The New York Herald Newspaper, July 5, 1872, Page 6

ETHIOPIA An American Party, with a Herald Correspondent, at Khartoum, THE CAPITAL OF THE SOUDAN. From Berber to Khartoum on Board the Telegram. A PRIVATE SLAVE MART AT BERBER. Pen Pictures of Native Life in an In- terior African Town. THE MYSTERIOUS LAND OF DARFOUR, Nady Bey’s Description of Hussein El Mohammed, Prince of Believers. BECOME A MUSSULMAN AND DIE. ‘The Herald Correspondent Communicates with the Blind Sultan of Darfour. THE PASSAGE OF THE NILE CATARACTS. Fao Simile of the First Telegraphic De- spatch Ever Sent from the Sou- dan to America, ALI EFFENDI THE TELEGRAPH OPERATOR. A Page Added to the Treasury of African Travel. Kuartoum, ConrLvENce OF THE BLUR AND Waits NILES, Feb, 10, 1872, At noon on Tuesday, the 6th of February,‘the da- habeah Telegram was parting the dark, rippling waters of the Blue Nile from the muddy flow of its sister confluents and dashing along at ten knots anhour. By one o'clock the solitary minaret of Khartoum, lifting its whited smre above the dome, palms and accacias, was the emblem of our journey’s end. We sped on till nearly two o'clock, and the city of Khartoum, the capital and the me- tropolis of the Sondan, and the greatest monu- ment tothe fame of Mohammed All, was in full view. Aituated on the left bank of the Blue Nile, Khar- toum was first built in 1819 as a military post, and afterwards grew to its present dimensions, stimu- lated by the commerce growing out of the rich har- ‘vests of gum and the gathering in of ivory. It now contains 20,000 people, and is by far the finest pro- vincial town of Africa, ARRIVAL AT KHARTOUM. Early in the morning the Telegram was boarded ‘Dy @ janissary of the Governor Gencral with tele- graphic despatches from Cairo for General Stocking and your correspondent, that of the former an- mouncing that General Sherman and Lieutenant Grant were in expectation of arrival at Cairo, with Azar Abdl-Meiak Effendi, the United States Con- sular Agent for the Soudan, on board. We ap- proached the quay and swept rapidly along toward the Stars and Stripes, which were streaming gayly im the breeze from the consular building on the river's bank. The view of the city to westward was most charming. The regular, characteristic mud mansions; the tropical foliage, the broad palms and the weeping dooms, the thousands upon thousands of natives who had gathered to witness,our arrival, all garbed in the light costumes of the Soudan; tne boats lying hauled up on the beach for repairs, the min- lature blockade-runner steamers, the bales of cot- ton heaped up on the banks, the sacks of gum and the tusks ofivory, and the stevedore population, who brave crocodiles toearn their paltry paras, were ‘but a few of the scenes in this, to us, welcome spec- tacle. We drove through the water, and finally ropped anchor abreast of the palace of the Gov- ernor General. Simultaneously the Consul General SALUTED THE AMERICAN FLAG with twenty-one guns; immediately a park of ar- ‘tillery on the public square responded with twelve guns, and two bands of music struck up military airs, and soon the tread of 1,500 black soldiers echoed over the bosom of the Nile. Deflling by the Marrow streets leading to the quay the battalions formed in line of battie on the bank, The escorts, consisting of two companies, formed a line perpen- dicular to the Nile’s flow, and presented arms, Twelve helmeted and casqued negroes, armed with battle axes, spears and shields, led THE ESCORT, and were the most remarkable warriors I had ever seen. The entire force was uniformed in white and armed with muskets. Adam Pacha, a coal- black general, then boarded the Telegram, ac- companied by Mons. Varsel, Ali Effendi, Ishmail Bey, ihe former favorite of the Viceroy, and other celebrities. We passed the compliments of the day. and were warmly greeted to the Soudan, We were immediately oifered our choice between the Governor's Palace, the telegraph building or the house we now occupy. Having made the sclec- tion, we were escorted to our quarters amid the firing of cannon, the playing of bands and the manceuvring of troops. GREAT EXCITEMENT overspread the town, ani we were besieged by in- truders, alas “interviewers,” sent by the sacki and beer circles, to pick up the gossip and retail it over their evening pipes. 1 began to sympathize with the “qnterviewed” more than I ever did before. A formal call at the palace, further displays by the soidiery, and we were allowed to rest for the re- mainder of the day. ALI EFPENDI, THE TELEGRAPH OPERATOR, responded to a summons to appear, English admirably. Indeed, this accomplishment cost him his liberty, for having been accused of be- traying the Egyptian interests during the Abyssi- pian war because of his English Nuency, he was sent to the Soudan in chains to practise his profession a8 a telegraph operator in the quality of a political felon. He is very clever, and, I judge, innocent of the crime which envy and suspicion have probably ascribed tohim, At my dictation he there wrote in Arabic the first telegraphic despatch ever sent from Khartoum to America, and the first ever sent to any newspaper in the world. It was addressed to the New York Hxna.p bureau at London. It is thus the good fortune of the HERAwp to lay before its readers an engraved fac-simile of the de- #patch sent by its correspondent, the first who ever penetrated Central Airica by the Nite route, Let us make a hasty review of LIFE ON BOARD THE TELEGRAM, and take a glance at the scenery between Berber and Khartoum. Leaving Berber at one P. M. the 3d of January, We stood up once more against the swift current of the Nile. We had, however, laid in a heavy cargo of watermelons, purchased for the gum of $1. Abdl-el-Wahed also, our honorable cook, received the visit of a relative at Berber whom he had not seen before for forty years. Crocodiles swarmed the banks ot the Nile for the first time, and we amused ourselves by frequent essays at Seuriau Murder—piways without success, rie a hed (Berber). The province pays 12,000 purs. He spoke | Bramecy anes night, and we learned ica—of the section in which he ing a total of cra 00, derived al ry! e laud. The taxes iy @ most curious Every farmer has a ‘‘sikeeh” (a water 7 which ghd by some. modification * orse’ power, genei em oxen), an cach “zikecn Terigutes elt heres of land,’ The “sikech” and not the land is the unit of taxation. Two acres of land are worth about one dollar in the Soudan, and it is very productive, yielding, oe bly, the largest crops of auy soll in’ Africa.’ Onthe Sist ult. we passed THR MOUTH OF THE APRORU RIVER and saw the stream it Baker declares ig the source Of all Egypt's ‘fility. ‘Ihe Shygeas who live wbout this country are primitive and immoral in their habits. A more accurate observer of their habits and costoms than myoet has put them in coventry on account of thelr duplicity and indo- lence. The application of this same test through- out the Orient would outlaw nine-tenths of the people. Azar, our worthy Coptic patriarch and Consul, became sick on the 31st, and my éres attempted his life with “Cockle’s pills” and quinine. Poor Azar, unaccustomed to the use of icines, was weakened so that seven days were necessary to restore nia energies. On the ist of February we laid up at Shendy for the night—the' place where Mek-Minur sacrificed Ishmail Pacha the stake. The next fan an pte lay off Metamma, with wicker huts of this African Sodom standin; against the western sky. with miserable captives, Po ynmer') us tne following day, and were commanded by Greeks, if I did not mistake their brutal physiognomies, THE PASSAGE OF THE SIXTH CATARACT, On February 3 we the sixth cataract, which is but ah irregular, rocky obstruction in the Nile, extending along a distance oi five miles. The mountain scenery, the pigeons slain by the Consul General and the shooting through the accacia, cacti and thorny eh all gave us @ complex destiuc- Uon, under 1u0 degrees of Fahrenheit. At four in the afternoon we passed a stranded Greek, who, by frantic appeals turough the medium of gunpowder, had induved us to haul up and rescue him. other Robinson Crusoe |”? was the talk; but he as- sured us tiat he tired a salute for the purpose aloue of welcoming us to the Soudan, Generous Greek! We leit the stranded gum trader, and that night moored among a@ squadron of about thirty boats vig = the leit bank taking in cargoes? It was here that A MIDNIGHT HIPPOYOTAMUS ploughed up the waters about the ‘Telegram, ‘and drew our furious but unsuccessiul fire. Lhe next morning we were induced to putin shore for our domestic’s comfort, and this lost twenty-tour hours on the run, The mosquitoes became very annoy- ing. My face was lumped with poisonous bites, and I suffered from tho attentions of the entire in- sect family. We had, up to this point, been very unfortunate in brecze, but on the morning oi the 6th inst. a gale blew from the northward, and we stood southward tarough glowing fields and with happy hearts for the eity of Khartoum, THE WOMEN OF CENTRAL AFRICA, To travel through this district of Africa and not to be interested in the types and customs of the ative women is to ignore maternity in its most romiscuous but fruitful forms. The Soudan inant an atomic creature, and, being thus minute, comes Very olten to biess tue matron’s pride, THE MOTHER, however, 80 prolific o: human life, possesses a physique and temperament which belong to her particular tribe of negroes, She may be very small and very pretty, if beauty can glist over the dark features of an Abyssinian maid; or she may be ver; gross, very thickly barked, very densely dyed ani very coarsely cué in nose, lip and cin, like the Nubas, At Berber Lspeut as much time as I coukl with prot and cleanituess among the huts and hovels, in order to have a ‘close view of the rising and setting generation. The children that you see in such meanderings are mostly boys, though it would be impossible to distinguish the sexes were not all the children uncovered, The family provider does not believe in wear for his oispring; and if he did there are no children’s far- nisuing store to supply them with even the garb of Eden, The cunning Lttle specks of humanity thus toddie about the naked, barren hut, the only fur- niture therein being an augered (ved), a few odds and ends, such as @ Soudan sword, a water pouch and two or three crude dishes wherewith to cook the duwah. I think A YOUNG BERBER NEGRO. say at four years of age, has the most perfect symmetry | have ever seen in unclad nature. The infant seems to develop trom the germ into a hard, unpliable gutta percha blackness and rigidity of texture which gives one the thought that he might be moulded upon a block of wood. His skin is as tight as that of a baked drumhead, his flesh is seamless, and according to _ his hue resembles polished ebony or box- wood, His feet are quite tiny, and his limbs support a juvenile abdomen that more than reproduces the Hon. William M, Tweed in minia- ture, The developments of the child at four years to what is called aldermanic proportions is most extraordinary throughout the whole country. Among some tribes it amounts to deformity. The obesity must, 1 believe, be the result of dates and camel’s milk and the exceeding quantities of grain which stuf the infant crops, Curiously enough Ri at & arrives in the Soudan duriu, the period of chitdhood, and diminishes with - vancing age. ‘There are some exceptions, but