The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1893-03-29
THE FIGHTING DERVISHES.
SONS OF THE DESERT WHO ARE
UTTERLY FEARLESS.

OF English Sotutery Win hecE~
less Bravery.
TT is easier to turn a hungry tiger
aside from his prey than a thor
oughly excited Dervish from his
swoop on an enemy, writes COR
respondent on the London Telegraph.
His half brother in fanaticism and creed,
the Indian or Afghan Ghazi, is terrible,
but the African and Arab Dervish is
superlatively awful, with an incursble
delirium for his opponents gore.
Howling and whirling Dervishes, such
as travellers are Especially conducted to
see when visiting the East" are com
paratively harmless sort of lunatics com
paied with those types of the African
bigots who, 'converted" to Mahdism,
burn to run amuck with the rest of the
unbelieving humanity. Once fairly Bit
ten with the tarantula of Moslem sectsr-
ian zeal, the proselyte is consumed with
the belief that the delights of the
seventh or any number OF heavens await
him if he can only engage in sturdy,
steady butchery with ''infdels," of his
own or any race. 1t is matter of indif-
ference to him if, in the operation, while
he sheathes his sword in his and his
Prophets enemy, the latter is doing the
same to him. Quick and happy transla-
tion he holds as his sure reward.
The stiff fight the other day between
the Egyptian troops south of Wady
Halfa and the Mahdists recalls to me
many a bygone incident and fierce strug-
gle between British and Egyptian troops
and forces largely composed of Der
wishes. Ambigol Cataract, where the
skirmish took place, is about sixty miles
south of Wady Halfa. There is an Egyp-
tian outpost at Gemai, where the great
Second Cataract proper begins, and an
other at Ssrrass. The one station is fif-
teen miles and the other thirty-three
miles further up stream, and the railroad
line and ironclad train still run through
to both posts. No doubt when the Der
wish raiders, numbering 400 strong, were
repulsed from the forts they fell back
from the river towards the easier going
tracks inland, along which they must
have sped on their camels. The Egyp-
tian cavalry-which, under careful Eng
lish training, have learned to trust their
weapons and their own physical strength
in contest with the Bedouinese-prob-
ably not numbering more than two squad
rons, overlook the raiders at the pleas
ant aforetime camps of Ambigol. There,
no doubt, under the palm-trees' grateful
shade, hard by the rush aud roar of the
mighty river, the Egyptian troops at
once opened fire upon them. Although
the whole of the enemy we're unlikely to
have been Dervishes-for these gentry
never run away, but, when necessary,
walk sedately out of a fight, merely to
assume fresh coign of vantage-a sharp
engagement seems to have ensued. The
Mahdists, nothing loath, swarmed,
mounted and foot, up the rocky hills,
which their pursuers had, with sound,
tactical Judgment, crowned, and whence
they had opened fire.
l think it was at the battle of FL Tet
l first made the acquaintance of the
Mahdist Dervishes. The Fuzzy Wuzzy
Hadendowah tribesman is the bravest OF
the brave, but the Dervish is heroism
run crazy. These so.called "holy beg
gars," self-sworn to devote themselves
to the Prophets cause, came at General
Grahams square of marines, Highland
men, and stout linesmen as If we had
been children to be frightened by a cry.
Clad in their patchwork rags, with
shaved barred heads, many armed with
no better weapons than sticks, they
charged full in front of the fre.walled
square. Down they went by scores and
hundreds, but others quickly took up the
running toward US. | saw them that
day-more than one of them-pierced
through and through with Martini. Henry
bullet wounds, come fiercely on, reeling
like drunken men, their teeth cleaning
and eyes ahame with hatred. Happy
we're they if they could but cross
weapons with our bayonets. When ex-
hausted nature failed them, their last act
was generally to hurl the weapon they
carried, stick, lance, or sword, toward
our ranks, and shout an Arab impreca-
tion against US, "Nosrani!' (Nazaruno y
An old gray-haired sheik actually
charged the square reading the Koran
aloud, which he held in his hands.
Later on, when Sir Herbert (tben
CoIoneD Stewart charged the worsted
Arab footmen with his two regi-
ments of cavalry, their mounted
Dervishes faced his whole force and
boldly charged them in return. Again,
at Tamai, when the Arabs broke into
General Davis's square, where l was,
and having temporarily captured our six
machine guns, on which they danced in
fiendish glee, the Dsrvishes were in the
forefront of the attack. A big marine,
who had baYoneted one of them, found
his rifle caught and clutched by the IA
matte savage, who stroVe TO wrench his
foeman with his sword. 1t was at the
moment we were being driven back, and
while the marine tugged and swore to
get his weapon free, the Teeling Dervish
essayed with his parting strength to slay
or wound our TOMMY Atkins. In the
desperate battle at Abu-Klea, similar
scenes occurred. | state it as a fact, OF
which took personal note at the time,
that during the melee in which Colonel
Burnaby fell, Dervish, who had struck
that officer, and was promptly bayoneted
through the back, twisted about while
the steel was protruding, and tried to
thrust his lance into the soldier. Even
the crippled and wounded Dervishes on
the fold Of battla Law in wait 10 gtah tba.