Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-11-08

tants armed themselves and their slaves
and went to the Notifications in place
Of the soldiers. This was not an un-
usual occurrence, only on this night
more Of the inhabitants went as volun-
teers than they had done on previous
occasions.
How KHART0UM FELL.
At about $3.50 A. NJ. ON the morning
of Monday the Goth determined at
tack was made by the rebels on the
south front. The principal points Of
attack were the Boori gate, at the ex-
IRENE east end Of the line Of defence
on the Blue Nile, and the Mesalamieh
gate, on the west side, near the White
Nile. The defence of the former post
held out against the attack, but at the
Messlamieh gate, the rebels having
filed the ditch with bundles of straw,
brushwood, beds, &C., brought up in
their arms, penetrated the Notifications,
led by their Emir Wad-en-Nejumi. The
defenders Of the Boori gate, seeing the
rebels inside the Notifications in their
rear, retired. and the town was then at
the mercy Of the rebels.
General Gordon was left entirely un-
warned Of the attack and entry Of the
rebels. Doubtless Farag Pacha was
responsible, to some extent, for this.
FARAG PACHA NOT A TRAITOR.
Farag Pachs has been very generally
accused of having either opened the
gates Of Khartoum himself, or connived
at the entrance Of the rebels, but this
has been distinctly denied by Abdullah
Bey Ismail, who commanded bat
talon Of irregular troops at the fall Of
the town, as well as by about thirty
refugee soldiers, who lately escaped,
and came in during the last days Of the
English occupation of Dongola. The
accusations Of treachery have all been
vague, and are, to my mind, the out
come Of mere supposition.
THE MAssACRE-DEATH OF GORDON.
Hassen Bey Balmasawy, who COM
manded at the Mesalamieh gate, GER
tainly did not make a proper defence,
and failed to warn General Gordon Of
the danger the town was in. He after
wards appears to have taken commits
sion under the Mahdi, and to have gone
to Kordofan with the Emir Abu-Angs.
In my opinion Khartoum fell from sud-
den assault, when the garrison were too
exhausted by privations to make proper
resistance. Having entered the town,
the rebels rushed through the streets,
shouting and numbering every one they
met, thus increasing the panic and de-
stroying any opposition. 1t is difficult,
from the confused accounts, to make
out exactly how General Gordon was
killed. All the evidence tends to prove
it happened at or near the palace,
where his body was subsequently
seen by several witnesses. 1t ap-
pears that there was one COM
pany Of black troops in the palace
besides General Gordon's cavasses.
Some resistance was made when the
rebels appeared, but think this was
after General Gordon had left the palace.
The only account, by person claiming
to be an eyewitness, Of the scene OF
General Gordon's death, relates "0n
hearing the noise, l got my masters
donkey and went with him to the pa
ace. We met Gordon Pacha at the
outer door of the palace. Muhammed
Bey Mustapha, with my master, Ibra-
him Bey Rushdi, and about twenty
cavasses, then went with Gordon to-
wards the house Of the Austrian Con-
sal Hansel, near the church, when we
met some rebels in an open place near
the outer gates Of the palace. Gordon
Pacha was walking in front, leading the
party. The rebels fired a volley, and
Gordon was killed at once. Nine of
the csvasses, Ibrahim Bey Rushdi, and
Muhammed Bey Mustapha were killed.
The rest ran away"
One apparently reliable witness states
that he saw the rebels cut off Gordon's
head at the palace gate. The massacre
lasted six hours, and about 1000 per-
sons at least were killed. The black
troops were spared, except those who
resisted at the Boori gate. Large num-
bers of the townspeople and slaves
were killed and wounded. The Bashi-
Bazouks and white regulars, number
1897, and the Shaggai regulars, num-
bering 2,230, were mostly all killed in
cold blood after they had surrendered
and been disarmed. Consul Hansel was
killed in his own house Consul Nicola,
a doctor, and Gordon's secretary were
taken prisoners.
At about 10 A. NJ. the Mahdi sent
orders to stop the massacre, which then
ceased. The rebels fell to footing the
town, and ordered all the inhabitants
out Of it. They were searched at the
gate as they passed, and were taken
over to Omdurman, where the women
were distributed as slaves among the
rebel chiefs. The men, after being
kept as prisoners under a guard for
three days, were stripped and allowed
to get their living as best they could.
THE MAHDI AND GORDON.
Major Kitchener doubts whether the
Mahdi was really angry when he heard
of General Gordon's death. lie may
have pretended to be so. But there is
very little doubt, had he expressed the
wish. Gordon would not have been
killed. The presence of Gordon as
prisoner would have been a great danger
to him, as the black troops from Kor-
dofan and Khartoum all loved and ven
Grated Gordon, and many other inhu-
entail men knew him to be wonder
fully good man. Moreover, if Gordon
W as dead, he calculated the English
would retire and leave him in peace.
THE DEATH OF FARvG PACHA.
The Mahdi had promised his follow
ers as much gold and silver as they
could carry when Khartoum fell, and
immense disappointment was expressed
at the failure to find the Government
treasury. Three days after the fall of
the town Farag Pacha was brought up
to show where the Government money
was hid. AS he was naturally unable
to do this, owing to there not being any,
he was killed in the market-plsce at
Omdurman.
Many others were put to torture to
disclose where their wealth was hid,
With VARYING regultG