at the will of the operator on shore ; while in 
 
CH. in] SUBMARINE MINES 33 
 
 many cases the mines were ground mines, lying at the 
 bottom of the sea, and only capable of being fired 
 by observation. The objection raised to the use of 
 mechanical mines did not, therefore, apply to the 
 British system of submarine defence. In addition 
 to the electrical mines there was, at certain stations, 
 an installation known as the Brennan torpedo, by 
 means of which a locomotive mine, actuated by wires 
 from the shore, could follow a hostile vessel and sink 
 it at the proper moment. An invention of this kind 
 added not only to the physical, but also to the moral 
 excellence of defence; and it must not be forgotten 
 with regard to submarine mines that their moral 
 power is as great as, if not greater than, their physical, 
 as no enemy would care to risk his war vessels in 
 waters properly guarded with submarine mines until 
 steps had been taken for their removal. Indeed, 
 empty barrels have sometimes proved quite formid- 
 able enough to deter an enemy from attacking. 
 
 At the beginning of 1905 there were employed in 
 submarine mining thirteen R.E. companies, twelve 
 Militia, and seven Volunteer divisions, besides five 
 local companies at stations abroad. 
 
 ' The fortified harbours " (wrote Watson) " in the 
 United Kingdom provided with a system of mine 
 defence were Portsmouth, Plymouth, Harwich, Fal- 
 mouth, Milford Haven, the Thames and the Medway, 
 the Humber and Cork Harbour; while abroad there 
 were Malta, Bermuda, Halifax, Esquimalt, Jamaica, 
 Mauritius, Ceylon, Hong-Kong and Singapore. In 
 addition to these were the commercial harbours 
 situated on the Tyne, Tees, Severn, Mersey, Forth, 
 and Clyde, at each of which a Volunteer division was 
 stationed. At these places the men were at hand, 
 the mines and other stores ready for use, and, in case 
 of war, the whole system of defence would have been 
 installed in a very short time. 
 
 " Such was the state of affairs at the beginning of 
 1905, when an extraordinary change was made, and 
 
34 SUBMARINE MINES [CH. in 
 
 the whole of the thoroughly organized submarine 
 mining service, which had been built up with such 
 care, and had reached such a state of perfection, was 
 suddenly wiped out. The Royal Engineer com- 
 panies ceased to be submarine mining companies, 
 and not long afterwards the Militia divisions were 
 disbanded and the Volunteer divisions were removed 
 from their submarine mining duties. The reasons 
 for this drastic revolution have never been clearly 
 explained, and still remain a mystery as far as the 
 public is concerned." 
 
 In the Memorandum by the Secretary of State for 
 War which accompanied the Army Estimates for 
 1905-06, there was a paragraph referring to the 
 subject : 
 
 " In November, 1903, a proposal was made to the 
 Admiralty that the War Office should hand over to 
 the Admiralty the whole of the submarine mines and 
 appliances in the naval ports; that similar transfers 
 should take place in naval ports abroad, when a 
 sufficient number of submarine boats was available 
 to protect the passages now closed by submarine 
 mines; and that the submarine defence in the home 
 
 Eorts, other than the naval ports, should be abandoned 
 y the Army as soon as the Admiralty could supply 
 an alternative defence. These suggestions have been 
 discussed by the Committee of Imperial Defence, and 
 the Admiralty has now agreed to adopt the course 
 proposed." 
 
 Naturally the man to whom, above all others, the 
 creation and development of the submarine mining 
 corps was due felt this drastic change very bitterly. 
 The waste of public money in scrapping the accu- 
 mulated stores and apparatus was bad enough ; but 
 the destruction of a skilled body of miners, carefully 
 trained by the experience of thirty years' organiza- 
 tion, without any attempt to place their knowledge 
 or their experimental records at the service of their 
 successors, or, indeed, to provide any organized 
 
CH. in] SUBMARINE MINES 35 
 
 successors at all, seemed to him a wanton act of 
 unpardonable folly. 
 
 ' If England is involved in a war," he wrote (1908), 
 : ' which lays her coasts open to the attack of hostile 
 vessels, a submarine defence will have to be improvised , 
 and this will not be so efficient as the corps which has 
 recently been abolished." 
 
 How far the prophecy was realized in the Great War, 
 seven years after it was written, and how far the 
 discarded system had to be resuscitated, are matters 
 for future naval history. 
 
 The change, however, it should be remembered, 
 was not due to any discrimination between the ability 
 of naval and Royal Engineer officers to deal with 
 submarine mining. It was due to a change in policy. 
 Hitherto submarine mines had been held to be useful 
 only for defence. Indeed, Commander (now Admiral 
 of the Fleet) Sir E. H. Seymour, K.C.B., wrote in 
 April, 1872, to Watson, on his leaving Carlisle Fort 
 (and incidentally, as his friend rashly imagined, 
 " escaping the toils of the daughters of Erin ") : 
 
 ' I dare say you are interested in the torpedo work. 
 They must probably become very important engines, 
 especially for defence : for offence among ships we 
 hardly know how to manage them yet." 
 
 But from 1905, or earlier, it was decided by the naval 
 authorities, rightly or wrongly, that defensive mines 
 for harbours were no longer necessary, and that the 
 role of the submarine mine in future must be offensive. 
 The disruption of the land submarine mining corps 
 was the natural consequence of this decision. The 
 functions of the defensive mine are now being defi- 
 nitely fixed in the progress of the Great War, and it 
 would be premature at this moment to offer an opinion 
 and still more to pass judgment, on the Government's 
 action. 
 
36 MILITARY BALLOONS [CH. in 
 
 . Watson's energies in 1872 to 1874 were not re- 
 stricted to the development of the submarine mining 
 corps. He was also busily employed in experiments 
 in connection with military balloons, the forerunners 
 of the present airships. In the year 1873 there are 
 frequent entries in his Diary relating to appointments 
 and experiments, chiefly at Woolwich, in connection 
 with balloons. Sir Frederick Abel, F.R.S., the 
 celebrated chemist and expert on explosives, served 
 on the Balloon Committee and worked with Watson 
 in his experiments for generating hydrogen, by pass- 
 ing steam over red-hot iron. Abel, Henry Gordon, 
 Scratchley, and Beaumont, are the names that most 
 often occur in these entries. Gordon (afterwards 
 Sir Henry), the Controller of the Arsenal, was the 
 brother of " Chinese " Gordon, with whom Watson 
 was soon to be intimately associated. Major (after- 
 wards Sir P. H.) Scratchley was Regimental Major, 
 R.E., in 1873, and Inspector of Works at the Arsenal, 
 and Captain Fred Beaumont, R.E., a man of remark- 
 ably inventive talent, was in charge of railways there, 
 and Watson, who had succeeded him in this branch, 
 must have found him a stimulating associate. 
 
 The experiments in producing gas for balloons 
 lasted through the summer and autumn of 1873, and 
 in December Watson wrote an elaborate Report " on 
 the Generation of Hydrogen by passing Steam over 
 Hot Iron.' 7 He was also in communication with the 
 famous aeronaut Coxwell with a view to the manu- 
 facture of one or two military balloons for the West 
 Coast of Africa, then the sce,ne of Wolseley's Ashanti 
 expedition; for McClellan's balloon staff during the 
 American Civil War had shown the utility of balloon 
 observations, and also the difficulties of transport. 
 Fresh attention had been drawn to the subject by 
 numerous escapes by balloons from Paris during the 
 siege. There was, of course, so far no adequate means 
 
CH. m] MILITARY BALLOONS 37 
 
 of steering balloons the petrol motor was still in the 
 future but captive balloons had proved useful in 
 observing the enemy's positions, and, in favourable 
 weather conditions, free balloons had been success- 
 fully employed. Watson drew up the estimates for 
 the manufacture (by Coxwell) and the equipment of 
 two balloons to be inflated by means of the sulphuric 
 acid process, and reported on August 8, 1873; but 
 Abel, for the Balloon Committee, whilst accepting 
 Watson's estimate for equipment, as based upon 
 actual experiment, demurred to the high price 
 asked by Coxwell, -and also to the length of time he 
 required for the manufacture of a balloon, which, 
 it was thought, would not arrive in time for the 
 campaign. In the end the project was abandoned 
 by the Government . The subject of military balloons, 
 however, was not forgotten by Watson. We shall 
 find him bus}^ with it some years later in connection 
 with Colonel Templer. But in 1874 everything else 
 had to be put aside for his work with Gordon in the 
 Sudan. 
 
 The three years since he had left Carlisle Fort had 
 been full of work and experience, and had proved 
 specially formative in Watson's mental growth. In 
 Cork he had learnt to enjoy life in a genial, human 
 way, and had thrown himself gaily into the happy 
 sporting diversions of well-bred Irish society. In 
 London for he was almost as much in town as at 
 Woolwich, running up daily, and often dining and sleep- 
 ing at his club he was equally sociable, but instead 
 of sportsmen he cultivated men of science, inventors, 
 mechanicians, and especially officers of his own 
 scientific corps and of the Royal Artillery. The 
 friendship of men like Abel and Beaumont was 
 invaluable to the keen young man, whose whole mind 
 was now bent on experiment and invention. Among 
 the witnesses of his and Hall's experiments at Weston- 
 
38 PIONEER WORK [CH. in 
 
 super-Mare were Abel, Abney, Majendie, Nugent, and 
 Younghusband. He learnt much from visits to 
 great engineering factories all over England. He had 
 never forgotten an early visit to Birmingham in 1859, 
 when his father took him to see several of the great 
 factories, and he made notes of the various processes. 
 His " torpedo " experiments took him to Birmingham, 
 Sheffield, Bedford, and other manufacturing centres, in 
 search of materials and information. He watched the 
 trials of the " fish torpedo " and of the MoncriefT gun. 
 His Diary shows him always on the move. The 
 " slothfulness " he formerly deplored no longer 
 troubled him. He was often up at 5.30, and divided 
 his day between Woolwich, Chatham, Sheerness, and 
 London, where he was frequently at the War Office 
 to consult Nugent, and he often spent the night with 
 his mother's relations at Shortlands, near Bromley, 
 or with friends at Putney. He was, as we have said, 
 a great walker this and regular matches of racquets 
 kept him in condition and on a fine night would 
 walk back from Putney to his London club, or from 
 Shortlands to Woolwich or Blackheath, where he 
 would dine with Colonel Henry Gordon or the ever- 
 friendly Lintorn Simmons, his former Chief at 
 Chatham and now Director of the Royal Military 
 Academy. He even went to dances sometimes, and 
 found them " rather pleasant," but more often he 
 declined . He went to Evesham to explore his probable 
 ancestry at Bengeworth, visited Cambridge and Ely, 
 and went over to Dublin whenever he could get leave, 
 not only to see his family, whom he also met often in 
 London his father belonged to the same club and 
 was frequently in town but to keep up his intimacy 
 with his Cork friends, especially the Penroses, to 
 whom he was much attached and with whom he 
 stayed during his leave in 1873 for some memorably 
 happy days, and was exceedingly " sorry to go." 
 
CH. in] GERMAN 39 
 
 How he managed to go about so much and yet 
 keep within his modest pay, as he did, with very little 
 in the way of parental allowances, would be a mystery 
 if he had not kept strict accounts in his Diary, which 
 show that he had no expensive tastes, lived very 
 simply, and certainly spent nothing on luxuries or 
 even ordinary pleasures. There is no entry of 
 tickets for theatres, and very few for concerts, and 
 the only theatrical entertainment he seems to have 
 patronized was the German Reeds', and that chiefly 
 to amuse his younger brother. No one could be less 
 self-indulgent. When he had a free evening, he 
 devoted it to German. He was one of the men who 
 realized what the Germans could teach us in military 
 science, and had not only made himself a thorough 
 master of their language, and could write a good 
 letter in the abominable German cursive hand, but 
 early in 1874 translated Brunner's " Elements of 
 Fortress Warfare " for private circulation among the 
 officers of the Royal Engineers (edited by Lieutenant- 
 Colonel W. Lennox, 1875). They were playing the 
 " Kriegspiel " at the Royal Artillery Institution early 
 in 1873, and Watson observes critically that it was 
 " not very well done.' 7 
 
 The years 1871-1874 had been fruitful. He was 
 now to enter upon a new phase and a novel scene. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 WITH GORDON IN THE SUDAN 
 
 (1874-75) 
 
 WHILST Watson was going through his course at 
 Woolwich and Chatham, there was a man near-by at 
 Gravesend who was to exert a profound influence 
 over him, not only whilst living, but long after his 
 tragic death. " Chinese " Gordon, returning home 
 after his memorable exploits with ' ' the Ever Victorious 
 Army " during the Tai-ping Rebellion in China, had 
 been appointed Commanding Royal Engineer at 
 Sheerness in 1865, and held the post till he went off 
 on the Danube Boundary Commission in October, 
 1871. All this time Watson does not seem to have 
 met him : fourteen years' seniority is not easily bridged 
 in the Service. But Gordon's name was a household 
 word in the sixties, and Watson, of course, knew of 
 his reputation and admired his energy and courage; 
 whilst his work among the boys at Gravesend was 
 such as appealed to the younger man's sense of " social 
 service," though that phrase was not yet fashionable. 
 Besides, Gordon's brother, afterwards Sir Henry, was 
 Controller of Woolwich Arsenal during the time when 
 Watson was experimenting in hydrogen and forming 
 the " torpedo " stores, and the two were frequentry 
 in consultation. It was doubtless through him that 
 the young Lieutenant's qualifications were specially 
 brought to Charles Gordon's notice when he was 
 looking for assistance in his work in the Egyptian 
 
 40 
 
CH. iv] GENERAL GORDON 41 
 
 Sudan ; and after he had accepted the government of 
 the Equatorial Provinces under the Khedive, one of 
 his first steps was to ask Watson to join him. 
 
 C. G. Gordon to C. M. Watson. 
 
 " Address H.M. CONSUL-GENERAL, 
 CAIRO, 
 
 " February 17, 1874. 
 
 " DEAR WATSON, 
 
 11 There is a Lieutenant R. E. Chippendall at 
 Glasgow. I want to know what both you and he 
 want per ann. to go up country with me (remembering 
 I engage to no fixed term of service). I find you 
 subsistence, I find you passage out, I find you arms, 
 etc., and you have only to find your clothes. I do 
 not know if I can manage to take you both, or even 
 one, but I might be able to do so. 
 
 " Ask Chippendall, who is quite unknown, to write 
 out his answer, and oblige, 
 
 " Yours sincerely, 
 
 11 C. G. GORDON. 
 
 P.S. " I may write to you before I leave Cairo, 
 which I do on Monday next, and offer you 500 a year, 
 and Chippendall, unless you know anything against 
 him, 300 (it is very little, but I cannot get more), 
 and 40 to find your passage out to Cairo. 
 
 ' If you choose to wait till next year, I could 
 ask for more for both of you." 
 
 There was no hesitation about the answer. The 
 Diary has these brief entries : 
 
 " March 6. Saw Gordon. Got note from C. G. 
 about Egypt. 
 
 " March 7. To Arsenal. Saw Gordon, and told 
 him I would go to join C. G. Wrote to Gordon. 
 
 " Mcwch 9. Wrote to Gordon to say I would go 
 with him." 
 
 He had, in fact, replied at once, accepting Gordon's 
 invitation on the very day he received it, and on 
 the following day he sent his acceptance through 
 General Stanton, H.M. Consul-General in Egypt, 
 
 4 
 
42 WITH GORDON^IN THE SUDAN [CH. iv 
 
 enclosing a letter of recommendation to the Consul 
 from Gordon's brother. 
 
 One might ask why Watson instantly threw up the 
 scientific work in which he was making his mark and 
 from which a very little time before he could not be 
 spared, to plunge into unknown and uncertain adven- 
 tures. But it was his rule " never to refuse a job," 
 and this special " job " had the great attractions of 
 Gordon's glamour and the taste for travel which later 
 became almost a passion. To explore Central Africa 
 was to realize a dream; and the work was as strictly 
 scientific as making " torpedoes " or hydrogen. 
 Watson was not much given to hero-worship, but 
 he had not forgotten his early admiration for the 
 Chevalier Bayard, and in Gordon he found a living 
 Bayard with a strong tinge of Don Quixote at his 
 best. Not that he was ever a blind worshipper. He 
 came to know Gordon's faults and eccentricities too 
 well for the undiscriminating adoration which less 
 informed people have expressed for the most erratic, 
 impulsive, and the most simple-minded, great-hearted 
 gentleman that ever led a forlorn hope. We may 
 think what we like about Gordon's fancies and beliefs, 
 and his changes and vacillations in practice if not in 
 policy, but none may question his purity of soul, his 
 high ideals, and his utter renunciation of self. To 
 such as found something of his noble fervour in their 
 own souls his call was irresistible. He inspired them 
 with a love and reverence that few men may win, and 
 however wrong-headed and obstinate and fantastical 
 might be some of his ideas, he still commanded the 
 devotion which attaches to the man who rules hearts, 
 the born leader. 
 
 Watson, more critical than most, was not the less 
 Gordon's staunchest friend and defender. One might 
 almost say that, after the last fatal months at 
 Khartum, the dead hero became part of his religion, 
 
CH. iv] GENERAL GORDON 43 
 
 and to speak irreverently of Gordon in the Pasha's 
 presence was to run near to committing blasphemy. 
 On such occasions he would not wax violent I never 
 saw him lose his temper but the few quiet words he 
 would say were fired by " the lightning of blue eyes." 
 He was broad-minded enough to see the innumerable 
 difficulties that Gordon was apt to bring to those who 
 worked with him, but were not of his mind; he 
 admitted that few men were harder to work under; 
 but he never faltered in his reverent devotion to 
 Gordon's character, and all who attacked it had to 
 reckon with a formidable defender. Loyalty to his 
 friends was with him a pure passion. 
 
 Some of Gordon's peculiarly trying ways (no one 
 denies that he had them) soon became apparent. 
 Henry Gordon had written to General Stanton at 
 Cairo, " Has Charlie left any directions about Watson 
 following him ?" Of course he had not. Stanton 
 replied, " He has left no instructions with me, and, 
 as far as I could ascertain from him before his depar- 
 ture, did not expect any officer of the Corps to join 
 him," and he added that it would take some months 
 to get any reply from Central Africa. As a matter 
 of fact, it was not till July 1 1 that Watson received 
 a telegram from General Stanton: " The Khedive 
 - wishes you to come out as soon as possible." On the 
 28th he met Chippendall in London, and on the 
 following day he left Dover for Egypt, accompanied 
 by his brother Edward, and sailed from Ancona in the 
 Sumatra, via Brindisi, to Alexandria, where he arrived 
 on August 6. There he met General Stanton, and 
 was introduced to the Egyptian Ministers, Sherif and 
 Riaz Pashas. Even then he had to wait three weeks 
 before the necessary contracts and arrangements were 
 ready : " Curious ways of doing business," he remarks. 
 But the delay enabled him to see the Pyramids and 
 the beauty of Cairo. He and Chippendall were 
 
44 WITH GORDON IN THE SUDAN [CH. iv 
 
 received by the Khedive Ismail on the 1 7th at Gezira 
 Palace, not yet an hotel. Finally, letters of recom- 
 mendation to the various Governors on the route and 
 the necessary Treasury orders for money were 
 extracted from the dilatory officials; Chippendall, 
 with the baggage, left Cairo for Ismailia on the 28th, 
 and Watson after another interview with the 
 Khedive, who was celebrating the arrival of his 
 mother from Constantinople by a great reception, 
 a lavish slaughter of oxen in front of the Palace, and 
 rich illuminations at last got away on the 3ist. 
 
 The rough notes of his journey from Suakin or 
 Sawakin, to spell it correctly to Berber are worth 
 printing, especially in view of the strenuous support 
 he gave to that route in later years, when the relief 
 of Gordon at Khartum was attempted. 
 
 ;< Cairo, August 31, Monday. Tonino Bey came in 
 last night about 12 o'clock and brought the Khedive's 
 letter for Gordon, and said that the special train was 
 ordered for 6 this morning. He was friendly, and 
 said that he hoped he would see us all back soon safe. 
 
 " Mohammad called me at 5. ... I stored gear, 
 baksheeshed, and drove to the station. The special 
 was all ready with a good express engine, and I 
 started alone at 7.10. We got along at a good pace 
 and reached Zagazig at 8.50, where the engine watered, 
 and I coffee 'd and had a chat with the station-master, 
 who had been in England twenty-five years, and 
 looked on it as a kind of Paradise. Soon after leaving 
 Z. we got into the regular desert. Got to Ismailia 
 Junction at 10.15, an 3 took in water. I felt sorry 
 for the people who had to live (there), as it is an 
 absolute desert. It must take some trouble to keep 
 the line clear of sand. It is for the most part level, 
 not much cutting or filling, and plenty of stuff for 
 the latter. 
 
 " Got to Suez at 12.5. There was a guard of soldiers 
 on the platform, who presented (arms) as the train 
 came up . Chippendall and Linant were there to meet 
 me, and the station-master treated me with great 
 
CH. iv] TO THE SUDAN 45 
 
 politeness. I went to see the Governor, Hasan Bey, 
 and had coffee with him. He could only speak a 
 little French, but we got on. Said Bey, the Director 
 of the Azizieh Company, told us that his tug would 
 start at 2.30 and we went on board the steamer 
 Hodeida, where Chippenclall had arranged all the 
 baggage in the forehold in a most satisfactory way. 
 Anchor was weighed at 4, and we steamed out of the 
 harbour. Off at last. I always thought we never 
 would be, and yet folk in Cairo said that our affair 
 was arranged with wonderful celerity. Our party 
 stands : 
 
 11 Lieutenant Chippendall, R.E., attached to 
 Colonel Gordon. 
 
 " Lieutenant Watson, R.E., attached to Colonel 
 Gordon. 
 
 ; ' Ernest Linant, French (but as fond as an 
 Englishman of his cold bath), brother of a 
 Linant who is with Colonel Gordon as inter- 
 preter. He goes on his own account, on the 
 understanding that he is allowed to go with 
 us, acting as interpreter. 
 
 11 Carl Regner, German, my servant and cook. 
 
 " Mohammad, Nubian, Chippendall's servant. 
 
 } 
 
 " Weather pleasant and not too hot. As the cabins 
 were small, we slept on the bridge, and found it cool 
 and comfortable. The steamer Hodeida belongs to 
 the Azizieh Company realty to the Khedive is 
 between 600 and 700 tons register tonnage, 220 ^ feet 
 long, 33 feet beam, double cylinder screw engines, 
 120 h.p., working to 600 h.p., goes about 7 to 8 knots, 
 has Captain, 4 officers, and 80 men (all Turks) ; her 
 two engineers are English. I was waked in the night 
 by a good deal of talk, and I found a steamer was 
 coming towards us. She ported, but after some 
 consideration our commander decided it was better to 
 starboard. The other vessel had the good sense to 
 do the same, so we passed clear. 
 
 " September i. A quiet day on board. We un- 
 packed and overhauled the instruments, and found 
 all correct. A fresh north breeze all day which kept 
 
46 TO THE SUDAN [CH. iv 
 
 the ship quite cool. The coast of the Gulf of Suez 
 has really very grand rock scenery on both sides. 
 Passed Shadwan Island just before sunset. 
 
 " September 2. Much the same as yesterday. 
 They had rigged us a capital bathroom close to our 
 cabins, of canvas. Passed ' The Brothers ' at 5.30 
 a.m. Reading, writing, sleeping, and doing nothing. 
 
 " September 3. North wind still blowing; quite 
 cool. 
 
 " September 4. Slowed in afternoon, as the pilot 
 would not venture to pass the coral reefs at night. 
 Stood away from the shore and out to seaward . Blow- 
 ing fresh off shore during the night. 
 
 " September 5. At i a.m. changed course and stood 
 in for shore to pass reef opposite Sheikh Barud (or 
 Barghut), a port about 30 miles north of Suakin, 
 which appears to be a far better harbour than the 
 latter. If the railway is ever made from Sudan to 
 Red Sea, it might take its place. It is easier to make, 
 and there is plenty of good anchorage in from 12 to 16 
 fathoms. Steamed down along the shore inside the 
 reefs, and reached Suakin at 4.30 p.m. The harbour 
 has a narrow channel and not much water. The 
 quarantine officer boarded us as soon as anchor was 
 dropped, and we then went ashore to see the Governor 
 Ala-ed-din Bey, who received us most kindly, and gave 
 accommodation for ourselves, servants, and baggage. 
 He is a very intelligent man, a Circassian; does not 
 know any European language. Linant acted as 
 interpreter. We dined with the Governor, Arab 
 fashion, eating with our fingers. Also dined Emanuel, 
 a Maltese who commanded a small Government 
 steamer which is used in the suppression of the slave 
 trade. He could speak English, and appeared to be a 
 favourite of the Governor's. The latter is building 
 a suite of apartments for the reception of visitors. 
 They are not quite finished, but sufficiently so to 
 admit of our occupying them. They face the north, 
 looking out on the harbour, and are deliciously cool. 
 The night was not at all too hot. 
 
 " September 6, Sunday. Up at 5.30, and went down 
 to Emanuel's steamer for a bathe. The water is very 
 salt and, of course, buoyant. It is said to produce 
 an irritation of the skin if bathed in too often. Back 
 
CH. iv] TO THE SUDAN 47 
 
 to the town; and as the Governor did not breakfast 
 till 12 o'clock, we nearly died of hunger. Suakin has 
 a convict prison, but the number in confinement is 
 small. It has a garrison of about 500 soldiers. 
 Walked through the town when the sun went down. 
 It is built partly on an island and partly on the main- 
 land, and has probably a total population of about 
 15,000 inhabitants. Some of the houses are built of 
 stone, but the majority are made of matting on poles, 
 and cost about ten francs for a house. I went to 
 see a garden belonging to the Governor, about half 
 a mile from the town, but there was nothing in it but 
 a few dates. This time of year nothing seems to 
 grow on account of the heat. In the morning 
 Chippendall and myself had gone on board to bid 
 good-bye to the Captain/of the Hodeida. Dined with 
 the Governor. 
 
 " September 7. Went out fishing with Emanuel the 
 Captain at 4.30; bathed, and rowed out to the reefs. 
 Beautiful corallines. Numbers of fishes of all shapes 
 and colours ; all we caught appeared to be of different 
 species; among others, an octopus. Chippendall not 
 well. After lunch went to see the Governor's garden. 
 
 " September 8. Went to small steamer with Linant ; 
 bathed and fished. Talked to Captain about Sheikh 
 Barud [Barghut], a port about 30 miles north of 
 Suakin, where there is a good depth of water, plenty 
 of room for large ships, and easy access, night and day, 
 if lighthouses were built ; whereas the harbour of 
 Suakin is small, no water, impossible to make at 
 night. Pilots think Sheikh Barud [Barghut] best 
 harbour on coast.* No town there, and no use made 
 of it at present. Dined with Governor. Chippendall 
 did not dine . Camel-drivers came in . As Abu-Su 'ud 's 
 large case was too big, it was cut into two ; it con- 
 tained nothing but silk-stuffs and tobacco; no arms 
 or powder. 
 
 (< September 9. Went with Governor to post office, 
 and found out arrangements about posting letters to 
 England. Wrote after dinner to father and Edie 
 
 * It is now called Port Sudan, and is the terminus of the railway 
 which connects Atbara on the Nile with the Red Sea and brings 
 the products of the Sudan to the world's markets. 
 
48 TO THE SUDAN [CH. iv 
 
 (his elder sister); prepared everything to start in the 
 morning. 
 
 11 September 10. Baggage all went across to main- 
 land at 9 o'clock. Camp to be pitched there. We 
 went over with the Governor at 1 1 , and rode up to 
 it On donkeys, meaning to breakfast there; but as 
 nothing had come, we returned with him and lunched 
 at his house. At 4.30 we went back to the camp, and 
 found all ready and the baggage up. The Governor, 
 his Wakil, and Emanuel, dined with us, English 
 fashion, and took leave of us. We slept in the camp, 
 which consisted of one double tent (English) of 
 Linant's and four single tents, given us by Egyptian 
 Government, not very good, as they are too thin 
 and let the sun through. There are thirty camels 
 in all, of fair quality, and the personnel is as follows : 
 Chippendall, Linant, and myself; Mohammad, Carl, 
 Eugene, Osman (servants); Ali (chief of police at 
 Suakin), two kavasses, Abd-er-Rahman arid Osman, 
 Ahmad, attendants; Musa, Arab Sherif, and eleven 
 drivers, Bisharin. We got saddles from the Governor. 
 Camp i mile W. by S. from Suakin, 50 feet above sea. 
 Bar. (2,065) 29.59. 
 
 " September 1 1 . In camp most of the day. Camels 
 did not come until 2 o'clock. Packed and started 
 at 5 p.m. Marched for one hour parallel to coast 
 across sandy plain (with stunted tamarisks), rising 
 gently towards the hills; we then turned W. by N. 
 and marched until 9.15 p.m. and camped (2nd camp, 
 Handub) by a well among the first hills; water 
 brackish and not good. Shortly after we camped two 
 robbers were captured, who, with others, had followed 
 us from Suakin in hopes of taking something: one, 
 an old offender, had had both his hands cut off 
 for previous crimes; his brother gave himself up. 
 Camped without tents. (As they were hungry, W 7 e 
 gave them their supper, then beat them and let them 
 
 go-) 
 
 " September 12. Started 6.45, and marched to 
 1 1 .20 (srd camp, Otao). Very warm morning; 
 across plains covered with mimosas and tamarisks, 
 between volcanic mountains. Many indications of 
 water being below the surface, but no attempt made 
 to dig wells. This could be made a grand country 
 
CH. iv] TO THE SUDAN 49 
 
 with proper irrigation and cultivation. Little water 
 in well at 3rd camp, and that brackish and bad; in 
 consequence we all felt very dry. No wind except 
 what was hot. Ther. 102 in tent; bar. 28.75. 
 Marched at 5.30 over a high range of mountains; a 
 steep, long road, apparently the bed of a mountain 
 torrent. Camped at 2 a.m. (4th camp) on side of hill; 
 no water, did not pitch tents. Bar. 27.79. 
 
 " September 13, Sunday. Started 7.30. Marched 
 to well at Galuchi. Reached it at 12.30 (5th camp). 
 Marched through a very fine country or might be 
 made so many bright green trees and plants, but 
 no water visible ; nothing wanted but digging wells ; 
 good as a colony. All mountains volcanic. Crossed 
 wide circular plains, seemingly old craters long 
 disused. Apparently an excellent climate. Why is 
 it not developed ? Only a few Bisharin, living among 
 the rocks. They are fine-looking men, well-made, 
 have only a white linen cloth round them, and are 
 armed with a flattish spear, a sword and a knife. 
 Some few have round leather shields. They are not 
 a race to develop a country like this. When we reached 
 Galuchi, the well was surrounded by hundreds of 
 goats and many Arab shepherds. We got some milk 
 which was most refreshing, as we were quite dried up. 
 Pitched camp and stopped all night, as two of the 
 camels had got fatigued and had to be replaced. 
 Beautiful sunset. 
 
 ''September 14. Marched 7 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. 
 through a very fine country, across beautiful plains, 
 with signs of water below the surface everywhere. 
 Camped close to a shady tree in the midst of a plain 
 7 or 8 miles wide, surrounded by lofty hills, an old 
 crater (6th camp, Odrous). Marched 6 p.m. Camels 
 at first very restive, and threw off their loads. At 
 last they quieted, and we crossed another mountain 
 range, apparently of considerable altitude, and 
 camped at i a.m. close to wells with good water. 
 Musa said he was afraid that the Arabs would come 
 down and try to rob us, but they did not. Camp 
 was in a narrow gorge surro.unded by hills (7th camp). 
 Bar. 26.74. 
 
 " September 15. Marched 7 a.m. to 11.45 through 
 a beautiful country, fine mountains, and many kinds 
 
50 TO THE SUDAN [CH. iv 
 
 of trees, cattle, sheep, goats, and a few horses. Met 
 Mudir of district collecting taxes, attended by twelve 
 soldiers. His ideas of taxing probably different from 
 ours. Passed country like yesterday with beautiful 
 plains. Why does the Khedive do nothing with this 
 country? Camped at Kormahi (8th camp); no 
 water. Marched 5.30, and marched over a flat 
 country with trees until 12.30 (gth camp). No water. 
 Heard hyenas and jackals in the night. 
 
 tl September 16. Marched at 7 to 11.30 through a 
 pretty country . Many hill-gorges and beds of streams . 
 It must be beautiful in winter. Camped at a well in 
 the bed of a stream, which in winter must be about 
 150 feet wide. (Met) Mudir. He gave us a sheep, 
 probably stolen. The good old rule appears to 
 prevail in this country, ' There is no law but the law 
 of the stronger . ' The Arabs are naturally in no chance 
 of improving. England should take Sheikh Barud 
 and make this a colony. It would do the place all 
 the good in the world. At present the country is 
 quite thrown away. (loth camp, Colore.) Not 
 much water. Bar. 27.175. Stopped all day and 
 night to rest camels. Had a quiet day in camp. 
 Linant and Chdppendall made larger filters and 
 filtered a skinful. Camp in a pretty valley with high 
 mountains in the distance. 
 
 " September 17. Marched at 7 to n, through low 
 valleys; pleasant march. Camped close to a well. 
 Good water, good-sized trees which gave shade. Did 
 not eat in tent. Went out shooting with Chippendall 
 at 5 o'clock; i hawk, 5 turtle-doves; had latter for 
 dinner. Slept in camp, (nth camp, Matar.) 
 Bar. 27.45. 
 
 11 September 18. Marched at 5 until 9, through the 
 same sort of country as yesterday. Rested w r ith 
 Linant for a time. Saddle gradually giving way. 
 1 2th camp, Sabol, close to a great pile of volcanic 
 rocks, and near a considerable pool of rain-water 
 which had fallen last evening. Dispute between 
 Mohammad and Ahmad before starting. Carl very 
 unsatisfactory; he is not well, and will not allow it. 
 He is one of the stupidest fellows I ever saw. Started 
 at 5.45 and marched to 12 midnight. Camped 
 (i3th camp) where there was no water and stopped 
 
CH. iv] TO THE SUDAN 51 
 
 for night. Rain threatened, but did not come. 
 Bar. 27.65. 
 
 " September 19. Marched at 6.45 to 2.45 (i4th 
 camp). Good water in bed of a mountain torrent. 
 A long and hot march across volcanic plains ; not much 
 vegetation. Plenty of quartz, indications of gold and 
 copper. Part of road steep and bad. Nice mountain 
 valley. Fine night. Rowai. Bar. 27.84. 
 
 u September 20, Sunday. Quiet day at Rowai to 
 rest camels. Wrote letters, etc. Marched at 5.30 
 p.m. to 2.30 a.m. All sleepy and tired after two and 
 a half hours. Passed a desert for two hours, then 
 mountains and plains again. Camped (i5th camp). 
 No water. Fine night. 
 
 "September 21. Marched 7.15 to 10.15 through 
 hills as before. (i6th camp.) No water; very hot 
 day; slept a good deal. Marched at 5.15 to 11.15. 
 No water. Part of way through desert. (i7th 
 camp.) 
 
 " September 22. Marched 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. Found 
 plenty of water, but not good, and salt, in wells at 
 Obak. (i8th camp.) Camped in desert; halted for 
 the day. Very hot. Bar. 28.1. Hottest day we 
 have had. Thermometer of Linant 47 (Reaumur). 
 Marched at 5.30 for two hours through sand-dunes, 
 very heavy, and then^over gravelly plains till 2.30 a.m. 
 (i9thcamp.) No water. 
 
 lt September 23. Marched 7.30 a.m. to n a.m. 
 through a gravelly plain with little vegetation. No 
 water. (2oth camp, on edge of desert.) Cloudy day, 
 not too hot. A good deal of quartz about, and 
 indications of gold. Musa did not wish to march 
 farther, as the camels were tired. Marched at 6 p.m. 
 till 4.45 a.m. to some wells (2ist camp). A long march 
 principally over stony desert, and no water; occasion- 
 ally a few bushes and stunted trees. I marched with 
 Chippendall and Musa the last two hours, and got to 
 camp an hour before the caravan, and went to sleep 
 at once. Water not very good, rather salt. Flocks 
 of goats at wells. Name Mahobeh. 
 
 11 September 24. Hard to get camel-drivers off; 
 very lazy. Started at last at 9, and rode for two 
 hours across desert to Berber. Much mirage, very 
 deceptive. Went ahead of caravan with C., Linant, 
 
52 WITH GORDON IN THE SUDAN [CH. iv 
 
 \ 
 
 and kavasses, and went to see the Wakil (Governor 
 away at Khartum). He said that the steamer had 
 been sent some days before to Khartum by order of 
 the Khedive, with soldiers. Annoying. They said 
 he had not heard we would be here so soon, and had 
 made no arrangements. They sent us to a dirty 
 house close to the river, but we said we preferred to 
 camp in the desert, and he then sent us to the house 
 of Sheikh Hamed near the town. He was very 
 hospitable, and made us most comfortable. The 
 Government seems to send all strangers to him to 
 save them the trouble of keeping them. Sheikh 
 Hamed is the head of the tribe Ababdeh, which 
 extends from Aswan to Atbara, and is responsible for 
 all. The elder brother who is the real head is now in 
 prison under enquiry." 
 
 " We have an open veranda," he wrote home, " in 
 front of the house, looking out over the Nile, and in 
 front of that a terrace where we sleep. We have 
 
 iven up sleeping under cover, and coming from 
 uakin never thought of pitching a tent at night. 
 In the daytime it was necessary on account of the 
 heat of the sun. In the afternoon a lot of people 
 generally come and have a talk, and we give them 
 coffee. Sometimes a good many come in the morning, 
 too, before breakfast, and look on while we are dress- 
 ing. Altogether one lives pretty much in public. . . . 
 Everyone appears to have a great respect for the 
 Colonel, or rather " Coronel," as Gordon is always 
 called. His name they hardly know. I hope we 
 shall be with him before long." 
 
 So minutely were their movements scrutinized that 
 they could not even secure privacy for prayer. " Are 
 you a Christian ?" asked a Sheikh one day. ' Yes; 
 why do you ask ?" said Watson. ' Well, I saw you 
 saying your prayers, and I thought Christians never 
 prayed." 
 
 " I enjoyed the journey very much," he told his 
 mother, " and found the country much nicer than 
 I expected. Some of it reminded me much of 
 Scotland.' 1 
 
CH. iv] KHARTUM 53 
 
 On September 28, the steamer Khediveh came down 
 from Gondokoro, bringing Ratif Bey. " He told us 
 that Anson and Witt had died, and that Campbell, 
 Russell, and Linant were ill and coming back. He 
 said that Gordon wanted more soldiers, and that we 
 ought to go to him as soon as possible. " After 
 taking in fuel, they started on the 3Oth, and with 
 many delays, caused by the difficulties of navigation 
 and of getting wood for the furnaces, and by the 
 " sheer laziness " of the crew, who always started 
 late and lost time, to Watson's impatient indignation, 
 they reached Khartum on October 6. On the 
 voyage he wrote to his mother : 
 
 1 The Nile up here is much prettier than I expected, 
 far more so than at Cairo, as one sees no desert and 
 the banks are always a bright green. In this part 
 it is particularly good, and is really very like river 
 scenery in England. In places the water is very wide 
 and looks like a lake, and the woods on the banks 
 are so park-like that one almost expects to see a 
 gentleman's house. ... I suppose, when the rail- 
 way is made from Egypt, Cook's tourists, who swarm 
 there in the season, will come up here." 
 
 A prediction that was amply verified, but not till 
 many years later. 
 
 At Khartum one of his first duties was the melan- 
 choly one of reading the funeral service over Major 
 Campbell, whom he had in vain removed to the 
 Roman Catholic Convent, in the hope of saving his 
 life by better nursing. 
 
 " It seemed strange going in uniform to a military 
 funeral in an out-of-the-way place like this. I read 
 the service, as there is no English clergyman here. 
 Of course, there were very few present who could 
 understand it, but I must say all behaved far better 
 than I have seen Roman Catholics do at a funeral 
 in Ireland. . . . Everyone speaks of Gordon as the 
 
54 WITH GORDON IN THE SUDAN [CH. iv 
 
 one man who can get the White Nile district into 
 order. It is really wonderful how he seems to inspire 
 everyone with confidence, and from what I hear he 
 seems to work tremendously hard." 
 
 The voyage from Khartum to Gondokoro was 
 uneventful. There were the usual stoppings for 
 collecting wood, though Gordon was doing his best 
 to set up fuel stations at regular intervals; and the 
 navigation of the W T hite Nile was difficult and intricate. 
 They passed Fashoda on October 23, and two days 
 later they entered Gordon's Province at the mouth 
 of the Sobat River. At that date the Equatorial 
 Province was a separate Government from that of 
 Khartum. 
 
 " We are now within the limits of his authority/ 1 
 Watson writes. " There is a Mudir or Vice-Go vernor 
 here, and some Egyptian soldiers, and the rest of the 
 people are Shilluks, who for the most part do not 
 trouble themselves with any clothes at all except a 
 necklace. . . . Colonel Long, who was with Gordon, 
 has come down, and is on his way to Khartum with 
 letters for the Khedive. ... He says that Gordon 
 is very well, and is still at Gondokoro. ... I fear 
 my letters are very stupid, but I never was good at 
 writing descriptions of things, as you know." 
 
 They found Gessi, Gordon's devoted Lieutenant, 
 at Lado, and reached Gondokoro on November 14. 
 There they met Gordon, " who did not know who we 
 were at first." The younger man had come out with 
 high anticipations, and he was not disappointed. 
 
 " Gordon," he tells his sister a week later, " is such 
 a nice fellow, much what I had expected from previous 
 report. He has not been a day ill since he came, and 
 is always at some work or other. He is one of the 
 most energetic men I have yet had the pleasure of 
 meeting." 
 
CH. iv] WITH GORDON $5 
 
 To his Mother. 
 
 " GONDOKORO, 
 
 " November 16, 1874. 
 
 ' It is pleasant to have got up to Gordon at last, 
 and to find him well and hard at work trying to 
 improve the country ; and he will do it if anyone can, 
 but it is not an easy task, as you can understand. 
 We know now in a general way what he wants us to do . 
 He has established a station above the Cataracts, and 
 has sent a steamer up there, and is going to send a 
 large boat which is for the Lake (Albert Nyanza), 
 and he wishes us after a little time to try and get there 
 if possible. This quite agrees with our own wishes, 
 as we both want very much to see the Lake. He has 
 another large boat which he is going to send to the 
 Victoria Lake, and Linant, the Frenchman who came 
 up with us, is going there. Just at present there is 
 work here, as he is breaking up this establishment 
 and moving it to two others, one up and one down the 
 river, and all the stores which are here are going down 
 there. The amount of things wjiich Baker brought 
 up here is very great, but a good deal is spoilt. 
 
 1 This is a large town and neatly kept anything 
 but the wretched place which Baker describes in his 
 book on the Albert Nyanza. Chippendall and I will 
 have two separate establishments, so as to be able to 
 be independent of one another when necessary; but, 
 of course, while we are together we shall live together, 
 as up to the present. We have certainly a great deal 
 to be thankful for in having had so pleasant and 
 healthy a journey up here ; so different from what the 
 other fellows had who came here first to join Gordon. 
 
 ' I do not wonder at people liking Gordon. You 
 would if you knew him, 1 am sure. . . . (2ist) The 
 more I see of Gordon, the more I like him. He is 
 very like you in some of his ideas. I am so glad we 
 are with him, and shall be sorry when we separate, 
 but there is no use in pur all keeping together. 
 
 1 I don't know what we shall do exactly yet," he 
 adds to his sister, " though I believe we are to go to 
 the Albert (I hope we are), and do not like speculating 
 
56 WITH GORDON IN THE SUDAN [CH. iv 
 
 on the future. It is better to take things as they 
 come and not look too much ahead. I think we 
 agreed on that before I left home." 
 
 There spoke Watson's simple philosophy: "What- 
 ever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might," 
 was his practical motto, and "take no heed for the mor- 
 row" was the corollary. The job in hand was the only 
 thing to tackle, and so that it was done to the best 
 of his power he did not trouble his head much about 
 what was coming next. It was not that he never 
 planned or used forethought, but that he did not 
 allow plans or hopes to interfere with what he was 
 doing at the moment. 
 
 The time for separating and setting out on his 
 special task came only too soon. On November 28, 
 he left Gondokoro with Chippendall for Rejaf, with 
 the object of exploring and surveying as far as Lake 
 Albert Nyanza. Before leaving he received this very 
 characteristic letter of instructions from Gordon : 
 
 Gordon to Watson. 
 
 " GONDOKORO, 
 
 "November 17, 1874. 
 
 " SIR, 
 
 " You will proceed to explore and survey as 
 far as you can the countries south of Dufli. As to 
 your proceedings up to that place, a separate memo, 
 will direct them. 
 
 " i . There is one thing I wish to call your attention 
 to viz., rash adventures. I fully agree with you 
 that the savages armed with bows and arrows are 
 despicable enemies, and that the Arabs (i.e., Egyptian 
 soldiers) are far too timid; but there are occasions 
 when they may become formidable enemies, especially 
 when the sentries are so bad and negligent as those 
 you will have will probably be. I will not enumerate 
 these occasions, as I dare say you are as well acquainted 
 with them as I am. You must, however, as far as 
 possible avoid bloodshed; if pressed, then let them 
 
CH. iv] WITH GORDON IN THE SUDAN 57 
 
 understand your power. Any mishap to you would 
 be a great annoyance to me, for, in addition to my 
 regret for your misfortune, it would give a plausibility 
 to the Arabs' opinion, and be a strong point in favour 
 of their argument that large numbers of soldiers are 
 unnecessary. Remember, too, the negro is treach- 
 erous by nature to some degree, and that he has been 
 badly treated for many years, and ought to be vengeful 
 even if they are not. Therefore, avoid rash adven- 
 tures, producing no glory, but great inconvenience 
 to me. Avoid landing in narrow places among reeds 
 where natives can jump on boats; and though peace- 
 ably received, be ready for war at any time; for an 
 evil report brought after your arrival might cause a 
 timid Sheikh to do what he would never have thought 
 of before the arrival of this report. Endeavour to 
 get some man of the tribe among whom you are to 
 be your chaperon to the next tribe. 
 
 ' 2. Endeavour to keep the harmony with all the 
 other Europeans out here. I have placed you all at 
 the head of separate parties, so that there is no 
 necessity for your being twins if you do not agree. 
 
 " 3. As for the work, I leave it for you to decide 
 on the spot, with the injunction again of under- 
 taking no rash expeditions and of not exposing your 
 men to unnecessary hardships or want of food. 
 
 "4. If a felucca comes up with you, I have given 
 directions to the Engineer to put her together and 
 give her over to you or your comrade (the Senior 
 taking the choice, if you do not wish to go together) ; 
 and in order that (you) may understand the order in 
 which the boats are to be put together, I have given 
 you the orders of the Engineer on this subject to read, 
 so I need not repeat them. 
 
 " You will receive an Arabic letter with this to the 
 Mudirs of Tetcho and Dufli, giving you power over 
 their magazines and desiring them to give you every 
 help. 
 
 1 Yours obedtly, 
 
 " C. E. GORDON. " 
 
 This was supplemented on December 2 by the 
 following order : 
 
58 AT REJAF [CH. iv 
 
 ' Lieutenant Watson, R.E., will consider himself 
 in command at and in the vicinity of (Dufli) Ibra- 
 hamiyeh, and on the way up to that place from Rejaf, 
 and also at Rejaf. Mr.' Kemp will obey such orders 
 as Lieutenant Watson may give him. 
 
 11 C. E. GORDON." 
 
 W T atson liked Rejaf and the country round it much 
 better than Gondokoro; it was rather too crowded, 
 perhaps, but most fortunately exempt from mos- 
 quitoes: you could " work at night out of doors with 
 a light without being bitten, and that I did not think 
 was possible anywhere on the banks of the White 
 Nile." He was delighted with the trees and flowers, 
 and collected seeds which he afterwards sent to the 
 Botanic Garden at Dublin. He was busy making 
 observations for the latitude of the town, and there 
 was a rare and opportune transit of Venus on 
 December 9 which he observed for the longitude. 
 
 1 We were fortunate enough to get a very clear view 
 of it/ 1 he wrote to Major (afterwards Sir Charles) 
 Wilson, R.E., who had offered to get his observations 
 recomputed, " and took the local time of egress as 
 accurately as we could." " I am anxious/ 1 he added, 
 :< to get this place fixed accurately, as we propose 
 to make it the base of any future work we may do. 
 It is well adapted for this, better in many ways than 
 Gondokoro. The latter place has almost disappeared, 
 Colonel Gordon having moved his headquarters and 
 greater part of the town (African towns are shifted 
 without much difficulty) to a new station, Lado, a 
 few miles lower down the river." 
 
