EGYPT. 



317 



is taught and spread to those hundred millions 

 of the faithful who long for that universal em- 

 pire promised them by the Koran. 



The thirteenth century was about to close, 

 and the fourteenth of the Hegira, as foretold, 

 would open to the world of believers an era of 

 prosperity, of grandeur and glory. Sidi Mo- 

 hammed Ben Ali es-Senoussi, at Mecca, there- 

 upon sent his trusty agents to Mohammed el- 

 Achmed in his cave at Abba. They found 

 him upon his knees at prayer. Touching his 

 shoulder with the tip of his finger, as if there 

 were impiety in the act, the deputy disclosed 

 the object of his visit. " The Sid-es-Senoussi," 

 said he, "bids me say to you that you are 

 called to take charge of an army." 



Mohammed remained for several moments as 

 if in prayerful meditation, and then replied that 

 he had made a vow to live apart from the strife 

 of the world unless God ordered otherwise. 

 "But it is God who orders it," replied the .ora- 

 tor; "Sid-es-Senoussi has had the revelation, 

 and thou art declared to be the Mahdime, the 

 Sublime. Thou canst not, then, by an excess of 

 humility, abstain from the designs of Allah upon 

 thee." The other deputies thereupon clapped 

 their hands, and Mohammed, rising, took the 

 proffered sword and, raising it aloft, cried, "El 

 Hamdou, illah ! " (Praise be to God !) Turning 

 to those around him, he cried: " O ye Momli- 

 mine (resigned to the will of God), here I 

 am the nazzir el Din (the aid of thy religion). 

 May God keep me upon the necks of the infi- 

 del, and may his benediction rest upon us ! Ma- 

 challahf" 



The ulemas of Khartoum pronounced against 

 Mohammed Achmed, and he was likewise dis- 

 credited at Cairo and Constantinople, but it was 

 of little avail, for the cause of the False Proph- 

 et grew steadily, and was strengthened by the 

 weakness of the Egyptian governor. Early in 

 July, 1881, Raouf Pasha, then Governor-Gen- 

 eral of Khartoum, ordered Mohammed Achmed 

 to return to Khartoum. A battalion of black 

 soldiers was sent to enforce his authority. On 

 the llth of August they reached Abba. The 

 troops debarked and advanced toward the 

 cave of the Mahdi, where they suddenly found 

 themselves in an ambush surrounded by 4,000 

 men armed with swords and lances. The sur- 

 prised soldiers fired a volley and fled, leaving 

 120 of their party dead upon the field. Raouf 

 Pasha, on hearing of the disaster, ordered all 

 the available troops from Khartoum, Sennaar, 

 Fashoda, Kordofan, and Berber, to assemble 

 near Kawa, on the White Nile. The garrisons 

 were really depleted for this expedition ; 1,400 

 troops were thus concentrated at Kawa. Raouf 

 was a cowardly, timid man, with no military 

 knowledge; he did not attack the enemy, as 

 common sense and duty dictated, and deserved 

 to have been shot, and would have been by any 

 other but the Egyptian Government. Prompt 

 action at the moment would have crushed what 

 was in fact a local and comparatively insignifi- 

 cant rebellion. Raschid Bey, the Mudir of Fa- 



shoda, was made of better material : of his own 

 accord he marched against the Mahdi, who held 

 the mountain of Gadir, 150 miles northwest of 

 Kaka, on the White Nile, but suffered a defeat 

 on account of his insufficient numbers. 



Raouf Pasha was recalled on the 4th of 

 March, 1882, and Abd-el-Kader Pasha was ap- 

 pointed to succeed him. In order to show the 

 wretched character of the administration of 

 the Soudan, it is only necessary to say that in 

 the interregnum Giegler Pasha assumed tem- 

 porary charge. This was one of Gen. Gordon's 

 appointments. Giegler, an uneducated Ger- 

 man, who had occupied some inferior position 

 prior to his arrival in the Soudan as a common 

 workman on the telegraph, had been created, 

 in a spirit of caprice and derision, by Gen. Gor- 

 don, a bey and then a pasha. Gen. Gordon, it 

 is necessary to say, had at the same time made 

 several of his servants, including his cook and 

 valet, officers of the Soudan, with the rank and 

 pay of generals of brigade (of these, Gessi 

 Pasha was also one). It is also a part of the 

 history of the insurrection that they contrib- 

 uted not a little to the rebellious spirit in the 

 Soudan. The people of the Soudan, not un- 

 like the negroes on the Southern plantations in 

 America, objected strongly to being commanded 

 by those of their own caste. 



On the 6th of April the garrison of the town 

 of Seimaar attacked a large force of Arabs led 

 by a nephew of the Mahdi, but they were re- 

 pelled, and, retreating, shut themselves up in 

 the town, which was given up to murder, 

 plunder, and fire. Fourteen foreign merchants, 

 nine officers, and one hundred soldiers, were 

 put to death. The Chillouks were now in re- 

 volt. On the 15th of April another detach- 

 ment was sent against the enemy, and was cut 

 to pieces, with a loss of 150, by the rebels at 

 Mesalameh. 



On the 3d of May Giegler Pasha, at the head 

 of a considerable force, attacked Sherif Ahmed 

 Taha near Abou Haraz, on the Blue Nile. The 

 sheik Abd-el-Kerim Bey, chief of the power- 

 ful Shukuriyeh tribe, 2,000 of whom were 

 mounted and clad in armor, in reality com- 

 manded. The rebels were routed, and the head 

 of the sherif was sent to Khartoum and ex- 

 posed in the streets. Giegler, having charge of 

 the telegraphs, said nothing to the Government 

 of the victory, due entirely to Abd-el-Kerim. 

 Bey, of the Shukuriyeh, but claimed the honor 

 for himself. It naturally alienated the tribe 

 from the Government. 



Abd-el-Kader Pasha reached Khartoum on 

 the llth of May, 1882, and assumed the duties 

 of Governor-General of the Soudan. At Khar- 

 toum the formation of irregular regiments of 

 Shaggyeh and Dongolowee was being actively 

 pushed forward. Re-enforcements were com- 

 ing in from Berber, and were mostly sent into 

 Kordofan, where great insecurity prevailed. 

 One thousand troops had been pushed forward 

 to Kordofan. In the latter part of May, Yusef 

 Pasha marched against the Mahdi, still on the 



