WHITE LEADERS OF SAVAGES

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8292, 22 September 1903, Page 4

WHITE LEADERS OF SAVAGES

"NJe-w York Sun.) . '. Tt, nearly every war between savage tribes S The British troops campaignmg in <WHand are learning to their cost that Se S Alnllab is assisted by a white man familiar with the art of modern -warfare. Hk rSme is Karl Inger. He was an officer £ army until a year or two ™o «\n English officer, Captain Thorp, of Yorkshire Light Infantry, who knew him %uaa P«th, speaks of him as an exceptionalv brniLt solder, with a natural gift for tictics and for commanding men Inger , used to speak bitterly against the English, and was fond of expressing sympathy with the native forces in their struggles with civili4bn. He would rail by the hour against of the Indians m the United ■ States and the Kafirs in South Africa- and the Hindus in India. He disappeared from Buda-Pesth shortly after the outbreak in i Somaliland, and bis acquaintances were not surprised to hear that he was fighting as I lieutenant of the -Mad Mullah Native spies reported that ho adopted the Mohammedan religion in Cairo and was taken to the •Mullah's camp through Italian Somaliland by some Arab pilgrims whom he met m Cairo on their return from Mecca It is asserted that he had much, to do with stirring up the recent war and persuading the Mad Mullah to defy the British. Curiously enough his old acquaintance, Captain Thorp, has been "seconded" from his regiment and attached to the Somaliland field force as a special service officer. Ihus they m-eb fac- to face- in battle. In that case one or the other is likely to go under for Captain Thorp, in common with the other officers of the British force lias vowed tQ risk the uttermost peril to slay this; traitor to civilisation, who is held responsible for the cutting-up of Colonel Swayues expedition some months ago. It is said that Lord Lansdowne, the British Foreign Minister, confidentially asked the Austrian Government whether it was true j that Inger had joined the Mullah. The Aus j trian Government replied that there was reason to believe that he had, and added a hope that if he was caught, he would receive no mercv. Inger appears to be gifted with th- qualities that impress ths savage mind. He is skilful in planning ambushes and stratagems, and is specially valuable to the Mullah because,- nowing the effects of rifle fire and Maxim fire, he prevents the Somalis from madly facing it and being mowed down like corn, as the dervishes were at Omdurman. He takes care that they shall fight the British troops in L ne jungle under conditions which make the superior arms of the latter ineffective. British officers say that the trouble in Somaliland would have been over long ago but for Karl Inger. 1 hi were caught by the native troops ur.cntrolled by an officer he would probably die by slow torture. A Zanzibari spy who has penetrated into the Mullah's camp asserts that Inger has made up his mind to shoot himself rather than be captured. Another renegade from civilisation, and one of the most notorious, is Osman Digna, the De Wet of the Soudan. He was the right hand man of the Mahdi and afterwards of the Khalifa. Ever since 1882 he has been a thorn in the side of the British. For many years he was supposed to be an Arab chief tain, but Slatin Pasha found that he is a white man, born of Scottish parents in Cairo. It isysaid that he was in the employment of the 'Government of Egypt m his youth, but was cashiered for theft and blackmail on the complaints of some European merchants in Cairo. Burning for revenge, he went, south and joined the Mahdi immediately the latter raised the standard of revolt against Egypt in 1882. He soon became known as the bestgeneral of the dervishes, inflicting defeat after defeat on the British and Egyptian troops, massacring whole armies, capturing cities and devastating many hundreds of miles of country. He took no prisoners, spared no neutrals. Wherever his swift cavalry and camel corps went they left atrail of desolation behind them. Many efforts were made to capture or kill 'Osman Digna, but all without- success. A former captive in the camp of the Khalifa says that an Abyssinian whom he had injured stabbed Osman violently over the heart. The knife broke in two, but lOsman was uninjured. Naturally the ignorant'dervishes thought he was invulnerable. The simple explanation is that he wore a coat of very fine chain armour under his burnouse. British officer recently tells how he came in band-to-hand combat with Osman when the dervishes broke the British square at Tel-el-Kebir. "I got a tbrus*. with my sword right home on his chest," said the officer, "and it should have gone through him, but his confounded chain armour turned the point of the weapon. A rush of the dervishes then swept us I remember him as a very tall and powerful man, with a most ferocious expression. He fought like a madman. His skin is tanned brown, by i the sun, but he looks like a white man, and i I noticed that his eyes are light blue." When !-the power of the Khalifa was utterly broken at Omdurman in IS9B, Osman pigha escaped the slaughter, off the' fields '.with- .a small, body of picked' horsemen .before --the ; batflfe" was over. texly disappoihted, ; and' sent expedition after expedition in pursuit of/him. Most of his, cdrnraaesV;ihcludihg *i3ie J Khalifa; tufedarid"slain, but Osman' always escaped. He is now dwelling with the Mabas, a Mahommedon negro race, who are the ruling tribe in. the Kingdom of Wadai. Natives assert that soon after Osman found refuge there he conspired with Abu Said, a'son of the,former King of Wadai, to assassinate the feigning King. The conspiracy; .was successful. "•"'.';, Abu .Said now rules over Wadai, with: Osman as his "Prime Minister. They are

