EGYPT. 



293 



Ffchtins in the Soudan. Tn September, 1886, 

 after the Egyptians had taken Tamai, Osman 

 Digma retired from the neighborhood ot'Sua- 

 kin. The Governor-General of the Red Sea 

 Littoral then urged the friendly tribe of Am- 

 haras to capture Tokar, and refused to let them 

 trade until they had accomplished that task. 

 They made the attempt, and so harassed the 

 tribes of the neighborhood that the latter called 

 upon Osman Digma to return from Kassala 

 and drive away their persecutors. He came 

 with a considerable army, and after inflicting 

 punishment on the Amharas, laid regular siege 

 to Suakin in the beginning of January, 1888. 

 On the night of the 2d the Arabs began to fire 

 on the redoubts, but were dispersed by shots 

 from the gun-boats in the harbor. The Am- 

 haras and other friendly native?, with freed 

 slaves and deserters from Osman Digma's 

 forces, attacked the enemy, with varying suc- 

 cess. On January 17 a party of these allies 

 advanced against Osman Digma's camp at Han- 

 doub, while Col. Kitchener, the Governor- 

 General of the Red Sea Coast, followed with 

 the regular cavalry. The camp was surprised 

 and captured, but the enemy retook it from 

 the rear, and received Col. Kitchener's force, 

 as it came up to join in the pursuit, with a hot 

 fire, wounding him and another English officer. 

 The garrison of Suakin was compelled to take 

 the offensive, because the "rebels" or "der- 

 vishes " had pushed their trenches close under 

 the walls and fired frequently on the forts, and 

 had succeeded in driving off cattle from under 

 the protection of the guns. A large number 

 of slaves that Osman Digma had collected to 

 export to Arabia were released by the expedi- 

 tion to Handoub, and about 180 of his followers 

 were killed. He retired northward with more 

 than 2,000 men, and attacked and defeated tl.e 

 Amhara tribe at Darah. Soon the rebels re- 

 turned to Handoub, and resumed plundering. 

 On March 4 they took a position in force in an 

 abandoned fort, and opened fire on one of the 

 chief redoubts. A detachment of Egyptian 

 troops was beaten back by a furious counter- 

 charge of Baggara horsemen, who were armed 

 only with spears. Among the killed was Col. 

 Tapp, one of the principal English officers. 

 The enemy, whose losses were severe, aban- 

 doned their intrenchtnents. The dervishes also 

 gave trouble in Upper Egypt by raiding the 

 country between Wady Haifa and Assouan, 

 which necessitated the strengthening of the 

 frontier force. On April 27 Osman Digma 

 was joined by Abu Girgeh. with 3.000 Bag- 

 gara warriors. The railroad between Suakin 

 and Handoub, had been torn up to build a 

 stockade at Ilandoub, but the prospect of capt- 

 uring Suakin was diminishing as the English 

 completed their fortifications. A high stone 

 wall with bastions mounted with heavy cannon 

 was surrounded with a chain of detached forts 

 that were provided with Krnpp and Gardner 

 guns and with electric lights, and connected 

 with a railroad for the rapid transference 



of troops from point to point. The English 

 opened negotiations with Osman Digma and 

 Abu Girgeh, who expressed a willingness to 

 allow trade, but declared that they would 

 attuck every armed force that they found in 

 the country. Egyptian steamers and coast- 

 guard dhows that patrolled the coast were 

 unable to stop the slave and contraband trade 

 with Jeddah, yet the hostile Arabs effectually 

 blockaded the trade that was begun under 

 English protection at Agig. Rumors that ar- 

 rived from Khartoum indicated that the Mahdi's 

 successor, the Khalifa Abdullah, lived in fear 

 of his enemies, and that dissensions had sprung 

 up among his supporters. In February Osman 

 Janoo, one of his emirs, was defeated by Zaid, 

 a slave of the Sultan of Darfour ; but the Mah- 

 dist forces put down the rebellion two months 

 later, and sent the Sultan's head to Khartoum. 

 Another uprising between Suakin and Berber 

 was likewise suppressed. Slatin Bey, one of 

 the European prisoners at Kluirtoum was sub- 

 jected to ignominious treatment. 



The former Governor of Bahr-el-Ghazelle, 

 Lupton Bey, an English officer, who was held 

 as a prisoner by the Khalifa, and whose tech- 

 nical knowledge was made use of in the arsenal, 

 died at Khartoum in July. 



In June rumors reached Europe from Khar- 

 toum and other parts of the Soudan of the vic- 

 torious march of a " white pasha," who had 

 entered the province of Bahr-el-Ghazelle at 

 the head of a large military force and estab- 

 lished his rule over a wide region. He was at 

 first supposed to be Henry M. Stanley, and 

 afterward seemed more likely to be Emin Bey 

 retreating from the Equatorial Province. The 

 Khalifa sent a large force to Fashoda against 

 the stranger. This and two later expeditions 

 returned unsuccessful. At Gallabat the Sou- 

 danese gained a signal victory over the Abys- 

 sinians in July. The fighting near Wady Haifa 

 continued during the summer. On August 27 a 

 force of 600 dervishes drove 250 Egyptian 

 soldiers out of Fort Khormoussa, but the posi- 

 tion was regained by Col. \\odehouse, who sent 

 a re-enfcrcement of 150 Soudanese, supported 

 by a gun-boat. On September 17 the besiegers 

 of Suakin took up a position within a thousand 

 yards of the outer forts, where they strongly 

 intrenched themselves. They enlarged and 

 strengthened their position, where about 1.500 

 men were posted, supported by a large force in 

 the wood near by. On September 25 they made 

 an attack on one of the forts. They accom- 

 plished their object in closely investing the 

 town, which was to cut off the water-supply. 

 Some of their shells fell inside the town, but on 

 September 30, after mining to within 500 yards 

 of the Water Fort in preparation for an assault, 

 tkey were driven from the nearer trenches by 

 a heavy fire from the forts and a war-vessel. 



Col. Kitchener, by maintaining the embargo 

 on trade and fomenting war between the 

 friendly tribes and the rebels, was directly re- 

 sponsible for the renewal of disturbances in 



