adherents he had when we would work in such a poison-laden atmosphere.
There was good reason why I should do all in my power to keep Hamadan interested and hopeful of grand results. Onoor Issa had sent me word by a messenger from Berber that he was at that town with letters and money for me, but that he had been detained by the Emir; he hoped, however, to be able to get away very soon and arrange my escape. Then the consignment of chlorate of potash put in its appearance — about twelve hundredweight, I was told — and Sirri getting hold of a small sample of it, we showed it to Hamadan to prove that we were just succeeding with our experiments. He was satisfied, as was also Abdullahi, and we were told to continue our work.
However, the tales which were coming in every few days were causing no little anxiety to the Khaleefa. None of us believed that the troops were coming across the desert in "iron devils," and it was some time before we understood that a railway was being built. Indeed we could hardly believe it. Whatever the "iron devil" was, it behoved the Khaleefa to look well to his arms and ammunition. Sheikh ed Din was sent on a round of inspection of stores and arsenals,[1] and discovered that a large quantity of the
- ↑ A few errors have crept into the report submitted to the Earl of Kimberley in April, 1895, after the escape of Slatin.
On page 4 it is stated that the church of the Austrian Mission in Khartoum was utilized as the repairing shops of the arsenal. The church was never put to sucha purpose. The account I have given of the purpose to which it was put is the correct one.
On page 7 it is stated "Neufeld started the first saltpetre refinery in Khartoum." This may or may not be correct, but it is very misleading. The refining of saltpetre for the Khaleefa was a big industry.in Darfour and the environs of Omdurman and Khartoum long before I had anything to do with it. The account I have given as to how I came to be connected with this industry may be relied upon as being correct, while there are many living witnesses, irrespective of the stock of my saltpetre still existing, to prove that I deliberately prevented "the refining of saltpetre" so far as it lay in my power to do so.
In the following paragraph to that quoted, it is stated that the powder-factory was at Halfeyeh.
