Irvine Express and North Ayrshire Post. — 1885-02-13 (Irvine, Strathclyde, Scotland)

DETAILS OF THE MASSACRE.  A special correspondent at Abu Kru, under date February 4, gives the following account of the fall of Khartoum, and the events which followed : With the arrival of Sir Charles Wilson and his party further details have come to hand in regard to the fall of Khartoum. It appears on the beat authority available that the fall of the ill-fated city was due entirely to the treachery of Feragh Pasha, who commanded General Gordon's Sondani troops. This miscreant betrayed the city and its glorious defender on the morning of January 26. It is alleged that General Gordon had always mistrusted this man, treason having been proved against him on a previous occasion in respect of which he was condemned to death. Gordon, either doubting the effect which Ms execution would have upon the fidelity of the Soudani troops, with whom he possessed great • influence, or yielding in that spirit of generosity which so distinguished him to Feragh's reiterated prayers for pardon and professions of devotion, forgave him. For many months Feragh's 'conduct was above suspicion, but it is thougEt that, fearing that on the arrival of the Eaglish I punishment would overtake him, he entered into negotiations with the Mandi, with the disastrous result which all the world must deplore. Be that as it may, one fact seems beyond doubt, that on the 26th of January he opened the gates of the city to the Mandi's troops. I feel it my painful duty to record that, forming our belief on the most reliable testimony obtainable, we here have but little hopes that the heroic General has survived the loss of the city which he for so many months had defended with such marvellous resolution. Evidence of the most circumstantial character takes the form of a positive statement to the effect that upon hearing the unwonted commotion caused by the eruption of the False Prophet's troops into the streets of Khartoum, 'Gordon, rushing out of the Palace to ascertain its cause, was slain upon the threshold. It appears, further, that despite Gordon's cheering letter of December 29, announcing that Khartoum was all right, the garrison had for a long time previous been suffering intense privation. This fact doubtless contributed to render the work of treason the more easy of accomplishment. The Mandi's troops, the wild hunters of Kordofan, and those Cossacks of the Soudan the Baggara horsemen, rushed in swelling hordes into the devoted city, and the word was given to slay. A massacre of indescribable ferocity followed. Those who had remained faithful to the gallant Englishman who had stood between them and the knife so long, regardless of age or sex, were ruthlessly butchered. The women for the most part were murdered in cold blood, and litt'e children were spitted on the Arab spears in pure wantonness. All those relatives of the faithful 500, under Nisri Pasha, who met and assisted Wilson at Gubat, shared the general fate. From the accounts of an eyewitness who boarded Sir Charles Wilson's steamer on the return voyage from Khartoum, it would appear that for an entire day the streets of the city ran with blood. But for Oriental exaggeration, there can be no doubt that the scene of carnage which followed the entry of the Mandi's fierce warriors into the city which had defied them so long was one of unparalelld horror since the days of Tamerlane. The bulk of the troops, however, willingly joined the Mandi, and his chiefs speedily organised a complete system of defence for the city, throwing up outlying redoubts, arranged on sound military principles, and commanding the approaches of the city from all points. Into these °allying fortifications immense numbers of marksmen have been thrown, together with vast quantities of arms, cartridges, and shells. If all this be as described, and the Mandi be well supplied with provisions, the taking of Khartoum will be a most wearisome and arduous task, and wi,l have to be conducted on those principles which govern the conduct of sieges in Euro. pean warfare. •