Brighouse & Rastrick Gazette. — 1888-07-28 (Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England)

DESPERATE FIGHTING WITH ARABS. A letter has been received by an Edinburgh gentle. man from a relative in the Lake Nyassa region of Central Africa, giving information down to the middle of May. He gives an idea of how matters were at that time in the Lake region, the tidings being brought down from the Lake by the Ilala. Mr. Buchanan, acting consul, had gone with a party to endeavour to make peace with the Arabs, after which he left for the-south. The party on board the Ilala, assisted by natives with guns, and backed up by Wankonda warriors with spears, repared to attack the stockaded towns of the Arabs, marching from the intrenchment at Karongas to Salema's Town, six miles distant. Firing was commenced from behind an ant-heap with an elephant gun and fiery darts, the latter of which set fire to the thatched huts of the Arabs. A "crow's nest" for Arab sharpshooters was demolished, and it is said that Salema, the head chief, was killed at this time. ' A rush was to have been made by the besiegers, who were to have been signalled by the leader of the party, but as lie raised his arm to signal it was shattered by an Arab bullet, and in the interval the Arabs from another town—Kopa-Kopa—sallied out ' and attackeu the right flank of the whites, but were driven back. A council of war was held, when two came away ...111 the Bala, and seven whites remained to defend themselves until reinforcements arrived. The writer goes on to say: "It is not a mere company squabble with the Arabs. It is on their side a war of extermination. They wish to root out from the region the influence of the white people, and while at present it is merely a few of the Arabs who are trying to drive us out (we having the goodwill of others of the same class) there are sufficient scoundrels round the Lake who will unite, if suczess is likely, to make it impossible for white men, whether missionaries or traders, to exist. We nay soon be fighting for our lives." The horrors of slavery and Arab atrocity are, he says, "despite what England may think, very real, and Lake Nyassa is the very centre of the brutal trade. He is of opinion that a gunboat on Nyassa; one on Tanganyika, and a few handy men at the business could make things as snug as possible over thousands of miles. They were a strong party at Mandela, and should give the Arabs a thorough dressing. The towns about to be stormed by a party which goes to the front are well stockaded with bullet-proof wood." He adds that there are rumours, which may prove unfounded, that the Rev. Stewart Wright and a Mr. Jones have been murdered. Inquiries will be made at Tanganyika.  A terriblc• suicide was committed at Blackburn on Saturday by Mr. John Gellibrand, a wholesale stationer and newsagent, with a common table-kuife. He nearly severed his head from his body. • ' • ' ' • - •  The anxiety which has been felt at Sheerness for some weeks past with respect to the dockyard, on account of the evidence given by Professor Elgar before the House of Commons Committee on the Navy Estimates, has been allayed by the receipt of a letter from the War Office, stating that no interference is contemplated with the present dockyard establishment. Professor Tyndall, writing to a gentleman in Ayr on the subject of the late election, says' if the good and true men of Ayr knew the goal to which Mr. Gladstone was leading them they would not have acted as they had recently done. It was not his wild Home Rule scheme or his politics in any sense that constituttd the saddest phenomenon to his (Professor Tyndall's) mind, but that he, being what he was should wield 6-sah Dower over honest men.