The Dervishes of the Soudan are recovering from their torpor,
and recently effected a daring raid on Serra, a village fifty miles within the Egyptian frontier. More than a hun- dred of them, well mounted on camels, entered the place on Thursday, and took the inhabitants entirely by surprise. They killed thirty-four persons, including three women. and rode back into the desert apparently unharmed, Such a raid is sure to be repeated, the Dervishes always hearing when a village is unprotected. It is said that the number of Egyptian cavalry is insufficient for the full protection of the frontier, and some apprehension is entertained that a powerful force may enter it from Dongola. The people seem entirely unable to protect themselves, and if the British were withdrawn, the Soudanese would probably penetrate to Cairo. Egypt always tempts them, and though the Egyptian Army is in excellent order, it could hardly be trusted, without European officers, against men who have on one occasion broken a British square.
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