Democratic Sentinel, Volume 9, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 March 1885 — THE WAR IN THE SOUDAN. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE WAR IN THE SOUDAN.

A Comprehensive Map, Showing at a Glance the Scene of Military Operations. Another Garrison in Danger of Sharing the Fate of Khartoum—A Sketch of El Mahdi. A MILITARY MAP. Exhibiting the Scene of Operations in Egypt. We print to-day a and well-defined map of the seat of war in the Soudan. It shows the position of the British forces and the routes and distances between different sttategetic points. The fall of Khartoum not only released the main army of the Mahd for active operations in other parts of the field, bnt gave courage to the Arabs, and caused tribes which had been vacillating and affecting neutrality to openly take sides against the British and their scattered forces. That Gen. Wolseley should have thus scattered his forces can be accounted for on no other supposition

than that he depended upon Gens Gordon’s repeated assurances that he could hold Khartoum Indefinitely, and thus keep the principal force of the Mahdi fully employed in that dirction. The failure to do this, through unexpected treachery of a portion of the Egyptian garrison, disconcerted all his plans, ana a retrograde movement became inevitable in order to concentrate all his forces.

FIGHTING IN THE DESERT. A Garrison in Peril of Sharing the Fate of Khartoum, A dispatch from Suakln confirms the report of a brilliant victory'won by the Mudir of Taka and the Shukria tribe of friendly Arabs against the Hadendewah tribe In an attack made by the latter upon some friendly tribes for sapporting the garrison a* Kassala with grain. Ir, is now stated that during the battle no less than 3,600 of the Hadendowahs were killed and among the slain was Sheik ah Moosa. The Kassala garrison is short of food and ammunition, and, as the place is hard pressed by the enemy despite the recent repulse, surrender must soon result unless the garrison is relieved. The difficulty encompassing the garrison of Kassala is increased by the appearance of the Italians at Massowah, which interferes with the authority of CoL Chermside, who was prenaring an immense convoy, with provisions, munitions and money, for Kassala. These measures of re-' lief are now suspended. Kassala is the second city in importance in the Soudan. It has 20,000 inhabitants. The garrison numbers 3,000. Kassala is the keystone to the line of frontier strongholds of Senheit. Amdib, Ghira and Gullabot, all of which are resisting the Mahdi. Kassala has been besieged for a year. Chermside has offered re-enforcements, but the commandant refused them,as he was unable to feed them. Unless either England or Italy now afford speedy relief, Kassala will share the fate of Khartoum. Gen. Brackenbury’* Advance Toward AbuHamed. A dispatch from Korti says: Gen. Brackenbury, commander of the late Gen. Earle’s forces, reports from -Debbeh. oppesite Kanlet Island, that the 21st February this entire force, including 780 animals, guns,.and equipment complete, crossed over to the right bank of the Nile, ready to advance at daybreak Sunday to AbuHamed, forty miles distant. Brackenbury had visited the scene of CoL Stewart’s murder and round some of Stewart’s visiting-cards, papers belonging to Herbin and Power, and a shirt-sleeve stained with blood. The steamer which conveyed Stewart from Khartoum to the place where murdered is now sixteen feet above the present level of water. She is gutted and filled with sand. The houses and all property belonging to the blind man, Fakri Elman, one of the principal instigators of Stewart’s murder, were completely destroyed. THE MAHDL Biographical Sketch of the Man Who Is Causing England So Much Trou le. The following account ot the Mahdi was drawn up by the late Lieut. CoL Stewart, who was killed at Merawl on his way down the Nile from Gen. Gordon at Khartoum: Mahomet Achmet, the Mahdi, is a Dongolawi, or native of the Province of Dongola His grandfather was called Fahil, and lived on the Island of Naft Art! (Art! is Dongolawi for ’’island"). This island lies east of and opposite Ordi, the native name for the capital ot Dongola His father was Abdullahi, bv trade a carpenter. In 1852 this man left and went to Shlndi, a town on the Nile south of Berber. At that time his family consisted of three sons and one ’ daughter, called respectively Mahomed, Hamid. Mahomet Achmet (the Mahdi), and Nnr-el-Sham (Light ot Syria). At Shindi another son was born called Abdullah. As a boy Mahomet Achmet was apprenticed to Bherif-en-deen, his uncle, a boat- [?], residing at Shakabeh, an island opposite Sennaar. Having one day received a beating from his uncle, he ran away to Khartoum and joined the free school or "Medressn" of a faki (learned man, head ot a sect of dervishes), who resided at Moghall, a village east of and close tolKhartoum, This school is attached to the tomb of Sheik Hoghali. the patron saint of Khartoum. and who is greatly revered by the inhabitants ot that town and district. (The Sheik of this tomb or shrine, although he keeps a free school and feeds the poor, derives a very handsome revenue from the gifts of the pious. He claims to be a descendant of the original Hoghall, and through him of Mahomet) Here he remained for some time studying religion, the tenets of bis Sheik, etc., but did not make much progress in the mo-e worldly accomplishments of reading and writing. After a time he left and went to Berber, where he joined another free school kept bv a Sheik Ghnbnsh at a village ot that name situated nearly opposite to Mekherref (Berber). This school is also attache ! to a shrine greatly venerated by the natives. Here M hornet Achmet remained six months, completing his religious education. Thence he went to Aradup (Tamarind Tree) village, south of Kana. Here In 1870 he became a disciple of another faki— Sheik Nur-el-Dalm (Continuous Light). Nur-el-Dalm subsequently ordained him a Sheik or faki, and he then left to take up his heme in the Island of Abba, near Kana. on the White Nile. Here he began by making a subterranean excavation (kh'aliva —retreat) into which he made a practice of retiring to repeat tor hours one of the names of the Dlety. and this accompanied by fasting, in-

