Chapter V

THE REMAINDER OF THE SUDAN FROM 1882 TO MAY, 1898.

* * * * *

(_a._) DARFUR, KORDOFAN, AND DAR FERTIT.

The flame of the Mahdi’s rebellion quickly reached Darfur in 1882, and the prophet lost no time in attacking the Government posts, which were at that time, it will be remembered, under Slatin Bey. Madibbo, the insurgent Sheikh of the Rizeigat, attacked and occupied Shakka in July, but on following up his success was met by Slatin at Injeleila, near Dara, and was twice heavily beaten by him. Slatin then retired to El Fasher to concentrate, and succeeded in repulsing the enemy from Um Shanga.

[Sidenote: Surrender of Slatin.]

Early in 1883 a message was sent to Slatin from Khartoum, ordering him to nominate a local Sultan as King of Darfur, and to retire on Dongola _viâ_ Kaja. The tide of Mahdism gradually flooded Darfur, in spite of Slatin’s gallant efforts to stem it. He fought 27 battles in various parts of his province, but his own troops by degrees fell away from him, themselves infected with the new faith. After certain proof had been adduced of the disaster to Hicks’s expedition, the last remnant of loyalty flickered out from Slatin’s troops, and the Bey found himself obliged to surrender at Dara in December. He was sent to El Obeid, under the name of the Abd el Gader, and thence to Omdurman, where he remained a prisoner until his escape in 1895.

[Sidenote: Zogal made Emir.]

Zogal,[181] formerly Mudir of Dara, was now appointed Dervish Emir of the province. His first act was to take El Fasher, a garrison of 1,000 men and 10 guns, still holding out under Said Bey Guma, and, this accomplished[182] (15th January, 1884), he devoted his time to reducing Jebel Marra, where the loyal hill population gave him considerable trouble.

On the death of the Mahdi in June, 1885, Madibbo and his Rizeigat revolted against the authority of the Khalifa. Karamalla, Emir of Bahr el Ghazal, thereupon advanced against him and defeated him. Madibbo fled to the Beni Helba Arabs, who protected him, but he was eventually caught, taken to El Obeid, and executed.

Zogal had several times been suspected of too great independence, and he was often summoned to Omdurman. At first he refused, but in the end he went, and was imprisoned on his arrival, being liberated shortly afterwards. He did not return to Darfur until after the defeat of the Khalifa at Omdurman.

[Sidenote: Yusef, Emir of Darfur.]

Sultan Yusef succeeded him as Emir of Darfur, but on Karamalla and Katambura (Waterbuck), the latter being Karamalla’s trusted General, raiding from Bahr el Ghazal into Darfur territory, Yusef protested strongly, and the quarrel developed rapidly into war.

[Sidenote: 1887.]

[Sidenote: Death of Yusef and Zayid.]

[Sidenote: 1888. Abu Gemmeiza.]

[Sidenote: 1889.]

In May, 1887, Zayid, the temporary ruler of Jebel Marra and former slave of Sultan Mohammed Fadl, came to Yusef’s assistance, and beat Katambura, with great slaughter, near El Taweisha. Karamalla then withdrew to Injeleila, entrenched himself there, and sent to Omdurman for reinforcements. Osman wad Adam (Ganu), sent to his assistance with a large force, reached Shakka, encountered the Darfurians near Dara, and forced them back (26th December). A second battle was even more disastrous, for Osman Ganu routed Zayid completely and entered El Fasher. The two Sultans fled to the hills, but were shortly killed. Hereupon the brothers of Yusef appealed to the Sultan of Wadai for help against Osman. The Sultan applied to the Senussi for advice; but the Sheikh refused to interest himself in the matter unless he were attacked by the Mahdists, so the Sultan of Wadai declined. The Darfur chiefs, however, found a ready ally in the shape of Abu Gemmeiza, Sheikh of the Masalat tribe, and the rising against the Mahdists began to swell in numbers. Wild rumours spread over the Sudan of the advent to power of a great Anti-Mahdi, but although the latter destroyed nearly half of Osman Adam’s force (October, 1888) at Kebkebia, his forces were themselves destroyed in a fierce battle fought close to El Fasher on the 22nd February, 1889. Abu Gemmeiza died next day, and the movement, which had at one time threatened to assume immense proportions expired by itself. Thus for some time to come the Dervish power was again supreme in Darfur.

During these years Kordofan had been, more from necessity than from choice, passively Mahdist, and submitted peacefully to the Dervish yoke.

[Sidenote: 1891.]

In 1891 Kordofan and Darfur became again disturbed, and various ineffectual risings took place. Sultan Abbas succeeded in turning the Dervishes out of the Jebel Marra district, and governed in his brother Yusef’s stead; but the Khalifa appears about this time to have considered Darfur as too far off for active interference, and seems to have acquiesced in this state of things.

[Sidenote: 1892.]

In April, 1892, some Degheim and Kenana Arabs in Kordofan became dissatisfied with Abdalla’s rule and deserted, but the Khalifa took no notice, finding probably that dealing with the men of a prospective successor, Ali wad Helu, was too delicate a matter in which to take a strong line.

[Sidenote: 1893.]

A year afterwards a certain western Saint of Sokoto, Abu Naal, Muzil el Muhan, collected many followers, and for a time was considered as directly threatening the Khalifa’s power. His advance, however, was chiefly confined to the despatch of abusive letters, and the movement died out by itself by the end of 1893.

After that date Kordofan and Darfur remained uneasy under the Khalifa’s hand, and Mahmud, later defeated and captured at the Atbara, was for several years engaged with much success in suppressing insurrections in Kordofan. By 1898, however, the only Dervish garrisons in Kordofan were at El Obeid and Bara, whilst Darfur had, with the exception of a small and hemmed-in garrison at El Fasher, been evacuated by the Mahdists. The people of both these provinces were heartily sick of Dervish misrule, and it was believed that they would welcome with joy a change of masters.

SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY OF DAR FERTIT.

Dar Fertit is a large tract of country to the south of Darfur and separated from that country by a strip of desert; it formerly contained many sultans, sometimes one of these reigning over several others.

These sultans were independent, but paid tribute in slaves and ivory to the Darfur sultans; failing which the Darfurians used to make raids into the country. The Fertitawis sometimes repulsed these raids, and sometimes not.

