CHAPTER XVIII. 
THE LATEST NEWS FROM KHARTOUM. 
The various trading parties were assembled in Gondo- 
koro with a total of about three thousand slaves ; but 
there was a general consternation depicted upon every 
countenance. Only three boats had arrived from Khar¬ 
toum—one diahbiah and two noggors—these belonged 
to Koorshid Aga. The resume of news from Khartoum 
was as follows :— 
“ Orders had been received by the Egyptian autho¬ 
rities from the European Governments to suppress the 
slave-trade. Four steamers had arrived at Khartoum 
from Cairo. Two of these vessels had ascended the 
White Nile, and had captured many slavers; their 
crews were imprisoned, and had been subjected to the 
bastinado and torture ;—the captured slaves had been 
appropriated by the Egyptian authorities. 
“ It would be impossible to deliver slaves to the 
Soudan this season, as an Egyptian regiment had been 
stationed in the Shillook country, and steamers were 
cruising to intercept the boats from the interior in 
their descent to Khartoum;—thus the army of slaves 
then at Gondokoro would be utterly worthless. 
“ The plague was raging at Khartoum, and had killed 
15,000 people ;—many of the boats’ crews had died on 
their passage from Khartoum to Gondokoro of this 
disease, which had even broken out in the station 
where we then were : people died daily. 
