The telegraph line between Suakin and Sinkat was cut on the 10th August. On the 8th October it was reported that communication between those places and Berber, which had been interrupted for some time, had been reestablished.
1883.
Annihilation of a detachment of Egyptian troops between Suakin and Sinkat.
18th October.
On the 18th October, however, two officers and 156 Egyptian soldiers were killed by the Arabs in a mountain defile, about 20 miles from Suakin. They were on their way to support Tewfik Bey, who was said to be surrounded by rebels at Sinkat.
5th November.
Destruction of a detachment of Egyptians at Tokar, and death of Commander Moncrieff, late R.N.
1883.
On the 5th November, a body of Egyptian troops, variously estimated at from 250 to 500 men, were attacked near Tokar[330] by a band of insurgents, and completely routed. They are said to have thrown their arms away and taken to flight, notwithstanding the efforts of their commander to rally them. The reports are not very clear as to whether the Egyptians were merely making a reconnaissance, or were attempting to reach Kartoum by way of Kassala. Commander Moncrieff,[331] late R.N., the British Consul at Suakin, who had accompanied them from that place, was among the killed.
The latest accounts state that Tokar is still held for the Egyptian Government by a small body of troops and some convicts. A panic had set in at Suakin, and the inhabitants were leaving for Jeddah.