1 64 
EUROPE AND AFRICA 
French Congo with Lake Chad and to set up a protectorate 
in Wadai. This was some time before definite boundaries 
had been set up between the French, British, and German 
spheres of influence about Bornu; and the British had not 
yet assumed control there. So the French, after the three 
expeditions sent out to unify the French possessions in 
West Africa, the Sahara, and the Congo, had successfully 
joined hands near Lake Chad, pursued Rabah and dealt a 
crushing blow to his forces in a well-directed attack, in the 
course of which the adventurous Sheik lost his life. 
His son, a gifted and forceful character named Fadr-el- 
Allah, succeeded him, but finally withdrew into the interior 
of Bornu and asked for British protection. Sir Frederick 
Lugard, who had been watching the maneuvres with great 
interest, sent an officer to interview him in June, 1901; but 
while these negotiations were in progress, the Arab leader 
became again involved in a struggle with the French. They 
pursued him one hundred and sixty miles within the British 
territory, and defeated his army in an eight-hour engage- 
ment near Gujba. Fadr-el-Allah was slain in the conflict 
and his brother, with the remnant of the forces, was com- 
pelled to surrender two days later. Five thousand Bornu 
natives, who had been enslaved as captives during the wars 
of Rabah and his son, were freed immediately; and the 
French thereupon retired to their own country. 
The High Commissioner at length sent Colonel Morland 
with five hundred men into the Bornu country in February, 
1902, to investigate the situation. En route, the column 
made a special détour through the state of Bauchi to depose 
its Emir, who had been a slave-hunter, and who had caused 
great suffering among the pagan tribes under him. His son 
was installed in his place and given a Resident with a garri- 
son to assist him. A little farther on, a usurper named Mal- 
lam Jibrella, who had proclaimed himself a Mahdi, killed