St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-12-28
FAMINE and DEATH,
Starvation Decimates Whole
Tribes in the Eastern
Soudan.
A Plague Of Loeusts Destroys
the Crops, and People Die
in DrOveS.
Many Lie Unburied Through
the Districts and Surviv-
orS Turn Cannibals.
The European Field of News
and Gossip Very Thor
oughly Covered.

LONDON, Dec. 27.-The London Daily
News correspondent at Suakim tele-
graphs to-day that the full magnitude
OF the famine that for eighteen months
has ravaged the Eastern Soudan can
never be known. 1t is only where Euro
peanS have been present that some de-
tailed Information has reached the out
side world as to the terrible condition
of the people. The extent of the affect
ed region is very great; in fact, trust
worthy native accounts indicate that
there is not town nor district from
Egypt proper to SEMINAR in the south,
ftom Darfcur in the west through Kor-
dofan to the Nile provinces and east to
the sea, that has not been during the
past year and half more than decimat-
ed by starvation. Not only the inhabit-
ants of lthe plains have suffered, but
the misery has also reached the mount
aims from the Benz Ameri coun-
try to AbysSynia. The chief causes
of the famine are described to be:
First-The insecurity Of property, the
natives being on this account afraid to
place too much ground under cultiva-
ton. Second-The partial destruction
by drought of the crops Of 1889, the sup
ply of grain being very deficient.
Third-The total failure of the winter
crops of 18S990. the locusts having de-
stroyed nearly every green thing. The
habitants of the country had to rely on
the coast ports for supplies, which
were released by the Egyptian govern
ment with spare hand. causing unnec-
eSSary suffering to thousands of people.
The oldest native inhabitant never saw
the locusts so thick as they have been
this year. The country We visited
eight times by vast clouds of these ra-
paclous insects. The victims of the
famine are so numerous that it is safe
to say that some sub-trlbes of the Had
dendowas and AmararS have ceased to
exist. The awful experience of the people
has not however, lessened their deter
mination TO maintain their freedom. The
greatest sufferers among the tribeSmen
have been the families of those who in
1884 and 1885 arrayed themselves in
battle against the English, colonial and
Indian forces, and whose bones are still
bleaching on the plains in silent protest
against the English attempt to place
the people again under Egyptian rule.
Now many widows and children lie un-
buried beside these bread-winners,
starvation having found them easy VIC
tins. In some places in the Soudan the
poorer classes were forced to eat cats,
dogs, rats and lizards, all vegetable
food having disappeared. There have
also been many undoubted cases of can
nlbalism, freshly inferred bodies of the
dead having been exhumed to satisfy
the cravings of hunger, Here and there
a whole village is deserted, with Skele-
tons of the dead remaining i'll some of
the houses.
The wealthy faired hardly better than
the poor, as riches could not procure
food. TO add to the terrors of the situa-
ton, smallpox broke out and spread
over nearly the entire famine district.
For the past two months there has been
some Improvement, and by spring the
people will probably have regained
their normal condition, but they will not
forget that the British and Egyptian
authorities, by closing the gates of
Suaaklm against them, are responsible
for much of their terrible sufferings.