For many years the creed of Mahomed has been making immense strides in Central Africa, where it seems to have a peculiar fascination for the native races. The number of converts has been estimated at from eight to twelve millions, and the idea of the regeneration of Islam by force of arms has gained a strong hold among them. On the appearance of the False Prophet in the summer of 1881, thousands flocked to his standard.
The person in question is a Sheikh named Mahomed Achmet, the son of a carpenter, and a native of Dongola. He was born about the year 1848, and educated in a village near Kartoum, where he studied religion. In 1870 he became a Sheikh, and after a short stay at Kaka, near Fashoda, took up his residence on the island of Abba, in the White Nile. There he gradually acquired a great reputation for sanctity, and in time assembled a considerable number of dervishes, or holy men, round him. He augmented his influence by marrying daughters of the leading chiefs of the Baggara Arabs,[278] and, by his power and tact, succeeded in uniting the various tribes.
In May 1881, when living at Marabieh, near the island of Abba, he first advanced his claims to being the Messiah, or Prophet foretold by Mahomed. By his followers he was styled “El-Mahdi,” more usually, but incorrectly written “El-Mahdi.” This is an Arabic word meaning simply a “Leader” or “Guide,” and is not found in the Koran. In the early days of Islam, it was not unfrequently used as a name or title. The notion which prevails among Moslems generally, regarding the expected great “El-Mahdi,” is, that he will be a descendant of the Prophet, and will appear towards the end of time to uproot wickedness, to avenge the blood of the Imams who were slain unjustly, and to establish a reign of righteousness on the earth.
The Ulema[279] of Kartoum did not hesitate to pronounce against Mohamed Achmet, and he was likewise discredited at Cairo and Constantinople, and soon became known as the “False Prophet.” Among many reasons for disbelief, one was, that the Redeemer of the World, promised in the Koran, would come from the East, and not from the West.
The intentions of Mahomed Achmet, as set forth in various proclamations, were as follows:—
To gain over the whole of the Soudan to his cause, then march on Egypt and overthrow the false-believing Turks, and, finally, to establish the thousand years’ kingdom in Mecca, and convert the whole world.
The principles of his teachings were universal equality, universal law and religion, and community of goods. All who opposed his mission were to be destroyed, whether Christian, Mahomedan, or Pagan.
The religious fanaticism of the native tribes of the Soudan was, however, only one of the many causes of the insurrection which broke out after the appearance of the Mahdi. The principal one appears to have been hatred of the Government, due to—
(1.) The venality of the Egyptian officials, and the oppressive and unjust manner of collecting the taxes, and especially to
(2.) The suppression of the slave trade. Most of the supporters of the Mahdi, more especially the Baggara tribes, owe all their wealth to the traffic in slaves, which the Egyptian Government has now for many years been taking measures to put an end to.
The time selected for the rising was after the garrisons of the Soudan had been diminished for reasons of economy. Lieut.-Colonel Stewart is, however, of opinion that the military weakness of Egypt was not any real cause of the rebellion, as he believes the troops in the Soudan would have been sufficient to quell it had they been properly handled.[280]
In July, 1881, the attention of Raouf Pasha, the Governor-General of the Soudan, was drawn to the pretensions of the Mahdi; and he sent a commission of inquiry from Kartoum to interview him, and ascertain the true state of affairs.
On their return, it was determined to send a military expedition to Marabieh to bring the Mahdi to Kartoum. A force of 200 men left the latter place by steamer on the 11th August, reaching Djeziret Abba in 15 hours. There they disembarked, and advanced towards the residence of the Mahdi. When quite close to it, they suddenly found themselves in the presence of 4000 to 5000 of his followers, armed with swords and lances. The troops fired one volley, but were almost immediately overpowered, and forced to retire, leaving behind them 120 of their party dead, among whom were the two officers.
After this, the Mahdi sent emissaries to all the neighbouring chiefs, calling on them to join him.
