The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-08-30

against the government, promised his ladherents, dn case of death, the ever lasting joys of heaven, in case of victo- " four-tifths of the booty to the survi- vors. Thus were fanatieism and ava rice, the two chief qualities of the Sou danese, awakened The spark grew to a bright flame, Victory after victory was gained by the insurgents, Kordo- fan fell into their hands. The army sent under Hicks for reconquest was annihilated, and was compelled after long and vain struggles. to surrender
 The insurgents marched on Khar- toum, On arriving in the neighborhood of that town I had chains put round my neck and feet, since was suspected of being anxious to make my escape and join General Gordon. The town was besieged. The personal valor and ener- gy of General Gordon were spent in vain in endeavoring to avert the conn., ing calamity.
 Khartoum fell on the 20th of January, and with the bravest of it's defenders, General Gordon himself, who was mur- dered on the highest steps of his palace. His head was severed from his body and was mockingly shown ito me as lay in irons. The fanatics behaved with fury in the conquered town. Men and women were killed with few excep- Itions, and the survivors were maltreat- ed and tortured with the most refined cruelty in order to extort from them in- formation as ito the place of conceal ment of property they might have hid T nx11x scsr oy,I fNrn Wn- men were spared--not out of compass sion--they did not wish to lose them nor to torture them, as thus their beau- ty would have been impaired and their value diminished. They were distribu- ted among the adherents of the Mahdl among them many Christian women and girls. After the retreat Of the Eng- fish army from Dongola was permit ted, after nearly eight months Of cap tiyity, on condition that I should never leave the Caliph Abdullah Mohammed, and that I should always remain in his immediate neighborhood as his moula- zim (body guard).
 Two circumstances induced him TO watch me closely. As I was the last living military governor, he believed, tn his entire ignorance of the political con- l ditions of European countries, that in case of my escape should be in a position, through my more accurate knowledge of the country, to induce the Egyptian or English government to take hostile measures against the Soudan. On the other hand, it fiattered his vanity to | o a,3+ I,i Gtnr one to whom most of the western Arab | tribes, and among them his own allies I in blood, the Taascfa- -Bazara, had been subject Severe and cruel, he trusted no one and governed despotically, solely accordinng to his own pleasure. Since he is of the tribe of the Taascha- -Baza- ra (that is the name applied to all the nomadic rearers of horned cattle) and I belongs to Dadfur, he relies, as a stranger in the Nile valley, only on his kinsmen by blood, the western Arab l tribes, and armed slaves; while he sought to diminish the strength of the native tribes of the Nile valley, the Gjaaliin and Danagia. By disarma- ment, confiscation of property, execu | tions and the dispatch of those capa- ble of bearing arms against his ene- mics, so that they might die in battle or through privations, he, has so weak ened these tribes that they are now compelled to endure his rule. The greater part of them regret that they have been stirred up by the fanaticism or on other grounds to rise against the former government. They now un- derstand that the government has only been changed, that religion served only as a flag, as a means for the attain n,ent of the end desired. They now long for the end of the tragedy which they have themselves brought upon the scene.
 Only after eleven years captivity did I succeed in gaining my freedom. AL though all intercourse with any one was forbidden me, was nevertheless in secret relation with tribes of the country formerly known to me. For years and on several occasions I had determined on flight, but those partici- pating in my attempts were always deterred by the dangers of the under taking.
 At the close of last year sent a man to Cairo, and through the inter- vention of the Austrian consul general, Baron Heidler, and Major Wingate, di- rector of the intelligence department for Egypt, he received the necessary means for my flight out of the money deposited by my relatives. By means of large sum secured to him by con- tract in the event of the success of the undertaking he gained over people to venture their lives in delivering me. On the night of February 20th, after the Caliph had gone to rest, left the town unobserved and reached the cam- els held in readiness in the steppe. My guides, knowing that they had only a few hours start, forced their pace Af- ter an unbroken ride of twenty-one hours we had accomplished 130 miles, but the exhausted animals refused to go further. For six days I remained hidden in the inhospitable Cliff mourn tains, until my guides, who were Arabs of this district, succeeded in obtaining other camels. At first it had been our intention to make good our escape by travelling as quick as possible, but now the only chance of success was strategical maneuvering, as all routes were closely watched by the dervishes, who had overtaken us.
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