HC Deb 01 May 1884 vol 287 c1045
MR. ASHMEAD-BARTLETT

asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether the Government have received confirmation of the following statements made by the Cairo Correspondent of The Standard, on the 29th:— The last act of the Soudan tragedy is evidently at hand. Mr. Egerton received a telegram late last night from Berber, stating that no sums of money could guarantee the delivery of any message through to Khartoum, all of whose inhabitants are now at the mercy of the rebels; four sanjaks or divisions of Shageeyah Bedouins, together with five hundred soldiers, have joined the rebels, leaving Khartoum helpless; the Governor of Berber, acting on instructions sent to him to evacuate the town, if possible, merely proclaimed the fact, with the result that the inhabitants fled northwards, while the troops marched out south to join the insurgents; whether the telegrams to the Governor of Berber, refusing him military aid, and telling him to evacuate Berber, were sent by the authority of the British Cabinet; whether General Gordon was first consulted; and, by what road the 2,000 women and children at Berber are to escape?

LORD EDMOND FITZMAURICE

In reply to the first part of the hon. Member's Question, I have already informed the House that Mr. Egerton has telegraphed that no messenger could be found to proceed from Berber to Khartoum, and that the Shageeyah Bedouins who joined the rebels were at Berber, and not at Khartoum. The message to the Governor of Berber will be found in the Papers now before the House. I may add that it was not, of course, possible to consult General Gordon on this matter. There is only one practicable road at this moment from Berber—namely, viâ Abou Hamed to Korosko.

MR. ASHMEAD-BARTLETT

Will the noble Lord be good enough to say whether the instructions to the Governor of Berber were sent by the authority of Her Majesty's Government?

LORD EDMOND FITZMAURICE

said, he had stated already that they would be found in the Papers before the House.

MR. ASHMEAD-BARTLETT

Surely the noble Lord can say that?