413 files changed, 26235 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/25504-8.txt b/25504-8.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a582c02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-8.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,8554 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Khartoum Campaign, 1898, by Bennet Burleigh
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Khartoum Campaign, 1898
+       or the Re-Conquest of the Soudan
+
+Author: Bennet Burleigh
+
+Release Date: May 17, 2008 [EBook #25504]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KHARTOUM CAMPAIGN, 1898 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Chris Logan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+KHARTOUM CAMPAIGN
+
+1898
+
+OR THE
+
+RE-CONQUEST OF THE SOUDAN
+
+BY
+
+BENNET BURLEIGH.
+
+AUTHOR OF "SIRDAR AND KHALIFA."
+
+
+WITH MAPS, PLANS OF BATTLE, AND NUMEROUS
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+SECOND IMPRESSION.
+
+
+LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL, LIMITED
+1899
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+By the overthrow of Mahdism, the great region of Central Africa has
+been opened to civilisation. From the date of the splendid victory of
+Omdurman, 2nd September 1898, may be reckoned the creation of a vast
+Soudan empire. At so early a stage, it is idle to speculate whether
+the country will be held as a British possession, or as a province of
+Egypt. "The land of the blacks," and their truculent Arab despoilers,
+has the intrinsic qualities that secure distinction. Given peace, it
+may be expected that the mixed negroid races of the Upper Nile will
+prove themselves as orderly and industrious as they are conspicuously
+brave. Whoever rules them wisely, will have the control of the best
+native tribes of the Dark Continent, the raw material of a mighty
+state. This, too, is foreshadowed; the dominant power in Central
+Northern Africa, if no farther afield, will have its capital in
+Khartoum, "Ethiopia will soon stretch out her hands unto God."
+
+The recent events which have so altered the condition of affairs upon
+the Upper Nile, deserve more than ephemeral record. A campaign so full
+of inspiriting incident, a victory which has brought presage of a
+great and prosperous Soudan, merits re-telling. Through half a score
+of battles or more, from the beginning to the death of Mahdism, I have
+followed British and Egyptian troops into action against the
+dervishes. I knew General Hicks, and had the luck to miss accompanying
+his ill-fated expedition. In the present volume, "Khartoum Campaign,"
+the narrative of the reconquest is completed, the history being
+carried to the occupation of Fashoda and Sobat, including the
+withdrawal of Major Marchand's French mission. I have made use of my
+telegrams and letters to the _Daily Telegraph_, London, and the full
+notes I made from day to day during the campaign. Besides, I have
+quoted in certain cases from official sources, and given extracts from
+verbal and written communications made to me by distinguished officers
+engaged in the operations.
+
+For use of maps, sketches, and photographs, I am indebted to the
+proprietors of the _Daily Telegraph_, to Mr Ross of _Black and White_,
+Surgeon-General William Taylor, Colonel Frank Rhodes, Lieutenant E. D.
+Loch, Grenadier Guards, Mr Francis Gregson, Mr Munro of Dingwall,
+N.B., and others.
+
+                                                      BENNET BURLEIGH.
+
+LONDON, _December 1898_.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                                  PAGE
+
+    CHAPTER I.
+
+      INTRODUCTORY--REVIEW OF THE FIELD,                             1
+
+    CHAPTER II.
+
+      DAYS OF WAITING AND PREPARATION,                              14
+
+    CHAPTER III.
+
+      MUSTERING FOR THE OVERTHROW OF MAHDISM,                       35
+
+    CHAPTER IV.
+
+      BY THE WAY--FROM CAIRO TO DAKHALA,                            45
+
+    CHAPTER V.
+
+      DAKHALA CAMP: GOSSIP AND DUTY,                                63
+
+    CHAPTER VI.
+
+      MARCHING IN THE SOUDAN--FROM DAKHALA TO WAD HABESHI,          75
+
+    CHAPTER VII.
+
+      WITH THE ARMY IN THE FIELD--WAD HAMID TO EL HEJIR,            92
+
+    CHAPTER VIII.
+
+      EL HEJIR TO UM TERIF--INCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTS,               105
+
+    CHAPTER IX.
+
+      ADVANCE TO KERRERI--SKIRMISHING WITH THE ENEMY,              119
+
+    CHAPTER X.
+
+      THE BATTLE OF OMDURMAN--FIRST PHASE OF THE FIGHT,            135
+
+    CHAPTER XI.
+
+      BATTLE OF OMDURMAN--_continued._--THE CAVALRY
+      FIGHTS--MACDONALD'S SAVING ACTION,                           167
+
+    CHAPTER XII.
+
+      STORIES OF THE BATTLE--OMDURMAN,                             199
+
+    CHAPTER XIII.
+
+      CLOSE OF CAMPAIGN--GORDON MEMORIAL SERVICE, KHARTOUM,        228
+
+    CHAPTER XIV.
+
+      KHARTOUM MEMORIAL COLLEGE--THE OFFICIAL DESPATCHES,          263
+
+    CHAPTER XV.
+
+      THE FASHODA AFFAIR--A RED BRITISH LINE THROUGH AFRICA,       295
+
+    POSTSCRIPT,                                                    334
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+                                                                  PAGE
+
+    Brigadier-General H. A. Macdonald, C.B., D.S.O.,    _Frontispiece_
+
+    Bennet Burleigh,                               _To face page_    1
+
+    Headquarters, Wady Halfa,                                        9
+
+    Darmali (British Brigade Summer Quarters),                      23
+
+    Group of Staff Officers--Colonel Wingate in Centre,             34
+
+    Street in Dakhala,                                              53
+
+    Troops going to Wad Habeshi,                                    58
+
+    Wood Station (_en route_ to Omdurman),                          69
+
+    Loading Up--Breaking Camp,                                      77
+
+    21st Lancers--Advance Guard,                                    81
+
+    Halt by the Way,                                                87
+
+    Slatin Pasha (on Foot),                                         89
+
+    Artillery going towards Omdurman,                              125
+
+    Battle of Omdurman--Zereba Action,                             151
+
+    Macdonald's Brigade advancing,                                 182
+
+    Sirdar directing Advance on Omdurman,                          183
+
+    Khalifa's Captured Standard (Sirdar extreme left),             195
+
+    Chief Thoroughfare, Omdurman (Mulazim Wall, left; Osman
+    Digna's House, right),                                         196
+
+    Effect of Shell Fire upon Wall (Mulazim Enclosure),            197
+
+    Khalifa's House,                                               217
+
+    Mahdi's Tomb--Effect of Lyddite Shells,                        219
+
+    Interior Mahdi's Tomb (Grille around Sarcophagus),             221
+
+    Khalifa's Gallows (cutting down his Last Victim),              223
+
+    Neufeld on Gunboat "Sheik"--Cutting off his Ankle-Irons,       225
+
+    Khalifa's Chief Eunuch (surrenders in British Camp),           229
+
+    Fresh Batch Wounded and Unwounded Dervish Prisoners,
+    Omdurman, 4th September 1898,                                  231
+
+    Neufeld, with Abyssinian Wife and Children; also Fellow
+    Prisoner,                                                      241
+
+    Distant View, Khartoum (from Blue Nile),                       255
+
+    Hoisting Flags, Khartoum,                                      259
+
+    Col. H. Macdonald at Omdurman, with Officer and
+    Non-Commissioned Officer of 1st Brigade,                       291
+
+
+MAPS AND PLANS.
+
+    General View Plan, "A,"                                 _page_ 173
+
+    Zereba Plan, "B,"                                         "    179
+
+    First Attack on Macdonald's Brigade, "C," Plate 1,        "    187
+
+    Second Attack on Macdonald's Brigade, "D," Plate 2,       "    191
+
+
+
+
+KHARTOUM CAMPAIGN.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+INTRODUCTORY.--REVIEW OF FIELD.
+
+
+It is an easier and kindlier duty to set forth facts than to proclaim
+opinions and pronounce judgments. Before Tel-el-Kebir was fought in
+September 1882 and the Egyptian army beaten and disbanded, the
+insurrection headed by the Mahdi or False Prophet had begun. In the
+disrupted condition of affairs which succeeded Arabi Pasha's defeat by
+British arms the dervish movement made further rapid progress. To Sir
+Evelyn Wood, V.C., at the close of 1882, was assigned the task, as
+Sirdar or Commander-in-Chief of the Khedivial troops, of forming a
+real native army. It was that distinguished soldier, aided by an
+exceptionally able staff, who first took in hand the re-organisation
+and proper training of the fellaheen recruits. By dint of drill,
+discipline and stiffening with British commissioned and
+non-commissioned officers he soon made passable soldiers of the
+"Gippies." The new army was at first restricted to eight battalions
+of Egyptian infantry, one regiment of cavalry, and four batteries of
+artillery. Although there were Soudanese amongst Arabi's troops, they
+were mostly gunners. It was not until May 1884 that the first "black"
+regiment was raised. Yet it had been notorious that the Soudanese were
+the only Khedivial soldiers who made anything of a stubborn stand
+against us in the 1882 campaign. The blacks who came down with the
+Salahieh garrison on the 9th of August 1882, and joined in the
+surprise attack upon General Graham's brigade then in camp at
+Kassassin, were not easily driven off. The large body of Egyptian
+infantry and cavalry, although supported by several Krupp batteries
+which, issuing from the Tel-el-Kebir lines, assailed us in front, were
+readily checked and pushed back. It was our right rear that the
+"blacks" and others forming the Salahieh column menaced, and it
+required some tough fighting before Sir Baker-Russell with his cavalry
+and horse artillery was able to drive them off. In truth, the "blacks"
+held on long after the main body of Arabi's force had abandoned their
+intention of driving the British into the Suez Canal or the sea.
+
+The first Soudanese battalion was recruited and mustered-in at Suakim.
+It got the next numeral in regimental order, and so became known as
+the "Ninth." Many of the blacks who enlisted in the Ninth--Dinkas,
+Shilluks, Gallas, and what not--were deserters from the Mahdi's
+banner, or dervishes who had been taken prisoners at El Teb and Tamai.
+It has never yet been deemed advisable to enrol any of the Arab
+tribesmen in the Khedivial regular army. Hadendowa, Kababish, Jaalin,
+Baggara, and many other clans, lack no physical qualifications for a
+military career. Their desperate courage in support of a cause they
+have at heart is an inspiration of self-immolation. But they are as
+uncertain and difficult to regulate by ordinary methods of discipline
+as the American Red Indian, and so are only fitted for irregular
+service. In March 1885 General Sir Francis Grenfell succeeded to the
+Sirdarship. With tact and energy he carried still further forward the
+excellent work of his predecessor. Four additional Soudanese
+battalions were created during his term, and the army was strengthened
+and better equipped for its duties in many other respects. Sir Francis
+had the satisfaction of leading his untried soldiers against the
+dervishes, and winning brilliant victories and, in at least one
+instance, over superior numbers. He it was, who, at Toski in August
+1889, routed an invading army of dervishes, whereat was killed their
+famous leader Wad en Nejumi. That battle put an end to the dream of
+the Mahdists to overrun and conquer Egypt and the world. The Khalifa
+thereafter found his safest policy, unless attacked, was to let the
+regular Egyptian forces severely alone.
+
+It was shown that, when well handled, the fellaheen and the blacks
+could defeat the dervishes. Lord Kitchener of Khartoum became Sirdar
+in the spring of 1892. His career in the land of the Nile may be
+briefly summarised: first as a Lieutenant, then successively as
+Captain, Major, Colonel and General, that Royal Engineer Officer from
+1882 has been actively employed either in Egypt proper or the Soudan.
+He has, during that interval, been entrusted with many perilous and
+delicate missions and independent commands. Whatever was given him to
+do was carried through with zeal and resolution. In his time also
+little by little the Khedivial forces have been increased. A sixth
+Soudanese battalion was raised in 1896, and in that and the following
+year four additional fellaheen battalions were added to the army. When
+the Khartoum campaign began, the total muster-roll of the regular
+troops was eighteen battalions of infantry, ten squadrons of cavalry,
+a camel corps of eight companies, five batteries of artillery,
+together with the customary quota of engineers, medical staff,
+transport, and other departmental troops. There was a railway
+construction battalion numbering at least 2000 men, but they were
+non-combatants. As the whole armed strength of Egypt was, for the
+occasion, practically called into the field, the peace of the Delta
+had to be secured by other means. A small armed body called the Coast
+Guard and the ordinary police, apart from the meagre British garrison,
+were responsible for public tranquillity. The re-organisation and
+increase of the Coast Guard, which was decided on, into an army of
+8000 men, was a brilliant idea, and one of the recent master-strokes
+of Lord Cromer and the Sirdar. It is ostensibly a quasi-civil force,
+and it was formed and equipped without the worry of international
+queries and interference. The Coast Guard is mainly composed of picked
+men, including old soldiers and reservists. Their duties carry them
+into the interior as well as along the sea-coast, for, partly on
+account of the salt tax, there are revenue defaulters along the
+borders of the Nile as well as by the Mediterranean and Red Sea. They
+are dressed like soldiers and are armed with Remingtons.
+
+Mohammed Achmed, who called himself the Mahdi, or the last of the
+prophets, whose mission was to convert the world to Islamism, was a
+native of Dongola. He was born near El Ordeh, or New Dongola, in 1848,
+and was the son of a carpenter. In person, he was above the medium
+height, robust, and with a rather handsome Arab cast of features.
+During 1884 I saw his brother and two of his nephews in a village
+south of El Ordeh. All of them were tall stalwart men, light of
+complexion for Dongolese, courteous and hospitable to strangers.
+Mohammed Achmed, from his youth, evinced a taste for religious studies
+coupled with the ascetic extravagances of a too emotional nature. From
+Khartoum to Fashoda he acquired a great reputation for sanctity.
+Religious devotees gathered around him and followed him to his retreat
+upon the island of Abba. There he, in May 1881, first announced his
+claims as the true Mahdi. His barefaced assertions of special divine
+command and guidance found credulous believers. With the wisdom of the
+serpent he had added to his influence and security as a prophet by
+marrying daughters of Baggara sheiks, _i.e._ chiefs. Mohammed Achmed
+was a vigorous and captivating preacher, learned in all the literature
+of the Koran, ever ready with apt and telling quotations. His early
+teaching was decidedly socialistic, including a command for the
+overthrow of the then existing civil state. His principles have been
+summed up officially as "an insistence upon universal law and
+religion--his own--with community of goods, and death to all who
+refused adherence to his tenets." Unfortunately, "opportunity" played
+into his hands. The misrule of the Pashas, the burden of over-taxation
+coupled with the legal suppression of the slave trade, and the
+demoralisation of the Egyptian forces enabled Mohammed Achmed to rebel
+successfully. Troops sent against him were defeated and annihilated.
+Towns capitulated to his arms and within a period of two years the
+inhabitants of the Soudan were hailing him as the true Mahdi, their
+invincible deliverer. With the capture of Khartoum, on the morning of
+the 26th of January 1885, and the abandonment of the Soudan and its
+population--the Egyptian frontier being fixed by British Government
+order at Wady Halfa--the over-lordship of that immense region from the
+Second Cataract to the Equatorial Lakes was yielded to the so-called
+Mahdi Mohammed Achmed did not long enjoy his conquests. Success killed
+him as it has done many a lesser man. For a season he gave himself up
+to a life of indolence and the grossest lust. On the 22nd of June
+1885, less than six months after Gordon's head had been struck off and
+brought to him, the Mahdi suddenly died. It is said by some that his
+death was due to smallpox, by others that one of his women captives
+poisoned him in revenge for the murder of her relatives. His demise
+was kept secret for a time by his successor Abdullah, the chief
+Khalifa, and the other dervish leaders. It was given out that the
+Mahdi's spirit had been called to Heaven for a space but would soon
+return to lead his hosts to fresh triumphs and further fat spoils. A
+tomb was erected over the place where his body lay, and the legend of
+his mission was taken over by Abdullah, who also in due season had
+visions and communicated reputed divine ordinances to the dervishes.
+Abdullah, who was ignorant, illiterate and cruel, far beyond his dead
+master--"the cruellest man on earth," Slatin Pasha dubbed him,--by his
+exactions and treacheries soon overreached himself. Events were
+hastening to the overthrow of Mahdism. Sheiks and tribes fell away
+from the Khalifa and returned to the fold of orthodox Mohammedanism.
+By 1889, as an aggressive force seeking to enlarge its boundaries,
+Mahdism was spent. Thereafter, stage by stage, its power dwindled,
+although Omdurman, the dervish capital, remained the headquarters of
+the strongest native military power that North Africa has ever known.
+
+Lord Cromer has been blamed for many things he did, and much that he
+left undone, during the earlier days of Mahdism. A fuller knowledge of
+the whole circumstances justifies my saying that, as custodian of
+_British interests_, he acted throughout with singular prudence and
+great forbearance. It was not with his wish or approval that several
+of the untoward expeditions against the dervishes were undertaken. It
+is permissible to regret that, from a variety of causes, the British
+Government engaged in more than one ill-considered and irresolute
+campaign for the destruction of Mahdism. Much treasure and countless
+thousands of lives were foolishly squandered and all without the
+least compensating advantage. The barren results of the Soudan
+campaigns directed from the War Office in Pall Mall form too painful a
+subject for discussion. It is only fair to say, that the military
+officials' hands may have been much hampered from Downing Street.
+
+[Illustration: HEADQUARTERS, WADY HALFA.]
+
+As I have stated elsewhere, it was not until 1896 that the serious
+reconquest of the Soudan was begun. Before then there had been, as Mr
+Gladstone after all appropriately termed them, "military operations,"
+but not a state of war. He might have called them "blood-spilling
+enterprises," for they were only that and no more. The re-occupation
+of the province of Dongola in 1896, freed the Nile up to Merawi, and
+gave the disaffected Kababish, Jaalin and riverain tribesmen a chance
+of reverting to their allegiance to the Khedive. It also enabled the
+Sirdar to pass his gunboats farther up the river. Another gain issuing
+from the forward movement was that his right was secured from serious
+attack. Then followed the building of the wonderful Wady Halfa direct
+desert railway towards Abu Hamid, Berber, and Dakhala at the mouth of
+the Atbara. It was the 1897 campaign which put all these places into
+the Sirdar's hands. During that year's high Nile, he passed his
+gunboats over the long stretch of cataracts betwixt Merawi and Abu
+Hamid, and ran them up the river where they co-operated with the land
+forces, regulars and friendlies. Nay more, the steamers were set to do
+a double duty: convey stores to the advanced posts and assail and
+harass the dervishes, pushing as far south as Shendy and Shabluka,
+the Sixth Cataract. By prodigies of labour and enterprise the railroad
+was speedily constructed to Abu Hamid, then on to Berber, and thence
+to Dakhala. The whole situation became greatly simplified the moment
+the line reached Abu Hamid. From the first, the question of dealing a
+death-blow to Mahdism with British-led troops had turned upon the
+solution of the transport problem. The through rail and river
+connection once established from Cairo _viâ_ Wady Halfa to Abu Hamid
+put an end forever to all serious difficulty of providing adequate
+supplies for the troops. From Abu Hamid the Nile is navigable far
+south for many months during the year. Then again, the occupation of
+Abu Hamid unlocked the Korosko desert caravan route and drew more wary
+and recanting dervishes away from the Khalifa. Following the capture
+of Abu Hamid, Berber was promptly taken for Egypt by the friendlies,
+and the Suakim-Berber trade route, which had been closed for many
+years, was re-opened.
+
+The end was slowly drawing near, for the Sirdar was closing the lines
+and mustering his forces for a final blow. Railroad construction went
+forward apace. At the rate of from one to two miles a day track was
+laid so as to get the line up to Dakhala. Meanwhile, workshops were
+being erected at suitable points, and three additional screw gunboats,
+built in England, were re-fitted for launching. The flotilla was
+becoming formidable; it comprised 13 vessels, stern-wheelers and
+screw-steamers, all armed with cannon and machine guns and protected
+by bullet-proof shields.
+
+Believing there was a chance to wreck the railroad and capture
+outposts and stores, Mahmoud, a nephew and favourite general of the
+Khalifa's, led a powerful dervish army from Shendy north to raid the
+country to and beyond Berber. In spite of the gunboats, after
+disposing of the recalcitrant Jaalins, Mahmoud crossed the Nile at
+Metemmeh to the opposite bank. Accompanied by the veteran rebel, Osman
+Digna, he quitted Aliab, marching to the north-east with 10,000
+infantry, riflemen and spearmen, ten small rifled brass guns and 4000
+cavalry. It was his intention to cross the Atbara about 30 miles up
+from the Nile, and fall upon the flank and rear of the Sirdar's
+detached and outlying troops, killing them in detail. He reckoned too
+confidently and without full knowledge. Using the steamers and the
+railways the Sirdar quickly concentrated his whole force, bringing men
+rapidly up from Wady Halfa and the province of Dongola. The entrenched
+Egyptian camp at the junction of the Atbara with the Nile was
+strengthened, and General Gatacre's brigade of British troops was
+moved on to Kunur, where Macdonald's and Maxwell's brigades also
+repaired. Mahmoud had ultimately to be attacked in his own chosen
+fortified camp. His army was destroyed and he himself was taken
+prisoner. So closed the unexpected Atbara campaign in March last.
+Thereafter, as the Khalifa showed no intention of inviting fresh
+disaster by sending down another army to attack, the Sirdar despatched
+his troops into summer rest-camps. Dry and shady spots were selected
+by the banks of the Nile between Berber and Dakhala. One or another of
+the numberless deserted mud villages was usually chosen for
+headquarters and offices. With these for a nucleus, the battalion or
+brigade encampment was pitched in front and the quarters were fenced
+about with cut mimosa thorn-bush, forming a zereba. All along the
+Upper Nile, wherever there is a strip of cultivable land, or where
+water can be easily lifted from the river or wells for irrigation,
+there the natives had villages of mud and straw huts. In many places,
+for miles following miles, these hamlets fringe the river's banks,
+sheltered amidst groves of mimosa and palms. The fiendish cruelty and
+wanton destructiveness of the dervishes, who, not satiated with
+slaughtering the villagers--men, women and children--further glutted
+their fury by firing the homesteads and cutting down the date palms,
+resulted in depopulating the country. Ignorant and fanatical in their
+religious frenzy to convert mankind to their new-found creed, the
+Mahdists held that the surest way to rid the world forthwith of all
+unbelievers lay in making earth too intolerable to be lived in.
+
+These native dwellings, when cleaned, were not uncomfortable abodes.
+As the flat roofs were thickly covered with mats and grass whilst,
+except the doorway, the openings in the mud-walls were small, they
+were even in the glare of noontide heat, pleasantly cool and shady.
+The troops found that straw huts or tukals afforded far better
+protection than the tents from the sun and from dust-storms. So it
+came about that, copying the example set by the fellaheen and black
+soldiers, "Tommy Atkins" also built himself shelters, and "lean-to's"
+of reeds, palm leaves and straw. Drills and field exercises were
+relaxed, and the troops had time to rig up alfresco stages and
+theatres and to enjoy variety entertainments provided by comrades with
+talent for minstrelsy and the histrionic arts. Meanwhile the
+preparations for the final campaign against Mahdism were not
+slackened. Vast quantities of supplies and material of war were stored
+at Dakhala. Outposts were pushed forward and Shendy was occupied,
+whilst Metemmeh was held by friendly Jaalin tribesmen, who had
+suffered much at the Khalifa's hands. The Bayuda desert route also had
+been cleared of dervishes by these and by neighbouring tribesmen. On
+the direct track from Korti to Omdurman, outlying wells and oases were
+in possession of the Kababish and their allies who had broken away
+from Abdullah's tyranny. The whirligig of time had transformed the
+equality preachings, and "unity in the faith" of Mahdism into the
+unbridled supremacy of the Baggara and especially the Taaisha branch
+of that sept over all the people of the Soudan. They alone were
+licensed to rob, ravish and murder with impunity. It was the natural
+sequence of lawless society. Once the foe they leagued to plunder and
+kill had been disposed of, they turned and rent each other. Abdullah
+being a Taaisha, he, as a prop to his own pretensions, set them in
+authority over all the races of the Soudan. One by one, however, Arab
+clansmen and blacks repented and deserted Mahdism.
+
+The time was ripe for ending the mad mutiny against government and
+civilisation. July is the period of high Nile in the upper reaches,
+and the Sirdar planned that his army should be ready to move forward
+by then. At that date all was in readiness. The Egyptian army which
+was to take the field consisted of one division of four brigades, each
+of four battalions with artillery, cavalry and camelry. Besides these
+there were two brigades of British infantry--Gatacre's division--a
+regiment of British cavalry, the 21st Lancers, and two and a half
+English batteries, with many Maxims. It was known that Abdullah had
+called into Omdurman all his best men and meant giving battle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+DAYS OF WAITING AND PREPARATION.
+
+
+"Everything comes to him who waits," but the weariness of it is
+sometimes terrible. Oftentimes waiting is vain, without accompaniment
+of hard work. The Sirdar made deliberate choice to carve out a career
+in Egypt. He did so in the dark days when the outlook was the reverse
+of promising, in nearly every aspect, to a man of action. Abdication
+of our task of reconstruction was in the air, the withdrawal of the
+British army of occupation a much-talked-of calamity. Through every
+phase of the situation, Kitchener stuck to his guns, keeping to
+himself his plans for the reconquest of the Soudan. He wrought and
+watched while he waited, selecting and surrounding himself with able
+officers, and exacting from each diligence and obedience in the
+discharge of their duties. The Dongola campaign and the fortuitous one
+of the Atbara against Mahmoud greatly strengthened his position. There
+might be further delay, but his triumphal entry into Omdurman and the
+downfall of the Khalifa were certain. The Sirdar had but to ask, to
+receive all the material and men he wished for. He adhered to his
+early decision to employ only as many British troops as were actually
+necessary to stiffen the Khedivial army, and no more.
+
+After the battle and victory of the Atbara in the spring, the British
+troops, or Gatacre's brigade, marched back from Omdabiya by easy
+stages to the Nile. The wounded and sick were conveyed into the base
+hospital at Dakhala, whence they were afterwards sent down to
+Ginenetta or, as it then was, Rail-head. From that point they were, as
+each case required, forwarded by train and steamboat to Wady Halfa and
+Cairo. It was at Darmali, 12 miles or more north of Dakhala, that the
+British soldiers went into summer-quarters. On the 14th of April the
+brigade mustered 3818 strong, made up as follows:--833 Camerons, 826
+Seaforths, 969 Lincolns, and 665 Warwicks. Two companies of Warwicks
+had been left in the Dongola province when the advance was made.
