Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1885-08-08
A SCENE CT SLAUGHTER.
Soldiers ndcr Geueral Gordon Tell
How hhartoum Fell.

uOH NtTt says. Wo men nave arrived
here whose story throws some fresh light
On the capture ef khartoum. They We're
soldiers IN Go.lons army. taken 81 the
time and sold Is slaves. but who ulti-
matoly escaped Their names are Said
Abdullah and Jacob Mahomet | will
let them tell their own history. They
say AT night khartoum was delivered
/ into the hands Of the rebels It fell
through the trcachcry Of the accursed
Farig Pasha, the Circassian. who opened
/ the gate. May he never reach Paradise,
May Shaytaa take possession Of his soul
! But II was kismet The gate was called
'Bourl. 1t was OH the Blue Nile. We
! were on guard near, but did not see
what was going on. We were attacked
and fought desperately at the gate.
Twelve Of us were killed, ana twenty
two retrcated to high room. where we
We're taken prisoners And now came
the ending. The red flag with the
crescent was destined no more TO wave
over the palace; nor would the strains
OF the hymn of his highneSs the Etfendlna
be heard any more ut evening within
khartoum. Blood was to flow III her
streets, in her dwellings, in her very
mosque, and on the Kcnnisch> of the
Marsha.
"A cry arose. TO the palace to the
palace \ wild and furious band
rushed forward, but they were resisted
by the black troops, who fought dcs
pcrately. They knew there was no
mercy for them, and that even were
their lives spared they would be en-
shaved, and the state of the slave. the
perpetual bondage with hard task mas
ters, is worse than death Slaves
are not treated we'll, as YOU think heavy
chains are round their ankles and middle
and they are lashcd for the least otfensc
till blood flows. We had fought for the
Christian pasha and for the Turks, and
we knew that we should receive no mcr-
cy. We (the party | was with could
not help being taken prisoners. The
house was set on fire The fight ragged
and the slaughter continued till the
streets were slippery with blood The
rebels rushed onward to the palace We
saw mass rolling to and fro, but did
not see Gordon Pasha killed He met
his fate as he was leaving the palace near
the large tree which stands on the esplan-
ade. The palace is not a stones throw
or at any rate, a gunshot distance from
tide Austrian consuTs house He was
going in that direction, to,che magazine
on the kenniseh, a long way off, We
did not hear ~hat became of his body,
nor did we hear that his head was cut
of. but We saw the head of the traitor
Farig, who met with his deserts.
and now fearful scenes took place in
every house and bnildino, in the large
market place, in the small bazars There
were the same terrible scenes in the
dwellings where the window sills and
door lintels were painted azrek, where
there had been many Icasts and fantasies
where merissa had flowed in plenty, and
| where the walls>were built Of wahaI and
the roof built IF dhoora stalk Nen
were slain shrfcking for mercy. whep
mercy was not in the hearts OF our say
age enemies. Women and children were
robbed Of their jewels Of gold and jewcls
Of silver, Of their bracelets, necklaces or
precious stones, and carried Of to be sold
10 the Bisharccn merchants a slaves
Yes, and white women too Egyptians
and Circassians who wore the burko over
their faces, the rabtah. and the turbah.
ard the kurs on their heads--ladIes clad
in silk and satia gibbchs and saltahs
Mother and daughter alike were dragged
of from their homes Of comfort These
were widows. Hivcs and daughters u
Egyptian officers, some of whom hal
been killed with Hicks Pastyt, wlve, and
children Of Egyptian merchants former ;
rich. owning ships and mills. garden.
and shops. These we're sold after~ard.
some for 80 tha'crie- Or more. some fo-
$50 according 10 -. and good lo5-rs-
And the poor black women already slavc-
ard their children were taken Of. to-.
These xc-e sold. too for 10. eighty. Or