New-York tribune., 1893-12-24
ZEBEHR.
SIR WILLIAM MARRIOTT CHAMPIONS THE
SLAVE KING OF THE soUDAN--A SIDE
,,c1Ir ON GORDON'S DEATH

"A
LIGHT ON GORDON'S DEATH.
~ MANY Americans who have wintered In
ca,ro the lean, spare and bent figure of Zebehr
pacba nust have been quite a familiar spectacle
d.. tbere are few OF them who can have any
,dao NJ the important part which has been
H,o,,ed nv this extraordinary man in the history
=. r,ot and of Central Africa during the last
os.or or twenty years. And even those VINO
-. this knowledge must experience difii-
or,,v in realizing the fact that he has welded
nouer in Central Africa more absolute and
extensive than that Of many European or
As,atic monarch power too whlch was en-
,reIv of his own creation Severai OF tne
African explorers have brought pack 10 ciNlh-
,ot,on weird stories Of the barbaric spendor OF
h,s court in the KOrdofan. OF the chained mons
-, either side of the species of throne whereoh
,a sat when melting out death in its most nor
r,hIe shape and torture 10 those VINO hao IN
...rrod HE displeasure. a man Of education.
h,o, no had obtained, it Is said, in the mission
.r, schools at Cairo he was sent by way or
rurisbment for some offence of which he mad
hos, gniltv. TO take up his residence In khar-
.. Nc ou;cky tired of the still relatively
,,,,d life in that pestilential city which
.rLs the junction of the two Niles in the
coudan and disappeared. A few years later ne
was heard of as the great slave king OF Centrai
Africa. man whose name was lnthl'eiy more
,-ooaaa throughout the length and breadth
of Africa than that of Tippoo It'd Ana there is
no one living at the present moment VINO Is re-
sponsible for the destruction of so many hVes'
of 60 much property. for the devastation Oh such
immense tracts of country. formerly covered py
nrosperous towns and villages, ana above alI'
for the sending into slavery OF such great ihui'i-
,rdes of men. women and children, as this cruel
ssfnta GtS' N q
now according to the cable dispatches from
Europe been taken up by Sir William Marriott
a prominent English lawyer. who. before becom-
tho Judre Advocate General in the last Admin
,stration Of Lord Salisbury. figured as a clergy
man of the Church of England
To me- personally. Zebehr has always been an
ob;ect of peculiar interest. not only by reason
of his extraordinary career, but likewise because
7 cannot help thinking and believing that he
was in a measure responsible for the death at
t<hartoum of Chinese" Gordon. The General
had no more bitter enemy then Zebehr. For 1t
was that eccentric Engshman whom khedNe
Ismail had appointed as Governor-Generai OF the
Soudan in Difference to the personal suggestion
NJ the Prince Of Wales and of the Enghsh HoV-
ernment whom Zebehr regarded as responsible
FOR everything that had befallen him. by some
means or other Gordon managed 10 persuaue
Zebehr visit him at hndrtOulll' '''
q safe conduct Gordon seems to have had
sorre idea that by means Of personal inter-
view with Zebehr he would be able TO make
soms arrangement with him whereby the
latter could be converted into an ally of the
Eovntian Government, instead Of its most bitter
enemv and he appears to have formed the I'M
pression that II Zebehr were granted increased
facilities for the profitable disposal OF MS
ivory he might be willing TO abandon MS pesu-
,ential commerce in ebony-that Is. the slaNe
trade Gordon enjoyed an altogether unusual
reputation throughout the Dark Continent lor
his high sense of honor. and for the sacred char-
acter which he attributed to engagements which
ne had contracted: and just as In CHINA among
the Imperast troops. and the Taeping reDels
>. we'll his word was considered good as his
bond: so IT was in the wilds of Africa The con-
,erence which took place between Zebehr and
Gordon did not however. result satisfactorily
mainly owing to difficulties and obstacles raised
st every point by the Cairene Government. AL
leneth in despair Gordon suggested that
Zebehr should proceed to Cairo and make MS
ARRANGEMENTS with the Khedive In person. oo-
tanning across the telegraph wire a solemn as
surance that all his pledges with regard TO the
safe conduct and liberty Of Zebehr should be
strfctlv observed by the Egyptian Government
Accordingly, Zebehr proceeded to Cairo, where
however in violation Of all the guarantees
o,ven by Gordon in the name OF the late
Khedive the latter insisted on OBTAINING MIN
In a species Of quasi captivity. Moreover Ie"hK
was clever enough to lead Zebehr to believe tha'
A. was not he. but the English who insisted on
bts detention. Before Zebehr had been very
long at Cairo. he learnt of the death Of his
favorite son, who having been caught red-handed
IN the act OF slave raiding. had been executed
0oha abr'c p-ripf
son was very intense and he made no secret
among his acuuaintances at Cairo OF his de-
termination never to rest until he was re-
veneed upon Gordon, whom he held accountable
not only for his sons DEATH but also ior hls
own captivity.
Thus matters stood when first made MS ac
ouaintance in Cairo. in the end OF 1883 AL INC
time the Mahdist insurrrection was In full swiht
and news had just been received or the ANN
hilation of General Hicks's force at III Opeio' A.
nas a matter of common report in the EgyptiaI
metropolis among the natives that the MANU-
WAS nothing but creature or I'll Sehussi' '''
grand master Of the most powerful rehgious III
..r,,tv ~ the Mahometan faith. who makes hi
Headquarters at Jerboub on the Egypto-i -iripon
20, frontier. and whose spiritual power Il
s,nrar,o from lava and the Malay Peninsula t.
the West Coast Of Africa. Zcbehr was known L
no ono of the principal lieutenants OF El Senussi
.rd tho ,nsurrectjon in the Soudan was Regarded
by the Egyptians at any rate. as 'he "o'N Nv
., tho Nahdi who was nothing but mef
,oo, but of Senussi and OF Zebehr. Throughou
.he ert,re conflict between England ana EByp
with the Mahdi there was constant i'i'.'
change OF news and communications pe'"ee" '''
Mohd, IN the Soudan. FL Senussi at Jerpoup
a,d zebehr at Cairo. II any doubt shouio eNiS
on this point II is only necessary 10 s'a'e ,"a
,,hen the French Communist ohVier ran
left Cairo secretly for the purpose Oh Jo''''"e 80
Mahdi and assisting him in his struggle assm's "s
the English and Egyptians he Obtained ao no'
zebebr not only letters to the Mahdi' out a'so
-. a,,o, which enabled him TO pass throus