+Besides the muster of battalions enumerated, the brigade included a
+Maxim battery, detachments of the Army Service Corps, and other
+details. The "Tommies" settled down in camp, living under peace
+conditions, for with the rout of Mahmoud's men, the nearest dervish
+force worth considering was as far off as Shabluka Cataract. Everybody
+was bidden to make himself as snug as possible. Outlying houses and
+walls were thrown down to secure a free circulation of air. As for
+sunlight, that was shut out wherever practicable. The first home
+drafts to make up for losses arrived at Darmali on the 23rd of April.
+About 130 men then joined. It was thought desirable to maintain the
+British battalions at their full strength, and some of them mustered
+nearly one thousand strong. As the percentage of sick was continuous,
+and the rate increased as the campaign progressed, the actual roll of
+men "fit for duty" grew less as we neared Omdurman. Of course,
+"youths," and all the "weedy ones," were in the first instance
+rejected by the army doctors, and were never permitted to go to the
+front. Men over 25 years of age were preferred, and it so happened
+that both the Grenadier Guards and the Northumberland Fusiliers had a
+high average of relatively old soldiers, and consequently few sick.
+From the end of April until the end of May, dull hot days in the
+Soudan, leave was granted to officers to run down to Alexandria and
+have a "blow" at San Stefano, by the sea-side. There were quite a
+number of deaths in the brigade shortly after the men got into camp,
+the customary reaction having set in on account of the exposure and
+strain precedent to the victory of the Atbara. To reduce the numbers
+quartered at Darmali, the Lincolns and Warwicks, on the 19th of April,
+were marched a mile farther north along the Nile, to Es Selim, where
+they formed a separate encampment, the Camerons and Seaforths
+remaining at the first-named place. The average daily number of sick
+in the brigade at that period was 100 to 150. On one occasion there
+were 190 men reported unfit for duty. Most of the cases were not of a
+serious nature, and the patients speedily recovered and returned to
+their places in the ranks. There was no lack of stores and even
+dainties at the camps, for supplies were carried up by caravan,
+escorted by Jaalin friendlies, from Berber and elsewhere. Much of the
+sickness in the army was probably due to the men recklessly drinking
+unboiled and unfiltered Nile water. At that season the river had sunk
+into its narrowest bed, and there were backwashes and sluggish
+channels full of light-green tinted water. More filters were procured,
+and extra care was taken with all the water used for domestic
+purposes.
+
+In May there were route marches twice a week, the brigade going off at
+5.30 a.m. and returning about 7.30 a.m., all in the cool of the
+morning or such bearable temperature as there was in the 24 hours'
+daily round in that month. During these exercises the troops had
+plenty of firing practice, being taught to blaze away at bushes, and
+occasionally at targets representing dervishes. In that way the
+remainder of the million of tip-filed Lee-Metford bullets were
+disposed of, for it had been arranged that there was to be a new
+cartridge case for the Omdurman campaign. The latest pattern
+"man-stopper" was a bullet fashioned with a hollow or crater at the
+point, the nickel casing being perforated.
+
+So the days droned past for the British soldiers, with little to do
+beyond essaying the impossible of trying to keep cool. It was often
+otherwise with the Egyptians, for they had to assist in getting the
+railroad through to Dakhala from Ginenetta, in forwarding boats and
+stores, and later on in establishing wood stations and cutting fuel
+for the steamers. The first of the tropical summer rain showers fell
+at Darmali on the 27th of May. On the 18th of June Major-General
+Gatacre went off on a shooting excursion up the Atbara, taking with
+him a party of ten officers and a few orderlies. They found relatively
+little big game but plenty of gazelle and birds. The bodies of the
+slain in Mahmoud's zereba at Omdabiya still lay where they fell,
+unburied, but dried up and mummified by the sun. Natives had stripped
+the place and carried off everything left behind by us. A number of
+dervishes were seen lurking about, part of the defeated army of the
+enemy, who were afraid to return to Omdurman, anticipating that the
+Khalifa would have them killed. Indeed, it appeared that numbers of
+the runaways had settled down at New Hilgi, and were attempting to
+cultivate. As for the four or five thousand dervish cavalry that
+Mahmoud had with him, they also never returned to Omdurman. Quite
+probably they made their way back to their original homes in small
+bands, rightly believing that Mahdism was doomed. Assured of pardon
+and good treatment at our hands, fourteen of the Mahdists and a number
+of women came in with General Gatacre's people. No attempt was made by
+the dervishes in the neighbourhood to "snipe" the party. They returned
+to Darmali on the 27th of June. With the sun gone north came the
+rising of the Nile and fresh breezes. The gunboats kept diligently
+patrolling the river, watching for any signs of movement on the part
+of the Khalifa and his forces. The enemy were reported to be gathering
+in large numbers at Omdurman for the coming conflict. As Shendy was
+held by a small force of Egyptians, and Metemmeh nominally by the
+Jaalin for us, frequent visits were made to those posts. Later on,
+other shooting parties went up to Omdabiya and found that there was an
+increase in the numbers of natives about, and that flocks and herds
+were to be seen grazing in the vicinity. The tribesmen showed that
+they had abandoned the Khalifa by tearing the dervish patches off
+their clothing. All being quiet, and peace assured in the Dongola
+province, the two detached companies of the Warwickshire left Korti
+and joined their comrades in Es Selim camp.
+
+July was a very busy month. The river flotilla and transport service
+had all to be thoroughly organised for the impending advance. Gunboats
+received the final touches and completed their armament. The steamers,
+barges and giassas, native sailing craft, underwent thorough repair.
+More and still more munitions of war and provisions were sent forward
+and stored at Dakhala. That post grew into a formidable camp. The
+three new twin-screw gunboats built on the Thames, besides other
+ship-work reconstruction, were put together near Abadia, a village
+above the Fifth Cataract and north of Berber. The railroad had been
+hastily laid and completed to Abadia after the battle of Atbara.
+Thither the sections of the barges and steamers needed for the
+campaign had been sent by rail from Wady Halfa. Before that date,
+engineering and other workshops had been erected at Abadia, which,
+because of its favourable position, was chosen for a permanent camp
+and industrial centre. Base-hospitals, too, were built there, in order
+that the wounded and sick might travel as far as possible by water.
+Astonishing as had been the rapidity with which the Wady Halfa Abu
+Hamid portion of the desert railroad was laid, smarter work still was
+done carrying the line through to the Atbara. The utmost energy was
+put forth, after the defeat of Mahmoud, by the Director of Railways,
+Major Girouard, R.E., to get the track completed to Dakhala, the
+junction of the Atbara with the Nile. Not only the railroad battalion,
+which was nearly 3000 strong, but every available Khedivial soldier,
+laboured in some way or other at the task. They put their hearts and
+thews to the toil, for it was recognised that its completion not only
+solved the transport problem, but was a swift and sure means of return
+to Egypt. The railroad battalion worked wonders in grading and laying.
+Fellaheen and negro, they showed a vim and intelligence in
+track-making that Europeans could not surpass. Native lads, some in
+their early teens, clothed with little beyond a sense of their own
+importance and "army ammunition boots," many sizes too big for their
+feet, adjusted the fish-plates and put on the screw nuts. Then, for
+those who bore the heavy burden of rails and sleepers and carried
+material for the road bed, there were licensed fools, mummers, and
+droll mimics, who by their antics revived the lagging spirits of the
+gangs. There is an unsuspected capacity for mimicry in what are called
+savage men. I have seen Red Indians give excellent pantomimic
+entertainments, and aborigines in other lands exhibit high mumming
+talent. In the railroad battalion there was an eccentric negro who was
+a very king of jesters. From the Sirdar and the Khalifa downwards--for
+he was an ex-dervish and had played pranks in Omdurman--none escaped
+a parodying portrayal of their mannerisms. He imitated the tones of
+their voice and twisted and contorted his face and body to resemble
+the originals. Nothing was sacred from that mimic any more than from a
+sapper. He showed us Osman Digna's little ways, and gave ghastly
+imitations of trials, mutilations and executions by hanging in the
+Mahdist camps. And these things were for relaxation, though maybe they
+served as a reminder of the dervishes' brutal rule. There were
+vexations and jokes of another sort for Major Girouard and those held
+tightly responsible for the rapid construction and regular running of
+the material trains, as indeed all trains were. When the line had been
+laid beyond Abu Dis, for a time known as Rail-head, the camp and
+quarters were moved on to the next station. Abu Dis sank in dignity
+and population until only a corporal and two men were left to guard
+the place and work the sidings. The desert railway being a single
+track, frequent sidings are indispensable for the better running of
+trains. All the control for working the system was vested in the Wady
+Halfa officials. One night there came to them over the wires an
+alarmist message to send no more trains to Abu Dis. It was the
+corporal who urgently rang up his chiefs. What could it mean? Had they
+deserted, or, more likely, were the dervishes raiding the district? A
+demand was made from Wady Halfa for the corporal to explain what had
+happened. His answer was naive, if not satisfactory: "The wild beasts
+have come down from the hills, and we really cannot accept any trains
+from any direction." "What do you mean?" was again queried back. So
+the corporal and his two men responded: "Sir, there are wild beasts
+all around the hut and tent; what can we do? We dare not stir out."
+"Light fires, you magnoons," (fools), was the final rejoinder, and the
+train service went forward as usual. It appeared that the hyenas and
+wolves, wont to snap up a living around the men's camp, bereft of
+their pickings were in a state of howling starvation, and had turned
+up and made an appeal, by no means mute, to the station guard, which
+the latter failed to understand or appreciate. In a remarkably short
+space of time the hyenas and pariah dogs had adopted the habit of
+scavengering around all the camps and snifting along the track, after
+the trains, for stray scraps.
+
+[Illustration: DARMALI (BRITISH BRIGADE SUMMER QUARTERS).]
+
+I returned to Cairo early in July, where, having paid into the
+Financial Military Secretary's hands the £50 security required of war
+correspondents, intended to cover cost of railway fares south of Wady
+Halfa, and for any forage drawn from the stores, I received the
+official permit to proceed to the front. All the restrictions as to
+the number of correspondents allowed up, which were imposed during the
+Atbara campaign, were singularly enough removed, and the "very open
+door" policy substituted. In consequence, there was a large number,
+over sixteen in all, of so-called representatives of the press at the
+front. As an old correspondent aptly observed, some of them
+represented anything but journals or journalism, the name of a
+newspaper being used merely as a cover for notoriety and medal
+hunting. Having secured my warrant to join the Sirdar's army, I
+started from Cairo for Assouan and Wady Halfa. The headquarters at
+that date were still in Wady Halfa. On the 21st of July the first
+detachments of the reinforcements that were to make up the British
+force to a division, which Major-General Gatacre was to command, left
+Cairo for the south. Thereafter, nearly day by day up to the 9th of
+August inclusive, troops were sent forward. These consisted of
+artillery, cavalry, the 21st Lancers, baggage animals, Royal
+Engineers, Army Service Corps, Medical Corps, and the four battalions
+of infantry which were to form the second British brigade. The brigade
+in question comprised 1st Battalion of the Grenadier Guards, the 1st
+Northumberland Fusiliers, the 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers, and the 2nd
+Battalion Rifle Brigade, together with a battery of Maxims manned by a
+detachment of the Royal Irish Fusiliers. Brigadier-General the
+Honourable N. G. Lyttelton, C.B., commanded the second brigade, whilst
+Major-General Gatacre's former command, the 1st British Brigade, was
+taken over by Brigadier-General J. Wauchope. The first brigade was
+made up of the Lincolns, Warwicks, Seaforths, and Camerons, with six
+Maxims. To prepare for eventualities, and clench the special training
+he had bestowed upon his men, Major-General Gatacre issued a printed
+slip of notes, or hints, to his men. I give the salient points of that
+production:--
+
+"1. As the strength of a European force lies in the occupation of and
+in movement over open ground, which gives it advantage of fire, so the
+strength of a dervish force lies in fighting in depressions of the
+ground, or in a jungle country out of which they can pour suddenly and
+quickly their thousands of spear-armed warriors, who, unless checked
+by a murderous fire, constitute a grave danger, even to a perfectly
+disciplined force.
+
+"It follows, then, that a force halted for the night must always be
+protected where possible by a zereba, which will check under fire the
+attacking dervishes.
+
+"2. That a cleared zone be prepared along outer edge of the zereba.
+
+"3. That a force, when moving, should march at a respectful distance
+from jungle cover.
+
+"4. It should have the ground in its front and on its flanks searched
+out by cavalry, mounted infantry, or native levies.
+
+"5. That when mounted troops have found the enemy, they must
+invariably clear the front of the infantry to enable the latter to use
+their rifles.
+
+"6. That brigades must be so trained that each battalion and
+individual soldier must know how to get into the best formation with
+the least possible delay for meeting the attack of the spearmen, who,
+it must be remembered, can move at least three times as quickly as a
+British soldier can double.
+
+"To carry out the above, a high standard of training and steadiness is
+required, and battalions must be provided with a liberal supply of
+cutting tools, felling axes, hand axes and bill hooks to enable them,
+the instant the battalion marches into bivouac, to cut down small
+trees or strong branches of prickly trees with which to construct a
+thorn fence.
+
+"Piquets must be withdrawn at dusk, otherwise they might get
+surrounded and cut off, or, in falling back, would possibly suffer
+from the defenders of the zereba.
+
+"The protection of the zereba against surprise must depend on the
+vigilance of its sentries and piquets which line the fence, and whose
+strength will naturally depend on the proximity of the dervishes to
+the force. With reliable information, and the ground properly
+reconnoitred, a patrol of ten men per company, patrolling constantly
+and noiselessly along the inner edge of the zereba, is adequate, so
+long as the enemy's dem is say 15 miles distant (a day's march); when
+nearer than this, the strength of the piquets to remain awake and
+under arms will depend upon the circumstances of the moment.
+
+"All night duties of this nature should be found by companies, so that
+portions of the line along its whole length shall be on duty. Words of
+command and orders must be given in a low tone; there must be no
+shouting and no fires burning till the hour arrives for making the
+morning tea. Men should always be allowed to smoke, but should be
+warned of the danger of fire in zereba by a cigarette or match-end
+thrown into dry grass.
+
+"Officers must sleep immediately behind their men; a certain number
+will always be on duty.
+
+"All, officers and men, must sleep in their clothes, boots and
+accoutrements, and each man must have his rifle with him. None but
+sentries' should be loaded, and bayonets should not be fixed, even by
+the patrols, except when there is expectancy of attack. Under no
+circumstances should men sleep with their bayonets fixed, or serious
+accidents will occur.
+
+"And here, one word about 'alarms.' I do not refer to the assembly by
+bugle sound, but what is ordinarily called a panic, in other words a
+disgraceful absence of discipline and self-control, which, while
+ruining the reputation of the corps concerned as a reliable battalion,
+may be the cause of serious mischief, and must be disastrous to the
+confidence the General Officer places in its officers and men.
+
+"One of the great advantages accruing to an army on service is the
+close association of the officer with the man; each learns something
+from the other, and the officer will, in after years, appreciate the
+value of the habit he gets into of talking to his men and of storing
+up in his mind all sorts of dodges and hints, which assist troops in
+the field to make themselves comfortable; more than this, it is in the
+field only that the officer can get the opportunity of instilling into
+the men's minds the necessity for deliberation under fire, the high
+standard of the regiment, its past history, its superiority in
+everything to all other regiments in the division, and his confidence
+in his men to maintain such a standard of excellence. In many
+expeditions it has happened that shots have been fired at nothing,
+night after night, thus disturbing the whole force; such bad habits
+must be firmly checked."
+
+Before leaving Cairo I had the opportunity of witnessing a trial of
+the new siege guns that were to be used in levelling the walls and
+defences of Omdurman. To the eastward of Abbassieh barracks, near the
+rifle ranges, 150 feet of stone wall had been erected. It was a
+replica of part of the structure which the Khalifa had built around
+the tomb of the Mahdi, his own grounds, that of his body-guard, and
+the more important buildings situated in the centre of the dervish
+capital.
+
+The stout rectangular wall at Omdurman stood with its narrowest side
+facing the Nile, and its longest sides ran inland from the river for
+about a mile. It was twelve feet in height, and even more in places,
+ten feet in thickness at the base, tapering to six feet at the top. It
+was a well-made structure, laid in mortar and faced on either side
+with dressed limestone blocks.
+
+Shortly after six a.m. on the morning of 22nd July, a large number of
+officers assembled at the Abbassieh ranges to watch the result of the
+experiments of the sham bombardment. Lieutenant-General Sir Francis
+Grenfell and staff, Major-General Lyttelton, and many others were
+present. It was arranged that the new 5-inch howitzer battery, with
+the "Lyddite" or high explosive shells, was to make the first attempt
+to breach or throw down the wall. There were six of these new
+howitzers, and they were worked by the 37th Field Battery, commanded
+by Major Elmslie. Except that the bore was larger, there was little to
+distinguish the pieces from the 15-lb. Maxim-Nordenfeldt automatic
+recoil guns used at the battle of the Atbara. The latter cannon,
+however, only used cordite, whereas the 5-inch howitzer shells are
+filled with a picric compound resembling M. Turpin's melinite. For
+over ten years Russia has had 100-lb. howitzer batteries in the field,
+firing high explosives. It was the Sirdar who insisted upon the
+necessity of being supplied with these light and handy cannon. Neither
+the velocity nor the range of their shell-fire is great, but it is
+enough--4000 yards or thereby--for all practical purposes, and is
+fairly accurate. The explosion of the picric shells was very violent,
+and the danger area about 300 yards from where they burst. It has been
+found that, with about six or eight mules to draw the guns, the
+battery was quite mobile. Egyptian drivers were employed, though the
+men serving the guns were all British artillerymen. Even the drivers
+of the 32nd Field Battery, commanded by Major Williams, had "gippy"
+teamsters. Both batteries were drawn by smart Cyprus mules. The
+howitzers opened fire at 750 yards from the wall. With few exceptions,
+the Lyddite shells hit the mark. Range is given more by increase or
+diminution of the charge than elevation or depression of the
+howitzers. The guns kicked viciously and ran back at each discharge.
+Bursting violently, the shells threw out big sheets of tawny flame,
+followed by showers of stones and a cloud of dust and brownish smoke.
+It was possible to see the missiles in their flight and note where
+they struck. As each shell rushed through the air it made a noise not
+unlike an express train passing under a bridge. There were salvoes of
+two or three guns, and huge chunks were knocked out of the wall.
+Pieces of flying débris frequently dropped at no great distance from
+the gunners. It was plain that the shells were bursting upon impact,
+and only blowing away the face of the wall to the depth of but a foot
+or two. Had there been thick shells with retarding fuses the structure
+might have been breached in two or three rounds.
+
+After a preliminary ten rounds had been fired, the wall was closely
+inspected. It was seen that infantry might have clambered over the
+débris to the top of the structure and jumped down upon the other
+side. A strange feature was that wherever the "Lyddite" explosive
+failed to detonate the stones and ground around had been transformed
+to a deep chrome colour. The battery was moved closer, to about 350
+yards from the wall, and the firing was recommenced at that range.
+Much better results were obtained, and the upper part of the wall was
+knocked away, and easy, practicable breaches made. One of the other
+advantages of these new guns is that with reduced firing charges they
+become reliable mortars, and the high explosive shells can be dropped
+over a wall or building, so as to drive the defenders from their
+works. Not a man would have escaped injury had there been an enemy
+behind the wall, for blocks of stone were scattered in all directions.
+When the howitzers had finished their practice, six rounds were fired
+from two 40-lb. Armstrong guns, which were also ordered to assist in
+breaching Omdurman's walls. Next to the 7-lb. screw guns the 40-lb.
+Armstrong is reputed to be the most accurate shooting cannon in the
+British service. Mounted on lofty carriages, these siege guns were
+laid to fire at 800 yards range. Oddly enough, one of the 40-lbs.
+scored as high a percentage of misses as the howitzers. The great
+velocity of the 40-lb. shells, filled with the slower-bursting
+gunpowder, carried them well into the part of the wall aimed at, with
+the result that, in a few seconds, they made a good breach. The
+morning's experiments were concluded by a detachment of the Royal
+Irish Fusiliers, under Captain Churches, firing their Maxims against
+targets representing bands of dervishes, the dummy enemy being, as
+usual, riddled with bullets.
+
+From Cairo to Dakhala, evidence was not lacking that the form and
+movement of preparations for the general advance were growing apace.
+Every train and boat going south was overloaded with officers, men,
+and transport animals, together with munitions of war galore for the
+campaign. The gunboats and deserters brought in reports that the
+dervishes were concentrating at Omdurman. The strongly defensible
+positions of Shabluka, together with the mud forts, had been evacuated
+by the dervishes. Very quickly the Sirdar sent small bodies of troops
+up stream to occupy suitable positions for wood-cutting and forming
+advance camps. In that way the river pass at the Sixth Cataract was
+seized without the long anticipated fight for that difficult bit of
+country. The Nile highway was at length in the Sirdar's undisputed
+possession up to within thirty miles of Omdurman.
+
+There is no dustier journey by rail, or one of an altogether more
+uncomfortable nature, than from Cairo to Shellal. It is bad enough in
+the so-called winter season, for you have to breathe an atmosphere of
+dust the whole way, and are powdered and almost suffocated before you
+reach Luxor. The same trip taken in midsummer, in the stuffy, crowded
+carriages of the Egyptian lines, is real martyrdom, or something akin
+thereto. High speed or over twenty-five miles an hour is not
+attempted. Although the journey ordinarily occupies thirty-two hours,
+I was forty hours _en route_. There are no refreshment-bars or
+restaurants for the supply of palatable food or drink for the fierce
+needs of the passengers. I made some provision for the trip, and
+managed to survive it, as I have done before, but I cannot forget its
+tortures any more than the newest of new-comers. Not until we reached
+Assouan could we secure a fair supply of water and get a bath and an
+enjoyable meal. That same afternoon, I, with three other
+correspondents, was allowed to take passage on barge No. 9, which,
+with two giassas, was taken in tow up to Wady Halfa by a sternwheeler.
+Among others proceeding on the craft to join the army were
+Major-General Wauchope and Surgeon-General Taylor, and a number of
+other army medicoes, fresh in their new dignity as officers of the
+"Royal Army Medical Corps." Under the instruction of Surgeon-General
+Taylor, Surgeon-Major Wilson was good enough to present each of us
+with a packet of first field dressings, a kindness which I
+appreciated, but of which I hoped not to have need.
+
+[Illustration: GROUP OF STAFF OFFICERS.--COLONEL WINGATE IN CENTRE.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+MUSTERING FOR THE OVERTHROW OF MAHDISM.
+
+
+A hackneyism lacks the picturesqueness of originality, but is as
+useful in its way as a public road to a desired destination. The
+quotation which I am at the moment anxious to make use of is, "The
+mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small." Time
+the avenger had all but fulfilled the meed of punishment for the evil
+day of 26th January 1885, when the streets of Khartoum ran with blood,
+and the headless body of General Gordon was left to be hacked and hewn
+by ferocious hordes of dervishes. Major-General Sir Herbert H.
+Kitchener had so managed that the decisive blow should be delivered in
+the most effective manner. Stage by stage he had moved forward and
+improved his lines of communication. The advanced base, or point of
+departure for the campaign, was no longer Wady Halfa, or Korti in the
+province of Dongola, as in 1884, but Dakhala. Nay, with the
+unassailable power and command of the Nile his flotilla gave him, it
+might be said the real base of the Sirdar's army was where he chose to
+fix it, even hard by Omdurman. As for the Khalifa, ruined to some
+extent by years of successes and easy victories, he was committing the
+fatal military error of over-confidence. He had drawn around him from
+all parts of the Soudan the best of his trusty warriors, the pick of
+the fighting tribes of Africa. The leaders were mostly sheiks who were
+too far committed to hope for pardon and restoration, in the event of
+defeat, from the Khedivial Government. Besides, there were still
+plenty of ignorant fanatics amongst the chosen "Ansar," or servants of
+God, to fire the naturally truculent mass of armed men.
+
+To ensure the smashing of the Mahdists, the Sirdar was leading the
+largest and best equipped expedition ever seen south of Wady Halfa.
+The river flotilla comprised eleven well-armed steam gunboats. For the
+transport of troops and stores beyond Dakhala he had numberless native
+craft, giassas, nuggars, several steamers, and specially constructed
+iron barges. What with their crews and detachments of British gunners,
+engineers, and infantry, each gunboat had a fighting force of about
+100 men aboard. These vessels could easily have carried many more
+hands; indeed, the newest type of Nile men-o'-war, the twin-screw
+steamers, were built to convey a thousand soldiers. The land forces
+included over 8000 British troops and fully 15,000 Egyptian and
+Soudanese soldiery. In artillery the army was exceptionally strong.
+Lieut.-Colonel C. J. Long, R.A., commanding that arm, had practically
+eight batteries and ten Maxims at his disposal, not counting the
+machine guns, Maxims, attached to the British division. The artillery
+included the 32nd Field Battery R.A. of six 15-pounders under Major
+Williams; the 37th Field Battery R.A. of six 5-inch howitzers under
+Major Elmslie, and two 40-pounders R.A. Armstrong guns under Lieut.
+Weymouth. There were also, No. 1 Egyptian Horse Artillery Battery
+(Krupps) under Major Young, R.A., of six guns; No. 2 Egyptian Field
+(mule) Battery under Major Peake, consisting of six 12½-pounder
+Maxim-Nordenfeldt automatic recoil guns, firing when necessary a
+double shell, and Egyptian Field Batteries Nos. 3, 4, and 5, each of
+six of the same type of guns, under Captain C. G. Stewart, R.A., Major
+Lawrie, R.A., and Major de Rougemont, R.A., and two 6-centimetres
+Krupps on mules. The ten Maxims, or at least six of them, were mounted
+upon galloping carriages drawn by horses. On these vehicles or limbers
+the gunners could remain in position and bring the weapons into action
+at any moment. Captain Franks had the control of these machine guns,
+two of which were, nominally, attached to each Egyptian battery.
