The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1885-03-11
The War IN EGYPT.
Defensive Operations of the Brit
iSh Forces.
Extracts from Gordon's Letters anl
kilograms

A dispatch from korti says that General
Butler has an ample supply of food and water.
The prisoners who were captured in the Skin.
mish on the 18th state that 1000 Arabs
from the vicinity of Metemneh were
encamped near the British front
The chiefs intended to make o
night assault upon the British lines. Half OF
the men were eager for the attack, but the
others were disinclined. The attack, there.
fore, was postponed. 1t was also stated that
the Mahdi had written a letter promising re,
Inducements, impressing them to follow ant
harass the British troops while crossing the
desert. Tho Mahdis most active general,
Abdullah khalifa, was in command of the
Arabs at Abu-klea. ,
The arrival of General B~rackenbury's col
umn at Abu- Hamed will be a welcome event
for the British, since there will then, for q
communication with Korosko, above the
Second Cataract. This line is 235 miles
long, and there is only one point at which
water is found, but steps will doubtless be
taken to forward stores of water to Ell Murad
in advance, and by forced camel marches tho
distance can be covered in nine days. Al
best this line will be an indifferent one, but
anything is preferable to the isolation OF tho
past several days.
presence OF the Kabbabish and other sheikhE
and the British troops. Lord WolSeley per
sonally invested tho mudir Of Dongola will
tho order OF St. Michael and st. George
The mudir asked Lord Wolseley to convey
his thanks to the queen for this mark OF dis
tinction.
General Wolseley received a visit at Kort
from q number of friendly chiefs. He an
nounced to them that it was tho fixed dc
khartoum and to avepg9 the death OIL
General Gordon.
The papers continue to publish extract:
from the kilograms and letters of Genera
Gordon as they appear in the Blue Book OF
Egypt. One of these letters, dated Decem
Der 4, 1854, recounts many incidents of the
siege, and has the following narratives: "Onc'
the river rose. We drove off the Arabs il
four fights. We fired their towns. We sent two
expeditions to SEMINAR. We had a fight
on Sept. 1. We were defeated with heavy
loss, our square getting always broken. i
has baen quiet SINCE. We fired 3,000,0 J
rounds in these different fights. TIT
Arab Krupp guns often hulled on
steamers. We haze lost three steamer
and built two. III the captives with thu
Mahdi are we'll. :Slatin Bey is we'll treated
but he is kept in chains. The nuns among
the c~aptivcS ostensibly married the Greek
in the party in order to save themselves from
being compelled to marry Arabs. There is
mysterious Frenchman from Dongola will
the Mahdi. Don't let the Egyptian soldiers
come. Take direct command OF the steamer
at Metemneh and turn out the fellaheen."
In a letter to a friend Mt Cairo, dated De
cember II, General Gordon wrote: at is al
up with us. l expect a catastrophe within
ten days from the present time. 1t would no
have been so if our people had kept me bette
informed of their intentions. My adieux t.
ALL"
A native has reported that the Madhi ha
offered the Egyptian garrisons in the e1ua
torial provinces of the White Nile and Sen
naar q safe conduct out of Egypt upon con
dition that they give up their arms.
The queen has sent an autograph letter t.
Miss Gordon, sister of General Gordon, OK
pressing her majesty's sympathy with tn
lady in her bereavement by the loss OF he
heroic brother.