The Governor-General, on hearing of the disaster, ordered all the available troops from Kartoum, Sennaar, Fashoda, Kordofan, and Berber to assemble near Kawa, on the White Nile. The garrisons were left so weak that hardly sufficient troops remained to carry on the ordinary duties.
Great excitement prevailed in Kartoum, which had no defences of any kind; and the inhabitants commenced to agitate for the construction of earthworks. Fears were entertained that the insurrection would spread rapidly, and even that the slaves, who formed more than half of the population of the town, would rise. Many were of opinion that a large garrison of Egyptian troops was absolutely necessary to ensure safety.
By the end of August 1881, 1,400 troops were concentrated near Kawa. There they remained idle for more than a month, and then dispersed to their quarters without having made the slightest attempt to follow the Mahdi, who had retreated into the mountainous district of Takalla.[281] It is probable that, had he been resolutely attacked, he would have been defeated, his followers would have deserted him, and the rebellion, with all its disastrous consequences, would have been crushed.
Rashid Bey, the Mudir of Fashoda, twice asked to be allowed to march against the Mahdi, but on both occasions permission was refused. At length, acting on his own responsibility, he set out with 400 regular soldiers, and 100 Shilluk negroes, led by their chief Kaikun, and after a four days’ march reached the camp of the Mahdi, on the mountain of Gadir,[282] on the 8th December. In the fight which ensued, Rashid Bey and the greater part of his troops, including the Shilluk Chieftain, were cut down by the Baggara horsemen. But few escaped to carry the news of the defeat to Fashoda. A large quantity of rifles, ammunition, and stores fell into the hands of the Mahdi.
Great fears for the safety of Fashoda were entertained at Kartoum, and 200 soldiers were immediately sent there by steamer.
It was becoming more evident every day that a regular campaign would be necessary to quell the rebellion, and that reinforcements of men and matériel were absolutely necessary. Large numbers of irregular troops from the Shaikiyeh,[283] Dongola and Berber districts were enrolled, and armed at Kartoum. Nubir Yussuf Pasha, who had formerly seen service under Gessi Pasha,[284] was put in command of them. On the 15th March he left Kartoum with a force 4000 strong to operate against the rebels in the Shilluk country, but by the time he reached Kawa, several hundreds of the irregular troops had already deserted, and gone over to the enemy, and he remained there with the rest of his force inactive for several weeks.
Raouf Pasha, the Governor-General of the Soudan, was recalled to Egypt on the 4th March, and Abdel Kader Pasha was appointed to succeed him. Pending the arrival of the latter, Giegler Pasha assumed temporary charge of the Soudan.
Taking advantage of the concentration at Kawa, the rebels attempted to make themselves masters of the district of Sennaar, and had many minor successes.
On the 6th April, the garrison of the town of Sennaar attacked a large force of Arabs, led by a nephew of the Mahdi, who were encamped in the neighbourhood, but the attack was repulsed, and the Egyptian troops, having suffered great loss, retreated to the town, and shut themselves up in the Government buildings, which they succeeded in defending.
They were followed by the rebels, and for three days the greater part of the town was given up to murder, plunder, and fire. Many of the inhabitants, as well as 14 foreign merchants, 9 officers, and more than 100 soldiers, were killed. The losses of the rebels were also very considerable. As soon as the news reached Kartoum, reinforcements were ordered to Sennaar from Kalabat,[285] Katarif,[286] and Kawa. On the arrival of a detachment from the last-mentioned place, the rebels retired towards Karkoj,[287] which had already been some time in their hands.
About this time the Shilluks[288] were reported to be in revolt, and the news from Darfur was far from re-assuring. The insurrection appeared to be gaining ground in every direction, and the position of the Government was becoming most critical.
