The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-07-21

| LS l. tlIdIeel, pdliellt, tliuullA5, oA~
like men, do not call for much COM
ment; though capable of being worked
up to high state Of efficiency and dis
cipline, and though second to none as
| workers, they are not by nature soldiers.
Their hearts are in their native villages
on the banks of the Nile, they look for
ward longingly to the day of their re-
| lease from military service, when they
may return to their tillage, tend their
| cattle and their date trees look to their
water wheels, and slumber through the
| heat of the day in some shady corner.
With the black it is far different. He
is by nature fighting man and SOL
der, and loves fighting for fighting's
sake. We had representatives of many
tribes in our ranks all with their tribal
characteristics Trusty Shillooks, long,
1.-THE Dinkas, rugged Nubas, Furs, of
whom it is said that every man Is a
thief mo pun is intended ON the Latin
equivalenD and every woman no better
than she need be. Then there We're
members of the cannibal tribes. Nyum-
nyum and Fertile, and men from far
Bagirma and from the headwaters of
the Congo. Some of these men had been
in the old Khedial army, and had even
fought against us in the ranks OF Ara
bis army at Tel-el-Kebir and had
helped to work the guns at Alexandria,
and they had almost to man led lives
teeming with adventure and of the deep
est interest. There was one old black
officer in a regiment with which l
served, by name Ali Gifoon, of the Shl-
look tribe. He had been captured by
the Gallaba slave traders as boy had
been enlisted in the Khedival army had
gone with the contingent sent to help
the French arms in Mexico, and now
wears on his breast, in addition to his
numerous other decorations, the Mexi-
can medal and a gold medal given by
the Emperor of the French for valor.'
Another officer in the same battalion,
named Omar, had accompanied Stanley
through darkest Africa, and for his ser
vices he was promoted from the ranks.
Poor Omar! He was an untamable saw
age, with hopeless liking for strong IL
quors, and I am afraid he was of little
use as an officer; among his belongings
We're two pygmies. With reference to
these pygmies remember once 70 twice
In the Soudan coming across slaves who.
from their diminutive statute and ply
sique, must have been very nearly rela-
ted to those strange dwarfsd inhabitants
of the Central African forests.
Our blacks were full of curious super
stitions, with, strange to say, an i'm
plicit belief in their white officers pow
ers as averters of the evil effects of
magic Often have ! known stalwart
Nafer (prvate) come before his COM
mandng officer in the orderly room
with the complaint that he had been
bewitched and go away quite happy
with letter to the Hakeem to give him
some medicine to break the charm. Of
ten was one told on the rifle range by a
man that his rifle was bewitched ard
one broke the supposed spell by loading
it for him, or by frinfi a round or two.
THEIR VIEWS OF THE MAHDI.
l was always curious to find out ex-
actly how the inhabitants Of the Soudan
regarded the Mahdi, whether he was
looked on a an impostor or as proph-
ct who had had bad luck; but 1t was
very difficult to get a decided expression
of opinion. My black buger Faragalla,
an ex-Dervisf, was the most expansive
"Wallahi." he would say; "he was
great man He knew how to direct his
own mans bullets to harmless rain. II
he had lived, things would not have been
as they are now What about Abu |
Klea ?" I said. He was not present; he |
never saw defeat!' was the reply. This
was SO true that 7 changed the subject,
and asked him what he thought of Os-
man Digna. "Ottman Digna ?" he said. |
sOttman Digna? He works by magic; |
he writes in the sand; and If the letters |
spell victory he remains, but III they |
spell defeat he goes.
The black Is an extremely uxorious |
man, and In the Egyptian army they
were all allowed to marry and certain
percentage were placed on the married |
strength and received an allowance for
the maintenance of their wives and |
families. With his wife and family near
him, the black is absolutely happy. the
waits upon him, cooks for him
the savory messes his soul 1oveth and
ministers generally to his comfort; the
children are his hearts delight and he
never seems so happy as when he IS
olavine with them. The surest way to
, black mans heart is through his fam
Nv. and. with judicious allowance for
,ie feelings in this direction, he is the
easiest creature in the world to manage
and control It is to be hoped that in
he "Black Empire" Of the future no
nan will think himself strong enough to
arbitrarily sever the black troops from
heir families.
AT Wadi Halfa, Assouan and Suakin
he black regiments had their married
ines outside their environments, and as
oon as parade was over they were to be
een hurrying off to them. A certain
lumber in each company were allowed
o sleep there every night and on Fri
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