not many. The tender African Cupid is early utilized, and the mother takes back her diffused strength, The lad is appointed to nurse his next younger of kin, and he bears his __newly-arrived foundling around in his arms with the pride father. He then graduates from huts, is promoted to the field, or if his family would be aristocratic he is higher caste if he foilows the river. The same as in our white pation, we are better men if we fol- low the sea. There are no trades in the Soudan, and the boy is a nonce in every branch of industry and art, and an expert alone in indolence, The males, from ten years of age to sixty, do not aver- age one hour’s work a day. The Copts, Greeks, Itailans and lower Egyptians perform more labor inthe Soudan; even they bestow seven-eights of their exertions on their lusts of body. Infants thus are not cradled on the sweat of their brows, except as far as sharing the maternal burdens, At thirty the native begins to grow old—and when I say n: tive | mean the thousand and one classes of black men who inhabit the banks of the Thee. Race is almost obliterated southward of Khertoum, and the different tribes are no longer gregarious. Waik through the Bazaar of Berber. You will find that most every face presents a different type, a different shade, a different intellectuality. This salmagundi has resulted from an intermingling of the races which have come in contact with each other in the relation of master and servant or by a promiscuous cohabitation, which is constrained by no moral obligation. Yet 1 may add touching THE MORALITY OF BERBER and the other Etheopian towns, itis much higher than that of the city of New York. For instance there are dancing girls in Berber, yet they can not be seen without the permission of the authorities, while Water street an unsightly spectacle otf revel in the proudest of American cities. You can not here, as you can in Europe, demand, “you are of such & Hactoonliey 1 and be pretty sure you have made no mistake. Here you have to put your doubt in the form of “direct interrogation.” Ihave been pens uzzied to tell how far a man has clatms to called an Arab, In some cases the Sheyks have the features and marks of eat ah birth, coupled with the authority and wealth of princes. The Arabs, of course, rule to the fartherest reaches of the Nile and its tributaries. The women, THE VILLAGERS OF BERBER, are Arab, negro and Abyssinian. The Arabs came mostly from the lower Nile, or belong to the dusky Fellahline of the Soudan, while the negroes and | Abyssinians are the product of slave trading in tne Soudan. Being anxious to see Berber domestically, | Just as it is, [caused it to be reported that I wished to buy a female slave. ‘There were no public mar- | kets, so 1 became acquainted with a Syrian mer- chant, who had been one month @ resident of Berber. “Ol course : 1 CAN SELL YOU A SLAVE,” said he in French, “Where ave they ?"? The merchant was seated In his store, the most elegant in town, drinking a sherbet and smoking a chibook. He rose to accompany me. The counter loafers had in the meantime gathered from all the other shops in the bazar, and had, wna voce, opened a fire of complaints agamst the government. I listened patiently to the story of their woes—oppressive taxation, police restraints, high interests, no money, ' flat trade—with only that importance which a person can assume who has no real power to redress a grievous wrong. I told them sienificantly that I would reflect upon their petitions. Consctous of being mighty in their Toidst—rather in the midst of their imaginations— I passed out of the shop defiling by their reveren- tal salaams, Probably not one man in the knot knew where America was. The merchant, who was a sleek Syrian, arrogating to himself the nationality of ¢ k for the purpose of an ephemeral respect- abilicy, tien conducted me a few yards distant, down a narrow igne, knocked at a tumble-down gate and we waiked into the midst of his harem, it was the first time I had ever beheld human be- ings of lis harem for sale, The first object I saw Was a monkey, in whose face I detected a strayed Shadow of sadness, Chained near him was a beau- tiful desert gazelle, which we afterwards bought for the sum of $2. An Ekhnin dog—which after- wards cut his incisors on the leg of Mr. Morris—a large, shaggy, ferocious beast, was entertaining the | harem by nis hideous yells. ‘This was a portion of the scenery in a doubie court of a mud palace in the city of Berber at twoo'clock in the afternoon, iat kind of a slave do you want?” asked the merchant, “That depends,” “ But @ male or female?” “A femaie!” replied promptly, wishing to sce the merchandise. While this colloquy was proceeding we neared the second court, and there I saw a handsome, dark-haired, lovely woman of about twenty sur- rounded by four coal-black negresses, “(What is your price for this one?” I said, point- ing to the beauty. “She? That's my wife.” After making the due oriental apologies for my contretemps | was presented to the madame. She was aD Egyptian, but ignored the veil, rather liking than otherwise to expose her face to the admiring gaze of men. The merchant and his lady then called out the slaves to be inspected. But they were timid, and had scattered in all directions, standing with their faces to the wall. They would not come. Finally the madame persuaded tie youngest small thirteen-year-old Abyssinian. ~ to ' The merchants would not allow you to go pow. TELEGRAM TO THE HERALD FROM KHARTOUM. Fac-Simile of the First Telegraphic Despatch Ever Sent from Khartoum to Any News- paper in the World. =~ z 2 a om ° A SE) e2iei h ye ele pht Gy dre > So:No > pA m Cin. wey ¢ ey poe pa A ~ a Sy otahet! wf Bd or py eri: 2 MM * s . SIN YD Soo Lazy Wit we Live), - iageaneeeo wy ar oe Grtly oolst ables Se ae 7 me Aes lyn i RANSLA TION. Grand reception by government, Music, troops, guns, Baker at Gondokoro, moving on Nyanzas. Shall go to Gondokoro. ‘The second despatch is personal. present herself, She was covered with but a single loose garment, She was directed to denude herself of this; but Linstantly interposed, not wishing to allow even any reportorial curiosity to insult the chini'’s purity of person, “How much for her ?”