+Besides the four brigades of Khedivial infantry, together with
+artillery, cavalry, and camelry, and minor details, the Egyptian army
+also included a large transport column of some 2800 camels and about
+as many men.
+
+A new solar-hat, a poke-bonnet sort of head-gear, was designed and
+tied on the pates of one thousand transport camels as an experiment to
+prevent sickness and sunstroke. Although the brutes have the smallest
+modicum of brains, they are very liable to attacks of illness from
+heat-exhaustion. That they are born in the tropics confers no
+immunity. Strange to say, on the march south from Assouan, of a
+thousand and odd only one animal succumbed to sunstroke, and that was
+a camel that had no sun-bonnet. If anything could have added to the
+naturally lugubrious expression of those lumbering freight carriers,
+it was the jaunty poke-bonnets with the attenuated "Oh, let us be
+joyful" visages grinning beneath. The transport department was managed
+by Colonel F. W. Kitchener, brother of the Sirdar. His care it was,
+when the army actually took the field, to see that the supplies of
+food, forage, and ammunition advanced with the columns. As a matter of
+fact, in that respect the campaign, as at the Atbara, was admirably
+ordered, and the troops lacked for nothing in reason. There were few
+mules and donkeys employed in the baggage trains, the bulk of the
+stores being camel-borne. It was the free and full use of water
+transport, by the Nile, that enabled supplies to be sent on rapidly
+and regularly with the army when the troops advanced beyond Rail-head.
+Besides the regular army which was to proceed up the left or west bank
+and attack Omdurman, there was a column of armed friendlies who were
+to operate against the dervishes quartered between Shendy and
+Khartoum, by the east or right bank of the Nile. Nor were the bands of
+tribesmen upon that shore the only auxiliaries who had volunteered to
+assist in overthrowing Mahdism. Jaalin scouts and runners put
+themselves under the Sirdar's orders to scour the front and flanks of
+the army, at least up to Kerreri. Colonel Parsons, R.A., was to lead
+a mixed force of fellaheen soldiers, Abyssinian levies, ex-Italian
+Ascari, and Arabs from Kassala to attack Gedarif and menace Khartoum
+from the east.
+
+There was a degree of soreness in several British battalions at not
+being allowed to bear part in the campaign. The troops forming the
+Army of Occupation believed that they should have had the first call.
+Among these were the Royal Irish Fusiliers. It had been anticipated
+that as they were next on the army list for active foreign service,
+they would certainly not be passed over. Instead of receiving orders
+to march, they were left severely alone, another Fusilier battalion
+being sent in their place. The proceeding gave rise to much bickering
+and bitterness in certain quarters. An attempt, I believe, was made to
+send half of the Royal Irish Fusiliers to the front, but that fell
+through owing to various causes. According to the War Office
+requirements, the Royal Irish Fusiliers were not in a satisfactory
+condition. There were serious drawbacks which would have terribly
+militated against the effective employment of the battalion as a
+first-class fighting unit. Individually, the men were all right, but
+the battalion record in certain respects was held to be very faulty. I
+have no wish to cavil at the War Office authorities' honest desire to
+serve the public and yet temper their judgment with mercy to
+individuals. But the case was one where they should not have
+temporised in any way. As matters turned out, the Royal Irish
+Fusiliers were very angry at being passed over at the eleventh hour
+for another regiment. For several generations they have never had a
+chance of being in action. They were fairly spoiling for a fight, and
+it was hard, at the last moment, to have the road to glory closed in
+their faces for the deficiencies of the few.
+
+He whom Arabs and blacks of the whole Soudan call the "Grand Master of
+the Art of Flight," our old friend Osman Digna, was with the Khalifa
+in Omdurman. Osman was wily and experienced, and his counsel, had it
+been listened to by his chief, would have added to the difficulties of
+carrying the Mahdist stronghold by assault. I have some knowledge of
+that astute ex-slavedealer and trader's ways in the Eastern Soudan and
+elsewhere. He, many years ago, even condescended to honour me with his
+correspondence and an invitation to join the true believers, _i.e._,
+the Mahdists. I have no doubt he meant well, but the land and the
+dervishes were alike abhorrent to me. Osman had quietly come to the
+wise conclusion that Mahdism was near its end. With his usual
+prescience he made his own arrangements without consulting the
+Khalifa. Early in the year he had all his women and children and such
+wealth as he could smuggle out of the country sent over to Jeddah.
+There his family are now living under the protection of some of his
+old friends and kinsmen. When Omdurman fell he had no intention, the
+Hadendowas said, of sharing the Khalifa's further fortunes in hiding
+among the wilds of Kordofan. He would instead try and escape across
+the Red Sea and rejoin his family. The Arab clansmen are like the
+Hielan' caterans; they may fight and quarrel with one another, but
+unless there is a blood feud it is unlikely they will help either the
+English or the Egyptians to bag old Osman Digna. If the Turk gets him
+for a subject, well, the Sublime Porte is likely to be deeply sorry
+for it later on. "Fresh troubles in Yemen," or elsewhere in the
+Arabian Peninsula, will be amongst the headlines of news from that
+quarter once Osman the plotter finds his feet again after his last
+flight. After the Atbara he just missed being taken by the skin of his
+teeth, so to speak. His camp letters and private correspondence were
+all secured. It was in this way: When the news of the Atbara victory
+reached Kassala, Captain Benson and a party of about 200 Abyssinian
+irregulars set out to see whether Osman Digna and his more immediate
+followers were not trying to make their way back to Omdurman, viâ
+Aderamat and Abu Delek. It may be recollected that the fugitive Shiekh
+had established a camp at the last-named place after he had been
+driven out of the Eastern Soudan. Sure enough, Captain Benson and the
+irregulars came up with Osman Digna and 400 of his people encamped
+near the Atbara. They called on them to surrender, but that they would
+not do. A running fight began, in the course of which Osman, his
+nephew Mousa and many more escaped. The Abyssinians, however, killed
+and captured over 200 of the dervish leader's followers, and returned
+in triumph with the captives and spoils. I am told that Mousa Digna,
+though he watched the fight in question, never fired a shot. The tale
+goes, that he has never drawn sword or trigger against us since we
+gave him his life at the battle of Gemaizeh, near Suakin. That
+morning I found Mousa, shot through the stomach, reclining upon the
+ground. He was still truculent, and brandishing his spear. The
+Soudanese were anxious to despatch him forthwith, and fired several
+shots at him, the aim of which I spoiled by direct interference. I had
+even then difficulty in getting Mousa to lie down quietly, having to
+show him my revolver. Finally, he partly realised the situation. He
+was taken up, carried into Suakin, carefully attended to, fed upon a
+milk diet, and, in the end, recovered and returned to his Uncle Osman
+and the dervishes. It has always been upon my mind that I was therein
+instrumental in furnishing a dervish recruit to the cause of furious
+anarchy, and I am relieved to think Mousa is not without compunction,
+if not a decent modicum of conscience. But your proper Hadendowa is
+not a Baggara.
+
+"Three removals are worse than a fire," and it is much the same in
+campaigning. Constant trudging to and fro, making and breaking camps
+with the hardships of marches and raw ground for bivouacs, furnish a
+bigger mortality bill than an ordinary battle. One of the smart things
+done by the Sirdar, which served to show that he had closely knit all
+the ends of the new frontier lines together, was to bring troops up
+from the Dongola province and the Red Sea Littoral, to swell the
+strength of his army in the field. The 5th Egyptian battalion under
+Colonel Abd El Borham marched across from Suakin to Berber in eighteen
+days. It was not by any means sought to make it a forced march. The
+Fifth was accompanied by a company, 100 men and animals, of the Camel
+Corps and had 40 baggage camels for ordinary transport. Leisurely, day
+by day, they tramped along over the 250 odd miles of rock and sand
+that intervene betwixt the Nile and the sea. Hadendowa and Bishaim
+tribesmen were friendly, and scouts led them in the best tracks
+whether they tramped by night or by day. At one place they had to make
+a long forced march as the water in the wells had been exhausted by a
+previous caravan. In time to come, with a little outlay, new wells
+will be dug and an abundant supply of water provided along the whole
+route. Later on, the 5th Egyptian battalion marched up from Berber to
+Dakhala camp. The men were tall, muscular fellaheen. They were, as has
+become the custom in Egypt since the army has been officered by the
+Queen's soldiers, played into quarters on this occasion by a native
+Soudanese band to the swinging tune of "O, dem Golden Slippers."
+
+It is warm enough in Lower Egypt in July to be uncomfortable, and to
+turn the most obdurate into a melting mood. Assouan has the deserved
+reputation of being hotter in that month than Aden, the Persian Gulf,
+or--well, any other hot place. So, as I have said before, the British
+troops were not required to do more than the minimum of duty at that
+period. Decidedly "circumstances alter cases," even in matters
+military. I hope I may be pardoned for these recurring quotations and
+saws. The intolerably fervent solar heat of the Soudan at that season
+did not admit of much originality in thought, expression, or act. One
+of my companions was a veritable modern Sancho Panza, and in one's
+limp, mental, noontide condition his sapient "instances" were
+catching. When he left Cairo, as he confided to me, though it was warm
+enough there, he decided not to buy too thin clothing lest he might
+catch cold. He therefore purchased articles that even in England would
+be called woolly and comfortable. Later on, as he reclined upon his
+couch in a thrice-raised Turkish bath temperature, he lamented that he
+"could not catch cold" even in a state of nature or next to it. He no
+longer wondered at Sydney Smith's wish to sit in his bones, and
+thought that expression would have acquired additional force if the
+witty divine had added "packed in ice."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+BY THE WAY--FROM CAIRO TO DAKHALA.
+
+
+Ten days from London to the junction of the Atbara with the Nile: so
+far from England and yet so near. By-and-by, no doubt, the Brindisi
+mail, speeding in connection with the Khartoum express, will make the
+run in seven or eight days. From England to Port Said is now but a
+matter of four days by the new Peninsular and Oriental service. It
+took me six days from Cairo to reach Dakhala. The officials prefer to
+know the place as "Atbara Camp." There is no absolute rule for the
+bestowal of proper names, or at least no practice one need care about
+in the Soudan, so I prefer to dub the locality by its native title of
+Dakhala, or Dakhelha. It saves a word in telegraphing, and there is
+more fitness in calling that dusty, dirty enclosure by the less
+euphonious name.
+
+One could not but note what a wondrous change in the military and
+political situation had been wrought in the land since 1884-85.
+Railways had solved every difficulty of dealing with the dervishes.
+Quite easily nowadays the remote provinces of the whilom great
+Egyptian equatorial empire can be reached and governed. With ordinary
+care under the altered conditions millions of Arabs and blacks can be
+transformed from chronic-rebellious into trusty loyal subjects. There
+has been bloodguiltiness and to spare in the Soudan since 1883-84,
+therefore the rehabilitation of the country through the setting up of
+just government will be in the nature of discharging a duty long
+incumbent upon Great Britain. From the Atbara southward, the Niles and
+their tributaries are open to steam navigation the year round. The
+possession of these noble waterways, which extend over thousands of
+miles, includes the fee-simple of sovereignty in the fertile lands of
+the two Nile basins and their commerce. By admirable foresight and
+indomitable Anglo-Saxon persistence the Sirdar had achieved a unique
+position in African conquest. He had got together an armed force "fit
+to go anywhere and to do anything." The heart of Africa was his, to
+loose or to bind. Of all the terrible railway rides in the world, for
+dirt and discomfort, none compares with the trip from Cairo to Luxor
+and Assouan. The carriages are stuffy and unclean, and during the
+whole journey one stifles in an opaque atmosphere of grit mixed with
+the sweepings of the ages. The calcined earths quickly cushion the
+seats, powder you from head to foot, and fill your pockets and every
+other receptacle with soil enough to make you feel like a landed
+proprietor--or, at any rate, rich enough in loam to lay out a suburban
+garden. With all the accessories at hand for the creation of an acrid
+and measureless thirst, neither the railway authorities nor private
+enterprise have had the wit as yet to provide travellers with the
+means of mitigating their sufferings. It is little short of a horror
+to think of that journey of over forty hours' duration, which had to
+be endured without the succour to be found in a refreshment-room
+where, for a consideration, could be got a sparkling cool drink or a
+mouthful of passable victuals. Were it to take me a month to travel
+the distance by river, if time permitted I had rather adventure next
+time upon the Nile than ever go by train over that line again. I
+confess I have made the journey by rail frequently but it becomes
+really more unendurable each trip. Of course I laid in stores of
+liquids and solids for the voyage. I ought to have known better, but
+one thinks nothing of the toothache when it is past. The mineral
+waters became too hot to drink, and not quite near enough the
+boiling-point to make good tea of, whilst, as for the provisions, such
+as got not too high, were so swathed in layers of questionable dust
+and grit as to be repulsive. Keeping even passably tidy was
+impossible, and in personal cleanliness a London scavenger could give
+a traveller by rail from Cairo to Assouan many points. It was at Wady
+Halfa that I got booked in the way-bill for Dakhala, or Atbara Camp,
+390 miles away. The construction of the Halfa-Atbara line was, as I
+have said before, a masterpiece of military strategy, the credit for
+which is due to the Sirdar. By-and-by a railway bridge will span the
+Atbara at Dakhala, and the iron way will be laid into Khartoum. The
+170 miles betwixt the Atbara and Khartoum offer no difficulties, and
+the line will be laid within a year from the time when the money is
+granted the Sirdar for its construction.
+
+Since the foregoing was written, the requisite amount has been voted
+Lord Kitchener of Khartoum, and the contracts for material have been
+issued and signed. About a quarter of a million sleepers have to be
+delivered in Egypt before the end of June 1899. The Atbara and forty
+small khors will be bridged, and the work be completed in twelve
+months. It is intended that the terminus shall be on the east bank
+opposite Khartoum.
+
+All the trains on the Halfa-Atbara line carried goods, ordinary
+passengers being incidental. Four of my colleagues, Major Sitwell, of
+the Egyptian army, and myself got places in a horse-box. In the next
+truck to us, likewise a horse-box, were five English officers,
+returning to duty with Gatacre's, or rather Wauchope's, brigade at
+Darmali. In that same horse-box truck we five contrived to cook, eat,
+sleep, and dress for two round days, for, as I have stated, there were
+no restaurants or buffets within 1000 miles of the desert railway. The
+wayside stations were but sidings or halting-places where the
+locomotives drew coal and water, of which small supplies were usually
+stored under an Egyptian corporal's guard. Ours was a long and heavy
+train, and more than once on the up grade to No. 6 or Summit station
+out from Halfa the engine came to a standstill, "to recover its
+breath," as the negroes said. In the horse-box we got along together
+for the most part very comfortably, accommodating ourselves to the
+situation. Such a picnic as we had then made it less of a puzzle to
+the common understanding how certain creatures are able to do with a
+tight-fitting shell for their house and home. If Major Girouard, R.E.,
+had not left the direction of the Soudan military railways--which
+under the Sirdar he built--to join the Board of the Egyptian lines, we
+should, I believe, have had better provision made for passengers.
+Ziehs, or porous native clay-jars to hold cool drinking water, and
+various other little accessories to lighten the hardships of the trip
+would surely have been provided. Later on, the officials took care to
+have ziehs and plenty of cool drinking water in the carriages and
+trucks of all trains carrying troops, so that the men had at least
+plenty to drink.
+
+On our way up we passed Wauchope's brigade encamped at Es Selim and
+Darmali. Colonel Macdonald's 1st and Colonel Maxwell's 2nd Khedivial
+Brigades started to march from Berber to Dakhala about that time, the
+end of July. Many of the British soldiers, so as not to sleep upon the
+ground, had built for themselves benches of mud or sun-dried bricks,
+whereon they spread their blankets. The plan secured some immunity
+from such crawling things as scorpions and snakes. Sun-baked mud in
+the Soudan is a hard and decently clean material for bench or bed. The
+Theatres Royal, Darmali and Es Selim, were in full swing, though it
+was very 'dog-days' weather. Officers liberally patronised the men's
+entertainments and occasionally held jollifications of their own.
+There were a good many who exercised the cheerful spirit of Mark
+Tapley under the trials of the Soudan. Lively and original skits and
+verses were given at these symposiums. Here are a few verses of a
+topical song on the refractory blacks and fellaheen fallen under the
+condemnation of either the civil or military law and forced to hard
+labour. It was written and frequently sung by a clever young engineer
+officer:--
+
+    We're convicts at work in the Noozle,
+      We carry great loads on our backs,
+    And often our warders bamboozle,
+      And sleep 'neath mountains of sacks.
+
+                                Chorus: Ri-tooral il looral, &c.
+
+(The Noozle is the commissariat depôt.)
+
+    We convicts start work at day dawning,
+      Boilers we mount about noon,
+    Sleepers we load in the morning,
+      And rails by the light of the moon.
+
+    Our warders are blacks, who cry Masha! (march),
+      And strike us if we don't obey,
+    Or else he's a Hamla Ombashi,
+      Who allows us to fuddle all day.
+
+Hamla Ombashi is a corporal of the transport service, and "fuddle" is
+to sit down. It was the chorus with spoken words interlarded that
+caught on astonishingly, and showed that the men's lungs were in
+magnificent condition. Another howler, but by another author, was
+"Roll on to Khartoum." Here is a specimen verse and the chorus:--
+
+    Come, forward march, and do your duty,
+      Though poor your grub, no rum, bad 'bacca,
+    Step out, for fighting and no booty,
+      To trace a free red line thro' Africa.
+
+    No barney, boys, give over mousing,
+      True Britons are ye from hill and fen,
+    Now rally lads, and drop all grousing,
+      And pull together like soldier-men.
+
+                                Chorus.
+
+    Then roll on, boys, roll on to Khartoum,
+      March ye and fight by night or by day,
+    Hasten the hour of the Dervishes' doom,
+      Gordon avenge in old England's way.
+
+"Grousing" is Tommy Atkins for grumbling, which is an Englishman's
+birthright. As for no rum, subsequently the men were allowed two tots
+a week; Wednesdays and Saturdays were, I think, the days of issue.
+Less than half a gill was each man's share. I am inclined to believe
+had there been a daily issue of the same quantity of rum it had been
+better, and the young soldiers might have escaped with less fever.
+
+Dakhala had undergone many changes since March. It was bigger in every
+respect, but no better as a camping-ground. Truth to tell, it was so
+bad as to be well-nigh intolerable. The correspondents' quarters were
+exceptionally vile, the location being the worst possible within the
+lines. We had no option, and so had to pitch our tents behind the
+noozle in a ten-acre waste of dirtiest, lightest loam, which swished
+around in clouds by day and night, making us grimy as coal-heavers,
+powdering everything, even our food and drink, with gritty dust and
+covering us in our blankets inches deep. The river breeze was barred
+from us, and the green and fresher banks of the Atbara and the Nile,
+beyond the fort, were for other than correspondents' camps. Many rows
+of mud huts had been built in the interior. As for the sun-dried brick
+parapets and ramparts of the fortifications, these were already
+crumbling to ruin or being cast down for use in newer structures. The
+lofty wooden lookout staging, called the Eiffel Tower, had been
+removed, and its timbers converted to other purposes. On the
+completion of the railway to Dakhala, Abadia had become but a
+secondary workshop centre. Newer and larger shipbuilding yards and
+engine works were erected by the Atbara. Under Lieutenant Bond, R.N.,
+and Mr Haig gunboats, steamers, barges and sailing craft were put in
+thorough order, native artisans toiling day and night. The clang of
+hammermen, riveters, carpenters and caulkers resounded along the river
+front. The Dakhala noozle was an immense depôt, stuffed full of grain,
+provisions, ammunition boxes, ropes, wires, iron, medical stores and
+other material, like one of the great London docks. As usual the
+indefatigable Greek trader had adventured upon the scene. North of the
+fortified lines, with the help of the natives he had run up a mud
+town. It consisted of a double row of one-storeyed houses, between
+which ran a street of nearly 300 yards. The place, known as the
+bazaar, was a hive of stores, wretched cafés, and the like. As the
+Sirdar had had all the beer and liquor in the place seized and put
+under seal before the advent of Mr T. Atkins, there was little to be
+had in Dakhala bazaar besides a not too pure soda-water, coffee,
+sardines, beans, maccaroni, oil, tobacco and matches.
+
+[Illustration: STREET IN DAKHALA.]
+
+For six weeks southerly winds blew almost daily. South of 17 degrees,
+the northerly breeze does not commence to blow before the end of
+August. It was warm, extremely warm, under the burning tropical sun.
+The heat bore down like a load upon head and shoulders and enveloped
+us like a blast from a roaring furnace. About noontide it was
+ordinarily 120 degrees Fahr. in my tent. Still, I am sure it was by no
+means so oppressive as at Korti in March 1885. The Atbara and the Nile
+helped to temper the fiery glow that radiated from the desert rocks
+and sands. At best, the heat is a sore trial, but to be borne with
+more patience than the "devils" and sand storms that bother by night
+as well as by day. Snow-drifts are mild visitations of Providence
+compared with a dust storm or whirlwind. These latter would smother
+you, if you would let them, quicker and less respectably than a shroud
+of snow. Jack Frost bites mildly, preferring to do his serious work by
+dulling the nerves; but the Dust Devil is a cruel tormentor from first
+to last. You may bury your head in folds of cloth and mosquito
+netting, and sweat and stifle in the attempt, but he snuffs you and
+powders you all the same. He puffs his finest clouds in your face, and
+round and round you till you find bedding and clothing are no more
+protection against him than they are against the Röntgen ray. One
+particular night he came in great strength to Dakhala, heaped waves of
+sand over us, dug great hollows around our quarters, and completed his
+diabolical games by completely overturning two of my colleagues'
+tents. I saw my friends emerge from the ruins of canvas, bedding, and
+boxes, wild, half-clad, terra-cotta figures, such as may have escaped
+from the destruction of Pompeii. But the human mind is a curious
+thing. It does not acknowledge defeat easily, and so a victim said to
+me he had pulled his tent down to keep it from falling. The Dust Devil
+had nothing to do with it.
+
+Early in August the situation assumed a peculiar interest to us of the
+fourth estate. We were told that the troops were shortly going forward
+to rendezvous at Nasri Island, whereas it was a matter of notoriety
+that Wad Habeshi, which was further south, had been selected as the
+advanced camp for the army on leaving Dakhala. Of course, not one word
+of the true state of matters were we permitted to wire home.
+Detachments, true enough, had been sent ahead to "cut wood" and set up
+a camp upon Nasri Island. But that was merely to have a secure
+secondary depôt and hospital station. It had been ascertained after
+the occupation of Shendy that the dervishes were in no great strength
+at Shabluka or the Sixth Cataract. They occasionally sent down about a
+thousand Baggara horsemen to that place, and their riders scouted
+around the bluff rocks and hills bordering the Nile on either side of
+the "bab," or water-gateway and rapids of Shabluka. As a rule, only
+about two hundred of them ever crossed to the east bank. The others
+hung around on the west bank, and built low walls for riflemen and dug
+a number of trenches and then returned to Omdurman. A few hundred only
+remained to guard the forts and the narrow fairway. Much labour had
+been expended and considerable rude skill shown by the enemy in
+building bastions and other defensive works at various places on the
+river,--particularly in the Shabluka gorge and before Omdurman. Why
+the Khalifa committed the blunder of making no adequate preparation
+for defending the pass at Shabluka it is difficult to understand. Only
+one conclusion suggests itself. He was probably afraid to trust his
+followers so far from his sight, lest the negroes should desert. We
+continually heard from our own blacks that most of Abdullah's
+_jehadieh_ Soudani riflemen would come over to us the first chance
+they got. Major-Generals Hunter and Gatacre, having learned that the
+dervish infantry had been withdrawn from Shabluka, scouted south up to
+the cataract and selected Wad Habeshi as a suitable camp and
+rendezvous. That village, or rather district, is on the west bank,
+south of Nasri Island and but fifteen miles north of Shabluka.
+
+A big zereba was made at Wad Habeshi and trenches were dug. The place,
+in short, long before the British troops stirred south beyond Dakhala,
+was turned into a fortified post and made the real rendezvous of the
+Sirdar's army.
+
+[Illustration: TROOPS GOING TO WAD HABESHI.]
+
+On 2nd August, in the face of a strong south wind, the 1st and 2nd
+Khedivial brigades, respectively Colonel Macdonald's and Colonel
+Maxwell's, embarked in very close order on steamers and giassas for
+Wad Habeshi. The distance was about 140 miles by water from Dakhala,
+but it took the gunboats and their tows over three days to get there,
+for the craft were deeply ladened with men and stores. The soupy
+whirling Nile flood washed the decks of the steamers almost from stem
+to stern. It was little short of the rarest good fortune there was no
+accident by the way. Everybody turned out to see the brigades off.
+Merrily stepped the black battalions, their women-folk raising the
+usual shrill cry of jubilation, whilst the bands played the favourite
+air, "O, dem Golden Slippers." Regimental bands do droll things
+occasionally. I remember in the year of the Dongola Campaign and the
+cholera visitation, 1896, a grim blunder made by a native battalion's
+band. The serious surroundings of those days led me to say nothing of
+the matter at that time. Military interments, in cholera cases, were
+ordinarily made very early in the morning or late in the afternoon,
+just before sunset. A popular native Egyptian officer fell a victim to
+the epidemic one afternoon. The sun had but set when the funeral
+party, headed by the full regimental band, were seen hastening towards
+the cemetery, for there was no time to lose. The tune actually being
+played was not the "Dead March in Saul" but "Up I came with my little
+lot." When the gunboats started up the Nile for Wad Habeshi, towing
+alongside barges and giassas, all the crafts crammed with men and
+stores, more than one of the fellaheen battalions were regaled with
+the full strains of "'E dunno were 'e are."
+
+By the end of July the Egyptian cavalry--nine squadrons--under Colonel
+Broadwood, with the camel corps under Major Tudway, the horse
+artillery and one or two batteries, had been ferried across from
+Dakhala to the west bank. On the 4th of August the whole of the
+mounted force named, about 2000 strong, started to march along the
+bank to Wad Habeshi. Going along the bank means, at high Nile, leading
+the troops upon a course half to a full mile from the river so as to
+avoid creeks and overflows and, at same time, secure the advantage of
+moving upon the more open ground beyond the zone of cultivation, out
+upon the edge of the bare desert. It was also early in August that the
+last of the fourteen double-decked iron barges, designed for the
+conveyance of troops, was finished at Dakhala. Except the surplus and
+reserve stores everything was put to instant service. As good a march
+in its way, if not better in some respects than that of the 5th
+Egyptian battalion from Suakin to Berber, was the tramp of the 17th
+Egyptian--also a fellaheen regiment--from Merawi to Dakhala. They
+made a record rapid tramp, following the Nile, up to Dakhala.