Zubeir Pasha went to the Bahr El Ghazal as a trader about 1869, and gradually seized all the zeribas, and made himself absolute ruler of the country, including Dar Fertit and Hofrat El Nahas district, which ceased to pay tribute to Darfur.

The Government then sent Bellal to take over Dar Fertit from Zubeir. Zubeir, however, fought and repulsed him. Bellal himself was captured and died in Zubeir’s zeriba (_see_ p. 235). Zubeir, by making valuable presents to those in authority, and by showing that Bellal was entirely to blame for what had occurred, succeeded in having the matter reported to Khartoum in its most favourable aspect, with the result that he obtained full pardon and was made Governor of Bahr El Ghazal.

After three years, Zubeir advanced against Shakka, and took it; this was one of the four divisions of Darfur (which were Fasher, Dara, Kebkebia, and Shakka).

After this Zubeir wrote to the Government, asking for someone to go to take over the country. They sent Bimbashi Mustafa Bey Abu Kheiran with troops, and on their arrival they, acting with Zubeir, conquered the other three provinces of Darfur. The Egyptian troops commanded by Ismail Pasha Ayub arrived shortly after, and with these was sent Hussein Pasha Hilmi as Governor-General of Darfur and Dar Fertit, the latter being garrisoned by irregulars under Suleiman Zubeir.

At the same time Bahr El Ghazal was put under Ibrahim Bey Fauzi.

Hussein Pasha Hilmi was succeeded by Messadaglia Bey, and he in turn by Slatin Bey.

Hofrat El Nahas was detached from Dar Fertit, and with Kebkebia, Kejma and Kulkul were put under El Nur Bey Angara,[183] subject to the Governor-General of Darfur (_i.e._, Slatin Bey), and the remainder of Dar Fertit, including Faroge, Telgona and Ringi, under Lupton Bey till the time of the Mahdi.

During the Mahdia Karamalla Kirkesawi was made Emir of the Bahr El Ghazal; he took Dar Fertit and brought Lupton Bey, who had succeeded Ibrahim Bey Fauzi, to Khartoum, the Emir Mohd. Zogal taking over Darfur.

After Karamalla’s visit to Dar Fertit, the country ceased to pay any tribute to the Mahdi. It was left unvisited till its re-occupation by the Anglo-Egyptian Government, when flags were sent to, and accepted by, some of the more important sultans.

(_b._) THE EASTERN SUDAN.

[Sidenote: 1883.]

The Mahdist rising in the Eastern Sudan began towards the middle of 1883, when Osman Digna collected the powerful Hadendoa and other tribes and invested Suakin. The outlying Egyptian garrisons in these parts included Sinkat, Tokar, Kassala, Gira, Gedaref, Gallabat, and one or two smaller posts in Northern Abyssinia, and by the end of the year they were mostly besieged by the enemy.

[Sidenote: Suakin reverses.]

[Sidenote: El Teb, 4th February, 1884.]

In October, 1883, a reinforcing party for Sinkat was cut off by the enemy, and on the 4th November a party intended for Tokar met with the same fate, Commander L. Moncrieff, R.N., being among the killed. Reinforcements from Cairo—2,620 men, mostly constabulary—were despatched under Colonel Valentine Baker, but before he reached Suakin another disaster occurred on the 2nd December, by which nearly 700 men were cut to pieces near Tamanib. Baker started in January, 1884, to relieve Tokar, but on arriving at El Teb his force of 3,700 men was attacked by 1,200 Arabs. His troops behaved like sheep; they were seized with a panic, made no resistance, and were butchered to the number of 2,300, Baker and most of his English officers escaping with the utmost difficulty. 3,000 rifles and four Krupp guns fell into the enemy’s hands (4th February).

[Sidenote: Fall of Sinkat.]

On the 8th February Tewfik, commander of Sinkat, spiked his guns and fought his way out, but he and the whole of his gallant garrison were cut to pieces.

[Sidenote: British expedition, El Teb, 29th February, 1884.]

[Sidenote: Tamai, 13th March, 1884.]

General Graham was thereupon sent with a small British expedition of 4,000 to relieve Tokar, and having gained a brilliant victory at El Teb (29th February), succeeded in his task, and sent 600 of the Suakin Egyptian garrison back to Cairo. On the 13th March Graham advanced again, and, beating the enemy thoroughly at Tamai, swept them back into the hills. The idea was then mooted of a dash across to Berber, but it was eventually dropped, and Graham’s troops retired, Major Chermside being appointed Governor-General at Suakin.

[Sidenote: Fall of Gedaref.]

In April the garrison of Gedaref made terms with the enemy and surrendered.

[Sidenote: Abyssinian Mission.]

In order to evacuate Kassala and Amadib, the help of King John of Abyssinia was now called in, and in June Admiral Sir W. Hewett, R.N., and Mason Bey, visited him and concluded a treaty to this effect, by which he was to have Bogos and Keren if he succeeded in his task. Later on he agreed also to relieve Gira and Gallabat.

Kassala had been besieged since November, 1883, and was beginning to feel hard pressed. Its garrison consisted of 1,600 regulars and 2,300 irregulars, including a force of Bashi-Bazuks, under the command of Ahmed Bey Iffat; the Beni Amer and Hamran tribes in the neighbourhood were also loyal.

In August Mason Bey, now Governor of Massaua, ordered Ahmed Bey Iffat to retire; but this was found to be impossible, as more than half the garrison was composed of natives of the district. John now proposed to relieve Kassala, but he was told that the case of Gallabat was more urgent; he therefore began his preparations, and Bogos was handed over to him on the 12th September.

[Sidenote: Evacuation of Berbera, Zeila, and Harrar. 1885.]

During this latter month Great Britain took over Berbera and Zeila from Egypt, and in November Harrar was handed over to the natives and the evacuation began. 6,500 of the garrison were sent down to the coast without incident, and, under the auspices of Majors Hunter and Heath, a new government was established under the native Emir Abdullahi Mohammed Abd El Shakur.

[Harrar, it may be noted here, remained under its Emir till the beginning of 1887, when Abdullahi was decisively defeated at Chalanko by Menelik, and the town occupied by the Abyssinians.]

[Sidenote: Second British expedition, 1885.]