? ’ “Four hundred frances 1? “That's too high !”” (vemporizing) . ‘Pll show you another !—and with this a second was led out by the madame. No. 2 wasa bright, pretty Abyssinian giil of eighteen years of age, iquant in expression and graceful and womanly in figure. The mexchant’s wife was about to repeat the experiment of an immodest exhibition, but I motioned her to desist. ‘The price of this girl was 500 francs. Alter looking over the other slaves I left the house, full of loathing for the monster who was engaged in the accursed traffic. I had seen the foul system by which intel. ligent children are taken away from their nati tribes, miscrably clad and fed, thrust into the pei of a Levantine cur and sold into whatever wretch- edness will pay the protit of 100 francs, Such 1s but the everyday, common domestic scenery of a Berber hearth. SCIENTISTS AND EXPLORERS, among them i may name Du Chaiilu, have sought to deprecate the minds and persons of these help- less people in different parts of the African Conti- nent. Pu Chaillu, particularly, has beep ostenta- tious in proclaiming the mantiest inferiority of the Ashango people and of their descent from a species of Darwin's myths. If what he says be true of hig extremity of the Continent, I may say with justice that jt does not hold good here. I have been amazed at the keen lutelligence of native wisdom of all the peoples along the reaci: of the Nile as high up as Khartoum, They need only the ordinary agents of civilization to reuder them among the most thrifty peoples of the earth. Since I have been in Khartoum I have met a German, Mons. Varsel, who built the Viceroy’s telegraph from Wady-Halfa to Khartoum. He has had great expe- rience with the natives. He says they need two things—relief from the thraldom of their religion (the Koran) and better irrigation for their lands, If you ask a native to do a piece of work which he is under contract to perform he will reply, if his comfort does not permit him todo it at once, ‘Ma- leech, bookrah, inshallah !’ (never mind; to-mor- row, please God), And to-morrow it is still to-mor- row. Moslomism—a religion constructed for the tropics—does not require or teach industry, save with the spear and other warlike weapons. African ornithalogy is still so vague, the relations between the tribes from Berber to the Nyanza Lakes in such a chaotic condition, the explorations of the Nile Basin still in so crade a form, that it is almost id.e to speculate upon the development of the coming ten years, Yet the indications point to a Pd future. In a future letter I shall con- sider ‘The Soudan.” Nors.—The Telegram, the young brother of the Herald, isan upper Nile “dahabeah,” owned by the Governor General Te “had abins and a saloon, and was faster than a clipper, easier than a gazelle, The r will remember that the Her- alddahabeah had to anchor at Korosko. No boat can pass the cataracts in this season, A Herald Correspondent in Correspond- ence With the Sultan of Darfour— Some Authentic Accounts from this Mys- terfous Country Obtained from the Lips of Nady Bey—The Fate of Dr. Curry—A Brave but Fanatical People— Mohammed el Hussein, Prince of Believ- ers—Character of the Darfourians. ON Boarp EGYPTiANn Steamer No. 15, Soudan Squadron, otf Shendy, Feb, 20, 1972, While at Khartoum I found no subject of greater interest than the Kingdom of Darfour. It nas been the cemetery of most every traveller who has ever visited its capital, and its Sultan, Mohammed el Hussein, is about the only ruier who has enjoyed the untaxed privilege of put- ting Europeans to death without intermission or remorse. In justice to His Majesty I should add that there is no direct proof ot his crimes—only that savans who have penetrated his country have mysteriously disappeared. With no desire to slander ever so remote a magnate, [have addressed to His Celestial Highness the following letter trans- lated in Arabic for me by an accomplished officer of the Egyptian army. It is written in the usual phraseology employed by those who address the throne of the East. It gocs by an envoy sent by the Governor General of Kordofan: THE HERALD CORRESPONDB! 3 LETTER. From Sournworvi, citizen of the great republic of the United States and correspondent of the NEW Youk HERALD, to His August Majesty the IMustri- ous Sultan MOHAMMED EL Hvsskin, of the mighty Kingdom of Darfour, Prince of Believers and & Chief Among All the Luminaries of God, salut. Tsolicit the great privilege of ssing Your Majesty to ask your permission to visit your king- dom, to sit by your divan and listen to your wis dom, Your fame has extended over the whole earth, J have come a journey of nine months (by camels), at the instance of the New York HERALD, to have an interview with you. The New York HERALD has @ machine with Which its people write 100,000 copies of its opinions and of what is done good or ili by men and women every day, These opinions and letters are upon enormous sheets of paper, and are sent by boys unto the inhabitants to read. I would like to write about you and your country to the New York HexaLp, and to speak truly of you and your kingdom. Will Your Majesty permit me? Ifnot, then write me a letter about your country, and / will spread itamong my people. Ihave read your letters to the Austrian Consul, They are immortal documents. You can reply to me by sending to the Consul General of the United States at Cairo, Done at KHARTOUM, year 1288, OPINION OF DARFOUR AND ITS SULTAN, BY ONE WHO WENT THERE, Being uncertain as to whether I could ascend the White Nile this season, I tried to enlist the co-ope- ration of the authorities to facilitate a voyage to Darfour. I first broached the project at the divan of Aboo-Sinn, in presence of all the notables of Khartoum. The proposition was receivea with surprise. Aboo-Sinn said that a colonel was pre- sent who had made the voyage as an Envoy of the Viceroy, bearing presents and tribute. Iwas then presented to the ex-Ambassador, Nady-Bey, a tall, handsome, powerful militaire, “And would you really go to Darfour 7 rtainly.”