The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1895-10-03
CAPTIVE PASTA IN AFRICA
In Chains for Fight Months and TIED
tn PnIe


~ the mahdi. The chains were of the
thickness of my wrist, one round my
heck and two aboTt my arms and legs
10 addition to this, | was tied to a pole
ike dog or a bear This treatment
df not begin Immediately upon my
capture. The mahdists never, of
course, treated me very cordially, but
considering their fanaticism toward all
unbeIievers, | had really not very much
to complain of before I was cast into
chains. To the mahdists, all non
mahdists are infidels, whether Moham-
medan, Christian, Jews, or anything
else, and all intidels are deemed worthy
only to be slain. / was taken in the
mahdi's suite to Khartum, and when
we arrived at the walls the mahdi
asked me to write letter to Gen. Cor
don calling upon hun to surrender
Accordingly | wrote a letter in Ger
man, which no one in the mahdi's camp
could control in any way, and it was
duly dispatched. No answer however,
was returned, and from that as well
as from other indications, the mahdi
concluded that | had not carried out
his wishes. Therefore he cast me into
chains.
For the next eight months l was
very badly treated. The chains were
SO heavy that l could scarcely rise up
at all. When we moved from place to
place | was put on to donkey, and
two men walked by my side to
prop me up. The object of this was to
which they suspected intended to do.
When Khartun fell, the mahdists
found certain documents which they
considered discriminating, so they in
creased my irons and their severity
toward me. Within an hour of Cor
dom death his head was brought to
me in my prison wrapped up in a cloth,
which they unfolded before me. | had
no difficulty i'll recognizing it at once.
For some reason or other they had
taken it into their heads that | was
Gordon's nephew, and no amount of
arguing could disabuse them of that
notion. They thought they recognized
a likeness, and they kept repeating
that we both had fair hair and blue
eyes, as if that were conclusive.
After all, one European seems very
like another to them, just as one negro
seems like another to us. l heard full
details of Gordon's death afterward
Gordon defended Khartum as we'll as
it was possible for him co do under the
circumstances. | think Gordon might
have escaped from Khartum, had he
wished to do SO, at the last moment.
He was killed on the top of the steps
of the palace during the first rush of
the invaders. One of the foremost
men plunged a spear into his body; he
was dragged down the steps in a wild
tumult, and pierced through and
through by countless spears.
For three months my diet consisted
only of various kinds of corn, chief fly
dourra, not ground, but in its hard, in
digestible state Afterward | was
given beans and kind of polenta.
They would no doubt have killed me,
but tina. they considered me too valua-
BILE a prisoner. | had been governor
general of the province of Darfur. and
it added to their prestige to take me
about with them to make use of the
pOo2CoSCu III Tic
l suffered good deal in health during
my confinement, being attacked by
fever and dysentery. No one made
any attempt at nursing NE, or pro-
vided me with any remedies | had to
lie on the bare ground with a stone
for my pillow, and was afforded no
comfort or relaxation of any kind.
was released couple of months or 50
before the mahdi died but the strictest
watch was kept over me.
On the death of the madhi I was
made one of the khalifa's bodyguard,
which meant that was practically al
ways under his eye. l used generally
to be stationed outside his door, and
was liable to be called in to do his
bidding at any moment. OF the
two, | preferred the madhi to the
l1halifa. Until he threw me into
chains, the mahdi was comparatively
amiable to me. He was man of
some education, knew how to read and
write, and possessed an intimate ac-
Iuaintauce with the Mohammedan re-
ligion. The khalifa has not the reli-
gious prestige of his predecessor, and is
alternating many of his supporters by
an attempt to found dynasty. This
he has no earthly right to do, either
by law or tradition. Before his son
could succeed him, other khalifas, ap-
pointed by the late mehdi would have
a prior claim. Very strict rules are in
force against either drinking spir-
ituous liquors or smoking tobacco.
Nor do the mahdists use opium or
hashish-for one reason, because they
are not procurable. Anyone caught
smoking tobacco is liable to punish
ment of one hundred lashes, and the
confiscation of all his property. In
spite of that, there are still good
many persons who venture to do it
secretly. All these regulations are
simply cloak for the most mons rous
immortality. The khalifa has harem
of four hundred or five hundred
women, and devotes a large part of
his time to its amenities.
The lkhalifa maintains his influence
by tyranny and despotism, and the in
abitants-other than his own tribe
look forward, apxiously, to the time
when Egypt will once again claim her
lost provinces. But that is not a
nroiect to he undertaken too LIGHTLY