On the fall of Khartoum becoming known another British expedition, assisted by Indian and Australian troops, was despatched to Suakin under the command of General Graham. Its objects were to crush Osman Digna, to occupy the Hadendoa country, to make a railway towards Berber (at all events as far as Ariab), and to prepare for the opening of the Suakin-Berber road when the Nile Column had captured Berber.

[Sidenote: Tofrek, 22nd March, 1885.]

The expedition, numbering 13,000 men, arrived at Suakin on and about the 12th March, and remained for a couple of months. During this time it fought several actions, at Hashin (20th March), Tofrek (McNeill’s zeriba, 22nd March), and Tamai (3rd April), but none of these were decisive. The railway was carried as far as Otao, but on the retirement of the expedition (17th May) it was abandoned.

[Sidenote: Relief of Gallabat, Amadib, Gira, and Senhit.]

At the end of November, 1884, the garrison of Gallabat joined hands with the Abyssinians, and decisively beat the Mahdists. They were definitely relieved in February, 1885, and retired to Massaua _viâ_ Abyssinia. Amadib and Gira were also relieved, in April and July, 1885, respectively, and the garrison at Senhit[184] handed over their post to Abyssinia on the 19th April.

[Sidenote: Fall of Kassala, 30th July, 1885.]

Colonel Chermside now wrote pressing letters to John, urging him to relieve Kassala at once, and promising 10,000 rifles in the event of his success; Ras Alula, John’s most valiant general, therefore began to move in September. Meanwhile, however, the gallant garrison had been starved into submission, and the town fell on the 30th July.

[Sidenote: Kufit, 23rd September, 1885.]

Osman Digna came towards Kassala in August, but the Abyssinians and Beni Amer attacked him with great determination at Kufit (23rd September) and utterly routed him, killing 3,000 of his men.

Egypt had on the 6th February handed over Massaua to the Italians, at which the Abyssinians, deeming it an infraction of the Hewett treaty, were seriously annoyed. In consequence Ras Alula refused, after the fight at Kufit, to resume operations against the Mahdists, and retired.

[Sidenote: 1886.]

In the beginning of 1886 Osman Digna once more tried to stir up strife in the neighbourhood of Suakin. The tribes, however, did not greet him cordially, and the attitude of the Amarar, Ashraf, and Habab was doubtful. As the year wore on, the Amarar fought against Digna, shut him up in Tamai, and beat him there (6th September). As the Beni Amer, Bisharin, etc., were showing signs of coming in, Osman Digna escaped, and took refuge in the rich delta of Tokar. Here he remained quiet for another year.

[Sidenote: 1887.]

[Sidenote: Battle of Debra Sin.]

In June, 1887, the Abyssinians under Ras Adal advanced into Gallabat, and beat the Dervishes under Wad Arbab, killing the latter. On reinforcements being sent by the Khalifa, under Yunes el Degheim, Ras Adal announced his intention of invading the Sudan with a large army. Abdalla responded by sending 87,000 men, under Abu Anga and Zeki Tumal, against Adal, and a great battle was fought in August, 1887, at Debra Sin, 30 miles from Gondar. The Abyssinian army was completely routed, and the Dervishes entered and sacked Gondar. A slight side-issue arose for the moment in the shape of one Nebi Isa, a prophet, who arose at Gallabat in Abu Anga’s rear, but although many Dervishes, including Yunes, believed in him, as opposed to the Khalifa, Abu Anga quickly put a stop to the rising by capturing and hanging the prophet. Other risings occurred on the Blue Nile, among the Rufaa and other tribes, but they were soon suppressed.

[Sidenote: 1888.]

[Sidenote: Action of Handub.]

At the end of the year Osman Digna advanced again and besieged Suakin. He was, however, beaten in detail, and fell back on Handub. The latter place was attacked by Colonel Kitchener with some irregulars on the 17th January, 1888, but the attack did not succeed, and Colonel Kitchener received a serious wound in the face.

[Sidenote: Gemmeiza, 20th December, 1888.]

Fighting continued at intervals during the whole year round Suakin. Abu Girga[185] arrived, but retired again. At last reinforcements were sent from Cairo, including a British contingent,[186] and Sir Francis Grenfell took command. A decisive action ensued just outside the walls of Suakin (battle of Gemmeiza, 20th December, 1888), in which the enemy were completely defeated. In the following year a certain amount of local fighting went on near the town, but the tribes were becoming exhausted, and Osman was losing some of his influence.

[Sidenote: Battle of Matemma, 9th March, 1889.]

[Sidenote: Death of John.]

King John of Abyssinia was meanwhile vowing vengeance for the defeat at Debra Sin, and in April of 1888 a sham Abyssinian deputation visited Omdurman, nominally to bring the submission of Ras Adal, but in reality to spy out the land. Abu Anga advanced again, and was at first successful, but in July Ras Adal smote him hip and thigh, and the Dervish general[187] died in the following January, whilst Ras Adal became King of Gojjam, under the name of Tekla Haimánot. King John was now determined to capture Gallabat and advance on Omdurman; he therefore left Gondar at the end of February, and advanced against Matemma, the capital of Gallabat. Zeki Tumal had fortified this town, and held it with 60,000 men; but the Abyssinians surrounded and overwhelmed them (9th March). During the last stage of the fight, however, King John was killed by a stray bullet, whereupon his army retired at once. The Dervishes harassed their retreat and captured the body of their monarch, so to all intents the result amounted to a serious Abyssinian reverse. The Abyssinians are said to have numbered 87,000 men, and outnumbered the Dervishes, _vide_ p. 108.

[Sidenote: Accession of Menelik.]

On hearing of this, John’s rival, Menelik of Shoa, seized the throne and proclaimed himself Negus Nagasti, shortly afterwards making a treaty of friendship with the Italians.

[Sidenote: 1890. 1891.]

[Sidenote: Reoccupation of Tokar, 19th February, 1891.]

During 1890 Handub was still occupied by the enemy, but in the first days of 1891 Colonel Holled Smith, then Governor, attacked and occupied it during the absence of Osman Digna (27th January). He then followed up his advantage by seizing Trinkitat and Teb, and on the 19th February, after a sharp fight with the enemy at Tokar, he occupied the ruins of that town and the village of Afafit, and drove Osman Digna back to Temerin.

[Sidenote: 1892.]

