The Indianapolis journal., 1884-01-23

Interview with General Charles p. Stone.
rs the Soudan lost Generall What is the
exact position of affairs in the territory which
the English have Abandoned"
''Well, while there is life there is hope but if
the present policy is adhered to, it must be lost
to Egypt. The Khedive Ismail, in conquerng
the Soudan, only continued the work which the
founder of the dynasty, Mehemet Ali. com
menced. He conquered and annexed to Upper
Egypt Kordofan, great province west of the
White Nile and SEMINAR, a province situated
in the angle between the White and Blue Niles,
Just south of Khartoum. Ismail Pasha con
tinued this great work. First he extended the
power and civilization of Egypt southwark
along the Nile countries to the main source of
the White Nile, Lake Victoria. Then he COW
cred the eastern flank of his possessions about
and around this source by the conquest of the
great Somali country, and Harrar, back of Cape
Gardafui and the Gulf of Alden Next ne con
quered Darfour, on the western flank
of the White Nile and then occupied
the Bahrel-Ghazel country thereby
stopped the main sources of supply of the slave
trade. These four conquered provinces were
ruled from Khartoum at the junction of the two
Miles, which is the seat of the Governor general
of the Soudan. FL Mahdi had obtained posses
with Hicks Pasha. He will probably obtain
Khartoum and with ii all the prestige due to the
possession of a capital city. But of the four PROV
inces which Ismail added to Upper Egypt, and
of which he formed the Egyptian Soudan, not
one 'has been gained by Ell Mahdi. The four
hold out, and enabled to do SO by the magic
which the &hedives name exercises over the
inhabitants. 1t is singular fact that whereas
the British have by their insulting treatment of
the Khedive, absolutely paralyzed the Egyptian
tn
name of Ismail Khedive is great in the new
provinces of the Soudan that the governors
can hold out The inhabitants of those distant
places do not even know that Ismail has been
dethroned With such excellent materials for
Il spirited defense the British policy shamelessly
proposes to evacuate Khartoum and abandon
these faithful provinces to their fate
what is Bakers plan of defenseN
81 do not comprehend. He shuts himself up
in Suakim, which is as reasonable as it would he
to march to Philadelphia for the protection of
St Louis. Berber on the Nile, is 300 miles
from Suallim on the sea coast, and the steamer
from Berber gets to Khartoum III twelve hours.
There many steamers on the Nile, and vet
there people who write about the movement
of troops along the river as if the only means Of
transportation were the dahabihs which Europ-
cans make point of praising AS for the evac-
uation of the Egyptian Soudan that is another
matter and far more easy to order than to exc
cute And am not sure that the Pashas in
command of the four new provinces would at
tempt anything so suicidal. They are strong
with the strength of the Khedive so long as they
remain where they are. Evacuation would be
an invitation to the enemy to massacre them.
Sir Samuel Baker was Governor general of those
provinces until 1874, when he was succeeded by
Gordon Pasha. Then Ismail employed large
force of American officers. with native officers
subordnated to them. to explore and map out as
rapidly possible his Soudan possessions He
was gaining vast fund of information about
the resources and requirements of those cOun-
tries when the action of the British bondholders
arrested the work.
''Harrar and the region lying between it and
Lake Victoria were found to be admirably suited
for the production of coffee The coffee is not
only equel to Mocha but Harrar is believed to be
the source from whence Mocha derived its trees.
The provinces of the equation produce large guam
titles of ivory and ebony, and have an enormous
region suitable for the cultivation of maize and
sugar The region of the Bahr-el Ghazal is rich
in caoutchouc trees, and peculiarly adapted for
the raising of rice. Darfour is the home of abso-
lutely countless herds of cattle. The old prov
inces of SEMINAR and Kordofan produce the gum
arabic of commerce and the SIENNA of the drug
store in quantities sufficient to satisfy the han
kerings of the whole world Conquest, as ap-
piled to these regions. hardly gives an idea of
the truth. 1t meant civilization. it meant com
merce, it meant the humiliation of the slave
trade: 1t meant also the bringing into the sphere
of European and American manufacturing inter
estsa vast population willing to be taught to ex
change their staples against our productions.
To abandon the Soudan would be, under any
circumstances, to endanger Upper Egypt; to
abandon it now is to give Egypt to FL Mahdi."
do you think that Egypt has much to fear
from Ell Mahdi, supposng him to be successful!
Man for man, is not an Arabic Isamite as good
as a Turkish onel
'Ah but Ismail was only Turk in name and
in energy. He was civilized in ideas. No one
comprehended the value of the museum at Bou
lac better than he. | tremble to think of the
fate Of that museum, unparalleled in the history
OF art and archaeology stored with the most pre-.
cious treasures which science has not yet
learned to appreciate and TO comprehend in
some instances, if vi Mahd should get to Cairo
In that grand collection there are specimens of
early Egyptian art before which scholars and
critics would be dum5founded statues of wood
which seem to be'fhe, SO fun are they of life:
priceless objects IN glass, windows, royal