 " Here we are with the thermometer at 94 or so in 
 the middle of the day," he told his sister (December 13), 
 
 ' but we work in our shirt-sleeves and don't feel the 
 heat. You never do when you have plenty to do, 
 and that we have at present. For in this country, as 
 a general rule, no one ever does anything unless he is 
 told, unless you first show him how, and then stand 
 by him the whole time; for, if you go, the chances are 
 
CH. iv] GENERAL GORDON 59 
 
 that he will lie down and go to sleep. The Egyptians 
 are certainly a hopeless race, and we often amuse 
 ourselves by discussing to what it is due, whether to 
 their religion or to natural imbecility. How the 
 Arabs here must dislike having Gordon up here to 
 push them about and make them work I The best 
 people under the Government are the Egyptian negro 
 troops, who correspond to our sepoys in India. 
 They are infinitely better than the Arabs or ' white 
 soldiers/ as they are called. The latter are a feeble 
 folk, and are generally sick. We have had a very 
 pleasant time here, and small blame to us; for it is 
 really a nice place hills all round, pretty park-like 
 scenery and a fine rapid river opposite to us, plenty 
 to eat. . . . But though we are well off, our face's 
 are towards the south, and we look forward to a start, 
 for this, you know, is, or at least ought to be, only 
 the beginning of our journey. . . . Gordon has been 
 up here these last two days, and we have had long 
 talks. He is very fond of discussions. He is 
 certainly not a man who runs in an ordinary groove. 
 I wish I could describe him to you, and yet that would 
 not be at all easy. You must know him to under- 
 stand him. He is very anxious for us to get on; 
 though professing not to care for geographical dis- 
 covery, he does all the time, and I would back him 
 to do good work in that line against any man I ever 
 met. He has such energy and perseverance." 
 
 The time passed in preparing everything for the 
 voyage and getting ready the transport for the iron 
 boats which were to be put together and launched on 
 the lakes. The place was too populated for game, 
 and the shooting, was poor only pigeons and wild 
 geese. Watson was picking up Arabic afterwards 
 so useful to him as well as he could in the absence 
 of any interpreter who could teach it. " There is 
 one officer who thinks he can talk French, but I under- 
 stand his Arabic better !" 
 
 A couple of characteristic letters from Gordon may 
 come here. 
 
60 WITH GORDON IN THE SUDAN [CH. iv 
 
 Gordon to Watson. 
 
 " GONDOKORO, 
 
 " December 28, 1874. 
 
 " MY DEAR WATSON, 
 
 ' To my surprise, the steamer No. 9 came up 
 last night with Hasan Effendi, so I send her up with 
 nuggar to Rigaf . 
 
 1 i . Do not keep the nuggars longer than you 
 absolutely want them, till I have sent up the sections 
 of the iron boats, and then Coco Agha can keep one 
 at his disposition. Tell him he must send a proper 
 crew with felucca when he sends her, for I will give 
 her none; it must be self-supporting. 
 
 [< 2. Read and give (leaving time for gum to dry 
 on seal) my letter to M. Linant, and let Chipp. see it. " 
 
 ;< 3. It is a serious thing with Kemp. Hasan 
 Effendi says he is one day ill and another day well. 
 Do you think men in his condition and Linant 's 
 realize what they throw or may throw on others 
 through their remaining ? I hope you both keep well. 
 When I come up I will bring my medical book, and 
 let you study it; it ought to be studied with the 
 greatest care much more so than astronomical 
 observations. Good-bye, 
 
 i" Yours sincerely, 
 
 11 C. G. GORDON." 
 
 ^Nevertheless, he had written a fortnight before 
 (iSth): " Thank you and Chippendall very much for 
 the maps and observations; they will please the 
 Khedive and Geographical Society. Thank you and 
 Chippendall for the potter's wheel, which will enable 
 me to make one;" and so forth, with many orders 
 about mules and nuggars (boats). 
 
 The next letter is dated December 28, like the one 
 quoted above. Gordon often wrote more than once 
 to the same correspondent on the same day, as Lord 
 Cromer later found out. 
 
CH. iv] IN THE SUDAN 61 
 
 Gordon to Watson. 
 
 ' . . . Think, think, think, is what I am always 
 doing how to remedy the delay in communicating 
 with civilized world in a quicker way than at present. 
 " If that Albert Lake was only finished ! ! ! and you 
 both were free, or if Linant had an Englishman's or 
 German's nerve ! . . . I want to pierce to Formosa 
 Bay, distant from Mtesa about 400 miles. A series 
 of small powerful military posts along a constructed 
 road would do the job, and free us from Khartum and 
 these steamers, which I calculate scarcely make three 
 voyages per annum i.e., 6,000 miles, about 1 5 miles 
 per diem, taking all the year round." 
 
 Though Watson professed himself " ready to start, " 
 and set his face eagerly southwards, the fates had 
 decreed against him. Naturally, he said nothing of 
 illness in his letters to anxious folk at home, but even 
 before leaving Gondokoro he and most of the party 
 had been down with the fever of that pestilential 
 climate. He got better, off and on, and refused to 
 give in ; but at Rejaf he grew so much worse blank 
 pages for some Weeks in his Diary tell their own tale 
 that Gordon saw that it would be madness to let him 
 go farther, in the wet season with fever on him, and 
 ordered him (January 25, 1875) back to Lado. When 
 he got there, Gordon had left ; so he followed down the 
 Nile and picked him up at Boron the 3 ist, and the two 
 journeyed together, Watson in the s.s. Safia, Gordon 
 in the Khediveh,a.s far as Sobat,full of" discussions," 
 Watson maintaining that he was quite well enough 
 to go to the Lake, but Gordon fully determined that 
 he should not risk his life; and as the man who got 
 the worst of the argument said, Gordon was " not the 
 man to change his mind when once he has made it up." 
 There was, of course, no appeal against this decision, 
 and very reluctantly he had to give up all hopes for 
 that year of further explorations. 
 
62 INVALIDED HOME [CH. iv 
 
 ' Lieutenant Watson," wrote Gordon, " goes home 
 quite broken down. His clothes hang on him as a 
 pole. A nice agreeable fellow and a great loss to 
 me. . . . He is a capital surveyor." So ill was he, 
 indeed, that once when lying prostrate with fever he 
 overheard Gordon say, " I am sending him down the 
 Nile, but I don't think he will get to Cairo alive." 
 
 He took his disappointment philosophically, as 
 usual, consoling himself with the reflection that there 
 was " small chance of reaching the Lake this season " 
 (a prediction verified by Chippendall), and cheered 
 by the expectation of coming back later on. ' We 
 must take things as they come," he wrote home, 
 11 and I always find that things turn out for the best." 
 So he parted from Gordon on February 9, leaving him, 
 
 I am happy to say, very well, better than he had 
 been for some time, and hopeful as to the results of 
 his work." He added: ''Gordon was most kind 
 about the whole affair and seemed sorry to part with 
 me," as he might well be, for he was not likely to 
 find an equally able assistant. 
 
 Gordon, indeed, lost in Watson more than a merely 
 able scientific officer. Colonel Nugent, R.E., with 
 whom the young experimenter in " torpedoes " had 
 worked in daily intercourse, wrote truly (January 16, 
 1875): 
 
 ' I know of nothing more salutary to a man 
 depressed and lonely than buoyant youthful spirits, 
 and you will have proved the greatest service to 
 Gordon already. His last letter was much more 
 what it should be than were his former. . . . 
 
 " I am glad for your own sake that you went when 
 you did, because torpedo matters have in some respect 
 languished; the cables still lie in the dock at Woolwich, 
 and, indeed, we have been pulled up rather suddenly 
 in our buildings by an alarm excited in the minds of 
 some of the Controllers by the proposal to place even 
 a small quantity of gun-cotton in or near the 
 
CH. iv] INVALIDED HOME 63 
 
 premises. . . . The School of Submarine Mining 
 does not advance, though the Inspector-General of 
 Fortifications has been twice down, stirring them up." 
 
 However much good Watson did to Gordon, it was 
 evident that the loss of his energy was felt at Woolwich 
 and Chatham. 
 
 Gordon's letter to the War Office is emphatic: 
 
 " SOB AT, 
 
 "February S, 1875. 
 
 11 SIR, 
 
 ' I have the honour to inform you, for the 
 information of H.R.H. the Commander-in-Chief, 
 that Lieutenant Watson's health having broken down 
 in this climate, I have decided on sending him back 
 to England ; it is to my regret he leaves this country, 
 but I feel convinced that it would be fatal to him to 
 stay. Out of fourteen Europeans, I have lost four 
 by death and six by invaliding in about eight months ; 
 so that it is not astonishing Lieutenant Watson's health 
 should break down, he never having been before in a 
 hot climate. 
 
 ' I have every reason to be satisfied with Lieutenant 
 Watson; he has been zealous and most painstaking 
 in his surveys, and, as I have said, it is much to my 
 regret he leaves me ; but however much he may have 
 wished to stay, I considered that it was not my duty 
 to let him sacrifice his life in remaining here. 
 ' I have the honour to be, Sir, 
 
 ' Your most obedient servant, 
 " C. G. GORDON. 
 
 " THE DEPUTY-ADJUTANT-GENERAL, R.E." 
 
 On reaching Khartum on February 16, 1875, a 
 choice of routes had to be made. The journey must 
 be rapid, because Colonel Fred. Burnaby, whom 
 Watson had picked up at the Sobat River, was near 
 the end of his leave and was due at Cairo in forty days. 
 It is interesting here to note that it was at Khartum 
 that Burnaby heard of the closing of Turkistan by 
 the Russian Government against travellers, and 
 
64 COLONEL BURNABY [CH. iv 
 
 immediately resolved to defy this prohibition and 
 planned his famous ride to Khiva. The quickest 
 route to Cairo was by Berber and Suakin, provided 
 they caught a steamer promptly in the Red Sea 
 a very doubtful contingency. Besides, they had both 
 come out by this route, and nothing could be duller 
 than going back over the same ground. Moreover, 
 sailing the river was too low for steamers from 
 Khartum to Berber in the teeth of the north wind 
 prevailing at that season meant delay and tedious 
 towing. So they determined to ride the whole 600 
 miles from Khartum to Korosko on camels, and then 
 take boat down the Nile to the head of the railway at 
 Asyut. This, of course, involved crossing the Nubian 
 desert from Abu-Hamed to Korosko, to cut off the 
 wide bend of the Nile round Dongola. 
 
 It seemed a rather daring enterprise for a sick man, 
 for camel-riding is not exactly luxurious; but, in 
 spite of Gordon's forebodings, Watson had benefited so 
 much by the voyage down to Khartum that he felt 
 equal to anything, though he was described as little 
 better in appearance than a bag of bones. At all 
 events, he covered the 600 miles, including all stops, 
 in twenty-two days, and the last and most trying 
 part, the crossing of the Nubian desert along a track 
 of 260 miles, marked throughout its dismal length by 
 the cheering carcasses of dead camels, was accom- 
 plished in six and a half days, an average of 40 miles 
 a day. In the last day of all they were fifteen hours 
 in the saddle and covered 60 miles over very rugged 
 ground not bad going for a man invalided home. 
 
 He wrote an account of this great ride in 1875. It 
 does not seem to have been published, and is too long- 
 to print here. Besides, most of the route has become 
 familiar ground since the various Sudan campaigns, 
 and the incidents of camel journeys are similar and 
 monotonous. Everyone knows the delays, the pro- 
 
CH. iv] ACROSS THE DESERT 65 
 
 crastination of the authorities who provide the camels, 
 the trouble with the drivers and baggage, the slipping 
 of saddles off the apex of the hump, the stupidity and 
 brutality of kavasses Watson's man was apparently 
 mad, but his flint-lock pistols luckily had no flints 
 the dealings with the villages for food, the unvaried 
 mimosa groves, the mirage, the passing caravans, 
 the rough going in the nullahs. They crossed the 
 Atbara, then nearly dry, on February 28, and next 
 day were cordially welcomed at Berber by their 
 friend of the way out, Sheikh Hamed, who was much 
 disappointed, and probably thought them out of 
 their minds, when they announced their intention of 
 going on the next day. He at once procured them 
 fresh camels, however, and the Khartum drivers and 
 beasts were sent back, along with the mad kavass. 
 
 When they left Abu-Hamed for Korosko, it was 
 bitterly cold in the desert : 
 
 " even a thick blanket was hardly enough to keep 
 us warm. The camel-drivers shivered as they tried 
 to draw their linen cloths more closely round them, 
 and crouched under the lee of the camels to escape 
 the keen blast of the piercing wind. One of the boys 
 at last found a warmer resting-place by creeping into 
 the carcass of a dead camel, from which the vultures 
 had picked the flesh clean, leaving the skin stretched 
 like a sheet of parchment over the bones." 
 
 Sand-storms made the going worse. " It is impossible 
 to convey by any description the absolute desolation 
 of the desert regions; day after day nothing but 
 black rocks, sand, and heaps of camel's bones; not a 
 blade of vegetation, not a trace of life." Yet their 
 last night was passed in regret; none can part from 
 the desert without a pang. 
 
 A letter to his elder sister gives a brief resume of 
 his journey from Rejaf to Cairo. 
 
66 BACK TO KOROSKO [CH. iv 
 
 Watson to his Sister. 
 
 " CAIRO, 
 " April 2, 1875. 
 
 " Having been of late a regular beast in the matter 
 of writing to you, I must try to atone to some small 
 extent for my remissness in this matter, and the 
 rather as your excellent letter of the 24th has this 
 morning reached me and given me exceeding pleasure. 
 If you can forgive me for my wickedness, pray do so, 
 and attribute the fault to the disadvantageous cir- 
 cumstances under which I have been lately placed. 
 
 " And now, to become egotistical, let me say that 
 I have had really a most pleasant journey this time, 
 and that I now feel all right, and would be quite able 
 to go up again and have another shot at the old Lake, 
 if that were to -the mind of Gordon; but as it wasn't, 
 we need not discuss the matter. Historically, here 
 is my voyage down in brief : 
 
 " January 25. Preparing to start for South; got 
 note from 6. to say ' don't.' 
 
 '26. Started in nuggar for Lado. 
 
 "27. Arrived at Lado. Gordon gone to Sobat. 
 
 "30. Started for Sobat in steamer. 
 
 '31. Caught up Gordon at Bor. 
 
 " February 7. Arrived at Sobat. Found Captain 
 Burnaby of Horse Guards, who had come up to see 
 the country. 
 
 " 9. Started with Burnaby for Khartum in steamer. 
 
 '17. Arrived at Khartum. 
 
 "22. Started for Berber by camel. 
 
 "25. Shendy. 
 
 " March i. Arrived at Berber. 
 
 "2. Started for Abu-Hamed by camel. 
 
 "6. Arrived Abu-Hamed. 
 
 "9. Started across desert to Korosko. 
 
 "15. Arrived at Korosko. 
 
 " 17. On this day we got an open boat and made 
 the best of our way to Aswan, or rather to the top of 
 the first Cataract, which we reached at sunset on the 
 1 9th. The Temple of Philae is just at this point, and 
 I must say I have never seen anything more beautiful 
 than the View on approaching it. I saw the scene 
 under perhaps more advantageous circumstances than 
 
CH. iv] DOWN THE NILE 67 
 
 999 persons out of a i ,000, seeing that I was coming 
 down the river without having come up it first, which, 
 as you can understand, made the greatest possible 
 difference. Probably, too, not having expected any- 
 thing, I was more struck with the general aspect. 
 The sun was setting on one side with a most beautiful 
 after-glow, and the full moon rising on the other. 
 
 " On arrival we immediately visited the temple, 
 which certainly impressed me more than Thebes or 
 Karnak or any of the others which we saw afterwards. 
 The following morning we found that some friends of 
 Burnaby's, Lord F. Cecil and wife, were alongside 
 in a large dahabiah, being engaged in wedding touring. 
 They asked us to breakfast and to shoot the rapids 
 with them, which we did, sending the baggage to 
 Aswan by camel. Going down the rapids is amusing, 
 and the excitement of the Arab sailors immense; but 
 I could not decide how much was real and how much 
 put on for the benefit of the onlookers. It felt 
 comfortable sitting down again to a table with a 
 table-cloth on it, and to know that our travels were 
 practically at an end and we had again reached 
 civilization. 
 
 " Aswan attained, I immediately got a small 
 dahabiah from the Mudir, and we started without 
 delay down the Nile. 
 
 '22. Reached Essne. 
 
 '23. Reached Luxor at 9 a.m. There we stopped, 
 of course, but as we could not afford more time than 
 until sunset (as Burnaby's leave was rapidly drawing 
 to a close), rapidity was essential. In Murray's 
 Guide-Book it is stated that, if travellers are very 
 quick, they may get through in three days; so we 
 thought that seven hours ought to be enough, and, 
 seizing donkeys, galloped off to Karnak (which is 
 certainly a very big place), returned to the boat, had 
 something to eat, crossed the river, took more donkeys, 
 went to the Tombs of the Kings, Kurna, saw all the 
 temples, the Colossi, etc., etc., were back at the boat 
 by 5.50, and immediately started on our voyage. 
 Thebes is certainly a wonderful place and well worth 
 seeing, even though Cook's tourists do go there. B}f 
 the way, we just missed meeting a steamer-load of 
 them. 
 
68 SURVEY OF THE WHITE NILE [CH. iv 
 
 " 24. Reached Kine. 
 
 "27. Reached Girgeh. 
 
 [< 29. Reached Siout (Asyut), and made fast along- 
 side the railway. 
 
 :< 30. Went to the railway, and found that the 
 train for Cairo started, or rather was supposed to do 
 so, at 7.30 a.m. After many delays, we got off at 
 8.15, proceeding until the engine burst a cylinder, 
 which delayed us an hour fixing another. We then 
 proceeded until the second engine also broke down, 
 and eventually got to Cairo four hours late, and were 
 soon established in Shepheard's Hotel, which pre- 
 sented a very different aspect to what it did when I 
 was here last, as now it is nearly full, while then we 
 were almost the only inhabitants." 
 
 He was received by the Khedive at Abdin Palace 
 on April 3; sailed from Alexandria on the i2th for 
 Venice, where he spent a few days ; and then, going by 
 way of Florence, Pisa, Genoa, Monte Carlo, and Paris, 
 reached London on May Day. 
 
 The scientific results of his survey of part of the 
 White Nile were published in the Journal of the 
 Royal Geographical Society, 1879, with the title 
 ' Notes to accompany a Traverse Survey of the White 
 Nile from Khartum to Regaf, 1874, by Lieutenant 
 C. M. Watson, R.E.; together with Results of Astro- 
 nomical Observations calculated by William Ellis, 
 F.R.A.S., of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich; 
 Report on the Calculation of Heights, by Richard 
 Strachan, Meteorological Officer, and the Meteoro- 
 logical Observations taken by Lieutenant Watson. 
 With a Map." A reference to this paper will show 
 the elaboration and, considering the means and 
 instruments at his disposal, the precision of his 
 observations; but a brief account of the object and 
 method of this survey is all that^need be given here.* 
 
 * For this estimate of Watson's survey I am indebted to Major 
 H. G. Lyons, R.E., D.Sc., Assistant-Director of the Science Museum, 
 South Kensington, who was for many years Director-General 
 of Surveys in Egypt, and is our greatest authority on the subject. 
 
CH. iv] SURVEY OF THE WHITE NILE 69 
 
 From the time of the expeditions sent by 
 Mohammed Ali in 1840-41 to discover the sources 
 of the Nile, the course of the Bahr-el-Jebel and the 
 White Nile had been determined with gradually 
 increasing accuracy by the labours of a succession 
 of travellers, missionaries, and traders, and a large 
 amount of information concerning the river and the 
 country through which it flowed had been accumulated. 
 But the outcome of these geographical studies was 
 that the map of the Upper Nile w T hich could be pro- 
 duced from them was only reasonably accurate on 
 a small scale. On his departure from Khartum, 
 Watson arrived at a more systematic survey of the 
 river's course. A 4-inch prismatic compass was placed 
 in that part of the steamer where it was found to be 
 least affected by the iion of the vessel, and the bear- 
 ing of the vessel was taken at each change of its 
 course. The rate of steaming was obtained by means 
 of observing the time taken for a given length on the 
 deck of the steamer to pass any selected mark on the 
 bank. In the Bahr-el-Jebel, which meanders greatly, 
 this method was not quite successful, since the river 
 is usually but 100 to 160 yards wide; in the White 
 Nile, where the course of the river is straight for long 
 distances, the average speed of the vessels could be 
 readily determined. 
 
 In this way the course of the river was observed 
 and plotted to form, when controlled by the astro- 
 nomical observations which he took at every stopping- 
 place, a valuable map of this part of the Nile, which 
 at once superseded the earlier compilations and 
 remained the standard map until after the reconquest 
 of the Sudan and the reopening of the Upper Nile 
 Regions. In 1901 and 1903 the Bahr-el-Jebel was 
 again surveyed by similar methods, though under 
 more favourable circumstances, and the close agree- 
 ment between these two surveys, made at an interval 
 
70 SURVEY OF THE WHITE NILE [CH. iv 
 
 of thirty years, not only confirmed the accuracy of 
 Watson's early work, but afforded valuable informa- 
 tion on the general permanence of the river channel.* 
 At some points, such as between Bor and Mongolia, 
 discrepancies between the two surveys were due to 
 the main channel of 1874 having become of secondary 
 importance, the river having by 1901 widened and 
 deepened an alternative branch which was not passable 
 in 1874. More accurate and detailed work has now 
 replaced both these earlier traverse surveys, but 
 Watson's work was as well done as the means at his 
 disposal permitted, and remained a reliable repre- 
 sentation of a portion of the Upper Nile until the 
 need and opportunity for a more detailed study arose. 
 Besides the survey, he made careful meteorological 
 observations during October, November, and December 
 on his journey from Khartum to Rejaf; and when 
 passing the junction of the Sobat with the Bahr-el- 
 Abyad, he took advantage of a short stoppage for 
 replenishing the steamer's supply of wood to measure 
 the volume discharged by the Sobat River on 
 October 25, and found it to be 910 cubic metres per 
 second. Bearing in mind the shortness of his stay 
 and the state of his health, the amount of. valuable 
 work achieved is remarkable, and speaks well for his 
 persevering energy and his scientific training. 
 
 * H. G. Lyons, " Physiography of the River Nile and its Basin." 
 Survey Department, Cairo, 1906. Plate IX. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 WITH SIR LINTORN SIMMONS AT THE WAR OFFICE 
 
 (1875-1880) 
 
 WATSON undoubtedly expected to go back to the 
 Sudan after the expiry of the six months* leave which 
 was granted him on his return from Egypt in May, 1875. 
 Gordon's letter of January 26 to Rejaf had only 
 begged him " to give up for the moment " the words 
 were underlined " your going to the South, " and 
 added, " I hope you will get all right, for I should be 
 sorry if you did not see the denouement." The 
 meetings soon afterwards down the Nile must have 
 convinced him that Watson was not then strong 
 enough for the climate, but for the next three years 
 the younger man held himself in readiness for the 
 expected call to the East. He worked hard at Arabic, 
 took lessons from no less a teacher than the noted 
 scholar Rizk-Allah Hassun, and even published an 
 Arabic Vocabulary all this with the fixed object of 
 qualifying himself for service in the Sudan. Little 
 as he says about his Chief in his letters, and less still 
 in his Diary , he had come very strongly under Gordon's 
 peculiar glamour. He confesses he cannot describe 
 him; and, pen-tied as he always was, never is he more 
 exasperatingly silent than about his relations with 
 this magnetic personality. That there were diffi- 
 culties in working with Gordon is well known, and 
 the following letters from Chippendall show some of 
 these: 
 
72 AT THE WAR OFFICE [CH. v 
 
 Chippendall to Watson. 
 
 " STATION KERRIE, 
 ^ 'June 10, 1875. 
 
 " . . . I do wish I could get away by myself again, 
 for really sometimes I think I shall have a row with 
 Gordon ; for though he has such a lot of anxiety and 
 worry, he has no right to nag and worry you in return 
 for it. Oh ! and how he bores me night after night 
 about the levels and the distances ! I should not 
 mind if he would have one good night of it and settle 
 it; but every night to discuss whether Baker's levels 
 are right; whether the distance is this or that, what 
 you think ; then, if you give an opinion, to be nailed 
 at once, and your reasons asked and worried at, till 
 out of sheer fag you agree to any proposition he likes 
 to put forward. This is what worries me. I am too 
 young to be a companion to Gordon, and can't agree 
 or sympathize with him in all things. Again, he 
 won't give you orders to do such and such things, and 
 yet if they are not done he is angry. You must 
 remember at Rejaf how he worried us and we nearly 
 resigned. Well, I feel now that the least spark may 
 cause an explosion, for I am full to overflowing. 
 Still, it may pass off, for afterwards he always says 
 he is sorry "to have worried one so. I hope it ma} r , 
 for I should be a great loser should I quarrel with 
 him. ... I do feel in such an awkward position. 
 Gordon treats one so much as an equal, and then one 
 has to be so careful not to forget he is one's superior 
 officer, that really I often feel quite mad. It is not 
 right of him; he ought to keep one more at arm's 
 length, because one is nearly certain some day or 
 other to treat him as an equal, and then there will 
 be a row. You know, old fellow, what the idea is, 
 don't you ? At any rate, try and understand my 
 feelings, and if I unfortunately have a row with 
 Gordon, don't you also condemn me unheard. . . ." 
 
 "KERRIE, 
 
 " June 26, 1875. 
 
 " . . . It would look like desertion to leave Gordon 
 toiling alone out here, although he really won't let 
 me do anything. He seems always to think that 
 
CH. v] GENERAL GORDON 73 
 
 nobody but his blessed self can even screw a box-lid 
 on. He is a fearful egotist in that way. But he is 
 devilish kind to one, and really I fear he will almost 
 spoil me for future service. ..." 
 
 "LADO, 
 "July 25, 1875. 
 
 ... I cannot tell you my sorrow at leaving 
 Gordon, for with all his faults one can't help but love 
 him. But I should only have been a nuisance to him, 
 for he would have nursed me, or I should have died; 
 and so by going away I free him from an encumbrance. 
 As for surveying that Lake, you know I never pro- 
 fessed to care one rap about it, a^nd simply regarded 
 it as work to be done. What I sorrow for is leaving 
 him all alone ; should he be ill, there is no one to do 
 anything for him." 
 
 Chippendall had broken down in health, like Watson, 
 and Gordon sent him home. These letters give some 
 idea of the irritating fascination of the man. More 
 may be gathered from Gordon's own letters to Watson, 
 hitherto unpublished, which add a little to the view 
 he presents to his family in Dr. Birkbeck Hill's 
 "Colonel Gordon in Central Africa" (1881). He 
 naturally wrote to his former assistant as to one who 
 ' knew all the ropes," and his letters are marked by a 
 frankness and vigour which are scarcely exceeded 
 in the famous " Journal at Khartum." As, however, 
 I am not writing Gordon's life, the following extracts 
 are chosen chiefly for their bearing on my proper 
 subject, as showing something of Watson's Sudan 
 experiences, though I have not refrained from quoting 
 passages which illustrate the character of the man 
 who stood for so much in Watson's thoughts. For 
 several years, until his resignation of his Governorship 
 of the Sudan in 1879, Gordon looked to Watson for 
 every kind of help and information, and the letters 
 show that he did not look in vain. 
 
74 AT THE WAR OFFICE [CH. v 
 
 Gordon to Watson. 
 
 " LADO, 
 " June 25, 1875. 
 
 ' MY DEAR WATSON, 
 
 " I arn furious with you for (i) not having 
 studied the levels of Gondokoro and Dufli and shown 
 me that there was a probability of the river being 
 navigable, or might be in steps; and (2) for pur- 
 loining my proportional compasses. Never mind. 
 Give the latter to Enderby (Colonel E. Gordon, his 
 brother) as a reward for much trouble. I hope you 
 are all right again. Chipp. has told you all the news. 
 Kerrie is 34 miles south of Asua and 40 miles from 
 good part of river to south. I came down here from 
 Kerrie in nine and a half hours. I know you will be 
 sorry to have left, but should not be so, for, agreeable 
 as it all may seem to you, you would never have lived 
 through the various long gaps of delay. Now I have 
 been here for fourteen days, and do you know that 
 since you left not one of the mass of steamers except 
 Tell-el-Hoween has appeared once up here. . . . You 
 know at Sobat I expected Raouf Pasha, and wrote 
 to Gessi. . . . What does Gessi do ? Though he 
 had a telegraph to Cairo and could ask about Raouf 
 P. why, he keeps the steamers, and now if they do 
 come they are in for the rains, the very thing I wished 
 to avoid. You give a man 10 a month to obey 
 orders ; when you give him 40 you expect him to 
 use his sense and to act up to orders, according to 
 altered circumstances which may have occurred since 
 issue of orders. He is a nice fellow, and I could 
 pinch him ! However, I am applying the balm of 
 Gilead. . . . Stone sent me up as interpreters two 
 young creatures; one went back at once ill, the other 
 is with Chipp. at Kerrie; cannot speak English, and 
 to everything says ' Of course, of ^course ' in a gentle 
 way, as much to imply you are an ass to attempt to 
 give him directions. Now, as he says this before he 
 knows what you are going to say, you will grant it is 
 feard to bear with. One knows one is a fool, but there 
 are other ways of being told it. ... 
 
 " Marcopoli is angry, and with reason, at being 
 written about by Burnaby in Times, for it does him 
 harm. If you see or hear from Burnaby, tell him 
 
CH. v] GENERAL GORDON 75 
 
 that it is on the understood ground that he ceases 
 this sort of correspondence and limits it to descrip- 
 tions of county and dead objects, etc., and that he will 
 not write again after he leaves, that I accept his 
 presence. I am going to refuse Stanley leave to stay 
 in Province. I object to being daily logged. No one 
 can like it. 
 
 " Chipp. is all right ; sometimes rather dull and says 
 he takes no interest, to which I reply, giving moral 
 quinine, l Why did you come ?' He is forgetful, but 
 better than he was. Poor fellow ! he has, like me, 
 had a precious dull fortnight of it. ... I have 
 dressed Chipp. in my uniform on State occasions. 
 He is not near as scientific as you were. . . . 
 
 ' Tell Gallwey, if you see him, his education at 
 Chatham is not half practical enough, and we learnt 
 more in a year of useful things than his elkves do in 
 three years. They may know more theoretically, 
 but not practically. I do not believe in all those 
 lectures and science departments ; it is practical work 
 one wants and good, quick memories. The clever 
 fellows at Royal Military Academy never beat the 
 men of the latter class. You find the former generally 
 in some snug civil appointment in after-life ; their 
 sedentary habits stick to them. Wolseley is infinitely 
 better Engineer than many in our Corps ; and yet we 
 grasp at everything because others do is no reason 
 for our so acting. I say Chipp. is a very good officer, 
 and we have perhaps not many better, for he is strong, 
 hardworking, and got a good determination ; but if 
 serving with Wolseley, the latter could give him many 
 a hint, and these hints we should not want from 
 outsiders. . . . 
 
 " By dint of drafting men down to Fashoda (not 
 being allowed the honour of serving here) I have 
 broken the habit to a great measure of going bodily 
 to bed when on sentry, but there is still much to be 
 done. . . . 
 
 " To go back to your health; it is delay, like what 
 I am undergoing now, which is so hurtful. If one 
 could go straight on then I believe it would be easier 
 to keep one's health; but, as you know, this country 
 is one of delay, even with Europeans. You find men 
 who seem to lose their ordinary s-enses. . . . 
 
76 GENERAL GORDON [CH. v 
 
 " (Postscript) LADO, 
 
 " July 4, 1875. 
 
 ' . . . I feel quite sure you will rejoice to hear that 
 chaos ceases to exist in the magazines here. I have 
 worked hard at it, and now each tar-tin, soap-tin, 
 oil-tin block is with its brothers, and you no longer 
 find a bullet-mould in with a mass of beads, screw- 
 drivers, magnets, needles and thread; tents have their 
 poles and mallets ; and though it is pain and grief to 
 the storekeepers, things are in a certain order. I had, 
 of course, to do it myself. . . . The fact was, it was 
 no agreeable task to do for anyone; for if your back 
 was turned, away went a specialite wrench in with a 
 heap of screws. S. Effendi is sent off to Cairo with 
 orders never to show up here again useless, feeble 
 creature. . . . Someone (did you ?) has taken away 
 or hidden the collar which fits on Norton tubes and 
 in which the monkey sticks, and I am miserable. 
 How wretchedly ignorant we are in practical things ! 
 What is the advantage of material soft soap over hard 
 soap (not usual soft soap) ? what is the advantage of 
 using linseed oil in paint ? and how (oh dear ! this is 
 bad !) do you make paint ? . . . You will have 
 leisure now. Why not do something for the Corps ? 
 Write us a little book on soldering metals, on making 
 paint or cement for metals, on tinsmith's work, on 
 preserving woods, on brush-making, on removing 
 rocks by dynamite, etc., etc. Write it for the 
 Colonies where you have to use makeshifts. Just as 
 1 wrote these last words I went out to see what order 
 the R.E. yard was in, whether the old iron had been 
 heaped, etc., and there under an iron door I spied my 
 (here sketch of Norton collar) ; it has caused me great 
 joy. . . . You know the value of large needles. A 
 packet was discovered among the sal ammoniac the 
 other day, and distributed ! . . ." 
 
 He notes what a pleasure it is to an incompetent 
 Egyptian, who has lost an important fitting, to find 
 something else, which he takes from another machine, 
 which will ''do as well." He goes on to tell how 
 S. Effendi was ordered to pitch the divan tent to see 
 if the poles fitted, and as not one of them did, he was 
 
CH. v] GENERAL GORDON 77 
 
 removed from this charge and set over the corn 
 magazine, where Gordon caught him out cheating 
 over the store of durra. 
 
 11 So I cut my friend of a month's pay for false return 
 viz., 18 which more than paid for the missing 
 durra. Altogether there is a universal wish for the 
 steamers to come to be rid of me . . . Bear in mind 
 the great maxims, ' Never do to-day what you can 
 put off till to-morrow/ ' Never let your duty interfere 
 with your pleasure.' P.S. How is your climate ?" 
 
 Gordon's ironic sense of humour carried him 
 triumphantly through endless worries which would 
 have been the death of a dry pragmatical official. 
 These extracts from a twenty-four-page letter show 
 exactly the kind of annoyance to which Watson him- 
 self had been exposed during his stay in the Sudan, 
 but of which he says not a word in his own letters, 
 probably because he thought them unimportant. 
 The account of tidying up the magazines is obviously 
 pointed at his own habits of meticulous neatness and 
 order; there never was a tidier study or tool-house 
 than his, and he hated not^to find things in their 
 proper places. In the next letter (July n) Gordon 
 is still anxious about his paint. " Let me know 
 and you will learn also, I expect what is a dryer in 
 paint ? Turps is, I think. How screws are designated 
 in trade ? when does a nail become a spike ?" He 
 adds that Chippendall has been 
 
 " seedy, but is better, though very weak. If he con- 
 tinues ailing I shall send him home in despite of the 
 loss of his service for the exploration of the Lake. 
 This country is not one for young men, and I would 
 not like the~ responsibility of retaining him. I think 
 it needs the constant occupation which falls to my 
 lot to keep a man well. These five weeks lately 
 passed in inaction must tell on a man. You know 
 what it was at Rejaf, and Kerrie is not much better." 
 
78 GENERAL GORDON [CH. v 
 
 Chippendall was back in London in October. No 
 man worked his assistants harder than Gordon, but 
 the work did not kill them, if the climate did. When 
 they were ill, none was more considerate. 
 
 Gordon was home in England for a brief visit at 
 the beginning of 1877. He and Watson saw each 
 other daily in January, and the friendship begun two 
 years before was closely cemented. Gordon evi- 
 dently relied a good deal on Watson's judgment, for 
 on January 30 there is the significant entry in the 
 Diary : " Gordon came in after breakfast. . . . Dined 
 at Club. Gordon and (Gerald) Graham. Much talk 
 about Sudan. Gordon promised not to go up country 
 unless he got the Sudan." He had resigned his 
 thankless Governorship of the Equatorial Province 
 at the end of 1876, realizing that it could not be 
 worked apart from the rest of the Sudan, where his 
 reforms were consistently frustrated by the Egyptian 
 Governors; but the Khedive was most anxious for 
 him to return, and by making him Governor-General 
 of the whole Sudan, as well as the Equatorial Province 
 and Darfur, overcame his objections. This is the 
 meaning of the entry in'the Diary. " I am delighted, " 
 wrote Graham to Watson (February n), " that our 
 plans have been successful, and that he now really 
 is Governor-General of the Sudan from the Cataract 
 to the Equator." On the following day (January 31) 
 Gordon left for Egypt, seen off by Watson. " You 
 are a kind fellow," he wrote from Paris on February i, 
 " coming and waiting to see me off." He still hoped 
 to get him out again. " When I see my way, 
 I will ask you to join me," he wrote (June 22), when 
 thanking him for the map of the White Nile with 
 which Watson had been very busy. " The map is 
 first-rate, and also the notes of how it was compiled 
 are satisfactory." Gordon had heard at Massowah 
 on March. i that 
 
CH. v] GORDON'S RIDE INTO DARA 79 
 
 " the whole of Darfur had risen in revolt, owing to 
 bad government. I therefore hurried on from 
 Khartum to this (Umchanga, Darfur), having sent 
 on a body of 2,600 troops ahead of me to relieve 
 Fasher . . . which is still hampered. You never 
 saw such a country, a mere desert, wanting in every- 
 thing, and utterly worthless. The Bashi-Bozuks 
 had driven the people wild by their exactions. " 
 
 The story of how he rode alone into Dara and subdued 
 the revolt by his mere personal ascendancy has been 
 told in his published letters. He tells it again to 
 Watson, but the only passage that bears upon the 
 question of the latter 's employment is a postscript 
 from Obeid, in Kordofan, dated October 3, 1877: 
 " Thanks for the R.G. Society papers. When I see 
 my way to employ other officers I will do so. Now 
 it is of no use." In February, 1878, he asks Watson 
 to advise him about putting up a telephone service 
 in the Equatorial Province; and presently he Is in 
 Cairo, which (March 16) 
 
 " I hate most cordially, and am, indeed, very low- 
 spirited at the state of Egypt. As the Government 
 have interfered, there is an end to my duties, and I 
 am glad of it. I wish I was out of Egypt and out of 
 the Sudan. The government of Sudan is nothing to 
 what passes here. ... I should not stay in Egypt 
 if anything happened to H.H." (the Khedive Ismail). 
 11 You know, my dear Watson,", he wrote on July 25, 
 1878, " you have often said you would like to come 
 out, but how can I ask you, when on your arrival at 
 Cairo you may find me deposed? Now this is on the 
 cards any day. . . . My position is so precarious 
 that I cannot take an assistant." 
 
 Again, October 30 : " Do not be rash, till you see how 
 things are likely to turn out." 
 
 It was not, in fact, till Watson had accepted the 
 post of Aide-de-Camp to General Simmons that the 
 idea of going out again to Africa was practically 
 abandoned. 
 
8o CORRESPONDENCE [CH. v 
 
 ' I am somewhat relieved," wrote Gordon from 
 Khartum, November 14, 1878, " that you have taken 
 the A.D.C., though it is a loss to me. This country 
 is a pest-house; the people have been dying like flies, 
 and my belief is that Europeans cannot live here. 
 You are sure to get on, and I feel certain you will 
 have a fine career. These countries are not ~for such 
 men as you are; they are more for the brigand class." 
 
 He did not himself stay there much longer. He 
 kept his resolve not to go on with the Sudan Govern- 
 ment, except under Ismail, and when this Khedive 
 was deposed in July, 1879, he resigned. Writing 
 from Abyssinia, October 12, he makes an appeal to 
 Watson : 
 
 " You must not get into the habit of writing letters 
 like X. and Z., which have no meat in them. I want 
 meat in this country. ... I hope to see you soon, 
 say in January, and will talk over all affairs. Do not 
 be angry with me for saying I want meat in letters ; 
 but when I see your clear handwriting, your letter 
 is picked out and read, and I do not care about Royal 
 Commissions. No Commission ever did anything." 
 
 There was undoubtedly plenty of "meat " in Gordon's 
 own correspondence with Watson, which had become 
 voluminous since their meeting in London in January, 
 1877, and it is eas}^ to understand that this amazingly 
 candid writer wanted more personal expression than 
 Watson was able to put in his rather formal letters. 
 Indeed, one is constantly clamouring for more bread, 
 when our Pasha deals out epistolary stones. He was, 
 however, quite conscious of his defects as a letter- 
 writer. " I wish I could write nicer letters/' he con- 
 fessed, " but it is not my way, you know, and it 
 never does to try what does not come natural." 
 There is no use grumbling because a man of many 
 brilliant talents lacked this one. 
 
 It is necessary to bear in mind this constant 
 
CH. v] TRAVELLING 81 
 
 correspondence with Gordon, not only because the 
 intercourse between the two remained long afterwards 
 in the front of Watson's mind, but because it must 
 have had a considerable effect upon his plans. In 
 April, 1877, he was consulting Colonel Nugent at the 
 War Office " about getting leave to go to Gordon," 
 and the subject was renewed as late as September, 
 1878. " It is curious," he tells his mother, " con- 
 sidering the disagreeabilities of the Lake District, 
 what a fascination it has for anyone who has been 
 there." His letters at this time are full of Gordon's 
 movements and plans. Nothing interested him so 
 much. When a man has set his heart upon a special 
 kind of work, and is perpetually hoping and even 
 expecting to be called to it, the suspense and uncer- 
 tainty must tell upon his career. He cannot settle 
 down definitely to another kind of work. Probably 
 Watson was much less upset by the suspense than the 
 majority of men would have been. He had a great 
 power of concentrating on the work in hand, and not 
 letting himself be distracted by thoughts of the other 
 work that he wished for. But even he could not be 
 the better for such enforced " halting between two 
 opinions." 
 
 However, he had six months' leave in which to 
 recover his health and arrange his plans. After see- 
 ing his old friends at the War Office, Woolwich, and 
 Chatham, attending the meeting of the Royal Geo- 
 graphical Society (of which he was presently elected 
 a Fellow), consulting Sir Henry Rawlinson and Sir 
 Bartle Frere, preparing the map of the White Nile, 
 visiting Gordon's sister at Southampton, dining with 
 Burnaby at the Marlborough Club, and, of course, 
 staying with his people in Dublin, he spent six months 
 with his mother and elder sister on the Continent, 
 chiefly in Switzerland and down the Rhine and after- 
 wards, greatly daring, he faced his fair friends in 
 
82 AT THE WAR OFFICE [CH. v 
 
 county Cork, where he was welcomed with enthusiasm 
 (" All is as of old," he notes), and, much to his advan- 
 tage, was made to play lawn-tennis, which had asserted 
 its supremacy during his absence in Africa, instead 
 of croquet. In September he crossed to Glasgow and 
 toured about the West Coast of Scotland and the 
 Hebrides, specially enjoying Skye and Stornoway. 
 In October he w r as back in London, busy with his 
 maps for Gordon, and as his leave drew to an end the 
 next official step had to be seriously considered. 
 
 There are, of course, various eligible openings for 
 a talented Royal Engineer, and at first Watson was 
 inclined to join the Ordnance Survey. His name was 
 put down for it, and as an alternative it was suggested 
 that he should triangulate Cape Colony and the 
 Orange River; but finally, in November, he was 
 attached to the office of the Inspector-General of 
 Fortifications at the War Office for work on the 
 defence of London. It was the happiest lot that 
 could have fallen to him, since Gordon and the Sudan 
 were denied ; and even if a return to the Nile had been 
 possible, it may be doubted whether he would not 
 have lost more than he gained. There would, it is 
 true, have been the excitements and the risks of 
 exploration, and the satisfaction of accomplishing 
 original scientific work for which he was specially 
 qualified and in which he delighted ; but, on the other 
 hand, he would have lost the inestimable benefit of a 
 singularly wise and judicious Chief. Gordon had 
 great qualities, but no one has credited him with a 
 calm, well-balanced judgment ; he was a difficult and 
 erratic leader to follow. In Sir Lintorn Simmons, 
 the Inspector-General, Watson found exactly the 
 right antidote to Gordon's enthusiastic impetuosity. 
 Kindly, broad-minded, tolerant, but immovably firm 
 and a demon to work, a man of the world in the best 
 sense, ripe in experience, a clear judge of men, Sir 
 
CH. v] SIR LINTORN SIMMONS 83 
 
 Lintotn Simmons set an example of laborious energy 
 and level-headed governance which had a splendid 
 influence upon all who served under him. He, too, 
 knew the East, for he had played his part in the 
 Crimean War as Intelligence Officer in Omar Pasha's 
 Army, and his sympathy with Watson's Eastern 
 interests, joined to unfailing kindness, consideration, 
 and understanding, made him an ideal Chief. 
 
 Few men were less under the influence of others 
 than Watson. He chose his own way, where choice 
 was possible, with little reference to the advice of 
 others. Not that he was above asking advice on 
 matters which were outside his own experience ; in 
 such cases he was always ready to consult those who 
 knew, and to follow their counsel with modest 
 deference; but when it came to dealing with affairs 
 which he was competent to decide, he asked no man's 
 opinion. He called himself " obstinate," and he 
 certainly was self-reliant and independent in his 
 decisions. But no man can serve under a powerful, 
 dominant Chief for several years without feeling his 
 influence in the formation of character. It is true 
 that Watson was a man over thirty years of age when 
 he joined the Inspector-General at the War Office, 
 though he had worked under him before at Chatham 
 and visited often at his house at Woolwich. But it 
 is a psychological error to hold, as many do, that a 
 man's character is invariably " formed " at thirty, or 
 at any age. Character grows insensibly under every 
 influence, and to say that a man's mental and moral 
 attitude towards life is " fixed " once for all at any 
 time is to deny him the essential quality of life, which 
 is motion, change, development. However little 
 Watson may have appeared to alter during his five 
 years under Sir Lintorn Simmons, he would himself 
 have admitted gratefully that under his experienced 
 Chief he had learnt many lessons in dealing with men 
 
84 AT THE WAR OFFICE [CH. v 
 
 and affairs. The very qualities he brought with him 
 to his new work, single-minded devotion to duty, 
 love of hard and accurate work, and courageous 
 loyalty to the exact truth, he found embodied in his 
 official Chief, and seeing them in active exercise 
 necessarily strengthened them in himself. However 
 firmly a man's principles may seem to be rooted, they 
 will only grip the more tenaciously by daily associa- 
 tion with a leader of the same bent of character; and, 
 contrariwise, daily association with a lower and 
 opposing nature may easily weaken even a strong 
 man's hold of the higher principles with which he 
 started. Those years with Sir Lintorn Simmons 
 helped sensibly to make our Pasha the man we 
 admired. 
 
 The work he was set to do had, indeed, little of the 
 fascination which, as he said, drew him towards 
 Equatorial Africa ; but Watson had the invaluable 
 gift of finding interest in everything. To him nothing 
 in the way of work was " common or unclean," and 
 there was much in his official duties which attracted 
 him. The War Office Committee on the Defence of 
 London, for which he had to prepare plans and 
 reports throughout 1876-1878, is now an old stor}^, 
 and recent developments in the means and methods 
 of warfare have probably long cast its labours into 
 the limbo of antiquities; but the risk of invasion, 
 however problematical, has not been diminished by 
 the substitution of an avowed for a merely conjectural 
 enemy. Watson's responsible and confidential duties 
 took him all over the Home Counties, surveying and 
 planning the defences of the capital, and to one who 
 enjoyed exercise and travel as he did, these official 
 tours to examine the defensive terrain were pleasure 
 trips. His surveys, however, were not confined to 
 the defences of London. The War Office required 
 reports on foreign defences, and he visited the forts 
 
CH. v] MILITARY BALLOONS 85 
 
 of Cherbourg and Brest in July, 1876, and the great 
 eastern frontier fortresses of France, Verdun (now 
 immortal by its glorious defence) and Toul, and 
 " planned all the forts," in October, 1879, and was 
 duly thanked by the Secretary of State for his detailed 
 reports. His work was fully recognized by the War 
 Office, which is not so slow to appreciate talent as is 
 sometimes supposed, and he was appointed Secretary 
 to the Siege Operations Committee in March, 1877. 
 The duties connected with these two Service Com- 
 mittees were enough to keep the most laborious man 
 fairly busy; but in addition to these he was still 
 actively employed in planning the defence, partly by 
 submarine mines, of the commercial harbours and 
 coaling stations of Great Britain and Australia, for 
 his experience in " torpedoes " had not been forgotten. 
 There was another subject on which, in the absence 
 of any officer specially designated at the War Office, 
 he was the accepted, though unofficial, referee. This 
 was military ballooning, in which, as we have seen, 
 he had experimented before he went to Central 
 Africa. This branch of research had been taken up 
 and developed with signal success by Captain (now 
 Colonel) James Templer, between whom and Watson 
 a warm, enduring friendship sprang up. The two 
 worked together in perfect unanimity, and Watson's 
 influence at the War Office was invaluable in carrying 
 through, as far as possible, Templer's plans for the 
 development of military aircraft. In the summer 
 and autumn of 1878 the two were very busy together. 
 " May 7, Captain Templer came to my office to speak 
 about balloons," is the first entry on the subject in 
 the Diary. From that date there were almost daily 
 consultations throughout May, and the scientific aid 
 of Abel and Noble, the leading authorities on explosives, 
 was called in for the problem of economical gas- 
 production. On July i Watson was at Woolwich for 
 
86 CAPTAIN TEMPLER [CH. v 
 
 the R.E. Balloon Committee, with Noble and Templer. 
 On July 3 he made an ascent in the balloon " Excel- 
 sior/' coming down at Ardingly in Sussex. All July 
 he was hard at work at Woolwich at the gas apparatus, 
 furnace, envelope, etc., of balloons. " July 17, 
 finished gore of balloons and cut it out," says the 
 Diary. In August balloons were" getting on well, 1 ' 
 and on the 23rd he and Templer saw " Pioneer " filled 
 with gas for the first time, as well as the latter 's 
 private balloon " Crusader," and made an ascent 
 from Woolwich. 
 
