Did Lord Wolseley's Caution Sacrifice Khartoum ?

Te Aroha News, Volume II, Issue 91, 28 February 1885, Page 6

Did Lord Wolseley's Caution Sacrifice Khartoum ?

I The full accounts of the British operations P in Soudan which appear in English papers 5 by the Doric suggest the significant ques- • tion which heads this article. It appears I that Sir Herbert Stewarts first advance > from Korti, across the desert to the wells of Gakdul, commenced about the end of 5 December, and on January sth that disi tingruished and ill-fated officer, in obodi- ' ence to orders, returned again to Korti, j after occupying Gakdul without opposition L and planting a British force there. The i distance from Korti to Gakdul, which is ' estimated, according to tho " Daily News " I despatches, at 90 miles, was accomplished r at the rate of thirty miles a day. Lord ) Wolseley's instructions were to leave four hundred of his men at Gakdul, where they i were at once to entrench themselves ; then to return with the remaining seven hundred ■ to Korti, from whence, some days later, they were to advance again, reinforced, to GakduJ, and from that to the Kile at Shendy. The flying march on Gakdul was accomplished successfully, only a few ' straggling Arabs being met with, six of whom, wearing the Madhi's uniform, were ' captured. The " Standard " correspondent telegraphing from Korti on January stb, i announcing the return of the column to i head-quarters, says :—: — " It is now, in fact, satisfactorily settled ' that the desert is perfectly passable by a mixed force like that which will advance in a few days across it. One of the prisoners captured by the HusSars is a notorious robber chief. He remains in custody with Major Kitchener at Gakdul. His wife was ' also captured. The man will be a most ■ useful acquisition to the Intelligence De- " partment, as he knows every path and ! track across the desert, with the wells, places where there is grazing for camels, i and other particulars. He is also said to know a good deal about the following of the Mahdi. The men have since their arrival been closely interrogated by tn© officers of the Intelligence Department. k Their reports, which must, of course, be 1 taken with some reserve, aro that Metammeh is occupied in strength by the Mahdi's army. Some put the force thore at 2,000 men, others say that there are 5,000. The rebels have thrown up an entrenchment, and are prepared to receive us. They wero not, however, anticipating our march across the desert, and the prisoners admit that the appearance of our troops took them completely by surprise, and that they had no anticipation whatever of meeting us on the way. The reports of ths prisoners caused great regret among the troops of General ofewart's column that they were not in a position to 2nish straight through to Mcfammeh, where they would have taken the Mahdi's forces completely by surprise. " The special correspondent of the " Daily Telegraph " wires :—": — " One of the prisoners says he was in Metammeh less than a week ago. and saw four of General Gordon's steamers lying alongside the bank at Shendy. Though the General holds neither of these places, he frequently sends his steamers there, and four of them were stationed at Sheudy when the man left. The prisoner's story ie not doubted by the military authorities. If true, it must mean that General Gordon is on the out-look for the approach of the relief column, and that the work of the Expedition will in a very short time, all eoing well, bo successfully accomplished. Indeed, one battle with the Mahdi and the end ot the enterprise may be achieved within the next fortnight. Unless the rebels resist before Metammeh, our reaching the Nile there must practically mean relieving Khartoum ai.d closing the Mahdi's career, for the Arabs cannot hope for success with our army's left flank resting on the river." It is made evident from all these despatches that the return march across the desert, which wore out tho camels and necessitated several days' rest before the second contingent could start, was a waste of energy, and the Brit- sh lost the advantage which a surprise attack on Metammeh v ould have given them If the force had been strong enough to continue its march without returning to Korti, the Nile at Metammeh might have been reached on the (ith of January, and communication opened up with Khartoum by tneans of General Gordon's steamers at once ; it was not till the 26th that the place fell into the hands of the rebels. The time lo«t in establishing a large depot at Gakdul as a reserve for tho expeditionary force, was utilised by the rebels in the extraordinary coup which resulted in the death of the gallant defender of Khartoum. Military critics, when placed in possession of the facts relating to the condition of General Wolseley's forces at Korti, will no doubt discuss the question whether, by holding back for a time General Earle's advance up the Nile, General Wolseley might not safely have concentrated all his strength in a brilliant dash across the desert. Theoablegram we publish to-day giv ng a synopsis of Gordon's despatches from Khartoum proves that Lord Wolseley must have been aware that Khartoum, so early as the 14th December, was reduced to the last ex tremity, pressed by the rebels on three sides, fighting night and day, and also that five steamers were lying at Metammeh awaiting his orders — the steamers which were found in due course by Colonel Wilson, and in which he proceeded up the river with a small detachment of English troops, only to find that he had arrived a few days too late. That an entire month was occupied in the advance from Korti to Metammeh, a distance of not inoro than 180 miles, and clear of opposition for at least oneShalf the way, does appear somewhat unaccountable looking to the urgency of the demand for relief.

The Premier of Victoria lately called upon Mr Hayter, the Government Statist, to furnish an approximate return, showing what will be the probable population of the Australian colonies in 100 years from date. Mr Service in a note on the subject, says, "In thirty years, with only the ordinary increase, we shall be a nation of 10,000,000 ; in fifty years of 20,000,000. But no doubt the rate of increase will be ever growing. These figures cannot fail to impress on the minds of European statesmen that Australia must be considered in dealing with the islands of the Pacific." Mr Hayter, in preparing the following figures, based them upon the same rate of increase in population as actually occurred between IS7I and 1881. At the end of 1884 the population of the colonies stood at 3,247,364, and at the end of 1894 it will, it is estimated, reach 4,611,258 j in 1904, 6,547,956; in 1914, 9,298,140; in 1924, 13,203.359; in 1934, 18,748,770; in 1944, 26,623,253 j in 1954, 37,805,019; in 1964, 53,683,127; in 1974, 76,230,040; and in 1984, 105,246,657. What great effects from little causes spring 1 Owing to a "cabby" sleeping in last Saturday morning, and being too late to take Bishop Luok to the train, the bless ing of St. Mary's Convent, Hamilton, had to be postponed from last Sunday until next.