On the 15th April a detachment of 200 troops left Kartoum, and proceeded up the western bank of the Blue Nile. About the same time some Bashi-Bazuks, under Ali Kashef, arrived at Abou-Haraz (at the junction of the Blue Nile and the Rahad) from Katarif, to act on the eastern bank of the Blue Nile in conjunction with several thousand Shukuriyeh,[289] under the Sheikh Aud-el-Kerim Bey. By operating on both flanks, hopes were entertained of speedily restoring tranquillity in the Province of Sennaar. No engagement of importance took place till the end of the month, when 150 Egyptian troops were cut to pieces by the rebels near Mesalameh.
During April the Mahdi with the bulk of his followers still remained on the mountain of Gadir.
News received from Kordofan stated that 15 soldiers at the frontier Post of Abu Haraz (west of El-Obeyed[290] on the way to Shaka[291]) had been killed, and that 150 soldiers stationed in Nuba,[292] for the suppression of the slave trade had been recalled to El-Obeyed. The inhabitants of the last-mentioned place were arming themselves, and constructing entrenchments. 6000 rebels were reported to be encamped in the neighbourhood, and an attack was expected.
By the end of April a considerable force had been collected on the Blue Nile, and Giegler Pasha placed himself at the head of it. On the 3rd May he attacked the nephew of the Mahdi, Sherif Ahmed Taha, near Abou Haraz (on the Blue Nile). The fight was obstinate, and the troops made but little progress till Sheikh Aud-el-Kerim Bey came to his assistance with a large body of Shukuriyeh, 2000 of whom were mounted, and clad in armour.
The rebels were at length overpowered. The Sherif was amongst the slain, and his head was sent to Kartoum, and publicly exposed. In the telegrams announcing the victory, Giegler Pasha made no mention of the assistance he had received from the Shukuriyeh, but spoke only of the bravery of the Khédivial troops.
On the 25th May Giegler Pasha appears to have gained another victory over the rebels in the neighbourhood of Sennaar, in which 800 of them, including their chief, were killed.
Abdel Kader Pasha reached Kartoum on the 11th May, and assumed the duties of Governor-General of the Soudan.
On the 16th May the tribe of Hassaniyeh Arabs, living along the road from Kartoum to Kordofan, having been reported to be in revolt, 200 soldiers were sent to Tur-el-Hadra, on the White Nile. They were to be followed by 600 more.
Communication with Darfur, Sennaar, and Fazokl was interrupted.
At Kartoum the formation of irregular regiments of Shaggyah and Dongolese was being actively pushed forward. Reinforcements were coming in from Berber, and were mostly sent on to Kordofan, where great insecurity prevailed. Large quantities of warlike stores and some guns were reported to have reached Berber from Cairo.
On the 27th May Rashid Pasha, Chief of the Military Posts along the Abyssinian frontier, reached Kartoum, and left on the 3rd June for Kordofan, whither more than 1000 troops had already preceded him. It was supposed that he was to be appointed Hokmdar of Darfur, Kordofan, and Dongola.
Of the doings of the Mahdi, and the state of affairs in Darfur, there was no news.
The Mudirieh of Sennaar was still far from being pacified, and, on the 9th June, a force of 20,000 rebels was reported to be a day’s march from the town of that name. The insurrection was also reported to be spreading to the districts south of Karkoj.
Towards the end of May Yussuf Pasha, who had done little or nothing since March, was ordered to advance from Kawa against the Mahdi, still supposed to be somewhere near the mountain of Gadir. After great delays he set out with a large disorganized force of several thousand men and swarms of camp followers. The rains had begun, and progress was slow. On the 7th June he was face to face with the rebels in a densely wooded country. A seriba (or stockade of prickly shrubs) was commenced, and the troops were formed up inside it in a hollow square. The rebels, however, broke in upon them, and defeated and utterly routed the whole force. This crushing defeat gave a fresh impetus to the insurrection.
On the 13th June 400 men were sent by steamer to reinforce the garrison of Fashoda, and on the 29th a battalion, which had arrived at Kartoum from Senheit,[293] was also sent on there. These reinforcements were placed under the command of Rashid Pasha, whose orders had been altered, and who had only accompanied the troops for Kordofan as far as Tur-el-Hadra.