+
+At Dakhala I frequently saw and conversed with the Sirdar, Generals
+Rundle and Gatacre, Colonels Wingate and Slatin Pasha. There seemed no
+reason to doubt but that the Khalifa would remain at Omdurman and give
+us a fight. Abdullah the Taaisha gave out as widely as he could that
+he meant actual business and dying if necessary at the Mahdi's tomb.
+His women-folk had not then been sent away, and that looked promising
+for battle. We heard that he was building more stout walls and digging
+numberless trenches for defence. Of ammunition for small arms and his
+ordinary brass rifled guns we were told he had no lack. For the three
+or four excellent batteries of Krupps he possessed he had but sixty
+rounds per cannon--enough, with good common and shrapnel shell, had he
+made right use of his means, to have made matters unpleasant for us
+until our gunners and Maxims found the range. It was regarded as
+doubtful whether he would be able to employ any of the machine guns in
+the dervish armoury. Of all Gordon's "penny steamers" only one, it was
+said, was serviceable, and she was kept under steam night and day at
+Omdurman.
+
+Though he kept a bold front, blustered, and promised his adherents no
+end of good things, and told them that, as in 1884-85, it was God's
+will to turn the English back at the eleventh hour, Khalifa Abdullah
+was truly in a parlous state. With all the Sirdar's care, we could not
+keep from the dervish leader the extent of our preparations or
+forwardness for the advance. As usual, Sir Herbert Kitchener was well
+ahead of the time planned for moving on. We learned that, bar
+unforeseen accidents and delays, the whole of his army would be in
+front of Omdurman in a little over one month from the 1st of August.
+Two dates in September were given for the fall of that stronghold. It
+turned out to be neither. Kordofan had become openly rebellious
+against the Khalifa. A caravan of over 1140 people, with women,
+children and cattle marching overland, had arrived from that remote
+region at Korti in the Dongola province. The multitude, who were
+accompanied by many influential sheikhs flying from Mahdist misrule,
+sent a deputation to the Sirdar asking his assistance to take and hold
+El Obeid. As if that were not enough in the way of shutting the door
+behind the Khalifa, sheikhs came down from the Blue Nile provinces,
+seeking protection. Help was given to them, and bodies of friendlies
+were got together to seize Senaar and other important places. The Nile
+was running very swift and full in August, the current moving at fully
+six miles an hour past Dakhala. In July the Atbara, which had again
+begun slowly to flow, suddenly rose, the muddy water roaring along in
+a series of terraced wave-walls. Its 300-yards wide bed, where it
+joined the Nile, was within a few minutes choked with the tawny flood
+up to nearly the top of the 30-foot banks on either side. Bursting
+into the Nile the sea of soup seemed to push its way in a well-defined
+stream nearly across the 1200-yards broad bosom of the Father of
+Waters.
+
+The first half of the 2nd Battalion of the Rifle Brigade arrived on
+the 2nd of August at Dakhala, during a blustering dust-storm. For all
+that, black and travel-stained, they were glad to detrain, and to plod
+through the sand, and breast the laden atmosphere, in order to get
+into camp hard by the Atbara. The following day the remainder of the
+battalion marched in under somewhat pleasanter conditions. Everybody
+turned out to cheer the smart, soldierlike detachments. On the 6th
+inst. the first half of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards arrived,
+and later on the remainder. The Sirdar and Generals Rundle and
+Gatacre, and the staffs went to greet them. A finer and more stalwart
+body of troops was never seen in the Soudan. Native opinion was more
+than favourable respecting them, and I heard observations on all sides
+that the Khalifa had no men he could set against them. The Sirdar and
+General Gatacre also expressed themselves much pleased with the
+appearance of the Grenadiers, who looked like seasoned soldiers and
+came in without a sick man in their ranks.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+DAKHALA CAMP: GOSSIP AND DUTY.
+
+
+Dirt is the essence of savagery, and there is a superfluity of both in
+the Soudan. I have no desperate wish so to describe the vileness of
+the surroundings of the correspondents' camp at Dakhala that even
+casual thinkers will sniff at it. The place was bad enough in all
+conscience, and, mayhap, therein I have said all that is necessary. As
+for the worry of our lives, squatted as we were in the least agreeable
+quarter of the big rectangular fort, long will the memory of those
+days and nights burden our existence. What a time I had on those sand
+and dust heaps, where every puff of wind and every footfall raised
+clouds of pulverised cosmos. For two weeks, amid the wretched scene,
+hideous by night as by day, I persisted in existing. It was a huge pen
+with men, horses, camels, donkeys, dogs and poultry hobnobbing amid a
+daily wreckage of old provision tins, garbage of soiled forage and
+stable-sweepings and whatnot. All that, with a temperature of 116
+degrees to 120 degrees Fahr. in the shade, wore the temper and added
+amazingly to the consumption of wet things. At the Grenadier Guards'
+mess one sultry evening they consumed twenty-eight dozen of sodas, and
+it was not a record night. Without giving anybody's secret away, I may
+say I know a gentleman who could polish off three dozen at a sitting,
+and unblushingly call for more. These are details of more interest to
+teetotalers than to the general public. Yet, not to let the subject
+pass without a word of caution to afflicted future travellers in the
+Soudan, the inordinate use of undiluted mineral waters of native
+manufacture is most dangerous to health.
+
+We correspondents had to wink both eyes in much of our telegraphic
+news from the front, for military reasons. The press censor was
+Colonel Wingate, chief of the Intelligence Department. In his absence,
+Major-General Rundle, chief of staff, usually acted. Personally,
+either gentleman was all that could be desired. Both were alike ready
+and courteous in the discharge of their at all times rather onerous
+duty, giving frequent audience to the numerous contingent of eager
+newsmen, garrulous and prodigal with pencil and pen. Some of the
+new-comers to the business felt sorely hit, because they were
+precluded from writing at large upon all subjects connected with the
+campaign. The excision of their copy grieved and hurt them as much as
+if they had been subjected to a real surgical amputation. Yet those
+two officers but obeyed orders, for after all, and under every
+circumstance, the Sirdar, as I am well aware, was the real censor. It
+is perhaps fairly open to argument whether the course adopted in
+dealing with correspondents' copy was wise or necessary in a war
+against an ignorant and savage foe. There was, at least, one official
+blunder which gave occasion for much annoyance, and ought to have been
+promptly remedied, or better still, never committed. It was expected
+of Colonel Wingate, the censor, that amid multifarious important
+responsibilities as chief of the Intelligence branch he should find
+time daily to peruse and correct tens of thousands of words, often
+crabbedly written, in press messages. With the approach of the day of
+battle, his own department taxed more and more his entire attention,
+and side by side the correspondents' telegrams grew in length and
+importance. The task of proper censorship under such conditions was
+impossible for any human being to discharge adequately. On that
+account the public interest suffered, for press matters were often
+neither promptly nor fully despatched. As a rule, the correspondents
+were left in blissful ignorance of what had been cut out of their
+copy, as well as of the exact nature of the residuum transmitted.
+Besides these grievances there was one of favouritism alleged, but of
+that there is always more or less in every phase of life and
+association. All told, it may be thought that the correspondents'
+complaints were of no very serious character. That depends on how they
+are looked at. I have no taste for cavilling or grumbling over events
+that are past. Surely, however, there is a middle way somewhere to be
+found between the absolutism of a general in the field, who may gag
+the correspondents or treat them as camp followers, and the clear
+right of the British public under our free institutions to have news
+dealing with the progress of their arms rapidly transmitted home. I
+am well aware of the grave responsibilities that hedge a
+commander-in-chief, and the cruel injury that an unrestrained
+non-combatant may do him by recklessly writing on subjects calculated
+to jeopardise the success of a campaign and hazard countless lives and
+fortunes. The latter is an remote possibility. A commander-in-chief
+has to consider that any enemy worth his salt is usually kept informed
+by spies and deserters, and press-men who are known and cognisant of
+their duty are no more likely to betray secrets to their country's
+enemies than any officer or soldier in the Queen's service. And
+nowadays the private correspondence from troops in the field cannot be
+suppressed, and it is often published. Commanders of armies will
+either have to accept the presence of recognised writers, over whom
+they can exercise some control, or instead stand powerless before a
+dangerous flood of random army letters poured into the public press.
+The case can be met with judgment and care--plus penalties where
+deserved. I am bringing no charges here, but discussing a vexed and
+withal important question. I am glad to say that during the Omdurman
+Campaign there was no attempt, within my knowledge, of muzzling the
+press. This does not bear upon the Fashoda incident, but that came
+later.
+
+Nasri Island as a base of concentration was, as I have intimated, a
+blind. Although we correspondents were not permitted to go up the
+river, or indeed move beyond the Atbara, until the Sirdar and
+headquarters had started, yet we kept ourselves fully informed of all
+that was happening at the front. There had been one or two little
+skirmishes between bands of mounted dervishes and our wood-cutting
+parties of Khedivial infantry. In these encounters our men had
+generally the best of the fighting, and the Baggara horsemen
+invariably retreated with a few empty saddles. In July Major-Generals
+Hunter and Gatacre had, during a small reconnaissance, proceeded as
+far up as Shabluka Cataract or Rapid on one of the gunboats. The
+enemy, it was seen, were in no great strength there, and the seven
+well-planned, thick-walled mud forts blocking the passage were weakly
+held. Those two officers landed with a small body of troops and
+surveyed a suitable camping site, at what they called Wad Hamid, but
+which, in reality, was north of that place and close to Wad Habeshi.
+The object was to find a spot easily accessible by river and land, and
+with not too much bush about. At that season, the Nile having in many
+places overflowed its lower borders, marshes extended for miles along
+the ordinarily solid river banks. Wad Habeshi was merely a native
+wood-cutting station at first, but little by little troops appeared on
+the scene, and a large entrenched camp, with lines extending for
+several miles, was duly formed. At the end of July two steamers, which
+had made the perilous voyage up the Nile from the province of Dongola,
+came in and made fast alongside the mud bars at Dakhala.
+
+It was still early in August when all the four battalions of
+Major-General Hon. N. G. Lyttelton's Second British Brigade reached
+Dakhala. They were quartered in a cool and cleanly camp by the Atbara,
+to the south-east of the fortified lines. The 21st Lancers also
+arrived at Dakhala in due course. Major Williams' Field Battery, the
+32nd R.A. of 15-pounders; Major Elmslie's 37th R.A., with the new
+50-pounder Howitzers firing Lyddite shells; and Lieut. Weymouth's two
+40-pounder Armstrong guns, besides other cannon and Maxims, were
+likewise on time. Very smartly the batteries and Maxims were stowed
+aboard native craft, which were taken in tow by gunboats to Wad Hamid.
+Detachments of gunners accompanied the pieces and carriages, but the
+majority of the artillerymen were ferried to the west bank, whence
+they marched overland to the new camp. It was at Wad Habeshi that the
+army was first actually marshalled as a concrete force, and forthwith
+took the field. Not a moment was lost by day or night in moving men
+and supplies onward. The little paddle steamer captured from the
+dervishes during the 1896 Dongola Expedition, which had been repaired
+and sent to Dakhala, was continually carrying troops and stores from
+the east to the west bank. As the Nile was running at the rate of six
+miles an hour in its wide bed, the "El Tahara," as the craft was
+called, had to make a big circuit to effect a passage. The "El Tahara"
+was one of the boats General Gordon built at Khartoum but never lived
+to launch. As she was a new craft, the Mahdi changed her name, calling
+her "The Maid," instead of "Khartoum," as it had been intended to dub
+her. She was an excellent vessel, with fine engines much too powerful
+for her frame.
+
+[Illustration: WOOD STATION (EN ROUTE TO OMDURMAN).]
+
+Both Surgeon-General Taylor, on behalf of the British division, and
+Surgeon-Colonel Gallwey, for the Egyptian troops, completed their
+arrangements for succouring the sick and wounded upon the march from
+Shabluka to the attack upon Omdurman. Adequate provision was made for
+field hospitals, floating hospitals and relief stations, for medical
+officers, and attendants, with cradlets and stretchers, to follow each
+military unit into action. For the British infantry it meant,
+substantially, that behind each battalion a medical officer and two
+non-commissioned officers should march, accompanied by six camels
+bearing cacolets, and men with nine stretchers. A somewhat modified
+scheme was got out for the cavalry and artillery, as well as for the
+other Khedivial troops. In the anticipated action before Omdurman,
+temporary operating stations were to be set up, out of ordinary
+rifle-range, and native craft, which had been fitted up with cots,
+were to be brought as near the scene as practicable to receive the
+wounded.
+
+An attempt made to lay a cable from Dakhala to the west bank was not
+over successful. It was found that the great sag, caused by the
+current, carried the cable down stream, so the whole length ran out
+before the opposite bank was reached. The steamer "Melik" was the
+telegraph ship, and paid the cable out from a wooden reel placed on
+her stern quarter. A few days after the failure she was employed
+picking up the wire, most of which was recovered by Captain Manifold,
+R.E., who was the director of military telegraphs in the last as in
+the three previous expeditions against the dervishes. The recovered
+line was relaid across the Atbara, which is barely a third of the
+width of the Nile. From the south bank of the Atbara two land lines
+pass up the east shore of the Nile. Upon a lofty corresponding pair of
+trestles an overhead wire was also hung across the smaller river. A
+few miles south of Dakhala a cable had been laid to an island and
+thence to the west bank. From the latter point an ordinary land wire
+ran along the desert to Metemmeh. Later on it was laid to Omdurman.
+The line was put down step by step as the troops advanced. Thus an
+alternative system of telegraphic communication with Khartoum was
+early provided for.
+
+It stirred the blood of everybody in our dull camp to see detachment
+after detachment of the second British brigade detrain. Most of us
+turned out and like schoolboys followed the drums and fifes as they
+played the troops to their camping-ground. A half-battalion of the
+Grenadier Guards, led by Colonel Villiers-Hatton, arrived at Dakhala
+on the 6th of August. Hale and strong the big fellows looked in their
+campaigning khaki. "First-class fighting material," as Arabs and
+negroes, who are by no means poor judges, were openly heard to confess
+in their interchange of confidences. There is always much camp chaff
+and yarning amongst "Tommies"--and their officers, too, for that
+matter--at the expense of England's picked battalions. "Have you seen
+the 'Queen's Company,' my man," asked a subaltern of the Grenadiers
+one day of a private in the Northumberland Fusiliers. Now the "Queen's
+Company" are all over six feet in stature, and there was a friendly
+rivalry in grenadiership between them and certain Fusilier regiments.
+The question was asked when the troops were marching over undulating
+but rather bare ground where the tufted grass was little over knee
+high. It happened the officer had been detached on other duty, and was
+anxious to rejoin his command. "I think, sir," said the Northumbrian,
+saluting respectfully, "that they have got lost in the long grass."
+The subaltern looked unutterable things, but the "Tommy" held a
+stoical face and said not a word more till the officer went off to
+hunt anew for his men. For all the chaff, every one was glad to see
+the Guards, and to speak of them as the Queen's soldiers. Of the
+second brigade General Gatacre said that a better body of troops could
+not be wished for by any general.
+
+I rode out to several of the brigade field-days, or rather, mornings,
+for there was plenty of drilling and field exercises for Lyttelton's
+men. The brigade was repeatedly practised in attack formation against
+imaginary bodies of dervishes, as well as at assaulting supposed
+works. On more than one of these occasions the gallant Colonel of the
+Guards, not having his charger up at that date, led his Grenadiers
+afoot, and once, at any rate, was mounted on donkey-back.
+Particularism gets lost in the desert. In the manoeuvres the troops
+were usually led in line, the flanks being supported by two or three
+companies in quarter column, and the centre having in rear a few
+sections of companies ready to fill gaps. Save for a little noise in
+passing orders, the result of a fast-becoming obsolete school of
+training, even captious criticism could find no actual fault with
+their work. Advancing across wadies and scaling knolls upon the
+desert, the troops were instructed to open fire with ball cartridge.
+The range given was 500 yards, and the ammunition used was the
+tip-filed Lee-Metford bullets. As at the Atbara, without halting, the
+line moved slowly on, the front rank firing as at a battue, each man
+independently. There were a few section volleys tried, the soldiers
+pausing for an instant to deliver their fire. Once or twice also, the
+rear rank was closed up, and joined in the fusilade. One effect was to
+paralyse the deer and birds within range. I noticed that the tip-filed
+bullets did not usually spread, and that their man-stopping quality
+was something of a myth. Even the dum-dum does not invariably "set up"
+on striking an object. For the Omdurman Campaign a new hollow-nosed
+bullet was issued for the Lee-Metfords. So far as I was able to
+judge, it generally spread on hitting, and made a deadly wound,
+tearing away bone and flesh at the point of exit.
+
+On the 12th of August the 21st Lancers, together with camel and mule
+transport animals, were crossed to the west bank in readiness for
+marching to Wad Hamid. Saturday, the 13th August, was a very busy day
+at Dakhala. On that date the Sirdar went by steamer to the front,
+direct to Wad Habeshi. It was given out he was merely going on a
+flying visit for inspection. There was renewed active drilling of
+troops. Eight steamers that came down were reloaded and sent back with
+troops and stores in the course of twenty-four hours. General Gatacre
+went to Darmali, and there assisted in the embarkation of his old
+brigade, Major-General A. Wauchope's. The task was effected within the
+course of twelve hours, the Camerons, Seaforths, Lincolns and
+Warwicks, with their kits and supplies, being densely packed upon the
+steamers "Zafir," "Nazir," "Fatah," and the barges and giassas, which
+these craft towed. Had the Thames Conservancy writs run on the Nile
+there would have been terrible fines exacted for unlawful
+overcrowding. On the 14th August these stern-wheelers, heavily laden
+with Wauchope's men, steamed at a fast rate past the Atbara camp, on
+their way south. These craft, the first of which took part in the 1896
+Dongola Expedition, turned out to be really the most useful and
+dependable of the whole Nile flotilla. They steamed remarkably well,
+towed splendidly, and were, besides, good fighting craft. The three
+Admiralty-designed twin-screw steamers, "Sheikh" "Sultan" and "Melik,"
+were not as fast as had been expected; they could not tow any
+reasonably big load, and, though they were stuffed with many
+novelties, few of the innovations were of the least practical value.
+They needed all their engine power to steam and when under weigh had
+none to spare for driving the circular saws to cut firewood for fuel,
+or to start the dynamos to work the search lights with which they were
+fitted. Major Collinson, commanding the 4th Khedivial Brigade, left
+Atbara camp for the front with the 17th and 18th Battalions, or half
+his force, the 1st and 5th Battalions having preceded him some time
+previously.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+MARCHING IN THE SOUDAN--FROM DAKHALA TO WAD HABESHI.
+
+
+What a land the Soudan is! As a sorely-tried friend said to me, after
+passing a succession of sleepless nights owing to the dust and rain
+storms, and overburdened days because of the heat, "What do the
+British want in this country? Is it the intention of the Government to
+do away with capital punishment and send all felons here? I am not
+surprised the camel has the hump. I would develop one here myself.
+What an accursed country!" Yes, it is not an elysium; and when one
+allows the dirt, heat, and discomfort to wither all power of
+endurance, the Soudan becomes a horror and anathema, particularly in
+the summer time. Now, the camel is to me the personification of animal
+wretchedness, a fit creature for the wilderness. The Arabs have a
+legend that the Archangel Michael, anxious to try his skill at
+creative work, received permission to make an attempt, and the camel
+was the issue of his bungling handiwork. Poor brute, his capacity for
+enjoyment is, perhaps, the most restricted of the whole animal
+kingdom. Ferocious of aspect, with a terrible voice, he is
+nevertheless the most timid of beasts, and his fine air of haughty
+superciliousness is, like the rest, but a sham. It might be fancied
+that he is for ever nursing some secret grief, for he takes you
+unawares by lying down and suddenly dying. Yet that is ordinarily but
+his method of proclaiming an attack of indigestion.
+
+[Illustration: LOADING UP--BREAKING CAMP.]
+
+I struck my tent at Dakhala on the 15th of August, packed my gear, and
+during the course of the day crossed over to the west bank with my
+servants, horses, camels and other belongings. Having obtained
+permission from headquarters to go up to the front, I decided to go by
+land, marching with the cavalry and guns, for I was not free to travel
+except in their company, at least until we reached Metemmeh but of
+that anon. The column in question was under Colonel Martin of the 21st
+Lancers, and comprised three squadrons of that regiment, or about 300
+men mounted upon Arab horses; three batteries, the 32nd R.A., the 37th
+R.A. (howitzers), and the Egyptian Horse Artillery; two Maxims with
+division and transport trains, and a number of officers' led horses.
+As I have already explained, the guns of the 32nd and 37th field
+batteries, together with the limbers and ammunition, were sent on to
+Wad Habeshi by water. There was much merrymaking as usual that
+evening, for we were to start on the morrow. I squatted like many more
+in the low rough scrub by the river's brink with my caravan around me.
+During the evening I went out to dine with some officer friends. As I
+had over a mile to walk to their pitch, the poor glare of the camp
+fires made the darkness more inky, and I had sundry narrow escapes
+from tumbling into ditches and water holes. Our bivouac was an
+ill-omened beginning to the route march of the column under Colonel
+Martin. One of the periodical summer gales came on, raising whirlwinds
+of dust and sand. To complete our discomfiture a thunderstorm
+followed, and there was a heavy sprinkling of rain for herbage, but
+too much for men. Truly, misfortunes rarely befall singly. It was a
+big Nile year, not a flood, but enough and to spare. A blessing, no
+doubt, for Lower Egypt, but a calamity for us, for during the night
+the river rose 2 feet, and overflowed its low, level banks. The water
+overran part of the camping ground, compelling many a drenched soldier
+to shift his quarters hurriedly. We got through the dark and troublous
+night somehow, though keenly vexed by the muttered discontent of the
+camels, and the persistent, blatant, variegated amorous braying of 500
+donkeys. A cat upon the tiles, a Romeo, was to this as a tin whistle
+to a trombone. Sleep was a nightmare. It was after six a.m. before the
+head of the column moved out towards the desert track. The rear did
+not get away before eight o'clock, much too late an hour for marching
+in the Soudan. The weather was hot, the sun scorching despite a brisk
+southerly breeze. Lieutenant H. M. Grenfell had charge of the fine
+Cyprus mule train for carrying the British divisional baggage. There
+was with the column a great following of native servants mounted upon
+sturdy Soudan donkeys. The gawky camel shuffles along, a picture of
+woe with a load of 2 cwt. to 4 cwt., whilst the little moke trips
+smartly with almost an equal weight upon his back. Two Jaalin guides
+were supposed to show us the shortest and best track. Major Mahan, of
+the Egyptian Cavalry, had been told off to keep an eye on them and to
+assist us generally during the march. Two squadrons of Lancers rode in
+front, whilst the rest of the troopers were supposed to protect the
+flanks and act as "whippers-in" to the column. Fortunately, there was
+no enemy nearer than Kerreri or Omdurman, for our line was usually
+stretched out for a great distance; two, three, and four miles often
+intervened between the head and rear of the column.
+
+After a few days of such marching as we had, straggling became the
+normal condition of affairs, except so far as the leading squadrons of
+Lancers were concerned. The last three days of the journey, in fact,
+became a sort of "go-as-you-please" tramp. To inexperience and want of
+wise forethought may be set down most of the difficulties, hardships,
+and losses that befell that column on its 140-mile march south,
+whereof later.
+
+During the earlier portion of our first day's march (16th August) the
+track lay along the edge of a pebbly desert, which left but a skirting
+of one to three miles of loam and rank vegetation between its
+measureless sterility and the tawny Nile waters. The small rounded
+pebbles and the fine sand of the Nubian wilderness were surely
+fashioned in some great lake or sea of a prehistoric past. Far as we
+were from the dervishes, a childish terror of them was entertained by
+the servants. At the last moment several domestics decamped, my cook
+among them. I rode back three miles to catch the rascal. With unwonted
+alacrity and prescience he had recrossed to the opposite bank before I
+arrived at the place of bivouac, and, having no time, I had to retrace
+my steps without his enforced attendance. It had been arranged that
+the column should only go fifteen miles the first day. What with
+winding and twisting to avoid flooded khors or shallow gulleys we
+marched over twenty miles I fancy. At any rate, with no protracted
+halting for meals or for baiting the animals, we trudged on throughout
+the heat and worry of the day until sunset. It was putting both men
+and animals to the severest possible strain, and few of the soldiers,
+at least, had had any preliminary hardening, for they had been
+travelling for days by boat and train and were out of condition. As a
+rule, the Lancers trotted a few miles ahead, halted, dismounted, and
+waited for the convoy to come up. Then they would ride on again, halt,
+and so on, repeating the proceeding many times during each day's
+march. From start to finish the column was ever a loosely-jointed
+body. The pace was slow, little more than 2¼ miles an hour, though Sir
+Herbert Stewart's Bayuda desert column managed to average upon a
+longer and almost waterless route, from Korti to Metemmeh, 2¾ miles an
+hour. In that campaign, however, most of our marching was done during
+the cooler hours of very early morning and late eventide.
+
+The head of the column turned in towards the river about three p.m. on
+the 16th, at Makaberab, or, as the natives call it, Omdabiya--_i.e._,
+the place of hyenas. For over a mile, men and animals had to make
+their way through halfa-grass scrub, and then over bare alluvial land,
+deeply sun-cracked and scored in all directions. The ground was
+cris-crossed like a chessboard, the lines being a foot to two feet
+apart, and four to six inches wide, and several feet in depth. There
+were numberless spills through these pitfalls. One camel snapped his
+leg, and many mules and horses were strained and lamed. It was indeed
+fat land, and had formerly grown cotton. The cracks, as we found
+later, were full of scorpions. During that night's bivouac, and in the
+early morning, very many men and animals were stung by these venomous
+pests. Only one soldier succumbed from a scorpion sting during the
+campaign. The pain of the wound is as an intense burning or wounding,
+and continues troublesome for hours. Ammonia was freely used by the
+doctors when the stings were severe, but where whisky could be got,
+that was preferred.
