POSITION OF KASSALA. IOI of Toka, it came next in importance to Khartum itself, and as it was the Egyptian depot for troops and stores on the Abyssinian frontier, it was regarded as an important military point in case of war with Abyssinia. The town was built in 1840, after the annexation of Toka to Egypt, and the defences, though useless against guns, were regarded as impregnable, the walls being of solid mud and sun-dried bricks, loopholed for musketry, and surrounded by a deep fosse. As a military centre the place was important because of its position at the end of the great plain stretching north and east, and at the foot of the Abyssinian mountains; the Kassala Mountain being an enormous perpendicular mass of granite rising to the height of several thousand feet straight up from the plain, and visible for many miles in all directions. In 1881 the number of inhabitants was computed at from 25,000 to 30,000, among whom were a few Greek and Italian merchants, but no English; and there were abundant supplies, as there were numbers of cows, sheep, and goats in the neighbourhood. Camel-breeding was extensively carried on there, and the river Gash not only supplied plenty of water but fertilized the district. This river flowed through the territory of the Base tribe, a country which commanded the very heart of Abyssinia. The number of troops usually quartered there consisted of about 800 Nubians, but among these were some criminals exiled from Lower Egypt, and doubtless forming a treacherous element, the presence of which was a source of weakness and danger in every place where the spread of the insurrection incited men of bad character, who had been sent for military service as a punishment, to attempt a revolt against the authorities.

Gordon found that the evils against which he had to contend in his former long and terrible conflict with the slave-hunting pashas were still rife. Hussein Pasha, then the vice-governor of Khartum, whom he had deposed, and who had left for Cairo before the arrival of the new governor-general, was responsible for the iniquities, cruelties, and the gross injustice which had prevailed. Gordon telegraphed that the pasha should be watched and his boxes of treasure seized, for he had shamelessly abused the power