Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-07
ARABY THE BLEST IN REVOLT

Arabia. known to the ancients as ARABIA
Felix" is called by the Arabs "Araby the
Blest.'' Yemen, the section
nestIess just reported as in revolt. is
Arabia. situated in the southwest of
Arabia and stretches along
the coast of the Red sea from Hedjaz to
the straitsof Bah ell Mandeb. The author
ity of the Sultan of Turkey was imposed in
the sixteenth century. but has been con-
tested since at various times by the Bed
ouin tribes which constitute the inhabitants.
Recent dispatches announce that Sana,
the capital city of the Yemen, has been
captured by the Arab insurgents and that
Manakha, garrisoned by 5000 Turks is be-
ing beseiged
The importance Of the Yemen to the Cal
iphat will be understood when it is recalled
that 1t contains within its confines the two
great cradles of Islamism, Mecca and Me-
dina. sacred cities. Mecca possesses the
kaaba. upon which every good Musulman
hopes to look: Medina, the tomb of the
Prophet, who died there A. D. G32. Jeddah.
TOO. is distinguished as containing the
grave OF our common mother Eve. The
Arabs point with pride and veneration to
a mound within the walls of the city. fully
one nundred feet long. which incloses her
sacred dust
The Yemen. aside from its sacred char
acter Is important as producing the famed
Moka Gomez, which is almost exclusively
Consumer IN Arabia or In the markets of
Bagdad. Cairo and Constantinople The
mixture known as "Moka and Java" sold
IN occidental countries, is certainly free
from Moka, and for the very potent reason
tnat It's high price in oriental markets is
suincient to preclude it's expectation.
"A special cable to The Star from Berlin
declares that Turkish diplomat in that
c e.. expresses the opinion that 1.-The revolt
ic
nrst because the leader, Cheika Hamet-el-
Din. is descendant of the Prophet. sec
ond. because the British are secretly en-
gagged In fomenting sedition throughout
The note from Berlin is In accord with In
formation reported from other quarters:
Great Britain it is said,
ianos seeks to excite the peoples of
Object. Mesopotamia, Syria and Pal
estine to Instruction, also
those along the Persian gulf to Koweit.
where she has obtained foothold, and in
the Yemen, establishing among the insur-
gents national party"
The reader will recall that Arab Pasha
the press of London as the chief of a ma
tlonai party In Egypt Nor was the Inn
preston thus created entirely disspated I'M
u! the massacre at Alexandria, the burning
u a t
Iel-el-keb1r disclosed the comic side of the
tragedy which was inaugurated by the en-
forced abdicatfon of Ismail Khedive in
1873 and British military occupation of
Egypt In 1882
There is note among others referring to
the instruction in the Yemen which de-
clares that chief of this so-called national
party has already been indicated because
Oh his name and influence. 1t will be re-
membered that Arab Pasha has been re-
turned from exile in Ceylon to Egypt and
he may be the chief Of the proposed ma
tional movement in the disaffected prov
inces of Turkey
Jeddah on the Yemen coast is an i'm
portant seaport, noted for the horrible
massacre of Christians which occurred there
In 1858. The commerce of Jeddah is con-
siderable. Its bazaars are stored with the
richest fabrics of the orient and rival those
of Cairo. Bagdad and Damascus Besides
there Is extensive trade in mother Of pearl,
coral, balsams and gums. Jeddah also is
a famous market for the Arab horses of
Nedjid, which furnish the stables of the
sultan and khedive with rare specimens
OF the Arabian stock At Jeddah, too, are
found the white asses which once were so
highly priced by the pashas and beys of
Constantinople and Cairo.
>Cheikh Said is a promontory which futs
out from the Yemen coast opposite Dji-
bouti, a French port on the African side
of the Red sea. The French government
obtained possession of Cheikh Said by the
IL
trading company. During the Franco-Prus-
sian war France abandoned the possession,
when 1t was occupied by the Turks. In
1883 and again In 1898 the writer proposed
to the French government the utility of re-
occupation of the promontory for the bet
ter protection of Djiboutf.
* x X
1t should be added just here that the oc-
casion Of the suggestion above cited was
that a group Of deputies in
french the French chamber of dep
Projects. uties had proposed to the
writer that he assume COM
mand of an expedition designed to occupy
a station the Nile between Borchambe
and Fashoda. The group represented by
M. Deloncle insisted that the expedition
should start from the Congo or Oubanghi.
The writer opposed, first, that the country
between the Oubanght and the Nile was UNI
known and doubtless extra difficult because
of its marshy character; second, that the
country from Borchambe to Fashoda was
a vast marsh whose deadly miasms would
destroy any station therein. The writer re-
fused to accept the proposition Of the group
for the reasons here stated.
Per contra, he proposed that the expedi-
ton should be preceded by the reoccupa-
ton OF Cheik Said.> in order to strengthen
Djibouti, which should be the point of de-
parture. From Djibouti the expedition
should gain Adowa and thence with an
Abyssinian army Of 100000 warriors de-
scend the Blue Nile to Khartopn destroy
the armies of the Mahdi in detail and oc-
cupy Khartoum. The writer suggested that
King John, and subsequently King Meme
Xix, might assume the protectorate of the
Soudan, and the French expedition would
occupy Khartoum under the authority
of the King of Abyssinia. Thus the road
from the cape to Cairo would be forever
barred.
The writer's proposition, needless to add,
was not adopted. NJ. Deloncle insisted upon
the route from the Oubanghi, with the re-
suit that the expedition, which was at first
confided to Col. Monteil finally fell to tho
lot of Col. Marchand, who led it valiantly
and desperately to Fashoda. of the impolicy
of which there is little need to insist.
But to return to Arabia, to Yemen, which
was In revolt in 1SS3-S4. The writer was In