+
+[Illustration: 21ST LANCERS--ADVANCE GUARD.]
+
+We were early astir on the 17th inst., but it was not until daylight
+or 5.30 a.m. that it was safe for the column to pick its way out of
+the field of cracks. Why the spot was selected, except as an earthly
+trial, I am unable to state, officially or otherwise. Hard by, on
+either hand, there was solid and most passable ground for bivouacking.
+We had a good many stragglers on the 16th inst., most of whom came
+rather late tumbling and grumbling to supper and bed on the rough dank
+ground. Others lost their way and wandered to the Nile, where they
+were guided by natives, and later were lucky to get a lift to the
+front upon gunboats. Two men of the 21st Lancers left upon the desert
+with a sick comrade down with sunstroke, watched him die, and,
+scraping a grave, buried him where he expired. Lieutenant Winston
+Churchill, who was detained until late at Dakhala, in trying to follow
+us, lost his way, and had to pass the night alone upon the desert. He
+sat holding his horse till daybreak, and then, burning with thirst,
+made his way to the Nile. Subsequently he hired a native guide and was
+enabled to come up with the column on the afternoon of the 17th.
+Spending the night alone upon the desert has been many times my lot in
+Soudan campaigns.
+
+During Wednesday's march, 17th August, we crossed the low shoulders of
+many rocky ridges. They are called "jebels" (hills), but most of them,
+including Jebel Egeda, which we passed, are little, if any, higher
+than Primrose-Hill, London, though it is not a conical, but a long,
+barn-roofed range. Near there I saw an enormous native cemetery. It
+extended to perhaps fifty acres, the pebble-covered mounds over the
+graves dotting the bare desert and the sides of the hills. I have an
+impression that there are ancient funeral mounds near there, and that
+the burying-place of Aliab is older than the invasion of the Arab
+Jaalin. There were fragments of sculptured stones, granite, and blocks
+of sandstone, and I noticed one broken memorial slab covered with
+Greek characters. Farther on we had to turn aside to avoid wadies and
+khors, up which the Nile had flowed. We were able to water the animals
+at some of those places. The mules and horses buried their noses in
+the flood and drank greedily, and the camels also had a fine,
+long-necked thirst. We were ourselves too parched to care about the
+impurities of the Nile, and soldiers and officers swallowed great
+draughts of the soupy stuff.
+
+Late in the afternoon of the 17th the column turned to the river to
+bivouac at Kitaib, a twenty-two miles journey for the day. Too late it
+was found that the ration depôt there, from which the column was to
+draw fresh supplies, was upon the farther side of a newly-made inlet.
+The column had to repack, and turn west to round the creek. We reached
+Kitaib No. 2 about six p.m. Part of the battery mules and transport,
+however, got leave to remain at the first halting-place, as they stood
+in no need of supplies, and I unpacked by myself, bivouacking under a
+clump of tall mimosa trees hard by a vast deserted village and a long
+grove of date palms. I believe that over a score of men lost the road
+that night and ultimately wandered to the river and got to the front
+by steamer. There were several cases of heat exhaustion and sunstroke,
+but happily few of a serious nature. Two troopers, who floundered
+through the marshy land, got taken aboard a gunboat when they were
+utterly prostrate. Others, whose horses went lame or had to be killed,
+were ordered down to the Nile to secure passage on as best they could.
+In the darkness, as I was eating my evening meal by candle-light, two
+Lancers shouted and rode up. They had the too common but true story to
+tell of having missed the track. I found supper and breakfast for
+them, and started them off with their troop at eight o'clock next
+morning, the 18th August, for the column left Kitaib at a late hour.
+My servants were glad of the soldiers' arrival, for they were terribly
+afraid of robbers, the district being infested with marauding natives.
+During the night several fugitives from Omdurman passed us going
+north. Eighteen Shaggieh, who had escaped in a sail-boat, were but
+four days out from Khartoum. They professed to be delighted to get
+away. The Khalifa, they said, had ordered every sail-boat to go south
+of Khartoum. Taking advantage of a thunderstorm, they headed down
+stream and got away. According to them, the dervishes were killing all
+the Jaalin who were suspected of trying to escape north, and the
+Shaggieh and other northern tribesmen stood in little better plight.
+All natives, other than blacks and Baggara, who could get away from
+Omdurman were running off, as they believed the fall of the dervish
+rule was assured. The Khalifa's son, Osman, whose title was Sheikh
+Ed-Din, wanted to make terms. For months the youth had been in
+disgrace, but his father had reinstated him in the position of
+Commander-in-Chief of the Forces. Osman openly declared that fighting
+against the Sirdar and the English was hopeless, and that it was wiser
+to try and treat with us. Khalifa Abdullah and his brother Yacoub,
+however, would not hear of treating for peace, urging that their own
+people in that event would kill them. The only possible course was war
+to the death. From an excellent source I learned that the dervishes
+were well supplied with guns and ammunition, and that the Khalifa had
+about five millions sterling of treasure laid by.
+
+From Kitaib can be seen the dozen pyramids of Meroe, part of the
+kingdom of the famous Queen of Sheba. To right and left upon the
+opposite bank are catacombs, ruins of old temples, towns and forts of
+a bygone civilisation. The country on both sides of the Nile in that
+region has spacious alluvial belts, big as the Fayoum and as
+susceptible to the arts of the cultivator. Such hills as there are
+rise for the most part abruptly from flat land capable of limitless
+irrigation. To anticipate somewhat: the region, south of Abu Hamed, up
+to and even beyond Khartoum, has all the natural advantages of Lower
+Egypt and something more. Berber is but 245 miles from Suakin. The
+Nubian kingdom of antiquity, or that of the Queen of Sheba, must have
+been of enormous extent, marvellous fertility and great richness.
+Ethiopia may yet fulfil the prophecy. From Kitaib we marched about
+eighteen miles to Maguia, passing through a forest of mimosa bush, the
+track but rarely branching out amongst the halfa-grass upon the more
+open country. About three p.m. the column turned in towards a side
+stream and settled down near the village of Maguia. The wind rose as
+usual at night, yet for all that the bivouac was fairly good, and
+there was plenty of grazing. Next day, the 19th, we managed to make an
+early start, getting away about 5.30 a.m. The distance to be traversed
+was but fourteen or sixteen miles, and the column reached the
+halting-place, Magawiya, about two p.m. We made our way over broken,
+cracked ground to the river's edge, and there bivouacked under the
+shade of a magnificent forest of stately date palms. The ripening
+fruit had been extensively plucked by thieving natives, but there was
+enough left for our men. It was a most picturesque scene for a camp,
+but an unwholesome place for all that. It was given out that the
+column was to rest a day at Magawiya, as the place was a wood and food
+supply depôt. During the course of the evening the sternwheeler
+"Kaibur" came in, and a sick officer, Lieutenant Russell, and about a
+score or more of men were sent back upon her to Dakhala, or Atbara
+camp. It merits record that a party of Egyptian gunners carried upon a
+native bed or angreeb a sick British artilleryman from Maguia to
+Magawiya, from bivouac to bivouac. That was something like good
+comradeship and _esprit de corps_.
+
+[Illustration: HALT BY THE WAY.]
+
+At nightfall the column was formed up so that the men slept upon the
+ground within supporting distance of each other. Sentries and patrols
+also were set, but the force was not one, I fancy, that would have
+been able to offer a stubborn resistance to a surprise party of
+dervishes. On Saturday, the 20th of August, as was anticipated, the
+troops remained in camp and enjoyed much needed rest and opportunities
+for washing. Several gunboats and steamers passed us during the day
+going south, including one upon which were a number of correspondents
+who were enjoying their _dolce far niente_ under awnings in a breezy
+draught with inexhaustible supplies of filtered and mineral waters. We
+saw the Grenadier Guards, the Lincolns, and other battalions pass us,
+and steam slowly up stream towards Wady Hamed. On Sunday, the 21st, a
+really early start for the first time was effected. We were to march
+as far as Abu Kru that day, and encamp near the spot held by Stewart's
+handful of men in 1885. Major Williams, R.A., went off with his
+battery, the 32nd, at 3.30 a.m., and the 37th battery accompanied him.
+Lieutenant H. Grenfell got away at four a.m., and the Lancers at 5.20
+a.m. I pushed ahead of the troops in order to have time to revisit
+some of the old ground I had been over with the Desert Column in
+1884-85. It was odd, that though hundreds still survived who marched
+with Sir Herbert Stewart, there were but fifteen persons in the whole
+of the Sirdar's army who got through to Metemmeh. Of those still less
+went in and left with the force that fought at Abu Klea and Abu Kru.
+Of the very numerous body of correspondents there were but two. I
+regretted that there were not several score or more of old officers
+and men who went through the terrible Bayuda Desert campaign. Most of
+them would have sacrificed much to have been in at the death of
+Mahdism.
+
+[Illustration: SLATIN PASHA (ON FOOT).]
+
+Metemmeh had been made a slaughter-pen by the dervishes under Mahmoud.
+It was truly an awful Golgotha. Dead animals lay about in all
+directions in thousands, without and within the long, straggling,
+deserted town. I rode up and looked at the remains of the little fort
+and the loopholed walls on the south end of Metemmeh, close to which I
+had ridden on 21st January 1885, and got hotly fired at for my pains.
+Then I walked over the ruins of the Guards' triangular fort at Gubat.
+The place was still capable of defence, and the trenches and
+rifle-pits were much as we left them on 13th February with General
+Buller. As for the graves, they were intact. The big earthwork we all
+helped to raise near the river was covered with water, except a corner
+of the western parapet. It was, however, partly thrown down, and the
+ditch and slopes were overgrown with grass and bushes. Then I rode
+away to Abu Kru battle-field and had a look at what remained of the
+zereba, the little detached fort I had asked might be built, and the
+graves of our dead. Some of these had been rifled. Heaps of dead
+animal bones lay about, for we lost many camels that 19th January
+1885. The enemy had gathered up and buried all their own dead. So
+overgrown was the place that it was barely recognisable. I stood,
+however, again where Stewart received his fatal wound, where Cameron,
+of the _Standard_, and St Leger Herbert lay with soldier comrades,
+and I wandered round to where Lord Charles Beresford worked the
+Gardners against the dervishes outside Metemmeh, whilst I found the
+range for him through my glasses, by watching the spatter of the
+bullets upon the sand. That night my thoughts were full of bygone
+scenes and doings in the most heroic campaign of modern history,
+Stewart's magnificent ride from Korti to Metemmeh. There came back to
+me the pain felt on the receipt of the evil news of Gordon's death,
+brought to us by Stuart Wortley, and of the slaughter at Khartoum, all
+of which might so easily have been averted but for----
+
+On Monday, 22nd August, the batteries again got away before the
+Lancers, starting at 3.30 and four a.m. The day's march was to Agaba,
+about twenty-six miles, and the next day's about nineteen to Wad
+Habeshi. Wady Hamed, which is nearer Jebel Atshan, was where one of
+Gordon's steamers, the "Tal Howeiya," returning with Sir Charles
+Wilson's party, was wrecked on 29th January 1885. Making a détour into
+the desert on quitting Abu Kru, I left Colonel Martin's column, and
+rode on with one native servant to Wady Hamed. As a matter of fact,
+the camp was neither at Wad Habeshi nor Wady Hamed, but between the
+two. The latter, however, was the official name. But that my man was
+very apprehensive of meeting patrolling dervishes, I would have ridden
+direct across country, starting from a point opposite Nasri Island,
+where the depôt of supplies was. On the pretext of watering the horses
+he got me back to the river. The consequence was that I rode over
+fifty miles on Monday. However, I managed to reach Wady Hamed before
+sunset. On my way in I met the Sirdar, out, as usual, on an inspecting
+tour. He was good enough to greet me kindly and direct me to the
+correspondents' camp; those of my comrades of the Press who voyaged by
+steamer had just arrived. The new camp was an immense place over three
+miles long. It was a zerebaed enclosure lying along the margin of the
+Nile in a field of halfa-grass broken up with clumps of palms and
+mimosa. The country all around was as a vast prairie. Beyond the reach
+of the Nile's overflow the sand and loam was bare of vegetation. The
+river was studded with scores of verdant islands, and to the south we
+could see the peaks and ridges of Shabluka, through which the Nile,
+when in flood, surges like a mill race between narrow rocky barriers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+WITH THE ARMY IN THE FIELD--WAD HAMID TO EL HEJIR.
+
+
+Wad Hamid was a camp of magnificent distances, restful to the eyes but
+distressful to the feet. The soil was rich loam, and at no remote date
+had been mostly under cultivation. There were several pretty clumps of
+dhoum palms, and a few scraggy mimosa by the river's margin. Of
+tree-shade for the troops there was practically none. Much of the
+thorny bush had been cut to form a zereba. In fact, there were two
+zerebas, the British division having a dividing line between their
+quarters and those of the Khedivial force. There was also a semblance
+of cleared roadways about the camp, but the ground was too spacious to
+be easily made snug and tidy. Wad Hamid camp was quite five miles
+nearer to Omdurman than Wad Habeshi. We were within the long stretch
+known as the Shabluka or Sixth Cataract. For 15 miles or thereabouts
+the Nile pours in deep, strong flood through a narrow valley, which in
+places contracts to a gorge or cañon. The channel is studded with
+islets and rocks, and at one point the river races through a
+wedge-shaped cleft, apparently little more than 100 yards in width.
+
+After my long ride in from Metemmeh I had to let my horse rest for two
+days. So until my servants arrived with my spare led horses I had to
+go about afoot. My camels and baggage were with the column. It was
+more of a hardship tramping from place to place in the hot dusty camp
+than roughing it upon the bare ground and living upon scratch and
+scrappy meals of biscuit, "bully beef," and sardines, till my men came
+in, put up my tent, and cooked my food. The British division was at
+the south end of the long rectangular encampment. An interval of a
+mile or more separated the divisional headquarters, whilst some of the
+battalions had their lines 2 miles apart. Beyond all, another 2 miles
+off, was the camel corps bivouacking by the rocks and foothills of the
+Shabluka range. Their only shade from the noon-day glare was such as
+they could get behind detached black granitic boulders and blocks. Wad
+Hamid camp, viewed not too closely, was a pleasing picture set in a
+background of dark hills with a bordering of wide tawny river flowing
+in front. There were a good many tents in the British lines, but
+relatively few in the Khedivial, for there fellaheen and Soudani had
+sheltered themselves as usual under palm leaf and grass huts, or
+beneath their brown soldier blankets. It was one of the clever
+campaigning dodges recently taught the native soldiers by our
+officers, to attach loops of twine or tape along the edges of their
+spare blankets, so that these coverings could be quickly laced
+together and spread over light bamboos or sticks, forming very
+comfortable quarters. The Sirdar's headquarters tents were always
+distinguishable by the big waving Egyptian flag, a crescent and star
+on a red ground, and near it a bigger "drapeau rouge" flaunted the
+talismanic lettering--"Intelligence Headquarters." Before
+Major-General Gatacre's divisional headquarters flapped Britain's
+emblem, a full-sized Union Jack. Major-General A. Hunter's tent had an
+Egyptian flag dangling from a native spear, and the Brigade-Commanders
+all had their respective colours planted before their quarters.
+Colonel H. A. Macdonald, "Fighting Mac," had a characteristic brigade
+banner, readily distinguishable. It was an ensign made up of four
+squares or blocks of different colours, the colours of the respective
+battalions of the command. To descend to particulars, besides the
+Sirdar's and the Generals' flags, there were battalion and company
+colours, and hospital, artillery, engineer, and various other flags.
+In the Khedivial army the battalions were known by numerals from 1 to
+18. The Arabic numeral of each native battalion was worn by the men on
+their tall fezes and the khaki covers for the head-gear. It was found
+necessary to devise a head-covering to shield the men from sunstroke.
+That worn over the fez could be so adjusted as to afford shade for the
+nape of the neck, and in front a scoop for the eyes, so that the
+article became transmogrified into something between a kepi and a
+helmet. The British "Tommies'" khaki helmet-covers were ornamented
+with coloured cotton patches and regimental badges. Of course the
+object of the patches was to enable officers and men to identify
+easily their respective commands. The Rifles wore a square dark green
+patch, which the Soudan sun bleached to a pea green. The Lancashire
+Fusiliers wore a yellow square patch, and the Northumberland Fusiliers
+a red diagonal band round the helmet. As for the Grenadier Guards
+their insignia was a jaunty red and blue rosette. In Wauchope's
+brigade the Lincolns sported a plain square white patch, the Warwicks
+a red square, the Seaforths a white plume, nicknamed the "duck's
+tuft," and the Camerons a "true blue" square patch.
+
+The rapid thrusting forward of his whole army from Darmali and Dakhala
+within a period of ten days was not the least astonishing and
+brilliant strategical feat achieved by the Sirdar. In that space of
+time troops, stores, and all the impedimenta for an army of 25,000 men
+had been moved forward about 150 miles in an enemy's country. No doubt
+he knew his foe; he certainly always had them under the closest
+observation. For that reason the Sirdar was able to do things, and did
+do them, that other Generals would have blundered over. The great
+river before the camp, with its flotilla of gunboats, looking like
+American river-steamers, the forest of masts, the lofty poles of the
+lateen-rigged giassas, and the abundance of commodious barges gave a
+broad hint how the transport of so many men and so much material had
+been so smartly effected. Provisions, forage, ammunition, all on the
+most liberal scale, he had got together. With the troops there were to
+be carried supplies for fifteen days, and enough to last as long
+again were to be accumulated upon Royan Island at the south end of the
+Sixth Cataract. Placing the reserve supplies and base hospitals upon
+islands meant that both would be safe from any raiding dervishes.
+Beyond Wad Hamid everybody was to move in the lightest possible order.
+Officers had to limit their baggage, so that it should not weigh more
+than 60 lbs., and the men were to march in the lightest of kits. Camel
+transport was cut down, and all animals not absolutely necessary were
+to be left behind. For the conveyance of the baggage of each British
+battalion 32 camels were allowed. All the men's heavy baggage,
+overcoats, knapsacks, kit bags were sent on by river transport in
+native craft. A blanket a-piece was what the men had, and that was
+carried for them by the baggage camels. Quite enough for any European
+to carry in the Soudan in August were his clothes, rifle,
+accoutrements, and 100 rounds of ball cartridge. The native battalions
+had assigned to each command 39 to 42 camels, as well as two giassas
+or nuggars. These carried all the regimental belongings, and also most
+of the men's things, for the Khedivial troops never marched with kits,
+blankets, or any encumbrances upon them. Clad in comfortable knitted
+jerseys, with breeches, putties, and good serviceable high-lows, the
+men of the native regiments stride freely along, each bearing only
+rifle, bayonet, and ammunition.
+
+The massing of the forces at Wad Hamid was all but complete. Part of
+the Rifle Brigade, detained on the river by storms and contrary head
+winds, were the only absentees. On the opposite bank of the Nile had
+been mustered the mixed body of friendly natives, who, accompanied and
+supported by a gunboat, were to clear that side of the dervishes when
+the Sirdar advanced. It was known that they would have to deal with,
+probably, 1000 Mahdists under Zeki Osman. Our allies included Ababdeh,
+Bisharin, Jaalin, Shaggieh, Shukrieh, Aburin, and other tribesmen led
+nominally by Abdul Azim, the brave Ababdeh Sheikh. They were armed
+with Remington rifles, but carried in addition their own swords and
+spears. That they might be better led and prove to be of real value,
+Major Stuart-Wortley, with Lieut. Charles Wood as his A.D.C., was sent
+across to take the command. Wortley was received with every
+demonstration of heartiness by the Sheikhs, who placed themselves and
+their followers entirely under that able officer's orders. The
+friendlies were most enthusiastic and eagerly asked to be led against
+their dervish enemies. As these allies and the Sirdar's forces were to
+march by the river's margin when possible, signalling would be nearly
+always practicable between them. Telegraphic communication was opened
+to Wad Hamid from Dakhala by Captain Manifold, R.E., and his sappers
+almost as soon as the troops got into camp. With much hard work the
+line had been put upon poles as far south as Nasri. When the army
+subsequently advanced, as poles were not readily procurable the bare
+iron telegraphic wire was laid upon the ground. In the crisp, hot
+atmosphere of the Soudan, as there is little leakage, long distances
+can be worked through an unprotected wire laid upon the desert. When
+there were rain-storms of course telegraphic communication over such
+lines became impossible.
+
+On 23rd August, the day following my arrival at Wad Hamid, the Sirdar
+held a great review of his army. At 6 o'clock in the morning the force
+was paraded upon the open desert a mile and half inland from the Nile.
+Réveille had been at an hour before sunrise. It was a pleasant
+morning, for a fresh breeze was blowing, and the air was agreeably
+cool. Several of the younger soldiers, however, succumbed to the
+effects of the tropical sun during the few hours the troops were kept
+employed, and they had to be carried back to camp. Although the
+cavalry, with part of the artillery and Maxims, did not parade, there
+was a big enough force upon the ground to make an imposing display.
+The army was drawn up in line with a front over a mile in length.
+Major-General Gatacre's division was upon the left, with the Grenadier
+Guards forming his right. The Queen's soldiers were ranged in mass of
+companies, column of fours right, whilst the native soldiery were
+brigaded in line, Macdonald upon the extreme right, with Collinson's
+brigade in reserve. The troops wheeled into column, deployed, changed
+front, and engaged in firing exercise. As might have been expected,
+there was more celerity and accuracy in changing formation displayed
+by the British than in the native brigades. All the men were very keen
+at their work, the expectation of being about to engage the enemy
+doubtless lending special interest to their field-day. The camp, as
+all camps ever were, was full of strange yarns--"shaves" about what
+was going on at Omdurman, and the Khalifa's intentions. "Abdullah
+would fight? No, he would run away; he was laying down mines in the
+Nile to blow up our gunboats. A Tunisian had devised a torpedo, but as
+it was being lowered from a dervish boat, the machine exploded, and
+the engineer was hoisted with his own petard." Then there were stories
+of extraordinary discoveries of precious minerals--gold mines by the
+score. Two young officers, who wished some fun with a distinguished
+military gentleman not unconnected with South Africa, persisted in
+finding diamonds, pieces of rock-crystal, which, with an air of
+mystery and importance, they submitted to his contemptuous inspection.
+But a Major had the better of the expert on one occasion. He vowed he
+had found diamonds, genuine diamonds, upon the open desert, as good as
+any in South Africa or anywhere else; that he would be sworn to
+forfeit £50 if the expert did not endorse his judgment. He had picked
+up in one small spot no less than five. Burning with impatience to see
+these precious jewels, the expert begged for just one peep at them.
+The Major gratified him with some feigned reluctance; produced a "five
+of diamonds," a castaway from some "Tommy's" pack of cards.
+
+On the night of the 23rd of August Wad Hamid camp was swept by a
+fierce storm of wind and rain. The temperature dropped 22°, and it
+became positively chilly. As we were within the rainy belt, which
+extends up to 17° North, visitations of that sort during the summer
+were to be expected. The troops bore the discomfort of cold and wet
+clothes uncomplainingly, waiting for daybreak, and the tardy sun, to
+get dry and warm. Bugle calls were a work of supererogation on the
+morning of Wednesday, 24th August, everybody having been astir long
+before réveille. It had been given out in general orders--one of those
+gracious niceties of military courtesy never exhibited to the
+correspondents in these later Soudan campaigns--that the Khedivial
+troops were to proceed that day to the south of Shabluka Cataract. The
+journey thither was to be made by the army in two stages, and the
+British division was to follow on Thursday. Wad Bishari, about
+half-way, was the first portion, and there the men were to bivouac one
+night. Next day they were to complete the distance, making a détour to
+avoid the rough hills of Shabluka, and going into a new camp laid out
+at El Hejir. At 5 a.m. Macdonald's and Lewis's brigades paraded, and
+under the command of Major-General Hunter, stepped off. So the end at
+last began to loom in sight. Major-General Gatacre wished to go part
+of the way the same day, in order to reduce the distance to be
+marched, but the Sirdar put his veto thereon, observing that if the
+"Tommies" could not do a little march of 13 miles, they could not walk
+any distance. In the afternoon, at 4 o'clock, the remainder of the
+Khedivial division--Maxwell's and Collinson's brigades--set out for
+Wad Bishari to join their comrades. The men were in fine spirits as
+they left, cheering and singing to the strains of their bands as they
+gaily marched away. Some of the Egyptian soldiers were told off to
+remain at the worst places of the Cataract to assist in towing the
+native craft through the rapids.
+
+The bugles called the men of Lyttelton's brigade to duty at 3 a.m. on
+Thursday, the 25th of August. I cannot say that the call awoke them
+from slumber, for all night there had been most disturbing noises
+coming from the riverside, where native soldiers were reloading
+giassas with stores going forward to Royan Island, for that new depôt.
+Royan occupies a position at the south gateway of Shabluka. It is a
+finely conspicuous island, for upon the north end there is a lofty
+barn-roofed jebel or hill. From the summit of Jebel Royan, at an
+altitude of 600 feet, can be seen 40 miles away the outlines of
+Omdurman and Khartoum--that is in the morning or evening, when the
+distorting freaks of the mirage are not in evidence. The steamboat
+skippers who had ten-horse power steam sirens, used them, after the
+manner of their kind, and made night doubly hideous. At 3 a.m. began
+our orchestra in the 2nd British brigade lines. All the camels, horses
+and mules had to be watered and fed. The cheerful camels then had to
+be loaded, that operation being carried on as usual with a terrible
+grunting chorus, all the brutes taking part. The gunboats got off
+before daylight. At five o'clock sharp, ere it was full daylight,
+Lyttelton's men started, marching off in three parallel columns, each
+battalion having its own advance guard. Four Maxims were with the
+brigade. Behind the infantry was part of the Egyptian transport
+train. The Sirdar inspected the column, and saw them started fairly on
+the way to Wad Bishari. Major-General Gatacre, as usual, rode out with
+them to the bivouac, and then galloped back to camp. The troops were
+in great glee at setting off. The men marched briskly, their officers
+tramping beside them. On the whole, the track was tolerable, mostly
+compact sand and gravel. In some places, however, it was rough and
+full of loose stones, and the sand lay deep and soft in several khors
+and wadies that had to be crossed. The worst bit was in the second
+day's march into El Hejir, where a détour had to be made to avoid the
+Shabluka Hills.