News from Darfur was scant and unreliable. It was rumoured that an attack on Omohangah on the 17th June had been repulsed; but that towards Shaka an Egyptian force of 1000 men had been almost annihilated on the 20th July.
In Kordofan the rebels attacked Bara[294] on the 28th June, but were repulsed, it is said, with a loss of 32,000 men. At the same time large bands infested the neighbourhood El Obeyed, and water, fuel, and grain were already reported to be scarce in that town.
Early in July the insurrection was rumoured to have spread to the provinces of Bahr-el-Ghazel Shaka, and the Equator, but the reports turned out to be exaggerated, and the movement never obtained any hold in those parts.
Towards the end of June the works of defence for the protection of Kartoum were commenced to the south of the town. It began to appear doubtful whether the irregular troops would be able to make head against the rebellion, and reinforcements from Cairo were not arriving. It was then resolved to form negro battalions, and every slave-owner in Kartoum was called upon to give up a certain number of slaves for the purpose. By this means it was estimated that 2000 troops could be obtained. The same system had been followed two years before, during the mobilization of the army for operations against Abyssinia. It had the double advantage of increasing the troops, and diminishing the number of slaves, who it was feared might revolt.
The foreign inhabitants, having no slaves, decided to give assistance in kind, and sent 525 ardebs[295] of dhoora,[296] worth 360 pounds sterling, towards the sustenance of these newly raised battalions.
In August a state of siege was proclaimed in Kartoum. Five forts had been constructed, each armed with one gun. The town was divided into four military sections, and pickets patrolled the streets both day and night. A rising in the town was expected, simultaneously with an attack from without.
As a further protection, it was decided to cut a canal south of the town, joining the two branches of the Nile, but the commencement of this work appears to have been delayed till November.
The Kababish Arabs, an important tribe occupying a large tract of country between Kordofan and Dongola, were in revolt, and a large force of them were menacingly encamped within a day’s march of Kartoum.
During July and August many minor engagements were fought upon the lines of communication between the White Nile and Kordofan, which almost always resulted in favour of the rebels. The commercial town of Shatt, on the road from Duem, on the White Nile, to El Obeyed, was totally destroyed by them, the male population was put to the sword, and the women and children were carried off into captivity.
In the beginning of August the insurgent forces were divided into three principal groups:—
The Mahdi, with the bulk of his forces, was still on the mountain of Gadir, in the Takalla district; a second army was wasting Kordofan, and a third stretched along the White Nile from Duem to Djezirit Abba, on the western bank, and from Kawa to Marabieh on the eastern.
On the 19th August the rebels were defeated near Bara, and El Obeyed was subsequently revictualled.
The rebels operating along the western bank of the White Nile, under Ahmed Woad-el-Makashef, were attacked by the Egyptian troops near Duem on the 28th of August, and routed, leaving 3500 dead on the field of battle. This defeat frustrated the projected march on Kartoum.
After this the Mahdi took the field in person, and advanced on El Obeyed, around which an earthen rampart, armed with a few guns, had been thrown up. The garrison consisted of 6000 men, armed with Remington rifles. The rifles had been sent there in June by Abdel Kader Pasha, in anticipation of a siege.
The rebels were armed with spears and matchlocks.
On the 8th of September the Mahdi made a desperate assault on the town, but was repulsed with great slaughter, his losses being reported to be from 12,000 to 15,000 killed, while those of the garrison are put down at 288. Two brothers of the Mahdi and several insurgent chiefs were among the slain. The attack was repeated on the 11th and 14th September, but on both occasions without success. The rebels fought with the greatest fury, quite regardless of death. Their losses in the three assaults are said to have reached the enormous total of 40,000.[297]
In presence of the disaffection of many of the regular troops, the Governor-General of the Soudan issued an appeal to the patriotism of those of the Shukuriyeh, Dabaina, and Kababish tribes who still remained loyal, urging them to take the field against the rebels, and promising the remission of one year’s taxes. He further undertook to pay £2 for every dervish (as the followers of Mahdi were called) captured, dead or alive, and £18 for every chief.
