New-York tribune., 1896-09-27

man Of the world and to have known how best
| TO further his interests. 1t is now etn'
| wears since he and his chief Osman Wad Adan'
| made a tourney from Darfur to visit the Caliph
| at Omdurman While in the capital ne os,en.a
| tio,lsly distributed money among the peopie an"
| ACQUIRED the reputation of being very cnai i,a-
| BILE and truly religious person Siatih racha, a,
| then a captive. met him. and. IN the course Vi
| conversation. alluded To the young man 5 en-
| traordnary popularity. To this Bishara sihliIis'
| replied in the words Of Arab proverb. The
| wise" he said. buy men when they are cntdP'
not when they dear. signifying that d I''ir ~
| liberality displayed when all was going wen
| with one and when there was apparently nothing
| to he gained by II was accepted by 'he peope
| as evidence of a kind heart. and produced iai
| greater effect than more lavish expenditure III
| a season Of danger and difficulty, when the
reason for such generosity was patent 10 all
MAHDIST DEGRADATION.
After q short stay in Omdurman Bishara re-
| turned to Darfur with Osman Wad Adam. and
| was dispatched by his chief TO put down the
| serious rebellion of Abu Gemmaiza. Attacked
| by overwhelming numbers his force OF mu'a-
zemin was defeated with great loss but TINS mis-
| fortune reflected disgrace on the gallant
Young leader. and he took part In the SUBSEQUENT
operations which ended in the ahnih',dti'l "a
the rebel army In 1890 Osman Wad Adam dieu
a victim to a severe epidemic Of Typhoid feNel
which had broken out among his troops anu
Bishara was left for short time IN soie com
| mand of the Army of the West. But the Canph
was unwilling to intrust so important posi- to
anv but a relative of his own and ne ACCORDING
ly sent his first cousin. Mahfnud Wan Ahhru' ~
slpersede Bishara. This was young man VI
very different character to his pi edecessor
| Mahmud Wad Ahmed was true representative
| of the decadence Of Mahdism. Beng oi an III
| dolent and luxurious disposition. ne readlly ac-
| ouired all the vices which had become fashion
! able in the Caliph's household and among inc
aristocracy in 0mdurman hrs one oI,o n ordnp
| IN crafty his vicious tastes: he defrauded MS
| soldiers Of their pay. altogether hcglec,en 'ne,'
comfort. and took no interest either IN me WEI
fare of his army or in the execution or ms du'leS
! as Governor of a great province a province, ny
the way which he is misgovernng at the pres,
ent moment. II was TO be foroseen INA, ~ ne anu anu
| Rishara would not agree. The latter, sun pur"
amid the ever-inCreasng corruption 'ha' SUI
| rounded him had the courage openly TO renuK'
| his chief for his ill-treatment of the so'hiers.
| ,rhic brought about rupturc between them. and
| the dehauchcd Mahmud. bitterly ncensed against
his Purtanical subordinate. degraded nm from
his position second i'm command of INC army
of the West and left him In command "' s''s'
brigade 1900
Nahmud rose in open mutiny, II was fhelr IN
tention 10 kill their incapable chief and all the
emirs under him with the exception of Rishara
who was regarded by all as being the soldiers
friend The mutiny was suppressed. ana a giea'
number of the men were put TO death, hut the
incident intensified Mahmud's hatred of Bishara
so that shortly afterward when Mahnud ano
Rishara went to Omdurman. the latter lmploreC
the Caliph to allow him to stay in the capital. aS
he was unwilling to serve any Longer under tn'
Governor of Darfur. The Caliph acceded u
this request and gave Bshara the command o
q brigade Of his muazemin-a bodyguarc
| of several thousand picked men, who are quar-
| tered within q great wall which surrounds th'
houses of the Caph and his faInlly' ln'
| Caliph's SON Osman. Emir- n-Chief or th'
bodyguard: like Bishara's former chief. he was
| a very dissipated youth but he appears TO nave
| taken a great liking to the austere Bishara aho
| made him his second in command
| THE FALL, OF BISHARA.
Bishara was now living in the midst OF the
| gross immortality which mas gradually destroyed
the spirit of Mahdsm Ignoring the Mahdis'
tenets of self -abnegation and purity. the Calipf
| himself set an example Of unbridled prohigacy
| which was followed by all who could afford tt
| do so Probably at first the religious and as
| celtic Bishara was disgusted with his surround
| ings; but it is certain that he gradually ios'
| sight of his high ideals. that his whole mora
| nature at last became corrupted. anu thai ht
| now greedy INDUCES in the vices from whici
| he kept aloof throughout his early manhood
The Oriental is man OF extremes. IL Is ho
| unusual to the man VINO was tile holes
| fanatic the earnest refOrmer the loather OF al
! vice become within few years the selisi
| hypocrite the vouptuary sunk in sloth. viii
| no will for action left. his intellect weakened
| by excesses, displaying no energy save IN nuu
| outbreaks Of cruelty and in savage orgies Sucl
was the Mahdi's history; bishara may no
| havo reached these depths yet but refugees
| state that his character has greatly degenerate'
| within the last few years. and that he no lonSel
| commands the respect and love of his troops
| 1t is now more than year ago that he was sen
| to Dongola in place of Yunes as Emii-in-C Chic
| OF that province There he lived. until recently
| in degrading luxury. Defeated in the skirmsf
| at Hahir he shows himself a broken
| spirited poltroor. declaring that fate Is agains
| him and it is useless TO resist IT,
THE DERVISH FORCES
| How great a force the Caph Will be able Il
| summon to resist the British advance from Don
| COLA to Khartoum is IA matter of speculation
He has in all more than 100000 men. But no
| all OF them are available. From Souarda, Whlcf
| was the extreme northern outpost Of Mahdsn
before the war to Reggaf its most southern
| garrison Is a distance Of over LOO miles in
direct line. or about 100 miles along the river
while the distance from FL flasher. the mos
westerly garrison i'm DarfOur, TO Gallabat. on th'
! Abyssinian border is about 800 miles. over th'
| enormous tract thus marked out communica
| tions are in many directions difficult Moreover
/ many troops needed where they now are
The garrisOns Of the south and southwest-Reg
| gat Shakka FL flasher and FL Obeid-amountet
! last year To 10 1JO men. and not one Of these
can leave his present post. The garrisons o
Darfour and Kordofan have TO keep down hos
tile negro tribes and these well the out
post at Raggaf. have also to be on the watci
/ against ever-recurrng alarms Of French ant
Belgian inroads from the Ubanghi and the
Congo or a British movement from the grea
lakes Indeed. the chances are that instead o.
being about 10 draw upon these garrisons fo
| help the Khalifa has had to reinforce his south
| western borderlands from Omdurman. The
same may he said Of the line OF posts from Gal
labat along the Atbara TO Berber. These
amount to total Of 1880 (or let us say IN
round numbers 10000 men. And of these
| again not a man Is available for the northern