a few respectable bouses, occupied by tbe traders of
the country, a small proportion of whom are Italians,
French, and Germans, the European population numbering
about thirty. Greeks, Syrians, Copts, Armenians,
Turks, Arabs, and Egyptians, form the motley
inhabitants of Khartoum.
There are consuls for France, Austria, and America,
and with much pleasure I acknowledge many kind
attentions, and assistance received from the two former,
M. Thibaut and Herr Hansall.
Khartoum is the seat of government, the Soudan
provinces being under the control of a Governor-
general, with despotic power. In 1861, there were
about six thousand troops quartered in the town; a
portion of these were Egyptians; other regiments were
composed of blacks from Kordofan, and from the
White and Blue Niles, with one regiment of Arnouts,
and a battery of artillery. These troops are the curse
of the country : as in the case of most Turkish and
Egyptian officials, the receipt of pay is most irregular,
and accordingly the soldiers are under loose discipline.
Foraging and plunder is the business of the Egyptian
soldier, and the miserable natives must submit to insult
and ill-treatment at the will of the brutes who pillage
them ad libitum.
In 1862, Moosa Pasha was the Governor-general 'of
the Soudan. This man was a rather exaggerated
specimen of Turkish authorities in general, combining
the worst of Oriental failings with the brutality of a
wild animal.
During his administration the Soudan became
utterly ruined; governed by military' force, the
revenue was unequal to the expenditure, and fresh
.taxes were lèvied upon the inhabitants to an extent
that paralysed the entire country. The Turk never
improves. There is an Arab proverb that “ the grass
never grows in the footprint of a Turk,” and nothing can
be more aptly expressive of the character of the nation
than this simple adage.- Misgovernment, monopoly,
extortion, and oppression, are the certain accompaniments
of Turkish administration. At a great distance
from all civilization, and separated from Lower Egypt
by thé Nubian deserts, Khartoum affords a wide field for
the development of Egyptian official character. Every
official plunders ; the Governor-general extorts from
all sides ; he fills his private pockets by throwing every
conceivable obstacle in the way of progress, and embarrasses
every commercial movement in order to extort
bribes from individuals. Following the general rule of
his predecessors, a new governor upon arrival exhibits
a spasmodic energy. Attended by cavasses . and
soldiers, he rides through every street of Khartoum,