The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-11-22
IN THE WAKE OF LORD KITCH-
 FINER.

to epitomZe the history of the Soudan that many people have remained under the impression that it is still a living city They may have read that when Abdullah- n-Sayd Mahomet succeed ed to the khalifate his suspicion and timidity were aroused against the de- scendants Of the mahdi, who had es- tablished themselves in Khartoum. But only those who have traversed the country from Atbara to Omdur- man can have a true idea of the con- sequences of such an attitude on the part of the khalifa. When he suspect ed he eXterminated: when he feared he made desert and called it peace. That was the primitive policy of the l later ruler of the Soudan, and Khar- l toum, once the emporium of Central Africa, was it's first victim. All the ! ruin and devastation we had hitherto seen, the villages of clay, whitened with bones, had the color of the de- sert, and seemed to be a natural part | of it. There was rSo sharp contrast be- ] tween the living and the dead. Khar- | toum was not the same. Ruin stood amid the profusion of tropical nature. When the gunboats reached the banks of the Blue Nile we entered new land "a land of palm groves and pome- | granate. Tuti island prepared us for the change. This level stretch of ground, which the flood of the two riv-
 CTS threatens to overflow, wore an air of peace and prosperity out of keeping with it's surroundings. It was like an | English meadow for greenDess. Men and women were at work among the | dhoura or maize crops, and the water wheel moaned musically, as though no
 harsher sound had been heard. The
 village and the powder magazine near l the center of the island appeared un- touched. Steaming slowly past the is sland, we drew close to the bank on l which Knartoum stands. Date palms fringed the river, food and shade to l few Arabs who came out to welcome 1 us They are a mixed race, some with
 complexion not much darker than l south European; others with a strain l of negro blood; and others whose reg l ular features, slim, symmetrical figur- l es, and graceful carriage proclaim the | pure breed.
 Beyond the palms we saw the first 1 relic of the gormer greatness of Khai-
 toum--a garden. Here, with winding paths and broad avenues between, 1 were pomegranates, shrub-like trees | with blood-red flowers; figs, whose l pear-shaped fruit hung temptingly
 among tender green leaves; lines and
 oranges that were ripening in the sun, and an undergrowth of scrub that be- @n1y T-o..t oT .,ty o1rti if,,J l garden lay a few bricks marking the
 site of the church and of varioos build
 ir1gs associated with Gordon's admin istration. Thirteen years had buried | their ruins in a dense growth of maize
 and sugarcane. On the top of q mound l stood hus roughly cons;:nctcd of
 stone taken from these bull 1ings. This was the Nhalifa's telegraph office, for Abduliahi-bin -Sayd is q man of keen 1 intelligence, and was never bath to 1 use the appliances of the .'infidels" | The telegraph line still stretched from Omdurman across the river to Khar-
 toum, but the operator had fled, leav-
 ing behind only his angarib and wa ter-bottles. Moving along the bank, we
 came upon new evidences of the form tl HI DOil ldIlCt ol lIle GUY. SIOne
 abounds in the neighborhood, ard most of the buildings on the river bank were
 large and substantial.
 The governors palace, of which the facade and the halls of the first floor
 remain, must have been an edif1ce of
 some pretension Its walls are soldly
 made of stone, and inclose parallelo-
 gram of considerable extent In the
 center is large courtyard, with the
 basin of fountain. At the back is the | garden and on the east a ore story
 building with a flat roof of cement
 The divan where Gordon awaited his
 fate was at the front of the house over
 the arcaded basement. and near the
 windows, whose fan-shaped tops give
 them distinctive appearance. In the
 corner facing south is a pile of red
 brick and stone, with the marks of a
 staircase on the wall. It was here that
 Gordon died. Slatin's story of the last
 scene enacted on this memorable spot
 is confirmed by natives. Gordon,
 standing on the top of the steps, de-
 manded of the Arabs:-
 Where is your master?''
 The only reply was a spear thrust,
 and Gordon fell forward without a
 word. His body was dragged to the
 palace entrance, where the head was cut off and sent to the madhi who
 caused it to exposed in Omdurmaa
 What became of the body is uncertain.
 This only is known-that it was hack
 ed to pieces by the horde of fanatics against whom the governor of Khar-
 toum had made so gallant stand. The
 palace was afterward used as harem by the khalifa, and remained much as
 Gordon left it until Abdullahi-b bin
 Sayd, fearing the growing influence of
 his rivals, invented new superstition and made Omdurman the sacred city of the mahdi. There are still traces of the shops on the promenade near the Blue Nile, which Gordop cleared out to accommodate ''those English who , never came" Piles of bricks mark the place of the houses on the north that , were loopholed and stockaded for de- fense. The mosque, with it's tall min , aret, has disappeared, though there ar Q l still vestiges of the arsenal the Au , strian consulate, and the Roman
 Catholic mission house, which Gordon , turned into a fortress. One or two
 rooms in the basement of the palace
 are whole. Of the walls and forts upon