All booty was to remain the property of the captors. The result was that shortly afterwards several thousand volunteers joined the troops at Kawa.
On the 3rd September, 300 negro recruits reached Kartoum from Lardo in the Equatorial provinces, and these were shortly followed by 1100 Bazingers, (untrained soldiers from Dar-Fertit[298]), sent by the Mudir of the Bahr-el-Ghazel district.
A relief column of two battalions of regular troops and 850 Bashi Bazouks, altogether 3000 strong, under Ali Bey Satfi, set out from Duem towards the end of September to attempt to raise the siege of Bara. It suffered terrible privations on the way, the rebels having filled in all the wells along the road between Abu Shoka and Bara (seven days’ march). The troops had almost nothing but the juice of wild melons and dhoora stalks to quench their thirst. They were continually harassed by the enemy, but were not attacked in force till they approached El Kona, when Ali Satfi Bey and all the senior officers were killed. The losses of the Egyptians amounted to 1100, besides 1150 rifles and a large quantity of stores and ammunition. The remainder of the troops were at length rallied by a captain, and succeeded in driving off the enemy. They then continued the march to Bara, and were met some distance from the town by the garrison, which had come out to their assistance. The Mahdi was then encamped at a water station in the neighbourhood of Bara. On the 25th October the garrison made a sortie, and attacked and defeated him, but subsequently retired within the entrenchments.
After the repulses at El Obeyed and Bara, the Mahdi was deserted by many of his followers, and his forces in Kordofan appear to have been quite shattered for the time. So much was the danger for Kordofan thought to be over, that, when the Mudir of Darfur appeared at Omchanga about the end of October with a considerable armed force, his proffered assistance was declined.
A report having reached Kartoum that the above-mentioned relief column had been totally destroyed, the Governor-General telegraphed to Cairo that he must have reinforcements of at least 10,000 men. He stated that without a large force at his disposal the insurrection would spread through all parts of the Soudan, and that then the pacification of the country would require an army of at least four times the strength of that for which he asked.
During Arabi’s short tenure of power, he had but little time to devote to the affairs of the Soudan, and no reinforcements were sent there; in fact, orders were actually given for some of the troops to be withdrawn from there to Egypt to assist in the war against the English.
After the occupation of Cairo, the suppression of the rebellion in the Soudan was one of the first questions to occupy the attention of the Government of the Khedive. Various plans were suggested, and it was at length decided, after the receipt of the previously-mentioned telegram from Abdel Kader Pasha, to enlist about 10,000 officers and men who had fought under Arabi for service in the Soudan. At the request of the Khedive several English officers were appointed to the staff of this force.
By the beginning of November between two and three thousand troops had already been concentrated at the “Barrage” on the Nile near Cairo, and were being equipped for the expedition.
The first detachment, one thousand strong, left Suez for Suakin, whence they were to march to Berber on the 14th November.
Desertions from the depôt at the “Barrage” were very frequent. They were due to a rumour among the soldiers that they were to be transported to the Soudan as prisoners. The arms and ammunition required for the expedition were forwarded to Suakin, separately from the troops, as a measure of precaution.
On the 12th December 1500 troops left Cairo for the Soudan, bringing up the total contingent already sent to 5000.
Thanks to the energy of Al-ed-Deen Pasha, Governor of the Red Sea provinces, steps were taken at Suakin for the speedy despatch of the reinforcements as soon as they arrived from Suez. No delays occurred, the necessary supply of camels for the transport of baggage and stores having always been prepared beforehand. Throughout the revolt of Arabi, Al-ed-Deen Pasha had remained loyal, and had inspired such respect for the Khedive that even natives, who may have entertained sympathy with the rebellious movement, did not dare to commit any overt act of hostility, and thus public order and tranquillity were never for a moment disturbed in the provinces over which he was Governor.
