THE EASTERN SOUDAN. 
269 
Kassala, by an arrangement with tbe Egyptian Government, was 
not permanently to be Italian property. It could be temporarily 
occupied by Italian troops should the military situation so demand. 
1895 was a comparatively uneventful year. 
In February, 1896, the situation of Kassala, after the Italian reverse 
at Adua at the hands of the Abyssinians, became critical for the 
following reasons :— 
The Italians were severely defeated by the Abyssinians in February, 
1896. The Dervishes, on hearing of this defeat and of the Abyssinian 
successes, immediately began rough seige operations against Kassala. 
Then, no sooner had they begun these seige operations, than the news 
reached them in March of an Anglo-Egyptian advance up the Nile 
from Wadi Haifa. This move relieved the situation, and all Dervish 
attention was thenceforth concentrated on the Nile, and their troops 
hastily withdrawn from the Eastern Soudan. In 1897 the Italian Gov¬ 
ernment grew weary of holding Kassala, which was very expensive, and 
could never become an Italian possession, and they expressed their 
readiness to give it up. The Egyptian Government decided to take 
it over. 
The attached map shows the disposition of the opposing forces in the 
year 1897, at the time the Italians gave up Kassala. The solid 
stars on the map represent the posts held by the Italian troops, and 
the open stars represent Dervish forces. 
On Christmas Day, 1897, the fortress of Kassala was formally 
handed over to the Egyptians, and garrisoned by Egyptian troops, 
who came from Suakin via Massowa. On the 18th of December, a 
week before Christmas Day, 500 Arab soldiers, principally natives of 
the Kassala district and recruited from the warlike Hadendowa and 
Shukriyeh tribes, were voluntarily transferred from the Italian to 
the Egyptian service. On the 19th December they were inspect¬ 
ed on an afternoon parade, and ordered to proceed at once that evening 
in two parties to attack the Dervish posts of Asobri and El Fasher, which 
were about forty miles distant from Kassala. They received their 
orders with marked feelings of satisfaction. These Dervish posts 
were approximately held by about 100 men in each, and had with 
their mounted men for some considerable period been harassing the 
fortress ot‘ Kassala, consisting of 2,000 men, by raiding in its vicinity, 
so much so that the Italian officers never left the precincts of the 
fort without being fully armed and escorted. In consequence of this, 
it was deemed advisable to attack these two posts and to do so before 
the Italians left on Christmas Day. They would be so to speak 
holding Kassala for us during the movement. It was hoped the 
operations would have been concluded by Christmas Day before the 
Italians had handed over. These hopes were realised. There was 
also another reason for quick action, viz., that the Dervishes, 
who naturally had good and accurate news of all our 
movements, would not expect us to carry on active offensive operations 
against them while we were in so many words “ changing guard.” 