This action and its results were a heavy and, as it proved, a final blow to the Dervish power in the direction of Suakin. Trade was reopened between Suakin and Berber in the summer of 1891, and although Osman Digna threatened reprisals, the tribes were getting tired of Mahdist rule, and refused to respond to his overtures. Raids occurred on a small scale near Tokar and Sinkat during 1892 and 1893, but led to no definite action.

[Sidenote: Italians on the scene.]

Meanwhile the Italians had been steadily increasing their sphere of operations from Massaua, and by a protocol of the 15th April, 1891, had defined the northern frontier of their new colony of Eritrea as starting from Ras Kasar on the Red Sea coast, and thence proceeding in a south-westerly direction to the Atbara, passing east of Kassala. A further proviso enabled the Italians to take and occupy Kassala (if they could), with a small section of Egyptian territory, on condition that they were to hand it over to Egypt if required.

[Sidenote: 1893.]

[Sidenote: Battle of Agordat, 21st December, 1893.]

During 1893 the Dervishes, alarmed at the growth of the Italian power, determined to invade Eritrea, and a strong force proceeded eastwards from Kassala (then under the command of Musaid Keidom,[188] who had superseded Abu Girga in 1891) with that object. The Dervish force of about 12,000, under Ahmed Ali, arrived at Kassala in November, and pushed forward towards Agordat, an Italian post more than half-way to Massaua. Here Colonel Arimondi, with a native force of only a little over 2,000 men, with 42 officers, met them and inflicted a severe defeat on them (21st December, 1893), killing Ahmed Ali and routing the force completely.

[Sidenote: 1894. Capture of Kassala, 17th July, 1894. 1895. 1896.]

[Sidenote: Mokram and Tukruf, April, 1896.]

In the following July, Colonel Baratieri, with 2,510 men, made a fine forced march from Agordat, and surprised and took Kassala on the 17th of that month. He thereupon commenced fortifying it, and the town was successfully held by the Italians for nearly two and a half years. The Khalifa was furious, and ordered Ahmed Fedil and Osman Digna to retake it. Nothing, however, was done till the 18th March, 1896, when the Dervishes, in consequence of the severe defeat of the Italians by the Abyssinians at Adua on the 1st of that month, attacked Sabderat, and were repulsed. Subsequently, on the 2nd and 3rd April, they fought two severely contested actions at Mokram and Tukruf, just outside Kassala, but on both occasions they were decisively beaten by the Italians under Colonel Stevani, and were forced to retreat.

[Sidenote: Indian brigade, 1896.]

The only event of importance that took place at Suakin in 1896 was the arrival of an Indian brigade in May, to replace the Egyptian garrison called to the Nile, and to act as a menace to the Khalifa from the Eastern Sudan. No opportunity for fighting occurred, and the Indians left for home in December.

[Sidenote: 1897.]

In consequence of the occupation of Berber in September, 1897, the Suakin-Berber road was once more opened for trade and transport, and the 4th Egyptian Battalion passed over it in security in the last days of the year.

[Sidenote: Kassala reoccupied by Egypt. 1898.]

On the 25th December, 1897, the town of Kassala was taken over by Egypt, and garrisoned by the 16th Battalion, &c., under Colonel Parsons. The Sheikh Said Ali El Morghani was brought from Suakin to the holy place of his ancestors, the Khatmia, just outside Kassala, and this act had the result of still further alienating Dervish influence from the neighbourhood. Successful actions were also fought by the friendlies at Asubri, Goz Regeb, El Fasher, and El Sofeiya. The garrison of Kassala rendered valuable assistance by capturing the Dervish outpost at Abu Deleig and in destroying the remnants of the fugitives from the battle of the Atbara in April, and Osman Digna himself only just escaped capture by a force of friendlies under the late Major Benson. Ahmed Fedil, at Gedaref, in order to cover the retreat of these fugitives, despatched a force to the Atbara which did not, however, proceed further north than Mogatta.

(_c._) BAHR EL GHAZAL AND EQUATORIA.

[Sidenote: 1882.]

[Sidenote: Lupton defeats the Dinkas.]

In the Bahr El Ghazal the first outbreak in favour of Mahdism occurred at Liffi, on the 18th August, 1882. The people had been long suffering under the cruelty and injustice of their “Danagla” rulers sent from Khartoum, and part of the Dinka tribe rose steadily under Sheikh Jango to upset the Egyptian Government. Lupton Bey, however, was equal to the occasion, and, advancing from Deim Zubeir (Deim Suleiman), towards the end of 1882, he defeated Jango with considerable slaughter at Telgona.

[Sidenote: 1883.]

Jango returned with some of the Emir Madibbo’s men early in 1883, but was beaten again near Liffi. In September, however, he attacked Rufai Agha, Lupton’s captain, at Dembo, and massacred him and all his men. The Dinkas then revolted _en masse_, and blocked the road to Meshra El Rek and the north, and Lupton, short of ammunition, retired to Deim Zubeir. The last communication from Khartoum was brought by a steamer, which arrived thence at El Rek on the 15th August, and Lupton was thenceforth isolated.

[Sidenote: Surrender of Lupton, 1884.]

On Karamalla’s[189] appointment as Emir of Bahr El Ghazal, he summoned Lupton to surrender, and this the latter, after gallantly fighting for 18 months, was obliged, by the defection of his troops, to do (21st April, 1884). He was christened Emir Abdalla, and sent to Omdurman, where he died on the 17th July, 1888.

Thus the last vestige of Egyptian authority disappeared in the Bahr El Ghazal.

[Sidenote: Emin and his province.]

The Equatorial province, meanwhile, which extended from the Albert Nyanza to Lado (its capital), and included (since 1881) the provinces of Bor and Rohl and the northern part of Unyoro, was under the charge of Emin Bey (Edward Schnitzer, born 1840), who had been placed there by Gordon in 1879. His forces in 1882 consisted of two battalions (about 1,300) of Egyptian and Sudanese troops, and 3,000 irregulars, distributed amongst 40 to 50 stations. This province was, by the end of 1882, practically the only Egyptian territory south of Khartoum which was not in sympathy with the Mahdi.

[Sidenote: 1885.]

