Hussein Khalifa, Governor of Berber, has telegraphed to his Government
that unless an expedition is sent to relieve him he must submit to the Mandi. Nubar Pasha thereupon called a Council, attended by Sir E. Baring and Sir E. Wood, at which it was proposed to recommend the despatch of a mixed force of British and Egyptian troops for the relief of the town. This news has, of course, aroused again the demand for an expedition ; and on Thursday evening Mr. Gladstone was closely questioned. He declined, however, to make any reply as to Berber, beyond that implied in the statement that the fall of the place would not increase the danger to General Gordon. It is understood that the despatch of an expedition in time to do any good is considered by military authorities to be impossible. If de- spatched by the direct route it could not arrive for sixty days, and if by the Nile for ninety, which would be useless. It is, therefore, improbable that an expedition will be sent ; nor can we perceive that the British Government has any responsibility for Berber which it has not for Kassala, Sennaar, Darfur, or any other Egyptian garrison outside Egypt itself. The town can avoid massacre, if it pleases, by submitting to the besiegers, as the garrison of Tokar did, and were not hurt.
