Untitled

North Otago Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 9303, 6 September 1898, Page 1

(Continued from page 4.)

Buffered all the horrors of alow starvation, bat no Bound of complaint) was board to Issue from that living grave. Too proud to bog, and well aware of the futility of doing so, he lingered on till the twentyfourth day, when death carried him oub of tho roach of his tormentors. In spite of his depotism, the Khalifa is in considerable fear of hia life. Ab* dullahi is surronndod day and night; by his own personal bodyguard, and nob even his nearest friends are allowed to approach with armB in their hands.

For months pest — one might say for years, for the whole of tbe recent) military cperatlons ia the Soudsn b&ve boon directed to one oooolnaiou— Sir II. H. 1C1 oboner, wibh bis mixed force of British and Egyptian troops, bus been slowly and oarely moving on Omdurman, the Dervish atrooghold, and the end is, very near now, With the fall of Omdnrman, tbo rale of the Khalifa wilt pass away, and the provinces whiob have been for bo many years expflrienoing all bbe decivilising arid barbarous influences of that) rule will onoe more beootno part of Egyp^ Gordon will at last be avenged, and that aloae will make Englishmen breathe more easily, for the t;ragio doabh of tbab heroio niad, who bo bravely faced the foarfal odds to tbo bibtor end, has lain heavily rn tbt nation's conscience. Tbo following dcBcription of Omdarman will be of general interest : At Omdarman the Khalifa ooncen* t rated all hia power, stored up all hie ammunition, and gathered ander bis perBonat anrveil anoe all those whom he suspects, obliging them to say five prayers daily in hie presence, and \ listen 10 his ministrations. It ia Raid that) the walla of the city are twelve feet in thickness* and that it is we 1 ! fortified, Nob more than twelve years ago it waa but a village lying opposite to Khartoum, and inhabited only by a few brigands, But the Khalifa deoided tbat ib was to be the aaored city of tbe Mahdi, and be has hardly left its precincts for upwards of ten years, From a description of the town given by Slabin Paaha— bhan whom none shou'd be more competont bo speak—it) appears tbat from north to Byoih bhe new oify coverB a length of six English mile.". The southern extremity lies almost opposite the nou'h-west end of Kharboam. At first everyone wanted bo live as near the liver as possible in order to facilitate tbe drawing of water, oonBcquonily tho bread h of tbo oiby is considerably loss than its length, and it ia in no pl»co wore than three miles in width At (hot i' consisted of thousands and thouaauds of straw huts, end the rooequo wag originally an oblong onclooure surrounded by a mud wall 460 yards long and 350 yards broad, but this has now been replaced by one made of burnt briok and then whitewashed over, After this the Khalifa began building brick houses for himself and bis brother, then for other relatives, whilst tbe Emirs and other wealthy people followed his example. Above the apex of the dome of tho moeqao aro three hollow brass balls, ono above the other, conneoted bogebher by a lance, the boad of which forms tbe top ornament of tbe structure, People often say, according to Slatio, thab bhe Khalifa eiecbed this spear to show that he is perfectly prepared to declare war against) tbe heavens if bis wishes are not carried out. Occasionally he shuis himself up for boors in this mausoleum, probably with the object of obtaining some special inspiration, bub einco tbe execution of tbe Mahdi'a relatives, his visits have bvea much less frequent, end ib is generally supposed thab he dreads to be alone with tbe body of bis dead master, whose tenets and influence ho hue, not in words but in deeds, so peraiflbently overturned, Booth of tbe tomb and adjoining tbe great mosque lies tho enormous enclosure of the Khalifa, It consists of a Ugh wall built with red bricks, whiob is subdivided inta several smaller courts, oil of which are in communication with e*acb other, and noareud to bbe mosque are his own private apartments, to the east of which ate those of bis wives, tbe stables, tbe etore boupoe, quarters for tbe eunuchs, etc, Compared wibh the Khalifa's early mode of life he in now surrounded with great magnificence. Hiu private rooms are replete with braos and iron bedsteads, mosquito neba— tbe spoil of Khartoum — carpets, «ilk-covered cushions, door and window curtains of every variety of colr<r and feextmre, The lihuliti'e eon's house k situated bo tbo eaBl/oT tbifl, It is furnished in mud},, the 'same style, but more luxurious, and be has an immense gat den made from earth transported ttoui' tbo banks of the, Kile, and in which huadreds'oif slaves are employed daily, In' addition to his principal residence, Abdullahi possesses bouses in the southern and northern parts of the otty, but they are 'built and furnished on much simpler lines, and are merely used as rest houses when be diepatcboB troops on expeditions from the capital, or goes oat to inopeob freshly arrived dotaohmenta from tbe provinces. He baa also built a house nour tho river, and cIobo to tho old Government fort, the difcohea of which have «mce been filled in, Tho arsenal, or Beib el Amana, consists of a large .buikliug enclosed by atone walls, and here are stored tbe guns, rifles, ammunition, and other warlike material. Ab intervals of every few paces sentries arc posted in email sentry boxes, and they are charged to allow no unauthorised persona to enter the building, Jusb north of the aruenal-Jiea-ft building in which are •tored ibo ti»$n ol all the Emirs jeoitHng in pmdisrroa^ and beside jit ti ft H&cui-oiiculftr buildipg about 20lt