Karamalla, in May (27th), 1884, summoned Emin to surrender. The latter, whose men were greatly scattered and, by this time, considerably disaffected, agreed to send a deputation to surrender, but meanwhile held out at Lado and Amadi, hoping for reinforcements. Amadi fell in March, 1885, and on the 18th April Karamalla arrived within three days of Lado, and informed Emin of the fall of Khartoum. Emin thereupon determined to retire south to Wadelai, giving up the more northerly posts.

Karamalla shortly afterwards was obliged to fall back, owing to disturbances in the Bahr El Ghazal caused by several Emirs refusing to recognise the Khalifa Abdalla as successor of the Mahdi, and Emin retired to Wadelai to open friendly relations with Kabarega, King of Unyoro. Meanwhile Lado and Rejaf were attacked by negro tribes in the district, but held out.

[Sidenote: 1886.]

On the 26th February, 1886, Emin received, through the assistance of Kabarega, letters from Cairo, _viâ_ Zanzibar, in which he was informed by Nubar Pasha (dated 2nd November, 1885) that the Sudan was abandoned, and he “might take any steps he liked should he decide to leave the country.” Dr. Junker, who had been, off and on, with Emin since January, 1884, started for Zanzibar, _viâ_ Uganda, in January, 1886, and his representations in Europe had the effect of starting the Emin Relief Expedition.

[Sidenote: 1887.]

[Sidenote: Stanley’s relief expedition.]

During 1886 and 1887 a mutinous spirit had been brewing amongst Emin’s troops, who wished to retire northwards instead of southwards. On the 15th December, 1887, the advanced guard of Stanley’s expedition arrived at the Albert Nyanza, but, not hearing any news of Emin, went back for their boat, which had been left at Kilonga Longa’s. Kabarega now, to whom Emin had sent Casati[190] to keep open communications with Zanzibar, on hearing that Stanley had fought and defeated the Mazamboni, his allies, changed his friendly attitude to Emin, thinking that the latter had sent for Stanley to invade his (Kabarega’s) country. He therefore treated Casati outrageously, and expelled him with the greatest ignominy.

[Sidenote: 1888.]

Stanley and Emin eventually met at Nsabé (Kavalli’s) on 29th April, 1888, and thereupon reports of a great invading White Pasha spread to Omdurman, with the result that the Khalifa in July sent up thence three steamers, six barges, and 4,000 troops to annihilate him. Stanley went back again on 24th May to pick up his rear guard, leaving Mounteney Jephson and a small escort with Emin, to escort him round his province, and settle whether he should retire or not. The Khedive’s “orders,” which Stanley brought with him, were to the effect that Emin and his men might come back with Stanley, or stay on at their own risk.

[Sidenote: Arrival of Dervishes.]

[Sidenote: Fall of Rejaf.]

The garrisons in the south said they would go with Emin, but the troops at Labore mutinied, and a general revolt broke out, headed by Fadl el Mula, Governor of Fabbo; thus, on arriving at Dufile, Emin and Jephson were practically made prisoners (18th August, 1888). On the 15th October news arrived that the above-mentioned Mahdists, in barges, were at hand, and two days afterwards three messengers arrived from Omar Saleh, the Mahdist commander, to summon Emin to surrender. The mutineers now released Emin, and decided to fight, and during November and December continuous fighting went on between Lado and Dufile. Rejaf was taken by the Dervishes on 15th November, and much loot, several prisoners and captured despatches, ammunition, tarbushes, and flags, were sent by Omar to Omdurman, whence a portion was forwarded through Osman Digna to General Grenfell at Suakin. This gave rise to all sorts of surmises in Egypt as to the fate of Emin and Stanley.

During December, Emin’s mutinous troops kept the Dervishes at bay between Wadelai and Rejaf, and eventually severely defeated them, driving them back to Rejaf. They did not, however, follow up their victory, and, under the leadership of Fadl el Mula Bey, remained in and about Wadelai, whilst the Dervishes strengthened their post at Rejaf.

[Sidenote: 1889.]

[Sidenote: Emin returns to the coast.]

Meanwhile Emin and Jephson had retired to Tunguru on the Albert Nyanza, and on 18th January, 1889, Stanley arrived at the lake for the third time with the remains of the expedition, and was joined by Emin and Jephson in the beginning of February. Selim Bey, now commander of a portion of Emin’s rebel troops at Wadelai, on being summoned by Emin, left Wadelai with 14 Egyptian officers for Tunguru, and on arrival expressed his contrition for the mutiny. A council held on the 18th determined that the evacuation should take place on the 10th April, and although Selim Bey, who had returned to Wadelai, where Fadl el Mula Bey was in command, wrote to say all would return with Emin to Egypt, they did not arrive in time, and although every opportunity was given them of overtaking the expedition, no one appeared. The expedition, numbering about 600 men in all, and 900 women and children, eventually arrived in Zanzibar at the end of the year 1889.

[Sidenote: Bahr el Ghazal evacuated by Dervishes.]

The Emir Karamalla, after retiring from before Lado and Emin in 1885, to quash disaffections amongst his own Emirs against the Khalifa’s succession, appears to have become disaffected himself. So the Khalifa, seeing the danger of trying to hold a huge province with insufficient forces, and fearing that Karamalla, being a Dongolawi, might revolt altogether, ordered the latter to evacuate the province and retire to Shakka, and eventually to Omdurman. Thus the land returned to the semi-barbarous state it was in before the Egyptian occupation, and had peace from the Dervishes for some years, for the Mahdist operations were chiefly confined to the neighbourhood of the Nile, and had little effect in the direction of the Bahr El Arab and interior of the Bahr El Ghazal country.

[Sidenote: 1890. Shilluk war.]

[Sidenote: 1891.]

In 1890 a rebellion against the Mahdists sprang up among the Shilluks, in the neighbourhood of Kodok and the Emir of Gallabat, Zeki Tumal, was sent thither to quell it, with a force chiefly consisting of the Gallabat men who had fought so well against the Abyssinians in the spring of 1889. During the whole of 1891 the war continued with varying fortunes, the Dervishes on more than one occasion being heavily defeated, and the communications between Omdurman and Bahr El Jebel being completely interrupted, much to the anxiety of the Khalifa. Alarmist reports continued to arrive in Omdurman during 1891 to the effect that Emin Pasha was at Dufile, advancing northwards with a large body of Germans, and reinforcements were sent to help Zeki and fight against the white invaders.[191]

[Sidenote: 1892.]

