ebruary 1879 a slight outbreak of discharged officers and soldiers
occurred at Cairo, which led to the despatch of British and French ships
to Alexandria. On the 26th of June of that year Ismail Pasha was removed
from Egypt, and Tewfik assumed the khediviate, becoming practically the
_protege_ of the two western powers. On the 1st of February 1881 a more
serious disturbance arose at Cairo from the attempt to try three
colonels, Ahmed Arabi, Ali Fehmy, and Abd-el-Al, who had been arrested
as the ringleaders of the military party. The prisoners were released by
force, and proceeded to dictate terms to the khedive. Again British and
French warships were despatched to Alexandria, and were quickly
withdrawn, their presence having produced no apparent impression. It
soon became clear that the khedive was powerless, and that the military
party, headed by Arabi, threatened to dominate the country. The "dual
note," communicated to the khedive on the 6th of January 1881, contained
an intimation that Great Britain and France were prepared to afford
material support if necessary; but the fall of Gambetta's ministry
produced a reaction, and both governments proceeded to minimize the
meaning of their language. The khedive was practically compelled to form
a government in which Arabi was minister of war and Mahmud Sami premier,
and Arabi took steps to extend his influence throughout his army. The
situation now became critically serious: for the third time ships were
sent to Alexandria, and on the 25th of May 1882 the consuls-general of
the two powers made a strong representation to Mahmud Sami which
produced the resignation of the Egyptian ministry, and a demand, to
which the khedive yielded, by the military party for the reinstatement
of Arabi. The attitude of the troops in Alexandria now became
threatening; and on the 29th the British residents pointed out that they
were "absolutely defenceless." This warning was amply justified by the
massacres of the 11th of June, during which more than one hundred
persons, including an officer and two seamen, were killed in the streets
of Alexandria, almost under the guns of the ships in harbour. It was
becoming clear that definite action would have to be taken, and on the
15th the channel squadron was ordered to Malta. By the end of June
twenty-six warships, representing the navies of Great Britain, France,
Germany, Italy, Austria, Russia, the United States, Spain, Greece and
Turkey, lay off the p