+
+At 5 in the afternoon of the 25th of August the 1st British brigade,
+Major-General Wauchope's men, also left for El Hejir _viâ_ Bishari.
+The "Rifles" or, rather, half the battalion, marched with them. Owing
+to various causes, the "Rifles" were not all assembled with the
+British division until the army reached El Hejir. In the end, the
+second half of the battalion of that crack corps was transported by
+water direct to El Hejir. They had quite a grievous mishap at Wad
+Hamid. The upper part of a barge, on which many of the men's kits and
+coats were stored, collapsed, and most of the articles fell into the
+river and were lost. Wauchope's brigade marched forward in five
+parallel columns, with intervals for deploying between each. The men
+turned towards the west to get clear of the cultivable belt, for the
+track afforded easier going along the margin of the desert. Behind the
+brigade, protected by the usual rear-guard, were six Maxims, the
+medica corps, a transport column, and a numerous following of native
+servants riding on heavily laden donkeys. The battalion bands played
+favourite regimental tunes as the men marched away. The pipers of the
+Camerons gave the "Earl of Mansfield," whilst, with fifes and drums,
+the Seaforths' pipers skirled "Black Donald of Balloch." News was
+heliographed into Wad Hamid headquarters before we left that the
+gunboats had seized Royan Island and established a post there, the
+natives not disputing possession.
+
+By the end of that week, 27th August, Wad Hamid camp was evacuated.
+Nasri Island, however, was retained as a depôt, and a small force was
+left there. On Friday, the 26th of August, after a great fantasia and
+war-dance, Stuart Wortley's column of armed friendlies moved south.
+That evening they encountered and drove back a small body of dervish
+horsemen. On our side of the Nile, part of the cavalry had been
+scouting up to 10 miles south of El Hejir. Captain Haig, with a
+squadron of Egyptian horse, fell in with a small body of Baggara under
+Sheikh Yunis, and had a brush with them, one or two being wounded on
+either side. The Sirdar and headquarters embarked at 9 a.m., 27th
+August, on the gunboat "Fatah," to steam through Shabluka. I left Wad
+Hamid the same day with one servant, rode through to El Hejir, 22
+miles, and arrived in the afternoon, having ridden out of my way to
+see the narrower gorges of the Cataract. The spaciousness of the
+previous camp was conspicuously absent at El Hejir. In rather thick
+bush and on partly overflowed alluvial ground, the lines were drawn
+closely together. As the river kept rising, it soon became difficult,
+without making a considerable détour, to pass from one part to another
+of the ground by the water's margin.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+EL HEJIR TO UM TERIF--INCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTS.
+
+
+Your Arab is picturesque but poisonous: a fine specimen of a man,
+though his usefulness in the economy of things is not apparent, at
+least upon the surface. He dislikes steady, hard work, is a dreamer
+with a deeply religious tinge, but all the same cruel and remorseless
+in the pursuit of any object. We were well into the region that he had
+ruled and ruined: a country capable of easily producing wealth,
+charred and laid waste. The indigenous negro, on the other hand, is
+not averse to toil,--nay, generally delights in it under normal
+conditions,--is simple in his tastes, true in his conduct according to
+his lights, and readily turned to better things. Your Arab seems to be
+the reverse of all that, and yet he is a delightful person in his way,
+though a belated savage. Burned villages, blackened hearths,
+destruction on every hand, these were the telltale evidences before
+our eyes of what the Khalifa and his hordes had achieved. Behind all
+that there were the ruins of a great and long departed civilisation
+that the early flood of Arab invasion doubtless did something to
+destroy. Once again, as in the Atbara campaign, was the army closely
+followed by bands of the faithful wives of the black soldiers. These
+women as aforetime pitched their camp ordinarily half a mile or so in
+rear of the men's, choosing broken ground and thick bush through which
+they could escape if attacked by dervish raiders. In rude huts and
+shelters built with their own hands amid the thorny mimosa and dhoum
+palms, they washed, ground corn, made bread, cooked food, patched and
+mended, and waited upon their uxorious soldier lords. "If handsome
+were what handsome does," these negresses would have been beautiful,
+but they were very far from it, poor creatures, except as I hope in
+the eyes of their husbands. Talk of the cares of a young family, not
+even that vexed their stout hearts and merry natures nor made them lag
+in marching to war with their spouses. Alas! even the pains and toils
+of maternity were fought down by young negro mothers, and I had my
+attention called more than once to women with almost new-born babies
+in their arms trudging along to keep up with the army. In such cases
+the women and men generously did all in their power to lighten the
+burden of the new mothers. Their household goods were borne upon other
+already overloaded backs, and if a donkey was procurable the mother
+and child were set to ride upon its back.
+
+El Hejir camp was fenced about with a stout hedge of cut mimosa.
+Besides that there were several smaller zerebas enclosing different
+commands and several of the headquarters. There was plenty of halfa
+grass for grazing and an abundance of mimosa for firewood for the
+men's cooking pots and the steamers' boilers. Roads had been laid out,
+and troughs of mud were built, at which the horses and camels were
+watered, for the river's bank was unsafe. The site of the camp was not
+unattractive. In front the great river was dotted with luxuriant
+islands. On the left hand rose Jebel Royan, a Bass-rock-like hill
+rising from Royan island around which the Nile flowed like a sea.
+Again the Khedivial division had sheltered itself in straw huts,
+tukals and under blanket shelters. The British soldier had a few tents
+and much uncovered ground at his disposal for bivouac. It may be added
+that the health and general spirits of the army were splendid.
+
+At El Hejir the press correspondents, or at any rate those
+representing the big dailies, except the _Times_, discovered they had
+a grievance. The news agencies shared that feeling with their
+colleagues. Even into war the affairs of business life obtrude. It is
+not an unmixed evil to have a grievance; trouble and ridicule come of
+having too many at the same time. I drafted a letter to Colonel
+Wingate on the subject--a sort of "Round Robin" which the majority of
+the correspondents signed, after which it was given to that gentleman,
+who stood in a sort of god-fatherly position to us. A form of telegram
+was also written and handed him for his visé, that it might be
+forwarded, though in somewhat slightly altered phraseology, to each of
+our journals. These papers explain themselves, and as they have never
+seen the light and the incident is as yet one of the unrecorded events
+of the campaign, I append them:--
+
+                               "(CABLEGRAM) _Daily Telegraph_, LONDON.
+
+    "Matter-Notoriety, _Times_ has two correspondents here although
+    one, Howard, ostensibly represents _New York Herald_, but all his
+    messages are addressed _Times_, London, where read. I suggest your
+    getting _World_ or other American newspaper, which would give
+    advantage additional correspondent. Recollect all telegrams are
+    despatched in sections of 200 words. _Times_ therefore gets 400
+    words messages. Correspondents have lodged formal complaint.
+
+                                                            "BURLEIGH.
+    "El Hejir."
+
+
+
+The following is a copy of the letter handed in:--
+
+                                                 "_28th August, 1898_,
+                                                       "EL HEJIR CAMP.
+
+    "Sir,--It has been a matter of notoriety for some days that the
+    _London Times_ has two correspondents with the Sirdar's army,
+    Colonel F. Rhodes and the Hon. Hubert Howard. No doubt it may be
+    said that the latter represents the _New York Herald_ to which he
+    is nominally accredited. We are, however, well aware that his
+    dispatches are forwarded directly to the _Times_ Office where it
+    is not over-straining the question to say that they are there read
+    and used. Under the rules, all telegraphic messages must be
+    delivered in sections of 200 words, each correspondent being only
+    permitted to send in rotation that number of words and no more.
+
+    "The fact that the _Times_ has practically two representatives to
+    other newspapers' one gives them a manifestly unfair advantage.
+
+    "We need scarcely state, that in a campaign of this importance the
+    British public are most keenly interested. Our Editors would have
+    sent out, had not the military regulations precluded their doing
+    so, more than one representative from each newspaper or agency to
+    accompany the army. We respectfully submit that it is our duty to
+    claim equal facilities with the _Times_, and we ask you to take
+    such action as may be necessary, that our employers shall not be
+    placed at any disadvantage.--Yours respectfully,
+
+    "To Colonel Wingate,
+    "Chief Intelligence Department."
+
+
+
+It was a fine way of spending the Sunday, but really we were all too
+busy to bear the troops company at any of the services that day.
+Colonel Wingate laid the matter before the Sirdar, who struck with the
+justice of our plea summoned us all before him, when we stated our
+case anew. He gave his decision, that the _Times_ correspondents twain
+should only have the right to send 100 words each by telegram. We
+disclaimed having any desire to curtail their letter-writing. That did
+not matter. The affair I am glad to say was conducted throughout with
+much good feeling, both Colonel Frank Rhodes and Mr Hubert Howard
+acknowledging the right of our contention, and the affair gave rise to
+no break in friendship. Colonel F. Rhodes acted very promptly and
+generously, for before the Sirdar gave his decision he came to us and
+offered his individual undertaking, that he would decline to send a
+line by telegraph, leaving to Mr Howard the sole right to wire.
+
+On Saturday the 27th August, whilst the deeply laden stern gunboat
+"Zafir" with giassas in tow alongside was coming up the river, she
+suddenly commenced to sink. The water rushed over her fore-deck, and
+the officers, soldiers and crew were unable to beach her on the east
+bank before she went down. Indeed there was a scurry to get into the
+giassas and cut them loose lest they also should be lost. The vessel
+went down about ten miles north of Shendy, subsiding in water 30 feet
+deep, and only part of her funnel and upper structure remained
+visible. With her there was temporarily lost over 70 tons of stores,
+including much ammunition and many bales of clothing. She had been
+chosen by Commander Keppel, R.N., as the flag-ship of the flotilla and
+was rightly regarded by the "Admiral" as a fine vessel. It appeared
+that through over-loading and rough weather water got into the hold,
+and within two minutes, or before anything could be done to save her,
+she sank. Captain Prince Christian Victor was aboard, he having been
+assigned to duty with the "Admiral," for the craft carried a number of
+soldiers as well as an ordinary crew. Both the Prince and Commander
+Keppel had narrow escapes. Providentially, no lives were lost,
+everybody being picked up by the giassas or managing to scramble
+ashore. As soon as possible afterwards operations were commenced to
+recover part of the cargo. The ship was secured from drifting by a
+hawser being passed around her standing gear, and made fast to stout
+trees ashore. Then some of the natives dived and several of the Maxims
+and boxes of ammunition were salved. As for the craft there was
+nothing to be done under the circumstances but to place a guard and
+wait until the fall of the Nile enabled her to be unloaded and
+refloated. Whilst Commander Keppel and his officers and crew were
+making the best of it, the little ex-dervish steamer "El Tahara" hove
+in sight with Major-General Rundle and several officers on board. She
+lent all the assistance possible and then taking in tow the giassas
+with Prince Christian Victor, Commander Keppel and the rest of the
+shipwrecked crew, except the guard left behind, the "Tahara" with an
+extra head of steam, churned up to El Hejir.
+
+I think there had been an intention at headquarters to make a few
+days' stay at El Hejir, and get the army well in hand before going
+closer to the enemy. The gunboats began embarking all their ammunition
+and commenced putting up their extra bullet proof protecting shields.
+But the Nile persisted in rising and again flooding part of our camp,
+interposing once more between the British and Egyptian lines a broad
+arm of water. So again the army was ordered to "move on." Drills and
+sundry other plans for exercises fell through and special precautions
+were taken to guard camps and convoys from surprise as the army drew
+nearer to Omdurman.
+
+On Sunday, 28th August, at 3.40 a.m., the bugles were sounding in the
+Egyptian portion of El Hejir camp. It was nearly an hour later before
+réveille went in the British lines and the Lincolns made us think of
+our sins and forswear all sleep by playing their awakening air, "Old
+Man Barry." By 5 a.m., Major-General Hunter's division of four
+brigades, with bands playing, were streaming out of their zereba
+openings and taking the broad, well-worn tracks across the sand and
+gravel ridges towards Um Terif. Macdonald's brigade was in the van,
+and was followed in order by Lewis's, Maxwell's, and Collinson's, with
+the baggage of each brigade behind the command. The guns were upon the
+right of the division, the steamers covering the left. As for the
+cavalry and camelry, spread over a wide front, their duty was to
+search for the enemy and make sure the troops should have ample
+warning of the approach of any dervishes. The two military attachés,
+Major Calderari, Italian, and Captain Von Tiedmann, German, rode on
+with the native troops. It was a cool morning and the battalions
+headed by their bands playing all the while marched as if going to a
+review. The Soudan soldiers' wives turned out again and mustered along
+the line of route just beyond the camp confines. As the battalions
+passed them, they shouted and gesticulated to their husbands, calling
+on them to behave like men and not turn back in battle. Yet probably
+over half of these same doughty black soldiers had been dervishes
+before they came over to us. "Victory or death," was the cry of these
+fiery Amazons to their warrior lovers. He would have been recreant
+indeed or a marvellously brave man that would have returned to one of
+them a confessed runaway from battle. It was not surprising that the
+Sirdar did not object to their presence in the field, and occasionally
+saw that they were helped with rations when food was not otherwise
+procurable.
+
+The desertion of El Hejir proceeded apace. In the afternoon of Sunday
+at four o'clock, when the fierce heat of day had declined,
+Major-General Gatacre's division in its turn marched off to Um Terif.
+The brigades moved onward in parallel columns, with the artillery in
+the interval and the 21st Lancers covering the front, flanks and rear
+of the infantry. Tommy was jubilant and carolled, as he tramped,
+topical songs and patriotic ditties. He heeded not the boisterous
+south wind that ladened the atmosphere with dust till there was
+darkness as of a city fog. Battle-day and settling of old scores was
+near, and withal the end of the campaign, so he pounded along. It was
+a rough tramp by the light of a growing moon. About 9 p.m. they
+reached their camping and were assigned their usual position, facing
+south, the side nearest the enemy. There was necessarily some delay as
+the battalions were being told off to their assigned limits where each
+had to pass the night ready to spring to arms. Detachments were
+detailed to cut bush and form a zereba, whilst others attended to the
+indispensable culinary department.
+
+Each day our cavalry had seen slowly retiring before them a few of the
+mounted dervish patrols. Nearing Um Terif, the enemy's scouts became
+more numerous and inquisitive. Whilst a company of the Lancashire
+Fusiliers stood on guard during the making of the zereba the infantry
+had their first encounter with a dervish. From the desert there came a
+rush and rattling over the gravel and loose stones, as from a
+stampeded horse or mule. It was coming in their direction but neither
+sentry nor main body thought of challenging. In an instant a mounted
+Baggara dashed past the sentries and ran plump against a corner of the
+company bowling over two or three men. Whether it was a deliberate
+madcap charge, or the fellow was bolting from the other battalions and
+lost his way is never likely to be known. Possibly he did not
+anticipate finding British troops three-quarters of a mile from the
+river. At any rate he dropped or threw his spear wildly, then,
+wheeling about, galloped back into darkness almost before the fact
+that he was an enemy had been realised. The men's rifles were
+unloaded, so the dervish was not fired upon. And had they been
+loaded, under the circumstances even then the officer, as he informed
+me, would have hesitated to shoot, lest he should unnecessarily alarm
+the whole camp. The spear left behind by the dervish horseman was one
+of the lighter barbed-edge kind.
+
+Um Terif camp was not a pleasant location. There was overflowed land
+between the troops and the river, and the ground we had to bivouac
+upon was rough. On Monday morning, the 29th August, before full dawn,
+four squadrons of Egyptian horse and four companies of Tudway's Camel
+Corps proceeded on a reconnaissance towards the Kerreri. The
+twin-screw gunboat "Melik" also steamed up the river a few miles, but
+neither quest resulted in adding much to the information already
+possessed as to the Khalifa's intentions and exact whereabouts.
+Whether or not we were to have our first battle at Kerreri none knew.
+The fact was that during the night there had been a violent
+thunderstorm accompanied by wind and rain. Daylight came with a
+cessation of rain but the gale blew steadily from the south, raising
+quite a sea on the Nile and a fog of sand and dust on land. It was
+impossible to see or move any distance with security, and that was no
+doubt the cause why the reconnaissances in both instances drew blank.
+
+Formal councils of war were rare events during the campaign. A chat
+with his officers, the eliciting of their opinions off-hand and a
+watchful pair of eyes in every direction early and late, was enough
+for the Sirdar. The delays caused by the storms however were becoming
+embarrassing, and it was certain the men's health would suffer if
+they were compelled to linger much longer _en route_. Still it was
+well to be quite ready before pushing in to attack the Khalifa whose
+large army, it was reported, would fight desperately. At a council of
+war held on Monday, August 29th, at which all the Generals, including
+the Brigadiers, were present, it was decided to remain until the next
+day in Um Terif. The flotilla had been unable to concentrate in time,
+the strong current and head wind making most of the vessels unduly
+late in arriving from El Hejir. A piece of good news came to us from
+the friendlies over the river. They were wont to march abreast with
+us, moving up the east bank. We could usually see them across the half
+mile or more of water that intervened, streaming along in their
+conspicuous garments under the mimosa and palms, or treading through
+the bush and long grass. On their way to their encampment opposite
+they had fallen in with a small band of dervishes who were busily
+looting a village. The natives of the place had offended the Khalifa
+by absenting themselves from Omdurman, and so were being cruelly
+maltreated. Major Stuart-Wortley's Arabs ran forward and opened a
+sharp rifle fire upon the raiders, who replied with a few shots and
+then bolted. A hot pursuit was instituted and five of the dervish
+footmen were caught. The friendlies also had the luck to capture a
+dervish sailing boat laden with grain. That evening at sunset, a few
+Baggara horsemen and footmen were seen upon the nearest hills watching
+the Sirdar's camp.
+
+It was at Um Terif that the army, with all its equipment, was for the
+first time got together within the confines of the same encampment.
+From there also it set out next day in battle array, ready to
+encounter the Khalifa's full strength. In the clear atmosphere of the
+early morning and in the late afternoon when the bewildering mirage
+and dancing haze had vanished, from any knoll could be seen the large
+village of Kerreri. There the Mahdists had built a strong mud-walled
+fort by the bank of the Nile. They had besides blocked the road with a
+military camp big enough to shelter in huts and tukals several
+thousand men. Information brought us by natives, spies and deserters,
+was to the effect, that only a small body of dervishes had been left
+at Kerreri under Emir Yunis for the purpose of observing the movements
+of our army. Kerreri, which the Arabs pronounce with a prolonged Doric
+or Northumbrian roll of the r's, as though there were at least a dozen
+of them in the word, is upon the margin of a belt of rough gravel,
+stone, and low detached hills that extend to the southward, to
+Omdurman and beyond. The alluvial strip by the Nile, along which we
+had marched so many days, gave place to ridges and hummocks of sand,
+gravel, and rock.
+
+So we waited impatiently at Um Terif for the flotilla with the fifteen
+days' supplies on board. Meanwhile the axes of an army of soldier
+wood-choppers were clanging upon the hard timber, which was being
+felled for firewood. The ruin of agriculture had meant the growth of
+bush, and there was an abundance of useful mimosa and sunt growing on
+the alluvial lands by the river.
+
+I ought to reproach myself, but I don't, for not having written of the
+aggravating southern gale with its accompaniment of drifts of horrid
+dust and sand as the "terrible khamseen" or sirocco. Travellers' tales
+about having to bury yourself in the sand, or at least swathe head and
+body in folds of cloth, in order to avoid being choked with grit, I
+know. The real thing is bad enough without resorting to poetic or
+journalistic licence, though some will do that anyhow. It is
+sufficiently trying to grow hot and perspire so freely that the
+driving dust, the scavenger drift of chaos and the ages, caught by the
+moisture, courses down the features and trickles from the hands in so
+many miniature turbid streamlets. During a dust-storm everybody has
+the appearance of a toiling hodman. Feminine relations would have wept
+had they seen and recognised their soldier lads in that sorry state.
+Even the dashing officers and men of the Grenadier Guards ceased to be
+objects of admiration, and the War Office would have howled with
+exquisite torture at sight of their hair and clothes. Speak of
+wrapping clothes around head or body to keep out the dust? It is sheer
+nonsense to prate so. Why it is hard enough to gape and gasp and catch
+a mouthful of sanded breath, without that added worry. There is
+nothing for it, but to grin and bear it and get through with the
+swallowing of that proverbial peck of dust in a life-time, as quickly
+and quietly as possible.
+
+The fighting gunboats or armed flotilla consisted of the "Sultan,"
+Lieutenant Cowan, R.N.; "Sheik," Lieutenant Sparks, R.N.; "Melik,"
+Major Gordon, R.E.; "Fatah," Lieutenant Beatty, R.N.; "Nazir,"
+Lieutenant Hon. Hood, R.N.; "El Hafir" ("El Teb"), Lieutenant Stavely,
+R.N.; "Tamai," Lieutenant Talbot, R.N.; "Metemmeh," Lieutenant
+Stevenson, R.E.; and "Abu Klea," Captain Newcombe, R.E. On the loss of
+the "Zafir," Commander Keppel, R.N., transferred his flag to the
+"Sultan," one of the new twin-screw gunboats.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+ADVANCE TO KERRERI--SKIRMISHING WITH THE ENEMY.
+
+
+"Death and his brother sleep" can only be staved off; they overcome in
+the end. The tired soldiers dropped into profound slumber, although
+the night of the 29th August at Um Terif was boisterous and the cruel
+enemy near. It was one of the real surprises of the campaign, that the
+Mahdists never really harassed us, or ventured to rush our lines under
+cover of night, or in the fog of a dust storm. It has often been too
+hastily assumed that the dervishes never attacked by night. By the
+Nile and in the Eastern Soudan they repeatedly pushed attacks under
+cover of darkness, or worried their opponents by persistent
+sniping,--as for instance at Tamai, before Suakin and Abu Klea. Then
+again, their final and successful assault upon Khartoum was delivered
+at dawn. Hicks Pasha's force was hammered early and late. It is all
+the more strange, therefore, that they left the Sirdar's army severely
+alone, never practising their familiar harassing tactics and seeking
+to secure an advantage. Numerous, swift of foot, with spears and
+swords, the odds would have been much more in their favour had they
+come down like wolves in the night. It is difficult to say exactly
+what would have happened, and it is not pleasant to contemplate what
+might have befallen. In such a conflict the Sirdar's losses would have
+been great. Could it have been that the Khalifa believed some of the
+stories set about that our army intended paying him a surprise visit
+by night, as we did Mahmoud, and so he kept his men in camp quietly
+waiting for us. The utmost precautions were taken by the Sirdar and
+his generals to protect the lines. A strong zereba surrounded the
+camp; sentries were doubled, and active patrols were on the alert all
+night. The gale continued until after sunset, when heavy rain clouds
+gathered, obscuring the moonlight. By and by there came on a violent
+and protracted thunderstorm, accompanied by an almost continuous
+deluge. There was nothing to be done but to lie fast wrapped in great
+coat or blanket and await the passing of the hours, wet, chilled,
+ruminating on all sorts of queer subjects. I managed to undo a corner
+of my packed tent and under it obtained relative warmth, and dryness
+in spots.
+
+The persistence of that storm bred despair. It was nearly 8 a.m. on
+Tuesday the 30th August, when, having drenched us all to the marrow,
+the rain ceased. The sun, although two hours high, was battling with a
+fine mist. It was in a perfect downpour of rain at four o'clock in the
+morning, that réveille had been sounded. And it was in sludge and
+slush camels and mules were fed and loaded, and horses baited and
+saddled. By 5.20 a.m. the army was at length on the march out of
+camp, our faces set towards a village called Merreh, best indicated
+upon the maps as Seg or Sheikh el Taib, the latter being the name of a
+low hill. The distance the force was expected to trudge was about
+eight miles, but the overflowed land put two miles more on. When
+daylight came we could see Abdul Azim's friendlies upon the opposite
+side of the Nile. Led by Major Stuart-Wortley, with whom were
+Lieutenant R. Wood and Captain Buckle, the camels of their column kept
+pace with ours. Closely skirting the east bank that day, Abdul Azim's
+warriors had their right supported by one of the gunboats.
+
+With the Sirdar and staff riding at the head of the infantry columns,
+the army advanced in the formation in which it had been determined to
+attack the enemy at Kerreri. Once more our mounted troops pushed far
+ahead, covering a wide stretch of country, the 21st Lancers under
+Colonel Martin on the left, the Egyptian cavalry under Colonel
+Broadwood and eight companies of the Camel Corps under Major Tudway on
+the extreme right. The infantry presented a front of three brigades
+marching in échelon. A battery of artillery was attached to each
+infantry brigade except Collinson's brigade. Three battalions were
+detached from the whole force to guard the baggage and transport which
+followed in the rear. In front on the left, or nearest the Nile, was
+Wauchope's brigade. The four British battalions thereof marched side
+by side in column, the Lincolns upon the right, the Warwicks on the
+left, with the Seaforths and Camerons between them. To the right of
+Wauchope's brigade was Maxwell's, and next it Lewis's Khedivial
+brigades. Behind each of the three leading brigades above named
+(reading from left to right) were Lyttelton's, Collinson's, and
+Macdonald's commands. Seen upon the desert the army had the appearance
+of a huge square with front a mile broad. The day being cloudy, and
+cooler than usual for the season, General Gatacre and his brigadiers
+voted at a council to extend the march. That course was adopted, the
+army keeping on, but with very many brief halts for the brigades to
+regain their formation. By the extra tramp the troops were enabled to
+pass beyond the broad margin of thick bush out upon the comparatively
+open, pebbly, and rocky ground, which sloped to a narrow strip of
+soft, wet loam fringing the river. About 1 p.m., when still fully one
+mile north of the hill of Sheikh el Taib, the army halted and a camp
+was made. Access to the Nile was very difficult, for overflowed, boggy
+land interposed. Roads, however, were made with cut bush, and the
+animals were led over them to be watered. During the army's march the
+Lancers scoured the country far in front. They managed to get into
+touch with some dervish patrols whilst scouting. The opposing troopers
+looked at each other from relatively open ground, and standing
+separated by only a few hundred yards. One Baggara horseman came
+within 150 yards of our men. The Lancers, keen to engage with steel,
+did not attempt to fire upon their intrusive foemen, but innocently
+tried instead to bag them. Several times our troopers advanced to the
+charge, but the enemy, when the Lancers sought to put hands upon them,
+were gone. That day the Baggara horsemen were met with in far greater
+numbers than previously. By instructions, the Lancers rushed one of
+the many small villages, or groups of native mud-dwellings and beehive
+straw huts that dotted the sparse bush-land a mile or more inland from
+the river beyond Sheikh el Taib. Several of the enemy hastened away,
+and in one of the huts a man in dervish dress was found awaiting the
+troops. He turned out to be a secret agent of Colonel Wingate's
+Intelligence Department. The spy in question was a Shaggieh, named
+Eshanni, and but thirty hours out from Omdurman. I was led to
+understand that he gave much valuable information as to the position
+and strength of the Khalifa's force and the state of affairs in
+Omdurman. We were told that the Khalifa meant to attack us at or near
+Kerreri. There was an old-time prophecy of the Persian Sheikh
+Morghani, whose tomb is near Kassala, that the English soldiers would
+one day fight at Kerreri. Mahomed Achmed and Abdullah had further
+added to the prediction that there they were to be attacked and
+defeated by the dervishes under the Khalifa. Kerreri plain, therefore,
+had become a sort of holy place of pilgrimage to the Mahdists. It was
+called the "death place of all the infidels," and thither at least
+once a year repaired the Khalifa and his following to look over the
+coming battle-ground and render thanks in anticipation for the
+wholesale slaughter of the unbelievers and the triumph of the true
+Moslems.
