| Show I SHOT AND SHEll A Sunday Surprise for the British Brit-ish Forces The Arabs Break the English Lines But Are Finally Routed A HandtoHand Fight and No Quarter Given Yesterdays Fight SUAKIJI March 22While the detachments detach-ments of English and Indian infantry were making Zereba seven miles southwest south-west of Suakirri today they were suddenly I sud-denly surprised by a rush of Arabs who I were massed and concealed in defiles west of Hasheen The English formed I squares as quickly as possible but the camels mules and horses were driven back in confusion on the troops causing a stampede and amid clouds of dust the Arabs penetrated the south and north sides of the square Meanwhile the marines and the Berkshire regiment who were on the east and west sides of the squares maintained a continuous fire holding the enemy at bay while a charge of the cavalry and fire from the guns at Zereba checked the onslaught of the Arabs which at the onset threatened serious disaster to the British General Graham reports the English losses as far as known two officers and twentytwo men killed and thirtythree more wounded Losses of the engineers and transport corps and Indian troops are not yet reported Unofficial estimates place the British killed at fiftytwo and the wounded at eightyfive Nearly all the casualties were due to the spear thrusts received in handtohand engagements The Arabs got between the transport train and Zereba and speared the men of the transports corps and killed the animals They fought savagely refusing to give or take quarter General McNeil who commanded com-manded the zereeba reports vaguely that there were several thousand rebels in the fight and over 1000 were killed or wounded McNeil is blamed I for not taking sufficient precautions but the appearance and yells of the Arabs were so sudden that the whole assemblage became panic stricken and surged on Zereba making resistance hopeless The scene was indescribable Arabs glided and crept in all directions among the animals Haddendowas swarmed from the bush like magic and attacked Zereba fiercely on all sides Soudanese coolies were mistaken for enemies and many killed by their friends The Berkshire regiment and marines stood firm and cool and fired I volley after volley into ranks of the enemy The naval brigade inside of Zereba also opened a hot fire and the Indian I troops held their own gallantly as soon II I as they were able to close square again I I Eventually unable to stand the musketry mus-ketry rattling the enemy disappeared as I they came General McNeil drew in all of his forces and stood to arms The hussais brought in the wounded though j menaced by an Arab camel force which watched their movements vigilantly The I j I desert is dotted in every direction with I i runaway animals The enemys loss I must be heavy The camp at Suakim is prepared for a renewal of the attack but I I is yet unmolested I THE ATTACK RENEWED SUAKIM March 23The enemy began the attack at 3 oclock this morning They were repulsed and the ground cleared by 4 oclock The damage done to the transport was material yesterday On Sunday morning immense guards and artillery were sent to reinforce the troQPs attacked while the British force remained re-mained on the field during the night Camels and mules were hamstrung by Arabs and scores of the camp followers cut off by Arabs scattered about in the whole vicinity intercepting native fugitives fugi-tives KORTI March 22General Wolseley and staff eo to Dongola Tuesday Prince Hassan left Assouan for Wady Halfax CAN HOLD TIlE FORT LONDON March 22Advices from Massowah state that the rebels who have been reinforced from Berber attacked Kassala but were repulsed The governor gov-ernor of Kassala states that he can holdout hold-out for some time and will burn the town rather than submit to the rebels It is I supposed that he has a fresh supply of provisions EL MARDI WREAKING VENGEANCE KORTI March 22The Mahdi has sentenced sen-tenced many of the ratives to death for not revealing treasure supposed to be hidden hid-den at Khartoum Many slave women from Khartoum are being sold in the vicinity of Korti at 100 each ANOTHER BATTLE EXPECTED The heat is oppressive Two hundred and fifty sick and wounded today sail for England Later official accounts place the losses of the Arabs in yesterdays fight at 1000 all told If this figure is correct the losses of the enemy exceeded those of the British less than in any battle bat-tle of the past three years Osman Digna has 25000 men at Tamai General Graham will reach Tamai and give Os man Digna battle tomorrow It will be a pitched fight and probably more decisive decis-ive than any that has yet occurred THE ADVANCE TONIGHT SUAKIM March 23A general advance towards Tamai will be made tonight by Graham During the advance Suakim will be garrisoned by sailors The works at Zereba constructed by General Mc Neil will be shifted because of the intolerable intol-erable effects of the rapid decomposition of hundreds of bodies of the slain Arabs I lying close around A spy reports the hostile Arabs growing in numbers around Hasheen A number of heavy guns have been forwarded to the front TIlE BRITISH AND ARAB LOSSES The guards have returned from Zereba Total British loss during the fight on Sunday was five officers and fiftyone privates killed 170 wounded The rebel I loss was fully 1500 In the rush a large number of rebels entered a corner of Zereba and in a desperate fight which ensued there every Arab was killed The latest dispatch gives the Arab loss at 3000 |
