A Regular Revenue Attested The
Existence Of Trade.
But disasters fell in heavy succession on the Eastern
Soudan and blighted the prosperity of its mud metropolis.
In 1885, after a
long siege and a stubborn resistance, Kassala was taken by the Dervishes.
The garrison were massacred, enslaved, or incorporated in the Mahdi's army.
The town was plundered and the trade destroyed. For nearly ten years an
Arab force occupied the ruins and a camp outside them. Kassala became a
frontier post of the Dervish Empire. Its population perished or fled to the
Italian territory. This situation might have remained unaltered until after
the battle of Omdurman if the Dervishes had been content with the
possession of Kassala. But in 1893 the Emir in command of the garrison,
being anxious to distinguish himself, disobeyed the Khalifa's instructions
to remain on the defensive and attacked the Europeans at Agordat. The Arab
force of about 8,000 men were confronted by 2,300 Italian troops, protected
by strong entrenchments, under Colonel Arimondi. After a fierce but
hopeless attack the Dervishes were repulsed with a loss of 3,000 men,
among whom was their rash leader. The engagement was, however,
as disastrous to Italy as to the Khalifa. The fatal African policy of
Signor Crispi received a decided impetus, and in the next year, agreeably
to their aspirations in Abyssinia, the Italians under General Baratieri
advanced from Agordat and captured Kassala. The occupation was
provisionally recognised by Egypt without prejudice to her sovereign
rights, and 900 Italian regulars and irregulars established themselves in a
well-built fort. The severe defeat at Adowa in 1896, the disgrace of
Baratieri, the destruction of his army, and the fall of the Crispi Cabinet
rudely dispelled the African ambitions of Italy. Kassala became an
encumbrance. Nor was that all. The Dervishes, encouraged by the victory of
the Abyssinians, invested the fort, and the garrison were compelled to
fight hard to hold what their countrymen were anxious to abandon. In these
circumstances the Italian Government offered, at a convenient opportunity,
to retrocede Kassala to Egypt. The offer was accepted, and an arrangement
made. The advance of the Khedivial forces into the Dongola province
relieved, as has been described, the pressure of the Dervish attacks.
The Arabs occupied various small posts along the Atbara and in the
neighbourhood of the town, and contented themselves with raiding.
The Italians remained entirely on the defensive, waiting patiently for
the moment when the fort could be handed over to the Egyptian troops.
The Sirdar had no difficulty in coming to a satisfactory arrangement
with General Caneva, the Italian commander. The fort was to be occupied by
an Egyptian force, the stores and armament to be purchased at a valuation,
and a force of Italian Arab irregulars to be transferred to the Egyptian
service. Sir H. Kitchener then returned to the Nile, where the situation
had suddenly become acute. During November Colonel Parsons, the 16th
Egyptian Battalion, and a few native gunners marched from Suakin, and on
the 20th of December arrived at Kassala. The Italian irregulars -
henceforth to be known as the Arab battalion - were at once despatched to
the attack of the small Dervish posts at El Fasher and Asubri, and on the
next day these places were surprised and taken with scarcely any loss.
The Italian officers, although a little disgusted at the turn of events,
treated the Egyptian representatives with the most perfect courtesy,
and the formal transference of Kassala fort was arranged to take place
on Christmas Day.
An imposing ceremonial was observed, and the scene itself was strange.
The fort was oblong in plan, with mud ramparts and parapets pierced for
musketry. Tents and stores filled the enclosure. In the middle stood the
cotton factory. Its machinery had long since been destroyed, but the
substantial building formed the central keep of the fort. The tall chimney
had become a convenient look-out post. The lightning-conductor acted as a
flagstaff. The ruins of the old town of Kassala lay brown and confused on
the plain to the southward, and behind all rose the dark rugged spurs of
the Abyssinian mountains. The flags of Egypt and of Italy were hoisted.
The troops of both countries, drawn up in line, exchanged military
compliments. Then the Egyptian guard marched across the drawbridge into
the fort and relieved the Italian soldiers. The brass band of the 16th
Battalion played appropriate airs. The Italian flag was lowered, and with
a salute of twenty-one guns the retrocession of Kassala was complete.
Here, then, for a year we leave Colonel Parsons and his small force
to swelter in the mud fort, to carry on a partisan warfare with the Dervish
raiders, to look longingly towards Gedaref, and to nurse the hope that when
Omdurman has fallen their opportunity will come. The reader, like the
Sirdar, must return in a hurry to the Upper Nile.
Towards the end of November the Khalifa had begun to realise
that the Turks did not mean to advance any further till the next flood
of the river. He perceived that the troops remained near Berber, and that
the railway was only a little way south of Abu Hamed. The blow still
impended, but it was delayed. As soon as he had come to this conclusion,
he no longer turned a deaf ear to Mahmud's solicitations. He knew that the
falling Nile would restrict the movements of the gunboats. He knew that
there were only 2,000 men in Berber - a mere handful. He did not realise
the tremendous power of rapid concentration which the railway had given
his enemies; and he began to think of offensive operations. But Mahmud
should not go alone. The whole strength of the Dervish army should be
exerted to drive back the invaders. All the troops in Omdurman were ordered
north. A great camp was again formed near Kerreri. Thousands of camels were
collected, and once more every preparation was made for a general advance.
At the beginning of December he sent his own secretary to Mahmud to explain
the plan, and to assure him of early reinforcements and supplies.
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