[Sidenote: Fate of Zeki Tumal.]

Eventually Zeki got the upper hand of the Shilluks in the beginning of 1892, but the Dervish supremacy did not last long. In the summer of that year it was reported at Omdurman that the Italians were advancing westwards from Massaua. Zeki Tumal was therefore recalled with his army, and was thus obliged to evacuate Kodok, leaving only a very small guard for the purpose of collecting taxes.

He was then sent back to Gedaref and Gallabat, to make headway against the Italians, but on reporting that it was impossible to invade Eritrea, as the Khalifa wished him to do, he was again recalled to Omdurman, treacherously seized, thrown into prison, and ultimately starved to death.

[Sidenote: Abu Girga October, 1892.]

During 1892 reports reached Omdurman from the south of an European advance on Equatoria from the Zanzibar direction. At this period there was a small Dervish garrison at Rejaf under Omar Saleh, and orders were sent to him to withdraw to Bor. This was effected, but the climate of Bor was so unhealthy, and the natives so difficult to manage, that Abu Girga,[192] a powerful Emir, whom the Khalifa was anxious to get rid of, was sent south in October with 250 men, with orders to send Omar Saleh to Omdurman. Abu Girga, who had got wind of the Khalifa’s intentions, took the first opportunity of fighting the other Baggara Emirs who were with him, and absconding at Kodok.

For several months he was supposed to have deserted the Khalifa and joined a serious movement in Kordofan which was led by a western saint, one Muzil el Muhan, and which aimed at the destruction of the Khalifa. The latter, by the way, had been much disturbed by this insurrection, and sent his cousin, Ibrahim Khalil, with 4,000, men to suppress it; but the movement died out by itself.

[Sidenote: 1893.]

Abu Girga eventually arrived at Rejaf in July, 1893. Probably fearing the Khalifa’s wrath, and finding the station in a flourishing condition, he sent the Khalifa a present of ivory as a peace offering; this arrived in August, 1893. Not even a rumour of any fighting having taken place at either Rejaf or Lado, least of all with any whites, seems to have reached Omdurman about this time.

[Sidenote: Arabi Wad Dafaalla.]

On Omar Saleh arriving at Omdurman he assured the Khalifa that the district was not in danger, and that no Europeans had arrived there. The Khalifa thereupon despatched his relative Arabi Wad Dafaalla[193] to take command, to transfer the garrison from Bor back to Rejaf, and to place Abu Girga in chains (presumably for his misconduct at Kodok).

It is more than likely that the above-mentioned rumours at Omdurman of a large Christian force in Equatoria referred to Van Kerckhoven’s Congo expedition, which had at that time (November, 1892) barely crossed the great watershed; but rumour, especially in the Sudan, is not to be trusted implicitly.

[Sidenote: Dervishes and Congolese.]

Arabi Wad Dafaalla arrived in the autumn of 1893 from Omdurman, with 1,500 men, to supersede Abu Girga, the latter having another 1,500 at Rejaf. Arabi on his arrival wrote to Fadl el Mula Bey, now in command of some of Emin’s former men, inviting him to seize Baert[194] and his officers and to bring them to him, but Fadl had had enough of the Dervishes, and declined; 400, however, of Baert’s 900 natives heard of this and deserted _en masse_ to the Dervishes, and some of whom, under Abu Girga, were penetrating in a W.S.W. direction, and had arrived in the Makaraka country. Fadl el Mula then took service with Baert.

[Sidenote: Fight at Wandi.]

[Sidenote: 1894.]

Baert does not appear to have actually come to blows with the Dervishes here, but with his thoughts intent on establishing Congolese posts on the Upper Nile, and even on the Albert Nyanza, at Kavalli’s, he despatched four companies of Sudanese (400 men) under Fadl el Mula, to proceed to the Nile and there establish posts in the interest of the Congo Free State. The exact route of this party is not known; they appear to have gone first towards the Nile, in the direction of Rejaf, but hearing the Dervishes had re-occupied that spot and were close at hand in force, they retreated to Makaraka and Wandi. Here they were overtaken and had a severe fight with the Dervishes, losing Fadl el Mula (killed—some say taken prisoner and executed) and about half their number, together with a large quantity of material of all sorts. After this defeat, which took place in January, 1894, the remaining 200 struck out for the Nile, and reached it about Muggi and Labore, but finding little food, drifted towards Wadelai, and arrived there early in February.

To refer now to Uganda for a moment.

[Sidenote: Defeat of Kabarega.]

[Sidenote: Owen at Wadelai.]

Colonel Colvile was appointed Chief Commissioner in 1893, and arrived there on the 16th November of that year. One of his first acts was to declare war against Kabarega, King of Unyoro, who had for some time been perpetually harassing Uganda, and on the second day of 1894 he occupied his capital. On the 2nd February Major “Roddy” Owen was despatched with a small party by boat to Wadelai, and on the 4th he arrived there, meeting at first with a hostile reception from the banks. He landed, however, hoisted the British flag, enlisted 50 natives (Luri) to protect it, and learnt from the natives that no white man had reached the place since Emin Pasha left it in 1888. The garrison had gone, he was informed, in April, 1893, to join the Dervishes. Hearing next day reports that a large body of “Dervishes” was approaching from the north, he retired, and arrived at Kibiro on the 11th.

From subsequent events it appears that these “Dervishes” were none other than the remaining 200 of Fadl el Mula Bey’s men, and had Owen remained another day he would have been able, no doubt, to bring them back with him into British territory.

As it was this event was only postponed for a short time, for Captain Thruston, who was sent to reconnoitre the western shores of the Albert Nyanza in March, found on the 23rd of that month the two Sudanese companies at Mahaji Soghair; to this spot they had drifted from Wadelai, not finding enough supplies at the latter place.

They were straightway enlisted by Thruston, and eventually brought back under the British flag to Uganda.

[Sidenote: Events in the Bahr el Ghazal up to February, 1894.]

We must now take a glance at the Bahr el Ghazal, and endeavour to bring the history of that province, for the present, up to the beginning of 1894.

[Sidenote: 1886.]

[Sidenote: 1888. Abu Mariam.]

