The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1914-03-05
BRAVERY OF THE ARABS.
Disaster to Detachment Of Army Cam
ell Corps-Death From Thirst.

gan of the imperial general statt, says
the London Chronicle. Earl Percy
is writing of the Egyptian Army
Camel corps, and he tells of a dis
aster 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 ap-
pointed time, the Egyptian officer in
charge of the detachment decided
that the risk of remaining there was
too great, and set out to march to
Do2gola. The party lost its way In
the terrible sandstorms. The women
and children were discovered by the
belated convoy and rescued in the
last stage of exhaustion, but of the
men who had scattered in the hope
of finding water twenty perished, in
cluding one officer.
"The incident revealed the extraor-
.dinary 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 circumstances of open
ing the camel's stomach and drink
ing the water inside it. The ami
mails, they said, were the property
of the government, and they were re-
sponsible for them.
"The most remarkable feat was
that of a sergeant who eventually
reached water, alone, the small party
that accompanied him having lain
down to die. Having refreshed him
self and his camel, he returned to
his unconscious comrades and reviv-
ed them by pouring water into their
ears, their tongues having by that
time swollen to such an extent that
they could swallow nothing. The in
quiry subsequently showed the mar
velous fortitude and calmness which
these men display under the most try
ing circumstances.
Earl Percy also writes of weird un-
derground fighting, where savage
tribesmen had hidden themselves,
with their cattle and other belong
ings, in a burrowing that he describ-
ed as ''vast rabbit warren"
This district, he explains, is the
house of the Baggara, or cattle-own-
ing tribes, the remnants of those
fierce warriors who formed the main
fighting strength of the Dervishes.
At southern Kordofan is the coun-
try 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
it's villages, grows it's corn and tends
its herds of sheep, cattle and goods.
Generally speaking, they are peace
able enough, but some of the clans
have an evil reputation for raiding
the neighboring Arabs, numbering
isolated parties 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, how
ever, thrilling, are hardly of inter-
est to the student of military science.
The tribesmen invariabl retire, with
the greater part of their personal pro-
perty and live stock, to the bowels
of the earth, whence they maintain
a 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
reader can imagine himself walking
over a vast rabbit warren composed
of enormous boulders piled to
height Of some 1000 feet or 1000
feet and covering several square miles
in area, with an invisible enemy
beneath him whose whereabouts it
is impossible to ascertain,
''Officers naturally hesitated to en-
gage in underground warfare in laby-
rinths where whole battalions might
be swallowed up, and where all the
advantage lay with the enemy. Lat
terly, however, the problem has been
tackled in a systematic manner by
the camel corps, and in recent expedi-
tions extensive cave clearing opera
tions have been carried out.
Parties preceded by torch bear
ers have explored these recesses with
great success, and though some loss
has been sustained, the Nubas now
1-rou, fIot fboir I'M ,o,rnpity ic COMO