FATHER OHRWALDER'S JOURNEY TO THE SUDAN.

  PAGE Description of Kordofan and Dar Nuba—The Mission Station at Delen  1

CHAPTER I.

THE MAHDI AND HIS RISE TO POWER.

The rise of the Mahdi—Early successes—Personal appearance—His
Khalifas described—Military organization—Makes new laws—He summons El Obeid to surrender  6

CHAPTER II.

FATHER OHRWALDER AND HIS COMPANIONS TAKEN CAPTIVE.

The storm rises in Dar Nuba—The Baggara begin to raid—Khojur Kakum of Delen—Mek Omar besieges Delen—The slave guard deserts the Mission—The priests and nuns surrender—They are sent to the Mahdi  22

CHAPTER III.

THE MISSIONARIES AND THE MAHDI.

Description of El Obeid—Said Pasha's system of defence—The Mahdi's followers encircle the town—Townspeople desert to the Mahdi—Unsuccessful attack on Government buildings—Dervishes driven off with loss of 10,000 men—The missionaries brought before the Mahdi—Threatened with death—Preparations for the execution—Reprieved at the last moment—The Mahdi's camp described—Death of some of the missionaries—Illness of remainder  34

CHAPTER IV.

THE SIEGE OF EL OBEID.

Terrible sufferings of the besieged—The Kababish—Fall of Bara—Fall of El Obeid—The Mahdi enters the town—Fate of the El Obeid Mission—Cold-blooded murder of the brave defenders—The Dervishes live a life of ease in El Obeid—The Mahdi makes laws—He sends out proclamations—Prestige increased by capture of town—News from Khartum—Bonomi and Ohrwalder summoned before the Mahdi—The interview  52

CHAPTER V.

THE MAHDI'S VICTORY OVER HICKS PASHA.

The European captives learn that General Hicks is advancing—Slatin Bey's defence of Darfur—His heroism—The Mahdi prepares to resist Hicks—The march of the Hicks Expedition—Extracts from the diary of Major Herlth—Colonel Farquhar's gallantry at Rahad—Gustav Klootz deserts to the Mahdi—Klootz's interview with the Mahdi in which Ohrwalder and Bonomi act as interpreters—The expedition advances towards Shekan—Is surrounded and annihilated—Description of the battle—The Mahdi victor of Kordofan  72

CHAPTER VI.

THE MAHDI'S TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO EL OBEID.

Fall of Darfur—Slatin surrenders—The Mahdi's divinity credited after the annihilation of Hicks—King Adam of Tagalla—Stambuli's kindness to the European captives—Gordon writes to the Mahdi—Power's letter—The sisters seized and distributed amongst the emirs—They are tortured—The missionaries turned into slaves—The terrible journey to Rahad—The Greeks come to the help of the sisters—The proclamation concerning the treatment of priests and hermits by Mohammedans—The Mahdi at Rahad—Ohrwalder's interviews with the Mahdi concerning religion—The Dervishes attack the Nubas  91

CHAPTER VII.

FATHER OHRWALDER'S VIEWS OF GORDON'S MISSION.

Ohrwalder describes his treatment at the hands of various masters—The Nubas surrender and afterwards desert—News from Khartum—The capture of the English mail—Its arrival at the Mahdi's camp—The Mahdi decides to advance on Khartum—Brief review of events in Khartum and Berber—Ohrwalder's views on Gordon's mission—The Mahdi sets out for Khartum—Mohammed Ali Pasha's defeat and death—Colonel Stewart, Mr. Power, and others leave Khartum in ss. "Abbas"—Description of their wreck and treacherous murder  114

CHAPTER VIII.

THE SIEGE AND FALL OF KHARTUM.

The surrender of Omdurman fort—Gordon's dispositions for defence—His great personal influence—The night before the assault—The attack and entry of the Dervishes—Gordon's death—The adventures of Domenico Polinari—The massacre in Khartum—How most of the Europeans died—Ruthless cruelty and bloodshed—The fate of the wives and daughters of Khartum—Ohrwalder's views on the situation in Khartum and the chances of relief by the British Expeditionary Force—His description of the town three months after the fall  131

CHAPTER IX.

THE MAHDI'S LAST DAYS.

Ohrwalder's criticisms on certain events connected with the defence of Khartum—The Sudan devastated by small-pox—The Mahdi gives way to a life of pleasure—Description of his harem life—The Mahdi sickens and dies—The effect on his followers—The Khalifa Abdullah succeeds—Party strife and discord—Abdullah prevails—Events in Sennar and Kassala  public@vhost@g@gutenberg@html@files@32875@[email protected]#CHAPTER_IX" class="pginternal"