The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1884-06-01
THE MEHDpS ARMY
How the Vast rluhIsude Manages EA''''
n.sa~txat.aa af the Noudanese Cohorts.

nuzzle even to those acquainted with the
sipoularly abstemious habits OF the Arabs
ON this point, I confess, have not Deen
able 10 elicit any clear or full information
From the treasury each soldier receives one
mcbride per month, or about three shil'
lungs and four pence, and on ibis sum nt
must manage to exc out his existence.
How the soldiers manage. to effect THIS
remains a puzzle. for Kordofan Is not
land flowing with milk and honey. oh
the contrary. grain Is scarce and dear, ana
ia largely imported from Dongoia on
cames, even in ordinary years. The only
explanation approaching to a satisfactory
solution OF this question was furnished by
refugee, who informed me that Aoham'
med Ahmed's Arabs plant corn and other
seeds in suitable situations just before the
autumn rains begin, or, as he expressed u,
d" as soon as the first cloud appeared on the
sky.v This crop grows rapidly, and IS
gainered for the year and forms the CHIEF de.
pendence OF the Mehdi's army for their food
supply. 1t is, however, very uncertain, and
Guctuates good deal. This applies only
to the constant followers. the Bedouins
having, i'm addition, their fl0cks OF camels,
sheep. and goats, with abundant pasturage
Of a coarse kind during the rainy season.
The paying Of this regular army must con,
stitlIte n severe drain on Mohammed
Ahmed's excheQuer, and when the large
sums which fall into his hands by bis I'M
eXpected success in KordOfan are eX-
hansted, il is not easy to see how the rebel
Golfers are to be repleniShed. NOT
alone was all the money found in
the public treasury at Obeid appro-
priated, but all the private property. espe-
cially the money Of the rich Inhabitants,
was confiscated. From one source or
another It Is calculated that sum OF not
less than $1,000, 900 has found its way into
the Mehdi's treasury, and this sum will en-
able him TO hold his folio wcrs well to-
gether for considerable time. Recog-
MIXING the importance OF q revenue, he has
! ordered the tribes and sedentary inhabi-
, tants to nav into the treasury a sum equal
| TO one tenth Of the tax formerly paid TO
the Egyptian Government. Some OF the
tribes grumbed a good deal at this, a.
| they are indisposed to pay taxes oil
any sort to anybody-even to a Meh'
di; but no doubt, the victory over,
General IIicks's army has given the
| Mehdi so great an increase OF prestige that
the tribes will not dare to refuse contribut-
| ing TO the Obeid treasury. That this es-
sentIal function Of every government is
not neglected we had evidence a lew days
since, when quite a scare was created
among the well-to-do people here by the
report that a large body Of Mohammed
Ahmed's BedOuins had reached rs SAIL
and were the advance guard OF the army
marching on DonSOla. A few days later
came the welcome news that this attach
ment had only come TO rs Sati to collect the
taxes OF the district, and having received
them, had returned to Obeid.
In addition to the thirty or forty thou
sand regular followers camped at Ell Obeid
the Mehdi can count on the support and
active cooperation OF some eighty tribes
who occupy the vast tract Of country lying
between the Desert OF Byaudah and the
equatorial provinces, and extending some
what indefinitely toward the western from
| tier OF Darfur. These allies can furnish
| them two or three thousand fighting men,
who are very different in temper and ply
siquc from the soldiers OF Arab Pasha.
In general type they approach close
| lv TO the American Indians OF the
plains, but in many cases there Is
strong mixture OF negro blood. This
| is especially the case with the Arab
| tribes nearest the equator; but there Is no
reason to believe that the admiXture oil
negro blood diminishes the fighting quail
ties OF the race. In many respects the
Arabs and Barabari who inhabit The dis
tricts now in rebellion are models OF what
good soldiers ought to be. Their bodies
are compact, the bones large, and the
members sinewy. The men are strong and
active. and capable OF enduring great Ia
! tigues. They are sober and abstemious to
miracle, and when engaged on difficult
military expeditions they live for weeks on
little grain stepped in water. The
mounted tribes. like the Baggara, are
admirable horsemen, and well trained
to use their swords and spears. In fact,
every man who can afford to keep a horse
Is trained from bis youth to be q good
irregular cavalryman, and il European
cavalry would dispense with their reyolvers
and breechloading carbnes the Arab
horsemen might be trusted to give good
account OF them. Such are the rough
materials out OF which the MehdPs armies
are made, and in the hands OF an able
military organizer they might be nodded
into really formidable force, nOtwith-
standing their defective armament. Some
| dllCIHIl udS bCOn lIiNb ~ Si'' ihA''''N J
shape TO this vast body OF tghtinc-men,
but so far the result has not cen very
successful. In fact. the organization i
Of the crudest, and little more can be al
! legged in its favor than that beginning has
been made. Each man belongs to distinct
body, which rallies to its own proper flag,
and this body seems to play much the same
part as the huge company in the German
army. II is, in fact. the tactical unit, and
seems to act almost Independently least
on its own ground. There is not much
trace Of more complicated organization,
and this is one Of the causes which pre-
vents the Mehdis armies from producing
the maximum OF effect. In the case OF the
Bedouin tribes, this organization Is sup
plemented by the tribal unity, so that the
representatives OF the larger tribes play
the part of regiment or brigade, &C.
cording to the strength OF the de-
tachment present in camp. When strong
achievements OF BedOuinS are called
for they bring with them supplies to sup
port themselves for the expected duration
OF the campaign. There is a conflict OF
| testimony In reference TO the care bestowed
on the military organization in Obeid.
| According TO one account, the Mehdi drills
necessarily his followers, endeavoring to
hammer them into an efficient military or
ganizatiou. Other witnesses insist that no
serious drilling goes on at all, and that the
only military manGuyres carried on are at
the occasional assembIages which come to-
2ether when the Mehdi breaches or prays
in public. These proceedings are, how
ever, little more than a mob pa
rade. However. all evidence agree
that the soldiers arr organized into
bodies distinguished by flags, and that
mand this body, which, whatever may be
its name, is the tactical unit OF the Mehd's
army. As the immense majority OF the
men composing this force have no arms
L l.,,A L. LII IL