The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-04-25
ARMED WOMEN.
Tho Extremity to Which the Mahdf May
be Reduced.

be Reduced.
The announcement that Osman Digma
has been arming the Arab women, in
view Of supreme effort to oppose the
advance of a relief party by way of
Suakim, is not by any means absurd
From the earliest period of the history
the women of the desert tribes were as
celebrated for their skill with lance
and bow as for that bronze beauty
which the composers of the ''quasidahh
or the ''moallakat" were never weary
of describing. Before Islam it was the
boast of many Arabian tribes, as it was
afterwards of certain Tartar hordes,
that their women could fight as well as
the men, the Himaryites were among
the most famous of these All through
those ancient Arabian poems to which
Mahomet is said to have referred as
final authority for the meaning of GER
tain words or phrases in the Koran, one
finds legends of Arab girls celebrated
for their equestrianism. their dexterity
with the cimeter, and even for the num-
Der of men they have overcome in sin
gle combat Islam, by subordinating
the woman to man and destroying the
idea of female equality, did much to ex-
tinguish the warrior-spirit of the fairer
sex throughout the greater part of the
Orient; but in the deserts of Arabia and
Northern Africa something of those an
Gent ideas still prevail.
And the modern Arab woman who
acquires skill with any weapon might
well appeal to Moslem tradition in just
nf hn,. IS
When Mahomet was strnck down at the
battle OF Ohod. it was q young Arabian
woman who stood over him and fought
valiantly with bow and sabre in his be-
half-keeping back the enemy until she
herself was disabled by severe wound
in the shoulder. Still it must be OBJ
served that among the very famous
warrior-women of Islam who appeared
after the death of the Prophet, ali did not
fight in a strictly orthodox cause. We
need not refer to the prophetesses like
Sedan, or female leaders of schismatic
movements-some of whom displayed
great personal bravery and were treated
with shocking cruelty-but will confne
ourselves to brief mention of some
other renowned female warriors who
went into battle to engage in hard hand
to-hand fighting.
In the first century of the Hegira two
remarkable women fell, sword in hand,
in great battle4Djahizah and Raza-
lab, respectively the mother and the
young wife of Chebib, who aspired to
win the Caliphate by force of arms in
the days of Abdel Melik Chebib was
perhaps the finest soldier of his time; he
l.
and wife fought always by his side
Razalah on one occasion actually
made VOW to recite the second and
third chapters of the Koran in the
Mosque of Kufa while that city was in the
possession of the imperial troops. The
second chapter (Sura of the Cow con-
tains 2S6 verses; the third POO Razalah
and seventy companions unexpectedly
forced a passage through the gates Of
Kufa, galloped to the mosque and,
after the vow had been accomplished.
cut their way out again. Several times
in battle the young woman attacked the
Governor of Irak, the ferocious Hadd-
jadj, and put him to flight. The army
OF the Caliph finally overcame Chebib
in bloody engagement by mere weight
of numbers, and Razalah and Dia-
hizah died fighting to the last. In the
second century of the Hegira lived the
famous Delhemeh, or -el-Hemmeh,
whose name signifies ''Lion-heart''-
the most renowned warrior woman in
the history of Islam, and the heroine of
an enormous Arabian epic. There was
scarcely a siege or battle during the
three reigns or Ell Mandy, Ell Hady. and
of Haroun-a -Raschid in which she did
not take part Joan of Arc could
scarcely be compared with her; the huge
work in which her deeds are recorded
pictures her rather as a rival of that
wonderful type in the Nibelungen,
Brunehild. 1t does not appear that
the men to whom such women
were opposed always lacked the true
spirit of chivalry. When, during the
reign of El-Raschid, the Chief of the
Kharejites, El-Wady, was killed in bat
tie, his young sister, Alfarea-famous
for her grace, her beauty, and her poet
ical talents-buckled on her dead BROTH
er's armor, and charged, all alone the
conquering army. Yezid, the Chief,
shouted to his cavalry, "Let no man
lay finger on herr" but, riding up to
her, he struck her horse with the staff
of his lance to stay its course, and ex-
claimed, '.Shame VIII you disgrace
your tribep" 1t was not death she had
to fear, but Entertainment if captured
alive. The rough but kindly observa-
ton effected its purpose, and she rode
away in safety.
1t is not very likely that the women
OF the Arabs about Suakim-a mixed
and swarthy race-possess such physi-
cal charms as might disarm the English
soldiers, much less the Indian contin-
gent expected. But they might certain
ly in battle win the respect of those
against whom Osman Digma promises
to lead them by the same warrior
qualities which once distinguished the
women of these ancient tribes to which
the Arabs of the Soudan are related by
blOod.-London Standard.
Artificial Leeches.