EGYPT. 



Government this plundered land was a finan- 

 cial burden, the revenues not being sufficient 

 to cover the expenditures. 



In the summer of 1881 Reouf Pasha, then 

 Governor of the Soudan, first heard of the re- 

 ligious pretensions and proclamations of the 

 Mahdi, who at that time had but a small band 

 of military followers about him on the island 

 which he occupied in the White Nile. The 

 governor sent an official to summon him to 

 Khartoum. He refused, and, when a small 

 force was sent by water to effect his capture, 

 it met with a severe repulse. The Mahdi then 

 withdrew for greater safety to Gebel Gedir, 

 where he extended his influence for some time 

 unmolested, and his adherents greatly increased 

 in numbers. Finally, an expedition was sent 

 against him in December, 1881, by Kashid Bey, 

 Governor of Fashoda. This force was defeated. 



The bravery of this officer and his 2 TO Nubian 

 soldiers delivered the beleaguered garrison and 

 townspeople, who from the fortified barracks 

 kept the rebels thus long beyond gunshot. The 

 rebel force swelled after the taking of Sennaar 

 by Ami- to at least 40,000. Sala Aga marched 

 his little band into the midst of the insurgents, 

 who mistook them for a body of rebels. Form- 

 ing a square with their backs to the river, they 

 opened fire. The rebels threw themselves upon 

 the black soldiers, but with their savage weap- 

 ons were unable to get near them. They re- 

 turned to the attack and were driven back by 

 withering fusillades all day long. After thous- 

 ands had fallen and Sheik Amr himself was 

 wounded, the rebels retired from the city. 



Giegler collected a body of irregulars and 

 marched on May 15, 1882, toward Abu Har- 

 ras, where another rebel chief, the sherif MO- 



KHARTOUM, CAPITAL OF THE SOUDAN. 



In the beginning of 1882 the new Governor- 

 General of the Soudan, Abd-el-Kader, fitted 

 out an expedition under the advice of Giegler 

 Pasha, the Austrian vice-governor, with the 

 intention of effectually suppressing the Mahdi. 

 The command was given to Yussuf Pasha, the 

 general who commanded the expedition that 

 defeated Sebehr, the merit of which exploit 

 was ascribed at the time to Gessi. The force 

 which proceeded from Khartoum and Kordofan 

 against the Mahdi consisted of thirteen com- 

 panies of regular troops, 1,500 irregulars, and 

 a number of loyal Arab sheiks with their peo- 

 ple. The troops were excellently armed and 

 provided with an abundant commissariat, and 

 steamboats and camels for transport. They 

 set out in the middle of March, 1882. 



After their departure the news came that 

 the sheik Amr-el-Makasef had risen in Sen- 

 naar, on the Blue Nile, and with thousands of 

 rebels threatened the city of Sennaar. The 

 Mudir of Sennaar received orders to attack 

 Amr. The garrison were driven back into the 

 barracks by the rebels, who sacked the town 

 and massacred the inhabitants. The expedi- 

 tion against the Mahdi had stripped Khartoum 

 of soldiers and munitions. Salah Aga-el-Mek, 

 who with a battalion of infantry had been ac- 

 cidentally left behind by Yussuf s army, was 

 commanded to march to the relief of Sennaar. 



hammed Taha, who called himself the vizier of 

 the Mahdi, was inflaming the whole district. 

 An officer sent by the vice-governor with a 

 detachment to parley with the rebels, attacked 

 them, and his force was annihilated. Giegler 

 Pasha awaited in Abu Harras the arrival of 

 Ali Kashef, the newly appointed Mudir of Sen- 

 naar, with a sufficient force to clear the prov- 

 ince of rebels. As Mohammed Taha had to 

 be subdued before marching against the sheik 

 Amr-el-Makasef, the vice-governor sent several 

 hundred irregulars with a cannon against him. 

 This detachment was also cut to pieces. The 

 situation of Giegler Pasha was critical when 

 Ali Kashef arrived with irregular troops and 

 the chief of the Shukuriehs with 2,500 warriors 

 of his tribe. The next morning the whole 

 force marched upon the village where the sherif 

 was encamped, on the right bank of the Blue 

 Nile. The leader of the insurgents came out 

 to meet them, surrounded by hundreds of pray- 

 ing dervishes, and followed by bis warriors and 

 all the women and children. The fanatics al- 

 lowed themselves to be decimated without falter- 

 ing, until the sherif, whose seemingly charmed 

 life inspired the soldiers with superstitious 

 fear, was at last struck by a bullet ; then they 

 scattered, pursued by the savage soldiery, who 

 spared none. Other uprisings were in prog- 

 ress ; but they subsided after this .blow, only 