 This ascent was reported in The Times of August 24 : 
 
 ' Yesterday afternoon the military balloon experi- 
 ments were continued at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, 
 and a free ascent was made with the larger balloon 
 to test some new instruments as well as to ascertain 
 the power a silken balloon possesses of retaining gas 
 in an elevated atmosphere for a considerable length 
 of time. Captain Templer 's large balloon, the 
 ' Crusader/ was employed, his smaller one, the 
 * Pioneer/ being unable to carry more than one person, 
 and therefore unsuited for the purpose required. 
 Mr. Wright, the Crystal Palace aeronaut, and several 
 balloonists assisted in the preparations, and the 
 balloon was filled with 25,000 cubic feet of gas by 
 Mr. Hay, the Inspector of Machinery to the War 
 Department, from the gasworks in the Royal Arsenal. 
 Captain Watson, R.E., who has made the application 
 of ballooning to military purposes his especial study, 
 and has previously ascended with Captain Templer, 
 was in the car yesterday, together with Mr. Apsley 
 Pellatt, who has before made ascents for the advan- 
 tage of the Service. Captain Templer has recently 
 been perfecting a system of passing over certain 
 places and descending at prearranged stations, which 
 will probably be turned to advantage in future 
 campaigns. By studying the wind and the point of 
 departure he has been enabled to calculate very nearly 
 the course his balloon would pursue, and on Tuesday 
 last, when he ascended from the Crystal Palace with 
 Captain Lee of the Royal Engineers, he stated his 
 

 
 CH. v] BALLOON EXPERIMENTS 87 
 
 intention of going to Aldershot, a proposal which he 
 literally carried out by bringing his balloon to ground 
 in the camp. A system of directing the balloon to 
 favourable positions by a rope attached to a waggon 
 drawn by horses has also been tried with success, and 
 all the details of passing through forests, over rivers 
 and under bridges, have been ingeniously provided 
 for. This branch of aeronautics will probably be 
 tested during the present experiments. A start was 
 made yesterday afternoon at about 4 o'clock in 
 favourable weather, and the balloon proceeded in a 
 south-westerly direction. Not long after it ascended 
 it passed through one of the many storms which have 
 lately been so prevalent. The preparation of hydro- 
 gen gas for the smaller balloon is proceeding, and 
 considerable difference of opinion prevails as to the 
 power of the balloon to retain so volatile a gas 
 sufficiently long to be of any practical use." 
 
 The Daily Telegraph on the same day published an 
 interesting article on the experiments, which is worth 
 reprinting : 
 
 ' Experiments with war balloons will be continued 
 at Woolwich for several months. A select Balloon 
 Committee has been appointed, consisting of Colonel 
 Nugent, R.E., Professor Abel, Chemical Department, 
 Royal Arsenal, Colonel Noble, Director of Works, and 
 Lieutenant Watson, R.E., who have instructions to 
 report the result of the experiments to the War 
 Department. Amongst the recent improvements in 
 the construction of balloons is a stronger fabric than 
 formerly used, the tear and strain of captive balloons 
 being very great. A steel wire cable is fixed to the 
 network of a captive balloon and terminates on the 
 ground. This cable is insulated, and the telephone 
 will be used as a means of communication between 
 the surveying officers and the Balloon Committee on 
 terra firma. The 'Crusader' ascended yesterday, 
 with a lifting power of 1,400 pounds. The cable, 
 which gives 200 yards to 100 pounds in weight, will 
 bear a strain of 22 tons. Great progress has also been 
 made in balloon instruments. There are telescopes 
 which command a 12 mile range, a vane which 
 
88 MILITARY BALLOONS [CH. v 
 
 indicates the direction the balloon is going, a lamp 
 which will burn in safety in hydrogen gas, and a 
 pocket aneroid to indicate the exact altitude of the 
 balloon. Another point of progress is a strategical 
 one, enabling Engineer officers to leave a besieged 
 city in a balloon, and to return to it again. Assuming 
 that London was besieged with an enemy 20 miles 
 round, and the General Commanding says to the 
 aeronaut officers, ' Take this despatch to York and 
 return with five field telegraphists/ the message 
 would be conveyed as follows : The w r ar balloon would 
 leave at a high altitude in the usual way. If the 
 wind happened to be south the descent would be made, 
 Say, at Leicester, and an Aide-de-Camp would take 
 the despatch by the first or a special train to York. 
 The balloon, uninflated, would then be taken by a 
 circuitous route to, say, Brighton, and be inflated at 
 the nearest gasworks, when the south wind would 
 take it and the field telegraphists into London. If a 
 person in future should want to be conveyed out of a 
 besieged city, or a newspaper correspondent to enter 
 it, they would be enabled to do so at the cost of about 
 100. Another important improvement is a beauti- 
 fully arranged system of balloon signals. Before the 
 experiments at Woolwich are completed, five captive 
 balloons will float at one time over London, at dis- 
 tances of five miles, and converse by signals with the 
 greatest ease; and if the order is given for a balloon 
 at Woolwich to proceed afloat, regardless of wind, to 
 Aldershot, it would be done by attaching the earth 
 end of the steel cable to a traction engine, railway 
 engine, or a military waggon, the same cable having 
 a pipe attached to a travelling gas-making apparatus 
 to keep the balloon afloat any number of hours or 
 days. The ' Crusader ' has already been removed 
 afloat 2 miles in this way. In addition to war balloons 
 built for various degrees of altitude, it is proposed to 
 have a sea class of balloons for use in naval warfare, 
 with a telephone and gas-making apparatus (steam 
 passing through iron filings), upon a steamer below, 
 with subsidiary steamers to convey information to 
 the Admiral of the Fleet. The ' Crusader ' yesterday 
 made a free ascent with Captain Templer and two 
 others in it; but on a subsequent day it will remain 
 
CH. v] THE " CRUSADER " 89 
 
 captive, and Her Majesty's troops stationed at 
 Woolwich will turn out in various directions within an 
 area of 30 square miles, and the surveying officers 
 in the observatory balloon, possessing a vision 
 unobstructed by hills, woods, buildings, etc., will 
 have to furnish information to decide the best tactical 
 and strategic disposition of the troops, and by means 
 of field-glasses to spy out masked batteries, ambus- 
 cades, entrenchments, and outworks, to calculate 
 the limits of the surrounding woods, and the relative 
 position, distance, and number of the surrounding 
 troops. They will have to photograph the surround- 
 ing country and exercise the greatest vigilance and 
 presence of mind to prevent military surprises and 
 provide against disaster. They will have to keep the 
 General Commanding informed of the assembly and 
 attack of troops, the advance of the guns, mustering 
 of cavalry, down to an Aide-de-Camp being taken 
 prisoner. The experiments will be made in the 
 presence of the Select Committee, several of whom 
 were present yesterday. If their report is satisfactory 
 war balloons will be adopted into the Service, balloon 
 trains established and officers of the Engineers in- 
 structed in their use." 
 
 On September 1 1 Watson again ascended with 
 Templer at Woolwich in " Crusader " and came down 
 at Ilford. There were still troubles with the genera- 
 ting apparatus and with the varnishing of the envelope, 
 and his inventive talent proved of the greatest 
 service in all the details of manufacture. He wrote 
 an official report on the progress so far achieved, and 
 then on October 15 he had to lay aside the more 
 active share in the work on taking up his new duties 
 as Aide-de-Camp to Sir Lintorn Simmons. Ten years 
 later, however, in April, 1888,, he was appointed 
 Officer in Charge of Balloons at Chatham, whither 
 the ballooning section had been removed from 
 Woolwich in 1 882, an appointment which he held till he 
 returned to the War Office in September, 1889, when 
 he was succeeded by his friend (then Major) Templer. 
 
 7 
 
 
90 AT THE WAR OFFICE [CH. v 
 
 Watson compiled a clear and authoritative history 
 of military ballooning in England, on which Colonel 
 Templer wrote to him: " I think it was very good. 
 You make too much of me altogether; that is the only 
 fault." Watson naturally does not mention his own 
 share in the work, for no one despised self-advertise- 
 ment more heartily, or was more ignorant of the art 
 of " pushing " himself. But Colonel Templer, going 
 to the opposite extreme, in conversation with myself, 
 was generously eager to give his friend the chief 
 credit for everything that was accomplished, and tried 
 to sink himself into the background. Templer 's name, 
 however, is too closely connected with every step in 
 advance in the science of war ballooning since 1878 
 for any mistake to be made as to his immense services, 
 which were joined to an enthusiasm and a persevering 
 energy that would have achieved far greater results 
 if he had been properly supported by the Govern- 
 ment. Even such meagre financial aid as the Balloon 
 Section at first obtained (150 !) was largely due to 
 Watson's influence at the War Office, and it was 
 through his mediation that Templer was able to 
 secure the services of Colonel Cody in teaching a whole 
 generation of airmen. 
 
 But beyond this, Colonel Templer assured me that 
 his friend's mathematical genius and practical inven- 
 tiveness were invaluable in the experimental stages. 
 There was nothing, he said, in the ballooning line that 
 Watson did not know/>r foresee. His calculations 
 and theories were bold %nd ingenious ; he had extra- 
 ordinary prescience, foretold the immense importance 
 of aircraft in war, and the perfection of the motor 
 power which was to complete their efficiency. All 
 Watson's apparatus was still in full use, and the big 
 airship " Nulli Secundus " had been built on his lines 
 as much as on Colonel Templer 's own, when the 
 whole business was handed over to the Admiralty 
 
CH. v] AIRCRAFT 91 
 
 by Mr. Haldane during Mr. Winston Churchill's 
 tenure of the office of First Lord. Had Watson's 
 plans been carried out, he added, England would 
 have had a fleet of airships able to bombard Berlin 
 and make the Great War impossible. Not only did 
 the Government refuse to encourage the building of 
 aircraft, but, with preposterous generosity, it exhibited 
 our own models and inventions to the trained eyes 
 of German experts,* in spite of Watson's energetic 
 protests, and even allowed the Germans to copy and 
 take over all improvements after the Boer War. 
 Zeppelins are, in fact, the direct result of the Govern- 
 ment's throwing over Watson's and Templer's plans, 
 and letting the Germans work from the English 
 patterns. We were about to become the leading 
 country in aircraft, said Colonel Templer, when the 
 whole of the work accomplished was abandoned and 
 thrown to our enemies, so that when the Great War 
 began we had nothing to fight with in the air. 
 
 The series of letters written by Colonel Templer 
 to his friend from 1878 to 1902 confirm this loyal 
 testimony to Watson's services to military ballooning, 
 but to quote them would only be repeating what is 
 said above. A few extracts, however, will illustrate 
 the early phases of military airships and the close 
 co-operation of the two friends. 
 
 Templer to Watson. 
 
 ' THE BARRACKS, BARNET, 
 "June 27, 1878. 
 
 " . . . I have a letter to meet Colonel Noble at the 
 Royal Arsenal on Monday at 1 1 .30. I shall be there. 
 
 " I made a wonderful ascent from the Crystal 
 Palace last evening at 6 p.m. In the morning I told 
 
 * It is only fair to state that the Germans allowed Watson 
 to inspect their Balloon Establishment at Schoneberg in 1890, 
 but at that date the international danger had not become acute. 
 
92 AT THE WAR OFFICE [CH. v 
 
 my Colonel and brother-officers that I would ascend 
 from the Crystal Palace at 6 o'clock and bring the 
 balloon down on the barrack ground at 7.30, and be 
 at the mess at eight and I did it. I made some 
 good observations and found our camp in the field 
 glass on a rather hazy day when I crossed the Thames 
 12 miles distant. I think this is the most encouraging 
 ascent I ever made." 
 
 In another letter, undated, he says: " When can 
 you come for two days ? I inflated the little balloon 
 ' Pioneer ' yesterday; she is quite true, and apparatus 
 is in good order and ready for you. . . . She looks 
 very pretty and lifts well." On August 9, 1878, he 
 writes: " I will see about the cable, etc. We got on 
 as slowly as can be expected. I do not see much 
 chance of getting an engine until you come back;" 
 and he goes on to relate how " Captain Colville, of the 
 Grenadiers, was married on Tuesday morning, and 
 took his wife up at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. No- 
 body knew, and they had a nice landing in Cambridge- 
 shire, close to the sea. I do not believe anyone knows 
 now. I lent the ' Crusader ' for the trip " surely a 
 very adventurous " going away " for a bride ! When 
 Watson was absent in Egypt, Templer kept him 
 informed of every step made in his balloon experiments, 
 and when Templer was in command of balloons in the 
 Eastern Sudan it was naturally to Watson that he 
 looked for official support and pressure at home. 
 
 When a vacancy occurred in the post of O.C. 
 Balloon Section at Chatham, Watson was obviously 
 the Royal Engineer officer marked out for the appoint- 
 ment, and none rejoiced more than his friend and 
 collaborator, who, as instructor at Chatham and in 
 right of his successful experiments, might very well 
 have claimed the post himself; and did, in fact, 
 succeed to it a year later. A letter from another old 
 friend must have given the Officer in Charge ejccep- 
 
CH. v] THE BALLOON SECTION 93 
 
 tional pleasure. It was from Colonel G. E. Grover, 
 R.E., who was the pioneer of war balloons so long ago 
 as 1 862 . He wrote from the War Office, May i o, 1 888 : 
 
 " MY DEAR WATSON, 
 
 " Is it you that has become chief aeronaut to 
 the Army ? If so, I congratulate you and the Army, 
 and I must some day get you to read my fossil papers 
 on the subject written some twenty-six years ago, 
 when I began to work. . . " 
 
 As head of the Balloon Section, Watson was able to 
 further Templer's projects with greater power, and 
 his fine business qualities were apparent in increased 
 efficiency in spite of much reduced estimates. The 
 Balloon grant, which had gradually been raised to 
 3,000 a year, was cut down to 1,600, and it taxed 
 Watson's resourcefulness to run the Section on this 
 estimate, which he constantly represented to the 
 authorities as thoroughly unwise economy. In his 
 reports to the War Office he repeatedly urged the 
 importance of recognizing the Balloon Section as an 
 independent unit, increasing the number of N.C.O.'s 
 and sappers, and providing horses and drivers for the 
 waggons. He undoubtedly 'succeeded in some degree 
 in penetrating official apathy, but even his warnings 
 were imperfectly heard. Moreover, his tenure of .the 
 command of * the Section was brief, as he was soon 
 recalled to the War Office; but he did not therefore 
 abandon his efforts to induce the Government to take 
 up ballooning in the serious spirit that it deserved, 
 and at no time were his services more in demand or 
 more strenuously exerted than during the South 
 African War. He also drew up a small but indispen- 
 sable book of " Tables for facilitating Calculations 
 respecting the Use of Balloons," which was printed 
 at the Chatham Engineering School for the use of the 
 Service in 1890. As Templer wrote, it proved " most 
 
94 WAR BALLOONS [CH. v 
 
 useful. I am much pleased with the Tables." In 
 that year Watson took the opportunity of a tour in 
 Germany to obtain permission to inspect the Military 
 Balloon Establishment at Schoneberg, near Berlin, 
 and wrote a report on it (April 17, 1890) for the War 
 Office. It is interesting to note that this German 
 establishment, then attached to the Railway Brigade, 
 numbered only one Captain (Von Tschudi), two 
 Lieutenants, and fifty non commissioned officers and 
 privates, and that the annual grant for its mainten- 
 ance amounted to about 5,000. The report con- 
 tains full technical details, but, whilst recording his 
 admiration of the way in which the Balloon Estab- 
 lishment was organized and the efficiency of the men, 
 Watson did not see reason to prefer the German 
 methods of equipment to the English, from which, 
 indeed, they were doubtless, at least in part, derived. 
 The report made no recommendations for the adoption 
 of any of the German details in our own Service. 
 There was at that date, of course, in Germany, as in 
 England, no such thing as an airship driven by motor 
 engines; no one could have prophesied the vast and 
 rapid extension of the powers and functions of air- 
 craft in the new century. 
 
 There is no need to emphasize the signal importance 
 of the work achieved by Colonel Templer and Watson 
 in developing war balloons. That these were not yet 
 furnished with motive power does not affect the 
 question, for you must first make your airship before 
 you can think about putting engines into it ; and all 
 the difficult and elaborate problems connected with 
 the building, inflation, and equipment of balloons 
 were brought to perfection by Colonel Templer, aided, 
 advised, and officially supported with unflinching 
 loyalty and energy by Watson. That their labours 
 were almost thrown away was not their fault, and was 
 certainly not due to any want of warning or persist- 
 
CH. v] WAR BALLOONS 95 
 
 ence. The lamentable result was but one of many 
 instances of the incapacity of the British Government 
 to look ahead, or to listen to the monitions of those 
 who could. 
 
 Watson's work upon airships has carried us far 
 beyond the dates at the head of this chapter ; but the 
 subject had to be dealt with as a whole. In 1877 to 
 1880 he had many other things to do besides helping 
 Templer in his balloon experiments, and the marvel- 
 lous way in which he kept them all going at the same 
 time reminds one of the feats of legerdemain, when 
 half a dozen balls are simultaneously kept revolving 
 in the air. What with his attendance at the Office, 
 reports to the Defence and other Committees, surveys 
 of the terrain for defence works, journeys to Woolwich 
 and various other places in pursuit of improvements 
 in balloon equipment, consulting with experts like 
 Abel and Noble on the generation of hydrogen or the 
 manufacture of bombs to be dropped from balloons 
 an interesting forecast of future Zeppelin diversions 
 drawing up detailed plans for the defence of ports 
 all over the Empire by submarine mines, the wonder 
 is that Watson ever had a minute to himself. The 
 truth is that he was one of those busy men who 
 organize their work and arrange their day so method- 
 ically that there is always time for everything. When 
 someone asked him how he " found time " to do so 
 many things, he answered, " My dear fellow, I don't 
 find time, I make it." He never -seemed to be in a 
 hurry, yet he was always punctual and never in arrears . 
 His Diary is a rigorous record of perpetual motion. 
 He began the day with an hour or so's ride in the Park, 
 before going to the War Office, seldom left the office, 
 except on business, before his Chief had gone, and he 
 often walked home with him. When the ballooning 
 experiments were going on, he was constantly to and 
 fro between Woolwich and Pall Mall, and he took 
 
96 AT THE WAR OFFICE [CH. v 
 
 frequent journeys to Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle 
 of Wight, and elsewhere, always arriving perfectly 
 fresh; for he had the valuable power of sleeping in 
 trains, and could never understand why other people 
 couldn't. The turn of the week was frequently spent 
 in the country, but his concise Diary and even his 
 letters seldom tell us much about these visits. He 
 does indeed allow himself to expand into a little 
 humour on the subject of one of these excursions 
 (January 20, 1876): 
 
 1 I had rather a good evening at Faversham. I went 
 down in the afternoon, and was met at the train as 
 arranged. The Hiltons are nice people, and received 
 me most hospitably. Preston House reminded me 
 of ' Haide Prinzessen,' as it had a front and back 
 house, distinct, and yet under the same roof. They 
 appeared to be spoken of as ' this house and the other 
 house/ by way of distinction, ' this house ' being the 
 one you are in at the time of speaking. As the 
 inhabitants are related and constantly going and 
 coming, it was hard to knew who lived in which house 
 at first. But it is rather hard altogether sorting 
 people at Faversham. At the Rigdons' party, after 
 
 . Hi! 
 
 >eing introduced to three or four Mrs. Hiltons and 
 about five Miss Hiltons, my brain felt inclined to 
 totter. There are several of our fellows stopping in 
 * the other house,' one of whom is engaged to Miss 
 Flossie Hilton of ' this house/ so that I was not like 
 a stranger. Not but what I settle down pretty soon 
 anywhere. ' Chip ' is in town, and was before a 
 Medical Board to-day prior to going out to the Sudan. 
 He hopes to start in a week or so." 
 
 His brother-sapper, afterwards Lord Kitchener, 
 often comes into the Diary, and it is interesting, in 
 view of Watson's later work for the Palestine Explora- 
 tion Fund, to read the entry in 1876: 
 
 " June 8. Walked with Conder and Kitchener to 
 Albert Hall to see plans of Palestine." 
 
CH. v] KITCHENER 97 
 
 These two officers had recently completed the Survey 
 of Western Palestine, and were the best possible 
 guides to the exhibition. There were frequent 
 meetings and dinners with Kitchener in 1876 and 
 again in 1878, when the lamented Field-Marshal, then 
 still a Lieutenant R.E., had returned on leave from 
 his work in Cyprus; but the Diar}^ refuses to record 
 any details of their conversation. Such entries as 
 ' Kitchener called, spoke of Babylon/' or " Dined 
 at the Junior with Kitchener, Poole, and Lang," are 
 tantalizing. Kitchener was rarely much of a talker, 
 but it is impossible to imagine anything but a vividly 
 interesting conversation when Sir Hamilton Lang 
 and Reginald Stuart Poole were at table with so good 
 a listener and prompter as Watson. Other evenings 
 were spent at meetings of the Royal Geographical 
 Society, and theatres and even operas begin to enter 
 the Diary; but Watson's comment, whether it be 
 Irving in " Louis XI." or Rutland Harrington in 
 " H.M.S. Pinafore," is invariably the laconic " Good," 
 except when, after a certain performance of " Lohen- 
 grin," he says, very truly, " Good, but too loud." 
 He spent his evenings often at the National Club, and 
 from 1879 at his favourite Junior United Service Club 
 in Charles Street, where he generally lunched and 
 delighted to entertain his friends to luncheon. He 
 was living in rooms in Jermyn Street up to Februarjr, 
 1878, when he took up his quarters in the Royal 
 Engineers' house or Old Brompton Manor House, 
 commonly called " The Cottage " (since demolished), 
 in the grounds of the South Kensington Museum, and 
 was fortunate in having his old friend of Chatham 
 days, now Sir Elliott Wood, as " stable companion," 
 whilst another friend, afterwards Major-General E. R. 
 Festing, R.E., who became Director of the Science 
 Museum, lived in the residence close by. " Charlie " 
 Gordon, on his return from the Sudan, w r ould often 
 
98 AT THE WAR OFFICE [CH. v 
 
 drop in at " The Cottage " and spend the night, " and 
 very delightful evenings they were," writes Sir Elliott. 
 When Watson became Aide-de-Camp to Sir Lintorn 
 Simmons, " we used occasionally to act at his house, 
 Watson's rich Irish brogue being quite 'killing* 
 when he was taking the part of some Eastern poten- 
 tate." Watson, however, was no actor, and only 
 took a part to help out a cast and amuse his friends. 
 He was totally incapable of playing the lover on the 
 stage. 
 
 After refusing to let him go to the Balkans on 
 the Servian Boundary Commission, Sir Lintorn 
 Simmons invited him (September 30) to be his Aide- 
 de-Camp, and Watson took up the duties on October 
 15, 1878, when his engagements multiplied. He was, 
 as he said, " more private secretary than Aide " in the 
 normal sense of the term, and he had to prepare 
 reports not only for the Defence and Siege Operations 
 Committees as before, but, in 1879, for the Royal 
 Commission on Colonial Defences and for the Army 
 Organization Committee, for which the Inspector- 
 General looked for " a good deal of assistance " from 
 his Aide, and we find Watson drawing up an " actu- 
 arial report " on the Short Service System. But as 
 Aide-de-Camp he was also bound to attend the 
 Inspector-General at the Queen's and the Duke of 
 Cambridge's levees, to accompany him on his official 
 inspections all over the three kingdoms, and to assist 
 in his dinner-parties and other social functions, in 
 which his charm of manner, savoir faire, and easy 
 conversation, won him general popularity. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE CAPTURE OF THE CAIRO CITADEL 
 
 (1882) 
 
 WE must pass rapidly over the next few years of 
 Watson's military service. The spring of the year 
 1 879 found him working, in collaboration with Captain 
 Templer, at his favourite subject of balloon equipment, 
 and in May came the building of the " Pioneer, " the 
 " first military balloon," of which mention has been 
 made in the previous chapter. 
 
 In November he entered upon his valuable War 
 Office work as Aide-de-Camp to Sir Lintorn Simmons 
 and wrote the admirable series of Reports on the 
 French Frontier Forts, which he had visited in 
 October. On Christmas Day he was gazetted to a 
 Captaincy in his old Corps. 
 
 The end of the year was overshadowed to some 
 extent by anxiety about Gordon. Towards the 
 conclusion of November he wrote to his mother : 
 
 11 Did you see a telegram in the papers saying that 
 Gordon was shut in by some rebels in Abyssinia ? 
 It may not be true, but if it is, he may have some 
 trouble in getting away, as it is a difficult country. 
 But if anyone can get the matter square, he will ! 
 It would be a pity if there was a war between Egypt 
 and Abyssinia, after all the trouble he has taken to 
 keep the peace." 
 
 Again, on December i : 
 
 99 
 
ioo MARRIAGE [CH. vi 
 
 r< No more news of Gordon yet. I suppose, if it be 
 really true that King John [of Abyssinia] has shut up 
 the country and won't let him out, it may be some 
 time before he can return to Egypt. If John does 
 mean to fight, it would certainly be the most sensible 
 thing he could do, as Gordon would not be a pleasant 
 enemy for him." 
 
 Ten days later, however, the tension was completely 
 relieved, and in a letter to his mother on the i ith he 
 remarks : 
 
 " I heard from Gordon yesterday, from Abyssinia ; he 
 seemed well and cheerful, but told me nothing of his 
 doings, as he said that he had written to his sister, who 
 would send me the letters. But at all events he seems 
 not to be in the bad way the newspapers made out, 
 and I see by a telegram in the Standard yesterday 
 that he was coming down to Massowah. He says he 
 hopes to be home in January." 
 
 On the 29th Gordon wrote to Watson " en route 
 for Suez": 
 
 " I hear you are going to take my advice and be 
 married, and I am very glad to hear it." 
 
 Few men of his time could perhaps have been 
 found with less superstitious weakness about them 
 than Watson, and this characteristic of his appears 
 notably in the arrangements made for his marriage, 
 which, despite the popular belief about a May wedding, 
 took place on the nth of that month at Montrose. 
 His bride was Genevieve, daughter of the Rev. 
 Russell S. Cook, and granddaughter of the famous 
 scholar, the Rev. Caesar Malan, D.D., of Geneva, him- 
 self a descendant of a long line of French Huguenots, 
 who were proud to count twelve martyrs in their 
 family to the cause of their religion. A brief visit to 
 Ireland followed the ceremony, which elicited a 
 somewhat striking passage of self-revelation in a 
 further letter from Gordon : 
 
CH. vi] INDIA OFFICE 
 
 TOT, 
 
 Gordon to Watson. 
 
 "February 29, 1880. 
 
 " MY DEAR WATSON, 
 
 ' Prince Albert said to Colonel Duplat, when 
 the latter told him he was going to marry, ' You are 
 about to be an honest man.' 
 
 " A man who is not married cannot know his faults ; 
 a man's wife is his faithful looking-glass; she will 
 tell him his faults. Some men who have sisters may 
 know themselves, but it is rare. Therefore I say to 
 you (as I have said before), ' Marry /' Till a man is 
 married he is a selfish fellow, however he may wish 
 not to be so. 
 
 11 Remember that by marrying you are no longer 
 free for quixotic expeditions; you are bound to 
 consider your better half; nothing is more selfish than 
 a married man seeking adventures which his wife 
 cannot partake in. To me, aged, and having gone 
 through much trouble, it seems that to marry in this 
 way is the best thing a man should do, and it is one 
 which I recommend all my friends to do. 
 
 " You say, ' Why do not you follow your own 
 advice ?' 
 
 ' I reply, ' Because I know myself sufficiently to 
 know I could make no woman happy.' 
 
 " Yours sincerely, 
 
 " C. G. GORDON." 
 
 After a very short absence from his duties, Watson 
 was again at work in town. His duties, however, no 
 longer took him to the War Office, since in March of 
 this year (1880) he had been invited by Vis'count 
 Cranbrook, then on the eve, as it afterwards tran- 
 spired, of relinquishing his appointment as Secretary 
 of State for India, to reorganize the Stores Department 
 of the India Office, a task for which Watson was, not 
 only by training and experience but also by his 
 almost meticulously exact and methodical habits, 
 singularly well fitted. The fall of the Ministry 
 and Lord Cranbrook 's resignation, which followed 
 
STAFF COLLEGE [CH. vi 
 
 on April 22, scarcely a month later, fortunately led 
 to no interruption of his India Office labours. 
 
 The year ended auspiciously enough, as the pre- 
 ceding year had done, since on December 1 1 Watson 
 passed his final examination at the Staff College, an 
 occasion which was rendered notable by the fact that 
 he was the last member of his Corps to pass this 
 examination direct, without the formality of having to 
 keep terms, or even that of parsing the intermediate 
 examination, a success which he owed to the remark- 
 ably wide range and completeness of his knowledge. 
 
 The succeeding year, and the first half of the year 
 1882, had passed with the same even flow of laborious 
 effort and successful achievement as any of the years 
 since May, 1875, when Watson's first period of active 
 service in Egypt had come to an end. Indeed, up 
 to the close of the summer there had been no actual 
 foreshadowing of the great events which were to 
 give him his long-desired opportunity of doing what 
 he would himself have called " something useful, " 
 although those events were now closely impending, 
 and were destined to influence powerfully his future 
 career. 
 
 The dramatic events which in 1882 culminated 
 in the formidable military revolt of the notorious 
 Arabi Pasha, and in its almost miraculously prompt 
 suppression by the small Expeditionary Force which 
 was sent out from England on that occasion under 
 Sir Garnet Wolseley, have been repeatedly described 
 by competent military historians, including Watson 
 himself. It is therefore unnecessary to say more of 
 the circumstances which led to the establishment of 
 British military supremacy in Egypt than will serve 
 to complete the outlines of the picture for the general 
 reader, and to fill in for biographical purposes as many 
 details as possible from Watson's published (and 
 especially from his unpublished) records. 
 
CH. vi] ARABI'S REBELLION 103 
 
 As will be readily anticipated from what has been 
 said of his character, his own particular share in 
 these epoch-making events was quietly suppressed 
 or at least so far as possible minimized, in all accounts 
 of this period written by himself, so that the important 
 part that he really played at the critical moment in 
 these affairs has hardly, perhaps, even yet been 
 fairly appreciated. 
 
 The peculiar difficulty of dealing with the Insur- 
 rection, with which first the British Fleet at Alexandria 
 and afterwards Wolseley's Expedition were called 
 upon to grapple, lay in the fact that it was supported 
 by leading members of the Egyptian Government 
 itself (among whom was included Arabi Pasha as 
 Minister for War), as well as by the rank and file of 
 the Egyptian Army, the size of which had promptly 
 been increased, at the outbreak of war, to about six 
 times its former numbers. Moreover, the so-called 
 " National " or popular party, which had planned the 
 rising, had done their utmost to give it the character 
 of a Pan- Islamic Crusade by the most urgent appeals 
 to Mohammedan religious fervour and anti-foreign 
 prejudice. 
 
 Even the astute Suzerain of Egypt, the Sultan of 
 Turkey, had, as overtly as he dared, at the first 
 colourable opportunity, given much countenance to 
 the rebellion. Had he not authorized his own 
 emissary, Darwish Pasha, whom he had despatched 
 (nominally, at least) to Tewfik Pasha's assistance, to 
 bestow upon the arch-rebel Arabi the Medjidieh 
 Order of the highest class, as soon as that somewhat 
 Gilbertian functionary had " discovered," on reach 
 ing Cairo what was doubtless well known to him 
 before he left Constantinople namely, that the rebel 
 forces were stronger than those of the Government ? 
 
 Had not the Father of the Faithful further hinted 
 to Arabi as if no distinction could be too great for 
 
104 ARABI'S REBELLION [CH. vi 
 
 the man that he delighted to honour that the 
 existing Khedive of Egypt was a person "of no 
 particular importance," and might, at the shortest 
 notice, be replaced by any good son of Islam who 
 should show himself capable of holding the country 
 against infidels and foreigners ? Had he not bluntly 
 told the abortively protesting diplomats of the 
 Great Powers that in regard to Egypt " no action " 
 on his part was necessary, since " affairs in that 
 country had already been settled " to his " entire 
 satisfaction"? 
 
 Small wonder if the leaders of the rebellion, con- 
 vinced, as indeed proved to be the case, that France 
 would not under any circumstances intervene in 
 Egypt, and that England could not act without 
 French co-operation, counted upon an easy victory, 
 though it is true that the result proved them to have 
 been gravely mistaken, not only in regard to the 
 attitude of England, but even in the matter of the 
 moral of the troops that supported the rising. 
 
 It was, in any case, evident to the British Govern- 
 ment that the matter could not be left as the Sultan 
 desired, and the ungrateful task of " belling the cat " 
 fell, as usual, to England. As the French had no 
 intention of intervening, even their warships, which 
 had meanwhile been sent to Alexandria, were now 
 withdrawn completely, and the whole burden of the 
 necessary action was thus thrown suddenly upon 
 England. 
 
 The first shots were soon exchanged, and the 
 silencing of the forts at Alexandria, which had been 
 strengthened and armed by Arabi, was effected on 
 July ii by the guns of the British Fleet, after which 
 the Arabs, having burnt and sacked the European 
 quarter, evacuated the city. 
 
 We now take up the story at the point at which 
 Watson's services once more became available for 
 
CH. vi] ARABI'S REBELLION 105 
 
 employment in Egypt. Upon the news of the 
 rebellion the British Government, acting for once in 
 a spirit of prompt decision, had summoned the 
 reserves, taken a vote of credit, sent instructions for 
 a contingent of the Indian Army to sail at once for 
 Egypt, and had then begun in earnest to organize 
 the despatch of an Expeditionary Force from Eng- 
 land to deal with the rebels. 
 
 It was with this latter force that Watson was now 
 called upon to serve. The bombardment of Alex- 
 andria had taken place on July n, and on the i4th 
 Watson wrote to his friend, Captain Jopp, at the 
 India Office: " I have this day received an intimation 
 that in case of an Expeditionary Force being sent to 
 Egypt, I may be offered an appointment on the 
 Staff/' 
 
 The proposal was proceeded with, and in view of 
 the fact that the call was to active service the India 
 Office agreed to place no difficulty in the way. 
 Watson, therefore, duly received a letter instructing 
 him to report himself to the Deputy-Adjutant- 
 General, R.E., for employment in the Intelligence 
 Department with the force about to proceed to 
 Egypt a service for which his knowledge of Cairo as 
 well as of the language, not to mention his previous 
 services under Gordon, rendered him, as things turned 
 out, quite exceptionally well qualified. 
 
 A contretemps occurred, however, at this juncture, 
 for on his reporting himself as had been directed, 
 he was informed that the order issued for his employ- 
 ment had already been cancelled. It is instructive 
 to reflect by what a narrow margin some of England's 
 great military triumphs have been gained, for what 
 a different turn the Cairo episode in this campaign 
 might have taken had it not been for the almost 
 accidental use of Watson's services at the most 
 critical moment. 
 
 8 
 
106 CAPTURE OF CAIRO CITADEL [CH. vi 
 
 Fortunately for all concerned, this official blunder 
 was promptly repaired through Watson's own vigorous 
 action, and by July 26 the India Office and the War 
 Office had come to terms and his services had been 
 placed " at the disposal of H.R.H. the Field Marshal 
 Commanding-in-Chief for employment on the Staff 
 of the Intelligence Department in Egypt, " it being 
 arranged that his appointment at the India Office, 
 in view of the " most valuable " nature of his services, 
 should be kept open for a period of three months, 
 until it was possible to judge what turn events would 
 take. 
 
 Of the journey out to Egypt some valuable notes 
 have been most kindly written down from memory 
 by General (then Captain) Richard Lawrence, who 
 accompanied Captain Watson on this occasion. 
 General Lawrence writes : 
 
 " In September, 1882, while serving with a detach- 
 ment of the 5th Dragoon Guards at Birmingham, I 
 received a telegram ordering me to proceed in forty- 
 eight hours to Liverpool and embark for Egypt on 
 s.s. Capella, which was taking out a number of Lord 
 Wolseley's Staff and all the horses of the Head- 
 quarters Staff. 
 
 " Among the officers embarking were Sir Owen 
 Lanyon, Colonel (now Lord) Grenfell, Sir William 
 Butler, Major (afterwards Sir Frederick) Maurice, 
 Colonel Euston Sartorius, V.C., Captain Earle, and 
 Captain Watson, whom I now met for the first time/' 
 
 Watson to Mrs. Watson. 
 
 "August 8. 
 
 August 8. " The time passes almost too quickly. 
 There is a good deal of work at learning up Egypt, 
 and, as you anticipated, my services have been called 
 into use as a teacher of, Arabic. I gave a lecture on 
 the grammar and pronunciation this morning of over 
 an hour to a large party, including [the Duke of] Teck, 
 who is very eager and works as hard as anybody. 
 
CH. vi] GOING TO EGYPT 107 
 
 ' The idea of poor me coming out in this line is 
 rather amusing, but, as you know, ' among the blind 
 the one-eyed man is a prophet.' ' 
 
 t 
 
 Watson to Mrs. Watson. 
 
 "August 9. 
 
 " I am expected to give an account of the Valley 
 of the Nile to-morrow, and have been busy all the 
 afternoon preparing a map to illustrate the subject. 
 All on board seem quite avid of information, including 
 the Duke of Teck, who is perfectly happy at being a 
 man among men and not a Serene Highness. He 
 works and studies like the rest." 
 
 The lecture was a complete success, and Watson 
 " went on without a stop for one hour, and then they 
 asked me questions for half an hour." 
 
 At another time we find him giving his views on 
 Egyptian politics to Sir Frederick Maurice (or Major 
 Maurice, as he then was), the future historian of this 
 very rebellion. 
 
 On the 1 5th he notes that "a little way from us 
 are the Euphrates with the 96th and the Egyptian 
 Monarch with the 7th Dragoons : so the transports 
 are getting thick." 
 
 Of his fellow-travellers Watson gives an attractive 
 picture: " A better or pleasanter set of officers it 
 would not be easy to find," in which generous estimate 
 we may perhaps be justified in seeing some reflection 
 of what his fellow-travellers found in Watson himself. 
 
 One of Watson's letters, written on board the 
 Capella, gives a fascinating picture of the scene 
 presented by the fleet at Alexandria. 
 
 ' EN ROUTE FOR THE SUEZ CANAL, 
 
 " August 19. 
 
 " We left Alexandria Harbour at daybreak, and 
 went outside where all the ships assembled. 
 
 ' It was a very fine sight to see all the transports 
 and men-of-war collected together in regular order; 
 
i o8 CAPTURE OF CAIRO CITADEL [CH. vi 
 
 and then they filed off eastward in single line in 
 divisions, each composed of man-of-war followed by 
 three transports. 
 
 " There were five divisions, of which the first 
 steered east and the other four turned into Aboukir 
 Bay and anchored in four lines, thus : 
 
 Superb. T enter air e. Inflexible. Minotaur. 
 
 Catalonia. Batavia. Marathon. British Prince. 
 
 Nevada. Iberia. Calabria. Tower Hill. 
 
 Orient. Capella. Holland. Palmyra. 
 
 And also the Northumberland and the Sultan. At 
 8 o'clock a signal was made, and we all started for 
 Port Said in line. 
 
 " The object of going to Aboukir was to induce the 
 Egyptians to believe that we were going to attack 
 their left flank, but whether it will have that effect 
 or not remains to be seen ; we shall know by this time 
 to-morrow." 
 
 Watson's first letter from Egypt, from Kassassin 
 Lock, is dated September i, 1882, and his words are 
 already significant of coming events : 
 
 " This is the most advanced post in the Army, 
 about 20 miles from Ismailia and 6 miles from Tel-el- 
 Kebir, where the Egyptian Army is. ... On 
 Monday the 28th [of August] Tulloch and I took the 
 camp to Nefish, 2 miles from Ismailia, and stopped 
 for the night, Conder waiting at Ismailia to bring 
 up the rest of the camels. . . . After [dinner] there 
 was a great scene, as word came that [General] 
 Graham had been defeated here [at Kassassin], which 
 was quite untrue, and consequently the regiment at 
 Nefish was ordered to march at once to the front, 
 leaving our company in case the Bedouins came down 
 to attack it. 
 
 " Tulloch went on with the regiment, and I re- 
 mained at Nefish in command. We put the place 
 in a state of defence, and remained under arms until 
 two o'clock in the morning, when the 87th Regiment 
 came up from Ismailia to garrison Nefish. 
 
CH. vi] KASSASSIN 109 
 
 " On the morning of the 2pth Conder came up with 
 the rest of the camels, and I started off to catch up 
 Tulloch, whom I found here in the evening. I rode by 
 Tel-el-Mahuta and Mahsama. At the latter place 
 the Egyptians had abandoned their camp. . . . 
 
 ' Here at Kassassin there was rather a severe fight 
 on Monday,* as we had only a few troops up, whom 
 the Egyptian General hoped to disperse before any 
 more came up. In this, however, he was disappointed, 
 as the garrison drove away the attacking party with 
 considerable loss. We had about 150 killed an4 
 wounded. 
 
 * We dined and-stopped for the night with Graham 
 and Hart, by which I mean that we all slept on the 
 ground together outside the hospital ! 
 
 " The following morning Tulloch and I rode out 
 to the front, to the place where our cavalry had made 
 a charge. The Egyptians were still lying there; all 
 the wounded had been killed by the Bedouins [their 
 own people], except five, who were brought in and 
 put in hospital. One of them was an officer. 
 
 ' We endeavoured to establish a little confidence 
 among the inhabitants, who seem to be peaceable 
 enough, and to persuade them to bring in things to 
 sell. . . . 
 
 " Yesterday morning I had a long ride among the 
 villages on the south side of the canal, and tried to 
 enter into friendly relations with the inhabitants, who 
 were very willing to talk. 
 
 ' I brought some of them back into camp with me, 
 and they seemed glad to sell some of the country 
 produce. It is a great comfort my being able to talk 
 Arabic a little in fact, without it one could not get 
 on at all. . . . 
 
 ' We are getting up supplies, but until a good stock 
 is up no advance can be made towards Tel-el- Kebir 
 against the Egyptians." 
 
 We have now reached the critical period of the 
 fortnight before the battle of Tel-el- Kebir, an account 
 
 * This is obviously an echo of the fight on August 28, in which 
 Major-General Graham successfully repulsed the very determined 
 Egyptian attach. 
 
no CAPTURE OF CAIRO CITADEL [CH. vi 
 
 of which can most fortunately be founded partly upon 
 quotations from an unpublished narrative written 
 by Watson himself, and partly upon his own notes 
 and letters home describing the affair. 
 
 ' My position during the campaign was that 
 of Deputy-Assistant-Adjutant and Quartermaster- 
 General on the Staff of the Intelligence Department, 
 of which Colonel A. B. Tulloch (afterwards Major- 
 General Sir A. B. Tulloch) was appointed Chief when 
 the Expeditionary Force was organized. 
 
 ' Besides the officers, there were attached to the 
 Intelligence Department Messrs. MacCpllough and 
 Clarke of the Egyptian Telegraph Service, and Mr. 
 Campbell, another Egyptian Official, and Khalil 
 Aga, a non-commissioned officer of the Egyptian 
 Police." 
 
 The British Expeditionary Force had sailed from 
 Alexandria on August 19, and the Navy had occupied 
 Ismailia on the 2Oth. The disembarkation of the 
 troops followed. Major-General Graham was ordered 
 to advance and seize Magfar, on the railway between 
 Ismailia and Tel-el- Kebir. 
 
 (< On the 2ist Colonel Tulloch prepared to move 
 forward with the advance-guard of the Army. But a 
 difficulty arose in consequence of the deficiency of 
 transport, owing to the lack of rolling stock and to 
 the absence of any suitable pier at Ismailia for 
 landing the engines from England, which, therefore, 
 had in the end to be sent round to Suez. 
 
 " It soon became evident that even the small 
 amount of transport required for the Intelligence 
 Department could not be spared, and that it would be 
 necessary to make our own arrangements for a move 
 forwards. Captain Conder, therefore, got into com- 
 munication with some of the Bedouin Arabs who 
 lived in the neighbourhood, in order to negotiate for 
 the purchase of a few camels. 
 
 ' He was at once offered from 300 to 400, of which 
 he bought ten, all that were required for our small 
 
CH. vi] KASSASSIN in 
 
 party, and he was informed that several thousand 
 could be brought in the course of a few days. 
 
 1 This was at once reported to the Chief of the 
 Staff, as these animals would have been a most useful 
 addition to the transport of the Army under the 
 circumstances; but, much to our surprise, the offer 
 was refused, and an Army Order issued to the effect 
 that no camels were to be purchased. 
 
 "It is difficult to understand what the objection 
 could have been to make use of the mode of transport 
 ordinarily employed in the country.* 
 
 ' Fortunately, our small pack of camels had been 
 purchased and paid for before the Army Order was 
 issued, so that we had no difficulty in making a start. 
 For camel-drivers we utilized the services of some of 
 Arabi's soldiers who had been taken prisoners, and 
 who were delighted to receive a small rate of pay and 
 their rations. 
 
 " As soon as the Intelligence Department Camp 
 was formed, we moved forward at once, and joined 
 Major-General Graham's force at Kassassin Lock, 
 immediately after his successful repulse of the 
 Egyptian attack on his position on August 28. 
 
 ' During the fortnight which elapsed before the 
 battle of Tel-el- Kebir we were fully employed in obtain- 
 ing information with regard to Arabi's movements, and 
 became well acquainted with the state of affairs 
 inside the enemy's camp, both from the accounts 
 given by prisoners and deserters, and also by the 
 inhabitants of the district, some of whom seemed to 
 have little difficulty in passing backwards and for- 
 wards between the British and Egyptian camps. 
 
 ' They gave us interesting descriptions of the 
 fortifications and of the feelings of the enemy's troops, 
 many of whom, it appeared, were not at all keen about 
 fighting, and were anxious to go to their homes as 
 soon as possible." 
 
 By September 7 the repair of the railway had been 
 completed and the concentration of the Army at 
 Kassassin began. 
 
 * It is rumoured that the British Expeditionary Forces at 
 present serving " somewhere " in Palestine and in Mesopotamia 
 have overcome this singular repugnance to the employment of 
 camels. 
 
ii2 CAPTURE OF CAIRO CITADEL [CH. vi 
 
 " Arabi Pasha was informed of this, and decided 
 to make a move in order to check the advance of the 
 British Army before it had all assembled in the 
 vicinity of Kassassin. 
 
 " The Egyptian scheme of operations was well 
 conceived, but badly executed. It was arranged 
 that a large force of Egyptians should advance from 
 Tel-el- Kebir against Kassassin, while at the same time 
 the garrison of Salihiya, a place 15 miles to the 
 north, was to move southwards and cut the British 
 line of communications with Ismailia."' 
 
 The Egyptian attack took place on September 9. 
 They advanced, indeed, " sufficiently near to shell 
 the British camp; but the effect was small, as the 
 fuses were bad, and the shells, for the most part, 
 buried themselves harmlessly in the sand." 
 
 General Graham promptly moved his force 
 
 " to check the Egyptian advance, supported by General 
 Drury Lowe and his Cavalry Division on the right flank, 
 when the Egyptians halted and soon began to retire. 
 One of their best Generals, Rashid Pasha Husain, was 
 wounded, and the retreat became a rout, the British 
 troops pursuing the flying foe to within three miles of 
 the Tel-el- Kebir fortifications, which could doubtless 
 have been taken had the British preparations for 
 the move on Cairo been sufficiently far advanced." 
 
 True to his principle of ignoring or at least belittling 
 his own personal share in the operations, Watson 
 simply writes of this action : 
 
 September 9. " I went over to our right flank, 
 where the cavalry were, and then Colonel Tulloch 
 sent me to the left with a message to General Graham, 
 so I had a good view of the whole action." 
 
 In the afternoon of this day Watson and his 
 colleagues of the Intelligence Staff were occupied with 
 
 * This was not done, and there can be little doubt that the 
 failure of the Salihiya garrison to perform the task allotted to 
 them had a profound influence on the issue of the battle. 
 
CH. vi] TEL-EL-KEBIR 113 
 
 I 
 
 the responsible task of eliciting information from the 
 Egyptian wounded and from the newly made prisoners 
 with regard to the dispositions of the enemy at Tel- 
 el-Kebir. 
 
 ' We received from them . . . confirmation of the 
 accounts of the discontent existing in the camp at 
 Tel-el- Kebir, and of the desire of many to give up 
 fighting and return to their ordinary occupations. 
 
 " We also learned that there was a considerable 
 probability that unless the British advanced rapidly 
 the city of Cairo would be burned, not by Arabi and 
 his soldiers, but by what were called the ' bad people/ 
 persons of similar character to those who had destroyed 
 Alexandria after the British bombardment. 
 
 " It was the recollection of this danger to the city 
 that determined the rapid ride to Cairo of our cavalry 
 after Tel-el-Kebir. 
 