The state of things in the Bahr el Ghazal since 1886 had been, on the whole, peaceable. On the death of Osman Ganu, Dervish commandant of Shakka, about 1888, the Emir Abu Mariam had succeeded him, and for three or four years little fighting had taken place. The country had relapsed into its original barbarous state of small native independent tribes, and Dervish influence, although nominally extending over the whole province, did not make itself felt in the direction of aggression.

[Sidenote: 1891.]

[Sidenote: 1892.]

[Sidenote: 1893.]

Nothing worthy of record occurred until La Kéthulle appeared on the scene from the south. This officer had been ordered by Van Kerckhoven in 1891 to proceed to Rafai’s, make friendly treaties with him, and obtain his assistance in furthering Van Kerckhoven’s expedition. He left Bomokandi in February, 1892, and reached Rafai’s early in April. Here he was received in a most friendly manner, and made a treaty with Rafai on the 7th April. During the remainder of the year he established Congo posts up to the 7th parallel of north latitude, such as Alewali and Bandassi. Rafai assisted him to the best of his ability, and from December, 1892, to April, 1893, accompanied him on an exploring tour _viâ_ Yangu, Baraka, and the Upper Bali to Sango and back. La Kéthulle then returned to Yakoma, where a large expedition for the North was being organised by the Belgians, under Captain Nilis.

[Sidenote: Dinkas beat Dervishes.]

During this summer (1893), in consequence of some inter-tribal fighting, Abu Mariam advanced against the Dinka or Jangé tribe. A battle took place, in which Abu Mariam was killed and his force destroyed, whereupon the fugitive Dervishes took refuge in Shakka, leaving many of their rifles in the hands of the Dinkas. On hearing of this the Belgian Governor of Zemio (Le Marinel) sent to Faki Ahmed and Ajerra, chiefs in Dar Fertit, and unwilling allies of the Dervishes, asking them to make common cause with the Dinkas against the Mahdists. At the same time he despatched an ally of Zemio’s, one Baudué, who appears to have been starting an expedition in the direction of Deim Bakr “to conquer the Bahr el Ghazal” on his own account, to help, and reinforced him by sending 2,000 men to Mbanga.

[Sidenote: Mahmud.]

They were, however, not required. The Dervishes were too broken to renew the attack on the Dinkas, and no further action appears to have taken place in this direction. Mahmud, chief Emir of Kordofan and the Bahr El Ghazal, was much incensed at Abu Mariam’s defeat, and sent to Darfur for reinforcements; but the chiefs in Darfur refused to assist, or even to come and see him.

[Sidenote: 1894.]

By the beginning of 1894 the Congo Expedition for the North was ready, and in February Nilis, with La Kéthulle as second in command, five other whites (Lannoy, Gérard, Libois, Gonse Deschrymacker, and Sergeant Philippart) and a strong party, made a start for the North.

Recapitulating shortly, we see that by the end of February, 1894, the Dervishes based on Rejaf were pressing the remains of the Kerckhoven expedition under Baert on the Congo-Nile watershed, but that in the rest of the Bahr el Ghazal their influence was practically nil, their only post of any importance, and that weakly held, being Shakka, to the north of the Bahr el Arab. The Congo forces had not succeeded in establishing posts on the Nile, whilst between the north-west of the Bahr el Ghazal and Zemio’s country they were busy cementing relations with the natives, who seemed not ill-disposed to receive them. Since the British Government had taken over Uganda on 1st April, 1893, fears had been expressed that the Dervishes would attack the colony from the north; but for this there appears to have been no justification, for the Khalifa had no intention of enlarging his dominions in this direction, and was content to keep Rejaf as a penal settlement and as an outpost against the inroads of the whites.

[Sidenote: La Kéthulle.]

The expedition under La Kéthulle (for Nilis’e name disappears almost at once) penetrated, _viâ_ Sandu, up the Chinko River, Sango, back to Sandu, Bakuma, Kreich, Bandassi country (7° 30′ north lat.), Upper Adda or Bahr el Arab (8° 40′ north lat.), to the important village of Hofrat el Nahas (where there are valuable copper mines), being well received all along the route. At Hofrat el Nahas the natives are said to have offered[195] to take La Kéthulle west along the caravan route to Lake Chad, but he declined, and himself returned along his own route to Rafai, where he arrived on 8th June, 1894, and at once proceeded to Europe.

[Sidenote: Re-occupation by Dervishes.]

The Khalifa, on hearing of the presence of Europeans in the Bahr el Ghazal, and of their having communicated with the Emir of Shakka, sent orders to Mahmud to re-occupy the Bahr el Ghazal, and in consequence a force of 1,800 Sudanese riflemen and 2,000 spearmen, under the Emir Khatim Musa, was despatched from Shakka towards the Belgian posts in the summer of 1894; they were delayed some time by the rains, but eventually pushed forward. The Belgians, whose headquarters were at Liffi, with advanced post at Hofrat el Nahas (?), retired before Khatim Musa, who entered Faroge. Sheikh Hamed, finding himself deserted by the Belgians, sided with the Dervishes, and handed over the treaties; these, together with two letters written by Belgians at Liffi, dated September, 1894, arrived at Omdurman in January, 1895.

The result of the Dervish victory over Fadl el Mula manifested itself at Omdurman in May, 1894, by a steamer from Rejaf bringing back loot in the shape of many tarbushes, two guns, ivory, five red standards with white stripes, and many breech-loading rifles and Congo Free State buttons, together with a report that a great victory had been gained over the “Turks.” This produced at first considerable conjecture in Egypt as to the identity of those who had been defeated.

As regards Abu Girga, he was thrown into prison about the same time by Dafaalla.

The Dervishes had meanwhile been losing ground in the west, and only retained garrisons at El Fasher, El Obeid, Nahud, and Shakka, besides the penal settlement at Rejaf.

During 1894 there were various disturbances and rumours of invasion by white men in general from the south-west, and by Rabeh Zubeir in particular. Although little is known about these western movements in Wadai, etc., it is worth noticing that much information, curiously accurate on the whole, regarding movements of Europeans and their native troops on the Upper Nile, trickled down to Omdurman, and thence to the Egyptian Intelligence Department.

