BERBER. GORDONS PROCLAMATION. SLAVER V. 9 1 It was on the nth of February that Gordon landed at Berber, whither he had gone by boat from Abu Hamed; and the change must have been welcome, for Berber was a pleasant place by comparison — a large town with a male population of about 3000, and, of course, a centre of traffic, as the caravans from Suakim and Korosko transferred goods to the Nile boats there. The town, protected by about 4500 yards of earthworks, resembled other towns on the Nile; the streets unpaved and dirty, the flat-roofed houses built of sun-dried brick; but the great attractions were the gardens, full of lofty date groves and shady citron and lemon trees, the birds singing and the doves cooing in the palms.

Gordon had little time to stay and much work to do. He was received with the utmost satisfaction. The town was illuminated during his stay, and in reply to messages from Sir E. Baring telling him that it was not only of personal but of political importance that he should run no risks, he was able to say that he was well received and numbers of people were coming in from all parts of the country to profess their allegiance, that he was in the midst of the best families, and that some of the principal chiefs would accompany him to Khartum. He was in no danger, and looked forward quickly to effect his chief mission, the evacuation, and not the immediate abandonment, but the pacification and settlement, of the Soudan. That the people might be assured of his intention to abolish the tyranny under which they had suffered, to renew their old privileges, and to establish a system of free government, he published, both at Berber and Khartum, a series of proclamations setting forth the plans that he should adopt. It may be stated at once, that on being questioned closely by some of the chief persons, he candidly declared that he had abandoned any intention to carry out the provision of the treaty for the entire abolition of slavery in 1887. He always believed that even if that treaty could betemporarily carried out it would have disastrous results; he always carefully distinguished between the holding of domestic slaves, which was a custom of the country not to be soon eradicated, and the hunting or stealing of natives of the villages for the purpose ot selling them into slavery. Against the depopulation of villages, the