The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1898-07-02
DESOLATION IT'S LOT.
PICTURE OF A ONCE BRAuTI.
Full AFRICAN CITY.
again Under Egyptian Flag-Its Won
derfuA Mosque Wrecked, Its Fields
Neglected Its Wells Dry and It's
People Dispersed. n

AA"sSala On Dec. correspondent of |
the London Times gives the following
description Of the city, over which the
Egyptian flag has just been rehoisted:
Inc old city Of Kassala can be describ-
ga IN few words. The dervishes were
mere for some time, which signifies that
but very little remains of the former
buildings. Here, as elsewhere in the |
tost Egyptian provinces, the followers |
Oh the mahdi destroyed all they could. |
leaving behind them, of what was once
prosperous city of 10000 inhabitants,
only ruined walls and deserted, Jungle |
oVergroWn streets, which are still |
streWn with the bones of the massacred
citizens and garrisons. The modern
native town consists chiefly of straw
tokuls, and there are but a few brick
buildings, which have been erected by
the Greek traders. We have often
heard Of the famous pilgrimage of Kat
mia, the mosque containing the shrine
Of the Morgani saint. 1t stands at the
foot of the grand mountain Kasssla ell
Luz, whose steep lower slopes, riven by
gullies, where long grass and ebony
trees find root, are crowned by stupen-
dous barren granite peaks and preci-
pices inaccessible to man The Katmia
is a large and beautiful building of
brick, which was designed by an able
architect and cost large sum. The
graceful minaret still stands, but the
derVishes have hewn through the base
Of several of the columns supporting
the edtfce, so that the roof and many
OF the shapely arches within the cloist-
cred mosque have fallen in. They have
also torn the ornamental copper work
! from the gates, windows and elsewhere,
not for any use that it might be to
them. for it still lies broken and twist
ed on the ground, but out of sheer wan
tonness, as is the derVish way. So now
the Katmia stands, roofess, with floor
overgrown with jungle, a picturesque
ruin amid this wild scenery, its cham
bers haunted nightly by the jackalls
and hyenas. The wrecked tomb of the
Morgani is now closed against the pro-
fame by a wooden door and is yearly
visited by great number of pilgrims.
Hard by the Katmia, amid what is
now a waste of high halfa grass and
bush, are to be seen the remains of
many ruined houses. These were the
villas of the weather. citizens of Kas-
sala, who here had pleasant gardens
and shady groves, to which they used
to repair during the summer heat. Of
what was once Kassala but one build
ing of any consequence remains whole.
AS one approaches this place the first
object one sees, a conspicuous land
mark rising above the Undiscovered
plain, is lofty brick chimney belong
ing to the factory which was establish
ed here in the days of the Egyptians.
The dervishes destroyed the machinery,
but spared the extensive building,
which they converted into their Belt ell
Nal, or public store. The new Italian
fort now encloses the disused factory
whose capacious engine room and 9TH
err chambers are used for the armory,
the officers messroom and other mill
tary purposes, while some of the boiler
plates have been utilized in the con-
struCtion of a fort drawbridge. This
fort, erected by the Italians shortly
after the capture of Kassala, could be
held with a shall force against any at
tack the dervishes are now capable of
making It's stout walls, about eleven
feet in height, form a rectangle $50
feet long and 315 feet broad; they are
surrounded by a deep mOat and wire
acknowledgements. There are at present
six nine-centimeter guns on the walls.
The garrison (of native troops is now
small, but no fewer than eighteen Ital~
ian officers muster at the pleasant mess.
Kassala fort commands a position OF
very great strategic Importance. 1t
stands Immediately to the westward OF
the outermost of the parallel ranges
which run from north to south through
Erithrea and Abyssinia. Looking west
ward one has before one the bush
grown, dead level plain which extends
to the Nile, the horizon being unbroken
bv even a slight eminence, so that al
the outlook posts beyond the fort the
sentries have to stand at the summit
of wooden scaffoldings erected for the
purpose in order that they may COM
mand a view over the plain. Looking
eastward one sees about three miles
off the last of the wild, rocky ranges
rising abruptly from the plain anc
stretching far to the north and south
and due east to the fort, within range
of it's guns, a broad opening in the
mountains, the main gateway to Firth
rsa and the sea coast, through which
passes the high road by which hat
ridden from Massowah. On the ives
side of Kassala, and about half a mile
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