DETAILS OF THE MASSACRE AT KHARTOUM.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IX, Issue 116, 22 April 1885, Page 2

DETAILS OF THE MASSACRE AT KHARTOUM.

A special correspondent at Aba Km, under date 4th Frbruary, gives the following account of the fall of Khar'oum, and the events which followed : — With the arrival of Sir 'Charles Wilson and his party further details have come to hand ia regard to the fall of Khartoum. It appears on the best authority available that thefall of ill-fated/city was due entirely to the treachery of Feragh Pasha, who commanded General Gordon's Sondani troops. This miscreant betrayed the city and its glorious defender on the morning of 25th January. It is alleged that General Gordon had always mistrusted . this man, treason having been proved against him on a previous occasion, m respect of which he was condemned to death. Gordon, either doubting the effect which his execution would have upon the fidelity of the Soudani troops, with whom he possessed great influence, or yielding, m that spirit of generosity which so distinguished him, to Feragh's reiterated prayers for pardon and professions of devotedness, forgave him. For many months Feragh's conduct was above suspicion, but it is thought, fearing that on arrival of the Enulish, punishment would overtake him, he entered into negotiations with the Mahdi, with the disastrous result which all the world mm t deplore. Be that as it may, one fact seems beJ yond doubt, that on the 26th ot January he opened the gates of the city to the Mahdi's troops. I feel it my painful duty to record that, forming our belief ott the most reliable testimony obtainable, we here have but little hopes that the heroic General has survived the loasof the city which he for so many months had defended with such marvellous resolution. Evidence of the most circumstantial character takes the form of a positive statement to the effect that upon hearing the unwonted commotion caused by the eruption caused by the False Prophet's troops into the streets of Khartoum, Gordon, rushing out of the Palace to ascertain its cause, wag slain upon the threshold. It appears, further, that desoite Gordon's cheering letter of 29th Deo. announcing that Khartoum was all right.the garrison had for a long time previous been suffering intense privation. This fact doubtless contributed to render the work of treason more easy of accomplishment. The Mahdi's troops, : the wild hunters of Kordofan, and those Cossacks of the Soudan and Bagara horsemer, rushed m swelling hordes into the devoted city, and the word was given to slay. A massaore of indescribable ferocity followed. Those who had remained faithful to the gallant Englishman, who had. stood between them and the knife so long, regardless of age or sex, were ruthlessly butchered. The women for the most part were murdered m cold blood, and little children were spitted on the Arab spears iv pure wantonness. All those relatives of the faithful 500, under Nisri Pasha, who met and assisted Wilson at Gubat, shared the general fate. From the accounts of an eye-witness who boarded Sir Charles Wilson's steamer on the return voyage from Khartoum, it would appear that for an entire day the streets of the city ran with blood ; bnt allowing for Oriental exaggeration, there can be no doubt that the scene of carnage which followed the entrance of the Mahdi's fierce warriors into the city which had defied them so long was one of unparalleled horror since the days of Tamerlane. The bulk of the troops, however, willingly joined the Mahdi, and his chiefs speedily organised a complete system of defence for the city, throwing up outlying redoubts, arranged on sound military principles and commanding the approaches of the city from all points. Into these outlying fortifications immense numbers of marksmen have been throvn, together with vast quantities of arms, cart, ridges, and shells. If all this be as described, and the Mahdi be well supplied with provisions, the taking of Khartoum will be a most wearisome and arduous task, and will have to be conducted on those principles which govern the conduct of sieges m European warfare.