“KUMARA TIMES*” WAR MAP OF THE SOUDAN.

Kumara Times, Issue 2656, 12 March 1885, Page 2

“KUMARA TIMES*” WAR MAP OF THE SOUDAN.

With this day’s issue of the Kumara Times we present onr readers with a Map of the Seat of War in the Soudan, North-East Africa, the most complete that we are aware of yet published in the Australasian colonies. It shows the Nile from the Ist Cataract to the junction of the White and Blue Niles, at Khartoum, and then follows these rivers into Kordofan and Sennar, and takes in the whole scene of Hicks Pacha’s ill-fated expedition to El Obeid. In the space thus covered is marked every spot in Egypt made famous by the doings of British soldiers during the present war. The six cataracts, which have taxed the powers of the relief force; Korti, Lord Wolseley’s head-quarters; General Earle’s line of march from Korti to Buka, where the brave commander met his fate; General Stewart’s line of march across the desert; Gordon’s road to Khartoum; the battles of Abuklea, where the daring Burnaby fell; and of El Metemneh, where General Stewart, since dead, was wounded; Shabukli, the scene of Lord Charles Beresford’s plucky rescue of the wrecked party under Colonel Wilson ; Cm Dorman, the capture of which accelerated the speedy fall of Khartoum ; and Khartoum, where the heroic Gordon, after defying all else, succumbed to treachery: all are shown clearly and vividly. The map has been skilfully planued to take in part of the Egyptian littoral of the Bed Sea, and the route between Suakim and Berber is carefully delineated, with the topography of the desert country crossed, and the names of the Arab tribes. A very full key map includes the whole of the Red Sea and part of the Mediterranean, and the interior of Northern Africa to within five degrees of the Equator, including the peninsula town of Aden, on the south-west coast of Arabia, at which port the Iberia and Australasian steamers, carrying the ["Much to our annoyance, the artist who lithographed the Map has made a mistake in printing it as the “Kumara News” War Map. The locality of his operations is too far away to have returned them to be completed according to telegraphic order—as a “ Supplement to the Kumara Times,” and that would have occasioned a fortnight’s delay. We could have altered the word “News” to “Times,” but that would have been to disfigure the Map ; and so we resolved to lot it go as printed,' without any delay.—En. K.T.]

Sydney Contingent, are to call for instructions. In fact with this map no one will have the slightest difficulty in gaining at once a thorough grasp of the position of affairs in the Soudan. For instance, the strength of the Mahdi’s position in his entrenchments at Khartoum, at the junction of the Blue and White Niles, becomes clear at the first glance, and a separate plan of Khartoum with its fortifications, which is added, further exhibits the strategic importance of that town. Not the least valuable of the information given is the table of distances to Khartoum, first from Cairo and then from Suakim, with the alternatives on each route. We supplement the distances of important places along the whole River route to Khartoum (1638 miles) with the following : Cairo to Siout (by rail 229 miles) by river 247 Siout to Thebes 226 Thebes to Assouan (boundary of Egypt and Nubia), near which is the Ist Cataract 110 Assouan to Korosko 121 Korosko to Wady Haifa (2nd Cataract, and proposed Egyptian frontier) 90 Wady Haifa to Hanek (3rd Cataract) 160 Hanek to New Dongola 36 New Dongola to Handak 55 Handak to Old Dongola 35 Old Dongola to Ambukol 65 Ambukol to Korti (Lord Wolseley’s head-quarters) 7 Korti to Merawe 30 M.erawe to Abu Hammed 123 Abu Hammed to Berber 133 Berber to Shendy 92 Shendy to Metemneh 8 Metemneh to Shabukli (6th Cataract) 51 Shabukli to Khartoum 49 Cairo to Khartoum, by River ... 1638