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466 another. The "Leopard" fled at the approach of the avengers and was not captured, but the town was razed to the ground. Mohammed Ali ordered the establishment of a town at the junction of the Blue and White Niles, which should be the capital of the Soudan country in place of Shendy. His orders were carried out, the new town (Khartoum) gained rapidly in importance, and from an insignificant village of a few dozens of people it became a commercial centre, with a population of more than 20,000 in less than a quarter of a century. Its later history, as well as that of its origin, has been written in blood. Immediately after the destruction of Hicks Pasha's army, the Mahdi's forces advanced upon Khartoum, and laid siege to it. Khartoum is on the tongue of land between the Blue and White Niles; it fronts upon the Blue Nile, where there are several stone enbankments which form landing-places for the steamers, at the edge of a low bluff. Towards the south there is a mud wall, which separates the city from the plain, and there is a similar wall on the eastern side. Against modern artillery the walls of Khartoum could offer little resistance, but they are an important defence against the small-arms of the Arabs. The Mahdi's forces were held at bay by the walls, though they vastly exceeded in numbers the garrison within. They had a few small cannon, captured from the Egyptians, but they were short of ammunition, and even with an abundance of it they did not have the necessary skill for its proper utilization. They contented themselves with firing occasional shots at the town; but what was more serious, they cut off the supplies of provisions, so that the garrison and inhabitants were on very short rations.

The Egyptian government had appealed to England for assistance in re-conquering the Soudan, but that country refused its aid, though it had been ready enough to bombard Alexandria and suppress Arabi Pasha's revolt, which was almost identical with the Mahdi's rebellion.