By the 9th January, 1883, the arrivals of soldiers at the depôt at the “Barrage” had reached 9500. The departures were already 7700. They included 100 dismounted cavalry, 100 gunners, and nine battalions of infantry, formed into three regiments. The 1st Battalion of the 4th Regiment was on the point of leaving.
By the middle of February the last of these reinforcements for the Soudan had left Egypt.
About the 12th November, 1882, a rebel Sheikh attacked Duem, but he was defeated and captured, and subsequently hanged at Kartoum.
On the 15th November the long projected canal south of Kartoum was commenced, eight hundred to a thousand yards in front of the town. Its dimensions are as follow: length, when the rivers are in flood, 5900 yards; when at low water, 6700; depth of ditch, 8 feet; width at top, 17 feet; at bottom, 10 feet; slopes steep; width of parapet at bottom, 20 feet; at top, 14 feet; height, 7 feet. The principal defects of the parapet are its great length, and the absence of flanking defence. The idea of constructing a defensive canal, and turning Kartoum into an island, originated with Musa Pasha in 1864.
The garrison of El Obeyed was reported to be still fairly well supplied with food on the 12th December, and to be in good spirits. A few days previously it had sallied out and attacked Sheikh Mennoo, the leading rebel chief in the neighbourhood, killing about 70 of his people.
At Bara,[299] the garrison was badly off for food, and in a depressed condition. Some of the irregular officers with their men had deserted to the rebels. The Mahdi, with the bulk of his forces, was encamped round the town. His ranks had been much thinned by desertion and sickness, but, on the other hand, he was gaining fresh adherents every day. For the moment he had ceased to take the offensive, and was contenting himself with blockading Bara and El Obeyed, while the Makashef operated with a large force on the Nile.
Darfur was so far quiet, though the Mahdi was reported to be doing his utmost to stir up the tribes.
On the 16th December, Lieut.-Colonel Stewart, of the 11th Hussars, arrived at Kartoum.
Owing to the absence of any trustworthy information, he had been sent by the British Government to inquire into the true state of affairs in the Soudan.
Two battalions of reinforcements from Egypt (the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 1st Regiment) reached Kartoum early in December, and formed a camp at Omdurman on the left bank of the Nile, opposite Kartoum.
Almost immediately after their arrival there were rumours of fresh outbreak in the neighbourhood of Kawa, and later on, in those of Sennaar and Mesalamieh on the Blue Nile. Instead of forming a relief column for Kordofan, it was deemed necessary to employ these battalions first in restoring order on the banks of the Blue and White Niles. The 1st battalion was sent to Shawal on the White Nile, and on the evening of the 30th December the 2nd battalion left by steamer for Mesalamieh.
The Makashef, with a large force, was at Sibel threatening Sennaar, and was causing a great deal of trouble.
Abdel Kader Pasha gave orders for four companies at Sennaar and the garrison of irregulars at Abut (immediately north of Sibel) to make a combined attack on the last-mentioned place. It was to support this attack, which was ordered for the 4th January, that the 2nd Battalion 1st Regiment was sent to Mesalamieh.
The attack was, however, anticipated by the Makashef, who took the offensive, and attacked the detached post of Abut on the 31st December. He was repulsed, but succeeded in interrupting all communication between Mesalamieh and Sennaar.
On the 1st January the four companies at Sennaar left for Sibel. The following day they were attacked while on the march, and all but about eighty surrendered to the rebels after making but little, if any, resistance.
By the beginning of January the undermentioned reinforcements had arrived from Egypt, viz.: infantry, 5 battalions (4170 men); artillery, 180 men, with 10 mountain guns and 10 rocket troughs; cavalry, 97 Circassians clad in chain armour. A few mules had accompanied the artillery, but there were no horses with the cavalry. With the exception of the two battalions, which had gone to Shawal and Mesalamieh, the whole of this force was encamped at Omdurman, near Kartoum. The troops were working at elementary drill and tactics, and making some progress, but the officers were, as a rule, ignorant, and incapable of grasping the meaning of the simplest movement, unwilling to assume any responsibility, and totally devoid of initiative.
