As the rebellion spread eastward, Osman the Ugly hastened thither and further inflamed it. This man was a slave trader, whose chief grievance was that he had been ruined by the prohibition of the vile traffic. For a time he had a victorious career, completely annihilating force after force of Egyptian troops. During his investment of Sinkat and Tokar, Baker Pasha was despatched with a force of 3,600 men to the relief of those two towns. But here another terrible slaughter of the Egyptian troops took place in the battle--or rather, the massacre--of El-Teb. An eye witness says of this: "Inside the square the state of affairs was almost indescribable. Cavalry, infantry, mules, camels, falling baggage and dying men were crushed into a struggling, surging mass. The Egyptians were shrieking madly, hardly attempting to run away, but trying to shelter themselves one behind another." "The conduct of the Egyptians was simply disgraceful," said another English officer; "armed with rifle and bayonet, they allowed themselves to be slaughtered without an effort at self-defence, by savages inferior in numbers and armed only with spears and swords." Seeing the uselessness of attempting to rally such material, Baker, with his staff, put spurs to his horse and charged the enemy. This small band of determined men cut their way through the formidable array of swords and lances. Soon after this the defenders of Sinkat, finding their stores almost exhausted, decided to fight their way out. Accordingly, 400 men, with many women and children, set out from the town. The men fought valiantly, but they were overpowered by numbers, and only six men and thirty women were left to tell the horrible tale of butchery. Meanwhile Tokar was still under siege, and Sir Gerald Graham was sent with a small force to relieve it. At El-Teb he came in contact with the Mahdi's forces; this time the victory was on our side. Having crushed the Mahdi for the time being, he set out for Suakin, which was the concentration point of the Government in its now extensive preparations to humble Osman Digna. They had called on the rebel chiefs to lay down their arms, but the call had met with a most defiant reply. Sir Gerald advanced on Tamai and bivouacked within a mile of the enemy's position. All night long the British were harassed by shot and shell, but victory came in the morning, though with regrettable loss of life. It was none the less crushing, however, and was followed by a temporary cessation of hostilities. It was not until the following spring that Osman Digna had recuperated sufficiently to face the British troops again. In the campaign which followed, his hordes were successful until after the battles of Hasheen and Tofrek.