 11 Some of the stories of these prisoners were 
 amusing. One man told me that his officer had 
 recommended him to lie down and pretend that he 
 was killed, and * then the English soldiers will take 
 you prisoner, and will not hurt you.' [Surely a very 
 pleasant testimony to the native confidence in the 
 humanity of our troops !] I asked him whether he 
 was more afraid of the bullets or the shells, and he 
 replied that he was in such a fright that he could not 
 tell the one from the other. ' God only knows/ he 
 said, ' what a fright I was in !' Another man in- 
 formed me that he was Reader of the Quran in a 
 village, had { not learnt war/ and ' did not like it I' ' 
 
 The preparations for the general advance mean- 
 while continued, and on September 1 2 the last battalion 
 had arrived. 
 
 " The Staff of the Intelligence Department was 
 broken up. Colonel Tulloch was ordered to remain 
 with Sir G. Wolseley; Captain Conder was attached 
 to the Indian contingent . . . while I was ordered 
 to accompany Major-General Drury Lowe and the 
 cavalry on the march to Cairo. Mr. MacCollough, 
 who was a skilful telegraph operator, and Khalil Aga 
 
ii4 CAPTURE OF CAIRO CITADEL [CH. vi 
 
 [who have already been mentioned], were detailed 
 to go with me. 
 
 u At 10 p.m. I left our camp at Kassassin, and rode 
 over with MacCollough and Khalil to the cavalry 
 lines, which were at some distance to the east. The 
 cavalry camp was absolutely quiet, as all were taking 
 a rest before starting on the march. 
 
 " Soon after midnight the ' Fall in ' was sounded 
 and the camp burst into life, and very quickly the 
 Cavalry Division formed up in the desert, north of 
 the line of railway. 
 
 l" It consisted of the Heavy Brigade, commanded 
 by Colonel Baker Russell, composed of the Household 
 Cavalry and the 4th and 7th Dragoon Guards; the 
 Indian Cavalry Brigade, under Brigadier-General 
 H. C. Wilkinson, composed of the 2nd and 6th Bengal 
 Cavalry and the i3th Bengal Lancers; two batteries 
 of Royal Horse Artillery under Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Nairne; and the Mounted Infantry, commanded by 
 Captain R. C. B. Lawrence, 5th Dragoon Guards. " 
 
 The story of the ever-memorable victory of Tel-el- 
 Kebir needs no repetition. In an extraordinarily 
 rapid and indeed irresistible charge, our gallant troops 
 carried the Tel-el- Kebir fortifications and drove back 
 Arabi's army headlong, in irrecoverable ruin. 
 
 Our concern, however, is with the fortunes of Watson 
 himself, who was certainly more fortunate than his 
 colleagues of the Intelligence Department, Mac- 
 Collough and Khalil Aga. 
 
 " During the rapid advance [he writes in the memoir 
 from which the previous quotations have been made] 
 I had lost sight of MacCollough and Khalil Aga, and 
 did not see them again until some days afterwards in 
 Cairo. 
 
 !< MacCollough 's pony had broken down, and 
 Khalil Aga had been taken prisoner by some English 
 soldiers, who thought he was one of the enemy. It 
 was not until he was brought into camp, and found 
 someone who could speak Arabic, that he was able to 
 explain that he was one of our own employe's. 
 
CH. vi] TEL-EL-KEBIR 115 
 
 " After spending a little time looking for my two 
 companions, I gave them up as lost, and rode on after 
 the cavalry, passing by a number of wounded Egyp- 
 tians, who were crying piteously for water. My bottle 
 was soon emptied, and I gave them all my cigarettes, 
 for which they were very grateful. 
 
 ' We afterwards heard stories of how the wounded 
 Egyptians tried to shoot those who came to assist 
 them, but this was quite opposed to my own 
 experience." 
 
 The Egyptian lines having been crossed, and the 
 pursuit continued beyond them, a short halfwas made 
 at the railway, and Watson next received orders from 
 General Drury Lowe to conduct the column of 
 General Wilkinson to Bilbeis, which was about 18 
 miles away, along the northern bank of the fresh- 
 water canal, which they successfully reached, en- 
 countering little opposition, close upon the heels (as 
 they afterwards ascertained) of Arabi and his party, 
 who reached Bilbeis a very short time before them. 
 
 On arrival at Bilbeis, Watson received orders from 
 General Wilkinson to seize the railway station, the 
 telegraph office, and the post office, and to bring him 
 the Governor of the town. 
 
 These orders, it need hardly be said, were promptly 
 executed by Watson, whose only difficulty was to 
 reach the station, on account of the density of the 
 crowd which had come out to welcome the British 
 Army ! It was at the station that he heard the story 
 of Arabi 's hasty departure for Cairo. 
 
 Having left a guard at the station, Watson brought 
 the Governor of the town to General Wilkinson, who 
 ordered him to provide food for the men and forage 
 for the forces, the remainder of the Cavalry Division 
 not having yet arrived. 
 
 From Bilbeis the column advanced next morning 
 in continuation of the march to Cairo. 
 
 For this second part of the story of that great ride, 
 
n6 CAPTURE OF CAIRO CITADEL [CH. vi 
 
 the permission of the Editor of Black-wood's Magazine 
 has made it possible to quote from Watson's own 
 narrative* of the momentous events which led, under 
 his command, to the saving of the city of Cairo from 
 the general conflagration and massacre of which it 
 was now in such imminent danger. 
 
 The footnotes (where not otherwise stated) are 
 from the memoranda kindly written for this work by 
 General Richard Lawrence, to which we have already 
 made reference. 
 
 " The column, about twelve hundred strong, con- 
 sisted of the 4th Dragoon Guards and 2nd Bengal 
 Cavalry, part of the 6th and I3th Bengal Cavalry, 
 and the Mounted Infantry. 
 
 " The sun had not yet risen, and the morning air 
 was cool and refreshing, while the hard gravelly 
 surface of the desert made good going for the horses. 
 There were no more Egyptian runaway soldiers to be 
 seen, and the inhabitants of the villages which we 
 passed all seemed to be peacefully disposed. Two 
 Egyptian officers, Dhulier Bey, a Belgian, and Husain 
 Effendi Ramsi, who had been sent by the Khedive 
 to Ismailia, and were attached to General Lowe's 
 Staff, read out, every now and then, a proclamation 
 to the villagers, assuring them of peace and security 
 if they were faithful to the Khedive. To this the 
 people replied with loud cries of ' Aman ! Aman !' 
 ('Peace ! Peace !'). Not a word of regret was to be 
 heard for the defeat of Arabi, which had by that time 
 become generally known. 
 
 " As the morning wore on, and the sun rose higher 
 in the sky, the heat steadily increased until it was like 
 that of a furnace ; but no halt was made until a little 
 after noon, when we reached the village of Es- 
 Siriakus, about twenty miles from Bilbeis. Here 
 some food for the men and forage for the horses were 
 easily obtained, and an hour's rest under the shade 
 of the palm-trees was much appreciated. 
 
 " When the column started again, we left the canal, 
 
 * By Colonel Sir C. M. Watson, K.C.M.G., C.B., published in 
 Blackwood's Magazine for March, 1911. 
 
CH. vi] CAVALRY TO CAIRO 117 
 
 which had been followed from Bilbeis, and went 
 into the desert, so as to avoid the low ground, broken 
 up with little irrigation canals, and not suitable for 
 the movement of cavalry. We were now drawing 
 near to Cairo, and naturally our conversation turned 
 to the question as to what kind of reception we were 
 likely to meet with, as it was known that there was a 
 garrison of about twenty thousand troops, which had 
 not fought at Tel-el- Kebir, and which might be 
 prepared to resist our advance to the capital. I told 
 the General and Herbert Stewart of what we had 
 heard as to the probability of Cairo being burnt like 
 Alexandria, and pointed out the great importance of 
 putting British troops in the Citadel that evening. 
 There is an old Egyptian saying, ' He who holds 
 Cairo holds Egypt; he who holds the Citadel holds 
 Cairo,' and it was almost certain that once the 
 population knew that the Citadel was in the posses- 
 sion of the British, all resistance would collapse. But 
 it was, of course, not possible to say how the Citadel 
 was to be secured until it was known what the Cairo 
 garrison would do, and whether Arabi would spur 
 them on to fight, or would bow to fate and acknow- 
 ledge that he was beaten at Tel-el- Kebir. 
 
 " Soon we saw the line of the Mokattam Hills, 
 which rise sharply over the city of Cairo, and then 
 gradually we could make out the dome and minarets 
 of the mosque of Mohammad Ali in the Citadel. An 
 hour more brought us within sight of the great 
 barracks of Abbasia, situated in the desert, two 
 miles north-east of the city, round which we could see 
 thousands of Egyptian soldiers swarming, and look- 
 ing just like ants whose ant-hill has been disturbed. 
 General Lowe ordered his force to advance by echelon 
 of squadrons from the left, making as great a show 
 as possible with the small number he had under his 
 command.* Then he halted the cavalry and sent 
 Colonel Stewart forward to reconnoitre, and to see 
 what was going to happen. 
 
 \" Stewart took an escort of fifty men, and, accom- 
 panied by Lieutenant-Colonel H. McCalmont, the 
 
 * General Lawrence notes: " It was an imposing sight and 
 the enemy could not tell what was behind us." 
 
ii8 CAPTURE OF CAIRO CITADEL [CH. vi 
 
 Brigade Major, the two Egyptian officers, and myself, 
 started on his mission of investigation. We rode on 
 towards the barracks, and saw an Egyptian squadron 
 of cavalry coming out to meet us, every man of whom 
 had a white flag, or something that represented 
 a white flag, tied to his carbine. The Abbasia 
 garrison had decided to surrender, and were deter- 
 mined to do it in good style ! 
 
 ;< It may be interesting to relate what happened in 
 Cairo while the British cavalry were advancing from 
 Tel-el- Kebir, and I will give the account, as described 
 to me afterwards by one of the members of the 
 Egyptian Council of Defence. 
 
 :< It was known in Cairo that the British Army had 
 concentrated at Kassassin on September 12, and that 
 there might be a battle at any time, but when it 
 would come off was, of course, uncertain. As I have 
 already mentioned, Arabi Pasha, escaping from Tel- 
 el- Kebir after the fight, had got to Bilbeis, and 
 started from it by rail just before General Wilkinson's 
 column arrived. When Arabi reached Cairo, he 
 went to Kasr-en-Nil Palace, where the Council of 
 Defence were holding a meeting. He was tired out, 
 and quite collapsed when he sat down; then, raising 
 his head after a time, he said, * It is all finished/ and 
 told the Council of the defeat of the Egyptian Army, 
 and that the English would soon be in Cairo. Then 
 there was a great discussion as to what was to be done. 
 Some were for making further resistance, while others 
 were for sending their submission to the Khedive. 
 A little later news came in that the British had taken 
 possession of Zagazig, which General Macpherson, 
 with the Indian contingent, had occupied on the 
 afternoon of September 13. 
 
 " General Macpherson, as soon as he reached 
 Zagazig, telegraphed to Cairo to announce his arrival, 
 and late that evening the Egyptian Council decided 
 to send a deputation to the Khedive, offering their 
 submission to him, and they sent a telegram to 
 Sir G. Wolseley informing him of the fact, and begging 
 him to take no further action ' until you receive 
 orders from His Highness the Khedive.' There can 
 be no doubt that the Council wanted, as the Chinese 
 say, ' to save their face'; they wished it to be under- 
 
CH. vi] CAVALRY TO CAIRO 119 
 
 stood that they made their submission to the Khedive, 
 not to the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army. 
 
 (l Nothing more, according to my informant, was 
 done that night, but the next morning, when they 
 found that the British had not yet arrived, the more 
 warlike members got in the ascendant, and it was 
 decided to take steps for defending Cairo, in case the 
 British Army advanced towards it. It was arranged 
 that entrenchments should be thrown up in front 
 of Abbasia, and an Engineer officer was sent to 
 carry this out. The line was traced and the work of 
 digging had actually begun, when the small force of 
 cavalry under General Drury Lowe was seen in the 
 distance, and a messenger was sent in at once to the 
 Council to inform them that ' the whole English 
 Army was arriving/ 
 
 " Then there was naturally the greatest excitement, 
 and the members of the Council were at their wits' 
 end what to do. I was never able to ascertain whether 
 they came to any decision, nor whether they sent 
 orders to the garrison of Abbasia to surrender, but 
 I am inclined to think that it was a case of every man 
 for himself, and that the commander of the troops at 
 that place decided that it was the best policy to 
 surrender, no matter what the Council might do. 
 But, however that may be, there can be no doubt 
 that when Colonel Herbert Stewart and his handful 
 of men approached the Abbasia Barracks, the 
 commanding officer came out to meet him, and sur- 
 rendered unconditionally with his force of cavalry, 
 artillery, and infantry, about ten thousand in all. 
 
 " It was quite a dramatic scene; in the centre was 
 the little group of British and Egyptian officers 
 discussing the terms of surrender, while on the one 
 side were the British and Indian troopers, and on the 
 other the squadron of Egyptian cavalry; behind, the 
 white mass of Abbasia Barracks, about which we 
 could see a great number of Egyptian soldiers, some 
 drawn up in a column, and some wandering here and 
 there, like sheep without a shepherd. Then, as a 
 background, Cairo in the distance, and beyond all the 
 eastern sky, bright with the red gleam of the setting 
 sun. 
 
 " The preliminaries were soon arranged, and then 
 
120 CAPTURE OF CAIRO CITADEL [CH. vi 
 
 the British advance-guard moved on to the barracks, 
 while Stewart sent me back to General Lowe to tell 
 him that all was well. As soon as the troops heard 
 that Abbasia had surrendered, they gave a ringing 
 cheer, and were then ordered to close up and advance. 
 The greater part of the cavalry, however, were kept 
 out in the desert, and not brought into the barracks, 
 as the General thought it wiser not to let it be seen 
 what a small number of men he had with him. 
 
 ' Immediately after the surrender at Abbasia, 
 Colonel Stewart ordered the commanding officer to 
 send to Cairo and summon the Governor, the Chief of 
 Police, and the Commandant of the Citadel, and these 
 gentlemen all came out in a short time and tendered 
 their submission to General Lowe. The Chief of 
 Police was asked for information about Arabi Pasha, 
 and stated that he was in his own house; he was 
 directed to return to Cairo, and bring Arabi out to 
 Abbasia. The Governor and the Commandant 
 were then informed that the Citadel must be sur- 
 rendered that evening. The Governor begged General 
 Lowe not to send any troops into Cairo that night, 
 as he feared it might cause a disturbance, but the real 
 danger was, of course, that if British troops did not 
 occupy the Citadel at once, the evil-disposed people 
 of the town would feel that there was no one in 
 authority, and would do mischief. After some 
 discussion the Commandant agreed, though rather 
 reluctantly, to surrender the Citadel, if required to 
 do so. 
 
 " After darkness had set in, Colonel Stewart informed 
 me that he was to take a small force of cavalry and 
 occupy the Citadel, and that I was to take possession 
 of the fort on Mokattam Heights, which commanded 
 the Citadel, with another small force. This seemed 
 a very satisfactory arrangement, as it was desirable 
 that the Egyptians should be turned out of both 
 these positions before the sun rose, and before the 
 people realized what an insignificant British force had 
 reached Cairo. The hour named for the start was 
 8 p.m., as it was important that we should not march 
 until it was quite dark. 
 
 " At that hour, when the troops were falling in, 
 Colonel Stewart told me that the plan had been 
 
CH. vi] TO THE CITADEL 121 
 
 changed, and that he was to remain at Abbasia 
 with General Lowe, and that, as I knew Cairo, I was 
 to take command of the force which was to occupy 
 the Citadel and turn out the Egyptian garrison. 
 He gave me no written orders, and said that I was to 
 carry out the operation in whatever way I thought 
 best. I asked him what was to be done about the 
 fort on Mokattam, as it was impossible for me to go 
 to both places at the same time, and he replied that 
 I must use my own discretion with regard to it. 
 Although it was a certain responsibility, it was, on 
 the other hand, rather satisfactory not to be ham- 
 pered by detailed orders, as I was thus able to make 
 my own arrangements. 
 
 1 The force placed at my disposal by Colonel 
 Stewart consisted of five officers and eighty-four 
 non-commissioned officers and men of the 4th Dra- 
 goon Guards, under Captain Darley,* and four 
 officers and fifty-four non-commissioned officers and 
 men of the Mounted Infantry, under Captain Law- 
 rence. I also took with me Husain EfTendi Ramsi, 
 who had come with us from Tel-el- Kebir, and three 
 of Arabi's officers, one of whom, an Engineer, had 
 been employed in strengthening Abbasia against 
 us a few hours before. I made it clear to these 
 officers that their future in life depended on doing 
 exactly what I told them, but they fully realized the 
 situation, and were very helpful. 
 
 u As it was important that we should not be seen 
 by the inhabitants of Cairo until close to the Citadel, 
 I decided not to enter the town by the Bab Husainia, 
 the gate nearest to Abbasia, but to follow the 
 desert road leading by the Tombs of the Memluk 
 Sultans, commonly called the Tombs of the Caliphs, 
 and to enter by a small and little used gate, called 
 the Bab-el-Wezir, which is just under the Citadel. 
 It was very important that we should find this gate 
 open, as, if it was closed, it would have been necessary 
 to go round to another gate some distance off, and 
 this would have lost considerable time. The Engineer 
 officer, who was thoroughly acquainted with the 
 fortifications of Cairo, assured me that we would 
 find the Bab-el-Wezir open, and, as his own interest 
 
 * General Lawrence notes: " Afterwards killed at Abu Klea." 
 
 9 
 
122 CAPTURE OF CAIRO CITADEL [CH. vi 
 
 depended on his telling the truth, I decided to trust 
 him. 
 
 " As soon as the little force had fallen in, I marched 
 them off, and then rode to the head of the column, 
 telling each file, as I passed, that they must never 
 lose sight of the file in front of them ; this was essen- 
 tial, as the night was pitch dark and, with the dust 
 raised by the horses, it was difficult to see more than 
 a few yards ahead. Those who know the road in 
 daytime will understand that it is not an easy one to 
 follow on a dark night, but my Egyptian guide knew 
 it thoroughly, and I soon felt that he could be trusted 
 to lead us right. 
 
 ' We first crossed the desert for about two miles, 
 then passed through the great cemetery of Kait 
 Bey, and over mounds of rubbish, full of holes, which 
 were hard to avoid in the dark ; and we seemed to 
 have ridden for an interminable time, when, at last, 
 the walls of Cairo rose before us. Then we drew near 
 to the Bab-el-Wezir, and I became a little anxious 
 lest it should be shut after all. But when we got 
 close the door stood open, and I rode through the dark 
 tunnel and found it quite clear to the far end ; neither 
 was there a sign of a sentry, or of anyone watching 
 the gate, so I brought our party through, and led them 
 up the hill to the Citadel. 
 
 ' The street leading up to the gate was very narrow 
 and very steep, and the houses on each side were in 
 darkness, except for the little shops below, in which 
 were collected a number of people, who looked at the 
 British soldiers with surprise, probably not unmixed 
 with fear. At the end of this short street we turned 
 to the left into the broad road leading up to the main 
 gate of the Citadel, and I halted the party at a little 
 distance from the gate, and went on to the gate with 
 the Egyptian officers to see how matters stood. 
 
 |" There was a strong guard on the gate, who evi- 
 dently had not expected us, and it was soon clear 
 that, notwithstanding the promise of the Comman- 
 dant, no arrangements had been made for sending 
 the Egyptian garrison out of the Citadel. I therefore 
 ordered the officer in charge of the guard to go to the 
 Commandant and tell him to come to me at once. 
 This took a considerable time, and I am inclined 
 
SIR CHARLES ON A WINTER HOLIDAY IN NORWAY 
 
CH. vi] AT THE CITADEL 123 
 
 to think that the good Commandant had gone to 
 bed. 
 
 ' He came out at last, however, accompanied by a 
 number of officers, and asked what I wanted him to 
 do. I said that he must parade the whole garrison 
 without any delay, and send them down to the Kasr- 
 en-Nil Barracks in the lower part of Cairo. I said 
 that I had brought a British force to garrison the 
 Citadel, and that the keys of all the gates were to be 
 handed over to me at once. He seemed a little 
 doubtful at first, but not having any idea how many 
 men we had, he decided to comply, and sent for the 
 keeper of the keys, who brought a number of very 
 large keys in a beautiful bag, and handed them over. 
 Then the Commandant sent officers to the different 
 barracks, and soon bugles were heard all over the 
 Citadel, sounding the assembly, and the troops began 
 to hurry out of their quarters and to fall in on the 
 large open space between the mosque of Mohammad 
 Ali and the mosque of En-Nasir-ibn-Kalaun. 
 
 " As I was anxious not to let the Egyptian troops 
 pass our small party, I arranged to march them out 
 by a different road to that by which we had come up. 
 Those who know the Citadel will remember that there 
 are two principal entrances, of which one, the Bab-el- 
 Azab, or lower gate, is in the Place Rume3^1a, oppo- 
 site the great mosque of Sultan Hasan. This was 
 the old entrance, and from it a steep road, the scene 
 of the massacre of the Memluks by Mohammad Ali 
 in 1811, leads up to the Bab-el-Wustani, or middle 
 gate. The present principal entrance, on the other 
 hand, known as the Bab-el-Gedid, or main gate, 
 which was built by Mohammad Ali when he recon- 
 structed the Citadel, is much higher up the hill; the 
 road passing through it joins the road leading up from 
 the Bab-el -Azab, just outside the middle gate. This 
 disposition of the gates was very convenient for my 
 purpose, as I was able to place our men on the road 
 leading from the main gate to the middle gate, while 
 the Egyptian troops were marched out by the steep 
 road which went down to the Bab-el -Azab, and did 
 not pass by our men. One of our officers and a couple 
 of men were placed at the Bab-el-Azab, to hurry them 
 out into the town. 
 
124 CAPTURE OF CAIRO CITADEL [CH. vi 
 
 " I was considerably struck with the good disci- 
 pline of the Egyptians, who fell in by companies and 
 marched off, as if they were quite accustomed to being 
 roused up in the middle of the night and turned out 
 by foreign troops. But, in addition to the regular 
 soldiers, there were a great number of what appeared 
 to be camp-followers, women, laden camels, donkeys, 
 etc., and these hurried out of the Citadel with the 
 troops, much interfering with the regularity of the 
 march of the latter. For more than two hours the 
 stream of Egyptians came out through the middle 
 gate, and it was past midnight before the last strag- 
 glers went down the hill. As already mentioned, 
 I had ordered them to go to Kasr-en-Nil Barracks; 
 but a considerable number never arrived there, as 
 they took the opportunity, while marching through 
 the streets of Cairo in the dark, of slipping away 
 and going to their homes; this, however, was a good 
 thing, as they were useful messengers to spread the 
 news of how they had been turned out of the Citadel 
 by the ' English Army.' 
 
 " While watching the strange procession at the gate, 
 I thought over the question of the fort on Mokattam 
 Heights, and considered how the Egyptian troops 
 were to be got out of it . It was clearly no use trying 
 to do it with our troops, and none of our officers 
 knew where it was, and the men and horses were too 
 tired for another expedition. At last a happy thought 
 struck me, and I hailed an intelligent-looking Egyp- 
 tian officer on his way_out of the Citadel, and said 
 that I would be much obliged if he would go up to 
 the fort, send the garrison to Kasr-en-Nil, lock the gate 
 and bring me the keys. He thought for a moment, 
 then said, l Hadir, ya Sidi ' (All right, sir), and went 
 off at once. From his manner he gave me the idea 
 that he would carry out his mission, and my con- 
 fidence was justified, as he came back in two hours 
 with the keys. 
 
 " Before leaving Abbasia, Colonel Stewart had 
 instructed me that, aftej I had cleared out the Citadel, 
 I was to leave the next senior officer in command for 
 the night, then to examine into the condition of 
 Cairo, and return to Abbasia to report to General 
 Lowe. As soon, therefore, as the garrison had 
 
CH. vi] THE CITADEL TAKEN 125 
 
 evacuated the Citadel, I told Captain Lawrence, 
 the next senior and an excellent officer, that he was 
 to take command when I left, and took him round to 
 give him a general notion of the fortifications. I had 
 been acquainted with the place some years before, 
 and had a fairly good idea of the important points, 
 but to one who saw it for the first time on a dark 
 night it must have seemed a puzzling labyrinth. 
 Husain Ramsi and the Engineer officer accompanied 
 us, and sentries were posted on the different gates 
 with orders to let no one in or out during the 
 night. 
 
 1 The Citadel seemed quiet, and I thought our 
 task was over ; but 2 s Captain Lawrence and I were 
 returning to the middle gate, we were rather startled 
 by hearing a tremendous noise, shouting and clanking 
 of chains, as if pandemonium had broken loose. 
 We then found that the din was caused by the pris- 
 oners, of whom there were many hundreds, who had 
 been roused by the sound of the departing garrison, 
 and had opened the prison door and were trying to 
 escape. We succeeded in driving them back, and 
 then went into the prison, which smelt badly. Here 
 were a great number of prisoners, closely packed 
 together, some regular gaol-birds, and others who 
 looked as if they might be respectable members of 
 society. 
 
 " The latter crowded round us, and said they had 
 been put in prison because they would not support 
 the rebels, and they asked me to investigate their 
 cases immediately and release them. The idea of 
 holding a court under the circumstances was rather 
 humorous, and I told them that it was impossible 
 to do anything for them that night, but that, as the 
 English had taken possession of Cairo, their cases 
 would be gone into as soon as possible, and justice 
 would be done. The following day, when Colonel 
 Wilson arrived in Cairo, I told him of the state of 
 the prison in the Citadel, and he obtained authority 
 to go into the matter and to release all those persons 
 who had been imprisoned without due cause. 
 
 ' Having quieted the prisoners as far as possible, 
 we went out of the prison, the doors were locked, and 
 sentries were posted with orders to shoot anyone 
 
126 CAPTURE OF CAIRO CITADEL [CH. vj 
 
 who tried to escape. Notwithstanding this, I believe 
 that a certain number did succeed in getting away 
 after I left the Citadel, and I know that one man at 
 least was shot. This was an inoffensive individual, 
 coachman to one of the American officers in the 
 Egyptian service, who had been put in prison because 
 he was supposed to be in favour of the Europeans. 
 Fortunately, he was not much hurt, and soon 
 recovered. 
 
 " After the episode with the prisoners had concluded 
 satisfactorily, I went with the Commandant to his 
 quarters to discuss the situation. Having been a 
 supporter of Arabi, he was naturally anxious as to 
 his prospects, and enquired whether I was satisfied 
 with the way he had acted. I told him that he had 
 behaved admirably so far, but that he must remain 
 in the Citadel for the night, and do all he could to 
 assist Captain Lawrence, explaining to him at the 
 same time that if anything disagreeable happened 
 he would be held responsible. I then questioned him 
 as to the composition and strength of the Egyptian 
 garrison which had been in the Citadel, but, rather 
 curiously, neither he nor his officers could give a 
 definite account of the number of men, and their 
 estimates varied from 5,qpo to 7,000. By a rough 
 calculation I had made while they were marching 
 out, there were about 6,000, and this number, or 
 perhaps a little more, was probably nearly correct. 
 
 " After again giving a word of caution to the 
 Commandant, I bade him good-night, and went with 
 Captain Lawrence to the main gate. Here the 
 Egyptian officer had just arrived who had carried 
 out the evacuation of the fort on Mokattam Heights, 
 and I thanked him for having assisted me and let him 
 go home. Then, leaving Captain Lawrence in charge 
 of the Citadel, I started to carry out the second part 
 of my instructions, as regards the examination of the 
 state of Cairo, taking with me Husain Ramsi and the 
 Engineer officer." 
 
 For an account of the many anxieties during the 
 rest of this eventful night, from the time when 
 Watson left the Citadel to examine and report upon 
 
CH. vi] AFTER THE CAPTURE 127 
 
 the state of the City, the following extract is by 
 permission quoted from the MS. Memoranda of 
 General (or, as he then was, Captain) Lawrence 
 himself, who, as being the next senior officer to 
 Watson, was left in command of the Citadel to hold 
 it until relief came. 
 
 ( When the tail of the column had passed out, 
 Watson came and told me that I was to remain in 
 charge of the Citadel, and that he would return to 
 Sir Drury Lowe. 
 
 1 I then walked round to find the gates as best I 
 could, and I think there were four, but to my disgust 
 I found them in possession of Egyptian guards. 
 Calling out the officer of the guard at the first gate 
 I came to, I tried him with English, French, and 
 German in vain, so I drew my revolver and, taking 
 him gently by the arm, led him towards the gate, and, 
 pointing to his men, waived them all out. They went 
 like lambs, and we locked the great doors. 
 
 11 A similar procedure answered equally well at all 
 the gates. After posting a guard of Mounted Infantry 
 or Dragoons at each gate, I collected the men in two 
 open spaces and appointed alarm posts. My own 
 men of the M.I. appeared to be dead beat, and, 
 throwing themselves on the ground, slept at once, 
 but the Dragoons were much fresher and fitter. 
 
 11 I remember even now that I was much impressed 
 by the gravity of the situation. We held for the 
 moment the key of the situation, with all its host 
 of uncertainties and doubts, quite beyond reach of 
 any support from our main body at Abbasia, in a 
 great bewildering mass of buildings, whose darkness 
 was only accentuated by the feeble light of our few 
 lanterns. 
 
 " Taking a light, I began to march round, and, 
 poking into holes and corners, I found numbers of 
 stragglers left behind by the Egyptians. 
 
 ' These I turned out at the nearest gate, but a 
 
 further and more disagreeable surprise was in store ! 
 
 ' Hearing a loud murmur of voices and clanking 
 
 sounds, I came round a corner unseen before to find 
 
128 CAPTURE OF CAIRO CITADEL [CH. vi 
 
 some hundreds of men and women sitting round a 
 fire that was burning on the ground, busy knocking 
 iron shackles off their legs ! 
 
 :< It appeared that there were two prisons in the 
 Citadel, and the departing troops had played us a 
 nasty trick by letting the prisoners loose before they 
 marched out themselves ! 
 
 ' These people had then broken open an armourer's 
 shop and obtained tools to suit their needs. I 
 ordered up at once two guards from the Dragoons, 
 and we rushed all the poor wretches back into their 
 prisons, and slammed the doors on those dark, evil- 
 smelling holes ! 
 
 ' Leaving the guards on these two doors, I found 
 some cells with European prisoners, or men of a better 
 class, and seeing them safely shut in, passed along on 
 my rounds. 
 
 ' Next I found one of my own sentries sleeping 
 hard at one of the main gates, and had to whack him 
 awake and warn him that the usual penalty of such 
 conduct was death before he seemed to realize his 
 duties ! 
 
 11 And so the night went on, until at 3 a.m. I found 
 I was staggering a bit nryself ; and after a good deal 
 of shaking I succeeded in waking my Adjutant, 
 whom I directed to patrol till daylight, when he could 
 report to me again. 
 
 ' I lay down on the ground near the other officers 
 and slept at once. 
 
 " It has always been a regret to me that I was 
 unable to be present at Watson's interview with the 
 Governor of the Citadel, but if I had been, I must 
 have missed a great deal through ignorance of the 
 language. 
 
 " I have a vague recollection that before he left me 
 at the Citadel, Watson did take me to a room in one 
 of the large buildings, where we saw a sleepy old 
 Pasha sitting on a divan, to whom Watson explained 
 that I was taking charge, and I think this must have 
 been the Governor. 
 
 ' When daylight came I got up at once and went 
 round to see how things were going. I found that 
 one of the prisoners had been shot during the night 
 while trying to escape ; but we had no doctor with us 
 
CH. vi] GENERAL LAWRENCE 129 
 
 to look to the man's wounds, and so he had to be laid 
 down in the shade. 
 
 ' The first thing was to try and find food for the 
 men and forage for the horses. 
 
 ' There was a good deal of Egyptian ration bread 
 made in big loaves, but so hard that it needed some- 
 thing like an axe to cut it, and there was some busa 
 (straw) for the horses. 
 
 ' Meantime there arrived an Egyptian police 
 official who knew French or English, and informed 
 me that he knew of the whereabouts of a midshipman 
 named De Chair, who had been taken prisoner at 
 Alexandria at some early stage in the war. My fear 
 of riot and massacre in the town had not yet been 
 dispelled, and I therefore wrote M. De Chair a line 
 explaining the situation, and advising him to take 
 the risk of coming in to us. 
 
 ' The policeman went off, and in an hour or so 
 brought M. De Chair in. I then wrote a requisition 
 for meat and vegetables, which the policeman ob- 
 tained for my men, and we cooked these as best we 
 could . 
 
 " A visit to the Egyptian prisoners was my next 
 care, and we sent out bread and water to them, 
 finding that in the light of day they were only a poor 
 and miserable crew of half-starved natives. 
 
 u On endeavouring to open communications with 
 our Headquarters, I learnt that the guards had got 
 through by train from Zagazig, and were coming on 
 to relieve us. 
 
 * Wandering round the Citadel, I learriE more of 
 the place, only to see how hopeless our positions 
 might have been if we had met with resistance 
 on arrival, or any determined attacks during the 
 night. 
 
 " The Citadel certainly commanded the town, but 
 it needed carefully planned arrangements for defence 
 on the one hand or attack on the other; and as for 
 dominating the City, there was but little to be done 
 without guns, and we had none ! 
 
 u About noon H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught came 
 up with the advanced parties of the Guards, when I 
 handed over the Citadel and marched off the Mounted 
 Infantry to the Kasr-en-Nil Barracks down in the 
 
130 CAPTURE OF CAIRO CITADEL [CH. vi 
 
 town, sending the two squadrons of Dragoons back 
 to Abbasia." 
 
 The conclusion of Watson's amazing and adven- 
 turous achievements on this unforgettable occasion- 
 how he fulfilled his mission of examining Cairo after 
 midnight, not omitting the ride through the extremely 
 perilous Coptic quarter, in the sole company of one 
 of the rebel officers who had so recently fought under 
 Arabi, and how he reported to General Lowe the 
 exact fulfilment of all General Stewart's apparently 
 impossible instructions have already been related. 
 
 The entire campaign, and in particular the seizure 
 of the Citadel, may well be described as a brilliant 
 example of the unexpected advantages that accrue 
 from a wisely considered " improvement of victory." 
 
 The calls upon the Intelligence Department especi- 
 ally could hardly have been more continuous or more 
 exacting, and it seems reasonable to assume that this 
 capture must have been an appreciable economy, not 
 merely of war material and expenditure, but actually 
 of human life on both sides. 
 
 Under the circumstances it is perhaps legitimate 
 to surmise that military jealousy of the R.E.'s, which 
 was an article of faith with Army officers of a parti- 
 cular school at this time, may have led to the curious ' 
 lapse of memory shown both in Sir G. Wolseley's 
 Official Despatch of September 16 and in General 
 Drury Lowe's enclosed Report, which appeared in 
 the London Gazette of October 6, 1882, and assigned 
 the exclusive credit for effecting the capture of the 
 Citadel to an officer who was not present at the 
 surrender, whereas Watson himself and an officer of 
 the Royal Irish Fusiliers were the only two not men- 
 tioned in the Despatch, out of a total of thirty-five 
 officers, who received promotion for their services on 
 this occasion. 
 
CH. vi] RETURN TO ENGLAND 131 
 
 Watson's habitual indifference to such matters, 
 however, stood him in good stead on this occasion, 
 and in point of fact after a brief delay the omission 
 was rectified, for on November 18 he records in his 
 Diary the issue of the Egvptian Gazette, in which he 
 was given a Brevet-Majority, with the Fourth Class 
 of the Order of the Medjidieh; he received at the 
 same time the medal and the bronze star. 
 
 Before leaving for England, Watson was able to 
 enjoy, as may well be imagined, his few remaining 
 days in Cairo. His linguistic services, owing to his 
 knowledge of Arabic, were much in request among 
 his brother-officers, and in a letter to his wife dated 
 September 22 he remarks: " I have become a regular 
 dragoman !" 
 
 On September 13, after mentioning that he had 
 
 taken a fellow (R.E.) officer to see the Citadel, the 
 
 mosque, and other sights of Cairo, he concludes: 
 
 ' You see, I am regarded as a regular guide to Cairo 
 
 and the neighbourhood !" 
 
 On the 24th, having occasion to visit the Abdin 
 Barracks, he had an interview with Arabi himself 
 and Toulba Pasha, the two principal prisoners. 
 
 Four days later (on September 28) he writes: 
 
 " After breakfast I was at Shepheard's Hotel, 
 when we heard a tremendous explosion. A train 
 full of Egyptian ammunition standing in the railway 
 station had caught fire, and the shells and small 
 arms cartridges went on exploding for many hours; 
 it was like the battle at Tel-el- Kebir over again. 
 A great deal of damage was done and large numbers 
 of railway waggons destroyed. Of course, there was 
 a good deal of excitement, but things quieted down 
 soon, and the shells went on exploding until they 
 were all done. Fortunately, very few men were 
 killed or hurt." 
 
132 CAPTURE OF CAIRO CITADEL [CH. vi 
 
 " September 29. 
 
 " Captain Warren,* R.E., who has been looking 
 for Gill and Palmer, came up from Suez, and as he 
 did not know Cairo, I went about with him most of 
 the day, bringing him to the various places he wanted 
 to go to. 
 
 " Sir C. Wilson t and Sir E. Malet [accompanied 
 us]. Wilson and Warren both dined at the Royal 
 Hotel, and we had a good deal of talk about Egyptian 
 affairs." 
 
 On the 27th he writes : 
 
 " After lunch I saw Sir C. Wilson again, and told 
 him that I had heard that AH Bey, who had given 
 up the Citadel, had been arrested, which was not 
 right. He asked me for a memo, on the subject, 
 and said he would see what could be done." 
 
 Later on in the same letter he writes : 
 
 " Wilson told me that Sir E. Malet had insisted 
 that Ali Bey should be set free, which was done. 
 This is satisfactory." 
 
 A very enjoyable function on the same day was 
 
 " an R.E. dinner at Shepheard's, so as to get as many 
 of our people together [as possible] before we break- 
 up. We had about forty-two." 
 
 * Afterwards Sir Chas. Warren. Watson's Diary shows that 
 soon after reaching England (October 20) he " saw Gill's mother 
 and brother." Two days later he " saw Burnaby about Gill 
 Memorial Fund," in the promotion of which Watson was, of course, 
 himself the principal mover. It may be recollected that Captain 
 Gill had been sent by Admiral Hoskins with special instruction 
 to cut the wires in order to hamper the enemy's communications, 
 whereas Palmer (the famous Professor of Arabic at Cambridge 
 University), who had offered his services for the war, and Lieu- 
 tenant Charrington, R.N., were on a secret mission to the Arab 
 Chiefs, when they were all captured and murdered (on August 10). 
 (Cf. " History of the Corps of Royal Engineers," vol. ii., p. 66.) 
 
 f Sir C. Wilson had been sent to Egypt in a political capacity. 
 The Royal Hotel was the only hotel open in Cairo on the i6th, 
 when Watson reached Cairo, and he was still staying there. 
 
CH. vi] MARCH PAST 133 
 
 We may conclude this account of Watson's active 
 service in Egypt in 1882 with his description of the 
 great " March Past " in honour of the termination of 
 hostilities, which took place at Cairo on September 30 
 in the presence of the Khedive. 
 
 " After lunch I went with Colonel Warren to see 
 the March Past of the English Army at the Abdin 
 Palace. Of course, you have seen the whole account 
 of it in the papers. It was certainly very effective. 
 
 " The Khedive had the best place in the middle of 
 the grand stand, and Sir Garnet was in front of him 
 on horseback. It was rather an amusing idea to 
 think that, [we] having completely demolished the 
 Egyptian Army, our Army was marched past the 
 Khedive for his amusement. I should not think that 
 the like had happened before. 
 
 " Our men looked very well, and seemed much to 
 impress the natives, especially the Highlanders, with 
 their kilts. I met some old Egyptian friends in- 
 deed, I have met nearly all the folk I knew when here 
 before, and we renewed our acquaintance. 
 
 " Conder* is a little better, and I hope we can 
 start for Alexandria to-morrow morning." 
 
 Alexandria was reached on October i, and on the 
 2nd Watson embarked on the s.s. Nevada for the home- 
 ward journey, the ship sailing on the 3rd, on which 
 day he writes : 
 
 " Colonel Drake, R.E., is C.O., and has asked me 
 to act as Adjutant. We have 25 officers and 330 
 men on board, nearly all invalids." 
 
 Some of these invalids died on the way home and 
 were buried at sea, but otherwise the voyage was 
 uneventful. 
 
 Colonel Duller, f it is interesting to note, was a 
 passenger as far as Malta. 
 
 The illness of Watson's friend, Conder, was 
 extremely serious, and, with his customary devotion, 
 
 * Who had been seriously ill. 
 
 f Afterwards General Sir Redvers Buller. 
 
1 34 CAPTURE OF CAIRO CITADEL [CH. vi 
 
 Watson assiduously tended him until he was out of 
 danger. It was, in fact, the care and attentive 
 nursing that he thus received that saved Conder's 
 life, as clearly appears in private letters of this period 
 from Captain Conder's wife and family. 
 
 The Nevada reached Portsmouth on October 16, 
 and Watson disembarked there in the course of the 
 evening, after making arrangements for sending 
 Conder to Netley Hospital, where he was to stay 
 until he was well enough to be taken home. 
 
 On the following day (October 1 7) Watson was back 
 again at home in Victoria Road, having returned from 
 this " lightning campaign " to his former duties at the 
 India Office, within the limit of three months' time for 
 which he had been granted leave of absence. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE REORGANIZATION OF EGYPT 
 
 (1883) 
 
 IT was perhaps inevitable that Watson should feel 
 at this time that events were happening in Egypt, 
 and in fact were bound to happen, as an aftermath 
 of the late campaign, in connection with which he 
 might be capable, if on the spot, of rendering really 
 important services. 
 
 A letter from his old friend Sir Charles Wilson, at 
 this time Intelligence Officer and Principal Adviser 
 to Lord Dufferin, written from H.B.M.'s Consulate- 
 General at Cairo, had reached him towards the end of 
 November, soon after his return to England, and from 
 this and similar sources of information, as well as 
 from his own ripe knowledge of the country and the 
 people, Watson was well aware of the gravity of the 
 crisis through which Egypt was passing. 
 
 An opportunity was not long in coming, for his 
 " Record " states that in January, 1883, Sir Evelyn 
 Wood " asked me to go to Egypt to help the reorgani- 
 zation of the Egyptian Army." 
 
 The exact date of this invitation is not stated, but 
 it must have been very early in the month, since on 
 January 19 we have the further record : 
 
 " Proceeded to Egypt ; appointed Surveyor-General 
 with rank of Colonel (Bey Miralai)." 
 
 The vessel on which he sailed this time was the 
 s.s. Venetia, with Lady Wood on board, and a mixed 
 
136 REORGANIZATION OF EGYPT [en. vn 
 
 assortment of Indian officers, tourists, a barrister 
 going as Judge to Cyprus, and American artist, a 
 Brazilian Engineer who talked in a " curious " style 
 of French, mixed with Portuguese, and a " Swede " 
 who had spent eight years in Egypt among the 
 Moslems, " studying their customs," and " talked 
 German " ! 
 
 A quotation from one of Watson's own published 
 works will suggest the novelty of the situation with 
 which the Egyptian Government had now to deal, 
 and the energy with which it set about the tremendous 
 task of reorganization. 
 
 " After the occupation of Egypt by England in 
 1882, described in vol. ii. (see p. 69), the Egyptian 
 Army that then existed was done away with, and a 
 new army established under the command of General 
 Sir Evelyn Wood, the first Sirdar, who asked for the 
 services of twenty-two officers of the British Army 
 to assist in the reorganization, of whom five were 
 officers of the Royal Engineers."* 
 
 One of the five R.E. Officers thus signally dis- 
 tinguished was, as we have already seen, Watson 
 himself, and from the passage quoted we may antici- 
 pate that as so complete a break with the past was 
 contemplated, there was certain to be abundant 
 scope for the employment of all of even his quite 
 exceptional versatility and energy before the main 
 flood of Egyptian affairs would be likely to subside 
 into its new and unaccustomed channel. 
 
 On January 29, writing from his old quarters at 
 the Royal Hotel in Cairo, he remarked that by a 
 curious coincidence he had been put in the same room 
 as that which he had occupied during the memorable 
 September of the preceding year. 
 
 * " History of the Corps of R.E./' by Colonel Sir Charles 
 M. Watson, K.C.M.G., C.B., M.A., late R.E., vol. iii., p. 236. 
 The R.E. Institute, Chatham. 1915. 
 
CH. vn] SIR EVELYN WOOD 137 
 
 He speaks with high appreciation of his new Chief 
 (Sir Evelyn Wood), and in alluding to his official 
 duties says : 
 
 " My principal work is to look after the way in 
 which the War Minister spends the money, and keep 
 a ' general eye ' over all matters of artillery stores, etc. 
 
 " I have had plenty to do already, and find that I 
 must speak Arabic. Just fancy: I was inspecting 
 the clothing establishment to-day and had to discuss 
 the new patterns of cloth with the director of it, a 
 nice old gentleman who knew not a word of any 
 European language. However, I managed to get 
 along ! 
 
 ' I have seen lots of people, and have discussed 
 lots of things. 
 
 " On February 10 there were held the sports for 
 the Egyptian artillery the first time, I believe, that 
 the Egyptian soldiers have had sports ! 
 
 " There was a good attendance, and everything 
 went off satisfactorily. Several carriages were there 
 with ladies from various harims, who seemed to look 
 on with much interest. I should think they must 
 rather envy the freedom of European ladies, of whom 
 there were many. 
 
 " Lady Wood gave the prizes. The sports were 
 got up by Colonel Duncan, who commands the 
 artillery. He is an excellent fellow. 
 
 1 ... On Friday evening I was at Lord Duffer in 's. 
 They have a nice house, but it is said not to be healthy. 
 I have not looked much for a house; they seem hard 
 to get, but I have no doubt we shall manage some- 
 how. "* 
 
 It was shortly after this that Watson lost his father, 
 to whom he was devotedly attached. Mr. Watson 
 died on April 10, 1883, in his eightieth year. 
 
 Watson's keen historical interest in his Egyptian 
 surroundings, a trait of which we receive little more 
 than a hint in the preceding letter, in spite of the 
 profundity of their appeal to his exceptionally alert 
 
 * From letter of February n, 1883. 
 
 10 
 
138 REORGANIZATION OF EGYPT [CH. vn 
 
 and well-stored mind, was by no means confined to the 
 more ancient civilization of that country. In May, 
 1883, he writes to his sister: 
 
 " CAIRO, 
 
 " May 29, 1883. 
 
 I meant to have written to you last week, but 
 the time failed me, as on the post-day, Tuesday, I 
 went down with Sir Evelyn Wood to Alexandria to 
 look at the forts. 
 
 u On Thursday we visited the forts at Aboukir 
 and had a very interesting day. 
 
 In the village I saw an ancient man, an Arab, 
 whose father had often told him about the landing of 
 the English, and also of the great sea-fight in the bay, 
 and of the blowing up of the French ship. It seemed 
 to bring the battle of the Nile very near to one. 
 
 I was told there was an old woman, of over 100, 
 who had actually seen the battle. 
 
 c . . . I have got the lock of a gun which must 
 have belonged to the English who landed under 
 Abercrombie." 
 
 In an unusually vivid letter to his eldest sister, 
 Watson gives a description of the house and garden 
 at Cairo, which will help to complete the picture of 
 his Egyptian home. 
 
 " CAIRO, 
 
 "7^9,1883. 
 
 ' I wish you could see me at the present moment, 
 to get an idea of our life in Egypt. 
 
 ' It is 8 o'clock in the morning, and we have just 
 finished breakfast, and I am soon going down to the 
 Office. I am lying in a hammock which is slung 
 between the two pillars of the portico on the garden 
 side of the house.* 
 
 ' The garden is beautifully green and fresh-looking, 
 and the large acacia-trees meeting overhead make a 
 green umbrella which quite keeps off the heat. 
 
 * In a letter (to " E ") of May 29, 1883, Watson writes: " Our 
 house is very comfortable. . . . Most of the rooms are on the 
 first floor, except the dining-room. They are good large rooms, 
 and very cool. ' ' He appends a sketch-plan of the floor in question. 
 
CH. vn] LIFE IN CAIRO 139 
 
 " Running up one of the trees is a little monkey 
 which was given to G. the other day. It is a very 
 tame animal, and seems quite as happy as if in its 
 native wilds in the Sudan. At my feet are two 
 white doves, also given to G. the other day. . . . 
 In the corner of the garden is a small house where our 
 ponies live, so that we have all our beasts close round. 
 
 " Mohammad the Sais* is walking across the garden 
 to the stable, and looks very picturesque in his gold- 
 embroidered waistcoat and many-coloured sash. He 
 is rather a good boy, Mohammad, and, what is most 
 unusual for an Arab, is avid of work, and actually 
 sometimes comes to ask if there is anything more 
 to be done ! 
 
 :t Abdul the Bawwab\ is watering the garden, and 
 would make rather a nice sketch in the white shirt 
 with his brown arms and legs showing under it. 
 