bigb, provided! with stairs, where the Khalifa's war drama are kept), A little further to the east is tho carriage and small a ma manufactory. Ob tho north side of tho city, nod olose to the river, is the Beit ol Mai, which is an enormous walled up enclosure Babdivided into a variety of oourta in which ate stored goods coming from all parts of the Soudan, from Egypt os well as grain stores and slave oourta, A li tie to the south of .he Boil; el Mai lies the pablio flluvo market, and in close proximity the Boit el Mai of (be rcuUzmiin has been ereoted. With tho execution of a few email roads wbioh the Khalifa has mado for bis own couveniet-oe, the only communicivion between the various quarters cunniam of a number of narrow wind ing lanes, and ia these all tho filth of the city accumulates. Omdurman is built for the mosl; part on fairly level ground; but hero and (hero area few era all hills. The soil oonsists priu* oipally of bard red clay, and is very stony, with occasional patches of sand, Toepopulfttionisloofttedentirely accord*, iag to tubes. TheWes em Arabs live for the most part entirely in the t,outbern quarters, while the northern portion hr.s been allotted to the JNilo Valley people, and in addition to the market police, the various (lections of tbe popu'aoo are obliged to supply a num* b t of watchmen for tbe preservation of public eeouiity ia their respective quarters, and they must report any disturbance to tbe night patrols, Ftom tbe unsanitary condition of tiie streets, v, follows that the health of the citizens sailers considerably. Occasionally the Khalifa issues orders to oleanso the city, but this prooesa seldom goes beyond a a weeping of the refuse into the corner. Fever and dysentery are prevniling maladies, and between the months of November and March there ia an almost continuous epidemic of typhus fever. Former y there were comefcoriea within the ciby, but now all the dead must be butied in the detiert n.r h of tho parade ground. Of la'e yeais numbers of now wells have been sank, and some of them yield good water, bu- thoso in tbe southern patty of the own are txootly brackish. Khurtcum ia now almost a complete rniu, tbe dockyard alone being kept up, und oommunioition between it and Omdurman is maintained by a bud* marine c«blo worked by some of the former Government telegraph dUcia's, Outside tho large unfinished wall built) alaag the road leading to tbe Beit el Mar are a number of shops belonging to the vorious trades, all of whioh are kept qaito distiot, such as carpenters, butch -.ru, tailors, and barbers. The market police are charged with main» taining order in tbe town, and tbe gallows erected in various parts of the town are an evident indication of tbe system of government of the country. Of the horrors and atrocities perpetrated by o'der of tbe Khalifa, the "saer," or prison, furnished innumerexamples. Tbe prison is si nated in the south-eastern portion of the oi'y, near the river, and is surrounded by a high wall. A gate, strongly guarded by day and night by armed blacks, gives accctts to an inner oourt, in whioh several mud and stone huts have been erected, During the daytime tho unhappy prisoners, mosb of them heavily ohuined and ntanao ed lie about in the shade of tbe buildings. Complete silence pievuiJs, broken only by the clanking of chains, und tbe boaree orders of the hard hearted warders, or tho odes of uoine poor wretch who is being moroilesBly flogged. Some of tbe piisoners, who may have speoially incurred the Khalifa's displeasure, aie loaded with heavier chains and tnemetc es than the rest, . and debarred from all intercourto with other piisonere, They generally receive only Boffioient nourishment} to keep them alive, Ordinary ptieoners receive no regular supply of food, but their relatives are allowed to provide for them. It often happens that long before a meal readies a prisoner for whom it is intended a very large por B tion of it has been purloined and conintned by the rapaoioua and un» borupulous waidertt. Ab night tho ptiflonots are driven like uheep into tie stone huts, whioh are nob provided with windows, and are completely quiee innooent of ven ilatioa. Volnmee ccald be filled wibh desertions of the horrors perpetrated within tl;03e walls. It is rooorded hew, in many instances, the Khalifa has disposed of many of his trusted but anepeofced followers by a Bpecies of slow murder at the bands of (he warders, Sjatin Paaba relates that tbe great Skeikh of the Gimeh tribe, Asakr Abo Kalaw, who had shown ouoh friendship and hospitality to the Khalifa and bis father in the early days, wis ruthlessly seized and thrown into chains because it came to the Khuiifft'a eary that be bad epoken disparagingly of tbe state of the Soudau, and be expressed regret at having taken up arms against the Government. Ho was eventually exiled to Bag^af, whilst big wife, who was a well known beauty in tbe Soudan, was torn from the arms of her husband at tbe hour of his departure, and carded off bo tbe Khulifa's harem. The well. known Emir Zeki Tutnftl, on being seized, wa« thrown into a email s one building in tbe •jhape of a ooffin, the door of whioh was built np. He watf given »o food whatever, b»t a small amount of /Water w»e bonded to him through an aperture ia the wall, jyur .bwffttyutbrte/ daya.be

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