+
+All except those on duty were abed by last post on 30th August at
+Sheikh el Taib camp. Lights were ordered out, and the camp for a time
+relapsed into darkness and silence. Headquarters and all other tents
+had been struck and packed. During the night there was shooting, the
+crack of the musketry sounding relatively near, but occasioning little
+annoyance. The bullets were badly aimed if directed against the
+British quarters. Whether the firing was really meant for "sniping" by
+the dervishes, or was only a note of warning to their friends of our
+presence, was not easy to decide with any degree of certainty. There
+was no big roll of wounded to test the enemy's intent by, and a later
+incipient alarm caused in another part of the camp in the small hours
+was possibly all a mistake. One thing the dervishes did do. After the
+manner of hill-men, they lit beacon fires on the rocky ridges around
+us to warn the Khalifa of our whereabouts.
+
+[Illustration: ARTILLERY GOING TOWARDS OMDURMAN.]
+
+That night the camp lines had been drawn still closer than ever, only
+260 yards' front being given to each battalion. On the morning of 31st
+the troops were early astir. By 5.30 a.m. the main body, following the
+mounted troops, had faced to the right, and were marching to the
+westward so as to clear the bush and get out upon the open desert
+tracks leading to Omdurman. The ground the army passed over was
+broken, and there was scrub with several small khors to cross, so the
+force proceeded slowly and cautiously. Four of the gunboats steamed up
+the river, keeping abreast of our widely spread out cavalry. About six
+o'clock the Lancers had again ascended to the top of El Taib, a hill
+from which at that hour I was enabled to get a view of the dervish
+camp. It appeared to be about ten miles due south. The Mahdists were
+disposed in three long dense lines, at almost right angle to the
+river. They were partly hidden among the low scrub west of Kerreri
+town or village, their right being quite 2000 yards from the Nile,
+which showed they had a wholesome respect for the gunboats. Flags and
+helios were speedily busy in the hands of our signalmen sending back
+information to the Sirdar. Seeing groups of dervishes within range, as
+well as bands of Baggara horsemen, the gunboats opened fire from their
+15-pounders and Maxims shortly after 7 a.m., driving the enemy's
+nearest patrols into hiding or out of range.
+
+In one of the numberless villages passed, there were several mutilated
+and charred human bodies, victims of dervish suspicion, greed and
+cruelty. Pushing well ahead on our right the Khedivial mounted force
+got a chance to send a few volleys into groups of Abd el Baki's
+scouts. That Emir commanded the dervish outlying forces. It was still
+quite early when after an easy journey of eight miles the infantry
+turned aside towards the river. The army was halted at a place called
+Sururab, a few miles north of Kerreri. Why it was called Sururab I
+know not, nor have I found the name on any map; but that was the
+official designation given to the place where the force subsequently
+bivouacked. The only reasonable fault to be found with Sururab was
+that the river banks were exceedingly difficult of access. Our camps
+were getting from bad to worse. That day flocks of huge vultures were
+to be seen circling overhead as the army advanced. It may have been
+our approach that disturbed them from their carrion feasts in the
+devastated villages and the abandoned dervish camps. Omdurman itself
+must also have long been a choice feeding place for them.
+
+Once more the Sirdar's army had to spend an uncomfortable night. The
+few tents that had been carried so far afield belonged to
+headquarters, generals, commanding officers, and correspondents. They
+were more of a burden than a comfort, for all canvas had to be struck
+by last post, and thereafter neither lights nor loud talking were
+permitted. The native troops' low shelter tents made out of their
+spare rough blankets were allowed to pass unchallenged. It was another
+night to be remembered which the army passed at Sururab. Early in the
+evening the clouds gathered, and a series of violent thunderstorms,
+accompanied by heavy rain, continued almost without cessation through
+the weary, lagging hours. Rolled in their blankets, the soldiers,
+wetted through, lay upon the sodden ground. Such of us as could
+crawled under sheets of canvas or waterproofs, but these afforded
+little protection from the driving sheets of falling water. From
+Sirdar to private none escaped a thorough wetting. The enemy, had he
+chosen, might have advanced from Kerreri or Omdurman, and been upon us
+ere an alarm could have been given. Shortly after sunset everybody had
+to be within the zereba. All openings in the hedge were thereafter
+stopped up, and no one was allowed outside before réveille. Officers
+and men of Gatacre's division had as usual to sleep in their places
+lying down in the ranks fully dressed, with their arms beside them,
+ready to spring to attention. Sentinels and patrols, watchful and
+observant, moved noiselessly about throughout the whole night. True,
+there were outside a few of Slatin's most trusted native friends,
+chiefly Jaalin, set to listen and raise an outcry if the Khalifa's
+dervishes came down upon us under cover of the inky night. But I had
+grave doubts whether these native allies would have been of any
+service, as the likelihood was that they were huddled under some rock
+or tree, shivering in their wraps and sheepskins. Had the Khalifa been
+astute or a tactician he would have attacked our camp at Sururab that
+night or early next morning. He must have succeeded, at any rate, in
+getting close enough to us without our hearing a note of warning to
+have placed his army upon a practical equality with ours in point of
+value of rifle fire. The Remington at 300 yards is as good as the
+Lee-Metford for killing or wounding. His superiority in numbers and
+mobility would have been all in his favour. Luckily, it was not to be.
+We were again allowed to sleep in such peace as the elements would
+permit. The fact remains that the dervishes lost another of the
+several excellent chances they had to do us signal hurt.
+
+Réveille went at 3.45 a.m. on 1st September. Little need of it there
+was, for the men were astir, trying to keep warm by stamping about. In
+the driving rain and slush the army got ready to march forward. The
+boats, as usual, were sent on with the surplus stores, whilst the men
+carried one day's emergency rations in their haversacks, and two days'
+ordinary food was taken upon the camels of each battalion. Once more
+the brigades marched in échelon. Gatacre's division was leading as
+before on the left, with Wauchope's brigade in front, and Lyttelton's
+behind. Steadily, deliberately, the armed tide of men flowed over the
+undulating plain, down into shallow khors, swelling through the scrub,
+their serried ranks always plainly to be seen. I went forward again
+with the cavalry, accompanying the 21st Lancers, who were upon the
+left front. The Egyptian troopers and the camelry went to their usual
+place upon the right. In a short time we found that the dervish
+advanced camp west of Kerreri had been abandoned, the enemy having
+fallen back and joined their main force under the Khalifa nearer
+Omdurman. Word was sent back to the Sirdar that the track was clear of
+the enemy, and so the skirmish before getting into camp, which all the
+infantry expected with some degree of confidence and elation, did not
+happen. By 10 a.m. the army had wheeled into the lines assigned it in
+the southward portion of the scattered village of Kerreri. Once more
+both wings rested upon the Nile, Gatacre's division in front (south),
+Macdonald's brigade at the north, with Collinson's brigade within and
+in reserve. The army encamped in an irregular triangular enclosure, on
+one side being the river, our flanks and face being protected by the
+gunboats. Our zereba outline was something like a broken-backed
+pyramid.
+
+Whilst the infantry were settling down in camp at Kerreri the cavalry
+were pushing in the enemy's outposts. The British division cut and
+built around their front a good stout thorny zereba. Lyttelton's
+brigade and three batteries were placed nearest the river. Upon their
+right was Wauchope's brigade, next to it was Maxwell's and Lewis's
+brigades, and then to the right, Macdonald's crack command.
+Collinson's brigade was held in reserve within the zereba; Colonels
+Maxwell, Lewis and Macdonald had their front protected by a double
+line of ordinary shelter-trenches dug in the loose sand and gravel.
+The British Tommies had no trench. Going forward a mile or so to
+rejoin the cavalry I climbed the rugged granitic slopes of Surgham
+Hill. Like most of the "jebels," or mounts, in this region, compared
+with the spacious wilderness about them they are but toy hills. Few
+of them are much over 150 feet high, large as they often loom in the
+deceiving light of the Soudan. Many are but 50 feet in height, and
+there are regular, peaky, and prettily-shaped little mountain ranges,
+the summits of which overtop the plain but five to ten yards. Such
+hills children might build in play by the sea-shore. Surgham was quite
+a big one, and the signallers soon took possession of it, flagging and
+"helioing" back to camp. From its top I was enabled to see Omdurman,
+with Khartoum in the distance. The Mahdi's white, cone-shaped tomb,
+its dome girt with rings, and ornamented with brazen finials, globe
+and crescent, shone not six miles away in the midst of miles of mud
+and straw huts. Four arabesque finials rose, one from each corner of
+the supporting wall. Before the town was a wall of white tents, the
+original camping ground of the Khalifa's levies and reinforcements
+drawn from distant garrisons. Midway to Omdurman, or within three
+miles of where I stood, was the whole dervish army. Clearly they had
+moved out from the city, and were organised as a force prepared for
+instant battle. Their tents, camels, and impedimenta had been left
+behind. Only a few low shelter-tents marked the lines in which the
+Khalifa's army lay in the sparse bush. There were flags and banners by
+hundreds, indicating the position of the leaders, chiefs and lesser
+emirs. The Khalifa's great black banner, with its Arabic lettering
+sewn in the same material, was displayed from a lofty bamboo pole,
+planted in the dense central part of the force. To the left of it,
+our right, were green and blue flags of the Shereef, or second
+Khalifa, and Osman or Sheikh Ed Din, the Khalifa's son and
+generalissimo of his army. Osman, we heard, had been reinstated in
+parental favour, for he had fallen from grace for advising his father
+to make peace with the Sirdar. As in a daisy-pied field, there were
+dervish battle flags everywhere among the thick, swart lines that in
+rows barred our way to Omdurman. The banners were in all colours and
+shades, shapes, and sizes, but only the Khalifa's was black. The force
+was apparently drawn up in five bodies or divisions. Abdullah's, in
+the centre, must have numbered fully 10,000 men. Counting as carefully
+as I could, I estimated the enemy who were to be seen as at least
+numbering 30,000, and, perhaps, 35,000 men. Horsemen and camelmen
+could be seen moving about their lines, and here and there others
+riding, native fashion, on donkey-back. It seemed to be a
+well-organised, intelligently-handled enemy we had in front.
+
+Thereafter I rode onward and joined the farthest Lancers' outposts.
+Small parties of dervishes, mostly Jaalin and blacks, who were caught
+by the troopers, but had perhaps purposely given the Khalifa the slip,
+were rounded up and sent back under escort as prisoners. Meanwhile
+both the British and Khedivial mounted troops kept pushing on, driving
+in the enemy's scouts. By noon there had been a series of attempts on
+our side to charge, but the foemen always gave way. The Egyptian
+cavalry under Colonel Broadwood and the camelry under Major Tudway,
+making a wide détour, got close to the dervish left, and engaged the
+enemy occasionally with rifles and Maxims. But the enemy's horse came
+out in strength, supported by footmen, and threatened them, so
+Broadwood's men had to fall back.
+
+Four of the Sirdar's gunboats, which had meanwhile steamed ahead, were
+briskly battering the Mahdist riverside forts. These works, like those
+abandoned to us at Shabluka Cataract and Kerreri, were strong,
+well-built earthen bastions, with flanking curtains. The central
+semicircular portion was pierced with three embrasures for ordnance,
+but so badly made as to admit of but a limited area of fire. Each
+curtain was loopholed for musketry. There was a deep, wide trench
+before the works, the parapet of which was about ten feet high, whilst
+the walls of earth were about three yards in thickness. Despite the
+skill shown in the construction and placing of the forts, the
+gunboats, by bringing their Maxims and quick-firing guns to bear,
+passed them unscathed. There were Krupp guns mounted in most of these
+works, but not a steamer was hit. Another event of even greater
+importance was meanwhile happening. From the first it had been planned
+that the Lyddite guns and the 40-pounder Armstrong cannon should be
+employed to batter down or breach the Khalifa's walls. The howitzers
+were sent on by one of the gunboats to be landed on Tuti Island, which
+is opposite Khartoum, for that purpose. But it was found the maps were
+wrong, and a better position was selected within suitable range on the
+solid land of the east bank. As for the 40-pounders it was found too
+inconvenient to tranship such heavy ordnance.
+
+The battery firing the 50-lb. Lyddite shells having found the range,
+about 3000 yards, opened fire upon Omdurman. In quick succession rapid
+splashes of lurid flame burst in the town, followed by great clouds of
+dust and whirling stones. I watched them training the howitzers on the
+great wall and the whited sepulchre of the false prophet. With the
+third shot they struck the base and anon the top of the Mahdi's tomb,
+smashing the structure, and bringing down the uppermost cap of it. The
+nature of the bombardment and its success was galling to the dervish
+force, as could be seen by the commotion it excited in the city and
+their camp. Our cavalry on the left got to skirmishing again with the
+enemy's outposts, on which we had closed to within 800 yards. Bodies
+of their horsemen came out and drove our advanced scouts in. Then,
+three squadrons of the Lancers were led forward by Colonel Martin, and
+the enemy once more retired. This, seemingly, was too much for the
+Khalifa, so his whole army was set in motion against us. They came on
+deliberately, but smartly, their infantry trying to surround and cut
+our troopers off. Dismounting part of his men, Colonel Martin
+materially delayed the enemy's advance, for the dervishes sent out
+lines of black riflemen to deal with the Lancers. A rattling skirmish
+at 500 to 800 yards ranges was in a few minutes in full progress. News
+was sent back to the Sirdar that the enemy's army were coming on _en
+masse_, and step by step Colonel Martin's troops were retired towards
+Mount Surgham and the river. Our retreat was pressed, and the regiment
+had to mount and trot off behind the shelter of Surgham to avoid the
+vigorous advance of the dervishes. Among our mounted troops there were
+relatively few losses, although the enemy must have suffered
+considerably. I noticed many of them being knocked over by the
+Lancers' fire. Before 3 p.m. the Sirdar had all his infantry and guns
+in position, awaiting the expected attack within his lines at Kerreri.
+A few mud-huts on the south face of the zereba materially added to the
+strength of the position. Our cavalry had all to continue retiring,
+and ultimately the Lancers went down to the river so as to clear the
+front of the army. Surgham Hill was occupied by a few of the
+dervishes. From there they must have had an excellent view of our
+camp; indeed, they had as good a panoramic peep at us as we had at
+them. For some reason the Khalifa thought better of attacking us that
+day, and so halted with his main body quite out of range. Towards
+sunset his men gradually retired, going back to their former position.
+They had left their camp-fires burning, and their chunks of meat and
+cakes of rough grain cooking under the supervision of slaves and
+followers when they came out against the Lancers. So it happened on
+the eve of the coming battle both armies rested quietly in their
+respective camps, eating, sleeping, and the devout praying, within a
+five miles' march of each other. For supper our men had stringy bully
+beef and biscuit or bread. The dervishes had hunks of freshly roasted
+mutton, goat and cattle, done on the embers, and bannocks of dhura
+meal. Extra precautions were again observed to secure the Sirdar's
+army from any night attack.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE BATTLE OF OMDURMAN--FIRST PHASE OF THE FIGHT.
+
+
+In this and the succeeding chapter, the account given of the victory
+of Omdurman is substantially the same as that which appeared in the
+columns of various issues of the _Daily Telegraph_. The narrative,
+although hastily prepared, gives an accurate description of the fight,
+and copies of it not being now procurable, I venture to make use of
+it, adding only here and there lines of new matter. I have reserved to
+a later chapter the personal narratives of officers who were in the
+action, and who have kindly supplied me with particulars of the part
+borne by the gunboats, the cavalry, and Major Stuart-Wortley's
+friendlies. With these I have coupled various details drawn from my
+own observation. I found that through errors in transmission of the
+messages, or mistakes in dealing with them, part of my copy had got
+credited to other sources.
+
+                                       OMDURMAN, _2nd September 1898_.
+
+The supreme and greatest victory ever achieved by British arms in the
+Soudan has been won by the Sirdar's ever-victorious forces, after one
+of the most picturesque battles of the century. At last! After fifteen
+vexatious years spent in trying to get here, an Anglo-Egyptian army
+has recovered Khartoum and occupied Omdurman. Gordon has been avenged
+and justified. The dervishes have been overwhelmingly routed, Mahdism
+has been "smashed," whilst the Khalifa's capital of Omdurman has been
+stripped of its barbaric halo of sanctity and invulnerability.
+Striking and dramatic as has been the manner in which the ending of
+the curse of the Soudan has come about, the tale need lose none of its
+force by being simply told. The grandeur of the plain story requires
+no straining after catchwords. Of those who with Sir Herbert Stewart's
+desert column toiled and fought to reach Metemmeh in January 1885,
+less than a dozen are with the Sirdar's army, and of these but three,
+including the writer, were correspondents. But to the narrative of the
+battle which, at a stroke, has broken down the potent savage barriers
+of blood and cruelty, and re-opened the heart of the great African
+continent to the sweetening influences of civilised government.
+
+Storm and cloud had passed. The moon rose early on the night of 1st
+September. It shone brightly over and around our bivouac, south of
+Kerreri village, or near Um Mutragan, according to the cartographers.
+The north end of our camp lines approached the river just 500 yards
+south of the ruined dervish redoubt of Kerreri. Sentinels were posted
+along the irregular-shaped triangle, or, shall I call it, broken
+semi-circle, within which the army lay. The sentries had a fair range
+of view to their front. Men on the lookout also occupied the roofs of
+the few native mud-huts at the south-western corner of the camp. Four
+Jaalin scouts were sent forward to Surgham Hill to listen, and to
+apprise the troops of any movement on the part of the Khalifa's army.
+Other friendlies lay about outside, hearkening and watching, to warn
+us of any attempt of the enemy to surprise the zereba. The sentries
+were bid to shoot at any man rushing singly upon him, and to fire upon
+large bodies advancing at the double. Men running in, however, in
+pairs, were either to be challenged or allowed to come in without
+being fired on. Such was the simple yet ample arrangement. To
+anticipate somewhat, it so happened that about midnight there was some
+firing, and the four Jaalin "smellers of danger and dervishes" upon
+Jebel Surgham came sprinting in, a four-in-hand, and cleared the broad
+cut mimosa hedge that was piled before the lines of Gatacre's
+division, at a bound. The time they made broke all records.
+
+From the north to the south end along the river the camp was about one
+mile in length, and its greatest width about 1200 yards. There were a
+few mud-huts within the space enclosed by mimosa and the double line
+of shallow shelter-trenches. The cut bushes were piled in front of the
+British troops, who were facing Omdurman and the south; the trenches
+covered the approach from the west and north where the Khedivial
+troops stood on guard. Neither extremity of the lines of defence,
+zereba or trench, quite extended to the river. Openings of about
+thirty to fifty yards were left. Besides these there were other small
+passage-ways left open during daylight, but closed at night. Near the
+river facing south the ground was rough, and there were several huts,
+so that the security of the camp was not imperilled by the failure to
+carry the hedge or trenches to the Nile's brink. Lyttelton's brigade
+were placed upon the left south front. Wauchope's men continued the
+line to the right. In the south gap were three companies of the 2nd
+Battalion Rifle Brigade, their left resting on the river. On their
+immediate right were three batteries--the 32nd Field Battery of
+English 15-pounders, under Major Williams; two Maxim-Nordenfeldt
+mountain batteries, 12½-pounders, respectively under Captains Stewart
+and de Rougemont; and six Maxims under Captain Smeaton. Later on these
+guns and Maxims during the first stage of the battle--for the action
+resolved itself into a double event ere the combat ceased--were
+wheeled out until they were firing almost at right angles to the
+zereba line. On the right of the guns, in succession, were the
+remainder of the Rifles, the Lancashire Fusiliers, the Northumberland
+Fusiliers, and the Grenadier Guards. In the interval between General
+Lyttelton's brigade and General Wauchope's, which stood next to it,
+were two Maxims. Then came the Warwicks, Camerons, Seaforths, and
+Lincolns. To the Lincolns' right, where the trenches began and the
+line faced nearly west, was Colonel Maxwell's brigade. Between
+Wauchope's and Maxwell's brigades were two Maxims, and, I think, for a
+time during the first attack made by the dervishes, the two-gun mule
+battery of six-centimetre Krupp guns. To complete the tale of the guns
+placed for defending the camp, there was Major Lawrie's battery of
+Maxim-Nordenfeldts on the right of Maxwell's brigade next Macdonald's,
+and on the north side, near the right of the position facing west,
+Major Peake's battery of Maxim-Nordenfeldts. These guns had done so
+well at the Atbara, that the Sirdar promptly increased his artillery
+by adding three batteries of that class. Maxwell's brigade was
+composed of three Soudanese and one Egyptian battalion, viz., 8th
+Egyptian, and 12th, 13th, and 14th Soudanese. Farther north, to the
+right of Colonel Maxwell's men, was Lewis Bey's brigade of Egyptian
+troops--the 3rd, 4th, 7th, and 15th Battalions. The 15th Battalion was
+a fine lot, mostly reservists. Upon the farthest west and northern
+face of the protected camp was. Colonel Macdonald's oft-tried and
+famous fighting brigade, made up of the 9th, 10th, and 11th Soudanese,
+with the true-as-steel 2nd Egyptians. Within the wall of hedge,
+trenches, and armed infantry, in reserve, was another brigade, the 4th
+Khedivial, commanded by Major Collinson. It was made up of the 1st,
+5th, 17th, and 18th Egyptian battalions. The two last-named were
+relatively newly-raised regiments, but were composed of fine
+soldierly-looking fellaheen. The divisional brigade and battalion
+commanders and staff were:--British division, Major-General Gatacre
+commanding; staff: Major Robb, D.A.G.; Captain R. Brooke, A.D.C.;
+Lieuts. Cox and Ingle, orderly officers; Surgeon-Colonel MacNamara,
+P.M.O. First British Infantry brigade, Brigadier-General A. Wauchope;
+staff: Major Doyle Snow, brigade-major; Captain Rennie, A.D.C.;
+Surgeon-Lieut.-Colonel Sloggett, P.M.O. Second brigade,
+Brigadier-General, Hon. N. G. Lyttelton; staff: Major A Court,
+brigade-major; Captain Henderson, A.D.C. Surgeon-General W. Taylor was
+the principal medical officer of the British division. Lieut.-Colonel
+C. J. Long, R.A., commanded all the artillery. Khedivial
+troops--Infantry division, Major-General A. Hunter, commanding; staff:
+Surgeon-Colonel Gallwey, P.M.O.; Captain Kincaid, D.A.G.; Lieut.
+Smythe, A.D.C. 1st brigade, Brigadier H. A. Macdonald; Major C. Keith
+Falconer, brigade-major. 2nd brigade, Brigadier Lewis; 3rd brigade,
+Brigadier Maxwell; 4th brigade, Brigadier Collinson.
+
+The battalion commanders of British troops were:--Grenadier Guards,
+Lieut.-Colonel Villiers-Hatton; Lancashire Fusiliers, Lieut.-Colonel
+Collingwood; Northumberland Fusiliers, Lieut.-Colonel C. G. C. Money;
+Rifle Brigade, Colonel Howard; Warwickshires, Lieut.-Colonel Forbes;
+Lincolns, Lieut.-Colonel Louth; Camerons, Lieut.-Colonel G. L. C.
+Money; Seaforths, Lieut.-Colonel Murray. Those of the Khedivial
+battalions were:--Macdonald's brigade, Majors Pink, 2nd Egyptian;
+Walter, 9th Soudanese; Nason, 10th Soudanese; Jackson, 11th Soudanese.
+Lewis's brigade, Majors Sellem, 3rd Egyptian; Sparkes, 4th Egyptian;
+Fatby Bey, 7th Egyptian; and Major Hickman, 15th Egyptian. Maxwell's
+brigade, Majors Kalousie, 8th Egyptian; Townsend, 12th Soudanese;
+Smith-Dorian, 13th Soudanese; Shekleton, 14th Soudanese. Collinson's
+brigade, Captains (O.C.'s) Bainbridge, 1st Egyptian; Abd El Gervad
+Borham, 5th Egyptian; Bunbury, 17th Egyptian; and Matchell, 18th
+Egyptian.
+
+The troops were ranged two deep in front with a partial second double
+line or supports placed twenty yards or so behind them. These assisted
+in the fight to pass ammunition to the firing line and carry back the
+dead and wounded. Somewhat removed from the zereba and trenches, and
+nearer the Nile were the hospitals, the transport, the stores, nearly
+3000 camels, and about 500 mules. The Egyptian cavalry and camelry
+were picketed at the north of the camp, and the 21st Lancers at the
+south end, both being within the lines. All along the river's bank
+beside the camp were moored the gunboats, steamers and barges, with a
+fleet of a hundred or more native sailing boats, at once a means of
+defence and a supply column. The gunboat "Melik" was moored a few
+hundred yards south of where the Rifles were posted. Occasionally the
+flotilla flashed their search-lights upon Jebel Surgham, and swept the
+scrub and desert in front of the troops. The enemy's scouts, however,
+were never disclosed in the radii of the electric beams. In fact, the
+first notice we had that the dervishes were about to inspect our
+environment was the impetuous incoming of our friendlies from Jebel
+Surgham and the cracking of snipers' guns in the bush mingled with the
+buzzing of bullets overhead. A battalion rose quietly from the ground,
+for the troops slept clear of the hedge, and went forward a few paces
+to man the zereba. On learning what was actually taking place they
+returned to their blankets and to sleep.
