FROM A KHARTUM WINDOW.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10963, 4 May 1907, Page 1 (Supplement)

FROM A KHARTUM WINDOW.

Sir Walter F. Mieville, X.C.M G., writes to au English paper : — Looking south from our point of vantage we see m the immediate foregrou ad the clear waters of the Blue -Nile antrasting strongly with the vivid green crops and the white shoals of Tuti Island. In the middle-distance cluster, m a straggling line some five miles long, the low, flat niud-houses of Omdurman. These m turn are backed by the purple Kerreri Heights, _and on the otherwise monotonously level horizon are seen iri hazy blue outline the Shabluka Hills, which mark the' Sixth Cataract. Having but just returned from tho battlefield and city of Omdurman, I was led by tbe Kerreri Heights to visions ol the stubborn fight of September '2, lb.8; of General Macdonald 's dangerous position arid the masterly way m which the tables were turned, and of the fii a' annihilation of the Khalifa's 'hordes. Thoughts would obtrude themselves aro at the interesting sites m Omdurman itsell, tke Mahdi's house and tomb, tne Mosque Square, where Slatin daily had to adjure his. faith, and the famous Arsenal, or Bejft el Ainana. How little do we recall of this wonderful Mahdi, of his early ascetic life, of his crusade against Christianity, lis victories over Egyptian contingents, his annihilation bf Hick's Pasha's army, bis resistance of the British Gordon. Relief Expedition, the final capture of Khartum, and the murder of that - stronghold's heroic defender! '/**■''■ To-day the Mahdi's power and the seventeen years of dervish rule are lut painful meriiories._ JTHE CITY. -. The ruins of Khartum; have been cleared, away, a new city has arisen a d is rapidly growing. Well laid out '" huge oblongs, -with wide avenues capable of, extension southwards,; grand blocks of buildings aud charming residences with good gardens have already spruug up. 'irie.niei. promenade is. !on the river front, and aU the steeets parallel to the Blue Nile bear odd numbers, and sometimes numes as well, while the roads running north and south will be numbered 2, 4, bj etc., beginning from the British barracks.

The principal edifices are the Gover- j nor- General's palajce, the War Office, post ottice, Gordon Memorial College, arid the magnificent new mosque. There are also large hbtels, banks, market hall., etc. PuDlic 'trariiways shorten the distances, and private carriages and iriotorcars are seen . m considerable numbers, while the humble donkey cOversT the ground comfortably, and even speedily, when urged to ettort by "Arrdt!" a most fariiiliar. cryin Khartum streets. Very shortly ariothOr Stately pile will add to Khartum's architectural! triumphs—namely, , All Saints' Church, which is being built m trie form of the Latin cross, with a" detached tower. . It is curious how history repeats itself. A thousand, years ago Sonieh, which stood! where Khartum has been built today, was described as "a town adorned with magnificent buildings, great house., churches enriched with gold, aad 'gardens.'.And quite Tpossibly the description may apply to another townonjthe tongue of land which gives its nanie, "Elephant's; Trunk,'' to the Kharturii of, to-day, for there, is a statue still, in the city of a Pharaoh of the Thirteentn Dynasty, which - flourished some 4,000 years ago. '.'"..'..,'" '•■'.'■*. .:T THE LAND TQUBSTION IN EGYPT. Behind Khartum the Tpopulation is quartered iri neat and cleanly villages; the huts are of various stylos characteristic of. the tribes, who live separate one from another, the Shillooks and the Dinkas being the most mi* portant. They are fine men, slight, but standing over six feet, and their ill lages are scrupulously clean. ■'■■•■■■'■'■ Beyond Khartum stretches southwards the (jfhezireh, or Islands so called because its six or eight million fertile acres are between the White and Blue Niles, every tract of land surrounded by riverbeing termed m olden times an * 'island. ",. '. There has been' some buying and selling of land m the Ghezireh, but until the vexed question of title and ownership is l settled . th© Sudan -Government \viseiy discourage, and forbid, such transactions. Evert when this problem, has been solved, there will remain the grave question of .dearth, of population, which only time can -answer. Roughly Speaking, 75 per cent of the population, which, entire Sudan fell victims to war and disease during the sad years when dervish anarchy reigned supreme. Yet from our Khartum wiridow. ye can indulge to-day m pleasant dreams, for increased; prosperity will very shortly bless thd land,, peace and contentment will rest oh its inhabitants, honesty and, order \vi]T, tinder, good "goyernment," rb-= place rapacity,' corruption, and anarchy; and the reason justifying these dreams it the happy fart that throughout * the length and breadth of the new Sudan of to-day the Union Jack flies. side by side with the flag of our ally, the Khedive oi Egypt.