Many of the troops had superstitious ideas regarding the power of the Mahdi, and others thought that the Khedive had only sent them to the Soudan to get rid of them.
They were dressed in long white cotton shirts and native cotton trousers. Most of them wore coarse leather sandals. Each man had a grey overcoat and hood. The infantry were all armed with Remington rifles.
The tactics of the Egyptians in the presence of the enemy were to form battalion or double company squares. The troops were formed in three ranks, to give them confidence. Each man was provided with four or five crow’s feet (iron spikes with four points), which he was instructed to throw in front of him on the approach of the enemy. The rebels usually attacked in several masses.
Early in January news was received of a disaster on the eastern bank of the White Nile. A detachment of 190 men had been sent from the fort of Jura Hadra in a northerly direction to repair the line of telegraph to Kartoum. When a short distance from the fort, they were attacked by some rebels under Fakir Owde.[300] The troops formed square as usual, but after a short resistance commenced to give way, the square was broken, and many were killed. Half the party, however, managed to rally, and held out until a reinforcement came to their assistance from Jura Hadra.
On the 2nd January, Abdel Kader Pasha left Kartoum by steamer to take personal command of the troops operating between the Blue and White Niles. He did not reach Mesalamieh till the 7th, having stopped frequently on the journey to interview the chiefs of the villages on the banks of the river.
The town of Mesalamieh is six miles west of the river. On arrival, the Pasha proceeded immediately to inspect the battalion encamped there (2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment), and informed the officers that he intended to march with as small a baggage train as possible. They protested, and made all kinds of difficulties, but it was finally decided that each company should be accompanied by four camels only.
On the 8th January, the battalion, with some irregular troops under Saliha Bey, and some Shukuriyeh horsemen, started for Abut. The order of march was in company column with scouts on both flanks, and advance and rear guards. The country traversed was a treeless but well-cultivated open plain, with many villages and plenty of water. The crops consisted chiefly of dhoora (maize) and cotton. There were also many large herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep. The inhabitants were very friendly, and freely supplied the troops with water, and even with bread.
At 8 p.m., a halt was made at the Faulla (pond) of El-Sunga. The troops bivouacked, protected by a bank which had, on a previous occasion, been thrown up round the pond. Ten men per company were employed to patrol during the night some 500 yards from the camp.
On the 9th, the column started at 7 a.m. The order of march was the same as on the preceding day. Two miles from the bivouac, the village of Effena was passed. This was the last inhabited village met with on the road. Further on they were all deserted, the inhabitants having gone off willingly, or unwillingly, to join the rebels, leaving their crops standing, and ready for harvesting.
At 1.30 p.m. the village of Abut was reached. It is a small military station, and had a garrison of 350 men, who were encamped in a zeriba with trench near the well. When attacked on the 31st December, only 150 of the garrison were present, 200 men under Osman Agha had arrived since then. Two new zeribas were at once constructed, one for the regular troops, and another for the irregulars. Reconnaissances were pushed in all directions, but especially along the roads leading to Kawa viâ Waliya, and to Manasra, south of Sibel.
Finding then that the quelling of the insurrection in the province of Sennaar would be a more difficult task than he had anticipated, the Pasha determined to call up the battalion from Shawal,[301] and to send for another from Kartoum.
The 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment, left Kartoum accordingly on the afternoon of the 10th January, and proceeded up the Blue Nile in twelve sailing boats.
On the 11th January, Abdel Kader was still at Abut. On that date his attention was to await the arrival of the 3rd Battalion, and then march on Sennaar. Reports had come in that that town was hard pressed by a large body of rebels, that Karkoj was again in their hands, that the tribe of Rufaa el Sherk,[302] under Sheikh Sherif el Hindi, was in full revolt, and the last mentioned was doing his best to induce Aud el Kerim Bey, the powerful Sheikh of the Shukuriyeh, to join the movement.