§ MR. DILLON (Mayo, E.)asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether it is true that—
A party of the Bishareen Tribe, acting under instructions from Colonel Kitchener, have attacked and burned a colony, consisting of 300 huts, situated near Rowayah, and inhibited by Jeddamene Arabs, who were implicated in the murder of Lieutenant Stewart, of Her Majesty's sloop Garnet. The Bishareen also took 13 prisoners;and, if so, what evidence Colonel Kitchener had that these particular Arabs were implicated in the murder of Lieutenant Stewart; and, whether he will cause an inquiry to be made into the policy of fomenting disturbances between different tribes of Arabs in the neighbourhood of Suakin?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir JAMES FERGUSSON) (Manchester, N.E.)Her Majesty's ship 1220 Dolphin was sent to Mersa Halaib, the scene of the attack on the "boat of Her Majesty's ship Garnet, to make inquiries and punish the outrage. The Commander convinced himself that the attack had been made by a party of Hatemes, a slave-dealing Colony from the Jeddah District, which had been settled near Mersa Halaib for the last three years. He proceeded to the village with a small force, but found it deserted, as the inhabitants had been warned of his approach. He burned down the village, consisting of about 50 wretched mud huts, and captured two prisoners, one of whom admitted that the Hatemes had fired on the boat.