 " There is a bed of white and red roses close to me, 
 and behind it some papyrus and palmy shrubs. I 
 really could not have believed that we could have got 
 so rural a spot in the middle of Cairo. 
 
 1 The two houses which we can see through the 
 trees on each side of us Nubar Pasha's and Artin 
 Pasha's do not detract from the quiet of the place 
 in the least. 
 
 ' The number of birds about is wonderful. There 
 is a rookery in the big trees, and I can see a couple 
 of hawks sitting up above. . . . They seem harmless 
 creatures, for I never have seen them hunting the 
 other birds. 
 
 1 . . . G. has just been making our household 
 arrangements with Khalil, the tall Arab cook, and 
 counting out the piastres to him for the day's pur- 
 chases, as the custom here is to buy everything that 
 is wanted for each day. 
 
 " A piastre is worth a little more than a penny, 
 and I generally give them to G. in bags of a thousand. 
 It is rather inconvenient that there is no Egyptian 
 coin between a 2-piastre piece and a pound, which is 
 worth 200 ! There used to be half-pounds, but I 
 never see them now. They don't coin any more 
 here, and there will soon be no money at all in the 
 country, except foreign coins. . . . 
 
 * Groom. t " Gatekeeper." 
 
140 REORGANIZATION OF EGYPT [CH. vn 
 
 ' I can forgive the Egyptians for their easy way of 
 living. I could swing in this hammock all day 
 quite pleasantly ; but as there is an Office, I must be off 
 to it, so call Ya, Mohammad ! hatt el hisan* and will 
 bring this meandering description to a conclusion." 
 
 The social circle in which the Watsons at this time 
 moved was indeed most varied and interesting. 
 Occupying, as he did, one of the most onerous and 
 responsible positions in the reorganized Government, 
 he was in close daily touch with all the leading 
 officials , his friends including many prominent Egyp- 
 tians, as well as Europeans. 
 
 It was, indeed, partly on principle that, like Gordon 
 himself and others of his school, Watson sought 
 to bridge over the gulf between East and West, 
 and made every effort to learn as much as possible 
 of the country to which he was for the time being 
 accredited, and to cultivate and understand its people. 
 
 Can there be any real doubt in these days, that 
 he and others who thought like him were right 
 on this point, and that the easier up-to-date method 
 of leading what is to all intents a purely " European" 
 life in the East leads to perverted and quite mis- 
 taken views of a Government officer's duty towards 
 the people of the country in which he lives ? At all 
 events, this fashion would appear very largely to 
 account for the slowly widening breach between the 
 governors and the governed that had been growing 
 for years before the War in too many of the great 
 native dependencies of this Empire, though it is 
 profoundly to be hoped that present experiences 
 will to some extent purge their public services of 
 the type of officer who should never have been 
 required to serve outside Europe. 
 
 We have now abundant proof that a generous and 
 sympathetic interest in our human surroundings, 
 
 * " Ho there, Mohammad ! Bring the horse." 
 
 / 
 
CH. vii] SURVEYOR-GENERAL 141 
 
 in the course of administering our rule, brings pre- 
 cisely those advantages which manifest themselves 
 most signally in time of trouble. 
 
 A brilliant example of the merits of this policy 
 was, indeed, furnished by the success of the famous 
 !< Ride to Cairo," when Watson's easy familiarity 
 with the language, his experience of the country, and, 
 above all, his sympathy with the people, enabled him 
 to arrange for the surrender of the Citadel in circum- 
 stances which in the absence of such advantages 
 would have been certain to lead to an unfortunate 
 if not to a disastrous conclusion. 
 
 We have seen how it enabled him to command a 
 newly surrendered officer of Arabi's own army to 
 turn out the garrison of the fort on the Mokattam 
 Heights and bring him the keys. 
 
 And we have seen how it assisted him in carrying 
 out his ride through the most dangerous of the Cairo 
 streets, on the very night of the capture of the city, 
 in the sole company of a rebel officer. 
 
 We shall not, after this, be surprised to learn that 
 even in his ordinary administrative work Watson 
 was an adept in securing the harmonious and not 
 infrequently zealous co-operation of the native 
 officials, and that similarly in his social relations, 
 which he regarded as being scarcely less important, 
 he was always a conciliating element and a link 
 between the two races a fact to which the brief but 
 none the less extraordinary success of his policy of 
 pacification during his governorship of the Red Sea 
 Littoral would afford conclusive testimony. 
 
 This guiding principle of all his activities in Egypt 
 also explains why in his " Cairo Album," a collection 
 of photographs of his contemporaries in that country, 
 we find the portraits of so many of the prominent 
 Egyptian Officials of those days with those of his 
 European colleagues, although these latter included 
 
142 REORGANIZATION OF EGYPT [CH. vn 
 
 all the more responsible elements of the mixed 
 Government, from Lord Dufferin downwards. 
 
 Watson's life in Egypt was, as will be readily 
 imagined, above all a busy one, and the Watsons kept 
 open house in Cairo, though it must be remembered 
 that the Cairo society of those days was very different 
 from what it afterwards became the counterpart 
 of the society that down to the beginning of the War 
 was to be found in the Riviera. 
 
 Sir Evelyn Wood, Sir E. Malet, and later Sir E. 
 Baring and Sir Colin Scott-Moncrieff, were also 
 among those who kept open house there. 
 
 Cairo society also included, at this time, the members 
 of the Diplomatic Corps and their families, the 
 Archdeacon (Butcher), and a small and select number 
 of Circassians and Armenians (e.g., Nubar Pasha, 
 Sherriff and Riaz, Yakub Artin Pasha* (who after- 
 wards became. Under -Secretary of Education), with 
 some Egyptians of the higher class. 
 
 There were also periodical receptions at the 
 Khedivial Palace, which were de rigueur. 
 
 Watson saw much of his own subordinates at the 
 War Office, and it was always his wish that his wife 
 should visit the wives and families of his Egyptian 
 employes of the middle and lower classes. 
 
 In his few spare moments the Watsons would ride 
 on their Cyprus ponies through Old Cairo to the desert. 
 
 Among his Cairo friends and acquaintances was his 
 brother-sapper, the late Lord Kitchener, with whom 
 Watson corresponded on the most friendly terms. 
 In one such letter Kitchener, while accepting an 
 invitation to join a musical club, has recorded the 
 amusing fact that he the " K. of K." in futuro 
 " could not sing "! 
 
 * Artin Pasha, being an Armenian and therefore a Christian, 
 had to remain Under-Secretary, since the head of the department 
 was required to belong to the Mohammedan religion. 
 
CH. vn] EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES 143 
 
 It will be convenient to conclude our account of 
 this Cairo period of Watson's Egyptian service with 
 a reference to the deep and keen interest taken by 
 Watson in Cairene archaeology. 
 
 Of this side of Watson's character it may be 
 remarked that probably at no time of his life was he 
 more keenly interested in archaeological research, 
 more particularly in that side of it which had special 
 reference to Egypt. In a letter to his mother (dated 
 June 29) he wrote : 
 
 ' ' Egypt has so much of interest that if one was here 
 for a hundred years one could not see it all. Petrie, 
 of whose explorations at Zoan you saw an account in 
 The Times, has just come back from there, having 
 stopped work for the summer, and was telling me 
 to-day of all he had found there. . . . Have you ever 
 read Wilkinson's ' Ancient Egyptians '? It is a most 
 interesting book. I am reading it now." 
 
 It is easy to understand that to any intellect so 
 disciplined as was Watson's, not only the entire country 
 of Egypt, but the Sudan as well, must have teemed 
 with interest. In his case, however, the historical 
 appeal of the country to his higher faculties differed 
 widely from its effect upon the conventional Egyptian 
 enthusiast; for Watson's interest was above all 
 practical as well as philosophical, and an example of 
 this is afforded by his rescue of the now famous 
 fourteenth-century mosque of Sultan Nasir at Cairo 
 from the terrible state of neglect into which it had 
 fallen . 
 
 This old royal mosque, which stands at the centre 
 of Cairo Citadel, had received (as Watson remarks*) 
 less attention than it deserved, most likely because 
 it had long ceased to be used as a mosque, and had 
 been quite thrown into the shade by the great mosque 
 
 * In his paper, written at Suakin in May, 1886, and printed in 
 vol. xviii., pt. 4, of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 
 
144 REORGANIZATION OF EGYPT [CH. vn 
 
 of Mohammad Ali Pasha. After being used for many 
 years as a prison, it had been subdivided and used as 
 a military storehouse. From this condition it was 
 rescued by Wai son, who in consequence of his position 
 in the Egyptian War Office, with the co-operation 
 of the OfHcer-in-Charge of the military prisoners,* 
 was able to get the whole of the stores removed and 
 the partition walls themselves taken down, wherever 
 this could be done with safety. He also had photo- 
 graphs taken of the mosque's most interesting 
 architectural features. And these services were 
 crowned by the w r riting of his paper, f in which he 
 was able to show that the building of this once 
 wonderful mosque, with its superb dome, had been 
 quite erroneously attributed to Salah-ed-Din, since 
 it was really built by Sultan Nasir, as late as A.D. 
 1318, as is proved by the Arabic inscription over the 
 principal entrance, which Watson had translated. In 
 view of its magnificent proportions and high his- 
 torical as well as architectural interest, Watson's 
 rescue of this mosque was a notable service to the 
 local archaeology. 
 
 This particular year (1885) ends with a letter from 
 Watson to Sir Charles Wilson which is most honour- 
 ably characteristic in showing that thoughtfulness 
 for and sympathy with his native colleagues which he 
 regarded as part of his duty. 
 
 His letter ran as follows : 
 
 " CAIRO, 
 "December 27, 1885. 
 
 ;". . . It seems to me a little hard upon the Egyp- 
 tians that they have had so little recognition for their 
 doings during the war, and it seems to me that Gordon 
 was sometimes rather hard upon them. Look at 
 Ahmad Effar, the Mudir of Kassala, who stuck to 
 
 * Captain William Freeman, of the Royal Sussex Regiment, 
 t Referred to ante. 
 
CH. vn] SIR EVELYN WOOD 145 
 
 his post as bravely as Gordon himself, and has ended 
 by dying there, massacred by the rebels ! I shall 
 never forget his answer to the letter sent him to tell 
 him to escape, if he could, last April. He replied that 
 he ' refused to leave his post and [his] charge.' 
 That letter came just about the same time when 
 Lord E. Fitzmaurice stated, in answer to a question 
 in the House, that ' the relief of Kassala does not 
 come within the sphere of the projected military 
 operations !' : 
 
 It is obvious that these views of Watson were 
 not a mere pious expression of opinion on his part, 
 and further evidence to this effect may be seen in 
 the great care and pains that Watson took, after 
 Gordon's death, in securing promotion for Gordon's 
 officers.* 
 
 In June, 1883, Watson was invited to become a 
 member of the Commission which had been appointed 
 to consider the proposed line of railway to the Sudan, 
 the first meeting of which was held on June 1 1 at 
 the Cairo War Office. 
 
 Watson was, in fact, at this time the right-hand man 
 of Sir Evelyn Wood, and he may also be described 
 as being the " handy man " of the Egyptian Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Though the Sirdar was ultimately responsible for 
 the general policy of reconstruction, the actual details 
 were worked out b}^ Watson, to the supreme value 
 of whose services Sir Evelyn Wood was always most 
 generously willing to bear testimony. 
 
 The truly Herculean and, indeed, amazing volume 
 of Watson's work at this period could, however, only 
 
 * On June 24, 1885, Watson wrote to Sir C. Wilson that " as 
 regards the promotion of Gordon's officers " he " had already con- 
 firmed the grades of a number of them," and added: " / think if 
 anyone felt he was omitted, he would come to me. If there is any 
 other officer in particular whom you wish looked after, please let 
 me know his name." (The italics are ours.) 
 
146 REORGANIZATION OF EGYPT [CH. vn 
 
 be adequate!}* realized from a perusal of some such 
 document as his own account of the reorganization 
 of the Egyptian Army, a memorandum of which 
 he drew up for submission to Sir H. D. Wolff in 
 1885. 
 
 In the summer of 1885 a difficulty arose in con- 
 nection with the promotion of British Army officers 
 in the Egyptian Police and gendarmerie force, the 
 settlement of which, small matter as it may seem, 
 required all the stubborn strength of Watson's 
 character. 
 
 A number of officers in the Police Force, in defiance 
 of the arrangements made, for which Watson was 
 responsible, were promoted, during his absence from 
 Cairo, to various military grades, without any mention 
 whatever being made of the fact that these grades 
 were in the Police and not in the Army. 
 
 This matter was the more serious since Watson 
 was at this time acting for the Sirdar; and since such 
 promotions were bound to be obnoxious to the Army, 
 Watson felt himself compelled by way of protest 
 to resign his Khedivial Commission immediately. 
 
 This decisive action produced the required effect, 
 an accommodation was reached, and Watson with- 
 drew his resignation. 
 
 During the Nile Expedition of 1885, with its 
 tragically abortive ending, Watson was deputed to 
 act at Cairo as Sirdar during the absence up the 
 river of Sir Evelyn Wood . 
 
 The Egyptian Army Order containing the appoint- 
 ment was dated from the Cairo War Office on August 
 12: " During the absence of H.E. the Sirdar, Colonel 
 Watson will represent him in all matters." 
 
 The combination of duties which was thus thrust 
 upon his almost too willing shoulders must have 
 given Watson what was probably the most arduous, 
 though not perhaps otherwise the most remark- 
 
CH. vn] ACTING SIRDAR 147 
 
 able, period of even his arduous and remarkable 
 career. 
 
 Essential, however, as his work at the base was to 
 the well-being of the troops engaged on active service, 
 the want of his services at the front was even more 
 keenly felt by the leaders of the Expedition, and the 
 consequence was that in August he was sent for 
 by Sir Evelyn Wood to proceed to the front, a special 
 service for which his previous work in the Sudan 
 under Gordon, his complete familiarity with the 
 country, its people, and its officials, and his tried 
 knowledge of the native dialect, would all have com- 
 bined, it might have been thought, to make his 
 claim irresistible. 
 
 But the Cairo authorities considered that their 
 claim on his services outweighed the claim of 
 Sir E. Wood, and put an end to any hopes that 
 Watson might justly have entertained, since he was 
 refused permission to leave Cairo until Sir Evelyn 
 Wood's own return. " So I missed the campaign " 
 is his truly stoical comment ! 
 
 On the return of the Expedition, Watson was in 
 due course warmly recommended by Sir E. Wood 
 for promotion, on account of his distinguished services 
 at the base, where he had most reluctantly remained 
 by order during the absence of the Sirdar for whom 
 he was acting. 
 
 Sir E. Wood's recommendation was founded on 
 the fact that as base commandant Watson had, in 
 fact, successfully supplied all the munitions de guerre 
 et de louche, which had been required by the Expe- 
 dition throughout the trying ordeal through which 
 it had passed. 
 
 That this was not too high praise could be proved 
 from Watson's correspondence alone. General ^ir 
 F. Stephenson was constantly consulting him about 
 such matters as " barracks in Upper Egypt for 
 
148 REORGANIZATION OF EGYPT [CH. vn 
 
 English troopers;" about " appointing a second-in- 
 command at Suakin;" about a " list of guns at Alex- 
 andria and round the coast;" about "sending up 
 troops towed in dahabias to Assuan can you 
 manage this ?" etc., etc. The cordiality of his rela- 
 tions with General Grenfell (afterwards Lord Grenfell) 
 was no less marked e.g., on May 13, 1885, when 
 Grenfell wrote to Baring that Watson had " full 
 powers to act for me during my absence," and to 
 Watson: "I am so grateful for all you have done and 
 are doing for me." 
 
 "Watson's " Record " states that in March, 1885, 
 11 Sir E. Wood recommended me for a Brevet- Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonelcy," but that this recommendation 
 was set aside on the ground that he had not been up 
 the Nile. 
 
 11 This was not my fault," is his ironical comment, 
 " as [I was] ordered . . . to remain in Cairo." 
 
 He did, however, receive (in April, 1885) the Order 
 of the Osmanieh (Third Class), and in July of this 
 same year he was made a Pasha (Lewa, or Major- 
 General) in the Egyptian Army. 
 
 A few months later, in the early autumn of 1885, an 
 amusing letter of congratulation on his promotion 
 reached Watson from Kitchener. It was dated from 
 the London Club to which they jointly belonged 
 (the Junior United Service Club) on September 12, 
 1 885 . Kitchener wrote : 
 
 " MY DEAR WATSON, 
 
 "... Long live the Pasha ! May Your 
 Excellency enjoy every bliss, and flourish like the 
 palm in which the doves sit and sing their love- 
 songs. 
 
 " I have not written before, as I had little or nothing 
 to tell. Sir D. Wolff has all Egypt in hand, so that 
 I have heard nothing but rumours. Ismail Ex- 
 
CH. vn] KITCHENER 149 
 
 Khedive's party are working heaven and earth to 
 turn out Tewfik, but I doubt much their succeeding, 
 as no one feels they can trust Ismail except those who 
 touch his billets de banque. . . . 
 
 11 Yours ever, 
 
 " H. H. KITCHENER." 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE FATE OF GORDON 
 
 (1884) 
 
 WE must now consider the main stream of events 
 the current of which had been flowing full tide during 
 these three years of Watson's life in Cairo. 
 
 On the departure of Gordon from the Sudan in 1880, 
 the equitable regime which he had inaugurated was 
 soon swept away by the rapacious Egyptian Pashas 
 who succeeded him, and who exacted a pound for 
 themselves on every pound of tax which they " col- 
 lected " for the Egyptian Government. 
 
 The " Mahdist " rebellion under Mohammad Ahmad 
 of Dongola in May, 1881, was provoked entirely by 
 the desperation of the people, who repeatedly claimed 
 that it was " not a religious war, but a war against 
 bad government/' as personified, for the time being, 
 in the above-mentioned Egyptian officials. 
 
 The means at this time available to the Egyptian 
 Government for quelling so formidable a movement 
 were hopelessly inadequate, and the destruction of 
 the hastily improvised army of 1 1 ,000 men under 
 Hicks Pasha at the beginning of November, 1883, 
 was the inevitable outcome of a forcible-feeble policy. 
 But the event, however much it was to be anticipated, 
 was nevertheless a terrible shock when it did come, 
 and carried consternation for a moment even into 
 Cairo. 
 
 150 
 
CH. vin] HICKS PASHA 151 
 
 In a letter of November 25, Watson writes with his 
 almost preternatural calm : 
 
 ' There has been bad news from the Sudan this 
 week, a report having come from Khartum that Hicks 
 Pasha has been defeated, and he and all his troops 
 killed. 
 
 1 I doubt it is quite as bad as that, knowing how 
 fearful and fond of exaggerating the Egyptians are. 
 
 " But it has had one good effect, that the departure 
 of the English troops has been stopped for the present. 
 It is rather amusing that they have had to do that in 
 less than a fortnight after Gladstone's speech at the 
 Mansion House !"* 
 
 The situation caused by the defeat of Hicks Pasha, 
 which was more serious than Watson perhaps at first 
 realized, steadily developed. 
 
 On December 9 he wrote to his mother : 
 
 " I cannot feel very sorry that a bad Government, 
 like the Egyptian Government in the Sudan, should 
 be upset, though, of course, I am very sorry for Hicks 
 and the other Englishmen who have been killed up 
 there. Since Gordon left the Sudan (in 1880) it has 
 been getting worse and worse, and the present state 
 of affairs is only the natural result. Unless England 
 will help in governing the Sudan, or take it into her 
 own hands, it would be better for Egypt to lose it. 
 altogether. 
 
 c The present state of affairs gives me extra work, 
 as I have a good deal to do with regard to the men who 
 are going to Suakin with General Baker,f who starts 
 next week to try and open up the road to Berber." 
 
 The result of Baker's gallant but ill-fated attempt 
 to open up this very road, and the " disastrous 
 defeat " of his troops (the nucleus of which had been 
 
 * Mr. Gladstone's speech at the Lord Mayor's Banquet early in 
 November, 1883, at which he announced that a large reduction 
 would be made in the number of the British troops serving in 
 Egypt. 
 
 t I.e., General Valentine Baker. 
 
iS2 THE FATE OF GORDON [CH. vm 
 
 formed from the semi-official gendarmerie, whose 
 duties should in strictness have been confined to 
 Egypt proper) at the Wells of Teb near Trinkitat on 
 February 5, are part of the world's history of this 
 truly calamitous epoch of Egyptian affairs. 
 
 Gordon was at Brussels on January 17, making 
 arrangements for his projected mission to the Congo, 
 on behalf of the King of the Belgians, when he was 
 recalled to London by an urgent telegram from the 
 Government of the day. 
 
 On the following morning he interviewed them in 
 London, and the same evening started for the Sudan, 
 with a mission to withdraw, or rescue if need be, the 
 endangered garrisons. 
 
 Towards the end of January Gordon's arrival in 
 Egypt was being eagerly expected, and Watson 
 makes reference to this in writing to his mother on 
 January 28. 
 
 It had been decided to intercept Gordon at Port 
 Said, and to bring him up, if possible, to Cairo; and 
 of course Watson, being Gordon's principal friend in 
 Egypt, was wanted for this occasion : 
 
 " On Wednesday morning I went down with Sir 
 Evelyn Wood to Port Said to meet Gordon and bring 
 him up to Cairo.* 
 
 " We got there about midnight, and he arrived 
 from Brindisi the next morning with Colonel Stewart ,t 
 who is going to the Sudan with him. 
 
 "As we had a steamer waiting for him and a 
 special train from Ismailia, we got up to Cairo at 
 9 o'clock. We stopped with Sir Evelyn Wood. 
 
 ' The next two days were fully occupied in getting 
 
 * This was really due to a change of plan with regard to Gordon's 
 original instructions from the Home Government, who had 
 arranged for him to proceed direct to Suakin. At Cairo Gordon 
 was commissioned to be Governor-General of the Sudan with full 
 powers, and started at once for Khartum by the Nile Korosko- 
 Berber route, reaching Khartum by steamer from Berber. 
 
 f See note, p. 161. 
 
CH. vin] GENERAL GORDON 153 
 
 things ready for him to start to the Sudan, and he 
 left for Khartum on Saturday evening. 
 
 ' I am indeed glad he has come; it is the one 
 hope for the Sudan. I have been wishing for it 
 for the last year, as things went from bad to worse. 
 It was a great relief to me when he had really 
 started. . . . 
 
 ' You can easily understand that Gordon looked 
 better than I had seen him for a long time." 
 
 It may be noted that all the immediate prepara- 
 tions for what was doomed to be Gordon's last 
 journey to the Sudan were made by the Watsons, 
 and all his requirements in the matter of outfit 
 were seen to by them, down to the most minute 
 particulars. 
 
 Indeed, Watson's docket contains complete lists 
 of the articles purchased for Gordon at this period 
 (necessaries of all kinds, stores, tools, even under- 
 clothing), all of which were duly paid for by Gordon 
 afterwards on his arrival at Khartum. 
 
 It is certain that Watson was, above all others, the 
 one man in Cairo whom Gordon cared about most, 
 and that he was the last to see Gordon off when he 
 started. It should also be stated that Watson him- 
 self offered to accompany Gordon, in which case 
 he would have shared the horrors of the sub- 
 sequent siege of Khartum, but Gordon positively 
 refused on principle to take Watson, because he was 
 married . 
 
 All Gordon's interviews e.g., with the Sultan of 
 Darfur and other notables during his brief sojourn 
 in Cairo took place in the Watsons' selamlik, and 
 everything that could in the circumstances be done 
 for Gordon was done for him by Watson and his 
 wife. 
 
 Gordon reached Khartum without much difficulty, 
 and wrote cheerily and even hopefully from there to 
 
 Watson. 
 
 ii 
 
154 THE FATE OF GORDON [CH. vm 
 
 But the denouement of the terrible drama which 
 was being played at this time in the Sudan through 
 the folly of self-blinded Home politicians proceeded 
 from act to act with the grim and unfaltering certi- 
 tude nay, even at times with the prophetic and 
 inexorable irony of an ^Eschylean tragedy, and 
 neither the sacrifice of Hicks 's army, nor of Baker's 
 expedition, nor of the devoted garrisons that were 
 starved and massacred in slow succession by the 
 treacherous and bloodthirsty foe, without the raising 
 of a finger on their behalf by those for whom they 
 fought, and in whose honour they had trusted not 
 even Gordon's own superb self-sacrifice in the same 
 cause could avail to open those blinded eyes or to 
 avert the consequences that were forced upon the 
 Sudan, in the supposed interest of Home politics 
 and the European bondholder. 
 
 On the other hand, we must not allow ourselves 
 to imagine if we wish to be fair to the chief actors in 
 this great drama, that the shadow of coming events 
 had as yet become more than a flickering premonitory 
 gloom, which affected the spirits even of British 
 officers serving in Egypt unequally and according 
 to temperament; more especially as it was felt that 
 whatever the peril, it was at least remote. So late 
 as the beginning of February Watson wrote to his 
 sister : 
 
 " CAIRO, 
 " February 4, 1884. 
 
 " . . . Gordon's coming out has helped to quiet 
 people's minds not that they are much disturbed 
 here. You see, it is a long way from Cairo to the 
 Sudan. So far Gordon goes on well, and the Sudan 
 people are telegraphing to express their pleasure that 
 he is going back to them." 
 
 A warning letter from the Sudan, which reached 
 Watson just a fortnight later, must, however, have 
 
CH. vm] THE SUDAN 155 
 
 had its effect even upon his equanimity; at all events, 
 in transmitting it to the Sirdar, he couples it with a 
 sufficiently grave warning : 
 
 " WAR OFFICE, 
 "February 18, 1884. 
 
 " EXCELLENCY, 
 
 " I enclose copy of a telegram which has just 
 reached me from Aswan, which tends to show that 
 there is a feeling against the English in Upper Egypt. 
 I have also received information from another person 
 who has a special knowledge of the country that there 
 is a certain amount of danger to be apprehended 
 in Upper Egypt. 
 
 11 He states that he believes that the Mudirs 
 and Egyptian Government officials are endeavour- 
 ing to spread a feeling among the lower classes 
 hostile to the English, and recommends that an 
 Englishman should be sent at once to each Mudiriat 
 to watch events and report to the authorities in 
 Cairo . 
 
 " He also urges that it would be most desirable to 
 send some English troops to Upper Egypt. It must 
 not be forgotten that the chance of pacifying the 
 Sudan and checking the religious feeling from spread- 
 ing into Egypt proper depends at the present moment 
 on the life of one man, General Gordon. 
 
 " If any accident were to happen to him, or if the 
 force going to Suakin to relieve Tokar were to meet 
 with a reverse, the consequences to Egypt would prob- 
 ably be very serious. 
 
 " I would venture to suggest the advisability of 
 sending English troops up the Nile with the least 
 possible delay. It must not be forgotten that the 
 river is now falling, and that if it should be necessary 
 to act later on in the year, it will then be very difficult 
 to send up the troops. At least one battalion should 
 go to Assiout and two to Aswan, with some mountain 
 guns and mounted infantry, and it would be for con- 
 sideration whether some place intermediate between 
 the two should not also be occupied. A fort should 
 be constructed at each place where troops are 
 placed. 
 
 "I would also urge the advisability of sending 
 
iS6 THE FATE OF GORDON [CH. vm 
 
 English officers to all the Mudiriats in Upper Egypt. 
 Perhaps it would be premature to appoint them as 
 Mudirs, but their presence, either as Chiefs of 
 Police or in some other responsible position, is very 
 necessary. 
 
 1 Their presence would doubtless have a good effect, 
 and they would be able to ascertain the feeling among 
 the people. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, Sir, 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 " C. M. WATSON." 
 
 The disaster to General Baker's force, to which 
 reference has been made, was followed within about 
 three weeks by the advance of General Sir Gerald 
 Graham's Expedition, which was ordered to relieve, 
 if possible, the Egyptian garrison at Tokar. 
 
 The necessity of this fresh effort must have seemed 
 all the more imperative since the additional tragedy 
 of the Egyptian garrison at Sinkat, which, after 
 being reduced to subsist for a while on horse-skins, 
 had been massacred, its most loyal and valorous 
 commander, Tewfik Pasha, having been slain, 
 with his whole force, in a last desperate effort to 
 cut their way through the beleaguering ring of 
 rebels. 
 
 Watson, however, meanwhile, remained on the 
 whole hopeful, though the excitement of the prepara- 
 tions for the Tokar Expedition must no doubt have 
 come as a great relief to his anxiety. 
 
 Watson to his Mother. 
 
 " CAIRO, 
 " February 18, 1884. 
 
 1 This last has been rather an exciting week, with 
 the preparation for sending the English expedition 
 to Suakin, which we all here look upon as got 
 up in order to save the Government from being 
 turned out. 
 
CH. vin] GENERAL GORDON 157 
 
 " Had the English troops been sent there a year 
 ago, as ought to have been done, all the lives might 
 have been saved. 
 
 11 But I suppose Mr. Gladstone does not care for 
 that, if he can save a vote in Parliament now. 
 
 " Altogether the Government have succeeded in 
 raising a great deal of ill-feeling here, which is a pity, 
 but not surprising. I hope that the expedition will 
 succeed, but there are many things about it which 
 are ill-advised. 
 
 " I see that some of the English papers have been 
 abusing Sir Evelyn Wood about Baker's defeat, but 
 all they say is quite false, as I have good reason to 
 know. Baker was certain to fail, as his soldiers* 
 would not fight." 
 
 It must be remembered that General Valentine 
 Baker's army, to which this letter alludes, was not 
 the Egyptian Army, but a miscellaneous horde 
 a mere rabble, improvised from the gendarmerie 
 into some semblance of an army for the occasion: 
 with the most marvellous speed, it may be granted, 
 but still a mere mob, untrained and, worse than 
 all, largely driven to fight entirely against their 
 will. 
 
 A week later Cairo was impatiently awaiting news 
 of Graham. 
 
 " CAIRO, 
 " February 25, 1884. 
 
 "... We are expecting news to-morrow of the 
 Tokar Expedition. I do hope it will be a success . . . 
 but it ought to have been sent long before. . . . 
 
 " I shall be glad to get the new book about Gordon. 
 It is said to be good. He gets on well so far, and 
 will, I hope, succeed ; but no man ever had a harder 
 job !" 
 
 When it did come the news was none of the best, 
 for the effort to save Tokar had failed, although on 
 
 * Gendarmerie. 
 
158 THE FATE OF GORDON [en. vm 
 
 this occasion there were at least some redeeming 
 features. 
 
 The assembling of this fresh force, in the terrible 
 straits to which Egypt had been reduced from debt, 
 from her own internal strife, and from the late 
 cholera epidemic, in so short a time as three weeks 
 was indeed a marvellous effort; and although they 
 failed in their object of relieving the Tokar garrison, 
 which had been compelled to surrender before they 
 left Trinkitat, the two complete victories near Tokar 
 (before the recapture of that place), and afterwards 
 on March 13 near Tamasi, achieved by the British 
 troops under Graham, after desperate fighting, over 
 Osman Digna did much to re-establish equilibrium 
 for the moment. 
 
 On March 6 came a letter from Gordon, which 
 suggests that some uncertainty as to the generally 
 promising outlook was present in his mind while 
 writing. 
 
 " KHARTUM, 
 
 " March 6, 1884. 
 
 " MY DEAR WATSON, 
 
 " Thanks for two letters which I received 
 to-day, and for all the kindness you and Mrs. Watson 
 showed to us, and all the trouble you took. Kindly 
 let me know how I stand with you in respect to 
 money, and I will send you a telegram for the 
 same. 
 
 ' We are all right up here, and things look improv- 
 ing, though we can never tell from moment to moment 
 what may turn up. 
 
 1 Thank you for Gessi's* papers. I have got all 
 three. Khartum is fast emptying of Cairo employes, 
 not from fear, but because they see their places are 
 being filled up by Sudanese employes. 
 
 "It is a wretched place at best of times, as you 
 know, and you can imagine it now, with all trade at 
 standstill. 
 
 " Graham's victory has aided me greatly, and I 
 
 * Gordon's well-known Lieutenant. 
 
CH. vni] KHARTUM 159 
 
 expect the Haclendowa revolt is at an end. Kindest 
 regards to Mrs. Watson and yourself. 
 
 ' Believe me, my dear Watson, 
 " Yours sincerely, 
 
 " C. G. GORDON." 
 
 The doubts in Gordon's mind now began to reflect 
 themselves in Watson 's own letters : 
 
 Watson to his Mother. 
 
 M CAIRO, 
 " March 10, 1884. 
 
 " . . . So far he [Gordon] seems to get on well, but 
 I often wonder whether he will succeed in his present 
 job, which is certainly the most difficult thing he has 
 ever had to do and dangerous, too ! We have not 
 much news from Suakin, and it is not known whether 
 General Graham will have another fight with the 
 Arabs or not. The policy of England with regard to 
 Egypt is most unsatisfactory, selfish and cowardly. 
 
 " The people do not know what to expect. We do 
 little for them, and do not allow them to do any- 
 thing for themselves. The people in England at 
 least, the majority seem quite blind about things 
 here. . . . 
 
 ' I was much surprised to see blame cast on Sir 
 E. Wood, and in a way, too, that was absolutely 
 untrue; for example, about General Baker saying 
 that he did nothing to help him when he did every- 
 thing but as we know here nothing could have made 
 Baker's expedition succeed. 
 
 " You say that I seem to take matters easily, but 
 the fact is I try to do my own work as well as I can, 
 and I have plenty to do. You see, I work altogether 
 with Egyptians, so I can do some little for them, and 
 all the talk and trouble is to a great extent outside 
 me. You know it is not my habit to worry about 
 things I cannot help.* I try to make my Office a 
 
 * This almost stoical calmness of Watson's was certainly not 
 due to indifference. For instance, in reference to Gordon he 
 wrote (June i, 1884) to Sir E. Wood: " As you know, I would 
 
1 60 THE FATE OF GORDON [CH. vin 
 
 kind of school of honesty and justice, two things 
 rather needed here, and which are appreciated by the 
 people. 
 
 1 You would be amused to see the variety of people 
 who come into my room, as I let in all who want 
 to come merchants, poor men, widows of soldiers 
 killed in the war, Turks, etc. all kinds of languages 
 going at once ! 
 
 ' I have to talk English, Arabic, French, German, 
 one after the other, and sometimes all at once which 
 is a little confusing at times ! 
 
 "I do not know what they will do about the 
 Egyptian Army, which was going on very well indeed, 
 but is in a fair way to be spoiled by all the nonsense 
 which has been talked about it in England, which has 
 dispirited men and officers a good deal. It does not 
 do to pull a thing up by the roots to see how it is 
 growing." 
 
 One of the secrets of Watson's success in life was 
 that he accepted the facts of the present, good, bad, 
 or indifferent, just as they might occur, with complete 
 equanimity, and was thus able to concentrate the 
 whole of his efforts, though not, perhaps, the whole 
 of his attention, upon his own sufficiently responsible 
 and laborious duties. 
 
 He therefore took more quietly than most people 
 the successive disasters that had already fallen upon 
 the Egyptian arms at this time in the Sudan, and 
 attributed the alarm which they produced in England 
 to the sensation-mongering tactics of certain news- 
 papers of the English Press. 
 
 To this must be added the fact that Watson was 
 on principle an optimist, in the same sense in which 
 
 do anything for General Gordon. It is very distressing to me, 
 stopping comfortably in Cairo, while he is in the midst of his great 
 difficulties in the Sudan." And as we have seen, he had actually 
 volunteered to go with him, but had been generously refused by 
 Gordon himself. 
 
CH. vm] NILE EXPEDITION 161 
 
 that term would be applied to our gallant and cheery 
 " Tommies " of to-day. 
 
 Despite his reassured calmness, however, it was 
 already abundantly clear, even in far-distant Cairo, 
 that the position was continually growing graver 
 at Khartum, where the early hopes founded on 
 Gordon's return to the Sudan had now completely 
 disappeared. 
 
 The Mahcli's refusal of Gordon's offers and his 
 subsequent investment of the town were followed by 
 the failure of Gordon's first sortie, and later on by 
 the massacre of Colonel Stewart and his companions 
 in their fruitless attempt to reach Dongola by 
 steamer.* 
 
 The Nile Expedition in whale-boats, which were 
 not even ordered in England till the month of 
 August, was the outcome of the growing convic- 
 tion, which forced itself at last upon even the mind 
 of the most obdurate of the Pharaohs that ever 
 sat in Downing Street, that nothing but military 
 aid, and that, too, sent at an early date, could save 
 Khartum. 
 
 Much time had, of course, elapsed before the full 
 danger was realized in Cairo, but at the beginning 
 of July Watson no longer cherished any illusions about 
 Gordon's position. 
 
 * This was not, of course, Sir Herbert Stewart (who fell after- 
 wards at Abuklea), but Gordon's right-hand man, of whom 
 Sir Charles Wilson says in a letter to Watson of January 6, 1898, 
 that " he was specially selected by Gordon, and was ordered to 
 accompany him, as his chief Staff officer, at four or five hours' 
 notice. He was in some ways as remarkable a man as Gordon, 
 having the same contempt for death and the same chivalrous 
 devotion to duty. His friends and admirers, who are many, 
 have always felt that his views on the situation in the Sudan were 
 accurate." It is pleasant to be able to give these remarks about 
 Gordon's trusted colleague and fellow- worker. 
 
162 THE FATE OF GORDON [CH. vin 
 
 " CAIRO, 
 
 " July 8, 1884. 
 
 " ... Is it not sad about Khartum ? I dare 
 say Mr. Gladstone is angry with Gordon because he 
 did not let it be taken six months ago, before the ex- 
 pedition started. Now they cannot draw back. 
 
 " We have as yet no news as to whether Gordon is 
 alive or not, and it is impossible to give an opinion 
 on the subject. 
 
 [ ... Sir Evelyn Wood is no longer going to be 
 the Sirdar; General Grenfell will take his place. 
 
 1 ... We have just heard that an expedition is 
 to go by Suakin. At last! Just two years after it 
 should have started. 
 
 ' I remember this month two years ago telling Lord 
 Dufferin that the English Government would have to 
 send an expedition from Suakin to Berber. He said 
 nothing would induce them to do it. I said they 
 would have to do it, whether they liked it or not ! 
 
 " It is a pity that they are starting now, at the end 
 of the good season instead of at the beginning, as 
 General Stephenson wanted." 
 
 Early in August Watson received a letter (of the 
 8th) from Kitchener at Dongola, asking whether there 
 was any message that he wished to be sent to 
 Gordon: " I think I can get men through now." 
 
 This was followed by another letter of October 5, 
 which also came from Kitchener, this time, however, 
 from Debbeh, in which Kitchener states that he hacf 
 received instructions " from Baring "* to do what 
 he could for Stewart's party and to save Berber from 
 being burnt. 
 
 He further remarked that when, in order to effect 
 this, he applied for the command of the local native 
 troops and for permission to proceed with them to 
 meet Stewart, he was referred to military headquarters 
 for his orders, this fresh application also meeting with 
 refusal the result being the massacre. 
 * Later, Lord Cromer. 
 
CH. vui] FATE OF GORDON 163 
 
 The following two letters reached Watson from 
 Gordon himself during this last phase of a career at 
 the close of which the entire civilized world looked 
 on aghast, helpless, and unspeakably indignant. 
 
 " KHARTUM, 
 
 " November 26, 1884. 
 ' MY DEAR WATSON, 
 
 ' Thanks for your letter which I received 
 yesterday. The steamer which brought it had to 
 run the gauntlet of no end of rifle fire and of six guns ; 
 she was struck three times by shells, but only seven 
 were wounded. I hope you and Mrs. Watson are 
 well. I am not ill-treated, I consider, but the Cairo 
 people up here they are the ill-used. I will accept 
 nothing whatsoever from Gladstone's Government. I 
 will not even let them pay my expenses. I will get 
 the King to pay them. I will never put foot in 
 England again, but will (D.V., if I get put) go to 
 Brussels and so on to Congo. How is Miss Arnott, 
 the lady who was with you ? I greatly fear for 
 Stewart, Power, and Harbin, French Consul. With 
 kindest regards, , 
 
 ' Believe me, 
 
 ' Yours sincerely, with kindest regards 
 to Mrs. Watson, 
 
 " C. E. GORDON." 
 
 " KHARTUM, 
 
 " December 14, 1884, 
 
 " MY DEAR WATSON, 
 
 " I think the game is up, and send Mrs. Watson, 
 you, and Graham, my adieux. We may expect a 
 catastrophe in the town on or after ten days' time; 
 this would not have happened (if it does happen) 
 if our people had taken better precautions as to 
 informing us of their movements, but this is ' spilt 
 milk.' Good-bye. Mind and let my brother (68, 
 Elm Park Road, Chelsea) know what I owe you. 
 
 " Yours sincerely, 
 
 " C. E. GORDON." 
 
1 64 THE FATE OF GORDON [CH. vm 
 
 The upshot of the story may be told in Watson's 
 own words, as they appeared in a pamphlet called 
 the " Campaign of Gordon's Steamers/' which was 
 published in the R.E. Journal of October i, 1885. 
 From this we may quote : 
 
 ' Lord Wolseley reached Korti on December 16, 
 three days after General Gordon had written, ' // 
 some effort is not made before ten days' time, the town 
 will fall.' It is inexplicable, this delay. If the 
 Expeditionary steamers have reached the river and 
 met my steamers, one hundred men are all that we 
 require, just to show themselves.' 
 
 '' But thirty-nine days elapsed after he wrote this 
 before the troops met the steamer, and Gordon's 
 worst predictions were thus verified. The gallant effort 
 of Sir Charles Wilson to reach Khartum in time failed, 
 because the Expedition reached Metemmeh too 
 late." 
 
 A little later on, at p. 27 of the same pamphlet, 
 Watson wrote : 
 
 " Gordon sent her (the Bordeen) back on December 
 15 with the last post that ever left Khartum. She 
 took the last volume of his Journal, which concluded 
 as follows : ' Now mark this : if the Expeditionary 
 Force, and I ask for no more than 200 men, does not 
 come in ten days the town may fall, and I have 
 done my best for the honour of our country. 
 Good-bye. 
 
 "' C. G. GORDON.' " 
 
 In his Life of Sir Charles Wilson, Watson gave the 
 story of one yet later message from Gordon, which, 
 he says, was not generally known.* 
 
 " An Egyptian clerk who was taken prisoner at the 
 fall of Khartum, and did not escape from the Dervishes 
 
 * " Life of Major-General Sir Charles Wilson." By Colonel Sir 
 Charles Watson. London : John Murray. 1909. V. pp. 313-314. 
 
CH. vm] GORDON'S LAST LETTERS 165 
 
 until long afterwards, had kept a copy of an Arabic 
 message which he said that Gordon had dictated to 
 him about December 29, 1884. The original was 
 written on a very small piece of paper, which Gordon 
 concealed in a rifle cartridge and gave to a messenger 
 to take to Dongola. So far as is known, this messenger 
 never arrived. 
 
 ' The translation of this message was as follows : 
 
 " 'To THE SOVEREIGNS OF THE KINGDOMS. 
 
 " ' I would, at once, calling to mind what I have 
 gone through, inform their Majesties of the actions of 
 Great Britain and the Ottoman Empire, who appointed 
 me as Governor-General of the Sudan for the purpose 
 of appeasing the rebellion in that country. 
 
 " ' During the twelve months that I have been here 
 these two Powers, the one remarkable for her wealth 
 and the other for her military force, have remained 
 unaffected by my situation. 
 
 " ' Although I, personally, am too insignificant to be 
 taken into account, the Powers were bound, never- 
 theless, to fulfil the engagement upon which my 
 appointment was based, so as to shield the honour of 
 their Governments. 
 
 ' What I have gone through I cannot describe. 
 The Almighty God will help me. 1 ' 
 
 March, 1885, brought a further letter from 
 Kitchener, dated this time from Korti on the i7th 
 of the month, in which he refers to the grim tragedy 
 that had so recently been enacted at Khartum, 
 saying that he was never so shocked as when the end 
 came, " and that it had taken the heart and soul out 
 of the Sudan for him." 
 
 It appears from this letter that Kitchener's belief 
 was that the troubles in the Sudan were not in reality 
 due to Mohammedan religious fever, but that the 
 whole business was really due to the " ambitions of 
 individuals." 
 
 In April, 1885, a letter from Kitchener (curiously 
 
1 66 THE FATE OF GORDON [CH. vm 
 
 misdated April, 1884) reached Watson from Aswan, 
 in which Kitchener remarked that he hoped that the 
 " horror of Gordon's blood " would keep some of the 
 Cairo authorities " from getting a night's rest in the 
 future." 
 
 Another of Watson's correspondents at this period, 
 Colonel Sir F. T. Edwards, R.E., who wrote to Watson 
 about this same time (March 18, 1885), remarks of 
 Gordon's death : 
 
 ' I am sorry to think how you must mourn him. 
 The facsimile enclosures in your letter were very 
 interesting, so much so that I have sent them to the 
 Queen,* who so deeply deplores his loss, and that of 
 so many of the brave officers and men." 
 
 Waftson's subsequent letters naturally contain 
 repeated references to Gordon's fate. 
 
 "WAR OFFICE, CAIRO, 
 
 "March 27, 1885. 
 
 " I thought you might like to have a copy of 
 Gordon's last letters, so enclose them. If anyone else 
 cares for them, I will send some more, as I have had 
 them lithographed, and have several copies left. I 
 see that one of them has been published in several 
 of the papers. Probably Sir Henry Gordon, to whom 
 I sent a copy, gave it. 
 
 " I have just had an interesting letter from Sir 
 Charles Wilson, describing his advance to Khartum. 
 He seems to think that there is no doubt at all that 
 Gordon was killed, and not taken prisoner, as some 
 people suggested. 
 
 " It is a pity that Lord Wolseley's Expedition has 
 up to the present been such a total failure. Of 
 
 * Colonel Edwards was at this time Equerry to the Queen, 
 which explains why this letter was dated from " Buckingham 
 Palace." 
 
CH. vin] GORDON'S DIARIES 167 
 
 course, the Arabs now believe that he has had to 
 run away. . . ." 
 
 A later (explanatory) reference to Gordon's diaries 
 occurs in a letter which Watson wrote to his mother 
 from Cairo on July 7, 1885 : 
 
 1 ... I have just finished reading Gordon's diaries, 
 which are very interesting. I think it is a p>ity that 
 they have cut out a great deal of what he said about 
 the Government, while leaving in his remarks about 
 Baring. 
 
 ' Now, Baring [afterwards Lord Cromer] really 
 wanted to help him, and the Government would not 
 let him." 
 
 In later years Watson gave in an article, which 
 appeared in the R.E. Journal (June i, 1892), under 
 the title of " How Gordon was Lost a Reply," a full 
 and reasoned account of his views as to the real cause, 
 or causes, which led to the death of Gordon, though 
 this was, of course, but one out of innumerable 
 occasions when he championed either Gordon himself 
 or the cause for which Gordon fell. 
 
 In his " Life of Major-General Sir Charles Wilson " 
 (1909), Watson has left on record a powerful defence 
 of Wilson's action in the matter of the Gordon Relief 
 Expedition, the chief points of which are summed up 
 in his Preface to that work as follows : 
 
 ' When serving under Lord Dufferin in Egypt, 
 Wilson was brought into close connection with the 
 Sudan question and the mission of General Gordon, 
 and did his best, though, unfortunately, in vain, to 
 induce the British Government to take a serious view 
 of the situation. With his intimate knowledge of the 
 subject it was heart-breaking to realize the coming 
 evils, and yet to be unable to do anything to avert 
 them. 
 
 ' In the Nile Expedition of 1884 he held the 
 important post of Chief of the Intelligence Department. 
 
168 THE FATE OF GORDON [CH. vm 
 
 In consequence of the unjustifiable attempt which 
 was made at the time to lead the public to believe 
 that he was responsible for the failure to relieve 
 Khartum before it was captured by the Mahdi, it has 
 been necessary to enter at some length into the real 
 causes which led to the non-success of the Expedition, 
 which may be summarized as follows :* 
 
 " (i.) The refusal to allow General Sir G. Graham 
 
 to open the Suakin-Berber road in March, 
 
 1884. 
 " (ii.) The delay in authorizing an expedition 
 
 for the relief of Khartum. 
 " (iii.) The loss of time due to the decision to 
 
 wait for boats to be built in England . 
 " (iv.) The policy adopted with regard to the 
 
 Mudir of Dongola. 
 " (v.) The neglect to provide sufficient camels 
 
 for the desert march. 
 11 (vi.) The halt of the desert column at Yakdul. 
 
 1 These causes . . . led to a delay of more than 
 nine months." 
 
 It is particularly noticeable that the failure to open 
 the Suakin-Berber road occupies the first place on this 
 brief epitome of the causes of failure. 
 
 The significance of the distinction given to this 
 fact comes from Watson's own sagacity in being one of 
 the first to realize that the opening up of this road 
 and the establishment of a Sudanese port, in substi- 
 tution for the officially recognized Nile route to the 
 Sudan, was the true key to the solution of the then 
 white-hot problem of the government of that great 
 Dependency. 
 
 It is singularly easy to see now how the sub- 
 sequent development of events led to the confirmation 
 
 * Wilson's own account of the Expedition, based on his diary 
 " From Korti to Khartum," is referred to at p. 296 and elsewhere 
 in Watson's Life of Wilson. 
 