? r that purpose? The journey is almost im- possible.” “A8 a correspondent of the New York HeraLn.” “You would have to remain in and about Kordo- fan for a year to learn the language and the people. They are jealous and would hinder you. The Sultan of Darfour is very suspicious too.” “How did he treat you, Bey?” “With caution and suspicion, and I visited him as an Envoy of Egypt, carrying him gifts of fabulous value, I was there seven months; never allowed to go into the streets of the capital during the day time, and in the night time I was escorted by eighty soldiers to the Divan to talk to Mahommed El Hussein, the Sultan—always by the same street, for fear I might see the country.” “Why is the Sultan thus rigorous 9” “Because the people are very fanatical and he is blind. They believe that Darfonr is the finest coun- try in the world, that Christians are devils, and that all travellers will go away and describe their country, and then a bad people will come and rob’ them of their lands and products, You will be able, perhaps, to go there, but not to get away.”” * «what do they fear from a simple traveller ?” “The Sultan doesn’t care so much, but he is blind, and his ministers stuff him with tales and the mercitants from Kordofan have access to his credulity. Not being able to see, he is the victim of many impositions.”” “How many people has this excellent monarch ?” “about three millions, it is supposed, They live in straw huts and their manner of existence is as primitive as that of the Nubians and other lack Reople. They are brave and fanatical.” The more I pressed my intention to visit Dar- four the more I was discouraged, and even Aboo- Sinn, with a grave movement of the hand, ex- claimed, “La!” (no), and I succumbed to the wis- dom of the Arab patriach. A DARFOURIAN YOUTH. I knew enough to perceive that to move against the wishes an@ advice of the Egyptian authorities would be folly. The following evening we were dining at-+the house of Azar, the American Consular Agent. Aboo-Sinn, the Governor General Mootaz-Pacha, the Austrian Consul and others were present. At the close the dancing girls were brought in, and then a young boy from Darfour, the property of Ismaif Bey, was placed in the centre of the room to dance. Though a slave, and subject to his masters, he utterly declined, and stood, with the wounded pride of a Darfourian, saying that “he could not make property of his person,’’ meaning that it was a shame for a Darfourian to belittle himself before the curious gaze of foreigners. A half an hour’s persuasion did not suffice to induce him to lower his standard of dignity. Such is the D4rfour char- acter. It yet remains for some person fonder of adventure than vitality to become the Gibbon of THE ROMANS OF ETHIOPA. It was because I had read with great amusement and curiosity the following letter received from His Highness by Mr. Natterer, the former Austrian Consul at Khartoum, that I persisted in my desire to go to the capital of Hussein the Blind. The two gentlemen who sought to visit the Suitan’s domin- fons were Messrs. Munzinger and Kinzelback, Ger man savans and friends of Dr. Cuny; but they de7 clined the conditions of the uncivilized bigot, put, ting more value upon their lives than confidence in his that goodness of heart whieh he 80 glowingly expresses. Dr. Cuny left Siovh, in the lower Mile, in 1858, proceeding by way of Kordofan by a caravan route, with the idea of exploring the mysterious Darfour kingdom. As will be seen be- low he succeeded in reaching the capital, when, according to the Sultan, “he staid five days among us; then he returned to God,” after having embraced the religior of Mahomet. His son was afterwards held two years, and was rescued through the instrumentality of Said Pacha, then Viceroy of Egypt. The case of Dr. Cuny is the same as that of almost every traveller who has ever visited Darfour—they never return, and, according to the Sultan, they always EMBRACE MOSLEMISM AND THEN DIR. The reader need not be assured either of the absurdity or the falsity of the statement. All travellers and explorers who visit Central Africa are forced to move among the tribes and savage nations and to adopt both the dress and manners of the Aboriginces, More than that, they assume indigenous names and arrogate to themselves a princely ancestry, and when @ purpose is at stake they change their religion with the same facility that they do their linen. The murdered Vogel was Abdi el Wahed (son of the only one), but even that august designation did not save him from the ferocity of Hussein's neighbors, THE SULTAN’S LETTER, By the grace of the Word, in the name of God, ‘Good and Omnipotent, praise be to God, Master of the solar system, the indulgent, the Dispenser of graces, whose goodness is eternal, and who is ure of all blemishes, salute to our Lord Ma- Romet, the seal of prophets, the chief of the seat of God, the Saviour of sinners, the