Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-02-27
asaiseellaneuus Rsaaing.
BRAVERY OF THE ARABS.
Disaster to Detachment of Army Cam
eI Corps-Death from Thirst.

Disaster to Detachment of Army Cam
ell Corps-Death from Thirst.
A thrilling story of the bravery OF
the Arabs, our allies in Egypt, is told
by Captain Earl Percy Of the Grenad-
ier Guards in the current issue Of the
Army Review, which is the official or
gan of the imperial general staff, says
the London Chronicle. Earl Percy is
writing of the Egyptian Army Camel
,, CORPS, and he tells of disaster that
occurred to one Of its companies In
the desert west Of Dongola.
"A column which was to supply them
with provisions" he explains, having
failed to arrive at the appointed time'
the Egyptian officer in charge OF the
detachment decided that the risk OF re-
naming there was too great, and set
out to march to Dongola. The party
lost its way in the terrible sandstorms.
The women and children were discov-
cred by the belated convoy and rescu-
ed in the last stage Of exhaustion, but
of the men who had scattered In the
hope of finding water twenty perished'
including one officer.
THE incident revealed the extraor-
binary courage and endurance Of which
the Arabs are capable. Many Of them
refused to kill their camels, though the
only hope Of prolonging their lives lay
in the course always taken in such cir
cumstances Of opening the camers
stomach and drinking the water inside
it. The animals, they said, were the
property of the government, and they
were responsible for them.
THE most remarkable feat was that
of sergeant who eventually reached
water, alone, the small party that ac-
companied him having lain down to
die. Having refreshed himself and his
camel, he returned to his unconscious
comrades and revived them by pouring
water into their ears, their tongues
having by that time swollen to such an
extent that they could swallow moth
ing. The inquiry subsequently showed
the marvellous fortitude and calmness
which these men display under the
most trying circumstances.
Earl Percy also writes Of weird un-
derground fighting, where savage
tribesmen had hidden themselves, with
their cattle and other belongings, in a
burrowing that he described as vast
rabbit warren"
1icff- Of hn aYnlQinQ house
Of the Baggara, or cattle-owning tribes
the remnants Of those fierce warriors
who formed the main fighting strength
of the Dervishes. At southern Kordofan
is the country of the Nubas, remnants
of the original negro inhabitants of the
country, who have been driven into the
isolated rock hills, rising 1000 or 5000
feet above the swamps and forests.
IN these mountain Businesses" Earl
Percy continues, 'honeycombed with
caves, this strange race builds its vii
lagos, grows it's corn and tends its
herds Of sheep, cattle and goods. Gen
orally speaking, they are peaceable
enough, but some Of the clans have an
evil reputation for raiding the neigh
boring Arabs, numbering isolated par
ties that may happen to stray too near,
or carrying off their women. Most OF
the fighting done by the camel corps
has been against these tribesmen, but
it's details, however, thrilling, are hard
ly of interest to the student Of mill
tary science. The tribesmen invariably
retire, with the greater part Of their
personal property and live stock, to the
bowels of the earth, whence they main
tain hot fire on any troops who may
happen to come within range Of their
Sniders or Remingtons
"The unsatisfactory nature OF this
fighting may be understood If the read
er can imagine himself walking over
vast rabbit warren composed Of en-
ormous boulders piled to height of
some 1000 feet or 1000 feet and cover
ing several square miles in area, with
an invisible enemy beneath him whose
whereabouts it is impossible to ascer-
tain.
Officers naturally hesitated to en-
gage in underground warfare in laby-
rinths where whole battalions might
be swallowed up, and where all the ad-
vantage lay with the enemy. Latterly,
however, the problem has been tackled
n systematic manner by the camel
corps, and in recent expeditions extern
sive cave clearing operations have
been carried out.
Parties preceded by torch bearers
have explored these recesses with great
success, and though some loss has been
sustained, the Nubas now know that
their immunity is gone, and that the
arm Of the government is able to reach
them"