The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-02-11

hundred miles from Cairo, on the peninsula
formed by the junction of the White and
the Blue Nile. The level of the stream just
below the basin Is twelve hundred forty
feet. The dockyards and principal land
ings are on the Blue Nile. There is an ex-
tensive quay on the banks of the river,
where the principal commerce of a country
as large as all India, naturally centers. The
provinces of the Soudan are not commercial
to any great extent, but these great rivers
bring to this point many ships. The princi-
pal productions are ivory, hides, SIENNA,
gum arabic and beeswax. great part OF
the city lies low, 80 that at high water it is
flooded, which renders 1t unhealthy. 1t
consist largely of mud-build huts, though
there are number of substantial modern
buildings, the most imposing of which is
the stOne-faced palace OF the governor,
where Gordon had established his headquar-
ters The gardens within and around the
city are extensive, and are planted with
rows of date palms, many of which are half
a century old. and fig and orange trees. The
view of the city from the opposite shore OF
the river is very fine. The climate is severe.
From June till October the Thermometer
ranges from 95o to 1902 in the shade, and is
about 800 in winter during the daytime.
Khartoum was founded by Mohammed Ali
in 1898. The population has reached fifty
thousand. Here General Gordon has been
since February of last year. 1t was in May,
Ia
nounced himself as the Mahdi, " Directed
of God" whose divine mission was to re-
form Islam, establish universal equality,
law religion and community of goods.
He is of a religious fraternity, which has
its Headquarters at Bagdad and ramifi-
cations throughout all Islam. Kordofan
and the western Soudan hocked to his
standard; an Egyptian force under the
English commander, Hicks Pacha, was ut
terly annihilated at Eel Obeid, and the
Mahdi, with his victorious troops, threatened
Khartoum. The Egyptian garrison there
Red Sea were beleaguered. Eight thousand
troops were between Kartoum and Assouan.
six thousand in Khartoum and twenty thou
sand to the south of that town. The ques-
ton that confronted the British and Egyp-
tan governments was Are these men to be
abandoned to the fate which befell Hicks
army? The Egyptian government was help
less, and the British desired to entirely aban-
don the Soudan, but saw no convenient way
for retiring the threatened garrisons. When
affairs had reached this tangle, General Cor
don arrived in London, and in January of last
year, in newspaper interview, declared that
the policy of evacuation meant massacre.
The English journals Immediately began to
demand that Chinese Gordon should be
sent to Khartoum, with full powers to treat
with the Mahdi and avert the disaster. On
January IL, 1884, he left London for Egypt,
with full powers to take what measures he
saw fit for the retirement of the troops and
the restoration Of the native government.
On January "a he arrived at Cairo Gordon's
route was up the Nile Valley by train to
Assiout, by steamer to Wady Halfa and
thence to Korosko. A four days ride on a
dromedary would then carry him to Abu
Hamar. On February IA he arrived at Der.
Der, and four days later at Khartoum. He
had been in the service of the Khedive, as
encouragement of the Soudan, from Feb
ruary, 1874, to the end of 1879. He was en-
Enthusiastically received by the people, who
rejoiced over his proclamation remitting
half their taxes, promising not to interfere
with the slave trade, and recognizing the
Mahdi as sultan of Kordofan. But in March
it was rumored that Ell Mahdi, with three
hundred thousand men, would sweep over
the desert and drive the infidel and Turk
from Egypt. Gordon himself, on March 7,
said: There is nothing further to be hoped
for in the way of quieting the people than
has already been accomplished, and there is
certainty that as time advances the
emissaries of the Mahdi will succeed in
raising tribes between this and Berber.
On March Is Gordon, with three thousand
men, attacked the rebels at Halfyeh, and
was defeated through the treachery of two
Pachas, whom he afterwards shot. Since
May he has been shut up in Khartoum by
the Mahdi's troops. He has made frequent
successful attacks upon them, and has been
able to send occasional messages about his
condition. The last word received from
him was after the recent battle near Gubat
when Nusri Pacha arrived on steamer
from Khartoum with dispatches dated De-
cember 20, stating that he was safe and
could hold out for years. Lord Wolseley's
expedition for the relief of Gordon was or
ganized in September, 1884.