CH. vin] SU^KIN-BERBER ROUTE 169 
 
 of this remarkably sapient forecast on Watson's 
 part. In all respects the views for which Watson 
 and the school of officers to which he belonged so 
 long and unsuccessfully contended have since received 
 entire corroboration. 
 
 12 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE RED SEA COMMAND 
 
 (1886) 
 
 EARLY in February of the following year (1886) 
 Watson received the following letter from his friend 
 Sir Charles Warren, who had only just been appointed 
 Governor-General of the Red Sea Littoral at Suakin : 
 
 Sir Charles Warren to Colonel Watson. 
 
 " SUAKIN, 
 " February 24, 1886. 
 
 " . . . It is so very difficult to get accurate infor- 
 mation on any subject, either inside or outside, and I 
 am continually learning and unlearning. 
 
 " To my great horror, I was told by the Sub- 
 Governor yesterday that when lashes were given it 
 was the bastinado. I was pleased to arrive eventually 
 at the fact that the lashes were bestowed on the 
 posterior ! 
 
 ' I am seeking how I can better the rebels, but it 
 is a difficult nut to crack, as the ground is not favour- 
 able for cavalry, and the friend lies are very few in 
 number. . . . 
 
 ' I like everybody here as yet, and the climate is 
 nice and warm, but Government House is a ' pigsty 
 in disrepair ' ; it is in a beastly state, quite unfit for 
 a good Muslim like me ! 
 
 " I have taken thirty-six cart-loads of bat's-dung 
 out of the area and heaps of rotten rope, etc., of the 
 foulest description the stench is awful ! I am 
 whitewashing all over to kill the plague on the walls. 
 It can at least be made clean." 
 
 170 
 
CH. ix] SUAKIN 171 
 
 At first, as had been the case with Gordon (and 
 subsequently with Watson), all went well with Warren 
 in the Sudan : 
 
 Watson to his Sister (" E"). 
 
 " CAIRO, 
 " February 14, 1886. 
 
 1 . . . Did I tell you that Sir Charles Warren was 
 stopping with us while in Cairo ? I was glad of this 
 as I wanted to tell him many things about the Sudan. 
 
 " He seems pretty happy at Suakin, and has begun 
 by taking 300 cattle from Osman Digna's friends. 
 
 " Warren is a strong man, and will do something, 
 I expect. . . ." 
 
 Very shortly after this letter was written Watson 
 was, however, commissioned by the Egyptian Govern 
 ment to visit Suakin and to report upon the possi- 
 bility of arranging for the withdrawal of the " English 
 battalion and the Indian force " then retained at 
 that station, by raising the strength of the local forces. 
 
 The correspondence began with a letter dated 
 January 16, 1886, to Watson from Sir H. Drummond 
 Wolff, requesting him to call and discuss a " some- 
 what important telegram from Lord Salisbury about 
 the force for Suakin." 
 
 Watson called as required, and about February 10 
 was commissioned to proceed to Suez to formulate 
 a scheme. He arrived at Suakin about March 15, 
 Warren having, however, left for England before his 
 arrival. 
 
 Watson to his Sister ("E"). 
 
 " s.s. GEELONG, 
 
 " SUAKIN TO SUEZ, 
 
 " March 25, 1886. 
 
 If I want to tell you a little about my trip to Suakin. 
 ... I left Suez on the evening of the i2th in a 
 steamer with the fine name of Euripides, and arrived 
 
172 THE RED SEA COMMAND [CH. ix 
 
 at Suakin on the morning of Tuesday the i6th. She 
 was a cargo-boat, taking stores down for the troops, 
 but they made me very comfortable on board. 
 
 [< Sir C. Warren had left the evening before for 
 Suez, so we just missed one another. . . . This 
 constant change and uncertainty of what is going to 
 happen is very bad for the country. 
 
 " On arriving at Suakin I had a fine reception 
 nineteen guns fired, and illuminations in the town in 
 the evening. This was on account of my being Chief 
 of the Sudan Department. 
 
 'It is rather curious that this appointment in 
 Cairo has, as it were, dropped into my hands of its 
 own accord, although I have never been given it; 
 but apparently people think I have a ' nice taste ' 
 in Sudan affairs, and everyone takes me as Chief 
 of the Department. Warren having gone, General 
 Dixon, who commands the troops at Suakin, received 
 me most hospitably, and I lived with him at the Head- 
 quarters' Mess, although sleeping and working at the 
 Government House. 
 
 ' It was strange, being back there again; it really 
 is very little changed since Chippendall and I stayed 
 there together in 1874, with poor Ala-ed-din Bey, 
 who afterwards was killed with Hicks Pasha. 
 
 " On the afternoon of the day I arrived I had a 
 reception of all the notables of Suakin. . . . Then, 
 after dinner, I had to ride through the town, to call 
 on all the chief people, and drink coffee and sherbet 
 with them all. Here are the names of some of them : 
 
 " Said Osman-el-Morghani. 
 
 " Khalifa SafT, the Kadi. 
 
 " Shenowi Bey, Chief of Me His. 
 
 " Khalifa Abdullah. 
 
 " Sheikh Hasan, Negib-el-Ashraf. 
 
 [< Sheikh Osman Ibrahim. 
 
 " Mohammad Ahmad, at the Zaptieh. 
 
 " Sheikh Ali Murghani. 
 
 So that it was past eleven before we got all round !" 
 
 Eventually it came about that Watson was offered, 
 and against the advice, it must be said, of his Cairo 
 
CH. ix] SUAKIN 173 
 
 friends accepted, the appointment, and thus became 
 the successor of his friend Sir Charles Warren, actually 
 taking up his important new work as Governor- 
 General on May 3, 1886. 
 
 On this occasion he was accompanied by his younger 
 brother Arthur (afterwards killed at Colenso during 
 the Boer War), who was at this time a Captain in 
 the Egyptian Army, and whom he appointed to be 
 his Military Secretary. 
 
 Watson was deeply attached to him, and during 
 the many difficult days that followed he was un- 
 doubtedly of the utmost possible service to his elder 
 brother, a fact to which the latter bears the amplest 
 testimony in about a dozen letters, repeatedly re- 
 marking that he could not imagine what he would 
 have done without "Arthur's" assistance. 
 
 To Sir C. Wilson he wrote, just before leaving 
 Cairo on his return to the south to take up his new 
 duties : 
 
 " CAIRO, 
 
 " April 24, 1886. 
 
 . . . Affairs in the Sudan remain unchanged 
 Abdullah at Omdurman, Wad-en-Nejumi at Berber, 
 El Kheir at Dongola, and Osman Digna at Tamai. 
 Some say that he means to attack Suakin when 
 the English troops are all gone ; others that his 
 people are disgusted and will not fight for him any 
 
 * In an earlier letter about the Mahdi's plans (dated December 
 19, 1884), Watson wrote of reports that had reached him from 
 Berber that " the Mahdi intended to entice the English on from 
 Dongola by retreating before them, and even evacuating Berber, 
 so as to draw them on to Metemmeh, near which he proposed 
 to fall on the English with all the men he had, and overwhelm 
 them, another body of Arabs to go towards Dongola to cut off 
 the retreat of the English." Watson adds that the " Arabs 
 intend to spare no one," and that the plan attributed to him was 
 quite possible, as it was the course that " he~adopted with poor 
 Hicks and his army." 
 
174 THE RED SEA COMMAND [CH. ix 
 
 " As you say, it is a great pity that Warren has 
 left, as he could have done much good there. 
 
 11 Probably you have heard that I have been 
 appointed to succeed him. It will not be an easy 
 task, but I will do my best. 
 
 (l Of course, I know already a good many people, 
 and the tribes know something of me, I having been 
 in the Sudan Office now for more than a year and a 
 half." 
 
 Wilson's reply to this letter was as follows : 
 
 " MOUNTJOY BARRACKS, 
 " PHCENIX PARK, 
 "DUBLIN, 
 
 " July 20, 1886. 
 
 " MY DEAR WATSON, 
 
 ' Thanks for your interesting letter about 
 Suakin and the tribes round it. I fully realize the 
 difficulties you have had to contend with; I have 
 always felt strongly that the military and political 
 affairs pf Suakin should be in the hands of one 
 man. 
 
 j" Natives do not understand divided rule and action, 
 and I hailed it as a healthy symptom when Warren 
 was sent as Civil and Military Governor, and you 
 succeeded him in the same capacity. . . . 
 
 '* . . . I think you have done an immense deal 
 since you went to Suakin, and am quite sure that if 
 the Cairo people left you alone to work quietly amongst 
 the tribes, you would soon get them to settle down, 
 and wear out the irrepressible Osman Digna ! 
 
 " I do not know what line the in-coming Govern- 
 ment will take, but I fancy they will accept the posi- 
 tion in the Sudan, for everyone seems heartily sick 
 of everything connected with it and Egypt .... 
 
 " I should like to see you in command at Suakin 
 and Chermside, with full powers on the Nile frontier. 
 . . . Best wishes for your continued success." 
 
 Out of the flood of congratulations that Watson 
 received in connection with his new appointment, 
 the following two may be selected :, 
 
CH. ix] SUAKIN 175 
 
 F. R. Wingate to General Watson (appointment to 
 Suakiri). 
 
 " KESWICK VILLAS, 
 
 " ALEXANDRA ROAD, 
 " COLCHESTER, 
 
 " April 22, 1886. 
 
 " . . . I wish you all good luck in carrying out 
 what I imagine to be a very difficult duty, but I 
 certainly think that you have more chance of being 
 successful than anyone else who might have been 
 selected. " 
 
 Marcopoli Bey to General Watson^ 
 
 " SUAKIN, 
 
 " April 21, 1886. 
 
 " It is with the greatest pleasure we heard that your 
 Excellency has been appointed Governor-General 
 of the Red Sea Littoral. I make free to congratulate 
 you heartily, though I might rather congratulate 
 the Government for the step they have taken. 
 
 " Such an appointment shows that the ideas of 
 your Excellency have prevailed, and that the Govern- 
 ment intend to try the pacification of the Sudan by 
 conciliatory means. 
 
 ' The Arabs seem to be quite tired with the actual 
 state of affairs, and they expect but the first oppor- 
 tunity offered to them to enter into an agreement with 
 the Government. I hope, then, that your scheme 
 will meet with a satisfactory result, and we are 
 looking after your arrival most anxiously to see 
 you carry it into execution." 
 
 It will be convenient to speak first of the historical 
 events that occurred during the brief but all-important 
 term of Watson *s Governorship, and to deal separ- 
 ately, in a later chapter, with the questions of general 
 policy inevitably involved. 
 
 Watson's own modest summary of his services at 
 Suakin |is^contained in the third volume of the " His- 
 
176 THE RED SEA COMMAND [CH. ix 
 
 tory of the Corps of Royal Engineers " (op. cit. 
 ante, p. 58): 
 
 " After the withdrawal of the British troops from 
 Suakin in June, 1885, the country in the vicinity of 
 the port remained peaceful for some time, but the 
 districts outside were in the hands of the Dervishes, 
 who tyrannized over the Arab tribes and compelled 
 them to be, at least outwardly, followers of the 
 Mahdi. 
 
 " Colonel Chermside, R.E., was succeeded as 
 Governor by Colonel Sir Charles Warren, R.E., who 
 remained a very short time, as he was appointed 
 Chief Commissioner of Police in London, and was 
 succeeded by Major Watson, R.E. 
 
 " At this time the Indian Brigade was withdrawn 
 and replaced by Egyptian troops, as the British 
 Government had decided that British soldiers were 
 not to^be employed in the Sudan garrisons. But this 
 was a period of comparative peace at Suakin, as the 
 Arab tribes were becoming well disposed to the 
 Government, because they were tired of the war and 
 wanted to return to their former occupation as camel- 
 drivers on the road from Suakin to Berber. But they 
 could not break openly from the tyranny of the 
 Dervishes, and felt keenly the action of the British 
 Government in abandoning them to the tender 
 mercies of Osman Digna and his followers. 
 
 ' The rebel leader, however, lost much of his 
 influence, and went to Omdurman to complain to the 
 Khalifa of the disloyalty of the tribesmen. Soon 
 after his departure (on July 12) the well-disposed 
 Arabs captured his camp at Tamai (the chief strong- 
 hold of the Mahdists) and killed those of his adherents 
 who were left there." 
 
 JFurther details connected with these events are 
 supplied by Watson's own letters written from Suakin, 
 of which the following selection will give some idea of 
 Watson's life at that place, as well as of his general 
 surroundings during this period : * 
 
CH. ix] SUAKIN 177 
 
 Watson to Mrs. Watson. 
 
 " SUAKIN, 
 
 " May 10, 1886. 
 
 ' . . . After breakfast many natives came in to 
 see me and discuss the chances of peace. I told them 
 all the same thing, that it was useless to talk of peace 
 until Osman was taken and the camp at Tamai 
 broken up. They fully understood this, and said 
 they would write to their friends in the country. 
 
 " I also told them that no people coming from the 
 outside would be allowed to remain in Suakin until 
 the war was at an end. 
 
 " May 13. ... I am writing this in the bedroom 
 just after sunrise. It is a beautiful morning, and the 
 hills look so clear that you would imagine you could 
 touch them. It is very annoying not to be able to 
 get to them, but, as the Negib-el-Ashraf said the 
 other day, ' Inshaallah ! we shall get to Singat for the 
 summer !' 
 
 ' The Suakinese seem to long for their old summer 
 retreat, which they have not been able to go to for 
 four years. They have written to their friends in the 
 country, telling them what I have said to them. As 
 Marcopoli says, ' we have now sowed the seed : may 
 it bring up good fruit.' . . . 
 
 r< May 15. ... After breakfast a man called 
 Ali Adam came in from Tamai with letters for us 
 from some of the Sheikhs at Osman Digna's camp, in 
 which they said that they were tired of fighting and 
 wanted peace. 
 
 ' I explained to them that that was their affair, 
 not mine, and that as they had chosen to rebel they 
 have nothing to complain of; but that I would let 
 Mahmoud Ali go down the coast to a place where 
 they could meet him. 
 
 " Captain May kindly agreed to letting him go in 
 the Condor, and I will send Brewster* also. It will 
 be interesting to see if the Sheikhs will come ; secondly, 
 what will be the result. 
 
 * Brewster Bey was afterwards sent by Watson on a peace 
 mission to the tribes, with the most successful results, though, 
 unfortunately, his mission caused a considerable amount of local 
 controversy which need not be reviewed here. 
 
i;8 THE RED SEA COMMAND [CH. ix 
 
 1 May is quite eager about it. Two or three more 
 people came in from the enemy in the course of the 
 day, one of them with some cattle, which, as usual, 
 I will sell for him, give him the money, and send him 
 off up the coast. 
 
 ' They all say that they do not like Osman 's plan 
 of inoculating them so that they may get the small- 
 pox, and really one cannot blame them for that. 
 After all the chat came the usual Office work. 
 
 ' I saw Cameron in the afternoon, and had a long 
 talk with him. He is apt to take a magnified view 
 of small facts, which is probably due to climatic 
 influence. . . . 
 
 ' I talked so long that I did not get back until 
 8 ! But it was rather a good thing, for just as Arthur 
 and I sat down to dinner we heard the whistle of a 
 steamer, and soon the Muckbir steamed past the house. 
 I hailed the Captain of the Jaffarieh, who, as you 
 know, was on board, and Wylde, and asked them to 
 dinner; and they came in for a few minutes, and gave 
 us a good account of their trip to Rowayeh, which 
 was very satisfactory. Ali Hamid and the other 
 Sheikhs want peace, and to have the salt-works 
 opened . 
 
 I The Muckbir brought back a ton of excellent salt, 
 so we won't run short of that article for some time ! 
 
 " The good Amarars have been fighting with the 
 rebels and beaten them twice with some loss. 
 
 ' There is a rebel of the name of Omar who seems 
 to be a nuisance. I hope to get him, but it is not easy. 
 
 II May 17. A Sheikh from Rowayeh came to see 
 me with the usual story about wanting peace, and I 
 gave him the usual reply, that peace depended upon 
 the conduct of him and the rest of his tribe. 
 
 " After lunch the Condor started for Haddhu, 
 about 10 miles south of here, and took old Mahmud 
 and his sons and Brewster Bey to confer with some of 
 Osman Digna's Sheikhs, who say they are tired of 
 him and small blame to them ! 
 
 ' There was another Sheikh who ought to have 
 come, but old Osman had doubts about him, and had 
 given him eighty lashes and put him in chains. This 
 is a fanciful way Osman has at present, and it does 
 not seem to increase the number of his friends. /"';. . 
 
CH. ix] FREED SLAVES 179 
 
 11 May 1 8. The Garnet started at 8 and the Condor 
 came back at noon, having had a successful interview 
 with the Sheikhs at Haddhu. 
 
 ' They promise many things, but whether they 
 will perform them remains to be proved ! 
 
 " May 19. . . . After breakfast some refugees 
 came from Khartum and were sent on to Cairo. 
 They told the old story about the Sudan misery, 
 famine, and small-pox. The latter seems to be 
 worse this year than it has been for many years. 
 
 ' It is like a curse upon them for having followed 
 the false prophet, and they confess that. 
 
 ''' May 20. . . . I then had a mejlis* to discuss 
 the state of affairs up the coast Mahmud Ali Bey, 
 Saiyid Mohammad-al-Ashraf, etc. and I decided to 
 send the Jaffarieh up the coast to Shinab, and for her 
 to take 200 of the friendlies to land at Sheikh Barghesh, 
 to watch the wells, in case Omar's force comes back. 
 
 ' I believe Osman Digna has a market at Shinab, 
 which we shall hear more about when the Jaffarieh 
 comes back. The Garnet will also be at Shinab. 
 
 ' In the afternoon I went by boat to the left 
 defences, and rode around them with Rundle and 
 Besant, to settle what should be done if the Arabs 
 attacked, and what improvements are required to 
 make the forts stronger. 
 
 I( May 22. After breakfast I had a parade in 
 the Office of freed slave-girls, to ask them if they 
 wanted to be married to some of our black soldiers 
 who are still unprovided with wives. Twelve stepped 
 forward, and were accordingly sent up to the batta- 
 lion to choose their husbands. Two of the girls said 
 they would like to be married, but they thought it 
 would be more proper for the soldiers to come and 
 ask them than for them to go to the soldiers. 
 
 " May 23, Sunday. This morning I sent the 
 s.s. Muckbir to Akik, a place about 100 miles south 
 of this, to condense water for the people who live 
 there, as since the rebellion they have been afraid 
 to live upon the mainland, and stop upon an island 
 where there are no wells. 
 
 ' I sent down in the Muckbir Khalifa Salweh and 
 Osman Sheikh to enter into communication with^the 
 
 * Reception. 
 
1 80 THE RED SEA COMMAND [CH. ix 
 
 tribes near there, who are writing penitent letters to 
 say that they are very sorry and want to be good in 
 future. 
 
 Whether their sayings are worth anything I do 
 not yet know, but I, of course, only tell them that 
 they are rebels, and will be regarded as such until 
 they have done something to show their good inten- 
 tions." 
 
 " May 27. I had good news this morning from 
 the Jaffarieh. She is at Sheikh Barghesh, and the 
 Captain writes to say that he has taken Omar prisoner, 
 the man whom next to Osman Digna we wanted most 
 to get hold of. They have also taken a good deal 
 of cloth and grain from the rebels. 
 
 ' It seems to have been well managed, as there was 
 no fighting, but I have not had the particulars yet, 
 only a short letter from the Captain, written, as he 
 said, ' to quiet my mind.' 
 
 " July 8, 1886. Sunday was the festival of Bairam, 
 the great feast which comes after the fast of Rama- 
 dan. I had a reception at Government House, and 
 all the Sheikhs, Khalifas, and notables came in their 
 best clothes, a most picturesque sight coats of all 
 colours of the rainbow ! 
 
 ' The next day I had to return the calls of the chief 
 people, and had to drink about a dozen cups of coffee, 
 a dozen glasses of sherbet, and smoke a dozen cigar- 
 ettes before breakfast. 
 
 ' In the afternoon we generally go out for a sail. 
 The heat, so far, is nothing like what I had expected; 
 we have not had the thermometer much over 100 
 degrees yet." 
 
 " SUAKIN, 
 
 " July 28, 1886. 
 
 " So far the peace policy is getting on well, and 
 Osman Digna is getting rather into the position of a 
 ' sparrow upon the house-top,' for we are surrounding 
 him by means of the Handabs and the Fadlabs and 
 the Beni Amar and the Ashraff and the Abdurrah- 
 manab. 
 
 " It is very like the Judges, with the Hivites and 
 the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amalakites: 
 here -ab corresponds to -ite ! 
 
CH. ix] SUAKIN 181 
 
 " Osman is also taking to his previous Old Testa- 
 ment habit of hewing off heads, if the owners of them 
 happen to annoy him. He thus treated two important 
 Sheikhs last Friday after morning prayers, and cut 
 oif their heads in the sight of the congregation. The 
 Arabs are much annoyed at this !" 
 
 " CONSTANTINOPLE, 
 
 " October 12, 1886. 
 
 ' We are starting for England to-day, going by 
 steamer from this via Athens to Marseilles. We have 
 had a most interesting week here, and seen a great 
 deal. . . . 
 
 ' We had a pleasant excursion with them (the 
 Simmonses) last week to Brusa in Asia Minor the 
 old Turkish capital, before they took possession of 
 Constantinople. It is a beautiful place, lying at the 
 foot of Mount Olympus. . . . Another day we went 
 to the Princes Islands, and lunched there with Woods 
 Pasha, who is in the Turkish Navy. 
 
 ' . . . On Thursday last we went up the Bos- 
 phorus and lunched with Major Trotter, who is 
 Military Attache and is now at the Embassy at 
 Therapia. And yesterday we went in a caique to 
 the top of the Golden Horn, where a pretty river 
 comes in, called the ' Sweet Waters of Europe.' " 
 
 The causes of this sudden departure are discussed 
 in the following chapter. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 EGYPTIAN POLITICS AND SUAKIN 
 
 (1886) 
 
 WE now come to the second heading of the classifi- 
 cation which we have proposed for ourselves viz., 
 the consideration of Watson's policy. The following 
 account of his appointment to Suakin, which sets 
 forth that policy, is taken from a memorandum 
 drawn up by himself : ' ' Before going to Suakin Watson* 
 was requested to give his views upon the position of 
 affairs at Suakin, which he did " in the form of a 
 memorandum which was printed in the Blue Book 
 for Egypt (No. 5, 1886) at p. 61 and the following 
 pages : 
 
 (< A few days after sending in this memorandum, 
 Watson was himself appointed Governor-General, 
 and he naturally assumed, having no other instruc- 
 tions, that he was to carry out the policy that he had 
 outlined. 
 
 ' The first duty, however, that he had to carry 
 out was to complete the change of garrison. By 
 May 9 the relief was completed, and the 3,500 Anglo- 
 Indian troops were replaced by about 2,300 of the 
 Egyptian Army. ^ 
 
 At this time Suakin was practically surrounded 
 by dervishes, who lost no opportunity to carry off 
 cattle which might stray beyond the fire of the forts. 
 
 /' While the relief of the garrison was going on 
 Watson investigated the question of reopening trade 
 and impressed upon the Sheikhs that the Govern- 
 
 * This memoir is written by Watson in the third person, 
 182 
 
CH. x] SUAKIN 183 
 
 ment was desirous that peace should be re-established, 
 but would take no active steps to put down the 
 rebels. 
 
 ' He pointed out to them that the present unplea- 
 sant state of affairs was caused by the people of the 
 country, and that if the people of the country did 
 not like it, they must put it down themselves. The 
 argument pleased the Sheikhs, who took Omar 
 prisoner and brought him to Suakin, and closed the 
 rebel port at Shinab. Adam Sardun was defeated 
 and killed, and by the end of June the whole country 
 north of Suakin was cleared of dervishes. 
 
 ' The successful tribesmen assembled at Handub, 
 and at their request Major Watson sent Brewster Bey 
 to meet them. 
 
 " They proposed to blockade Osman Digna in 
 Tamai aild cut off his supplies, and this blockade was 
 carried out satisfactorily until Osman fled by night, 
 leaving his starving followers at Tamai. 
 
 " While these operations were going on inland, 
 Watson opened ports for trade at Rowayah and Sheikh 
 Bargut for the well-disposed tribesmen. 
 
 ' Matters seemed going on satisfactorily, but at 
 this time Watson, who had worked so hard at pacifying 
 the country, was recalled to Cairo !" 
 
 Such was Watson's own account. But, as usual, 
 we have to turn to others to obtain the smallest 
 glimpse of his own share in these history-making events 
 
 What he does not say, for instance, is that this 
 strange new peaceableness on the part of the Arabs 
 was largely due to the extraordinary success of his 
 own efforts at pacification especially, perhaps, his 
 promise that markets should be opened for them as 
 soon as the country was quiet. 
 
 General Sir F. Stephenson (quoted by Colonel 
 E. M. Lloyd in his memoir of Watson) openly stated 
 that " much credit was due to [Watson] for utilizing 
 the friendly tribes and encouraging them in their 
 friendly dispositions." And the same high authority 
 states that the fights that took place at this time while 
 
1 84 EGYPTIAN POLITICS [CH. x 
 
 Watson was Governor " materially assisted in under- 
 mining Osman Digna's power." 
 
 Even on the very day (August 23) before he left 
 for Cairo, for the last time, Watson " called a meeting 
 of Sheikhs and notables to express their views on the 
 pacification of the Eastern Sudan."* Other authori- 
 ties, as will appear in due course, spoke yet more 
 emphatically of the substantial success of Watson's 
 policy and of his methods of pacification during his 
 all too brief reign over the Red Sea Littoral as 
 Governor-General . 
 
 It should, however, be stated that when we refer to 
 Watson's policy or methods, and to the signal success 
 which attended their employment, these methods or 
 policy were not by any means necessarily confined 
 to himself. They were precisely the means employed 
 by all those who, as we now know, formed at this 
 time the more sagacious school of British officials 
 in Egypt, including Warren and Gordon. 
 
 Indeed, one of the soundest authorities on Egyptian 
 policy for this period has emphatically endorsed the 
 general principles upon which Watson was now acting. 
 In some brief memoranda which were kindly jotted 
 clown for this work, Lord Sydenham (formerly Sir 
 George Sydenham Clarke) wrote that " the points 
 on which we [i.e., himself and Watson] felt strongly 
 in common were (i.) The opening of the Suakin- 
 Berber route . . . this I was striving for with all my 
 might, and I was delighted to find that our opinions 
 agreed; (ii.) the defence of Sir Charles Wilson, which 
 we both took up in different publications; (iii.) we 
 also shared views as to the proceedings at Suakin and 
 the treatment of the tribes. " 
 
 Watson's defence of Wilson is elsewhere dealt 
 with, but the first and third of the points mentioned 
 
 * Colonel E. M. Lloyd, " Memoir of Colonel Sir C. M. Watson, 
 K.C.M.G., C.B., M.A., R.E." 
 
CH. x] PORT SUDAN 185 
 
 by Lord Sydenham may be here considered. To us 
 who have seen with our own eyes the extraordinary 
 success which has attended the development of " Port 
 Sudan," and the marvellous transformation that has 
 taken place in the Sudan with continually increasing 
 rapidity ever since the establishment in that once, like 
 Ireland, " distressful " country, of a just and stable 
 government, it must seem strange and even wellnigh 
 incredible that the Nile route could ever have been so 
 stubbornly and successfully defended as the proper 
 route by which to reach the Sudan either for any 
 military or commercial or, indeed, for any other 
 purpose at all. 
 
 Yet it was very largely on account of their champion- 
 ship of the Suakin- Berber route which we now see 
 to fyave been the only route ever worth even the 
 briefest consideration that both Warren and Watson 
 exposed themselves to such bitter criticism, though, 
 even if we admit that their efforts were premature, it 
 is none the less clear that events have proved the 
 accuracy of their presage. This battle of the routes 
 was summed up, concisely enough, in a letter that 
 Watson received from Sir Samuel Baker : 
 
 " HOTEL METROPOLE, LONDON, 
 
 " May 17, 1888. 
 ' MY DEAR WATSON, 
 
 ' It was kind of you to send me your interest- 
 ing paper. . . . You and I quite agree, as I have 
 always advocated the Suakin-Nile route, instead of 
 the preposterous journey of 1,400 or 1,500 miles from 
 Khartum to Alexandria. 
 
 :< Transport must always be in a proportionate rate 
 to mileage, and each break in the journey entails 
 labour, damage, and expense. 
 
 ' The day will arrive when the Sudan will once 
 more be reopened, but it will never succeed, unless 
 under European administration. . . . 
 
 " Sincerely yours, 
 
 " SAMUEL BAKER." 
 
 13 
 
1 86 EGYPTIAN POLITICS [CH. x 
 
 An article in the Edinburgh Review (vol. clxxv.) of 
 January i, 1892, contains much valuable and sagacious 
 comment on the difficult question of the treatment of 
 the Sudanese tribes at this crisis, and is particularly 
 illuminating on the question of the Gordon- Warren- 
 Watson policy. After exposing the terrible nature 
 of the evils that had run riot in the Sudan like foul 
 weeds through the prosecution of the " forcible-feeble 
 military "* policy which had hitherto been followed, 
 the writer proceeds : 
 
 " On February 8, 1886, Colonel Sir Charles Warren 
 arrived at Suakin. Fresh from South Africa, where 
 he had solved a difficult problem without bloodshed, 
 known as wholly indifferent to the inducements to 
 provoke fighting which too frequently influence 
 smaller men, and possessing a varied experience in 
 dealing with semi-civilized peoples, the new Governor- 
 General was exactly fitted to his post. An immediate 
 change for the better followed ,t and Sir C. Warren was 
 rapidly winning the confidence of the people when, 
 unfortunately for the Sudan, he was recalled to 
 London. His successor, Major Watson, in a memor- 
 andum of April 6, 1886, had previously indicated the 
 outlines of a rational and humane policy : 
 
 " If the Government were to declare that the 
 war was at an end, and to reopen trade, it is 
 possible that after a time the country would 
 settle down. . . . Had he (Sir C. Warren) 
 remained, he might have succeeded in pacifying 
 the country, as he had begun to inspire con- 
 
 * From " The Fate of the Sudan," a review which was printed 
 at p. 232, etc., in the Edinburgh Review of January, 1892, and/ 
 which took the form of expert comment upon two recently pub- 
 lished books on the Sudan (i) " Mahdiism and the Egyptian 
 Sudan," by Major F. R. Wingate; (2) " The Ruin of the Sudan," 
 by Henry Russell and William Gattie, London, 1892. 
 
 f The writer notes that one of Sir C. Warren's first acts was 
 to sweep away the ridiculous and panic-begotten regulation 
 under which every native entering Suakin had a sack placed over 
 his head. 
 
CH. x] SUAKIN 187 
 
 siderable confidence. The constant change of 
 Governors has had a bad effect, and tends to 
 prevent a settlement. It is of the utmost 
 importance now that someone should be* sent to 
 Suakin with full powers to deal with the question 
 and to reopen trade with the natives." 
 
 " Perhaps unfortunately for himself, Major Watson 
 went on to point out that if the policy of reopening 
 trade were adopted, a considerable decrease of the 
 garrison of Suakin could be effected. 
 
 11 Towards this end he devoted himself, personally 
 interviewing the local Sheikhs, who proceeded to 
 clear out the dervishes from the country north of 
 Suakin, and subsequently to blockade Osman Digna 
 at Tamai. 
 
 ' Thus, in a short time, the situation was reversed, 
 and Major Watson was even able to send Brewster 
 Bey to Handub, to confer with the Amarar Chiefs. 
 Two ports Rowaya and Sheikh Barghut* were 
 opened for trade. All the prospects were hopeful. 
 
 " At this moment Major Watson was recalled with- 
 out reason assigned, and the enquiry which he at 
 once demanded was refused. 
 
 ' Motives frequently baffle analysis ; but in this 
 case they can be brought within narrow limits. 
 Either it was considered desirable that a running 
 sore should be maintained at Suakin for obvious 
 political and commercial reasons, or a section of the 
 military party at Cairo viewed a practicable reduction 
 of the Egyptian Army with disfavour, and regarded 
 Suakin as an available field for its military energies 
 and a possible source of distinctions. 
 
 " No other explanations can be suggested for a 
 change of Governors at a time when the whole outlook 
 was peaceful. "f 
 
 The writer proceeds to speak of the reversal of Major 
 Watson's policy which followed his departure, and 
 
 * About 30 miles north of Suakin. 
 
 t For a not less clearly considered and statesmanlike summary 
 of the points at issue, see Appendix B a reprint of an article 
 which appeared in The Times of October 9, 1886. 
 
i88 EGYPTIAN POLITICS [CH. x 
 
 of the long train of calamities which consequently 
 ensued, and which he sums up as being due (p. 264) 
 to an unconciliatory policy, defined, in precise terms, 
 as a " narrow militarism." 
 
 In connection with these general political questions, 
 A. B. Wylde, Watson's Agent, and at the same time 
 an authority of almost unrivalled experience of the 
 Sudan, comments significantly in a letter to Watson 
 of April 8, 1888, upon " the wishes of a party in 
 Egypt to reconquer the Sudan for Eg}rpt." 
 
 " As long as I live I shall fight against this policy; 
 not that I think it altogether an impossible one if 
 carried out by English officers and black troops and 
 English officials put in charge, but what certainty 
 is there that Englishmen will have the upper hand in 
 Egypt for ever ; and it is certain that if we leave and 
 the Egyptians come into possession of a tranquil 
 Sudan, they would immediately lose it again by their 
 maladministration. . . . 
 
 " Protect the coast, pacify it with trade, and get 
 those tribes who are at present leading a nomad life 
 to return to their cultivation, and they will settle 
 down, and, with a little help from us, be able to protect 
 their property against any combination that may be 
 brought against them. 
 
 " I am sure if affairs were left in the hands of four 
 or five people who know the Sudan fairly well say, 
 yourself, Brewster, Cameron, Lupton, as soon as he 
 gets away, and myself that we should have the Sudan 
 quiet in no time and all the tribes willing to do what 
 we asked them, with the exception of the bad char- 
 acters, Baggaras and Dongola people, who are nearly 
 all slave-dealers. I do not mean the inhabitants of 
 the province, but those who have migrated into it 
 and live anywhere in the Sudan." 
 
 From a letter of Wylde to Watson, dated April 30, 
 1888 (from Chiswick): 
 
 " Lord Salisbury is dead against the present 
 policy, and will back us." 
 
CH. x] SUAKIN 189 
 
 From a letter of Wylde's to Watson, dated April 27, 
 1889: 
 
 11 Intimately as I am acquainted with the natives 
 of the Eastern Sudan, who for many years have looked 
 upon me as their friend, and have confided in me ever 
 since the troubles commenced in 1883, I have been 
 able to judge from them the effect of the policy 
 pursued by the different Governor-Generals at Suakin, 
 and I must say that your policy, which was the same 
 as Sir C. Warren's, differed materially from that 
 which was carried on after your departure." 
 
 It now only remains to consider the circumstances 
 of Watson's resignation of the Governor-Generalship, 
 and in this connection it may be said at once that 
 the writer has no intention whatever of fanning the 
 embers of an ancient and long-forgotten controversy. 
 
 He does not believe that any good purpose, or 
 indeed any purpose whatever, is to be served by 
 reopening a discussion which was closed many years 
 since, and all the more so since there is plenty of 
 evidence, apart from this, to prove that (as Warren 
 and others had suggested) Watson was the victim 
 of a local political or politico-military intrigue which 
 was probably a mere repetition or resuscitation of 
 an intrigue that had been carried on against his imme- 
 diate predecessor in the appointment at Suakin, 
 and the causes of which were not really personal 
 either to Watson or Warren. 
 
 It will be sufficient to show that Watson left the 
 court (so to speak) without the smallest stain upon 
 his shield, and that his work had been admittedly 
 in every respect to a signal extent successful. 
 
 It must be explained that the Cairo authorities 
 who appointed Watson (no doubt under military pres- 
 sure) distinctly went back from the first upon their 
 own instructions as to the military command to be 
 given to Watson on his appointment. 
 
190 EGYPTIAN POLITICS [CH. x 
 
 After receiving the altered instructions, Watson 
 was naturally anxious to visit Cairo, in order to ascer- 
 tain what had actually taken place, and as everything 
 was " now perfectly quiet at Suakin " (to use his own 
 words), he formally applied for leave to do so. 
 
 In reply, however, he was requested to remain at 
 Suakin, and shortly afterwards received an intimation 
 that his successor had already been appointed. 
 
 As he had received no hint that anything of the 
 sort was in contemplation, or been given any chance 
 of stating his case, or, indeed, even been told that 
 there was any case for him to state, this information 
 left Watson no alternative but to resign, and he 
 therefore promptly tendered his resignation to H.H. 
 the Khedive, who replied that he accepted it with 
 regret. Thus terminated Watson's invaluable con- 
 nection with Suakin. 
 
 On reaching Cairo, Watson called on General 
 Stephenson, who expressed himself as " very much 
 pleased with the work done about the peace policy," 
 but " could otherwise give no assistance." He also 
 called on General Campbell, Sir H. D. Wolff, and 
 others, but completely failed to discover the sources 
 of the intrigue, beyond a vague statement that the 
 matter had been " arranged in London." 
 
 On this Watson proceeded to England, and reached 
 London on October 22, 1886, where he set about 
 enquiry concerning the copy of his letter, which 
 Sir H. D. Wolff had transmitted to the Foreign Office, 
 and eventually discovered that it was still under 
 consideration at the War Office. 
 
 On January 4, 1887, ne received from H.R.H. the 
 Duke of Cambridge, as Field-Marshal Commanding- 
 in-Chief, an extract from an Egyptian Army Order 
 (No. 1718 of November 29, 1886), expressing the 
 Khedive's recognition of his (El-lewa) services in 
 the Egyptian Army, and on January 5 he saw the 
 
CH. x] DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE 191 
 
 Duke, Sir George Harman being present. The Duke 
 said to Harman, " What is it all about ?" and Harman 
 replied, " The truth is that Major Watson has written 
 a letter to which it is very difficult to reply." 
 
 The Duke then asked Watson to tell him the whole 
 story, and when he had finished, remarked that he had 
 been " very badly treated," and that he " must and 
 should have an answer." Watson replied that that 
 was " all that he wanted." If he had done wrong, he 
 " wished to be told what he had done and to be given 
 the opportunity of explaining," but " at present he 
 had been told nothing, and did not therefore know 
 whether it was supposed that he had done something 
 he ought not to have done." 
 
 The Duke concluded by saying that he would see 
 to it himself (says Watson), " and that I must and 
 should have a reply." 
 
 Meanwhile, on January 15, 1887, ten days after 
 this interview, a letter reached Watson from the 
 Foreign Office, over Lord Salisbury's signature, in 
 which it was stated that " upon the recommendation 
 of the late Earl of Iddesleigh," the Queen had been 
 pleased to approve of his being appointed a " Com- 
 panion of the most distinguished Order of St . Michael 
 and St. George, in recognition of services rendered by 
 you in Egypt."* 
 
 Having received no answer from the War Office, 
 after waiting about a month, Watson wrote to Sir 
 Lothian Nicholson, Inspector-General of Fortifications, 
 and " pointed out to him how unsatisfactory it was 
 that no answer was sent to my letter, especially after 
 the promise that the Duke of Cambridge had given 
 him." 
 
 He added that he looked to him (Sir Lothian), as 
 Head of the Corps, and of course would be guided by 
 
 * Watson was invested by the Queen at Windsor Castle on 
 March 14, 1887. 
 
i 9 2 EGYPTIAN POLITICS [CH. x 
 
 his opinion. A few days later, on hearing from Sir 
 Lothian, Watson went to see him, and once more 
 strongly pressed his claim to be heard . 
 
 After much consideration, Sir Lothian replied that 
 1 I repeat my advice to you, to drop and forget the 
 whole business as quickly as you can. . . . No one 
 will ever value you the less for what has happened, and 
 everyone who has heard the story has come to the 
 conclusion that you were the victim of an intrigue." 
 Eventually it was on Sir Lothian's thus reiterated 
 advice that Watson decided not to pursue the matter 
 further. 
 
 Sir Lothian Nicholson's opinion certainly agreed 
 with the generally received opinion of Watson's con- 
 temporaries and friends. It is unnecessary to labour 
 the point, but the following passage in a letter from 
 (Colonel) Elliott Wood, A.A.G., which bears date 
 January 29, 1891, had exactly the same tenor: 
 
 " I think, in spite of your bad treatment, that you 
 may at least have the comfort of knowing how 
 generally it is recognized that you worked unremit- 
 tingly, unselfishly, and ably for the good of Egypt." 
 
 It may be added here that in 1889 an echo of 
 this controversy was momentarily reawakened by a 
 question which arose upon a statement made in a 
 despatch addressed by General Sir F. Grenfell to 
 Sir E. Baring. On May 18, 1889, Watson wrote to 
 his then superior (the Commandant, School of Military 
 Engineering at Chatham), drawing attention to a 
 remark that Major Watson was recalled, " not from 
 political, but from military reasons." 
 
 Considerable correspondence followed, Watson 
 again showing, with unanswerable logic and his 
 customary vigour, the utter baselessness of the 
 suggestion, the matter being again carried forward to 
 the Commander-in-Chief, whose decision, communi- 
 
CH. x] KITCHENER 193 
 
 cated to Watson on July 30, 1889, was to the effect 
 that Major Watson should be informed " that nothing 
 has occurred in his military career which will in- 
 juriously affect his prospects of future advancement 
 in the service." 
 
 Thus happily terminated, with this royally tactful 
 and graceful reply, the whole of this tangled story of 
 the Suakin appointment. 
 
 It seems fair to give Kitchener's own story of his 
 appointment, which is contained in a letter that he 
 wrote to Watson from their mutual club in London in 
 August, 1886: 
 
 " JUNIOR UNITED SERVICE CLUB, 
 " LONDON, S.W., 
 
 " August 10, 1886. 
 " MY DEAR WATSON, 
 
 ' You have probably heard that I am to 
 replace you at Suakin. I am very sorry you should 
 leave, and would never have accepted the billet had 
 my not doing so been of the least service to you. 
 
 ' The way it came about was on my arrival at 
 Suez, old West came on board with a telegram stating 
 H.M. Government wanted to know if I would accept 
 Suakin, and if so to wire to Wolff. 
 
 I asked about you, but could find out nothing, 
 and I felt sure you had resigned, so I wired ' Yes/ 
 and went to Alexandria and saw Wolff. 
 
 ' He then told me, and I said that changed the 
 matter ; but he said if I now refused there was another 
 waiting for the post. 
 
 ' I went up to Cairo and saw General Stephenson, 
 and he told me the same, and that I could do you no 
 good and would do myself much harm by refusing. 
 He also said, what I hope was the case, that he was 
 sure you would see it in the same light. 
 
 :< I came home and saw the D.A.G. on the subject 
 and Sir R. Thompson, and found out an R.A. officer 
 had accepted, if I refused the billet, and would be 
 appointed at once. 
 
 :< I hope you think I have done right, and I know 
 you will never doubt how much rather I would like 
 
i 9 4 EGYPTIAN POLITICS [CH. x 
 
 it if you could remain, supposing you wish to do so. 
 Please write me a line to Cairo. I leave next Tuesday 
 for that place. 
 
 " Yours very truly, 
 
 " H. H. KITCHENER." 
 
 In spite of the extreme delicacy and difficulty of 
 the position in regard to this Sudan appointment, there 
 was no approach whatever to public discussion, still 
 less public dispute, between Watson and Kitchener, 
 such as must have arisen had either of them been a 
 man of lesser calibre. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 LATER OFFICIAL WORK IN ENGLAND 
 (1886-1902) 
 
 AFTER proceeding from Suakin to Cairo, Watson, 
 as we have already seen, went home on leave, visiting 
 Greece and Turkey on the way, and never revisited 
 Egypt. He had completed four years' service in 
 the Egyptian Army, and now for the last sixteen 
 years of his service reverted to Corps employment, 
 having received the C.M.G. and Medjidieh for his 
 services in Egypt and his regimental Majority on 
 April 17, 1886. 
 
 From the beginning of the year he acted as Major* 
 in charge of the R.E. Training Battalion at Chatham, 
 and in April was reappointed to be O.C. of Balloons 
 at Chatham, in his favourite Balloon Department, 
 to the development of which, as we saw in an earlier 
 chapter, he had long ago rendered most conspicuous 
 services, so much so, indeed, that it may safely be 
 said of him that Watson was one of the chief pioneers 
 of early military ballooning in England. 
 
 In September, 1882, he was appointed to take up 
 duty at the War Office in connection with the adminis- 
 tration of the proposed Barrack Loan, which the 
 Government had decided to raise, and during March 
 and April, 1890, he was employed on a mission to 
 Germany, under War Office instructions, to investi- 
 gate and report upon the Barrack System of the 
 
 * His appointment dated from January, 1886. 
 195 
 
196 LATER WORK IN ENGLAND [CH. xi 
 
 German Army, upon which occasion he visited not 
 only Germany, but Austria as well. 
 
 The Barracks Act of 1890, which provided for the 
 raising of a loan of four million one hundred thousand 
 pounds for barrack expenditure, on account of the 
 multitudinous details which required attention if 
 its successful administration was to be ensured, 
 cast a formidable burden of extra work upon the staff 
 at R.E. Headquarters, and in March, 1891, Colonel 
 H. Locock was appointed to be a third JDeputy- 
 Inspector-General, and Major Watson an additional 
 Assistant-Inspect or-General, for the new Barrack 
 Loan Division which was now created. 
 
 But the Act itself, which was intended to make 
 good the most serious admitted defects in the existing 
 system, especially in the large camps, was found to 
 require supplementation, and it was consequently 
 followed by the Military Works Acts of 1897, l8 99> 
 and 1901, which made provision for the erection of 
 the new buildings required by the increase of the Army, 
 as well as by changes in its distribution.* 
 
 Hence the total expenditure for which Watson 
 ultimately became responsible was over six million 
 pounds. 
 
 In April, 1896, Colonel Locock was promoted, and 
 Watson succeeded him as Deputy-Inspector-General. 
 This office he continued to hold for the next six years. 
 
 Respecting this period General (or, as he then 
 was, Major) Noel Lake, who as Assistant-Inspector 
 of Fortifications served under and shared the same 
 room with him, has most kindly furnished some 
 valuable memoranda throwing light upon the char- 
 acter of Watson's work as " Deputy." 
 
 General Lake writes : 
 
 * For fuller details see vol. iii. of the " History of the Corps 
 of R.E.'s," which was written by Watson himself, and completed 
 in 1915. 
 
CH. xi] WAR OFFICE 197 
 
 " Our work was the administration of the Barracks 
 Act and the Military Works Loans, involving the 
 handling of an enormous number of papers and the 
 consideration of innumerable questions of finance 
 and details of barrack construction. 
 
 ' There were from time to time unavoidable 
 changes of policy, due to the ever- varying needs of 
 the Army, but no upsetting and recasting of care- 
 fully prepared schemes arising from such changes 
 ever disturbed Colonel Watson's equanimity and 
 serenity of temper. 
 
 ' He was wonderfully quick in grasping ideas, 
 and had great facility of expression both in speaking 
 and in writing. 
 
 ' His reports were always extraordinarily clear, 
 and invariably couched in the best and most readable 
 terms, making them more than ordinarily valuable 
 documents. 
 
 " He wrote with ease and with great rapidity, 
 and it was very rarely he had to correct or alter 
 minutes or drafts of letters and reports." 
 
 General Lake expresses the keenest appreciation 
 of the personal side of his character as a colleague, 
 and regarded him, up to the end of his life, as one of 
 his most valued friends. 
 
 By March 20, 1902, Watson, having completed more 
 than twelve years' continuous service at this work, 
 was retired from the Army under the age clause, 
 and received the C.B. on June 26, 1902, on account 
 of his invaluable services to the War Office. He was 
 invested by the late King Edward at Buckingham 
 Palace on October 24 of the same year. 
 
 It should be noted that the course of Watson's 
 duties during the period under review led him to 
 visit and inspect not only a number of Barrack Loan 
 Works at home, but also many such establishments 
 abroad, ranging from the British naval stations in 
 the Mediterranean (e.g., at Gibraltar and Malta) to 
 the Cape and Halifax and the West Indies. 
 
198 LATER WORK IN ENGLAND [CH. xi 
 
 It was therefore no idle claim that Watson was 
 enabled to put forward, in his criticism of Arnold- 
 Forster's views, that the subject was "one which he 
 had had considerable opportunity of studying care- 
 fully."* 
 
 Watson had received his promotion as Lieutenant- 
 Colonel on October i, 1892, and became Colonel on 
 the corresponding day four years later. 
 
 From first to last he remained (as might be antici- 
 pated) a staunch supporter of the R.E. Corps, at the 
 meetings of which he frequently took an active part 
 in the proceedings. 
 
 For many years he had acted as a member of Council 
 of the R.E. Institute, and not long before his death 
 had been appointed a trustee of the R.E. Widows' 
 and Orphans' Fund. 
 
 One of the greatest of his many services to the 
 Corps was his production of a third volume of the well- 
 known " History of the Corps," thus bringing up to 
 date the first two volumes, which had been written 
 by General Whitworth Porter a most arduous 
 piece of work, not the least valuable part of which 
 consisted of the series of memoirs of past officers of 
 the Corps, amongst whom were Sir J . Lintorn Simmons, 
 Sir John Ardagh, Sir Charles Wilson, and others. 
 