King of all men, Who has placed His people above all other salute aiso to the Prophets of God, the f the race of Mahomet and of all true be- levers; From the servant of God, the Prince of Believers, the Sultan MOHAMMED EL Hussein, surnamed the Mahdi, the victorious Emir by ge of God; the son of the blessed Suitan Mohammed ei Fadhe, the son of the Sultan Abdurrohman the Just; the son of the Sultan Ahmed Bekr, lumina- ries of God, whose tombs are pure. Amen. Salut to the much-honored Consul Josrrn, the representative of the Sultan of Austria:— Know that we have received your letter, and we have seen in it that two among the number of your doctors have the desire to visit us, to see our coun- try, according to their ancient custom. You know that the relations of the Mohamedans with the Christians have been for @ long time neither en- couraged nor seen with displeasure. If, magnet- ized with grace, these last adopt the faith of Isiam, we will count ita great joy, and our dearest desires will have been gratified. However, if they retain their belief in the Evangel we will by no means dis- turb them, Gommerce 1a done without any shac- kles binding the Christians to the Mohamedans, But you know, also, that our nation, which is situ- ated in the Occident, is a country whose air is un- healthy and whose water is undrinkable. Itis thus that it is now, since a brief time, that Dr. Cuny, the Frenchman, came to our nation. He became converted to the faith of Islam, and stayed five days among us. ‘Then he returned to God. He left a young son, whose faith was very strong, and he was also converted. We have since heard it said that our employés were the cause of his death. However, the Governor of Egypt, Mohammed Said, has demanded the child m the name of his mother, and when the boy arrives at his parent’s house we will be discharged of all suspicion, Farther, we ure incapable of doing such actions, and as long as we participate in the alliance of God with his Propliet, and as much as you would puy for the capitation. Never, Christians, will we do treason towards you and molest you in your beliet, and in this respect we only act a8 our ancestors in the faith of Islam have always acted. Commerce between you and us is entirely free, and we object not to this liberty; but that which we cannot suifer is this suspicion ond accusation propagated by the evil inten. tioned, that the Sultan of Darfour_ puts to death strangers who visit his country. Such is not our wil, and we would only pity ourselves if we foliowed such a line of conduct, But you know Well that the all-powerful God should be praised ; that this God has placed in the body ot man a soul and determines the time of its sojourn therein, and no one can chanve the decrees of Providence. How many Mohaummedans' have died in Christian em- pires? and how many Christians have died in Mos- jem countries, each in his religion, without con- st: aint or calumny ? - li you believe there is nothing to fear from the climate, send us promptiy a response, in fine, so that we can give you the permission which you solicit for the twu travellers to enter our country; and if God spares our life they will be able to come near us, to see our divan, our administration, &c. As to a voyage in the diiferent countries which are under our jurisdiction, it is Impossible, and we can- not accord it, because we have not enough confi- deuce in our subjects, and who, if they should see a white man, might frighten him. But, we repea’ shall not object toa Forage from Kordofan to Dar- four, near our person. If God permit them to come we will send them one of our men to protect them on the route and to guide and conduct them near us, In the case they accept our conditions, But give us notice promptiy, by lettet, of yourdetermi- nation, that we can seud the guides to meet them and conduct them here. We have given you notice. Salut! Seventh month of Dau, Hidje, in the year 1278, A WARNING NOT TO BE DISREGARDED. It will be seen that His Highness, while giving this most cordial invitation to the doctors to visit his divan, Pointedly informs them—*But know also that our nation is situated in the Occident, in a country whose air is unhealthy and whose water is undrinkable.” In other words they had better stay at home and not bother the mighty monarch and his puissant people. THE MOST UNCIVILIZED OF THE UNCIVILIZED. I believe, from allI can learn, that Darfour will be the last kingdom in Africa to permit the civiliz- ing contact of Europeans. It is now the third in Tank among the unexplored treasures of geographi- cal societies, and the man who exploits it will achieve the same glories as Speke, Grant, Kane and Baker. Governed by a blind and intractable enthusiast, whose hey ved exceed him in ignorance and intensify his fanaticism, it constitutes a vast territory, cultivated only by the rude appliances of a far-iniand herd of savages. It is interesting only 8o far as it is curious, and of value to the future of Africa and of Egypt only so far as its people can roduce and its products can flow down the Nile. e word “Darfour” calls out @ smile on every face seen in the Soudan, OBITUARY. John Aukland. > Captain John Aukland, of the British Army, has just died at his residence in Drogheda, Ireland. He was ninety-three years of age; a man of iron frame and lion heart, and a true specimen of a race of splendid soldiers which the Green Isle has given to the cause of the British Crown, He served in the Ninth regiment of infantry of the line, and had won before nis retirement from active duty six clasps of honor on the fleld. At Corunna he commanded the burial party whiclt committed the body of Sir John Moore to the earth under the fre of the French army. At the battles