THE MAHDI, OF THE SOUDAN.
DR. T. P. HUGHES, writing in the Independent of the Mahdis of Islam, says: "The original Mahdi of the Soudan was Mohammed Ahmad, who was born at Dongola in 1843, and died June 22, 1885, appointing Khalifa Abdullah as his successor. This Khalifa Abdullah is the present Mahdi, against whom the armies of England and Egypt are directed. He claims descent from Fatima, the prophet's daughter, by Ali. At the present time he must be about fifty years of age. Slatin Pasha describes him as a man of rash and quick temper and of tyrannous and unscrupulous resolutions. His position as a lineal descendant of the prophet, engaged in the prosecution of a religious war with unbelievers, first for the overthrow of the Christian power, is undoubtedly a dangerous influence in the world. It is, therefore, not surprising that Great Britain, possessing, as it does, a large number of Mohammedans under her rule, should be determined to destroy the power of the Mahdi in the Soudan."