"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٠‎٨‎٨] (١٧٨٢/١٢٤٣)

I
108B
apparent^ to assault a work defending 1 the Crhasibah* quarter; but his
troops, after a breach had been opened by artillery fire, refused to advance to
the storm. The failure of this operation greatly compromised the prestig-e
of the besiegers, and the Wahhabis entered on a series of dailv attacks
upon the Egyptian camp, causing them heavy losses. By the end of May
the Egyptians were in serious straits. The Wahhabis kept them perpetu
ally in play; the number of ineffectives in their camp was steadily
increasing; they could not properly invest Dara'Tyah ; and supplies from
Hasa were constantly entering the town without their being able to pre
vent it. On the 21st of June, after a sharp action in which the Egyp
tians lost 160 men including many officers of rank, a gust of wind sud
denly earned fire into the Egyptian magazines; a terrific explosion took
place; and the besieging army were left in the presence of an overwhelm
ing enemy, hundreds of miles from support, with no immunition but what
remained in the soldiers' pouches and in the batteri©. The next day the
Wahhabis, aware of the disaster that had overtaken the Egyptians,
attacked them in force with 1 ,500 men; but f Ibrahim Pasha, whose
courage was unshaken, was able to infuse his own spirit into the troops,
and the assault was at length repulsed, with great bss to the Arabs, by
a heavy fire of grape from the artillery. The Wahhabis then lost
heart and resumed the defensive.
After an interval of more than three weeks, stores began to arrive from
Improved po-
creased efforts Anaizah and other advanced bases, and the Egyptians again obtained the
UamT K ^' P superiority. On the 16th of August, however^ during the absence of
Ibrahim Pasha on a punitive expedition against some outlying villages,
the Wahhabis attacked the Egyptian camp and were not beaten off with
out great difficulty. At length, stimulated to greater exertions by the
news that Muhammad Ali had despatched Khalil Pasha with a large
force to assist or supersede him, Ibrahim bigan to press his attacks.
Faisal, the Amir s brother, who played an important part in the defence,
was stiuck down by a musket shot. A work containing three guns and
artillery ammunition was taken by the Egyptians, who thus arrived in
the immediate neighbourhood of the Ghasibah quarter and were able to
lay siege to a fort commanded by Sa'ad, a son of the Amir; and after two
da^s this foit capitulated, being without provisions, and Sa'ad became a
prisoner, but was well treated. The quarters of Ghasibah and Sahil t
Wadi^aiS iS Sti11 the name 0f 0ne 0f the ( l uarters 011 the left or northern bank of
'Vh! 8 ^ nie ^ years of age. There is a certain analogy
t E ^ tla - ^ ,)ara 'iy ah and that of the British force
upon the R,dge during the earlier .tages of the Hiege of Delhi (1857).
Hanifahli calUKl SarauTah,'^ ^ aaioinillg Gllaiibah 0n the left banl1 of Wadi