a Vatthu
Commentary_, and _Vim[=a]na Vatthu Commentary_, all three published by
the P[=a]li Text Society. (T. W. R. D.)

DHANIS, FRANCIS, BARON (1861-1909), Belgian administrator, was born in
London in 1861 and passed the first fourteen years of his life at
Greenock, where he received his early education. He was the son of a
Belgian merchant and of an Irish lady named Maher. The name Dhanis is
supposed to be a variation of D'Anvers. Having completed his education
at the Ecole Militaire he entered the Belgian army, joining the regiment
of grenadiers, in which he rose to the rank of major. As soon as he
reached the rank of lieutenant he volunteered for service on the Congo,
and in 1887 he went out for a first term. He did so well in founding new
stations north of the Congo that, when the government decided to put an
end to the Arab domination on the Upper Congo, he was selected to
command the chief expedition sent against the slave dealers. The
campaign began in April 1892, and it was not brought to a successful
conclusion till January 1894. The story of this war has been told in
detail by Dr Sydney Hinde, who took part in it, in his book _The Fall of
the Congo Arabs_. The principal achievements of the campaign were the
captures in succession of the three Arab strongholds at Nyangwe,
Kassongo and Kabambari. For his services Dhanis was raised to the rank
of baron, and in 1895 was made vice-governor of the Congo State. In 1896
he took command of an expedition to the Upper Nile. His troops, largely
composed of the Batetela tribes who had only been recently enlisted, and
who had been irritated by the execution of some of their chiefs for
indulging their cannibal proclivities, mutinied and murdered many of
their white officers. Dhanis found himself confronted with a more
formidable adversary than even the Arabs in these well-armed and
half-disciplined mercenaries. During two years (1897-1898) he was
constantly engaged in a life-and-death struggle with them. Eventually he
succeeded in breaking up the several bands formed out of his mutinous
soldiers. Although the incidents of the Batetela operations were less
striking than those of the Arab war, many students of both think that
the Belgian leader displayed the greater ability and fortitude in
bringing them to a successful issue. In 1899 Baron Dhanis returned to
Belgium with the honorary rank of vice governor-general. He died on the
14th of Nov