Show wj 1 I 1 i y e case oaf 18 exactly four years ago ane who has just caused such a serious reverse 0 o the British troops in yoma liland was first heard of this is how consul general badjer wrote from berberion Berbe raon aprill 1809 to the mar quis of Salisbury 1 A PER byAL op return from zeila n the die of lafe nion thI found conflicting rea ports current in barbera doings ofa malulah by name ikaji mii Abdul liili in trie country who is said was collecting anna and men with a view to establishing over the southeastern of the protectorate it waa also freely rumored eliat his ultimate object should he find himself strong enough was to head a religious expedition against the abyssinians Abyssinia ns this llari aldullah belongs to the llabre suleiman tribe be married into tho ali geri among whom he now live IKs place of residence is kob fardos a village in habited by mullans mullahs a days barcli from berrit and distant about one hundred miles from barbera Ber bera lie is a man in the prime of life and hi person is described as dark colored tall and thin wita a small goat beard he hag made several pilgrimages to mecca buring the la st three years at mecca he attached himself to the sect of mn hammed salih whose deputy he claims to be in Soma liland there la no roam to doubt but that he is now organizing a religious expedition antagonist io to abo tion such was the man who formed a religious and quasi national movement and bade defiance to the authorities in atiland FIRST interior INTEri Oy fp ra number ot months nothing was done ly ehg british and i was thought the best course would be to leave the mullah alone and to let the movement subside if it would it did no subside As the year 1899 wore on the mullah advanced on barbera with 1500 men the foreign office hastily discussed the organization of a force there was much hesitation and delay and little tt as done even during 1900 then tha abyssinians Abyssinia ns attacked and in a sanguinary battle at jig jigga in the ogaden country defeated the AIn llah from they had received much annoyance single handed this righting however threw the mul lati back against ane british authorities for he again turned his attention to the barbera district and after the whole colony had been in a state of uneasiness for a long period it was decided to start with a strong expedition in 1901 col swayne command one or sharp skirmishes took place but owing to the british force not being sufficiently strong and apparently not having real backing from the foreign office an opportunity was lost of inflating a crushing blow for ultimately the mu lah got away south across he baud june 1001 A REYERS fi event up to the prid of aj which period the mul baji again resumed offensive operations against the friendly british tribes in liland col swayne accordingly reorganized his forces locally and at tera slow advance throughout the whole of the year a revere engagement in october last with the mullah at erigo near Gal kayu unquestionably thi s was a british ur for col swayne lost two officers killed and wounded fifty men killed and over a this encounter caused colonel swayne vo fall ack on Bo hotle and the foreign office seeing mat the campaign could no longer be run on the cheap as it had hitherto been rea ofed to fit put a force which would adequately cope with anny opposition which might bo forthcoming ancl which it was hoped would dispose of the mullah once and for all troops were transported froin india the local levies which had proved BO tory were disbanded and trained native regiments were brought up from central africa the situation before general manning advanced was thus succinctly summed up in a memorandum dran up in the italians and british authorities ties and presumably it still hold good this reviewed the situation anial came lo 10 tha ahat an exclusively clu defensive scheme against the mullah must almost inevitably have aeri ieri oua results in the future loth or the italian and british governments the report continued the situation in Soma liland closely analogous to that which existed in the sudan after the establishment of the influence ot the ilia maje government then tried tor many years a defensive policy which led to BO great no increase of he mabris power that a of campaigns on a large scale had to be undertaken before be was finally crushed the ia undoubtedly following in the mabria he has already conceived large designs of absorbing Boma liland and building zip an empire in northeast afrum therefore immediate action seems necessary and whilo it ia impossible to eliminate every unfavorable chance tho plan which waa the present campaign appears to the military advisers of bis government the minimum risk having regard to all the circumstances cum stances 0 the cae A great secret of the Mul laha strength ii hta mobility ho can travel at about a hundred a day in aeao of need uh follower follo wem anre in spirited by his unquestionable successes in recent times aad they are very well armed lie can count five to ten thousand men armed wih billea all secretly and illicitly imported into alie country and about men provided with only ahn country t nl in his favor water in very scanty the land i mostly in the extreme to of rock and sand the densest almo bush and scrub alier a for in stance at arego the lingle growth BO high that one can hardly sen ahli neighbor food ia and tho sun as a rule burns with pitiless force then too the Soroa lh though cally less powerful than the dervishes whose methods of fighting they some what favor are bom warrior and by no means despicable itcea they are abo cutely without tear of death aro quite face rafla fire ond in campaigns irtis never wavered buforo and giffei on every po sible occasion they leave attempted to storm abo british and caba they succeeded in partially break ing the british binm but witt much success they fairly wr but as air ulc rather aleh and th alone on previous occasion has the british force from loss they at use their spears both for aliro nang and stabbing purposes andin addition occasionally casio nally employ stones and wooden clubs they show great cleverness in ambushes and earthworms earthworks earth works than did the dervishes no quarter is ever given by them in fighting nor is any ever expected by the troops who ace them the wounded are awas massacred and as a rule mutilated there no tou the mullah as at an aly date thoroughly warned of the arc sen t british plan of campaign by arrangement ili italy is being conducted on wha it territory inasmuch advie enemy have been accustomed to make the inaccessible hinterland their headquarters annl then to descend in blaids into anc british phare accordingly the steadily fell back before the british advance apparently patently ly just a lasit year waiting to strike a blow and his he has at last done the outlook for the future is of course undecided I 1 is tin expensive campaign and as sir balbour remarked at the mansion house is costing us far more in money and men than the venezuelan altair evenia the operations are continued it is difficult to see what can liappes unless by some fortuitous circumstances jt be blo to capture the mullah ho is not likely to take the ive talk of smashing him is not supported by choso who know tha country on the other hand the mullah has started a religious movement the end of which it is difficult to foresee and his present victory is likely to increase nis prestige among the tribe and to facilitate the extensive importation of arms which is still being carried on he has at any rate conclusively demonstrated the falsity of the strange epithet of mad which was applied to him much earlier in his campaign against the british his military arc who imo conio n to bo astute philp a nn organizer ho lu proved hia ability fay e tab lishing fifa rulo oica fiut tracts of country |