New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-01-22
EQUATORIAL AFRICA.

MAHplsM AND THE EGYPTIAN sUD a, voh Beins
an Account OF the Ese and Progress Oh Manu- ,ha
aud Of subsequent Events Vents IN e Wi us svo
An 6l7 London and New York: Macmillan I"
NY Personal EXPERIENCES n e EoT AF E,AE
P PtciLN RELIEF EXPEDIrION. BY Thomas Thomas
Iieazle Parke ovo. Pr 20 i"'Po ~
Scrbners sons, New1orh
Tho first Of these volumes on Equatorial
Africa contains the raw material for most
valuable history of MIahdsm during the last de-
cade 1t is compilation of official and Araoic
documents by the English Chief of the Intelligence
Department of the Egyptian Army ana en-
hodies q lucid and detailed account Of the events
Of the last decade in the Egyptian SUDAN. Al
the hattie Of Toslli a manuscript book containing
DEGREES ordinances and letters OF Mohaninieu
Ahmed the Mahdi, and of his khaIlfa' Apu"i-
Iab Taasbi. was captured and large body of In
formation was obtained from prisoners. WIN
this material as a nucleus and with vast amount
of evidence, documentary and oral, IN the pos
session of the secret service of the Egyptian Army,
the plan was formed of supplenenting the Official
and military histories OF recent English operations
on the Nile with intermediate narrative
Of the rise, progress conquests ana decadence
of Mahdism. General Grenfell in an intro
duction to the volume states that for obvious
reasons all references 10 the political qnes-
tons which have arisen from time to time
have been omitted. II is in fact colorless and
unimpassioned compilation Of the most authentic
information bearing upon the religious, race ana
military movements in the Sudan since the Eng
lish invasion Of Egypt. 1t is a storehouse from
which future historians can draw material Tor
we-dgested works on most important chapter
of Fnglands relations with the East
Although no attempt is made In this volume
either to make a critical Of the material or
70 base general conclusions upon it in relation
n English policy on the Nile, no wcll-lnformcd
reader can turn the pages without being I'M
pressed with the calamitous results OF the aoan-
dOnment of the Sudan as ordered by the GLAD
stone Government. Between 10000 and 4O,ooo
Egyptian soldiers who were garrisoning the
Khedives Empire were left at the mercy of the
fanatical horde recruited by the Mahdi, and not
more than a few thousand ever succeeded III
getting out of the Sudan. To this terrible loss
of life were added the thousands of Arabs SLAIN on
the seaboard and in the Upper Nile in battles
which were utterly unintegible and I'M
Unsuitable if English policy involved nothing more
than scuttling out of the country and leaving the
Sudanese to govern themselves. The Mahdi died
soon after the fall of Khartum and the disappear
ance from the rampant of the heroic figure of Cor
don For wear religious imposture had fiourlshed,
and the tribes smartng under the tyranny OF foreign
governors had welcomed the Mahd as divine
delivcrer who TO set them free ana enahlc them
10 become once more the rightful owners OF ther
lands Then as time went on they saw their spirit
nal ruler steeped in the widest debauchery and
bndly led by his chief Khalifa Abdullah laashi,
who with an iron hand ruled the land In place OF
n religious kingdom where the inhabitants WOuld
live in peace where there should be communism
of property and poverty should be unknown, they
into fafa nf a
Rapine, boodshed and horrors filed the land.
Bad as the rule of the Egyptian garrisons had been
NIahdism involved something infinitely worse. This
was the final outcome Of home rule in the Sudan
which was accomplished by the English policy OF
abandoning the Egyptian Empire. The last decade
in the Sudan makes in very truth, the darkest
chapter in the history of English dealing WIN
scmi.civilized and barbarous races.
If will be reserved for the future historian TO
weigh the evidence and TO reconcile the pretexts
and apologies of English statesmen with the horri-
bic butchery and final state of anarchy brought
about in the Sudan by the policy of withdrawal
Major Wingate has simply made laborious compi-
lation Of facts bearing upon Mahdsm and furnished
what is now the only complete and authentic his
tory of those evcntfu years. His volume contains
an intelligent analysis of Eastern religious sects.
a detailed description of the Sudancse tribes, an
account of the life and teachings of the Mahdi.
lucid explanation of the position OF the Egyptian
garrisons in 1888. the massacre of llickss army,
and the military operations and conquestS OF the
Arabs. The defence and fall of Khartum the fate
of Gordon, the English military operations on the
seaboard and the Nile, the death of the Mahdi, the
succession of Abduah Taashi, the attempted in
vasion Of Lower Egypt, the battle Of Ginnis the
fate Of the Egyptian sarrsons on the Abyssnlan
frontier and the rescue Of Emin in the Equatorial
!.
which has occurred in that part of the world since
the battle OF Tel-e-Kebir is passed in silence.
The volume is complete and comprehensive ref
eence book Of the Sudan during recent years. How
interesting colorleSs compilation of the ma
tcrials Of future history be may be illus
trated by two short passages. The first relates to
the hermit Mahdi at the opening Of his career:
Born at Dongola in 1s4s, of a family of excellent
boat-bulders, whose boats are TO this day renOwncI
for sound construction, he was early recognized by
his family as the clever one, and, so TO speak, went
into the Church At twenty-five he was already
shekh with great reputation for sanctitX, and his
preaching renowned far and wide. Men wept
and beat their breasts at his moving words: even
his brother likis could not conceal their admiration
The first steps of the Mahdi III his career are Of
genuine interest. Tall, rather slight, of youthful
build. and, like many Danagla, with large eyes and
pleasing features, Mohammed Ahmed bore eXter-
nally all the marks of well-bred gentleman.
lie moved with quiet dignity of manner, but
there was nothing unusual about him until he COM
menced to preach. Then indeed one understood the
power within him, VIII ch men Obeyed. With rapid
earnest words he stirred their hearts and bowed
their head like corn beneath the storm. And what
theme was his. No orator in France in 179?
could speak Of oppression that here III the Sudan
was not doubled. None could address the long-en-
shaved crowds in France with effect that herr
in the passionate souls of these ignorant men
not trebed in intensity. What need Of description
when he could use denuncaton when he could
stretch forth his long and point To the tax
gatherer who twice, three times, and yet again.
carried of the last goat the last bundle of dhurra
straw, from yon miserable man listening with intent
eyes And then he urges in warning tones what
Whitfield, Wesley. have urged before him. that all
this misery all this oppression is Gods anger the
peoples wickedness. That since the Prophet left
The earth the world has fallen into sin and neglect
But now time was at hand when all this should