The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1884-03-19
IN OsMAN DIGMA's CAMP.
Fro IN an Austrian Merchants Narrative in
the London Daily News

liged to wear the native dress, con.
sisting of drawers, vest, and Arat
"gallabich" or smoke -frock, and
slippers. / then was deprived Of
my fire arms and brought to Osmar
Digma. / found him amongst cir
Gle of Arabs sitting on the ground
he wore only very dirty sheet and
straw cap; he appeared to me to
be very common sort of man
in fact, the least distinguished look
ing of the group. / gave nim the
usual salaams, and then told him ]
wanted permission to remain in
camp and live with his men, as /
had my friend there. He told me
he would be very glad to have me
with him, and that as had become
a Mussulman / need entertain no
fears for my life.
After this short interview / was
spoken to by couple of Souakim
people, acquaintanees Of mine who
happened to be there, as to the
meaning of my visit. / was assured
by my friends that they were not
at present thinking of the wrongs
they had undergone, but that they
were certain that the real Mahdi
had come, who would overthrow all
nations, destroy all his enemies, and
then rule the world according to his
own ideas; that he was a man un-
known before, suddenly become SO
powerful that he was able to crush
every expedition sent against him
by the Government; that really
there was no power on earth to re-
strain him in the accomplishment
of tho task he had undertaken that
they had received letters from him
ordering them to arise and fight in
his cause, thereby gaining place
in Paradise; and that if they dis
obeyed his commands, he himselfin
a short time would come and pun
ish them by destroying them and
sending them to hell. They said,
moreover, that the men who are
fighting under Osman Digma are
not afraid of rifles, cannons, or any
thing that could be used against
them that they have power to cap
ture all guns in perfect certainty,
and that if they die in such a holy
cause, they will enjoy themselves
forever in Paradise; that their
swords and spears would destroy
Sinkat and Tokar, and after the fall
of these two forts the people who
now besiege them would together
fall on Souakim, encamping by its
wells, and taking the town they
would not leave stone upon stone in
it; that they intended to go to Jed
dab and Mecca, take possession of
Egypt, kill the Sultan of Stamboul
and all the Englishmen and Chris
tlans, and then find themselves free
to cope with the Abyssinians. They
said also that they had found out in
their books that this enc is the real
Mahdi prophesied by Mahomet as
his career is the same exactly as
foretold by that prophet; if he be
not the real "Mahdi" how could he
have beaten the Government as
he has done? They cared neither
for riches, position, nor anything on
earth, for they knew if they fought
for him they would gain Heaven if
not, they would go to hell. None
shall be allowed to own property
they shall be all poor, eat simple
grain, as their General Osman is do
ing. When their cloth was finished
they did not want any more than
was coming from the Christians;
they would make their cloth out Of
mats. They told me that at pres
ent people who own cattle, grain
and money gave up part voluntarily
to Osman Digma, in order to supply
the poor who wanted fsod that Os-
man might have any amount of
property, but did not want any
they had treasure places where they
put all sorts of valuable things.
People who wanted to join them |
would be all we'll received, and |
plenty of food found for them.
1 was at Osman Digma's camp
sixteen days, and during this time / |
was not allowed to see the chief any
more. l made the following re
marks, viz; That the Arabs at the !
camp were animated by very
strong religious excitement; were
most of them Hadendowas, except !
some few. Many of them used to
stitch to their clothes, in fancy de-
signs, any sort of colers they could /
get; others only a small piece OF
red cloth. They are led mostly by
Souakim people. Besides reading /
in the morning, Osman Digma reads
to them during other parts of the
day books about the MahdI, with
to excite their minds.
/ found the camp of Digma mod
erately provided with grain, and
now and then / could see camels
loaded with grain arriving from To-
kar. The principal food this peo-
pie rely on is grain and milk. Milk
used to be sent in skins to our. huts
every second or third day by the
of our men, and we almost
always used to take it seur, because
the Arabs prefer it so. remarked
that sometimes they poured some
fresh milk on a skin containing
some milk three days old. OF course
they never think about washing up
the skins. We had generally twice
a day hominy with milk on it, but
when we could not get !
the flour they merely boiled the
grain in water and ate it SO. Dur
ing my stay of sixteen days | twice
had good mutton to eat; twice ! re
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