Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-01-13
SAVAGE TOOLS OF WARFARE.
Interesting Exhibition in London of
Dervish Trophies and Weapons.

interesting fLXnIhitIOn III London or
Dervish Trophies and Weapons.
From the London Times.
To the relies Of many battles which are
spread out in The great banqueting room
of Whitehall. under the famous Rubens
ceiling. the Royal United Service Institu-
ton has now added an interesting collection
of dervish trophies, lent by officers who
have taken part in the Soudan expeditions
of the last three years-the loot of Ferkeh,
Hafr, Athara and Obdurman. Those who
have followed the newspaper narratives
of these campaigns should avail them
selves of this opportunity of seeing
the jibbas, barbaric weapons and quaint
armor, of which they have read so
much, before this collection is once more
scattered. On Saturday thaysiriar's sword
of honor, specimens f-tAe-neda1s struck
by Gordon and conferred as EeWards during
the siege of Khartoura. Il I'd Gone other rel
les were still wanting to the exhibition, but
il is expected that these will arrive today,
and tomorrow the cOllectioanin its entirety
will be on view 10 the pubic.
Close to the entrance of the hall are sew
eral captured banners, for the most part
white or of bright color. with prayers and
praises of 1.-The mahdi Inscribed on them in
Arabic characters One great black stand
ard riddled by bullets, is noticeable: it fell
of Chairman, and was by him given to
Lieut.. Col. II. Finn of the 2fst Lancers,
who has lent this. together with severa.
other trophies, TO the exhibition The der
wish uniforms are certaina 20 te tract a good
deal of attention. Here are TO be seen the
white cotton iibbas, With their patches of
dark blue. brown or other colored cloth.
some of them handsomely embroidered,
symbols of the rise and fall Of mahdiSm.
For it Will be remembered that the mahdi
enjoined on his followers a life of meek
ness and humility, of strict ascetcism; they
were to own no property and were 10 DC
clothed in rags and patches, in token of
their sanity poverty. But after rapine and
license had demoraIiZed the dervishes and
brought about religious decadence the
dirty patched rag gradually developed into
the luxurious Jibba, the symbolic patches
becoming neat and ornamental oblongs of
colorel cloth, symmetrically arranged upon
the snowy robe, tokens OF poverty aud es-
ceticism no longer, but of the hypocritfcai
spirit that had taken the place of the
former honest fanaticism.
There are good specimens here of the
wonderful uniform and equipment of the
dervish horsemen-th coats of chain
mail, such as were worn by the Crusaders
of old Con the breast of one of these, sup
posed to have been made in Abyssinia IN
the sixteenth century. will be observed
large cross formed of brazen links, the en-
blem of Christianity cleaning out ike dull
gold against the white stecn; their long
padded quilted coats. calculated to
deaden the force of a sword cut: their iron
helmets and casgues, fitted with chain ar
NOR and quilted shoulder pads: their quilt
ed caps of various grotesque shapes, worn
over the iron head-pieces, and their metal
armets. 1t is difficult to understand how
man and horse can support the heat and
weight of their full equipment in such
climate as that of the Soudan for it is not
only the man who is thus cumbrously
armed cap-a-pie the morse. TOO Is pro
tected by thickly padded quilts and head
arnor so that the resemblance of a derVish
emr's equipment TO that OF knight OF Old
a a tournament Is very Striking, ana, as
Satin Pasha says in his DOCK, one might
almost imagine that one was gazing at one
of those mediaeYal displays when present
AT a rnahdist cavalry review. There Is a
good sDeCimen in this collection of a horse
head-guard of embossed brass, which be
longed to an emir slain at the Atbara fight,
and has been lent by Capt. n. M. Smythe,
v C.
In the collection are several oblong and
circular shields of stout hide. such as are
carried by the Hadendoa and Raggara, and
of dervish weapons there is Goodly show
cavalry spears with shafts ten feet IN
length. and huge blades, we MADE OF one
0oaned by Col. Hatton, c. B., Grenadier
Guards who has contributed a number of
the most Interesting trophies), being nearly
two feet in length and more than eight
inches in breadth, so that II properly en-
ployed it would almost cut man IN two;
the smaller infantry spears, such as are
used for fishing and hunting by the Shl'-
look and other negroid tribes, with barbel!
or serrated heads, cruel-looking weapons
that infict dreadful wounds: the heavy,
STRAIGHT -blaled cross-handied Arab swords.
like those of the Crusaders; Knives. straight
or curiously curved, among these very re-
narkab1e weanon from kofdofan or Ny
am-Nyam with It's BLADE nent round and
having a sharpened spur attached to ii. an
executioner's instrument. possibly intended
to half encircle the neck OF the one con-
demned to decapitation
Among other noteworthy trophies are the
great war drums: handouts taken off a
prisoner found in Obdurnan; sings, made
of cowrie shells from the west coast en-
plOyed to support stone Watef-cooieFS' anu
a curiously shaped embroidered cloak OF an
Abyssinian chief similar toIone presented
by Menelek to Lord Salisbury. Few people
are aware that boomeTangs, are employed
by some South African tribes but 1t seems
that one of these weapons found its way
To chairman. and has, beent loaned to the
institution by the lst Battahpn of the Gren-
adler Guards Mai Elttslie4and the officers
of the 37th (howitzer) Field Battery. Royal
Artillery secured some valuable trophies.
which now form part OF ms collection
Among thrsa is the metal top of the now
utterly destroyed tomb OF the inaiidl; bear
ing traces of the damage inflicted by the
fre Of The above mentioned battery, and a
brass field gun believed to have been taken
nv the deryishes from Ticks fasha's Ill
fated force, ami recaptured by us at OBJ
durTn@u.
Some relics of cur former Campaigns in
Eeyp; of ihc halnz2rdGlent Of AeXacdria.
Of Tarlai Ell Teb Toski and other battles.
are also on view in the banduetiug room at
whitehall and combine with these trophies
Of more recent achievements to form "A dis
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