A rumour reached Omdurman in November, 1894, that Rejaf troops were being hard pressed (this must refer to the fights of the “Mahdists” with the Congolese), and eleven barges full of troops were sent as reinforcements. Numerous reports now reached Omdurman that the whites had beaten the Dervishes; this may refer to the victory by the Congolese at Egaru on the 23rd December, 1894. The Rejaf garrison was now estimated at 1,500 riflemen and 3,000 spearmen, with two steamers.

In consequence of the Franco-Congolese treaty of 1894, Major Cunningham and Lieut. Vandeleur were sent from Uganda in the beginning of 1895 to Dufile, where they planted the British flag on the 15th January. A hostile reception was given them at Wadelai in consequence, it is believed, of the alliance of the chief of that place with Kabarega.

[Sidenote: 1895.]

[Sidenote: Re-evacuation by Dervishes.]

On the retreat of the Belgians in the Bahr el Ghazal, Khatim Musa retired towards Shakka, but famine and disease broke out in his camp, and most of his black Jehadia deserted to Zemio. The latter thereupon marched against Musa, who had but 800 left out of 4,000, and even these were mostly sick. Khatim Musa retreated towards Mahmud’s force in Kordofan, Abu Khawata, the recently-appointed Emir of Shakka, accompanying him. The Bahr el Ghazal was thus left open to any Europeans who chose to enter (April 1895).

In June a frantic message arrived at Omdurman from Wad Dafaalla, clamouring for reinforcements, as he was threatened by the speedy advance of an European force. He had therefore retired to Shambe.

This panic would seem to have been a false alarm, consequent perhaps on Congolese reinforcements having been sent to Dongu. However, numbers of men were collected and hastily sent upstream from Omdurman under one Hamadnalla, Emir of the Powder Factory at Khartoum. Strengthened by these (4,000 in all), Wad Dafaalla returned to Rejaf, and sent Hamadnalla in the autumn to suppress an attack by the riverain tribes.

[Sidenote: 1896.]

During 1896 Dafaalla and his men appear to have been paralysed by the news of the Dongola campaign, and remained quiet.

Nothing further of interest occurred, as far as we know, until the attack and occupation of Rejaf in 1897, by Chaltin.

[Sidenote: 1897.]

[Sidenote: Capture of Rejaf by Chaltin.]

Chaltin’s column—part of a large force of Congo troops under Baron Dhanis—composed of five white officers, four white non-commissioned officers, 806 trained riflemen, some guns, 250 porters, 50 Azande (Nyam-Nyam) riflemen, and 500 spearmen, under their chiefs Renzi and Bafuka, arrived at Surur at the end of the year, and left it on the 1st January. On the 14th February they reached the Nile at Beddên, and their scouts came into touch with the Dervishes. On the 17th they attacked the Dervish position near Rejaf, held by about 2,000 men, and routed them with great loss; later in the day they had another small action, and occupied Rejaf, the Dervishes bolting to the north. Chaltin lost one white officer (Sarolea) killed and a few men, and the enemy lost nine Emirs,[196] 200 dead, three guns, 700 rifles, and a large stock of ammunition and provisions. Rejaf was found to possess a good landing place, and was strengthened by earthworks. Lado no longer existed.

A report from the Congo (June, 1897) stated that there were then 15,000 (!?) Dervishes at Bor, and that they had three European prisoners, of whose identity nothing was certain.[197] Chaltin himself had then about 1,300 men with him, and was mostly at a spot called Loka, on high ground, four days’ march south-west of Rejaf. He reported the soil to be poor, and that there was little prospect of trade. For subsequent events _vide_ Chap. VII.

[Sidenote: Marchand expedition.]

As regards the French Expedition of over 400 men under Marchand and Liotard, which started from the French Congo in 1896, with a view to penetrating into the valley of the upper Nile, it reached the Sueh River, an affluent of the Bahr el Ghazal, in the autumn of 1897, and began launching two 5-ton gunboats. _See_ next chapter for results.

[Sidenote: 1898.]

The Dervish supremacy in the Bahr el Ghazal and regions bordering on the Upper Nile had now been greatly diminished owing to their severe defeat at Rejaf, and also owing to the necessity of reinforcing their threatened centre about Omdurman.

[Footnote 181: Killed at Fasher in 1902, in revenge for the way he had treated certain members of the Royal Family of Darfur, when Emir of that province.]

[Footnote 182: By filling up the wells whence the garrison drew water.]

[Footnote 183: Captured by the Dervishes at the taking of Bara, subsequently created an Emir, surrendered at capture of Gedaref, 1898, and now living at Omdurman.]

[Footnote 184: Keren.]

[Footnote 185: Now at El Fasher.]

[Footnote 186: The 20th Hussars; 2nd Battn. King’s Own Scottish Borderers; 1st Battn. Welsh Regiment.]

[Footnote 187: Buried at Gallabat.]

[Footnote 188: Now at Omdurman.]

[Footnote 189: Executed at Fasher by Ali Dinar in 1903.]

[Footnote 190: An Italian officer who had been sent out to assist Gessi Pasha, and remained on to explore.]

[Footnote 191: It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to say that these rumours were almost entirely devoid of foundation, for Emin, on his return to the interior, never went north of Kavalli’s, having a lively recollection of his troubles (in 1888) on the Upper Nile. He was murdered at Kinena’s, in the Congo Free State, on 26th October, 1892; this crime was owing to the petty jealousy of one Kibonge, who wished to show his rival, Munye Mohara, who had murdered several Belgians (Hodister, etc.), that he too could kill a white man!]

[Footnote 192: Now with Ali Dinar at El Fasher.]

[Footnote 193: Surrendered to Ali Dinar at El Fasher in 1902 and now residing there.]

[Footnote 194: Successor to Van Kerckhoven.]

[Footnote 195: Lt.-Col. Sparkes, who visited Hofrat el Nahas in 1903, states that the inhabitants absolutely deny this visit of La Kéthulle’s.]

[Footnote 196: Abu Girga surrendered and was given a letter of recommendation by Chaltin allowing him to return to his own country in the west. He recently forwarded this letter from Fasher to Khartoum, with a request that he might be permitted to settle in Omdurman.]

[Footnote 197: One was reported to be an Englishman, by name Hackiff, but their identity—if they existed—has never been disclosed.]

GENERAL VISCOUNT KITCHENER OF KHARTOUM.]

(_To face p._ 265.)