HISTORY OF THE WAHABEES. 285 



caped destruction had not Hossein Bey, with a 

 troop of cavalry, covered their retreat. Such of 

 them as fell alive into the hands of the pursuers 

 were cruelly mutilated, by having their arms and 

 legs cut oft; and then left to perish in that horrid 

 condition. 



The whole effective strength of the Egyptian 

 army, reinforced by 800 horsemen of Libyan Bedou- 

 ins from Cairo, was now collected near Taif ; and 

 from the state of his storehouses and the number 

 of his camps, Mohammed Ali considered his success 

 no longer doubtful. He resolved to place himself at 

 their head, and to take command in person of the 

 next expedition, which was directed against Taraba, 

 in revenge for the disgrace and losses that had been 

 sustained there by his favourite son. A well-ap- 

 pointed artillery, consisting of twelve fieldpieces — 

 500 axes for cutting down the palm-groves near the 

 town — a company of masons and carpenters for the 

 purpose of opening a mine to blow it up at once — 

 encouraged the soldiers to believe that the walls of 

 Taraba could not long remain standing. To crown 

 the work of desolation, a load of watermelon seeds 

 was brought from Wady Fatima, and paraded through 

 the ranks, indicating his intention of sowing them 

 on the spot which the devoted place still occupied. 

 The Wahabees were nothing daunted at these pomp- 

 ous demonstrations. Confident in the strength of his 

 position, Bakrouj wrote a sneering epistle to Ah, 

 advising him to return to Egypt, or provide better 

 troops if he meant to fight with him. 



In January, 1815, the pasha, with all the forces 

 and camels he could muster, left Mecca and pro- 

 ceeded towards Kolach, where Hassan Pasha, Ach- 

 med Bonaparte, Topouz Oglu, Sheriff" Rajah, and 

 other chiefs were already assembled ; and where 

 sufficient provisions had been collected for fifty or 

 sixty days. While here, information was brought 

 that the enemy had seized upon Bissel, a strong 