of Talavera, Sala- manca and Ciudad Rodrigo his bravery was distin- guished. He was one of the leaders of the “forlorn hope” at the storming of Badajos. He fought at Vittoria, and used to say that one of the greatest disappointments of his liie was that he could not reach the field of Waterloo until Napoleon had taken to flight. Captain Aukland was descended from an ancient Drogheda family, and when he re turned, bearing the marks of wounds about him, at the close of the great war, the Corporation of his native town could hardly honor him enough. He outlived all the rest of his family. AN UPSET IN THE BAY, The United States revenue steamer Uno, while going down the bay yesterday, and when off Bay | Ridge, found a sailboat, bottom up, with her mast and sail foating about The boat is -rigged, length and about 8 feet beam; is painted white from plankshear to water line, remainder green, and green inside. A pocketbook containing a small sum of money and a man's gaiter was found in her. Itismamed Lilly May. What became of the occu- pants js unknown, but it is supposed they were coe up by a passing boat, The boat es in the jarge Oflice Basin, at the Battery. LONG ISLAND, The Barn of Thomas Warren, the President of the Newtown Reform Association, Destroyed by an Incen- diary. Yesterday about ten o’clock @ large barn of Thomas Warren, President of the Newtown Reform Association, situated in the town of Newtown, was destroyed by fire, evidently the work of an incen- a Threats had been made it Mr. Warren by friends of the Newtown “Ring,” on account of the late trial and conviction of Flaherty, and it is thought these men had been somewhat mixed up with the firing of the barn, Loss about $5,000; par- tially insured, alongside, 16 feet in Fatal Case of stroke. Patrick Higgins, residing at 125 East Twenty-sev- enth street, New York, was sunstrack yesterday, about noon, while at Hunter’s Point, and died be- fore night ~ CONGRESSMEN AMONG INDIANS, A Sub-Committee of the House in Kansas. eit An Attempt to Settle the Disputes Between the Red ‘Men and the Government—The Financial Difficulties in the Treaty The Committee to Take the Testimony Direct from the Aborigines, Forr Scorr, Kansas, June 29, 1972, A sub-committee of the House ttee of Indian Afairs is now on board a train on the Mim sour, Kansas and Texas line of railroad, and your correspondent isin company, prepared to give readers of the Heratp such information of matte! and things in that hitherto unknown region, Indian Territory. as may be deemed of interest. |; The committee consists of Messrs. Shanks, ‘Indiana (chairman) ; Smith, of Ohio, and Burdett of Missouri, who is probably to be the next nomin of the republican party for Governor of his Stat The wives of these gentlémen are of the party, the committee is also accompanied by Mr. Guilet! its clerk, and by one of the o‘ficial stenographe: of the House of Representatives, ~ 7 THE PROPOSED INVESTIGATION, as I understand, is to be directed specially to som& financial matters connected with the recovery frony the United States Treasury of certain =o which were due, under a treaty stiputation, to Choctaw and Chickasaw nations of Indians, but whic! were forfeited by them, or at least payment pended, as a penalty for those Indians ha joined the rebels in their attempt to subvert th government. It seems that since the close of tl war delegates or commissioners from the Chocta' and Chickasaws have been to.Washington,made thet peace with the powers there, and negotiated fo the payment to them of those baek annuities, «But, to facilitate them in making their arrangement, th commissioners deemed it necessary to engage tht services of some Baltimore and Washington lawye! and agents—chiefty Mr. Latrobe, of Baltimore and to pay an advance fee of $100,000 and stipulated for a commission amounting, I believe, to fifty oe cent. The advance fee was paid and was divide in four equal, parts between the lawyers, the Com4 missioners, their clerks and secretaries and others not yet known, but whom it is the object of the present inquiry to ascertain. THB INDIANS OF COURSE OBJECT ' tothe withholding of a commission after having paid such a large fee, and the settlement is still in abeyance. There is also some question involving the payment of $1,800,000 to tne same Indians int connection with the transfer of their lands to thd government. These questions wewe partially in- vestigated during the last session, but the matters wero 80 complicated and required the exami- nation of so many witnesses and docu~ Tents that the committee decided that the inquiry could be much more efficiently and dope Oa conducted by sending a sub-com- mittee to the Indian territory; and Mr. Shanks, thet chairman, having s0 represented the matter to the House, the necessary authority was and an appropriation of $3,000 made was given to covet all the expenses, Thave mentioned these as th special objects of the investigation; but it is not at all unlikely that the committee will extend ti scope of its inquiry so as to. embrace the general question of establishing a permanent policy for th government of the Indians, The idea of ISOLATING THEM IN RESERVATIONS or of assigning to them a vast region of country 11 the heart of the Continent is pal ably on} atem-! porizing plan, This Indian Territor which the; committee is now travellins region, iz a of great extent and fertility, lying betwee: the States of Kansas and Texas, north and sout! and the States of Missouri and Arkansas, east an west. It is the present home of about sixty thou, sand Indians, civilized, semi-civilized and savage, among whom has been engrafted, within the last two or three years, an offshoot of our poli Bys- tem in the shape of a legislature, to