 Watson also contributed many important articles 
 to the R.E. Journal, notably " The United Artillery 
 and Engineer Officers' School at Berlin," which ap- 
 peared on August i, 1890; the article on " Barrack 
 Policy "; and the able reply to Mr. Arnold-Forster, 
 to which allusion has already been made. 
 
 Watson's many personal interests were not dropped, 
 but continued, so far as opportunity allowed, in his 
 civil life, and his services to the nation in this regard 
 by no means ceased to be strenuous, in spite of the 
 close of his more active military career. 
 * Vide R.E. Journal, December, 1907, " Barrack Policy," etc. 
 
CH. xi] NAVIGATION CONGRESSES 199 
 
 He repeatedly represented Great Britain at the 
 International Navigation Congresses which were 
 held at this time, and was nominated by the Board 
 of Trade to be the British Government's delegate at 
 the ninth, tenth, and eleventh meetings of the Congress 
 at Diisseldorf in July, 1902; delegate for that at 
 Milan in September, 1905 ; and again delegate for that 
 at Petrograd (then St. Petersburg), in May, 1908. 
 
 With regard to Watson's work for these Congresses, 
 Major Percy MacMahon, of the Board of Trade, the 
 well-known mathematician, has been so good as to 
 furnish some notes, from which the following account 
 of the work at the Diisseldorf Congress is taken, 
 which will serve to show the important and varied 
 nature of the questions with which Watson had to 
 deal on these occasions. 
 
 Sir C. Watson's colleague at Diisseldorf was Major- 
 General C. S. Hutchinson, C.B., R.E., and at Milan, 
 Professor L. F. Vernon Harcourt ; at Petrograd he was 
 the sole British representative. 
 
 The subjects discussed at Diisseldorf were (i) 
 ' Inland Navigation," (2) " Ocean Navigation, as 
 connected with Inland Navigation." 
 
 Under the first heading came " the relative advan- 
 tage of the different methods of meeting the changes 
 of altitude in canals i.e., locks, vertical elevators, 
 and inclined planes "; the " fixing of rates on inland 
 waterways, as affecting working expenses and interest 
 on capital "; the " depreciation in value of coal and 
 coke due to loading and unloading "; the " construc- 
 tion of dams for the storage of water for navigable 
 waterways "; the " use of electricity for the mechani- 
 cal traction of boats in canals, and the utilization of 
 water stored in time of flood for the purpose "; the 
 " relative advantages of shallow-draft boats, and 
 the results obtained in these with turbines "; " recent 
 improvements in inland navigation in Germany, 
 
200 LATER WORK IN ENGLAND [CH. xi 
 
 Austria, and Russia "; " the flow of water in large 
 
 rivers." 
 
 Under heading (2) came the if relative advantages 
 and cost of construction of iron and wooden lock- 
 gates "; the " use of sea-going barges and the cost 
 of transhipment from sea-barges into sea-going 
 vessels"; the "construction and working of graving 
 locks "; " dredging apparatus and the automatic 
 removal of harbour bars "; " improvement in light- 
 house apparatus, buoys, and beacons "; " practical 
 experience in the working of the Kiel Canal and the 
 St. Petersburg Ship Canal "; " experiments as to the 
 resistance of ships in open water." 
 
 The last subject but one in the list just mentioned 
 is interesting from the point of view of the Great 
 War; it may also be mentioned that the Commission 
 visited the harbour works at Ruhrost and Duisberg, 
 19 miles below Diisseldorf, as well as the Dortmund - 
 Emden Canal (as part of the system of inland naviga- 
 tion between Westphalia and the German Ocean, 
 at Emden in East Friesland). 
 
 On February 6, 1903, Watson was appointed by 
 the Foreign Office to be Secretary to the British Com- 
 mittee for the International Exhibition then about 
 to be held at St. Louis, and on April 23 he was made 
 Secretary to the Royal Commission for the same 
 Exhibition, and paid his first visit of inspection to 
 the Exhibition itself in May. 
 
 Having returned to England, he was appointed 
 British Commissioner - General to the Exhibition in 
 August, and paid his second visit to St. Louis in 
 October-November of the same year. 
 
 In February, 1904, he paid his third visit, during 
 which he travelled through the Southern and Western 
 States and Canada, returning to England in March, 
 1905. 
 
 General Lake, reference to whom has already been 
 
CH. *i ST. LOUIS 201 
 
 made, has recorded that he called on Watson at his 
 office shortly after he had been appointed British 
 Commissioner, and could not help being struck by 
 the general air of order and regularity in every branch 
 of Watson's work. 
 
 His powers of organization had certainly been well 
 tested, since everything connected with this stupen- 
 dous task had to be initiated by himself; nothing had 
 been forgotten, and the arrangements made were 
 working as regularly and smoothly as though they 
 had been in existence for years. 
 
 The fullest account of Watson's work for this 
 Exhibition has been contributed by Captain A. 
 Longden,* at present of the looth Siege Battery, 
 B.E.F., who most kindly wrote in the midst of " a 
 regular bombardment " of the line ! 
 
 " Sir Charles first went to America in 1903 to make 
 the preliminary arrangements and secure a suitable 
 site. . . . 
 
 ' The determined way in which Sir Charles made 
 up his mind where the pavilion should be placed, 
 and held on to the position, was a very amusing and 
 characteristic episode. Keen business Americans, 
 especially chosen for their sharp manner in transact- 
 ing business, surrounded him, and wished to cut 
 down the space on every side to an astounding extent. 
 
 11 Sir Charles, tenacious to the end, asked for a 
 little more, and then a slice in yet another direction, 
 until finally the greatest ' shark ' of all completely 
 gave way and remarked: ' D - it, Colonel ! take 
 what you like, and let's get on with the business !' 
 
 " After endless Committee and Sub-Committee 
 meetings, Sir Charles arrived in America with his 
 staff, early in 1904, to find acres of mud and so-called 
 " roads " crushed and sunken out of all recognition by 
 
 * Mr. Alfred Longden (as he was at the time of the Exhibition) 
 was a lecturer on Art at South Kensington, and had organized the 
 Exhibitions of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society. He was 
 British Representative on Art to the States Exhibition. 
 
 14 
 
202 LATER WORK IN ENGLAND [CH. xi 
 
 the thousands of mules, waggons, and lorries which 
 had passed over them. 
 
 " But under Sir Charles's supervision the British 
 gardeners (second to none at such work, except, 
 perhaps, the Japanese) here caused, in a few weeks, 
 a most gorgeous garden to spring up, with a pavilion 
 in its midst the British headquarters which was an 
 exact copy in every detail of the orangery in Kensing- 
 ton Gardens. 
 
 ' Here, again, Sir Charles's thoroughness caused 
 every room to be perfect in its way (Elizabethan, 
 Georgian, and Queen Anne styles). Thus the pavilion 
 came to be the admiration of all visitors. . . . 
 
 " System was at the root of all his endeavours, 
 and thus his life was crowned with success. . . . 
 
 1 His remarkable foresight resulted in the British 
 section (alone of all the nations) being ready in every 
 detail on the opening day, even to the illustrated 
 catalogue. . . . 
 
 " Finally, when this vast concourse of nations 
 was at an end, the British pavilion . . . having been 
 so splendidly constructed, the Washington University 
 in St . Louis offered to purchase it for a large sum for 
 conversion into club premises. 
 
 ' When Sir Charles returned to England he was 
 busily engaged for months in collecting data from 
 the numerous authorities in the many sections under 
 his control (Art, Education, Social Economy, Elec- 
 tricity, Liberal Arts, Manufactures, Mines, Metallurgy, 
 Transportation, Horticulture, Agriculture, Forestry, 
 Fish, Game, Sport, etc.) for the very full Report 
 which he prepared for the Royal Commission. . . . 
 
 [l Not only exhibitors, but collaborators lodged 
 complaints, because they were not among the 678 
 successful competitors (!), but hardly a single visitor 
 left Sir Charles's office without a look of satisfaction, 
 as if he had at least got something for his visit, and 
 that something was a kindly smile, a little good advice, 
 a certain something very hard to explain, which 
 filled them with pleasure at having met the man 
 whom a few minutes previously they had visited in 
 order to fight ! 
 
 ' He always opened all letters himself, and thus 
 knew more about the work as a whole ^than anyone. 
 
CH. xi] ST. LOUIS 203 
 
 " He would never be dictated to, and he (as far as 
 I know), though new at this particular work, never 
 made a mistake !" 
 
 It will be clear from the foregoing account that 
 Watson's work in organizing the British Section of 
 the Exhibition, though brilliantly successful, had 
 been extremely onerous, and although the work had 
 been of the kind that he loved, he received no more 
 than his due when he was knighted* on June 30, 1905, 
 in recognition of his distinguished services to the 
 nation as British representative at this Exhibition. 
 
 The success of Watson's organization at the St. 
 Louis Exhibition led soon afterwards to work of a 
 similar nature in connection with the Franco-British 
 Exhibition of 1908. 
 
 On July 5, 1907, he was elected a member of the 
 Science Committee and also of the Geographical 
 Sub-Committee, which had been appointed with a 
 view to the opening of the Franco-British Exhibition 
 in the following year. 
 
 Among Watson's colleagues on the Sub-Committee 
 on this occasion was the famous geographer, Sir 
 Thomas Holdich, who in writing to Watson on the 
 news of his appointment remarked (October, 1907): 
 
 I see you have been made a member of the Sub- 
 Committee which deals with the Geographical Section 
 of the Franco-British Exhibition. You are the very 
 man we want;" and proceeded to suggest forthwith 
 that Watson should be convener of the meetings, 
 on the ground that none of the other members had 
 had " anything like your experience in exhibition 
 business." 
 
 Apart from his regular official, and also from what 
 may be called his semi-official duties (such as those 
 
 * He was created a K.C.M.G. by the late King Edward VII., 
 at Buckingham Palace. 
 
204 LATER WORK IN ENGLAND [CH. xi 
 
 just mentioned), Watson's most important effort to 
 serve his country was undoubtedly the heavy spade- 
 work that he performed in the interests of the National 
 Service idea, of which he was, from the first, a most 
 zealous advocate. 
 
 In September, 1894, he was appointed to attend, 
 as British Military Representative, the autumn 
 manoeuvres of the Swiss Army, and the experience 
 that he there gained inspired him completely with 
 the idea that the Swiss military system offered by 
 far the best model for the solution of the problem 
 of organizing our own Home Defence Forces. 
 
 In April, 1903, he had lectured before the National 
 Service League at the Society of Arts, Admiral Sir N. 
 Bowden-Smith being in the chair on that occasion. 
 
 In April, 1909, he revised his lecture, which was 
 published by Messrs. Hugh Rees, Ltd., of Pall Mall, 
 in the following month. This important article 
 contained a reasoned statement of the case for Univer- 
 sal Service, as well as a brief summary of the prin- 
 cipal objections to which it was exposed. 
 
 In the light of war experience the paper possesses 
 an unexpected interest, since its forecast of the future 
 would appear to have been singularly justified, in 
 respect of its arguments, by the grave course of events 
 that have happened since it was written.* 
 
 On the other hand, Watson was far from agreeing 
 with the plan of campaign adopted by the National 
 Service League of that day, although on strictly 
 general principles he had supported the League 
 ever since its foundation. The value of his work 
 on behalf of the general interests of the League was 
 none the less most keenly appreciated and freely 
 
 * A note in Watson's own handwriting, attached to a copy of 
 one of his pamphlets, states that it was originally written in 
 Switzerland in September, 1896, and read and published in the 
 revised form (as stated) in 1909. 
 
CH. xi] NATIONAL SERVICE 205 
 
 acknowledged by the committee, as will' be seen from 
 the following passage taken from a review of his 
 pamphlet on Universal Service which appeared in 
 the Nation in Arms (the organ of the League) in the 
 July issue of the year 1909 : 
 
 " Among the shorter examinations of the whole 
 question which have come under our notice, we have 
 seen none which we can recommend more unreserv- 
 edly than this little pamphlet of thirty pages, which 
 anyone will read through in a quarter of an hour. 
 Whoever does so will certainly be unable to plead 
 ignorance of the case for and against compulsory 
 military training, or be any longer confused^ as to 
 the difference between conscription and universal 
 service. Colonel Sir Charles Watson has written 
 an essay which puts in the simplest and clearest 
 language the advantages of the voluntary system and 
 the arguments against it. He then passes on to an 
 examination of that system of conscription which is 
 so often, and, unfortunately, not always unwittingly, 
 confused with universal service. Colonel Watson, 
 like Professor Seeley, in his ' Life and Times of Stein/ 
 hits the nail on the head in showing that ' in reality 
 an army raised by conscription has, though it may 
 appear a paradox to say so, more points in common 
 with one enlisted on the voluntary system than with 
 one dependent on the principle of universal service.' 
 For both under conscription and under the voluntary 
 system the man who bears the burden cast upon him 
 by the well-to-do citizen who escapes the duty of de- 
 fence and rejoices in the glorious freedom of patriot- 
 ism by proxy, so far from being looked upon with 
 gratitude and admiration by those who benefit by 
 his misfortune, is often looked down upon as a ne'er- 
 do-well, a failure in civil life, a mercenary character 
 who has sold himself to the highest bidder, and de- 
 graded himself by accepting personal service to King 
 and country. As we know, the British soldier has 
 too often been refused admittance to the dignified 
 
 Eortals of a public-house and of a music-hall. Simi- 
 irly, those who live in Belgium and Spain, the only 
 countries where conscription still exists, are aware 
 
206 LATER WORK IN ENGLAND [CH. xi 
 
 of the contempt with which the well-to-do citizen 
 looks down upon the man whom he has bought to take 
 his place in the army. How different is it with 
 universal service, where the uniform is the mark of 
 physical efficiency and the voucher of honourable 
 service to the country, whether it be under the 
 monarchy of Germany, the autocracy of Japan, or 
 the democracy of Switzerland. Another point, which 
 the author brings out most clearly, is that just as 
 the system of universal service has the effect of pro- 
 ducing a good class of non-commissioned officer, so 
 also does it insure the supply of an excellent quality 
 of officer. When every citizen is bound to serve 
 in the army, if fit to do so, it is natural that many 
 young men of the upper and better educated classes 
 prefer to fulfil their military duty as officers rather 
 than in the lower ranks ; and as the number of these 
 is usually greater than there are commissions avail- 
 able, there is considerable competition for appoint- 
 ments, which leads to the selection of the fittest. 
 
 " We should like to quote further from this valuable 
 pamphlet ; but the fact is that it is so closely reasoned 
 and so packed with common sense that every line 
 carries conviction." 
 
 His strenuous advocacy of universal military service 
 would appear to have been inspired by anticipation 
 of the great war with Germany. 
 
 At the outbreak of war he observed (August 7, 1914), 
 in a letter addressed to the present writer : 
 
 " To me it seems rather curious that people regard 
 the action of Austria and Germany as something new, 
 whereas when we were at Salonica in 1891 people 
 were talking of how soon Austria would fight with 
 Serbia, in order to get hold of the line from Belgrade 
 to Salonica, and for years past Germany has been 
 working at the great military station of Elsenborn, 
 which was to form the base of the march across Bel- 
 gium to France. . . . 
 
 " Our war with Germany was bound to come, and 
 perhaps the present conditions are as good as could 
 be hoped for. But it will be a hard struggle, as it 
 means*life or death to Germany." 
 
CH. xi] WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 207 
 
 Yet another problem of national importance to 
 which Watson devoted much labour and research 
 although in this case his researches led him to take 
 what must perhaps be regarded as the less progressive, 
 if not the less popular view was the question of 
 introducing the Metric system. It may well have 
 been Watson's professional familiarity with the 
 actual use of weights and measures, coupled with 
 his keen historical sense and the general archseolo- 
 gizing tendency of his mind, that led him to take a 
 more than ordinary interest in that subject. More 
 than one of his papers contributed to the Quarterly 
 Statement and other archaeological journals dealt 
 with ancient weights and measures, and in 1910 he 
 published through Mr. Murray an excellent and 
 readable little study of a branch of this subject 
 called " British Weights and Measures as described 
 in the Laws of England from Anglo-Saxon Times." 
 The exhaustive enquiry that he had made into this 
 subject had caused him to become an extremely 
 ardent opponent of the Metric system, which he 
 held to be far inferior to the Duodecimal system on 
 which so many British and American weights and 
 measures are based. He certainly made a strong 
 and vigorous stand against the compulsory intro- 
 duction of the proposed new system. Its defects, 
 indeed, he was an adept in exposing, and a lecture 
 of his on the subject before the Society of Arts in 
 December, 1906, won the award of the Society's 
 Silver Medal in November of the following year.* 
 
 In 1911 he contributed to Whitaker's Almanack 
 the article which appeared in that year's issue on the 
 subject of weights and measures. 
 
 Among the many less prominent public services 
 rendered by Watson to the country may be mentioned 
 
 * Cf. " Decimal Money," by Colonel Sir C. M. Watson, K.C.M.G., 
 C.B., in /. R. Soc. Arts, No. 2902, vol. Ivi., of July 3, 1908* 
 
208 LATER WORK IN ENGLAND [CH. xi 
 
 his work on behalf of the British Association for the 
 advancement of Science, and also, perhaps, that on 
 behalf of the London Topographical Society. 
 
 With regard to the former, he was chosen to be 
 Vice-President of the Engineering Section of the 
 Association, when it met at Winnipeg in August- 
 September, 1909. 
 
 Three years later, at the Dundee meeting in 1912, 
 he was elected President of the Geographical Section, 
 and delivered an important address on that occasion. 
 
 In March, 1914, he was invited to become a member 
 of Council of the London Topographical Society. 
 Interest in London's past was, indeed, an abiding 
 passion with him, and " Old London " became in 
 fact one of the regular topics upon which he lectured. 
 
 Characteristically, he compiled an extraordinarily 
 elaborate and detailed list of the old city churches, 
 and took a prominent part in the movement to pre- 
 serve the Church of St. Bartholomew the Great. 
 
 The remarkable catholicity of Watson's interest 
 in archaeological enquiry is well illustrated by a letter 
 which he wrote in July, 1910, to a friend with regard 
 to the " origin of shot." 
 
 This letter, which tells its own story, ran as follows : 
 
 " 16, WILTON CRESCENT, S.W., 
 "July 15, 1910. 
 
 1 DEAR CUMING, 
 
 " Do you remember our talk about the history 
 of shot ? Did you ever get any forwarder ? A friend 
 has just sent me the enclosed list of the present standard 
 sizes, but they probably differ somewhat from the 
 old standards. 
 
 ' Do you know the meaning of the small letters ? 
 Was 's.g.' originally short for slug ? I could suppose 
 that *b.' might have stood for buckshot; but if so, 
 what is ' a ' ? 
 
 1 There is another point which bears on the question. 
 I presume a i2-bore gun meant a gun for which 12 
 
CH. xi] GUNNERY 209 
 
 round lead balls weighed i pound. But then one is 
 brought up by the question as to which pound. 
 Was it the troy pound of 12 ounces or the pound of 
 15 troy ounces by which lead was weighed in the 
 time of King Edward I. or the later pound of 16 troy 
 ounces, or the avoirdupois pound of the time of 
 Queen Elizabeth ? It seems probable that the original 
 charge of shot used would have been the same in 
 weight as the original bullet, as the first step would 
 have been to cut them up into slugs. 
 
 ( The present usual shot charge for a i2-bore gun 
 is i J ounces (is it not ?), or 492 grains. This looks 
 as if it was originally 480 grains, or i troy ounce. If 
 this was the weight of the original 12-bore bullet, 
 then, if the latter was cut into eight slugs, a very 
 natural division, they would have weighed on the 
 average 60 grains, which does not differ much (as 
 you will see from the table) from the present weight 
 of one 8.9 shot. 
 
 " The matter is very interesting, but, so far as I 
 am concerned, wrapped in obscurity." 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE " CALL OF THE EAST " 
 (1905-1916) 
 
 ALTHOUGH Watson had left Egypt in 1885, never to 
 return, there is ample proof that the fortunes of that 
 country, and still more (if possible) those of its great 
 Dependency the Sudan, constantly remained in the 
 forefront of his thoughts, and occupied a place very 
 near to his heart. 
 
 It will be sufficient to mention as evidence of the 
 abiding influence upon his mind of this " Call of the 
 East," first, his great desire to return to serve in 
 Africa (this time even though in East Africa); and, 
 secondly, the zeal with which he continued to take 
 part in the discussions of Egyptian policy which were 
 perpetually debated at this time in the public Press. 
 To these we may add, thirdly, the interest and zeal, 
 almost amounting to fanaticism, that he displayed 
 in travel and geographical work of all kinds, but 
 especially in connection with what is known as the 
 Near East, and above all in the Holy Land itself, 
 in which since 1891 his interest became more and more 
 deeply engaged. A fourth piece of evidence was his 
 advocacy of a school of Oriental study. 
 
 Of the negotiations which all but resulted in 
 Watson's taking up service in East Africa, the follow- 
 ing interesting particulars may be given. 
 
 So far was Watson's Governor-Generalship at 
 Suakin from being regarded as a failure that, but a 
 
 210 
 
CH. xn] EAST AFRICA 211 
 
 few months afterwards (in 1888), he was sounded as 
 to his willingness to accept the post of Chief Adminis- 
 trator of the British East African Company's terri- 
 tories on the mainland behind Zanzibar. It was 
 considered that his known friendliness towards 
 natives and capacity for managing them made him 
 specially suitable for this new and difficult work in 
 East Africa. He was himself attracted by the pro- 
 posal, largely because he thought it could help his 
 favourite project, the opening up of the Sudan, as 
 he had often talked it over with Gordon, who " never 
 lost his interest in that way ' i.e., of opening up 
 that part of the country. But he wrote to Sir R. 
 Murdoch Smith that he had never asked for anything 
 yet, and would not do so now. He was warmly 
 supported, however, by Sir C. Euan Smith, Sir W. 
 Mackinnon, and Mr. George Mackenzie Lord 
 Wolseley had no objection to lending him for the 
 purpose and he would undoubtedly have been 
 appointed, had he been prepared to accept the con- 
 ditions. 
 
 We have already given some of the proofs of 
 Watson's skilful handling of questions of Egyptian 
 (and Sudanese) policy, but one special phase of such 
 discussions viz., the defence of his friends against 
 attack may be illustrated here as calling forth all 
 his feelings of personal loyalty. 
 
 There is certainly no doubt that the Bayard-like 
 task of championing any or every friend in difficulties 
 was peculiarly acceptable to his chivalrous nature, 
 especially when as too often happened on those 
 occasions an attempt was made to traduce men 
 like Gordon aitd Sir Charles Wilson, who had only, 
 in Sir Henry Lawrence's simple but effective phrase 
 (a favourite expression of Watson's), " tried to do 
 their duty." 
 
 The most brilliant examples of Watson's intrepid 
 
212 THE " CALL OF THE EAST ' [CH. xn 
 
 tourneying in such matters are supplied by the battles 
 that he fought on behalf of Gordon's memory (and 
 incidentally for the promotion of Gordon's officers 
 and the honouring of his notes* after the fall of 
 Khartum), for his great friend Sir Charles Wilson 
 during the attempts that were made to fasten upon 
 him the responsibility for the failure of the Gordon 
 Relief Expedition, and for the Sudan itself and its 
 inhabitants in general, on all and sundry occasions. 
 
 During the attempt to make a scapegoat of Wilson, 
 Watson fearlessly challenged all comers in support 
 of his friend, and succeeded in unhorsing in succession 
 each assailant who crossed spears with him, for to his 
 many other talents he added that of being a most 
 doughty and formidable controversialist. 
 
 In an article written for the R.E. Journal in May, 
 1908,1 he remarked, after stating the evidence in a 
 masterly summary of the real position, that 
 
 " all the evidence available proves quite conclusively 
 that the town [Khartum] was taken, not for want of 
 soldiers or of ammunition, nor by treacher}^, as some 
 people tried to make out, but for the simple reason 
 that the garrison and inhabitants were absolutely 
 starved, and the soldiers were unable to make any 
 resistance. . . . The last issue of rations was made 
 about January 4. ... 
 
 " Soon all that had been collected in the Commis- 
 sariat was finished, and then the inhabitants and the 
 soldiers had to eat dogs, donkeys, skins of animals, 
 gum, and palm-fibre, and famine prevailed. 
 
 " The soldiers stood on the fortifications like pieces 
 of wood. The civilians were even worse off ... 
 corpses filled the streets; no one even had energy to 
 bury them. 
 
 * It may seem incredible that Gordon's notes, issued in Khar- 
 tum, should ever have been dishonoured by the Government when 
 they were presented for payment, but there is, unfortunately, 
 proof that such was the case. 
 
 t " Lord Cromer and Sir Charles Wilson," by Colonel Sir C. M. 
 Watson, K.C.M.G., C.B., late R.E. 
 
CH. xn] GORDON'S DEATH 213 
 
 ' Yet Gordon made the place hold out for three 
 weeks longer ! 
 
 "... It would have made no difference if the 
 steamers had left Gubat three days earlier; Khartum 
 would have fallen three days sooner, that is all. The 
 game was played out before the British troops reached 
 Gubat, and after January 20 nothing could have saved 
 the town. 
 
 ' The Expedition failed because it started too late, 
 and took too long on the road to Gubat." 
 
 It would hardly pay to argue with an antagonist 
 who could demolish his opponents with a simple 
 recital of such facts as these. 
 
 We have now to deal with Watson's work as a 
 geographer, which included many valuable contribu- 
 tions to that science. 
 
 He was a member of the Royal Geographical 
 Society for more than thirty years, having been elected 
 a Fellow in 1875. In June, 1893, an d again in May, 
 1912, he was elected as a member of the Society's 
 Council. In November, 1894, he delivered a valuable 
 address on the work of the Palestine Exploration 
 Fund before the Manchester Geographical Society 
 in the Memorial Hall at Manchester. 
 
 In July, 1908, he attended the International 
 Geographical Congress at Geneva, on behalf of the 
 Palestine Exploration Fund. 
 
 In September, 1912, came the Dundee meeting of 
 the British Association, at which Watson (who, as 
 already stated, had been elected President of the 
 Geographical Section) gave a very important address 
 on the subject of Eastern Exploration. 
 
 In November he was elected an honorary corre- 
 sponding member of the Geographical Society of 
 Geneva. 
 
 In 1913 he visited Belgium, and was elected an 
 honorary member of the Royal Geographical Society 
 
2i 4 THE " CALL OF THE EAST' [CH. xn 
 
 of Antwerp, before whom he read one of his most 
 useful papers on the work of the Palestine Exploration 
 Fund. 
 
 It has already been stated that Watson was an 
 inveterate traveller, and/ apart from his service in 
 Egypt and the Sudan, and his official visits of inspec- 
 tion to military stations at home and abroad, had 
 travelled extensively in almost every country of 
 Europe, as well as in Turkey and Palestine, Canada 
 and the United States. 
 
 It is characteristic that in connection with tjiese 
 most extensive journeys, with their annual recurrence, 
 he kept a most complete and methodical record 
 of his expenses, showing to a penny the cost 
 of his travels, in every country through which he 
 passed. 
 
 General Lake has recorded that during his annual 
 holiday, which was regularly spent in travel, he 
 indulged in one of his favourite hobbies photography. 
 
 " He was in this, as in all other things, careful, 
 methodical, and successful, and his camera was 
 instrumental in providing innumerable illustrations 
 of his many journeys about the world." 
 
 Before leaving the subject of Watson's travels it 
 will perhaps not be out of place to quote the answer 
 made by Watson to a charge (made by one of his 
 friends) that in the course of his travels he had not 
 devoted to his own country the attention that it 
 deserved. His reply ran as follows : 
 
 " 16, WILTON CRESCENT, S.W., 
 " June 20, 1913. 
 
 " I was rather amused at your criticism that I had 
 neglected the United Kingdom in my wanderings, 
 because it is really not founded on fact. 
 
 ' Independently of private travelling in these 
 little Islands, of which I have done a good deal, there 
 
CH.XII] PALESTINE EXPLORATION 215 
 
 were three epochs when duty necessitated it (i) 
 When I was A.D.C. to Simmons and had to go about 
 with him on inspection; (2) when I was in the War 
 Office, and visited nearly every barrack in Great 
 Britain and Ireland; and (3) in connection with the 
 St. Louis Exhibition, when I had a good deal of 
 travelling in the manufacturing districts. ... 
 
 " As you say, I have had, and have, a very interest- 
 ing life, but, as you know, the world is a very interest- 
 ing place, if you keep your eyes open. It rather 
 annoys me when I hear men who have retired from 
 the Army complain that they have nothing to do. 
 There is plenty for everyone to do, if they would only 
 do it !" 
 
 We have now reached Watson's chief personal 
 interest* outside the circle of subjects more or less 
 directly connected with his actual work, which un- 
 doubtedly centred in the operations of the Palestine 
 Exploration Fund, the Executive Committee of 
 which he was invited to join in July, 1890. 
 
 In 1891 he paid his first visit to Palestine, where 
 he spent the greater part of three months, from 
 February to April. 
 
 Five years later he became Chairman of the Fund, 
 in succession to his great and intimate friend Sir 
 Charles Wilson, and he was still holding that office 
 when he died. 
 
 In 1915, when Watson had just completed his 
 tenth year of work as Chairman, there occurred the 
 fiftieth anniversary of the Fund's entrance upon its 
 operations in the Holy Land . 
 
 To celebrate this occasion he prepared a " Record 
 of the Surveys, Excavations, and Researches " for 
 which the Fund had been responsible, and this 
 " Record, ' f Watson's most important contribution 
 
 * Mr. J. D. Grace, in a letter dated June 8, 1916, after a warm 
 tribute to the work accomplished by Watson in aid of the Fund, 
 remarks that his general " relation to the Palestine Exploration 
 Fund has been that of one who made it his chief or only interest.' 
 
216 THE " CALL OF THE EAST " [CH. xn 
 
 to the Society's output,* was published under the 
 title of " Fifty Years' Work in the Holy Land: a 
 Record and a Summary," in which he incorporated, 
 with extensive revisions and supplementations, Sir 
 Walter Besant's " Thirty Years' Work in the Holy 
 Land,"t which Besant had compiled during his 
 Secretaryship of the Fund, ten years before Watson 
 became Chairman. 
 
 This revised account, which, fitly enough, crowned 
 Watson's successful work for the Fund, was completed 
 by him in 1915, but a few months before his death. 
 
 The importance, significance, and interest of the 
 work accomplished by the Fund during the period 
 for which Watson acted as its Chairman will be seen 
 from the account of his tenure of that office which 
 appeared in the Journal of the Royal Geographical 
 Society in May, 1916, over the signature of Professor 
 L.W. King himself a member of the Executive Council 
 who remarks that from 1905 (when Watson became 
 Chairman of the Executive Committee) until his 
 death he 
 
 11 took a leading part in organizing British excavation 
 in Palestine. 
 
 " The Fund had already conducted excavations 
 at Tel Jezer, the site of the Canaanite city of Gezar, 
 which was still a strong fortress in Maccabean times 
 and continued to be a place of importance after the 
 occupation of Palestine by the Crusaders. 
 
 * For Watson's book on " Jerusalem " (published in Dent's 
 " Medieval Towns " Series) vide infra, p. 219. 
 
 f This " Thirty Years' Record," by Sir W. Besant, was itself 
 an enlargement of his earlier " Twenty-one Years' Work in the 
 Holy Land," which was written in 1886. The chief additions 
 in Watson's " Fifty Years' " volume, as compiled from Sir W. 
 Besant's " Thirty Years' Record," included " Further Explora- 
 tions at Jerusalem "; " Excavations on Tel-el- Jezar " (the modern 
 Jezer) and other " Tels " or "Mounds"; "Excavations at Beth- 
 Shemesh "; " Survey of Southern Palestine "; and the well-known 
 " Palestine Pilgrims' Texts." 
 
CH.XII] PALESTINE EXPLORATION 217 
 
 " . . . The most interesting find . . . was an early 
 Canaanite castle, built long "anterior to the Hebrew 
 occupation, probably at the time of the first coloni- 
 zation of the country by the Western Semites ; it 
 was furnished with a remarkable rock-tunnel leading 
 by a flight of steps to an underground spring which 
 served as the citadel's water-supply. 
 
 ' The success of the Fund's work upon this site, 
 and the monumental publication of the results, owed 
 much to its Chairman's energy and enthusiasm. 
 A further important excavation was made in 1911-12 
 in another South Palestinian mound, Ain Shems, the 
 site of Beth Shemesh, a city successively occupied 
 by Canaanites, Philistines, and Hebrews. 1 
 
 " Here the pottery of the Philistine stratum proved 
 of exceptional interest, for it was found to bear a 
 strong resemblance to ^Egean fabrics, and supported 
 the view that the Philistines were a people who had 
 come from oversea. It is gratifying to recall that 
 Sir Charles Watson lived to see the completion of 
 the Fund's great survey of Palestine. 
 
 ' The Southern Section, up to the Egyptian border, 
 was brought to a successful conclusion shortly before 
 the War, and though the maps, for obvious reasons, 
 have not yet been published, the archaeological 
 results were issued as the annual volume for 1914-15." 
 
 Mr. J. D. Crace, F.S.A., Hon. Secretary of the Fund, 
 has been good enough to supply the following notes 
 with regard to Watson's work for that Society: 
 
 11 Sir Charles Watson was elected Chairman in 
 1906, and from the first gave the closest attention 
 to the affairs of the Society, both generally and in 
 detail. 
 
 " As time went on, this attention increased, and he 
 made himself acquainted with an extensile Palestine 
 literature and became a constant consulter of the 
 Society's Library, his linguistic knowledge proving 
 of great service. He closely studied personally the 
 many topographical problems ; was always ready to 
 discuss them impartially and dispassionately; and 
 during his later visits to Palestine always looked into 
 the arguments on the spot. 
 
 15 
 
2i 8 THE " CALL OF THE EAST ' [CH. xn 
 
 ' Probably no one who survives him has so good 
 a knowledge of many of these questions certainly 
 I know none who could listen so patiently to a con- 
 trary opinion. 
 
 1 In many respects he was (as he has been called) 
 an ideal Chairman. In manner kindly and cordial, 
 he combined the simplicity and modesty of an English 
 officer with the fine courtesy of a real Irish gentleman ; 
 he always gave an adversary credit for sincerity. 
 
 " Needless to say that his love of order and method 
 were apparent in all his office work, and soon affected 
 all who worked under him. 
 
 1 What has always been a mystery to me was his 
 ability to put aside all other interests for the one in 
 hand. The amount of reading and labour which he 
 devoted to the Palestine Exploration Fund would 
 have sufficed to fill the time of any ordinary man. 
 
 " It was here, probably, that his orderly and metho- 
 dical habit of mind, aided by a clear memory, enabled 
 him to maintain a keen and vivid interest in works 
 quite distinct from one another. Subjects in which 
 mathematics and mensuration were concerned always 
 attracted him. 
 
 " Topography, especially its historical side, whether 
 of Jerusalem or of Old London, found in him a keen 
 student. 
 
 ' When Sir Charles Watson became Chairman 
 it was in succession to the friend whose ' Life ' he 
 wrote, General Sir Charles W. Wilson, who made the 
 first survey of Jerusalem before the actual foundation 
 of the Society. 
 
 1 The Executive Committee has therefore had the 
 advantage of the guidance for a considerable term of 
 years of men whose expert knowledge has been equalled 
 by their modesty and personal courtesy." 
 
 To sum up Watson's connection with the Fund, 
 his indefatigable zeal in its championship was of 
 inestimable service, and his death in 1916 was the 
 calamity described in the Quarterly Statement. 
 
 " During the last ten years " (says this account) 
 " his able guidance, his wide knowledge, and his 
 
CH. xn] JERUSALEM 219 
 
 personal charm, have been invaluable to the Society, 
 and endeared him to all those who in any way shared 
 his work or were brought into frequent contact 
 with him." 
 
 Inseparably linked with the work of the Fund was 
 
 his study of the archaeology of the Holy City, in which 
 
 he took a keen and abiding interest. His " Story 
 
 of Jerusalem/' which appeared in Messrs. Dent's 
 
 ' Medieval Towns " Series, was published in 1912. 
 
 In writing of this book the Athenceum reviewer 
 remarked* that 
 
 11 It would be difficult to name a more competent 
 writer for the subject. 
 
 " As Chairman of the P. E. Fund he is perfectly 
 acquainted with the progress of archaeology in the 
 Holy Land, where brother-officers of his Corps, such 
 as General Sir Charles Warren, the late Sir Charles 
 Wilson, and Colonel Conder, not to mention Lord 
 Kitchener, have worked with signal success. 
 
 ' In writing Wilson's biography and revising his 
 article on Jerusalem in the recent edition of the 
 ' Encyclopaedia Britannica,' Sir C. Watson had 
 occasion to go thoroughly into the many acute con- 
 troversial points with which the classification of 
 sites fairly bristles. 
 
 " He has carefully studied the great work of Dr. 
 George Adam Smith, the publications of the Palestine 
 Pilgrims' Texts Society, and the Quarterly Statements 
 of the Palestine Fund, and read the chief books of 
 travellers from the seventeenth century to the nine- 
 teenth, such as Sandys, Maundsell, R. Pocock, 
 Chateaubriand, and Robinson. . . . [He] makes one 
 1 visualize ' the little twin villages on the western 
 and eastern hills, a thousand years and more before 
 Jerusalem is mentioned in writings, and see the 
 primitive city of David, built probably of wood, 
 little more than a chief's camp, with few civil inhabi- 
 tants. He traces its growth and its many overthrows, 
 and one marvels at its amazing power of recuperation 
 after repeated destruction. 
 
 * No. 4,408 (April 20, 1912), 
 
220 THE " CALL OF THE EAST ' [CH. xn 
 
 ' Had Jerusalem not enjoyed the unique privilege 
 of being a Holy City for three great religions, it could 
 never have rivalled the fabulous phoenix in its resur- 
 rections. . . . We specially commend the admirable 
 plan of Jerusalem appended to the work . . . the 
 index is excellent." 
 
 The reference made by the reviewer to Watson's 
 article in the eleventh edition of the " Encyclopaedia 
 Britannica " in the foregoing passage might well have 
 included Watson's article on the Holy Sepulchre, 
 in addition to his revision of Sir C. Wilson's article 
 on the Holy City itself. 
 
 A twin interest which was very intimately connected 
 with Watson's study of the Holy City was the Order 
 of St. John of Jerusalem, of which he became a 
 Knight of Grace in April, 1892. 
 
 In June, 1906, he was appointed member of the 
 Council of the Order, and three years later became 
 Vice-Chairman of Committee of the British Ophthal- 
 mic Hospital of St. John; in 1912 he was elected 
 Chairman. 
 
 Our last proof of the influence that the " call of 
 the East " exercised upon Watson is founded upon 
 his many years' advocacy of the cause of Oriental 
 scholarship. His services to this cause, though fo- 
 cussed, to some extent, on the work of the Palestine 
 Fund, were by no means narrowly confined to it. 
 For Watson was an excellent linguist, and had in 
 particular as will have appeared from his Egyptian 
 services a knowledge of Arabic, in the colloquial 
 use of which he was especially proficient . 
 
 It was no doubt this personal experience of the 
 vital importance of such colloquial knowledge that 
 led him, so far back as September 20, 1887, to address 
 to Sir F. Abel, as Secretary of the Imperial Institute, 
 his proposals* for establishing a " School of Oriental 
 
 * Vide letter printed in extenso at end of this book. 
 
CH. xn] ORIENTAL LANGUAGES 221 
 
 Languages " as a Branch of the Institute. These 
 proposals, which were among the most far-sighted of 
 his many sagacious forecasts, after a prolonged incu- 
 bation of nearly thirty years, have at last taken shape 
 in the School of Oriental Studies, which was opened 
 by His Majesty King George, accompanied by Her 
 Majesty the Queen and the Princess Mary, on Feb- 
 ruary 23, 1917.* 
 
 In his letter of September, 1887, Watson described 
 what had been done in the way of founding similar 
 institutions on the Continent in Paris, in Vienna, 
 and in Berlin. 
 
 Of the last-mentioned school, which was then on 
 the eve of being opened, he somewhat significantly 
 observed that " It would appear from the comments 
 in the German Press that it is hoped the school will 
 prove of great assistance to German merchants, in 
 enabling them to outdo English rivals in the Eastern 
 trade." Whereas, " although England has greater 
 interests in the East than any other European country, 
 yet for some unexplained reason she is the most 
 behindhand in encouraging the study of modern 
 Oriental languages." 
 
 It is obvious that Watson builded better than 
 even he knew, and that the roots of the imperious 
 necessity which has, though late, called the School 
 of Oriental Studies into being, strike far deeper now 
 than when this passage was penned. Watson's 
 proposals obtained staunch support from his friend 
 Sir Charles Wilson (who wrote, in the spring of 1888, 
 that he " fully agreed with every word of the letter "), 
 from Professor Rhys Davids (representing the R.A.S.), 
 from Sir F. Abel (the Director of the Imperial Insti- 
 tute), from Lord Stanley, from Professor Max Miiller, 
 (who wrote that Watson's paper " contained the 
 
 * A full account of the proceedings is printed in the first 
 number of the Bulletin of the school. 
 
222 THE " CALL OF THE EAST ' [CH. xn 
 
 whole subject in nuce "), from Mr. Charles Wells 
 (the translator to the Foreign Office), and from many 
 other distinguished scholars. Yet the upshot was at 
 first disappointing, the only real progress made for 
 many years consisting in the founding of the Scholar- 
 ships for Oriental Languages at the Imperial Institute. 
 From such small beginnings has arisen, after many 
 years, the School for Oriental Studies, which has its 
 home in the old buildings of " The London Institu- 
 tion " in Finsbury Circus, now considerably enlarged. 
 
 u Of Sir Charles and Lady Watson's unbounded 
 hospitality " (writes General Noel Lake) " all those 
 who had the joy of knowing them could speak with 
 enthusiasm. The Sunday and Thursday ' afternoons ' 
 when Lady Watson was usually ' at Home ' were 
 most enjoyable meetings, and Sir Charles, unlike the 
 vast majority of London men, was almost invariably 
 present, setting an excellent example, which it is a 
 pity is not more widely followed. 
 
 " Sir Charles and Lady Watson, with their wide 
 knowledge of men and things, gathered from exten- 
 sive reading and from travels in almost every part 
 of the world, made a charming host and hostess; 
 they could, moreover, always gather around them 
 a large circle of clever and interesting friends, so that 
 one never left their hospitable roof without feeling 
 better and wiser for the visit." 
 
 Everyone who enjoyed the privilege of attending 
 Lady Watson's "Thursdays" and many delightful 
 little dinners in Thurloe Square, or 16, Wilton Crescent, 
 will gratefully concur in General Lake's words. 
 
 Watson's last illness came suddenly he was only 
 ill three days, with bronchitis he was fully occupied 
 up to the end of his life, and the end came as he 
 would himself have chosen, while he was still full of 
 work and energy. 
 
 He died of heart failure on March 15, 1916. 
 
 In Watson there passed away one of the most 
 
CH. xnj CHARACTER 223 
 
 notable of our Imperial pioneers one who, as has 
 been said, never refused any work that came to his 
 hand, and never asked for favours; a man of such 
 versatility that he always succeeded in the tasks 
 that he undertook, and never botched or bungled 
 them; a man with a sane, clean, manly and hopeful 
 outlook on life, whose only contempt was for weakness 
 of character, and who under an exceptionally quiet 
 and restrained exterior concealed that elemental 
 fire without which no man's nature can be transmuted 
 into tried gold. 
 
 He was indeed, as has been well said of him, a born 
 rebel, but the forces against which his soul revolted 
 were those of disorder and disobedience, of injustice 
 and oppression, of tyranny in all its many forms, 
 of privileged and patronaged self-righteousness in 
 high places. 
 
 Here was, as all who knew him will admit, a man 
 of iron principle, of the highest integrity, of the 
 keenest insight and foresight. 
 
APPENDIX A 
 
 THE following letter to Sir C. Wilson contains the 
 most complete and at the same time the most concen- 
 trated account of Watson's work at Suakin : 
 
 " SUAKIN, 
 
 " June 14, 1886. 
 
 11 MY DEAR SIR CHARLES, 
 
 ' I was very glad to get your letter of May 24. 
 Thanks for your congratulations on my being sent 
 here. I am sure no one knows better than you the 
 difficulties of the work. The Arabs are so puzzled 
 with the constant changes of policy and movements 
 of officials that they find it hard to know what to 
 believe. The principal instruction I received on 
 coming down here was to see what could be done in 
 the way of restoring peace and reopening trade. At 
 the same time as my arrival, the Anglo-Indian garrison 
 was relieved by Egyptian troops. As regards these 
 it was ordered that no active operations of any kind 
 were to be undertaken at Suakin, so that practically 
 they were only a v guard for the town, and had no 
 value as a factor in any negotiation in the country. 
 
 1 When I came here the general situation was as 
 follows : 
 
 " Suakin was held by a garrison strong enough to 
 hold it against any attack, but the influence of which 
 did not extend more than a mile or two from the outer 
 forts. Indeed, even at that distance a small party 
 would have run a considerable risk of being cut off 
 
 224 
 
APP. A] SUAKIN 225 
 
 by the rebel pickets which surrounded the town, 
 just keeping out of range, and occasionally exchanging 
 shots with the cavalry patrols. 
 
 " Osman Digna was at Tamai, with Sheikh Taher, 
 and others of his principal adherents. The force 
 with him was variously estimated at from 1,000 to 
 3,000, but it was believed to be suffering severely 
 from small-pox. 
 
 " Osman had built a fort, and had mounted upon it 
 the brass mountain guns which he had brought from 
 Kassala. The influence he exerted through the 
 country was very considerable, although many of 
 the Arabs had ceased to believe in Mahdism and 
 were tired of the tyranny with which Osman treated 
 them. He constantly plundered them of what they 
 possessed, ostensibly ' for the good cause,' and cut 
 off the heads of any that displeased him. The number 
 in chains was considerable. 
 
 11 At Nashum, 8 miles to the west of Suakin, was 
 the Emir Mohammed Adam Sardoun, with a large 
 force, who had the duty of watching Suakin and 
 supplying the pickets. Handoub was also occupied 
 by the rebels. 
 
 " The principal centre of rebel influence to the north 
 was at Shenab, a harbour a little to the north of 
 Rowayah, where was Osman 's principal market, 
 under the charge of the Emir Omar. Stores were 
 brought to this place from the Arabian coast, and then 
 sent to Osman Digna by camel. 
 
 " A certain amount of trade had come to Tamai 
 from the south, but for some reason Osman, in place 
 of encouraging it, had plundered the caravans. On 
 one occasion, when a caravan of seventy camels 
 arrived, he killed the camels, took the goods, and 
 put the men in chains, saying that ' it was the time 
 to fight the Holy War, and not to think of buying 
 and selling.* 
 
 " Another caravan is also reported to have been 
 
226 APPENDIX A 
 
 plundered, with the exception of certain goods which 
 belonged to Hasan Moussa-el-Akad, who, as you know, 
 was exiled to Massowah, where he exercises the calling 
 of a merchant and is supposed to be Osman Digna's 
 agent. We shall hear more of him, as I have just got 
 an order that he is to be transferred from Massowah 
 to Suakin. He will need careful treatment. 
 
 " So far as I was able to make out, there was very 
 little connection between this east coast rebellion 
 and the Rowofan rebellion. Osman Digna utilized 
 the latter for his own purposes, but now that the 
 Mahdi is dead, the bond of religious fanaticism is 
 breaking down, and there appeared no reason why 
 the Eastern Sudan revolt should not be extinguished 
 independently of that in the Nile Valley. 
 
 " Osman occasionally reports that he has received 
 letters from Khalif Abdullah at Omdurman, who is 
 going to send him reinforcements, but the latter 
 never arrive. 
 
 ' Immediately on arriving here I began talking to 
 the chief people of Suakin and pointing out to them 
 the disadvantage of the present state of things, and 
 the comfort it would be to themselves if peace was 
 restored and trade reopened. 
 
 " They all agreed that this was perfectly true, and 
 said that not only they, but a large proportion of the 
 people outside were most anxious to finish the war 
 and return to peace, but that the difficulty was to 
 know how to do it, unless the Government would 
 help them. I told them that the Government would 
 help neither in men nor money, that the tribes had 
 got up the war, and the tribes must put it down ; 
 but that, if they did so, and restored the country to 
 peace, the Government would consider the advisa- 
 bility of taking off the blockade and allowing trade, 
 and that new ports would be opened, probably at 
 Rowayah and Akik, for the convenience of the tribes 
 north and south of Suakin. 
 
APP. A] SUAKIN 227 
 
 " A good many letters were written, and soon 
 answers began to come in. The gist of them was 
 that the tribes were tired of the war, and would be 
 only too glad to have peace; that the tyranny of 
 Osman was far greater than any tyranny the Govern- 
 ment had ever shown. They were much pleased at 
 the promise that trade would be reopened. 
 
