The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1885-02-19
ON GDhDOx
as LAST soltMa MESSAGES.


the duAih oi boriOn nnd ihe innssacT,
of his ndheront- IN established;
on the 18th OF April, 1891, General
Gordon, being hesieged AT Khartoum
lelographed as follows to the English
government;
As far az can understand the situ-
alton ~ this; You state your Intention
Of not sending any relief up hOro or Ia
Berh,r, aud you refuse mo IObehr. I
consider myself tree to act according To
circumstances. | shall hold on hero as
long rs can, and II ] can suppress tho
rebellion, shall do so. II can not,
shalt retire 10 tho Equator, md leave
you the indrllihle disgrace OF abandon
INK the gtrri ons,
GA tho 2Sth of j .uurry, 1855, Sir
Charles Wilson, one ul LTL Wolseloy',
officers, steamed up tho NlIc 10 within
mile or two of khartouiu, lie had no
sooner reached the cOnlluNI,u of the
Blue Milo and the While Mil than the
Arabs Upoped ire upon him rom the
iurtiirHtiOuh on the banks. The palace
where Gordon held out 50 long was do
serted. The ilag round which the hui
lets mad rainei for year, had distp-
pearei. All WAS silent In the city which
had risen from the marsh In the days of
MDhemct Ali,
Too la e! Tue grand expedition had
breast, ii the rapids In vain. The Wha-
lers aud tha Canadian boRtmen, the
timed provisions, tho marmalade, tho
GunrdSm6n pulling at tho oar, and the
Jacktars riding thu camcls, the battles
with Arabs ia tho desert, tho lulrsIs,
tue priVatlons, the gruans of the diving,
all tho pomp aud circumstance of iu-
glorious war, had gone Cor nothing. Tae
enemy had entered Khartoum on the
18th 1 January. Lord WOlseley and his
men were two days 100 late.
Aud nine months before Con. Gordon
had telegraphod 10 his government:
/ shall hold on here rs
long a. l can, and If l can
suppress the rebellion, shall do so. Il
cannot, shall retire To the Equator,
and leave you the indelible disgrace oi
abandoning tho garrisOns.
Where is GrodUn now? Will he be
forced despite his latter vow, "ta walk
about "a n devrish with sandallcd
ieet? D'd the Mahdi accept him Mt his
word "that %. WI will never be ta-
kou alive@' Poor, brave man Hero o
inViucible courage, of idOmi abe Will,
who conducted the noldest siege Of our
time, living for months among traitors,
nd bIrharians, preserving discipline,
supprc ,siug rovoits, making -grtics, re-.
peing the enemy, breaking their
bridges, mining their uarGh-wOrks, run
ming steamers through their Ines
knowing that his government had
"turned down their Jhumbs," but pla-
cling still his simple Eiitn in the provi-
dcuca who had uevor deserted hun; Il
warrior Ut antique furtlLude, the lion Of
khartoum, Tor whose safety the wishes
Of the world go out in this, the sOrest
hour his peril
The interest in the fate of Gordon
stretches far beyond the confines of
England, and during the entire prog
ress of Lord Wolseley's expedition for
eisn nations have chaied at delays aud
mismauagement which IN other cir
cumstances would nave concerned
them little. There was n road by which
khar;Oum could have been reached in
month. from Suakim on tbe Red Sea
10 Berber on the Nile there stretched
80 miles of desert; not an inviting
march, perhaps; not well supplied with
water, not free from dangerous detiles,
not closely shaded from tho sun, not
unmarked by ominous milestones of
dead cauels and "houses OF silence;"
yet not without oases, where the sun
tree OF the Arabs bloom; not without
the sound of birds and the ripple OF
running streams: not without such ia
elites Of travel That tourists choose the
route by preference, and camels tray
erse IL III nine days.
Nevertheless, though every hour was
precious, though Gordon was contract
ing his forces in Kaartoum. though the
Nahdi was daily prowing Folder,
though experts like Sir Samuel Baker
and the press of almost the whole world |
showed the feasibility of the route
from Suakim, Lord Wolseley deter !
mined to sail up the Nile, with his wha-
of difficult toll, after stimula-
ting the endurance of his tro0ps
with offers of pscuniary rewards, he |
iound himself on The brink of the |
3ayudah Desert. in ayalley or solitude
as Sterile AS the worst masses of the |
road from Suakim, in nm arid waste |
abandoned 10 razslles and mountain |
hares, where the sand was blown over
the stone-beaped graves of Arabs, and |
the mirage of transparent lakes |
te,nnted thirst stricken travellers 10 |
their death.
Stewart was sent to relieve Kbgrtoum.
The rest we know. The encounters at
A bu- X lea and the Sbabskat wells were |
Inc only encounters that Lord Wolse-
lev would have had to face. if he had |
marched directly from the Red Sea,
and JhNy would have b.gp, repelIed /,
a t1ectually be- tween Suakiul AS
and Berbcr as they were repealed be-
tween Gakdul and Metemneh. The
priyations OF the march would proba.
bly, have been the same. the list of
the killed and wounded would proba-
biy have been the same. The triumphs
for the commanders would PROBABLY
have been the same. Everything would