Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1882-12-06
A TALE OF HORROR,
Story Of e'stter's Expedition into Africa. Defeat
prsth, and Misery Almost Unparalleled Hungry
Men Reduced to Gambia ISM

Story Of e'stter's Expedition into Africa. Defeat
Death, and Misery Almost unparalleled. gr,
edsn Reduced TO Gambia ism.
We lind in French periodical the re-
port Of the Flat,crs expedition towards
tie SOudan. The annals of tlavcl by
lan" or Ivy sea have few records OF
greater misery than that Of these men
wrrckta i,ltl,e desert On December 4,
1881, Colo,.cl Flatters set out from
Ouargla, iG the south Of Algeria, with
s6 persons. Including guides and camel
-irive.s. The column was not organized
on y war f:oting, III order 10 deprive the
Iouaregs of any pretext for hostility: as
ii the African tribes needed any pretext
for hostility. "When you have taken a
stick to your donkey-boy SAID the
Egyptian Arab, "he will understand
what you mean, but that is the only
language he understands" The
Eouaregs are not better lineuists. The
natural result followed. Colonel Flat
ters was drawn into an ambuscade and
murdered, with several of his COM
panions. The rest of the troop, retreat
ing north, imprudently accepted dates
offered by these very Touarees, and suf-
ferea severely from poison, though
no one died, but the arrows
of the enemy we're more
fatal. The ambuscade was on February
Is; by March 10 the expedition com
manded by Pobeguin was reduced to
thirty -four men and four camels. A GER
tain Belkacem- ben-Zebla had secured
Colonel Flatters' sabre, and seems to
have kept the others in terror by it. In
the next eleven days they killed three of
the camels and ate them; six men de-
serted, two Of them taking the last
camel: the troop found camel putrefy.
ing, and ate it, and one man killed a
viper and ate it. On the 22d they found
we'll. Several men went out to hunt.
Soon shots were heard, and the smoke
of q fire was seen. Presently they re-
turned and offered Pobeguin piece of
cooked meat. He saw that it was
human flesh and refused to take it.
They had killed one of their number.
They were then only three days dis
lance from their goal. They might as
well have been thirty; they could not
march. The next day, finding that no
one came, a few men who could stand
set out, but hearing shots behind them
aC INC well, tuef Ietufuei duO
found that two men had been
killed in quarrel; two others
died of hunger; the survivors ate
all four. TLeu Bulaacem- ben .Zebla,
WHO had always been the butcher, killed
one Of the survivors, on pretext that he
had been concerned in the murder. This
time Pobeeuin ate with the rest. On the
9th two men were killed and roasted.
ga The 2Sth another man was killed.
Pobegrin claimed the liver and the
heart. The bones were picked clean. III
the night two man were killed. they
were se lean that they gave very little
food. On the 29ih two more meu we've
killed. Gu The 31ot Pvl,eguin was so
weak that Rclkacem-ben Zebla decided
t, I'LL Iln. Gao man tried to defend
him. Beikacem killed bo'h and cut
then, up. Tie next day friendly Arabs
f'1ud them, and they we're saved. There
Wee nuly thirteen ,neR left of the
n,l"'y seven who had left Ouarglae :our
tG1uli,S before