El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-09-10

longitude eastward to theNile. This re-
gion Is occupied by several peoples, anC
includes many different States. 1t en-
braces the basins of the Niger. Lake
Tchad and the Bahr-el-GhaZal branch
of the Nile, representing respectively
Western dncluding French Soudan,l
Central and Eastern or Egyptian Soud-
an. The Nile region is generally TAX.
en- as the eastern frontier of the Soud-
an, although it probably reaches to the
foot OF the Abyssinian highlands.
Eastern Soudan comprises Darfur,
Kordofan, Senaar, Taxa, the Equator
ial Province and the Bahr-el-Ghazal
Provinces. 1t covers an area Of $50 600
square miles, with n population of over
ten million. 1t was under Egyptian
rule more or less until 1882, when the
revolt of the Mahdi allenated it and
broke IL up into various districts. Att
er the death of the Mahdi, one of his
ieuteuants, known rs the khalifa, sue
ceeded TO his power, aud with Omdur-
man as his capital has since ruled over
the revolted provinces, though Dsrfur
and other district have asserted their
Independence of him.
Early in January, 1854, the British
Cabinet laid down the law that all ter
ritory south of Wady Hslfa should be
abandoned to the tender merciesof the
all-conquering Khalifa. Hicks and his
companions mad been eXtermiDated
during the previous Nov ember: Cord
don at khartoum, and Slatin. ,Emin and
Lupton killed, captured or driven from
their respective provinces. All relief
expeditions from that time forward
had been annihilated.
Early in 1896 an attempt to recover
the vast territory lost to the Mahdi.
and now held by the Khalifa, was be-
gun. General Sir Herbert Kitchener,
with fifteen thousand men, and sup
ported by four 9unboats, began the for
ward movement in March of that wear.
The troops were composed partly OF
British soldiers and partly of an ERypt-
ian contingent. Sir Herbert Kitchen
or Is :ho commanding general of the
Egyptian forces and ranking officer in
the British army. The first movement
was against the Dervishes under the
leadership of Osman Digna. A cavalry
skirmish took place nesr Akashe Nav
l, and on June the Dervishes were
driven out of Firket and pursued to
Suarda.
The four gunboats had to be hauled
over the cstsracts, and finally arrived
at kosheh, where u final start was
made. Hair, after a short lombard
ment, was abandoned by the Dervishes,
and on September 20 the whole of the
army crosses the left bank of the Nile.
Dongola was occupied September 23,
after feeble resistance, and the gun
boats steamed up the river and landed
ga-risons at Handak ed Debbah. Korti,
aud Merawl. BY this first expedition
was recovered, without single war
ship, one of the wealthiest provinces of
the Soudan. including 100 miles of the
Nile.
The campaign of 1897 led to furth-
er extensi of Egyptian Soudan
The troops started simultaneously from
Dongola up the Nile and from Korosko
across the desert. blu Hamed was
occupied by Colonel Hunter August I =,
and the railwaywas completed. Since
that time it has been pushed vigorous
ly forward at the rate of two miles a
day until 1t now reaches the Atbsra
River and probably beyond.
The gunboats were hauled up the
fifth cataract, steamed up to Metemme,
a stronghold of the Khalifa, which
they shelled October %, and then pro-
ceeded to the sixth cataract, and Os-
man Digna retired beyond the Atbara
At the beginning of August OF the
present year General Kitchener moved
his headquarters from Abu Hamed to
the Atbara, in order that the opera-
tons OF transporting the troops might
go on under his own eve. The force