New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-02-09
THE rERVISH EMPIRE.
sLATIN PACHA's RECORD OF CAPTIVITY
IN THE SOUDAN.

c. b.. Colonel In the Egyptian trins I'm 80
commandant OF the Troops in Darfur Trans
lated BY MaJoI b ~ " w Tabs; Kelly g.
PIP. xviii. 68s Edward Arnold
Historians have tried to imagine how strus-
Cling civilization was overwhelmed in It's oesih-
nings by a wave of barbarism They car see
vivid picture of such catastrophe IN 'ia'ih
Pacha's book A lourshing commerce. an III
cipient social order, the prospect OF eiins"'c"-
ment a consistent and useful military SYSTEM
comfort and contentment for millions OF people,
are replaced in tire course OF rev moh'hs u!
tyranny based fanaticism--a tyrahh! .h"'
reduces mankind TO an equality III lai'''ie' lay
waste vast regions formerly populous. sweeps
whole organized populations out OF existence
and leaves nothing but anarchy beyond the range
of the despot's eve Slatin Pacha presents
eraphic narrative Of his own experience but no
mere personal narrative could have the interest
which his book has as 2 study Of Oriental deVoiu-
ton What has happened so often in the history
Of the East has now happened once Tor ali u'uei
the eyes of a competent civilized observer
slatin's interest in the affairs of the Soudan
began In 1874 when ne travelled by way Oh AS
souan. Korosko and Berber 10 Khartoum' eX-
pored the Nuba, Golfan Mama ana hoaero
mountains. and only gave up his Journey wheh
the country was rendered dangerous to roreisn-
by the revolt OF certain Aidp tiADVS ANN
presence of-E1nin in Khartoum inspired the
youthful traveller with desire to remain in
Africa and the two wrote to>Gordon. then Gov
ernor-General OF Equatorial placing themselves
at his disposal He invited them TO visit Lado.
lis capital There Satin was caught by letters
from his home In Vienna, and as he had still an
other year of military service under the Austrian
law, he gave up his project But Emin spoke OF
him to Gordon. and in 1873 when he had become
lieutenant in the regiment of the Crown Prince
Rudolph he received letter from General Cor
don inviting him to come to the Soudan. lie
found Gordon at Khartoum His first duties,
those Of a financial inspector. gave him dis
agreeable insight into the corruptions OF Egyp-
tian taxation. but he was soon made Mudlr OF
Dara. in command Of southwestern Darfur. with
explicit Instructions to break down the military
power Of one Haroun. who. as the son of former
sultan was endeavorng to recover control OF
the country. Satins talk concerning the duties
that were expected Of him the last he ever
had with Gordon. The moment was one OF STIR
ring interest to everybody in the Soudan. Lieu
tenant Slatin had hardly lost sight Of his COM
mander when he learned Of the defeat and death
of Suleiman Zubeir His onward march to Dara
must have been made hopeful by this event. for
II betokened the complete overthrow Of the slave
hunting power in the Soudan
Three facts diminished the value Of this VIC
tory. In the first place Sueiman Zubeir and his
allied chieftains were not killed in open fight.
but were treacherously done to death after they
, surrendered. The campaign had enabled the
Arabs 10 capture a large quantity Of guns and
ammunition; and finally the most resourceiul
man among the insurgents. forecasting the fate
OF his companions, refused TO surrender. Escap-
ing to the westward, he took possession of large
Of Tchad wisdom
prosperity Of Robeh Zubeir thus sharply con-
trasted with the unhappy fate of his companions
was not lost on the Soudanese To this day
. Robeh is q force to be reckoned with by the Eu-
ropean Powers which are pressing toward his
sphere Of influence from the western side OF the
Continent. At the moment, however. of Suei-
mans defeat affairs must have looked hopeful
for all the leading macontents in Eastern Darfur
and southwark to the furthest boundary Of what
was known as the Province Of Bahr ell Ghazal
were out Of the way. Better still, the new Mudir
OF Dara had hardly begun his first dinner In his
new residence when word was brought TO him
that Sultan Haroun was threatening the gar
risons of certain small forts southwest OF Dara.
The very man whom he had been sent into Darfur
to chastise took the earliest opportunity thus to
send him a defiance. BY midnight he was on the
march, with 200 black rhemen and twenty horse
men, Turks and Egyptians. But Haroun refused
TO emerge from his hiding place. and ii was only
after several months Of desultory fighting that
the little ended with the death of the sultan
who shot in morning skirmish.
Under the orderly conditions which the Egyp-
tan Government desired and which Gordon and
his companions strove to realize. Satin might
have gone on indefinitely putting down occasional
instructions. pacating disconnected tribesmen
and gradually doing away with corrupt and OPP
pressive methods of taxation and with the hor
rors Of the slave traffic. The jealous hordes
might have been pacified in some degree. At any
rate the Soudan would have remained CONNER
cially Of value TO the rest of the world But now
arose one of those tempests in humanity that
sweep away multitudes In insane deusion
The beginnings of the storm were unobtrusive
that nobody. least Of all the Europeans in the
Soudan suspected the danger till it was beyond
the power Of man 10 avert 1t all started In
trifling quarrel among some obscure religious
mystcs One of these was Mahomet Ahmed. who
claimed on dubious grounds to be descendant
OF the Prophet Of Islam. He native Of
b Dongola, and had been trained by his father for
the profession of a religious teacher. Later he
fell under the influence Of the Sheikh Mahomet
Sheriff. who was the leader Of religious order or
sect which followed the Sammania Tarika a
trhng variation of ordinary Islamism. II Is an
evidence Of the common background Of all Orien-
talism. that the word "tarika" means way"
and Its equivalent Is used In the same manner In
other As!atic religions Mahomet Ahmed for the
time being believed or pretended to believe that
he had found the sure way 10 paradise. He ho-
lowed out cave for himself on the island Of
Abba, In the White Nile. gathered q group Of
disciples. and was soon looked on as the rival Of
his Sheikh in holiness. OF course. the two quar-
relied. The master gave out that he would par
don certain venial sins. and the disciple declared
that no man could pardon sinner When the
latter wthstood his superior face to face, and
afterward refused to return to the order the peo-
pie were impressed by his sanctity. His fame
spread from lip TO lip, he began TO set up a