EGYPT. 



293 



before them. Soldiers, officers, cannons, and 

 camels were crowded together in a helpless 

 jumble. The fellahs either cast themselves 

 wailing upon the ground, where they were 

 mercilessly speared, or threw down their Rem- 

 ingtons and ran. Sartorius Pasha threatened 

 and fired his pistol at the fleeing soldiers, but 

 could get none of them to rally. The blacks, 

 who generally fight with spirit, were as worth- 

 less as the fellaheen, excepting the Abyssinians 

 enlisted in Massowah. The Turkish battalion 

 and thirty-six Italian police, with Dr. Leslie, 

 Morris Bey, Capt. Walker, and other Englisti 

 officers, stood manfully by the guns until the 

 last man was slain. Gen. Baker was in front 

 with his staff and a detachment of cavalry. He 

 made a path with his saber through the throng 

 of Arabs, only to find the square broken up 

 and the army rushing in disorderly flight to- 

 ward the intrenched camp, hotly pursued by 

 the enemy. He hastened back with the force 

 that he had with him and formed a line of 

 Turkish horse in front of the camp to check 

 the pursuit of the Arabs, who, however, drew 

 back of their own accord, probably through 

 fear of shells from British war- ships, though 

 there were none in the harbor. The beaten 

 army continued its flight through the morass 

 to the harbor and crowded into the boats, 

 which would have sunk if the European offi- 

 cers had not driven the men back with their 

 revolvers. In the night, what remained of the 

 army, about 1,500. were embarked and taken 

 back to Suakin. The losses were more than 

 2,000 men, 3 Krupp and 2 Gatling guns, and 

 300 camels laden with supplies and munitions. 

 The forces with which Osman Digma destroyed 

 this army, armed with the deadliest modern 

 weapons and trained and officered by Euro- 

 peans, were estimated at between 1,000 and 

 2,000. They were armed only with heavy, 

 shovel-headed spears and short, sharp swords. 

 The attack took place at the rising ground 

 near the Wells of Teb, about seven miles from 

 Trinkitat. 



English Expedition against Osman Digma. The 

 destruction of Gen. Baker's army left the Egyp- 

 tian Government bare of military resources for 

 the suppression of the Soudan rebellion. The 

 British Government, to uphold English pres- 

 tige, which suffered from the loss of two ar- 

 mies trained and led by Englishmen, to avenge 

 the death of the English officers, to strengthen 

 the hands of Gen. Gordon by a demonstration 

 of military power, and to keep open the Sinkat- 

 Berber line of retreat, dispatched a force, de- 

 tailed from the army of occupation in Egypt, 

 troops returning from India, and marines serv- 

 ing in the Red ^ea and neighboring waters, to 

 hold Suakin and operate against Osrnan Digma. 

 Rear- Admiral Sir William Hewett, the naval 

 commander-in-chief on the East Indian station, 

 was sent as Governor-General of the eastern 

 Soudan. The land .forces were placed under 

 the command of Mnj. Gen. Sir Gerald Gra- 

 ham, a staff-officer of the army of occupation. 



The small army was not well equipped, lacking 

 a sufficient number of camels to keep up a sup- 

 ply of water and provisions, and having no ani- 

 mals to draw the guns. The cavalry force was 

 also deficient. 



Osman Digma, the leader of the rebellion in 

 the eastern Soudan, was the head of a once 

 wealthy family of slave-dealers, which had 

 been impoverished by the suppression of the 

 slave-trade. He lived as a merchant in Ber- 

 ber, visiting various parts of the Soudan to 

 buy merchandise. In July, 1883, he brought 

 letters from the Mahdi to Egyptian officials 

 and Arab sheiks in the Suakin district. He 

 collected a force with which be attacked Sin- 

 kat in August, when he was repelled with the 

 loss of eighty men. This nearly destroyed the 

 influence he had gained over the Arab tribes, 

 causing his following to fall away to about 

 seventy-five, until, in October, he almost anni- 

 hilated two companies under Maj. Mohammed 

 Khilil, in a defile between Suakin and Sinkat. 

 After this his prestige, enhanced afterward by 

 four signal victories, increased until he was the 

 master of all the resources of the country, and 

 commander of a formidable army. 



The Surrender of Tokar. Before Gen. Gra- 

 ham could take the field, he learned that he 

 was too late to relieve Tokar. The town was 

 closely beset by 4,000 Arabs, who kept up a 

 constant artillery and infantry fire. There was 

 no wholesome drinking-water, provisions were 

 poor and scanty, and the ammunition was run- 

 ning low. Fearing the fate of the inhabitants 

 of Sinkat, the people begged the commandant 

 to surrender, a course which only a part of 

 the officers and soldiers opposed. On Febru- 

 ary 21, the governor, Maccaivi, in accordance 

 with terms agreed upon, delivered up the fort, 

 and the soldiers laid down their arms, except 

 a few who endeavored to escape the night 

 before. The Egyptian soldiers were treated 

 kindly, and many were willing to enter the 

 service of the Mahdi. 



The Battle of El Teb. Before marching against 

 Osman Digma, Gen. Graham sent a message 

 offering terms of surrender, to which no an- 

 swer was returned. At early morn, on the 29th 

 of February, the troops were called. Under 

 the guidance of Baker Pasha and Col. Burnaby 

 they took the road that was most free from 

 bushes. The way was kept clear of rebel sharp- 

 shooters by the cavalry. The route was strewn 

 with the corpses of Baker's Egyptian conscripts. 

 After four hours' march they appeared unex- 

 pectedly to the enemy before Osman Digma's 

 breastworks at Teb, a green oasis containing 

 ten large springs of water. The Well of Teb 

 was the place where the English consul, Mon- 

 crieff, when advancing with succor to Tokar, 

 was deserted by his Egyptian band on Nov. 2, 

 1883, and where Baker's army fled in a panic 

 from the Soudanese. It is the only spot be- 

 tween Trinkitat and Tokar where water can 

 be had, and therefore the most important po- 

 sition for an army resisting an advance from 



