GENERAL GORDON'S MOVEMENTS.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6851, 6 May 1884, Page 3

GENERAL GORDON'S MOVEMENTS.

News reached London on March 30th that on the 16th General Gordon made a sortie from Khartoum with 30Q0 men, two guns, and a squadron of Bashi Bazouks. The rebels were encountered near Halifiyck. Sixty of the enemy's cavalry charged the Basin Bazouka and put them to flight. On nearing the rebels General Gordon drew up his troops in the form of a square, in which position they were kept until attacked by the enemy, when the Egyptians turned and fled. Two hundred of them were slaughtered, and three of their guns were lost. Notwifch- j stauding this check General Gordon declares that Khartoum ia quite safe until the winter. Later advices received at London on March 31st give the details of General Gordon's rout. The rebels pursued the Egyptians for two miles after the battle near Halifiyck, and the confusion during the retreat was fearful to behold. The Egyptian Regulars and Bashi Bazouks kept shouting that their generals had betrayed them. The wounded received no attention for seven hours. The troops had been clamoring for three weeks before they met the enemy. In the early part of the encon nter the Egyptians were successful, and the enemy were actually in full retreat when their cavalry made a desperate charge. Despite this reverse it is said that the inhabitants of Khartoum still remain ffrm friends of General Gordon. One Arab sect him £1000 to replenish his treasury in part ; another equipped 2000 blacks for him. Two black pashas have been arrested for charging into the ranks of their own troops, thus allowing the enemy to enter the gap they made. Despatches, received at London from Cairo on April sth represent General Gordon's position as becoming desperate. In a private letter to Commander Maxwell he (Gordon) writes, "We exist day by clay, and though excitement 1b de* sirable sometimes we can have too much of it, while responsibility is heavy. I can only trust in God's mercy, for there ia nothing else." In the House of Lords on April 4th Earl Granville said that the Government i was not prepared to send a military expedition to General Gordon's relief, aud ! added that the latest advices from him were reassuring. According to despatches from Cairo on April 7th the partisans of El Mahdi hold the entire command of the Nile between Khartoum and Shendy. General Gordoa told the Governor of Senaar, who had applied for relief, that it was impossible to give it, and advised him to capitulate.