The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-10-16
THE CITY OF THE KHALIFA
VIVID DESCRIPTION OF THE ems
TRANCE OF KITCHENER's ARMY.
Through HideOus Death scenes ta
Reek of Countless denominations.
J. W. Stevens. in London Mail.

tTGDcA
Surgham; the Second British and Second
Egyptian were far ahead, filmy shadows on
the eye-searing sand. The dervish dead
and dying were strewn already over some
thirty square mles-killed by bullets. killed
by shrapnel killed by shell from the gum
boats. dying of wounds by the water, dying
of thirst in the desert. But most lay dead
in the fighting line. Mahdism had died
well. If it had earned it's death by its iniqui-
ties, it had condoned its iniquities by its
death.
Now on to overtake the sirdar. to see the
city of the Khaifa- Even now, after our
triple fight, none was quite assured of final
victory. We had killed prodigious NUM-
Der of men, but where there were so many
there might yet be more. Probably the same
thought ran through many minds. If only
they fought as well inside Omdurmanl That
would have spelt days of fighting and thou
sands of dead.
One thing. indeed, we knew by now. the
defenses of Omdurman the river side ex-
listed no longer. On the LIST, from Gebel
Feried, we had seen the gunboats begin the
bombardment, backed by the Thirty-sev-
enth Battery, with its howitzers, on the cp-
poste bank We had heard since of the eff
fects. ut was the finest thing you ever
saw" said a captain Of marines. The
boats went up one after another, and when
we got opposite the first, pop went their
guns. Bang, bang, bang went three boats
and stopped up the embrasure Came to the
next fort: pop bang, bang, bang; stopped
I'D that embrasure. So on all the way up.
A little fort on Tut island had the cheek
to loose off its popgun; stopped that up.
Then we went on to khartum. Forts there
thought perhaps the boats couldn't shoot
from behind, so they lay doggo till we Rad
gone past. They found we could Shoot from
behind
So far so good. But what should we find on
the land side? Above all. should we find the
Khalifa? The only answer was to go and
See Six miles or so south of Agaiga the
yellow streak of Khor Shamba marks
roughly the northern limit of Omdurman;
thence to the Mahdis tomb, the great
mosque. and the Khalifa's house is a short
three miles. The Second British Brigade was
watering at the khor-men and horses lap
ping up the half solid stuff till they must
have been as thick with mud inside as they
were out. Beyond it a sprinking of tumble
down huts refracted and heated seven-fold
the furnace of the sunlight; from among
them beckoned the srdar'S flag.
MOVED ON THE CITY.
moved onward towards the Mahdi's tomb.
heaving it's torn dome above the sea OF
mud walls. The red and white looked light
and gay beside the huge cumbrous raven
banner of the Khalifa, which flew sullenly
at its side. Before the torn emblems OF
victory and defeat rode the straight-backed
sirdar. General Hunter head behind him,
behind them the staff. Behind came the
trampling Second Egyptian Brigade and the
deadly smooth-gliding guns of the Thirty
second Battery. Through the sparse novels
they moved on; presently they began. to
densen into the streets; we were on the
threshold of the capital Of Mahdism. And
on the threshold came out an old man on a
donkey with white flag. The Khalifa-so
we believed-had fled to Omdurman and was
at this very moment within his wall in the
center Of the town, but the inhabitants had
come out to surrender. Only one point the
old gentleman desired to be assured Of:
were we likely to massacre everybody If we
let them in without resistance? The sirdar
thought not. The old man beamed at the
answer, and conveyed it to his fellow
townsmen; on the top of which ceremony
we marched into Omdurman
1t began just like any other town or VIII
lage Of the mean Sudan. Half the huts
seemed left unfinished; the other half to
have been deserted and fallen to pieces
There were no streets, doors or windows.
except holes, usually roofs. AS for a
garden, tree, stealing for beast-any
evidence of thrift or intelligence, any at
tempt at comfort or amenity or common
cleanliness-not single trace of any of it.
Omdurman was just painless confusion of
blind walls and gaping holes, shiftless stu
pidity contented filth and brutishness.
But that, We said, was only the outskirts:
when we come further in we shall surely
find this mass Of population manifesting
some smell symbols of a great dominion.
And presently we came indeed into a
broader way than the rest-something with
the rude semblance of a street. Only 1t was
paved with dead donkeys. and here
and there it disappeared in colander OF
deep holes in which green water festered.
Beside it stood a few houses, such as you
see in Metemineh or Berber-two large
naked rooms standing in a naked walled
courtyard Even these were rare; for the
rest. in this main street, Omdurman was a
rabbit-warren-a threadless labyrinth of
tiny huts, too fimsy for the name of sheds.
Oppression, stagnation, degradation, were
stamped deep on every yard Of niserable
Omdurman.
But the people! We could hardly see the
place for the people. We could hardly hear
our own voices for their shrieks of well
come. We could hardly move for their i'm
Fortunate greetings. They tumbled over
each other like ants from every mud heap.
from behind every dunghill from under
every mat. Most of the men still wore
their gibbas turned inside out; you could
see the shadows Of the patches through the
sacl1cloth. They had been trying to kill US
three hours before. But they salaamed none
the less and volIeyed peace be with you
in our track. All the miscellaneous tribes
of Arabs whom Abdullahfs fears or suspi-
cions had congregated in his capital, all the
blacks his captains had gathered together
into frontier y-indiscriminate half
naked. grinning the grin OF the sycophant.
they held out their hands and asked for
backsheesh
OFFENSIVE WOMANHOOD.
Yet more wonderful were the women. The
multitudes of women whom concupiscence
had harried from, every recess OF Africa
and mewed up IN Baggara harems came
lu-ing out to salute their new masters
There were at least three OF them to every
man. Black women from Equatoria and al
raoet xvhifa xroYT,en fror, Tro~xv,f ,>l,.-.