 11 Osman Digna, knowing that the feeling of the 
 tribes was turning against him, sent an army to the 
 north against the Amarars and another to the south 
 against the Ashraffs and Beni Amer; but both his 
 armies were held in check, and were worsted in some 
 skirmishes that took place. ... On May 20 the 
 situation was somewhat like this : 
 
 " Having got news which led me to believe that 
 we might get hold of the Emir Omar near Shenab, 
 I sent the steamer Jaffarieh there with some 200 
 friendly Arabs on board to Rowayah. They heard 
 that Omar was at Yanina, a place about 7 miles in- 
 land. Thanks to the good arrangements of Captain 
 Abderrahman Kami, of the Jaffarieh, and the help of 
 the Amarars near Rowayah, the capture of Omar 
 and his followers was satisfactorily effected without 
 any fighting. A considerable quantity of grain and 
 cloth was also taken. 
 
 " As it was reported that the rebel force which was 
 in front of the Amarars was falling back south, I 
 thought it very probable that an attack would be 
 made upon Sheikh Bayhub, and I had therefore 
 ordered the Jaffarieh to stop there on his way back 
 from Rowayah, and to protect the Amarars who were 
 there. After waiting two days, a rebel force under 
 the command of Mohammed Madani, a nephew of 
 Osman, moved upon Sheikh Bayhub and attacked 
 with a good deal of vigour, but they met with more 
 than they expected, and were repulsed, leaving their 
 leader and forty-six others dead on the ground ; the 
 remainder dispersed. Our people lost one man killed 
 and four slightly wounded. 
 
228 APPENDIX A 
 
 " The remainder of the rebel northern force either 
 dispersed or returned to Tamai. 
 
 " As the Amarars had shown such good feeling, I 
 opened a market at Sheikh Bayhub, where they could 
 get grain and cloth, and sell their cattle to Suakin 
 merchants. 
 
 " Osman, annoyed, apparently, by the repulse 
 of his men, sent Mohammed Adam Sardoun, his best 
 General, with a considerable force against the Amarars, 
 but this met with no better success. Sardoun 's 
 army dispersed, and he himself was killed, with some 
 others. The result of this was that the whole country 
 north of Suakin was cleared of rebels, and single men 
 could travel safely from here to Rowayah. I am 
 rather doubtful about the Bishareen, but have sent 
 a good man who is connected by family with some of 
 the important Sheikhs to discuss matters with them 
 and with the Kilab, a rather important tribe in the 
 vicinity of Elba. It may be advisable later on to 
 open a port for the Bishareen near Elba, but this 
 must depend to a certain extent upon the course of 
 events upon the Nile. 
 
 " The Amarars have occupied Otao, on the Berber 
 road, and it is reported that the road is quiet as far 
 as Obak. Beyond that it is, of course, in the hands 
 of the rebels, but it is believed that there are not many 
 people now at Berber. 
 
 " The force which Osman sent south did not fare 
 better than his northern army. In place of attacking 
 the Ashraff and Beni Amer, its advance was opposed 
 by these tribes, and the rebels seem to have melted 
 away. I have sent two of the chief people of Suakin 
 to Akik, and they have recently returned. They have 
 brought letters from many of the Sheikhs, and report 
 that the country is quiet and practically free from 
 Osman 's influence south of Tokar. 
 
 " Practically, at present, Osman 's power is limited 
 to the country in the vicinity of Tamai. Of course, 
 
APP. A] SUAKIN 229 
 
 it would not do to trust too much that this will last 
 the Arabs have shown themselves so changeable on 
 previous occasions but it is good as far as it goes. 
 
 " Several people came from Kassala this morning. 
 They report all quiet there now; the town and fort 
 have been destroyed. The Kordofan insurrection 
 against Abdullah goes on steadily. 
 
 " Wad-el-Kerim, the chief of the Shukeniyeh tribe, 
 is at Omdurman. His grandson, Abu Homara, has 
 been here, and started yesterday for the Shukeniyeh 
 country. If he can, he will go to Khartum to see 
 Wad-el-Kerim, and of course I have given him 
 instructions to look after the papers which were 
 lost in the Abbas with poor Stewart. Shall we ever 
 get them ?" 
 
 " June 18. 
 
 " Since writing the above, we have made further 
 progress. I had sent the Jaffarieh to Rowayah to 
 make a station near the salt-fields, which have been 
 abandoned for the last two years, but which are going 
 to be reopened. The Captain had orders to encourage 
 the Khibab Amarars to clear out the few rebels who 
 were still at Shenab. 
 
 11 This they did in a very satisfactory manner. They 
 took a considerable quantity of cloth and grain and 
 completely dispersed the rebels one good result is 
 that a number of the Bishareen Sheikhs have sent 
 to ask for peace. If I can get them to join the peace 
 party it will be a good point gained. Shenab was 
 taken on the i4th. On the i6th Osman Digna sent 
 Aly Sherai who had taken Adam Sardoun's place 
 to the Dibout Valley between Hashum and Otao. 
 They were met by some of the Amarars, who are in 
 occupation of the latter place, who routed them and 
 carried off all their cattle, thus making another score 
 for the peace party. 
 
 :< I fear you will find this a long letter, but I think 
 you like to hear of what is going on. ... 
 
230 APPENDIX A 
 
 ' . . . My wife is here with me, and we are very 
 comfortably established in Government House. 
 Perhaps some women would think it was rather 
 roughing it, but she does not mind, though of course 
 it is very different from being in Cairo. 
 
 ' I have already started getting information about 
 the tribes, and am making a sort of comparative 
 vocabulary of the Beni Amer Hadendoa and Amarar 
 dialects. The Suakin dialect seems to be almost 
 exactly the same as Hadendoa. It is not easy to 
 get at any tradition of the origin of the tribes, but 
 most people appear to agree that the Hadendoa were 
 in the country a very long time before the Beni Amer 
 or Amarar. Perhaps if the war was once over and 
 the people had settled down, I might be able to get 
 at more information ; you may be sure I will not 
 forget it. So far the weather has not been at all as 
 hot as I expected, and it has been very dry. I hold 
 out to the good folk of Suakin, as a very strong reason 
 for re-establishment of peace, that we may^get up to 
 Sinkat for the summer, which they seem to look upon 
 as a sort of Paradise. They have not been there for 
 three years now, and long for a sight of it again. 
 Judging from what they say, it must be a very nice 
 place, and the nights are very cool. 
 
 " Yours very sincerely, 
 
 " C. M. WATSON," 
 
APPENDIX B 
 
 SUAKIN POLICY 
 (Extract from " The Times" of October 9, 1886.) 
 
 Letter from " The Times " Egyptian Correspondent, 
 
 " As I have already advised you by telegraph, Watson 
 Pasha has resigned the Governorship of the Red 
 Sea Littoral and returned to Cairo. His period of 
 command has been a short but not uneventful one, 
 and we have recently heard so little from the Soudan 
 that a reference to that not altogether pleasing subject 
 may perhaps be tolerated. The history of Watson 
 Pasha's Governorship may be considered, too, as of 
 special interest, for in the whole of that vast region 
 known as the Soudan there is a general similarity of 
 conditions, and the Eastern littoral is the one portion 
 in which an attempt has been latterly made under 
 English direction to carry out the policy consistently 
 advocated by The Times. 
 
 " We have been told ad nauseam that in meddling 
 with the Sudan we were attempting a colossal and 
 utterly impossible task. Mr. Blunt has prayed us to 
 desist from attempting to combat a reform of Islam. 
 Mukhtar Pacha has proved to his own satisfaction 
 that the work can only be accomplished by Moslems. 
 The late Hobart Pasha warned us that we were 
 interfering with that sacred mummy the integrity 
 of the Turkish Empire; while Mr. Gladstone at one 
 time proclaimed it beyond the sphere of our opera- 
 tions, and at another preached the sacred duty of 
 slaughtering a people rightly struggling to be free. 
 
 231 
 
232 APPENDIX B 
 
 !< Let us see what has been the result of a policy 
 dictated, not by the infallible authority of the vox 
 populi, as determined by the votes in the House of 
 Commons, but by the simple common sense of a 
 young English officer of Engineers with local experi- 
 ence. 
 
 ' Early in May of the current year the garrison of 
 Suakin consisted of about 3,000 men, of which, 
 roughly speaking, one-third were English and two- 
 thirds Indian. Outside the walls of Suakin the whole 
 country was ruled by the dervishes; beyond the 
 fortifications it was impossible to stir, and Osman 
 Digna at Tamai made raids for cattle under our very 
 guns. Watson Pasha arrived as Governor-General 
 on May 3, the evacuation by British troops was com- 
 pleted on the 9th, and in their places was a garrison 
 of 2,300 Egyptian troops, including about one-third 
 blacks. The smaller garrison rendered necessa^ 
 greater concentration, and the camps at Graham's 
 Point and Sikh Redoubt were given up. Osman 
 Digna, with two or three thousand men, was at Tamai 
 in a fort mounted with guns from Kassala. His 
 Emir, Mohammed Sardoun, was at Hashin, eight miles 
 distant, with a considerable force. His duty was 
 apparently to blockade the town and to pick off any 
 of the garrison who might give them the chance. 
 At Shinab, to the north, was another body of rebels, 
 who kept open communication with the sea-coast 
 and enabled Digna to get his supplies. 
 
 " The attitude which General Watson adopted 
 from the first, and consistently maintained, may be 
 briefly summarized thus : The hostilities had been 
 tedious and troublesome to both sides, more particu- 
 larly to the Soudanese. Nobody seemed to have 
 gained much advantage from them but a few un- 
 scrupulous men who were apparently acting from 
 selfish motives. The Government was anxious that 
 they should cease, but not sufficiently interested to 
 
APP. B] SUAKIN 233 
 
 take any active measures to obtain that result either 
 in the way of men or money. The Soudanese had 
 made the existing situation ; it was the Soudanese 
 who must put an end to it. If they thought the 
 existing state of things satisfactory, let them con- 
 tinue the Government would regret it, but not 
 otherwise be interested; if, on the other hand, the 
 Soudanese A agreed with the Government that the 
 movement was continued for the advantage of an 
 unscrupulous few, they would do well to suppress it, 
 and the moment tranquillity was restored in any 
 district markets would be opened at convenient 
 places and trade allowed in the district. 
 
 " The careful yet unostentatious circulation of 
 this style of argument was well calculated to effect 
 its object. More educated men than Soudanese are 
 not unfrequently rendered more eager to adopt a 
 measure which is recommended with indifference 
 rather than with proselytizing zeal. The most con- 
 summate tact could have devised no better arguments 
 than those which the circumstances forced on Watson 
 Pasha, but of which he availed himself with excellent 
 judgment. Delivered not as an official exposition 
 of policy, but as a matter of course in ordinary 
 conversation with all whom he came in contact, the 
 idea spread with much greater rapidity than if it 
 had been solemnly promulgated as a Government 
 circular, too well known to contain empty words 
 only. Very shortly the Governor was asked whether 
 he would permit the passing of letters advocating the 
 advantages of peace. This, too, was at once granted, 
 with the dry remark that they might write what they 
 liked, but it would be no use to write about peace 
 unless they did something to obtain it. Letters went 
 to the Amarars, the Beni Amers, Garribs, Handabs, 
 and a few others. Soon a few and then more Arabs 
 came dropping in from outside, hoping to be allowed 
 to remain. The Governor made a point of seeing 
 
 16 
 
234 APPENDIX B 
 
 them, explained his anxiety that circumstances 
 should permit their remaining, regretted that in the 
 absence of peace it was impossible, and sent them 
 away by sea, landing them either north or south of 
 Suakin as they preferred. Much may be done in 
 the East with what Italians call la buona maniera. 
 Probably each of these tourists got back home after 
 his little sea voyage with a different impression of 
 the Egyptian Government under an English Governor 
 to that which he had previously. Certainly, it soon 
 became evident that the state of feeling among the 
 tribes was steadily improving, and that a large section 
 were in favour of peace and the opening of trade. 
 Perhaps the most certain sign of the good effect was 
 that Osman Digna began to get angry, and ordered 
 Mohammed Sardoun to divide his forces, to send a 
 portion to the north to chastise the Amarars, and 
 another to the south to punish the Beni Amers and 
 Ashraffs. But Osman Digna had calculated without 
 his host; the Amarars showed front and checked the 
 one army, while the other, finding the southern tribes 
 arrayed against them, seem to have lost heart before 
 any fighting commenced, and to have made a strate- 
 gic movement into the mountains. 
 
 " And now commenced an active correspondence 
 if such a term can be applied to letters coming from 
 one side only. The head Sheikh of the Habab tribe 
 and his brother wrote to say that they were collecting 
 a force near Teklai, and intended to fight the rebels. 
 Hamad Kantabai, who had been coquetting with the 
 Italians at Massowah, wrote to express his devotion 
 to the Egyptian Government. Several Sheikhs who 
 were with Osman Digna at Tamai wrote to say that 
 they and nearly all the others wanted peace, and asked 
 if they might be allowed to see Mahmoud Ali Bey 
 to negotiate with him. 
 
 :< Mahmoud Ali Bey, accompanied by Brewster 
 Bey, was sent in the Condor to the point on the coast 
 nearest Tamai. Here the Sheikhs came on board. 
 
APP. B] SUAKIN 235 
 
 They said they were unable to leave Osman, as he 
 had their families and their cattle in his power, but they 
 hoped to be able to take him prisoner, and they asked 
 if there was still a reward to be got for his head. 
 Brewster Bey replied that no reward would be paid 
 for his head, but a good one if he were brought alive 
 into Suakin. The Sheikhs left, promising to do all 
 they could for peace. Meanwhile the Governor 
 thought that something might be done in the north. 
 Mahmoud Ali and 200 Amarars were therefore de- 
 spatched in an Egyptian vessel to Digna's port, Shinab. 
 On arrival at Rowaya they heard that the Emir 
 Omer was at Yamina, about six miles inland. The 
 Amarars landed, and, assisted by the neighbouring 
 tribe, surrounded Omer, and carried off without 
 a blow both him and a large quantity of cloth and 
 grain. 
 
 ' This successful raid encouraged another. It will 
 be remembered that Digna's northern force had been 
 checked by the Amarars, and was thought likely to 
 attack Baghut. Mahmoud Ali's 200 men were there- 
 fore landed, flushed with their recent success, to 
 protect the natives. The Emir Mohammed Madani, 
 a nephew of Osman, marched against them, fired a 
 volley, killed one of the friendlies, upon which the 
 Amarars charged with such vigour that they routed 
 the enemy, killing the Emir and forty-six others, 
 after which the entire northern force disappeared and 
 returned to their homes. Osman Digna, however, 
 made a last effort, as usual, by proxy, and ordered 
 Mohammed Sardoun, his most capable Emir, to collect 
 all his men and crush the Amarars. A battle took 
 place in some not very well-defined locality, Sardoun 
 was killed, the force collapsed, and the whole country 
 north of Suakin was cleared of rebels. And now, 
 having done something, the Amarars claimed and 
 received their reward. By June 2 a thousand of 
 various tribes assembled at Baghut. A market was 
 opened, and the Suakin merchants were allowed to 
 
236 APPENDIX B 
 
 open trade there. On June 8 a similar favour was 
 granted to the village of Salloom, between Baghut 
 and Handoub. Communication between Suakin and 
 the north had become easy, and a single man could 
 ride through the country without danger. At Row- 
 aya a small post was established, and the salt-works, 
 closed for two years, were reopened. 
 
 11 This much had been accomplished within little 
 more than a month of Watson Pasha's arrival. On 
 June 22 Brewster Bey was sent to Handoub to 
 discuss the situation with the Sheikhs at their own 
 request. It was arranged that the Amarars should 
 gradually move towards Tamai, and endeavour to 
 alienate Digna's supporters. This they did promptly, 
 and the next night were attacked by a force which 
 they succeeded in repulsing, killing thirty-two men, 
 with a loss of two on their own side. Three days 
 later they moved from Hashin to Suakin, and en- 
 camped under the fortifications. From thence they 
 sent parties at night to fire into Osman's camp, with 
 the result that the enemy were completely cleared 
 from the vicinity of the town. In the beginning of 
 July they agreed to make a move in the direction of 
 Tamai the mounted camelry were sent by land, 
 the others by two Egyptian steamers to Haddhu. 
 At Terrowi they came up with the enemy, pursued 
 them nearly to Tamai, and returned in the evening 
 to Suakin with a few prisoners, 160 camels, and 200 
 sheep and cattle. 
 
 " On the nth the Amarars made what is styled 
 a reconnaissance in the direction of Tamai, a strate- 
 gical term which would appear to imply firing into 
 the town. The Hamdab tribe were next reported 
 to have entered the field, and, concentrating in the 
 vicinity of Sinkat, proposed to attack a body of 
 Osman Digna's followers there. The number of 
 people coming in from Tamai increased daily; but 
 as this district was still unpacified, the majority were 
 deported as previously explained. On July 19 the 
 
APP. B] SUAKIN 237 
 
 Amarars again moved to Handoub, and a caravan 
 with goods and money sent by Osman Digna to 
 Berber was captured. The Suakin-Berber road is, 
 in fact, reported open to Jebel Kokreb, while the 
 arrival is reported at Massowah of 800 camel laden 
 with gum. 
 
 * The Amarars and other friendly tribes continued 
 to close in on Tamai and to intercept supplies, the 
 English and Egyptian cruisers watched the coast 
 to prevent importations from Jeddah, and Osman 
 Digna began to find himself very much like a rat in a 
 hole, so, summoning his few remaining followers, 
 he informed them of two very important facts 
 first, that 4,000 men were marching from Khartum 
 to the relief of Tamai ; and, secondly, that, summoned 
 by Khalifa Abdallah to Khartum, he was starting 
 off to meet them. On August 13, accompanied by a 
 faithful few, he decamped. 
 
 ' Nothing shows more distinctly the collapse of 
 the movement throughout the Sudan than the 
 fact that even the hardy imagination of Osman could 
 not venture to promise more than 4,000 men. A 
 year or two ago he could truthfully boast of his actual 
 10,000 present, and his imagination at its feeblest 
 would have spoken of 40,000 in the distance. But 
 even Digna 's inventive faculty is limited by what 
 he deems the credulity of his supporters. They may 
 believe in 4,000, but the days are past when he 
 could expect them to believe in larger figures. It 
 must be admitted that even the reduced figure does 
 not seem to have been easily digestible, for up to 
 the latest advices deserters come in daily, and the 
 rebellion of the Eastern Sudan will, with continued 
 good management, soon become a memory of the 
 past. 
 
 " And how has this been accomplished ? Not by 
 waste of English blood or treasure, not by indiscrimi- 
 nate slaughter of the righteous champions of freedom, 
 but by allowing the blameless Ethiopian to settle 
 
238 APPENDIX B 
 
 his quarrels in his own way, and by the moral influence 
 of common sense. No English or Egyptian soldier 
 has been employed, the native tribes have been 
 offered, not peace or war, but plenty or starvation 
 at their own choice. There has been attached no 
 humiliating condition, no inhuman penalty, unless 
 it is one to refuse to barbarians the means whereby 
 alone they can continue their internecine slaughter. 
 The result is that which was foretold in your 
 columns : the natural trading instinct which is but 
 the instinct of a wish to live has risen superior to 
 the fanatical instinct, which is but the instinct to 
 kill. 
 
 " So ends my bare record of facts. The lesson 
 which it teaches is, I think, this, that the Sudan 
 difficulty, like others, disappears if it is faced with a 
 union of decision, common sense, and tact. We 
 must abandon both the sentimental policy of Exeter 
 Hall and the blood and iron policy which follows as 
 the natural reaction. We must adopt as our motto, 
 neither ' Rescue and Retire,' ' Slaughter and Scuttle/ 
 nor any other of those phrases, the sole attraction 
 of which appears to lie in alliteration. We must 
 recognize that the Sudanese, like other men, have 
 ' a good deal of human nature about them/ and if 
 they are incapable of that high sense of honour, 
 that logical consistency of action, and that dis- 
 interestedness of motive, which has characterized 
 all our dealings with the Sudan, they have a very 
 keen sense of their own interest and rudimentary 
 ideas as to the blessings of trade. 
 
 " Above all things, let it be borne in mind that 
 any continuous policy is better than any number of 
 continually shifting ones ; and seeing that in the East 
 a policy is certain to be identified with the man who 
 executes it, and that personal influence counts for 
 much, a frequent change in the person of adminis- 
 trators is earnestly to be deprecated, except in case 
 of utmost need. 1 ' 
 
APPENDIX C 
 
 From Major C. M. Watson, R.E., to His Excellency 
 Sir Henry Drummond Wolff, G.C.M.G. 
 
 " ALEXANDRIA, 
 
 " September 13, 1886. 
 
 " SIR, 
 
 " In compliance with your wish, I have the 
 honour to bring to your notice the following facts 
 with reference to my recent position as Governor- 
 General of the Red Sea Littoral. 
 
 " The first intimation which I received that there 
 was any intention of selecting me for the appointment 
 was in a telegram that I received on April 8 last from 
 General Grenfell, who was then at Assouan, in which 
 he said : ' I have been asked whether I could spare 
 and recommend you for command, Suakin; would 
 you like it ?' To this I replied on April 9: ' Would 
 be quite ready to go at once to Suakin in command 
 under certain conditions/ 
 
 " On the same day (April 9) I received a letter from 
 General Sir F. Stephenson, in which he said: ' How 
 would it suit you to be Civil Governor of Suakin, 
 with an officer, English, of Egyptian Army to com- 
 mand the troops ?' 
 
 " I called upon Sir F. Stephenson and thanked him, 
 but pointed out that I was quite sure that, under 
 present circumstances at Suakin, difficulties would be 
 certain to arise, unless the Governor-General had 
 direct military command of the troops, and I begged 
 him to excuse my accepting the appointment. 
 
 239 
 
2 4 o APPENDIX C 
 
 " On April 10 I heard again from General Stephen- 
 son, who said: ' Will you call upon Sir H. Wolff, at 
 9.30 to-morrow morning, and talk over with him the 
 requirements of a Governor of Suakin, Civil and 
 Military ?' I accordingly called upon your Excel- 
 lency, and, after some conversation, you asked me if 
 I would be willing to take the civil and military 
 commands at Suakin. I said that, although not 
 anxious to go to Suakin, I was quite prepared to 
 do so if the civil and military commands were 
 united. 
 
 " Your Excellency informed me that I had been 
 selected because I had a knowledge of Sudan affairs, 
 and already held high milita^ rank in the Egyptian 
 Army. You also said that you would telegraph to 
 Her Majesty's Government, and would recommend 
 that I should receive a salary of 2,000 per annum. 
 
 " Three days afterwards Sir F. Stephenson asked 
 me to write him a formal letter of acceptance, which 
 I did in the following terms : ' I have the honour to 
 inform you that I am prepared to accept the appoint- 
 ment of Governor-General of the Red Sea Littoral, 
 with military command of the troops, and am ready 
 to start as soon as required.' I also telegraphed as 
 follows to General Grenfell, who was still up the 
 Nile: ' General Stephenson and Sir H. Wolff have 
 asked if I would be willing to go to Suakin in com- 
 mand. I have replied that I am quite willing if I 
 have full civil and military authority.' It is per- 
 fectly clear, therefore, that I accepted the appoint- 
 ment on the most distinct understanding that I was 
 to have full civil and military command. 
 
 ' c My appointment as Governor-General of the Red 
 Sea Littoral was approved by Her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment, and was officially made by Khedivial Djecree 
 of April 17. On April 27 the following order appeared 
 in EnglishJCairo General Orders : 
 
APP. c] SUAKIN 241 
 
 "'HEADQUARTERS, CAIRO, 
 
 " 'April 27, 1886. 
 
 " ' No. i. H.H. the Khedive having been 
 pleased to appoint Watson Pasha, R.E., Egyptian 
 Army, Governor-General of the Red Sea Littoral, 
 Watson Pasha will, on the departure of Brigadier- 
 General Hodding for India, assume command 
 of the Garrison, and charge of the Defence of 
 Suakin, reporting to the General Officer Com- 
 manding in Egypt the date of his being so. 
 
 '"By order, 
 " ' (Signed) F. L. CAMPBELL, 
 
 "' Lt.-coi. A.A.G: 
 
 " The above was the only written order I received 
 before leaving Cairo, whence I started for Suakin on 
 April 28. Sir F. Stephenson had written to ask me 
 to start without waiting for my instructions, in order 
 that I might have a few days with General Hodding 
 before he left Suakin." 
 
 On reaching Suakin, Watson discovered that there 
 was a conflict between the instructions issued to him 
 by the Egyptian War Office and those given by the 
 then Sirdar. This conflict, which had, of course, 
 nothing to do with Watson, was the cause of infinite 
 trouble, and in the end the orders of the Sirdar pre- 
 vailed, which were not those under which Watson 
 had accepted the appointment. The result was that 
 Watson was requested to hand over the military 
 command of the troops to the Commandant, a ' dual 
 control ' which, as he had predicted from the first, 
 would be certain to produce friction. Still, Watson 
 acted as required, and handed over command of 
 the troops on June 8. He remarks subsequently 
 in the same letter : 
 
242 APPENDIX C 
 
 " The peace negotiations advanced very satisfac- 
 torily, and I was enabled by degrees to draw away a 
 number of the Arab tribes from the rebels. Markets 
 were opened at Mersa Sheikh Barghut and Mohammed 
 Ghul, and the salt-fields at Rowayah were again 
 worked, after having been closed for two years in 
 consequence of the rebellion. The country in the 
 vicinity of Suakin became more and more peaceful. 
 As a proof of this I might mention that, whereas 
 four months previously it was impossible for anyone 
 to go outside Suakin without danger, a single man 
 now carried the weekly post from Suakin to Row- 
 ayah, a distance of 130 miles. 
 
 11 I wrote a considerable number of reports to the 
 Egyptian Government, but received no replies, and 
 was accordingly uncertain whether the policy of 
 gradually opening up trade and restoring the country 
 to peace was approved of. . . . 
 
 ' I have the honour to remain, 
 
 " Your Excellency 's obedient servant, 
 
 " (Signed) C. M. WATSON, 
 " Major, R.E., Pasha Egyptian Army." 
 
 Sir H. Drummond Wolff to Major Watson, R.E. 
 
 " ALEXANDRIA, 
 
 " September 19, 1886. 
 
 " SIR, 
 
 " I have the honour to acknowledge the 
 receipt of your letter of the i3th instant, which I 
 have not failed to transmit to Her Majesty's Secretary 
 of State for Foreign Affairs. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, Sir, 
 
 " Your most obedient and humble servant, 
 " (Signed) H. DRUMMOND WOLFF. 
 
 " His EXCELLENCY WATSON PASHA." 
 
APPENDIX D 
 
 PROPOSAL FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SCHOOL 
 OF MODERN ORIENTAL LANGUAGES 
 
 " BROMPTON BARRACKS, 
 
 " CHATHAM,^ 
 " September 20, 1887. 
 
 " SIR, 
 
 " I have the honour to request that you will 
 be so good as to lay before the Organizing Committee 
 of the Imperial Institute the following proposition 
 for the establishment of a School of Modern Oriental 
 Languages, as a branch of the Institute. 
 
 " Although England has greater interests in the 
 East than any other European country, yet, for some 
 unexplained reason, she is the most behindhand in 
 encouraging the study of Modern Oriental Languages. 
 In fact, there is at the present time no public 
 institution where instruction is given in these 
 languages. 
 
 " Of course, I am well aware that there are Pro- 
 fessors of Oriental Languages at various Univer- 
 sities, but the education given by them is rather in 
 the literary and more ancient forms than in the 
 spoken and written dialects now used in the East. 
 
 " I have discussed the question with several mem- 
 bers of the Royal Asiatic Society, and with others 
 who are interested in the subject, and have met with 
 a general consensus of opinion as to the great desira- 
 bility of establishing such a school. 
 
 " At Paris and Vienna, Schools of Modern Oriental 
 Languages have been in existence for many years, 
 
 243 
 
244 APPENDIX D 
 
 and one is now being established by the German 
 Government at Berlin. 
 
 ' Full particulars with regard to the Paris school 
 will be found in a paper which I wrote for the Royal 
 Asiatic Society, published in the nineteenth volume 
 of the Journal of that Society. This school was 
 founded nearly one hundred years ago, in consequence 
 of a report presented by Lakanal to the National 
 Assembly in the year 1795, in which it was pointed 
 out that, although the ancient and literary languages 
 of the East were the objects of much consideration, 
 yet no arrangements were made for teaching the 
 modern languages, although the latter were of far 
 greater importance, both for commercial and political 
 purposes. 
 
 11 The school, as at present constituted, is given 
 by the French Government a large building, rent 
 free, and a grant of 6,145 per annum. 
 
 " Gratuitous instruction is given in the following 
 languages : 
 
 Literary Arabic. Modern Greek. Chinese. 
 
 Modern Arabic. Armenian. Japanese. 
 
 Persian. Hindustani. Malay, 
 
 Turkish. Tamil. Javanese. 
 Russian. 
 
 " But notwithstanding the excellence of the insti- 
 tution as it now exists, it would appear from the 
 following paragraph, taken from The Times news- 
 paper of the 7th inst., that it is proposed to give a 
 still further development to the school, in order that 
 it may be of more use for commercial purposes : 
 
 " ' French Merchants and Oriental Languages. 
 The French Minister of Public Instruction has 
 addressed a letter to the Minister of Trade and 
 Industry announcing an arrangement which he 
 has made for rendering the School of Living 
 Oriental Languages in Paris useful to com- 
 
APP. D] ORIENTAL STUDIES 245 
 
 merce. It was, he says, the intention of the 
 founders of the school that it should serve the 
 interests of science, politics, and commerce; 
 it has published many works of great value to 
 science, and has trained dragomans and inter- 
 preters for service in Oriental countries, but 
 hitherto it has prepared none of its students 
 for commercial careers. The present is a time 
 when this should be corrected. The school 
 teaches Chinese, Japanese, Annamese, Malay, 
 Javanese, Tamil, Hindustani, Persian, Turkish, 
 Russian, and the Slav dialects, modern Greek, 
 Armenian, and Arabic. In the more important 
 subjects natives are employed to enable the 
 students to acquire a practical knowledge of 
 the language in question, and, indeed, the decree 
 extending the school in 1869 dwelt especially 
 on the essentially practical nature of the estab- 
 lishment. The Minister of Public Instruction 
 has accordingly decided to form a commercial 
 section in the school. No degree will be required 
 for admission; the pupils in this section will 
 for the first year pursue the same course of study 
 as those who are qualifying for a degree from the 
 school, but from the second year their training 
 will be specialized, and will embrace commercial 
 correspondence, contracts, decisions of commer- 
 cial tribunals, weights, measures, coinage, the 
 agricultural and commercial productions of 
 various Oriental countries, etc. At the ter- 
 mination of the course certificates will be given 
 to students who have pursued it successfully. 
 The Minister proposes to publish compilations 
 useful for this course in the various languages , 
 and requests that his project be brought to the 
 notice of the various Chambers of Commerce, 
 with a vie^V to obtaining suggestions and support 
 from them.' 
 
246 APPENDIX D 
 
 ORIENTAL SCHOOL IN VIENNA. 
 
 " The Oriental Academy in Vienna is of world-wide 
 celebrity, and the instruction given there has greatly 
 assisted the development of Austrian commerce. 
 The course of instruction includes European as well 
 as Eastern languages, as the following list of lan- 
 guages now taught will show : 
 
 Arabic. Hungarian. 
 
 Persian. Servian. 
 
 Turkish. English. 
 
 Russian. French. 
 
 Modern Greek. Italian. 
 
 " Lectures are also given in commercial and poli- 
 tical law and cognate subjects. 
 
 ORIENTAL SCHOOL IN BERLIN. 
 
 11 The School of Oriental Languages in Berlin is 
 now in course of formation, and by a law passed on 
 May 23 of the present year the German Government 
 undertakes to pay half the cost of its maintenance 
 up to 36,000 marks (1,773) per annum, and to 
 contribute 20,000 marks (985) to its foundation. 
 Judging from the speech of the Minister, Von Gossler, 
 in introducing the Bill, it is clear that living Oriental 
 languages only will be taught, more especially those 
 which will be of use for commercial purposes. 
 
 " The following languages are those in which courses 
 will commence when the school opens on October 16:. 
 
 Arabic . Turkish . Persian . 
 
 Hindustani. Chinese. Japanese. 
 
 African 
 
 " It would appear from the comments in the German 
 Press that it is hoped that the school will prove of 
 
APP. D j ORIENTAL STUDIES 247 
 
 great assistance to German merchants in enabling 
 them to out-do English rivals in the Eastern trade. 
 
 " It is, of course, of great importance that England 
 should keep on a level with other nations in everything 
 that affects her commerce, and I am quite sure that 
 the establishment of a School of Modern Oriental 
 Languages in connection with the Imperial Institute 
 might prove of inestimable advantage, and would 
 be entirely in accordance with the objects for which 
 the Institute has been founded. 
 
 1 It would be for consideration whether the Govern- 
 ment might not be asked to contribute towards the 
 expenses of the school, as is done in all other countries. 
 
 " The Secretary of State for War has already shown 
 his appreciation of the necessity for the study of 
 languages among the officers of the Army, by offering 
 prizes of 200 to those who attain a certain standard 
 of proficiency in Arabic, Turkish, and Russian; at 
 the same time the War Office affords no help in the 
 study of these languages, but would most probably 
 do so if a suitable institution could be set on foot. 
 
 ' The Foreign Office also, which now keeps up a 
 school for student interpreters at Constantinople, 
 might be willing to contribute to the expense, as, of 
 course, it would be far better if those who were sent 
 to study as student interpreters at Constantinople 
 had received some preliminary instructions in Oriental 
 languages before leaving England. 
 
 Judging from my conversation with members 
 of the Council of the Royal Asiatic Society, I have 
 little doubt that this body would co-operate with 
 the Imperial Institute in the matter. 
 
 1 If this proposal should meet with favourable 
 consideration, it would probably be advisable that a 
 small committee should be formed to take evidence 
 as to what has been done in this direction in other 
 countries, and to report to the Organizing Committee 
 of the Imperial Institute. I have collected a certain 
 
248 APPENDIX D 
 
 amount of information on the subject, and would be 
 very pleased to place it at their disposal. 
 
 " I have endeavoured to be as brief as possible, 
 and have therefore avoided entering into details as 
 regards the organization of the proposed school, 
 but I shall be glad to make a further communication 
 on the subject. 
 
 " I have the honour to remain, 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 " C. M. WATSON, 
 
 " Major, R.E. 
 
 " To SIR FREDERICK ABEL, F.R.S., 
 " Secretary, Imperial Institute." 
 
INDEX 
 
 ABEL, SIR F., served on Balloon 
 
 Committee, 36, 85, 87; School 
 
 of Oriental Languages, 220; 
 
 letter to, 248 
 
 Aboukir, visit to forts at, 138 
 Abu-Hamed, journey to Koros- 
 
 ko, 64 
 Ahmad Effar, Mudir of Kassala, 
 
 144 
 Ala-ed-din Bey, Governor of 
 
 Suakin, 46 
 
 Alexandria, the fleet at, 107 
 Antwerp, Geographical Society 
 
 of, 214 
 Arabi Pasha, revolt of, 102; at 
 
 Tel-el-Kebir, 112; escapes to 
 
 Bilbeis,n8; interview with, 13 
 Army, Egyptian, 160 
 Artin Pasha, 142 
 Aswan, journey to, 66 
 Azab, Bab- el (or Lower Gate, 
 
 Cairo), 123 
 
 Bahr-el-Jebel, survey of, 69 
 Baker, Sir Samuel, letters 
 
 from, 185 
 
 Baker Pasha, Sir V., 151, 157 
 Barghut, Sheikh, 46, 47 
 Baring, Sir Evelyn. See Earl 
 
 Cromer 
 
 Beaumont, Captain F., 36 
 Besant, Sir Walter, "Thirty 
 
 Years' Work in the Holy 
 
 Land," 216 
 Brewster Bey, 177 
 Burgoyne, Sir John, letter 
 
 from, 17 
 
 Burnaby, Colonel Fred, 63, 74 
 Butcher, Archdeacon, 142 
 Butler, Sir William, 106 
 
 Cairo, the Citadel, capture of, 
 
 99 
 
 Cambridge, Duke of, Field- 
 Marshal Commanding - in - 
 
 Chief, 190 
 Cameron, Mr., 178 
 Campbell, Major, 53 
 Cardwell, Mr., Secretary of 
 
 State for War, 30 
 Carlisle, Fort, superintending 
 
 the defence works at, 23, 27 
 Cecil, Lord F. , 67 
 Chair, M. De, midshipman, 
 
 taken prisoner at Alexandria, 
 
 129 
 Chatham, completing course at, 
 
 23 
 
 Chermside, Colonel, 174 
 
 Chesney, A. G., A.D.C. to the 
 Governor of Malta. See Sim- 
 mons, Sir Lintorn 
 
 Chippendall, Lieutenant, letters 
 from, concerning Gordon, 
 72; leaving Gordon, 73; in- 
 vitation to the Sudan, 41; 
 at Gondokoro, 55; from 
 Gordon concerning, 75; in 
 London, 78 
 
 Clarke, Mr., Egyptian Tele- 
 graph Service, no 
 
 Cody, Colonel, 90 
 
 Colville, Captain, Grenadier 
 Guards, 92 
 
 Conder, Captain, walk with, 96; 
 at Ismailia, 108 ; advance 
 on Magfar, no; concerning 
 health of, 133, 134 
 
 Connaught, Duke of, 127 
 
 Grace, Mr. J. D., Palestine 
 Exploration Fund, 215 ; 
 
 249 
 
250 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Watson's work for the Fund, 
 
 217 
 Cranbrook, Viscount, invitation 
 
 from, 101 
 Cromer, Earl, Berber, 162; 
 
 Gordon, 167; Watson's work 
 
 in Egypt, 192 
 Cuming, Mi. E., 208 
 
 Darfur, revolt in, 79 
 
 Darfur, Sultan of, interview 
 
 with Gordon, 153 
 Darley, Captain, Dragoon 
 
 Guards, 121 
 Darwish Pasha, emissary of 
 
 Sultan of Turkey, 103 
 Digna, Osman, enveloping, 180; 
 
 at Tamai, 225; position of, 
 
 227; retreat of, 237 
 Dublin, Trinity College, City 
 
 of, Steam Packet Company, 6 
 Duncan, Colonel, sports ar- 
 ranged by, 137 
 Dundee, meeting of the British 
 
 Association at, 213 
 
 Edwards, Sir F., letter from, 166 
 Ellis, Mr. W., F.R.A.S., of the 
 Royal Observatory, Green- 
 wich, 68 
 Emanuel, 46 
 
 Festing, Major-General E. R., 
 Director of the Science 
 Museum, Kensington, 97 
 
 Fitzmaurice, Lord, relief of 
 Kassala, 145 
 
 Gallway, General, 75 
 
 Gedid, Bab-el, 123 
 
 Geneva, International Geogra- 
 phical Congress at, 213 
 
 Gessi (Gordon's Lieutenant), at 
 Lado, 54; letters from Gor- 
 don concerning, 74, 158 
 
 Gladstone, Mr. W., letter from 
 Watson concerning, 157; 
 Turkey, 231 
 
 Gondokoro, 53, 54 
 
 Gordon, General C. G., letters 
 from : invitation to Sudan, 41 ; 
 exploring countries south of 
 Dufli, 56; appoints Watson to 
 command, 58; various in- 
 structions, 60; Albert Lake, 
 61; Watson's health and 
 return, 63; impatient with 
 
 Watson, 74; Watson's mar- 
 riage, 101; description of 
 Khartum, 158; last letters to 
 Watson, 163; various ex- 
 tracts, 76, 77, 79, 80; at 
 Gravesend, 40; peculiarities 
 of, 43; general respect for, 
 52; sends Chippendall home, 
 75; sense of humour, 77; 
 home in England, 78; in 
 Abyssinia, 99; at Khartum, 
 153; last days, 161 
 
 Gordon, Sir Henry, Controller 
 of Woolwich Arsenal, 36, 40 
 
 Graham, General, false report 
 of the defeat of, 108 ; advance 
 at Tel-el-Kebir of, 112; ad- 
 vance on Tokar by, 156 
 
 Grenfell, Lord, embarks for 
 Egypt, 1 06; relations with 
 Watson, 148; despatch to 
 Baring, 192 
 
 Grover, Colonel G. E., letter 
 from, 93 
 
 Guggisburg, Captain, 12 
 
 Haldane, Mr. (Lord), 91 
 Hall, Lieutenant, R.N., Tor- 
 pedo Committee, 30 
 Hamed, Sheikh, 52 
 Hasan Bey, Governor of Suez, 
 
 45 
 Hicks Pasha, destruction of 
 
 army under, 150 
 Holdich, Sir Thomas, 203 
 Husainia, Bab, 121 
 
 Kait Bey, cemetery of, 122 
 
 Karnak, 67 
 
 Kasr-en-Nil Barracks, 123 
 
 Kassassin, Intelligence Depart- 
 ment moves to, in 
 
 Kemp, Mr., 58; health of, 60 
 
 Khalil Aga, march to Cairo, 113, 
 114 
 
 Khartum, arrival and descrip- 
 tion of, 53 
 
 Khedive Ismail, 44; received 
 
 by, 58 
 
 King, Professor W., 216 
 Kitchener, Lord, letters from: 
 congratulatory letters on 
 promotion, 148; concerning 
 Suakin, 193; various ex- 
 tracts, 162, 165; walk with, 
 
INDEX 
 
 251 
 
 96 ; acquaintanceship with, 
 142 
 Korosko, journey to, 64 
 
 Lake, General Noel: Watson's 
 work, 196; calls on Watson, 
 200; Watson's hobbies, 214 
 
 Lang, Sir H., 97 
 
 Lanyon, Sir Owen, 106 
 
 Lawrence, General R., em- 
 barkation for Egypt, 1 06; 
 at Kassassin, 114; advance 
 on Cairo, 116; advance on 
 the Citadel, 121 ; in command, 
 125; the Citadel, 127 
 
 Lee, Captain, military balloon 
 experiments at Woolwich, 86 
 
 Linant, Ernest, at Suez, 44, 45 
 
 Locock, Colonel, appointed 
 third Deputy - Inspector - 
 General, 196 
 
 Long, Colonel, en route for 
 Khartum, 54 
 
 Longden, Captain A., 201 
 
 Longfields, the, 25 
 
 Lowe, General Drury, 112, 119; 
 report to, 130 
 
 Luxor, arrival at, 67 
 
 McCalmont, Colonel, at Abba- 
 siyeh, 117 
 
 MacCollough, no, 113, 114 
 
 MacMahon, Major P., notes 'on 
 Watson's work at Inter- 
 national Navigation Con- 
 gresses, 199 
 
 Macpherson,- General, occupa- 
 tion of Zagazig, 118 
 
 Mahmoud, Ali, expedition to 
 Shinab, 235 
 
 Malet, Sir E., at Cairo, 132 
 
 Marcopoli Bey, 74 ; letter from, 
 
 175 
 
 Maurice, Sir F., embarks for 
 Egypt, 1 06 
 
 May, Captain, 177 
 
 Mokattam, Fort, 124; evacua- 
 tion of, 126 
 
 Morgan, Rev. Moore, Preben- 
 dary of Dunlavin, 6 
 
 Moussa-el-Akad, Hassan, ex- 
 iled to Massowah, 226 
 
 Muckbir, the s.s., 178 
 
 Miiller, Professor Max, letter 
 from, 221 
 
 Nashum, 225 
 
 Nasir, Sultan, 144 
 
 Nicholson, Sir L., Inspector- 
 General of Fortifications, 191 
 
 Noble, Colonel, Director of 
 Works at Woolwich, 85 ; ex- 
 periments with War Balloons 
 Committee, 87 
 
 Nugent, Col. R.E., Corps Tor- 
 pedo Committee, 29; letter 
 from, 62; consultation with, 
 8 1 ; experiments with War 
 Balloons Committee, 87 
 
 Omer, Emir, at Tamina, 235 
 
 Palestine Exploration Fund, 
 
 the, 215 
 
 Pellatt, Apsley, 86 
 Penroses, the, 25; intimacy 
 
 with, 38 
 
 Petrie, Professor Flinders, 143 
 Philae, temple of, 66 
 Pollock, Sir G., n 
 Poole, R. St., dined with, 97 
 Porter, General W., 198 
 
 Ramsi, Hussein Effendi, at- 
 tack on Fort Mokattam, 121, 
 125, 126 
 
 Raouf Pasha, 74 
 
 Rashid Pasha Husni, Egyptian 
 General wounded before 
 Tel-el-Kebir, 112 
 
 Raiif Bey, 53 
 
 Rej af , expedition to, 56 
 
 Riaz Pasha, 43 
 
 Roberts, Lord, universal service, 
 29 
 
 Rowai, at, 51 
 
 Said Bey, Director of the 
 Azizieh Company, 45 
 
 Sartorius, Colonel, V.C., em- 
 barks for Egypt, 1 06 
 
 Scott-Moncrieff, Sir Colin, 142 
 
 Scratchley, Sir P. H., 36 
 
 Seymour, Admiral Sir E. H., 
 on torpedoes, 35 
 
 Shenab, 225 
 
 Sherif Pasha, 43 
 
 Simmons, Field - Marshal Sir 
 T. L. A., introduced to Wat- 
 son by, i ; Watson's book 
 16; Royal Military Academy, 
 
INDEX 
 
 31 ; Watson with, 82; Watson 
 as A.D.C. to, 98 
 
 Stanley, 75 
 
 Stanton, General A. M., Consul - 
 General in Egypt, 41 
 
 Stephenson, General Sir F., con- 
 sultation with, 147; state- 
 ment by, 183, 190; called on 
 at Cairo, 239 
 
 Stewart, Colonel Hamill, ar- 
 rived at Port Said, 152, 163 
 
 Stewart, Colonel Herbert, at 
 Abbasiyeh, 119; surrender of 
 Abbasiyeh, 120, 130 
 
 St. John of Jerusalem, Order 
 of, 220 
 
 St. Louis Exhibition, 200 
 
 Stotherd, Colonel, at Paris Ex- 
 hibition, 17; promotion of 
 Watson, 23; electrical school, 
 28 
 
 Strachan, Mr. R., 68 
 
 Suakin, journey from, 44; 
 affairs at, 182; work at, 224; 
 weather and dialect of, 230; 
 policy at, 231 
 
 Submarine mines, 28 
 
 Sydenham, Lord, letter from, 
 184 
 
 Sylvester, Professor, 12 
 
 Teck, Duke of, 106, 107 
 
 Tel-el- Kebir, 109 
 
 Templer, Colonel James, 37; 
 
 military balloons, 85, 86; 
 
 O.C. Balloons, Chatham, 89; 
 
 with Colonel Cody, 90; on 
 
 aircraft, 91 
 
 Tewfik Pasha. 10^. 156 
 Thebes, 67 
 Toulba Pasha. 131 
 Trinity Co^ege, Dublin, 6, 9 
 Tulloch, Sir A. B. 108; Nefiche, 
 
 109 
 
 Warren, Sir Charles, at Suakin, 
 1 86; Red Sea Littoral, 170 
 
 Watson Pasha: Colonel Sir 
 Charles Moore, meeting with, 
 i; energy of, 4; parentage, 
 6; at R.M.C., Woolwich, n; 
 inventions, 29; experiments 
 with balloons, 86; embarka- 
 tion for Egypt, 106; Cairo 
 
 Citadel, 128; report of cap- 
 ture of Citadel in Gazette, 
 ' 130; character of, 146; rela- 
 tions with Gordon, 153; 
 policy at Suakin, 182; return 
 to England, 195; attitude 
 to the East, 210; defence of 
 Wilson, 212; death of, 222; 
 work at Suakin, 232 ; Oriental 
 School in Berlin, 246 
 Watson, Lady, 100, 222 
 Watson, William, father of 
 
 Sir C. Watson, 137 
 Watson, Mrs. W., mother of 
 
 Sir C. W. 
 Watson, Edward, 43; Arthur, 
 
 173 (brothers) 
 Wesir, Bab-el, 121, 122 
 Weston- super-Mare, 30 
 Wilkinson, General, 115 
 Wilson, Major-General : Rejaf, 
 58; arrival at Cairo, 125; 
 dinner with Watson, 132; 
 effort to reach Khartum, 164; 
 Watson's defence of, 167; 
 Sawakin, 173, 224 
 Wingate, General Sir Reginald, 
 
 J 75 
 
 Wolff, Sir Drummond, reor- 
 ganization of Egyptian Army, 
 146; Kitchener on, 148; 
 Watson calls on, 190; Wat- 
 son's Red Sea appointment, 
 
 239 
 
 Wolseley, Viscount : Arabi 
 Pasha revolt, 102; Cairo 
 Citadel, 1 30 ; arrival at Korti, 
 164 
 
 Wood, General Sir Elliott, at 
 Chatham, 20; the cottage, 
 S. Kensington, 97; Watson's 
 work in Egypt, 192 
 
 Wood, Field - Marshal Sir 
 Evelyn, at Cairo, 142; Wat- 
 son's work with, 145; Watson 
 recommended by, 147; Wat- 
 son stays with, 152 ; abuse 
 of, 157, 159; superseded as 
 Siidar, 162 
 
 Wood, Lady, 135, 137 
 
 Woolwich, 9, ii 
 
 Wright, Mr., 86 
 
 Wylde, Mr. A. B., 188 
 
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