172 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



army arrived at Kusseri a day too late to intercept him ; 

 Gentil's steamer had passed during the night. 



Early in the following year Rabeh attacked the Baghirmi 

 Sultan and destroyed his capital, Mandjaffa on the river, as 

 a punishment for his not having opposed Gentil's Mission. 



It is at this point we come to the fight of the Togbau hills, 

 where the reader will remember we had made our camp. 



It was in June 1899 that Rabeh, with a force of 300 men 

 armed with rifles and 10,000 spear and bowmen, set out from 

 Dikwa to oppose a French force under Lieutenant Bretonnet, 

 consisting of four other Frenchmen, forty-five Senegalese, 

 and 400 native Baghirmi levies that had retired from Kouno 

 in favour of a position on the Togbau hills. A rocky 

 defile made by an inaccessible hill resting on the left bank of 

 the river was defended by the Baghirmi behind trenches, 

 while Bretonnet took up his position on the kopje which forms 

 the western limit of the range. Rabeh attacked the position 

 on July 17. 



At the commencement of the fight, Gentil arrived in his 

 steamer from Fort Archambault and, hearing firing but 

 not knowing the position of affairs, left his boat which was 

 hidden from Bretonnet by the hiU abutting on the river and 

 advanced on the Baghirmi entrenchments, which he mistook 

 for the enemy's position, and opened a heavy fire from the 

 rear with the result that the Baghirmi fled. All was now 

 confusion. Even Rabeh was completely puzzled at the new 

 phase of the battle until the presence of Gentil's boat was 

 discovered. Thereupon, leaving his Lieutenant Ba-bukar 

 to press the attack on Bretonnet, he himself advanced on 

 the steamer and forced Gentil to retire, but not before the 



