130 CHIEFS & CITIES OF CENTRAL AFRICA 



reigning Sultan, Moude Mourra, the lion of Mourra, 

 and appointed his half-brother, Assil, in his stead. 

 Moude Mourra's cruelty and licentiousness had made 

 him unpopular with his people, so that few gathered 

 in his defence. Unluckily, however, he made good 

 his escape, and ever since, together with the neigh- 

 bouring chief of Dar Massalit, has given perpetual 

 trouble. 



In the hitherto uncivilised regions of Wadai and 

 Dar Fur white rule is dreaded, for the big men owe 

 their riches to the slave - trade, and will resist its 

 destruction to the last. That they can raise large 

 armies is beyond dispute, for at Dorote, according to 

 the official report, 5000 Arabs had taken part in the 

 engagement. Despite the heavy losses of the French, 

 the natives had on this occasion received a serious 

 check — 600 had been killed, and amongst them the 

 Sultan of Dar Massalit. 



The battle had taken place on the 9th of November. 

 It was the 23rd before the news reached Fort Lamy, 

 and by that time the engagement might have been 

 followed by another more disastrously decisive. Only 

 a few troops were left to hold the country. There 

 were perhaps 200 in or around Abechir, and Captain 

 Chauvelot remained in Massalit, the scene of the 

 disaster, with some 100-200 men. It was a mere 

 handful in the midst of thousands. 



It was certain that other chiefs who had hitherto 

 acquiesced in European rule would take advantage of 

 the white man's weakness to rise also, did they believe 

 success to be within their grasp. On the next action 

 hung, perhaps, the fate of the whole French Central 

 African dominion. 



