The Egyptian campaigns, 1882 to 1885Royle, Charles
History
The Egyptian campaigns, 1882 to 1885
Royle, Charles
Egypt -- History -- British occupation, 1882-1936; Sudan -- History
The rest of the night passed quietly and without incident. The
population mostly remained indoors, and detachments of soldiers with
fixed bayonets guarded the various Consulates and stationed themselves
at the corners of all the principal streets. But for these
circumstances, and for the broken _débris_ from the wrecked shops and
houses, there was little to indicate that anything unusual had taken
place.
There are no means of arriving accurately at the numbers killed on the
11th June, but they have been estimated, by competent persons, at one
hundred and fifty Europeans, besides natives.[15] Many of the latter are
known to have been carried off to the houses at nightfall and then
secretly buried. The European doctors who visited the hospitals on the
following day found forty-nine bodies--forty-four of which were
Europeans. Thirty-seven were so battered as to be unrecognizable.
Seventy-one persons were also found wounded; of these, thirty-six were
Europeans, two Turks, and thirty-three natives. Of those killed or
wounded, some had received stabs on their bodies, but the majority had
their injuries inflicted by naboots. One witness speaks to having seen
several cartloads of bodies thrown, at night, into the sea near the
Western Harbour, and it is quite possible that many were so disposed of.
In a fluctuating population, such as that of Alexandria, it is obvious
that many persons might disappear and never be inquired for.
The Governor, on the 12th, visited the sacked and looted quarters of the
town, and took note of the houses injured. He also arrested and
imprisoned between two and three hundred natives who had taken part in
the riot of the previous day.
On the same day, the women and children, who had taken refuge at the
British Consulate, embarked under an escort provided by the Governor.
Thousands of other Europeans of all nationalities also went afloat, and
during the whole day the streets were blocked with fugitives. At first
these were cursed and spat upon by the natives as they passed, but later
on they were allowed to go by unmolested.
In Cairo a meeting was held at which the Khedive, Dervish Pasha, the
Ministers, and the Consuls-General were present. This was to obtain a
reply to a demand of the Consular body that measures should be taken to
insure the safety of Europeans. Arabi promptly undertook to stop all
inflammatory preaching, and to obey all orders given him by the Khedive.
The Khedive engaged himself to issue orders immediately with the object
of restoring public tranquillity. Dervish Pasha, on his part, consented
to accept joint responsibility with Arabi for the execution of the
orders of the Khedive.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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