which th the tribes send delegates. It would be 4a. ver; doubtful experiment at the best, but it stands littl chance of being even fatrly tested, for the territory: is now bisected, north and south, by the line ot [ railroad on which I am now writing these note: | and is soon to be crossed by another line runnin; [ from east to west. When both these lines are full operavion, as they will be in the course o! couple of years, what chance will the poor indi have of carrying out their new plan of eet ment or of maintaining their isolation it t ENCROACHMENTS OF WESTERN PIONEERS, evidently not the remotest. And Isee in that con- { vi nection thet, although the railroad companies ob- tained the right of way through this Territory byt the consent of the Indians, stipulated in the treaty, of 1866, they are already looking forward to the ex- clusion of the Indians from this Seton, Ana to the opening of it to settlement. Iclip the first annual report of the Board of Directors of the fade in May: last, the folowing siguilieant pore? ™made in May last ie low! 8) it, graph on that subject :— 4 ‘The policy of thi tin atter the Indian’ by guthering between Toriy and aay. tote sand of them upon a reservation of upwards of six million -acres of as fine land as there is the Uni States, without natural boundaries, the south by’ Texae" with her million’ of people ow | the east by -Arkansee, with a Misdourl, ‘with } 1,700,000 citizens, and on the north ‘by 40,0000 hardy fron- tlersmen of Kansas, would seem to be of doubtful practi- i cability at best; but when this reservation becomes pene- trated, as itis to.lay practically, by upwards of threo ' hundred miles of rallway, extending from Kansas. sou through the Territory to Texas, and from the States of Missouri and Arkansas westwardly towards the rich val- leys of the two Canadian rivers, and the agents and ser- wants of the railway companies neceasary aintain } and operate the railw come residents of the Terns f tory, It must inevitabl; policy that, was before of doubtful practicability absolutely tmpossible to be carried into practical effect, \ Your directors are of the opinion that some decided ac- ! tion will soon be taken by the general government with Teference to this Indian question, and any change will be- ‘ for the better, both for the white 'man and for the Indian, and must have the effect of increasing the value ot well as the revenue from, your property in the Territory. ? The company which thus clearly and early lays down its pro; me has already furnished nae ie. i evidence of the energy and ability with which { grapples with Cae questions. Comparatively few people in the East have any knowledge of the existence of such a company, and yet it has to-day in actual operation a line of 651 miles, from Junc- tion City, on the southern border of Kansas, where fenced only bordered on it taps the ic_ railroad system, and from Lee ee in Missouri, where it con- nects with St. Louis and the down: tothe South Canadian River, in the Indian Terri- tory, and expects to have it extended by Septem- ber next as far as Red_ River, in Texas, where it is to connect with the Houston and Texas Central Kailroad, the intention being to extend it through the State of Texas to Galveston Bay and Made * the republic of Mexico to the capital and to the Rio Grande. I cannot doubt, grand as this con- ception is, that it will eventually be carried out, { when Ireflect that the first contract for the con- struction of a portion of the line dates back no: further than October, 1868, and that now the road i is in full and successful operation for over five hundred miles, with a complete outit of sleeping cars, Pullman cars and all the comforts of travelling that can be enjoyed on any railroad in the country. Lhope in my next letter to give your readers & description of the Indians in their transition state from barbarism to civilization. RAILROAD AOOIDENTS 1N JERSEY, About three o’clock yesterday afternoon a mang ‘whose name was not ascertained, was run over and instantly killed by a train at the depot of the Erie Railway, in Paterson. , William Carter, of Poocack, N. J., was struck by Poe | an express train passing through Paterson yester- day morning, and for some time was thought to be killed, But presently he astonished all the by- standers by jumping up unhart and asking them what they were all staring at. He was intoxicated at Rin time, and the blow failed even to make him sober. In Newark, on Wednesday night, at the Market. street depot, a little Italian fiddler, named Thomas Rutfutze, of 133 Wooster street, New York, met wits an accident, which, it is feared, will prove fatal. In jumping otf a Washington train he was caught. between the cars and the platform, and mis right arm and head Srighefally mangled. He was re- moved to the hospital. is arm was amputated. x was alive last evening, but was not expected to ive, THE LIBBIE GARRABRANT MUDDLE. Card from Clerk Smith, of the Superio® Court. TRENTON, July 3, 1872, To THR EDIvOR OF THE HERALD :— ‘The reply from Trenton to a despatch from Mayor Tuttle, counsel of Libbie Garrabrant, in reference to the reputed action of the Court of Pardons was not sent by Mr. Smith, the Clerk of the Supreme Court, He was in Philadelphia at the time. The commutation of the sentence had been announced rf by the Papers, and the entire community aceepted \ the report without a question. Upon the reception f of the one of the clerks in the office re- ’ plied to the of his knowledge and belief, with- out Supposing 2 @ moment, as js alleged, that the reply was 0 be used officially or communicated to the priso1 The Secretary of State is the Clerk of the ‘ourt of Pardons, ‘ OHARLES P, SMITH, Clerk of Supreme Court, _