Beschreibung:

General C.G. Gordon Series of 12 autograph letters signed, to Colonel Charles Nugent, R.E. (one to Col. C.M. Watson) on his Governorship in Sudan, describing his exploration of South Sudan and the White Nile and the privations involved ("...the boat is full of fuel wood, & the ants swarm, of all sizes & colours great big fellows with black heads and pincers-they go up the legs of your trousers and nip you in a most pugnacious way, nearly driving you wild..."), his aggressive disruption of the slave trade ("...Since June 78 we have caught 63 caravans but it will never end, till my rules are put in force..."), his attempts at improving the government of the country ("...my time is now directed to the organisation of the country, and its finances, and they are very disheartening..."), his relationship with the Khedive, his mission to the Emperor of Ethiopia and departure from Africa, illustrated with 6 sketch maps of the Nile; 53 pages, 8vo, Sambat, Bahr el Abiad, Massowa, Khartoum, "Edowa, Darfur en route to Shaka", and finally "en route to Suez", 21 August 1874-25 December 1879, occasional neat repairs, some light wear and tear [with:] C.M. Watson, three autograph letters signed, to Nugent, on his employment with Gordon on the White Nile expedition, 14 pages, 8vo, Berber, Gondokoro, and Cairo, 27 September 1874 to 5 April 1875; George Wrottesley, autograph letter signed, to Nugent, 8 pages, 8vo, November 1882 A SERIES OF LETTERS PROVIDING A DETAILS PORTRAIT OF GORDON'S FIRST PERIOD IN SUDAN. Between 1874 and 1879 Gordon was in the employ of the Khedive of Egypt, first as Governor-General of Equatoria (a region comprising parts of South Sudan and Uganda) and latterly as Governor-General of the whole of Sudan. He kept up a regular correspondence with Colonel Charles Nugent (1827-99) who was, like Gordon, of the Royal Engineers. The first three of these letters were written during an arduous tour of the section of the White Nile known as the Bahr el Abiad and contain several sketch maps outlining his journey. He describes his work against slavers - such as finding slaves hidden in a ship carrying an ostensible cargo of ivory - problems with mosquitoes, ants, crocodiles, and hippos, and attempts to puzzle out the relationship between the upper Nile and the Great Lakes: "...you know it was a long time thought the Behr Gazal was the Nile, and many were the discussions as to which supplied the greatest vol. of water. Schweinfurth's voyages have settled that the rivers which supply Behr Gazal have sources in mountains not so far distant as Albert Nyanza, it was thought Livingstone's series of lakes fed Behr Gazal and if as then the Behr Gazal was the Nile ... it may be the lakes enter lake Albert..." The later letters are chiefly written from Khartoum and concern Gordon's governorship of Sudan, although they also admit to his own ambivalence towards his task: "I do not believe in reforms from top to the bottom, they must come from below & rise to the head. It is disheartening this thought, and still worse when one thinks one is, to some extent, sacrificing oneself in exile, for no good." Nonetheless, he writes of his efforts to deal with Sudan's debts and aggressive neighbours ("...the refugee Abyssinian Chief bothers me, & it will end in one's being obliged to attack him..."), to improve communication, and to suppress the slave trade: "...I caught two caravans with 46 slaves. Men, women and children, however I expect I shall be able to put a stop to the trade now by driving all the Galabats out of the country, which I am doing as I go along. I heard from Gessi [...] I have sent up 800 more troops to him, and I hope he will soon finish the business and to announce that he is "clearing out" Shakka of all the dealers..." PROVENANCE:Sotheby's, London, 13 March 1979, lot 121Condition reportFor further information on the condition of this lot please contact Fenella.Theis@sothebys.com