320 



EGYPT. 



replace the soldiers. This had happened be- 

 fore, but never with such unanimity. 



On Monday, the 26th, toward 3.30 A. M., the 

 array of the Mahdi made a vigorous assault 

 upon the south front; his two principal ob- 

 jective points were the Bouri gate, at the east- 

 ern extremity of the line of defense on the 

 Blue Nile, and the Mesalamieh gate, on the 

 western extremity on the White Nile side. 

 The first of these two points resisted the at- 

 tack ; but at the Mesalamieh the Mahdists, com- 

 manded by their emir, W ad-el- Nijoumi, suc- 

 ceeded in getting across the fosse, which they 

 filled up with straw, fagots, and mattresses. 

 When the troops at the Bouri gate found 

 themselves about to be taken in the rear by 

 the enemy in the interior of their works, they 

 gave way, and the city was at the mercy of the 

 Arabs. Gordon was not informed either of 

 the attack or of the entrance of the enemy. A 

 part of the responsibility on this score weighs 

 undoubtedly upon Feng Pasha. But it is just 

 to say that the direct accusations of treachery 

 made against that officer are refuted by all the 

 witnesses who escaped from the disaster, nota- 

 bly by thirty Egyptian soldiers who lately ar- 

 rived at Dongola, and by Abdallah-ben-Ismail, 

 one of their battalion commanders. It is well 

 to add that the commandant of the Mesalamieh 

 gate, Hassan Bey Balmasoni, weakly defended 

 his position, did not inform Gordon of the 

 danger, and afterward took service under the 

 Mahdi; but, in the opinion of Col. Kitchener, 

 the fall of Khartoum was no less brought about 

 by the suddenness of the attack, than by the 

 fact that the garrison, worn out and exhausted, 

 was no longer capable of serious resistance. 

 The Arabs spread immediately through the 

 city, massacring all in their way. 



How was Gordon killed ? It is this which 

 has not been perfectly elucidated. It seems 

 that it occurred near the palace, where his 

 corpse was seen by many witnesses. The 

 only one present at his death is an Egyptian 

 slave, who tells this. story: 



" Hearing the cries and the tumult in the 

 city, I awoke my master, saddled his ass, and 

 followed him in the direction of the palace. 

 We met Gordon Pasha, who had come out in 

 the company of Mohammed Bey Mustapha, 

 Ibrahim Bey Ruchdi, and twenty policemen. 

 We went with him in the direction of the 

 Austrian consulate. Near the church, we met 

 a troop of rebels who arrived in the plaza. 

 They fired upon our group ; Gordon was at the 

 head; he fell with one of the policemen and 

 two officers. The others fled." 



Another witness says that he saw Gordon's 

 head cut off before the palace-gate : 



" The massacre continued six hours. More 

 than four thousand victims were slain in the 

 streets. All the bashi-bazouks and soldiers 

 (Egyptian), all the regular schagal, a great 

 number of inhabitants and slaves, were put to 

 death. The Austrian consul, M. Hansel, the 

 Italian consul, M. Nicola, a European doctor, 



the secretary of Gordon, nnd many others, 

 were slain. Only the black troops were saved. 

 About ten o'clock the Mahdi sent an order to 

 stop the massacre. The Arabs then commenced 

 to pillage the city, and to make up packages of 

 everything which they wished to carry away. 

 The survivors were compelled to go to Om- 

 durman, where they were stripped of every- 

 thing. The women were distributed among the 

 Arabs, and the men, after two or three days' 

 surveillance, were left free to do as well as 

 they could. Ferig Pasha, ordered to say where 

 Gordon's treasure was hid, naturally could not 

 do so, for it did not exist, and was butchered 

 in the market-place at Omdurman. The greater 

 part of the Notables were questioned for the 

 same object. The Mahdi had promised his 

 partisans that they should find immense riches 

 in Khartoum. Their disappointment was made 

 apparent in the most brutal treatment of their 

 prisoners. The Baggarah, when they could 

 find nothing, deserted the Mahdi, and went 

 over to those who opposed him in Kordofan." 



It is somewhat difficult to estimate exactly 

 the number of white prisoners actually in the 

 hands of the Arabs. Up to the fall of Khar- 

 toum there were forty-two Greeks, five Greek 

 women, one Israelite woman, and two Catholic 

 priests. The siege lasted three hundred and 

 seventeen days. Never, perhaps, has a place 

 fallen under such dramatic circumstances, and 

 when an army of succor was at hand. 



Gordon's Journal. This book appeared during 

 the year, and was published simultaneously in 

 London and New York. The fall of Khartoum 

 and supposed death of Gen. Gordon is the cli- 

 max of the many catastrophes that have fol- 

 lowed the occupation of Egypt. 



Gen. Gordon's journal was awaited with 

 very great interest, and it was looked upon as 

 the pit into which Mr. Gladstone's ministry 

 was to stumble and fall. The frank avowals 

 of Gen. Gordon himself do not create the im- 

 pression that Gladstone is in any way to be 

 blamed for the mission to the Soudan. Glad- 

 stone said, " We were resolved to do nothing 

 which should interfere with the pacific scheme." 

 Gordon chose to replace this pacific scheme by 

 one more in accord with the sentiments of 

 those at home in favor of an aggressive policy. 

 He began by announcing himself the Sultan of 

 the Soudan, and when the Mahdi refused to 

 become his vassal as the Emir of Kordofan, 

 Gordon undertook the offensive. The evacua- 

 tion policy was only carried out in a half- 

 hearted way, and precious months were al- 

 lowed to go by until those who had elected to 

 remain with him were no longer able to go, 

 for Khartoum was invested. That he could 

 have gone, garrison and all, is undeniable, 

 is highly honorable to the chivalrous soldier 

 that, having aroused the confidence of the peo- 

 ple of Khartoum in his ability to maintain him- 

 self, naturally loath to abandon their homes and 

 worldly goods, he resolved to share their fate. 

 He recognized his responsibility and did not 