cense-burning, and prayers. His fame and sanctity by degrees spread far and wiQe, and Mahomet Achmet became wealthy, collected disciples, and married several wives, all of whom he was careful to select from among the daughters of the most intluential Baggers Sheiks (Baggara—tribes owning cattle and horses) and other notables. To keep within the legalized number (four), he was in the habit of divorcing the surplus and taking them on again according to his lanoy. About the end of May, 1881, he began to write to his brother fakis (religious chiefs), and to teach that he was the Mahdi foretold by Mahomet, and that he had a divine mission to reform Islam, to establish a universal equality, a universal law, a universal religion, and a community of goods ("beyt-ul-mal’); also that all who did not believe in, h m should be destroyed, be they Christian, Mohammedan, or pagan. Among others he wrote to Mahomet Saleh, a very learned and influential faki of Mongols, directing him to collect his dervishes (followers) and friends and to join him at Abba This Sheik, instead of complying with his request, informed the Go ft ramen t, declaring the man must be mad. This information, along with that collected from other quarters, alarmed his Excellency Reouf Bashs, and the result was the expedition of Aug. 8, 1881. In person the Mahdi is tall, slim, with a black beard and light brown corrg lexion. Like most Dongolawis, he reads and writes with difficulty. He is local head of the dheelan or Kadrlge order of dervishes, a school originated by Abdul Kader-el-Ghu anr, whose tomb is, I believe, at Bagdad. Judging from his conduct of affairs and policy. I should say that he had

considerable natural ability. The manner in which he has managed to merge the usually discordant tribes together denotes great tact. He had probably been preparing the movement for some time back.

KHARTOUM. Gen. Colston’s Description of the Chief Arabian City. Khartoum is a city numbering between 50,000 and Go.oou people. Several European consuls reside there. The American consul was Azar Abd-el-Melek, a Christian Copt from Esneh, and one of the principal merchants. The European colony is small aid continually changing; for Khartoum is a perfect graveyard for Europeans, and in the rainy season for natives also, the mortality averaging then from thirty to forty per day. which implies 3,000 to 4,(XX) for the season. Khartoum is the commercial center of the Soudan trade, amounting altogether to $65,000,000 a year, and carried on by about 1,000 European and 3,000 Egyptian commercial houses. Drafts and bills of exchange upon Khartoum are as gosd as gold in Cairo and Alexandria, and vice versa. From official sources I learned that the city contained 3,060 houses, many of them two-storied, each having from ten to 150 occupants. Stone and line are found in abundance, and the buildings are, after a fashion, substantial, the houses belonging to rich merchants being very spacious and comfortable. There are large bazaars, in which is found a much greater variety of European and Asiatic goods than would be expected in such distant regions. In the spacious market-place a brisk trade is carried on in cattle, horses, camels, asses, and sheep, as well as grain, fruit, and other agricultural produce. Many years ago an Austrian Roman Catholic mission was established and liberally supported by the Emperor of Austria and by contributions from the entire Catholic world. It occupies a large parallelogram surrounded by a solid wall. Within this Inclosure, in beautiful gardens of palm, fig, pomegranate, orange, and banana, stand a massive cathedral, an hospital, and other substantial buildings, Before the people of Egypt and the Soudan had been irritated by foreign interference, such was their perfect toleration and good temper that the priests and nuns, in their distinctive costumes, were always safe from molestation, not only at Khartoum, but even at El Obeid and the neighborhood, where the majority are Mussulmans and the rest heathens. It was stated some months ago that Gordon had abandoned the Governor's palace and transformed the Catholic mission into a fortress, its surrounding wall and massive buildings rendering it capable of strong resistance. KPRTL The Present British Base of Operations in Egypt. Korti, the headquarters of Lord Wolseley, on which point all the different branches of the expedition are ordered to concentrate, is at the sharp bend of the Nile where its course for a short distance is toward the west. About fifty miles below Korti is Debbeh, where it is probable that the whole force will be established after it has been brought together at Korti. At Debbeh the Nile takes rather a sharp turn and resumes its northern course. This place is just on the border of the territory ruled by the Mndir of Dongola, a Sheik who has remained steadfast in his friendship for and co-operation with the British. In peaceful times Debbeh is a-place ot some importance, because there the great caravan route to El Otxld and the Darfour region leaves the Nile and strikes off to the southwest across the Bayuda Desert. Korosko, the other point mentioned as the locat on of. a portion of the British force, is some goo miles farther down the Nile, and from here starts the caravan route across the Nubian Desert to Abu-Hamed, at the sharp bend in the course of the river, 180 miles above Korti. Korosko is not far above the First Cataract, and below that point the navigation of the Nile is unobstructed. When Lord Wolseley’s whole force is mustered at Korti, it will probably be about 8,50) men strong, as Wolseley kept about 3,000 men with him at Korti, Gen. Brackenbury has about 2,200, Gen. Buller about l,voo, and there are about 1,400 at Gakdul Wells.

GVBAT. A Sacred Village. Gubat, the present center ot British military operations in the Soudan, is a village of 130 houses and about 700 inhabitants. It is surrounded with vegetable gardens, which supply the markets of Bhendy, of which town Ou bat is virtually a suburb, although situated on the other side of the Nile. It contains, also, the cemetery where were burled some of the most famous saints and chieftains of Bhendy, a fact which makes the village sacred in the estpem of the entire Mohammedan world, and will render its occupation by the British peculiarly irritating to El Mahdi. A marble bust of Col. Fred Burnaby, paid for by popular subscriptions, is to be placed as a memorial in the new Birmingham Art Gallery. There is a great .difference between a dude and a man, bu tat a distance they look very much alike.