lf.'
[Slatin, FIRE AND SWORD, p.135.] The terrified messenger withdrew. The
rebellion of the Mahdi had begun.

Both the priest and the Governor-General prepared for military
enterprise. The Mahdi proclaimed a holy war against the foreigners,
alike the enemies of God and the scourge of men. He collected his
followers. He roused the local tribes. He wrote letters to all parts of
the Soudan, calling upon the people to fight for a purified religion,
the freedom of the soil, and God's holy prophet 'the expected Mahdi.'
He promised the honour of men to those who lived, the favour of God
to those who fell, and lastly that the land should be cleared of the
miserable 'Turk.' 'Better,' he said, and it became the watchword of
the revolt, 'thousands of graves than a dollar tax.' [Ohrwalder, TEN
YEARS' CAPTIVITY IN THE MAHDI'S CAMP.]

Nor was Raouf Pasha idle. He sent two companies of infantry with one gun
by steamer to Abba to arrest the fanatic who disturbed the public peace.
What followed is characteristically Egyptian. Each company was commanded
by a captain. To encourage their efforts, whichever officer captured the
Mahdi was promised promotion. At sunset on an August evening in 1881
the steamer arrived at Abba. The promise of the Governor-General had
provoked the strife, not the emulation of the officers. Both landed with
their companies and proceeded by different routes under the cover of
darkness to the village where the Mahdi dwelt. Arriving simultaneously
from opposite directions, they fired into each other, and, in the midst
of this mistaken combat, the Mahdi rushed upon them with his scanty
following and destroyed them impartially. A few soldiers succeeded in
reaching the bank of the river. But the captain of the steamer would run
no risks, and those who could not swim out to the vessel were left to
their fate. With such tidings the expedition returned to Khartoum.

Mohammed Ahmed had been himself wounded in the attack, but the faithful
Abdullah bound up the injury, so that none might know that God's Prophet
had been pierced by carnal weapons. The effect of the success was
electrical. The news spread throughout the Soudan. Men with sticks
had slain men with rifles. A priest had destroyed the soldiers of
the Government. Surely this was the Expected One. The Mahdi, however,
profited by his victory only to accomplish a retreat without loss of
prestige. Abdullah had no illusions. More troops would be sent. They
were too n