Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-03-05

illustrated article in the March Century,
from which we quote the following
description of portion Of the present
seat of war:
s'He who has never travelled through |
the desert cannot form just idea of /
that strange and marvellous region, in
which all the ordinary conditions Of |
life are completely changed. 1t is es-
sentially waterless land, without riy-
ers. creeks, rivuets, or springs Once
away from the Nile, the only supply of
water is derived from deep wells, few,
scanty, and far apart Long droughts
are frequent, When | explored the
great Arabian Desert between the Nile
and the Red Sea. it had not rained for
three years; and when | travelled over
fan, no rain had fallen for two years
Between the twenty-ninth and the
nineteenth degree of latitude it never
rains at all Water becomes precious
to a degree beyond the conception of
those who have never known its scarcity.
Members of the Catholic mission at FL
Obeid, where water is much more plen-
tiful than IN the deserts, assured me
that, the summer before. water had
been sold as high as half dollar a
gallon by the proprietors of the few
wells that had not dried up. When
long droughts occur, the always scanty
crop of doura fails away from the
| Nile, and the greater parts of the ilocks
and herds perish, as well as u consider
able part of the population. 1t iol-
lows naturally that when undertaking
journey through the desert, the para
mount question is water A supply must
be carried sufficient to last to the next
| WELL be it one or live days distant. 1t
is usually carried in goat and OK skins
suspended from the camels' packsad-
dies. These are the water bottles of
Scripture, which become leaky from
wear, and always lose considerable
/ portion of their contents BY evaporation.
the first thing after reaching well is
to ascertain the quantity and quality of
its water. As to the former, it may
have been exhausted by proceeding
caravan, and hours may be required
tor new supply to ooze in again. As
to the quality, desert water is generally
/ bad, the exception being when il is
worse, though long custom enables the
Bedouins to drink water so brackish as
to be intolerable TO all except them
selves and their flocks. Well do | re-
member how at each well the first skin
full was tasted all around rs epicures
sip rare wines. Great was the Joy if it
was pronounced naoga helUa, sweet
/ water; but If the Bedouins said 'mooSb
| tdyib' not good, we might be sure it
was solution OF EPSON salts The
best water is found in natura rocky
/ reservoirs in deep narrow gOrges whore
1 the sun never shines. AS To live
springs, | never saw more than half q
dozen in six thousand miles travel.
| khartoum is a city numbering between
fifty and sixty thousand people. Sew
eral European consuls reside there.
The American consul was Azar Add ell
Melek, a Christian Copt from Esneh,
and one of the principal merchants.
The European colony is small and con-
tinually changing; for Khartoum is a
perfect grave yard for Europeans, and
in the rainy season for natives also,
the mortality averaging then from
thirty to forty per day. which implies
three thousand to four thousand for
the season. Khartoum is the CONNER
cial center of the Soudan trade. amounts
ing altogether to sixty-five million dol
lars year, and carried on by one thous-
aud European and three thousand
Egyptian commercial houses. Drafts
and bills of exchange upon Khartoum
are as good as gold in Cairo and Alex
| andrIa, and gice UerS0. From official
sources / learned that the city con-
tanned three thousand and sixty houses,
many of them two storied, each having
from ten to one hundred and fifty oc-
cupants. Stone and lime are found in
abundance, and the buildings are, after
4 fashion, substantial, the houses be-
| longing to rich merchants being very
/ spacious and comfortable. There are
/ large bazaars, in which is found \
hmuch greater variety of European and
| Asiatic goods than would be expected
in such distant regions. In the spacious
| marlet-place brisk trade IS carried on
/ in cattle, horses, camels, asses, and
sheep, as we'll as grain, fruit. and other
/ agricultural produce. Many years ago
an Austrian Roman Catholic mission
was established and literally supported
| by the Emperor of Austria and bv CON
trbutions from the entire Catholic
| world. 1t occuPieS a large paraIlelo-
gram surrounded by solid wall
| Within this enclosure, in beautiful gar
dens ofpalm, hg, pomegranate, orange,
and banana, stands massive cathed-
raj. hospital and other substantial
buildings. Before the people of Egypt
and the Soudan had been irrtated by
foreign Interference, such was their
perfect federation and good temper that
| the priests and nuns in their distinctive
costumes. were always safe from moles-
talion. not only at Khartoum. but even
at FL Obeid and the neighborhood,
where the majority are Mnssulmans
and the rest heathens- It was stated
some months ago that Gordon had
abandoned the Governors palace and
transformed the Catholic mission into
a fortress, its surrounding wall and
massive buildings rendering it capable
Of strong resistance.