GARRISON LIFE AT SUAKIN.

Kumara Times, Issue 2663, 2 April 1885, Page 3

GARRISON LIFE AT SUAKIN.

+ The following picture of garrison life at Suakin is written by a coloursergeant of the English army. He says : —“ We ‘sold’ the enemy fearfully the other night. They ventured 100 near to us, so we laid a mine for them and blew them to fragments. The mine was charged with gun-cottou &0., and it exploded just while the halfnaked Arabs thought they had a good thing on. They hoped to surprise us, but I reckon we rather surprised them. We picked up fourteen of their number the next morning in addition to finding traces of several having been taken away, for they are most particular in burying their dead. They will even remove all traces of blood by covering it up with sand. As they were so particular in taking their dead away, we decided to take the legs, arras, trunks, and heads of those we had found some distance out on the plain and strew them carlessly about. This was done, and then we laid mines underneath the places where the remains of the Arabs lay, thinking the enemy would come along and see them and step on to one or other of the mines. Had they done so, they of course would have been blown to the same country their comrades had already gone to. But they evidently ‘ smelt a rat,’ for they deceived us that time. They have not gone near the place since. You may think this very shocking and all that, but if we don’t kill them they will kill us. They are splendid fighting men, but they very rarely show much mercy. I am chief of a Gatling gun, which is fixed on the roof of a house I am quartered in, and I often have a ‘ go ’ at the rebels. They came down upon us last night in large numbers at about half-past eleven o’clock, and they opened fire pretty warmly for a while. However, I got the Gatling to work, and they cleared off after annoying ns for about an hour. It is very harasswork though, and the weather is exceedingly hot."