THE "WHITE PASHA."

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1939, 8 September 1888, Page 3

THE "WHITE PASHA."

The n«ws which has been reaching us from week to week lately of the mysterious " White Pasha " who is pursuing a conquering career m Central Africa, and who, apparently m full consciousness of power to enforce his demand, has called upon the Mahdi to evacuate Khartoum, which he claims as a British possession, has naturally evoked a keen curiosity as to who this new military^ leader may be. Hitherto it i has been generally assumed that that unknown and unnamed person age is one and the same person with Stanley the famous explorer, but if so, it is passing strange inasmuch as only a few weeks ago the then latest news of Stanley represented him as being m great danger I and distress, indeed a relief expedition under Major Bartelott had been despatched to his assistance. It therefore seems exceedingly improbable that m so short a time so complete a change m his fortunes should have been brought about as to enable him to issue an ultimatum to the Mahdi. But if not Stanley who then can it be? It has been suggested that it may possibly be Emm Bey, and now we notice that m more quarters than one, the question has been mooted as to whether it may not be General Gordon himself. Notwithstanding that that hero has long been mourned as dead, notwithstanding that monuments have been erected to perpetuate his memory, it may perhaps be possible that he is still living and if so then doubtless he is the " White Pasha " who is striking terror into the hearts of the tribea of Central Africa. Writing on this subject the " Southland Times " says :— " For some time after the fall of Khartoum it was said that Gordon had escaped up the Blue Nile to Sennaar ; and although there have been several circumstantial accounts of his death given by fugitives and others from the Mahdi's capital, we are not aware that any of them could be regarded as absolutely trustworthy. There is a very strong probability, a probability almost amounting to certainty, that Gordon perished when the town was captured, whether through treachery or not, by the Soudanese. This is the most that can be said, so that it is possible that the heroic defender of Khartoum is still living," Our contemporary, however, thinks that the " White Pasha " is " more likely to be Stanley than anybody else. Such a surprise would be quite m that explorer's line. He is perhaps not a hero of the stamp of Livingstone or Gordon, aiming too much at theatrical effect for that, and being cast altogether m a different mould. But he has any amount of pluck and determination — just the kind of man one should not be astonished to find turning up anywhere. And if Stanley is the « White Pasha, 1 the presumption is that he has found Emm Bey, and that the two are marching together at the head of a united force." At the same time it is admitted that "it is rather difficult to conjecture why Stanley should come by Khartoum. It looks very like running into the lion's den — or rather into his very jaws." The " Lyttelton Times " also, discussing the same question, points to the fact that the South African paladin is avowedly seeking the destruction of the slave trade and thinks that " were General Gordon alive no man would fill the role better. Had he escaped from Khartoum, alone and unfriended, none but he could have come back out of the dark with a powerful army at his back. No one equals him m hatred to the slave trade, or m knowledge of its devastating effects and width of range, or m passionate, vehement, noble desire for its extinction. Certainly not Stanley." It also points out that Stanley though a sojdier by nature and the rough training of savage war, never showed suqh a consummate military genius as Gordon, Emm Bey, on the other hand, has shown military aptitude, but not of the quality of Gordon's, nor has he ever distinguished himself by any determination to devote himself to the abolition of slavery, a thing to which Gordon devoted his life. On the whole our Christchurch contemporary seems to incline to the idea, though it fears to indulge the hope, that the mysterious " White Pasha " is after all none other than the brave and noble Gordon whom the nation has long mourned as dead. Verily if that hope be justified — and we are fain to share it— this latest chapter will bo the most wonderful m. the history of a wonderful man, and the rejoicing m all parts of the British Empire — nay, indeed throughout the world, will be as great as the sorrow with which the news of his supposed death was received nearly four years ago.