.-supported by hordes:of the. finest and most fanatical native figKting ineh in-Africa, including the remnants of the Khalifa's forces. The "English and French.",, authorities in the i Soudan expect that ;Wadai will give them serious trouble in the near future, now that Osman is there. They fear it will be the centre of another outbreak as. formidable as the Mahdi's. By an Anglo-French agreeI ment made in March, 1899, Wadai was assigned to -France. But in Africa it is one thing .to assert authority and another thing to enforce it. Osman told the natives of the aoreement, and they became indignant and resolved to fight the unbelievers. But Osman restrained them. He has learned by experience the power of a civilised army, and he does not mean to fight one again until he has a reasonable hope of success. The new Sultan of Wadai has accepted Turkish suzerainty, and in return the Sultan of. Turkey has refused to recognise the AngloFrench agreement of 1899 and is lending his influence in support of the plots of Osman. Those who know the man declare that Osman, inspired by- his indomitable hatred of his own race, will never rest until he has stirred up another war and drenched 'Central Africa in blood. The Dark Continent is full of these romantic stories of traitors to civilisation. One of the strangest is that of Captain Voulet. He was a French military officer in the employment of the Governor-General of French West Africa. He' had command of a column of native troops in 1899 and was ordered to march toward Lake Tchad and explore the vast stretch of new territory which had been just assigned to France by the Anglo-French agreement. It was an important mission, and Captain Voulet might have made a name for himself and become a second Major Marchand. But he had more ambitious dreams. He was fired by the example of Rahab, "the black Napoleon," who, starting lin life as a slave of • Zebr Pasha, became the greatest conqueror and monarch in Africa, and was, at that moment, successfully fighting the French. "Let. us," he said to his subordinate, Captain Chanoine, "become kings in our own right. This country belongs to the"men who can take it. ■ Let us carve out an empire for ourselves. We have a 6mall army who will follow us in everything without asking the reason why." Chanoine agreed. They immediately threw off their allegiance to France and attacked village after village, tribe after tribe, with their column of troops. Some French non-commissioned officers who objected to this treachery were promptly murdered. Natives were massacred by hundreds and thousands, until the two renegades established a reign of terror over a wide area of the country. News of these strange doings soon reached the French Colonial Office, and a small expedition under Lieut.-Colonel Klobb and Lieut. Meunler was dispatched to find out the truth. Klobb overtook Voulet at Sinder, in Damangar, half way between the Niger and Lake Tchad. He asked for a parley, but Voulet refused to allow him. to approach, threatening to fire on his party. Klobb advanced, shouting that he had come in peace and would not fire. Voulet received him with a volley. Klobb and most of the escort fell dead. Meunier, severely wounded, was borne away into the jungle by the survivors and escaped to tell the story to the authorities. Voulet and Chanoine were outlawed and a strong expedition sent against them. Before it could reach them they were shot by some of their own men whom they had brutally flogged. The natives who had been under their command gave themselves up to the authorities. So ended Captain Voulet's dream of becoming an African Emperor. Renegade whites fought for the Ashantis against the British during Sir Francis Scott's expedition in 1895, and also when Sir Frederick and Lady Hodgson were beseiged in Kumassi in 1900. On the latter occasion a white, who was believed to be an Englishman, was frequently seen trying to induce the Ashantis to assault the entrenchments of Kumassi. The .British officers risked_ their' lives over and over again attempting to slay him, but without success. R;necade whites have often fought against the British flag in. the little wars on the north-western frontier of India. An officer who was dismissed in disgrace from the Indian army for having told falsehoods in an official report is known now to be living with a Pathan tribe. He is believed to have frequently fought against his former comrades. A former officer of the Russian Ann y_ named Leontieff is in the service of the_ Negus of Abyssinia. Opinions are divided as to whether he is simply a renegade white, as lie appears to be on the surface, or a secret agent of the Czar. During the Philippine campaigns several American deserters fought in the ranks of the Filipinos. Some were killed in battle and two or three were captured and hanged.