+
+For all the row the dervish spies, snipers and others made, the army
+was not really disturbed. Once more we had to thank fortune that the
+enemy made no vigorous attempt to assail the camp during the night.
+True, earlier in the evening a few badly-directed rifle-shots had come
+whistling across the zereba. Prowling dervish scouts had even
+occasionally crept close enough to draw upon themselves the attention
+of our double sentries and alert patrols. A small section volley at
+one period of the night was fired at a knot of the enemy's would-be
+bush-whackers. The unusual rattle of musketry caused an incipient
+alarm in one of the battalions. Tommy, however, behaved well,
+collectively, never stirring, but waiting "for orders." The peace of
+the night hours was, I repeat, never seriously broken, the
+Anglo-Egyptian army enjoying their needed sleep. After midnight things
+quieted down and from the dervish camp no sound was carried to us by
+the soft south wind. All was absolutely still in that direction. The
+noggara or war-drum was a dead thing, beating not to quarters, as we
+had heard it during the day when out with the cavalry. Nor was the
+deep-bayed booming of the ombeyas, or elephant horns, re-echoing to
+rally the tribesmen under their leaders' banners.
+
+It was 3.40 a.m. on 2nd September when the bugles called the 22,000
+men of the Sirdar's army from slumber. Quickly the troops were astir,
+and the camp full of bustling preparation. It was given out that we
+were not to move forward quite as early as usual. But circumstances
+alter cases, and very soon loads and saddles were adjusted with extra
+care. Everything was made as trim as possible, and belts were buckled
+tightly for action. There was a sense and expectancy of coming battle
+abroad, and an eager desire permeating all ranks to have it out with
+the dervishes then or never. It had come at length to be generally
+accepted that the enemy would not bolt nor slip through our fingers,
+but would accept the gage of battle which the Sirdar meant shortly to
+give him. We were going to march out, attack, and storm the Khalifa
+and his great army in their chosen lines and trenches. In a way we
+felt half-heartedly grateful to our sportsmanlike enemy for not having
+harassed our marches or bivouacs. We were, within the next hour or so,
+to have yet more to thank the dervishes and their Khalifa for. Truly
+Abdullah was amazingly ignorant of war tactics, or astoundingly
+confident in the prowess of his arms. From the reckless, magnificent
+manner in which the dervishes comported themselves in the earlier
+stages of the fight that ensued, I incline to the belief that the
+Khalifa and his men, true to their crass, credulous notions, were
+overweeningly confident in themselves. A fatal fault, they underrated
+their opponents. His Emirs, Jehadieh, and Baggara had so often proved
+themselves invincible in their combats against natives of the Soudan,
+that they had come to hold that none would face their battle shock.
+There was pride of countless triumphs, and the long enjoyment of
+despotic lordship that hardened their wills and thews to win victory
+or perish. I failed later to see the old fanaticism that once made
+them, though pierced through and through with bayonet or sword, fight
+till the last heart-throb ceased. Let me not be misunderstood. Despite
+their possible doubts about the Khalifa's divine mission, the dervish
+army fought with courage and dash until they were absolutely broken.
+Their personal hardihood bravely compared with the days of Tamai and
+Abu Klea. It was when the fight was nearly over that there were
+evidences of that of which there was so little in the old days, viz.,
+that a large remnant would accept life at our hands. Again, as the
+sequel showed, the Sirdar's star was in the ascendant.
+
+Everything was in readiness in our camp by 5 a.m. Camels, horses,
+mules, and donkeys had been watered and fed, and the men had disposed
+of an early breakfast of cocoa or tea, coarse biscuit, and tinned
+meat. Infantry and artillery had made sure of their full supply of
+ammunition, and the reserve was handy to draw more from. Tommy Atkins
+carried 100 rounds of the new hollow-nosed Lee-Metford cartridges.
+Behind him were mules loaded with a further twenty rounds for him. The
+Khedivial soldiers had 120 rounds of Martini-Henry cartridges. To hark
+back: at 4.30 a.m., ere dawn had tinged the east, the Sirdar bade
+Colonel Broadwood, commanding the Egyptian cavalry, send out two
+squadrons to ascertain what the enemy was about. Thereupon one
+squadron rode off to the hills on the west--known locally as South
+Kerreri jebels, but marked on most maps as Um Mutragan. Besides being
+misnamed, they are plotted in out of place and as if the range trended
+east and west. It runs nearly north and south. Kerreri hills were low
+and black, like most of the jebels thereabout. They stand fully two
+miles west of the Nile. Another squadron, under Captain Hon. E.
+Baring, proceeded south to Jebel Surgham, the low hill, about one mile
+in front of the British division. I have written about it before.
+Surgham was used for heliograph and flag signalling on the 1st, the
+previous day, and is the last of the detached hills or ranges lying
+near the river on the north towards Omdurman. The squadron going west
+soon reached South Kerreri hill, and reported that the enemy were
+still in camp. It was early, and not clear daylight, and the distance
+to the Khalifa's encampment was greater from South Kerreri hill than
+that from Jebel Surgham to where the dervishes lay in the bush and
+hollows around Wady Shamba. Captain Baring's party, on the other hand,
+met with small patrols of the enemy near Jebel Surgham. Turning the
+hill at a few minutes past five o'clock, in the yet slanting daylight,
+he at once detected that the Khalifa's army, which had apparently been
+largely reinforced during the night, was marching forward to attack
+us. Gallopers and orderlies came riding back furiously with the news
+for the Sirdar. Sir Herbert Kitchener, Major-General Rundle, and the
+whole headquarters staff were already mounted. Colonel Broadwood was
+despatched to verify the startling report, and to bring in further
+particulars. Meantime the preparations on our side for an advance
+were suspended, and guns, Maxims, and infantry moved up and wheeled
+into positions upon the firing line. Ominous was that silent march of
+six paces to their front made by the British infantry to get close to
+the zereba and the clearing for action of Maxims and cannon, and the
+examining of the breeches of the Lee-Metfords. For the first time the
+magazines were to be used. The Khedivial soldiers swarmed into their
+trenches. Anon, the Tommy Atkinses were ordered to lie down behind
+their hedge of cut mimosa to rest and wait. From a little distance, no
+doubt, our camp looked silent, deserted, and as void of danger as any
+other part of the plain. Standing a few yards behind each command were
+placed in reserve sometimes two, sometimes three companies, which had
+been withdrawn from the battalion on their immediate front. These
+reserves were to fill gaps or stiffen the firing line, should it be
+too closely pressed. With the companies in reserve were the stretchers
+and bearers. A little farther back was the British divisional field
+hospital, planted in a congeries of native dirt-huts. The scattered
+mud-huts within the lines afforded excellent cover to the sick and
+wounded, as well as a degree of protection for the camels, horses,
+mules, and donkeys picketed near the middle ground of the camp.
+
+Colonel Broadwood returned swiftly with the news that the whole
+dervish army was really in motion, and that if it held upon its
+apparent course its right wing would pass about 500 yards to the west
+of Jebel Surgham. That hill was within easy shelling distance from
+the gunboats, and the solitary instance of prudence that the dervishes
+had so far shown was to keep far enough inland to render the
+assistance of the flotilla of as little help as possible to us. Some
+there were who thought that Jebel Surgham should have been made the
+central stronghold of our camp, and that the army ought to have slept
+behind it on the previous night. The wisdom of that suggestion was
+most doubtful. Where we were the gunboats could more easily cover the
+whole position.
+
+It was about 5 a.m. when the 21st Lancers started forward to undertake
+their daily task of scouting and covering the left flank of the
+Sirdar's army. They reached Jebel Surgham a few minutes later and
+relieved Captain Baring's squadron, which at once rode away and joined
+the remaining squadrons of Egyptian cavalry on South Kerreri hill,
+whither Colonel Broadwood had by that time gone with his troopers.
+Every inch of Surgham hill and the yellow sand ridges, gravel mounds,
+and shallow khors to the south and west of it had been explored by the
+Lancers the day before. Riding straight out from the zereba ere the
+faintly-glowing dawn had come, I joined the Lancers on Surgham. A
+dismounted squadron occupied part of the southern slopes, a troop or
+more were on the higher points and summit keeping sharp eyes on the
+enemy. Flag-signallers were preparing for work at the place where the
+day before helios had been busy flashing news from gunboats and
+cavalry to the headquarters. As I climbed the rugged slopes of Jebel
+Surgham leading my horse, I heard a mighty rumbling as of tempestuous
+rollers and surf bearing down upon a rock-bound shore. When I had gone
+but a few strides farther there burst upon my sight a moving,
+undulating plain of men, flecked with banners and glistening steel.
+Who should count them? They were compact, not to be numbered. Their
+front from east to west extended over three miles, a dense mass
+flowing towards us. It was a great, deep-bodied flood, rather than an
+avalanche, advancing without flurry, solidly, with presage of power.
+The sound of their coming grew each instant louder, and became
+articulate. It was not alone the reverberation of the tread of horses
+and men's feet I heard and seemed to feel as well as hear, but a
+voiced continuous shouting and chanting--the dervish invocation and
+battle challenge, "Allah el Allah! Rasool Allah el Mahdi!" they
+reiterated in vociferous rhymed rising measure, as they swept over the
+intervening ground. Their ranks were well kept, the serried lines
+marching with military regularity, with swaying of flags and
+brandishing of big-bladed, cruel spears and two-edged swords. Emirs
+and chiefs on horseback rode in front and along the lines,
+gesticulating and marshalling their commands. Mounted Baggara trotted
+about along the inner lines of footmen. There were apparently as
+before five great divisions in the dervish army. The Khalifa's corps
+was near the right centre, with his son, Sheikh Ed Din's division on
+his left. The relative positions of the great chiefs were readily
+recognisable by their banners, which were carried in the midst of
+their chosen body-guards. Khalifa Abdullah's great black banner,
+black-lettered with texts from the Koran and the Mahdi's sayings, was
+upheld by his Mulazimin. It flew, spread out, flaunting in the wind,
+acclaimed by his followers. The flag was about two yards square, and
+was supported on a 20-feet bamboo pole, ornamented at top with a
+silver bowl and spandrel, as well as a tassel. The force marching with
+it must have numbered 20,000 armed men, besides servants and
+followers. His son, Osman, known as Sheikh Ed Din, and the nominal
+commander-in-chief of the dervish armies, led into battle a division
+of the Jehadieh (riflemen) and spearmen, together 15,000 strong. His
+force was ranged under blue, green, yellow, and white banners. With
+him was Khalil, the second Khalifa, Osman Azrak, Emir Yunis, Abdel
+Baki, and other noted chiefs of the Baggara. Yacoub, the notorious
+brother of the Khalifa Abdullah, commanded the big column upon his
+relative's right hand. Still farther to their right were the divisions
+led by Wad Helu and Wad Melik. The joint forces of these twain
+probably numbered 12,000 or 14,000 men. Besides the main army there
+was a second line, possibly made up from the Omdurman populace, with a
+baggage train of camels and donkeys. I found out subsequently that the
+enemy were amply provisioned. Camels and donkeys carried water and
+grain, mostly dhura, for the Khalifa's army. The dervishes, as a rule,
+had their goatskin wallets filled with grain, onions, and a piece of
+roasted meat.
+
+The battle of Omdurman began at 5.30 a.m. with a salvo of six guns
+from Major Elmslie's battery on the east Nile bank. They were fired
+from the 5-inch howitzers, which sent a half-dozen of 50-lb. Lyddite
+shells hurtling around the tomb and the Khalifa's quarters. Like a
+spouting volcano, clouds of flame, stones, and dust burst from out the
+city. The line of strong forts before the town and upon Tuti island
+had been silenced by them and the gunboats the previous day. Although
+the dervishes had built stout works, and had plenty of cannon and
+ammunition, they made a wretchedly bad stand against the gunboats,
+injuring none of them. The overpowering weight as well as the accuracy
+of our steamers' fire ended the naval part of the battle almost as
+soon as it was begun. Quick-firers and Maxims were trained to bear
+into the embrasures of the Khalifa's forts. As a consequence, the
+enemy's gunners were only able to fire a few wild rounds at the
+vessels. Jealous and suspicious of everyone, Abdullah left his arsenal
+full of unemployed batteries, Krupps, and machine guns, and only took
+three of either of the latter weapons with him into the field against
+us. After the labour too of taking them there, he made but little use
+of them. As I learned, the Greeks, some thirty-five, and all
+able-bodied men, had to march out of Omdurman and follow the Khalifa
+to battle. I by no means, I think, over-estimate the enemy's numbers
+when I state that there were 50,000 dervishes of sorts who advanced
+against us, sworn to leave not a single soul alive in the Sirdar's
+army. Abdullah, professedly sanguine of success, had bade the mollahs
+and others attend him at noon prayers in the mosque and Mahdi's tomb,
+where he would go to worship immediately after his victory. He had
+returned into town, and spent part of the night of 1st and 2nd
+September in his own house.
+
+[Illustration: BATTLE OF OMDURMAN--ZEREBA ACTION.]
+
+The gunboats, which had gone on that morning, joined in the renewed
+bombardment of Omdurman, begun by Major Elmslie. But it was only for a
+short space, for the Sirdar recalled the steamers by signal to assist
+in repelling the attack when it was seen the Khalifa meant giving
+battle. Three squadrons of Lancers halted on the northern side of
+Jebel Surgham. A troop of them pushed on to the sandy ridges
+south-west of Surgham hill. Part of them dismounted, and with much
+hardihood began firing at about 1000 yards' range at the oncoming
+dervishes. It was as if a few men afoot were seeking to interpose to
+hold back the invading ocean. Instantly dervish riflemen and horsemen
+shot out from the Khalifa's lines and came streaming to engage the
+handful of troopers. The skirmishing Lancers desisted, mounted, and
+rode back to their main body. Of those of the Lancers who stood it out
+longest were the groups upon the top of Surgham and upon its eastern
+side. Colonel Martin got his four squadrons together as the dervishes
+drew in towards him. The enemy's right was now thrown forward, facing
+straight for the angle of the camp where the British division stood.
+At a swinging gait came the vast army of Mahdism. I was still near
+Surgham and believed that I could discern the Khalifa himself in the
+centre of a jostling, excited throng of footmen and horsemen. He was
+seated upon a richly caparisoned Arab steed, guarded on all sides by
+stalwart natives armed with rifles and swords. A troop of mounted
+Emirs in front and a big retinue of Baggara and other chiefs on
+horseback riding behind surely proclaimed him to be Abdullah, the
+Mahdi's successor. Far before him was borne his terrible black banner.
+Around him religious dervishes screamed, gesticulated, and shouted
+"Allah's" name, confident that they had come out to see the
+annihilation of the invading infidels. Had it not been long foretold
+that the victorious battle would be fought at Kerreri, which ever
+after should be known among the faithful as "the death-field of the
+infidels"? Were not the white stones there already to mark our graves?
+I was fortunate to be able to scan the nearest of the dervish columns,
+from a distance of but 800 yards. The battle was about to open in
+fierce earnest. Away went the Lancers at the gallop, back to the
+zereba, but, edging towards the river, to clear our infantry's front
+and line of fire. It was around the left of the 2nd battalion of the
+Rifle Brigade that the troopers passed in. I took a somewhat shorter,
+hasty cut, entering the zereba near where the three batteries stood,
+on the British left. Away off upon and under Um Mutragan, the Egyptian
+mounted troops, the nine squadrons of cavalry, eight companies of the
+Camel Corps, and the horse artillery, all under Colonel Broadwood,
+were pluckily endeavouring to tackle the left wing of the Khalifa's
+forces. They held on, perhaps, too long; at any rate, until most of
+them were in a position of serious danger. As their fight and the more
+important general action happened at the same time, I must defer
+further description of it for the moment.
+
+It was a magnificent spectacle that rose before the Sirdar's army as
+the dervish columns came sweeping into view, filling the landscape
+between Surgham and Um Mutragan. In that great multitude were gathered
+the fiercest, most sanguinary body of savage warriors the world has
+ever held or known. Arabs and blacks, chosen by Abdullah himself,
+picked out because of their tried courage, strength, and devotion--the
+flower of the fighting Soudan tribes. Under other conditions
+Abdullah's army might have matched itself to win against double their
+number of any men similarly armed. Fearless of danger, agile yet
+strong, each man carried with him into the fight the conviction that
+the Khalifa would conquer. A great shout of exultation went up from
+the dervish legions when they saw, ranged in the low ground before
+them, the Sirdar's, small army, their imagined prey. There was a
+mighty waving of banners and flashing of steel when, breaking into a
+run, they bent forward to close upon us. The British division rose to
+their feet to be ready, and the Khedivial troops closed up their
+ranks. There was a murmur of satisfaction from Gatacre's division and
+real cries of delight from the black troops on seeing the enemy were
+coming to attack. Never was there a grander, more imposing militant
+display seen than when the great dervish army rushed to engage,
+heedless of life or death. In an instant the Sirdar, who stood near
+the right of Wauchope's brigade, passed an order for the three
+batteries on the left--Major Williams', Stewart's, de Rougemont's--to
+open fire. The guns were laid at 2800 yards, a range the delight of
+gunners, and sighted to the west of Surgham, where the black flag and
+the largest mass of the enemy were. The hour was 6.35 a.m. Almost at
+the first shot the true range was found. Quick as thought thereafter
+the eighteen guns on our left began raining fire, iron, and lead upon
+the leading and main columns of the enemy. Two batteries to the right
+and many of the Maxims added to the fury of the fearful death-dealing
+storm bursting over and amongst the dervish ranks. The long 15-pounder
+English field cannon hit with the precision of match rifles, and were
+discharged as though they had been quick-firing guns. As for the
+stinging Maxim-Nordenfeldts, with their big single and bigger double
+shells, they bucked and jumped like kicking horses, yet were fired so
+fast that the barrels must have been well-nigh red-hot. The air was
+torn with hurtling shell at the first awful salvo, when shrapnel burst
+in all directions, smiting the dervishes as with Heaven's
+thunderbolts, and strewing the ground with maimed and dead. The
+leading columns paused as if they had received a shock, or had stopped
+to catch breath. Hundreds had been slain in that one discharge, and
+the fire was rapidly increasing, not slackening. Disregarding their
+dead and wounded, the dervishes closed their ranks as with one accord,
+and came on with fresh energy. Their banner-bearers and the Baggara
+horsemen pushed to the front, doubtless to further encourage the still
+dauntless footmen. Surely there never was wilder courage displayed.
+In the face of a fire that mowed down battalions and smashed great
+gaps into their columns they flinched not nor turned. Noticing the
+enemy's persistency, the Sirdar sent bidding General Lyttelton try
+them with long-range volleys from the Lee-Metfords. Major Lord Edward
+Cecil took the message, and Lieutenant H. M. Grenfell got the range
+from the gunners. The Grenadier Guards, who had the honour of being
+the first of our infantry to engage, were ordered to fire section
+volleys to their right at the Khalifa's division; the range 2700
+yards. Standing up and pointing their rifles over the hedge they
+blazed away very steadily at the dervishes. Occasionally they caught
+and slew a group, but at that period it was difficult to make out,
+even through good field-glasses, whether the infantry fire was really
+effective. There was no doubt about what the gunners were doing, for
+horses and riders and footmen were bowled over or sank to the ground
+as shrapnel and common shell struck their ranks. The artillerymen
+invariably trained their weapons to bear upon the front of the densest
+of the dervish columns, seeking to pulverise them. As for the
+Maxims--and I closely watched the effect of their fire through my
+glasses--I am compelled to say that they often failed to settle upon
+the swarming foe. At any rate, their effectiveness was not equal to
+what might have been expected. Would the Khalifa succeed, in the face
+of such an awful cannonade, in reaching the zereba with a corporal's
+guard? But after all, it usually takes tons of iron and lead to kill a
+man. There was marvellous vitality in the dervish masses. Thousands
+were knocked over by the screaming, bursting shells, which made hills
+and plain ring with thunderous uproar. But numbers of the apparently
+killed were merely wounded, and they speedily rose and truculently
+hastened forward anew with their fellow-tribesmen. A diversion that
+told momentarily in the enemy's favour occurred. The extreme dervish
+right at that moment appeared climbing the slopes of Jebel Surgham.
+Emir Melik's wing, hidden from view by that intervening high ground,
+had, as it came on, been reinforced by a part of Yacoub's division. By
+other accounts Osman Digna, as well, had united forces with Melik.
+There suddenly sprang into threatening proximity before us, a force of
+at least fifteen odd thousand men, with a wide surf-line of white,
+red, and gold lettered banners, less than a mile away. Brandishing
+their weapons and shouting "Allah!" down the slopes they ran towards
+the zereba. Emirs rode in front, and gaunt, black riflemen sped like
+hounds, keeping pace with the horses. The guns of one battery, then
+another, and finally all three, upon General Lyttelton's left, were
+turned upon them. Maxims also were swung round, and the long-distance
+volleys were dropped for shorter ranges. The dervish main columns
+which had got shelter in low khors re-appeared, and without pause
+joined in the hot rush for our zereba. Our elated foemen evidently
+thought they would at last be able to close with us. In their
+ignorance they reckoned not with the accuracy and discipline of the
+British infantry fire. Nor had they then learned to dread the
+terrible bullets of our men's Lee-Metford rifles. Later in the day, as
+well as on the following one, I heard many expressions of regret from
+wounded and unwounded dervishes that they were so mad as to charge the
+white soldiers, whose bullets rarely missed. The light was good, the
+hour about 7 a.m., and the ranges shifted rapidly from 1700 yards to
+1500 yards, 1200 yards down to 1000 yards. Guns, Maxims, and rifles
+were blazing in fullest fury at the enemy, as, in their heroic effort,
+they sought to charge home upon us. From wing to wing Gatacre's
+division was firing sharply, a blaze of flame, section volleys and
+independently. The Grenadier Guardsmen's shooting was noted as
+conspicuously steady and deadly effective. Except the two companies of
+the Rifles on the left, who, owing to the nature of the ground on
+their front, could do little, the British infantry were hotly
+occupied. Rifles became too warm to be held, and were in some cases
+changed for those of rear-rank men's. In one or two instances the
+reserves closed up, to give every soldier an opportunity of being
+actually engaged. They took the place of sections in the firing lines,
+whilst their comrades fell back and refilled their cartridge pouches.
+The Lancers sent forward a dismounted squadron or two which filled the
+gap between the zereba and the Nile, whilst the gunboats "Melik" and
+"Sultan" moved in and took part in that stage of the battle. And still
+the dervishes got nearer, swinging up their left, for their right was
+now fairly held by the British fire. Colonels Maxwell's and Lewis's
+brigades had to address themselves to the task of checking the
+Khalifa's attack. Colonel Long had so disposed the cannon and Maxims
+that the guns rendered invaluable help. At that period the main body
+of the dervishes moved forward more carefully, taking cover and
+evidently watching the issue of Yacoub's and Wad Melik's assaulting
+columns.
+
+The army of white flags, led by Yacoub and Wad Melik, exhibited dash,
+courage, and persistence. Never was a column of men so hammered and
+mutilated and probably so surprised. They were torn and thrown about
+as puppets before the hurricane of shell fire, and laid in windrows
+like cut grain before the hail of the Lee-Metfords. Twelve hundred
+short yards away, Surgham's bare slopes were being literally covered
+with corpses and writhing wounded. In sheer blundering brutishness,
+the ferocious dervishes tried to stem the storm. Wave followed wave of
+men, they surged together, inviting greater disaster, but always
+striving to get nearer us. Their front had covered the whole slopes of
+Jebel Surgham and their left overlapped part of the Khalifa's right.
+Death was reaping a gigantic harvest. Hecatombs of slain were being
+spread everywhere in front. The fight was terrible, the slaughter
+dreadful. So far we had scarcely suffered loss, only a few of the
+enemy's riflemen having paused and thought of firing at us. Muskets
+they had discharged in the air, after their manner, when advancing
+from their encampment. But that is one of their customs, employed to
+work up a proper warlike ardour. Viewed from our side, it had been so
+far the least dangerous battle ever soldier bore part in. For five,
+ten minutes, less or more--the drama being enacted was too fearful and
+fascinating for one to take note of time--Yacoub and his legions still
+strove to breast the whirlwind of destruction involving them.
+Battered, torn, rent into groups, the survivors at length began to
+move off rapidly across our front, to their left. As yet there was no
+running away, they were but changing direction and massing at another
+point. With, if possible, swifter, deadlier fire they were followed
+and driven. Maxims, Lee-Metfords, and Martini-Henrys from Maxwell's
+brigade shattered the loose and weakened dervish columns. The few
+rounds fired back at us by the enemy from their Krupp gun and rifled
+cannon, which were stationed near the Khalifa's banner during the
+first part of the action, did no harm. In fact, their shells burst two
+or three hundred yards short of the zereba. At first they were
+mistaken for badly-aimed shells fired by the gunboats, from which a
+few pitched near us, or by the batteries upon our left. For a moment
+the Sirdar was wroth at what was fancied to be our gunners' blundering
+practice. It was quickly discovered, however, that the particular
+shells in question were aimed by the dervishes. Very soon,--whether
+settled by our guns, our Maxims, or by infantry volleys, I know
+not,--the dervish cannon and their foolish efforts to shell our lines
+troubled us no more. We knew afterwards that they had also got one of
+their 5-barrelled Nordenfeldts to work for a while. Nobody in our
+ranks, I think, was actually aware of the fact at the time, so
+indifferent was the aiming and so bad the handling of the gun.
+
+Still, the crucial stage of the first action was not over. The Sheikh
+Ed Din had driven the Egyptian cavalry and Camel Corps from Um
+Mutragan, inflicting loss upon them and getting temporary possession
+of several guns of the horse battery. He was following them up
+vigorously, and the Camel Corps, protected by the gunboats' fire, was
+seeking shelter near the river and close to the north end of the
+zereba, where it luckily succeeded in getting. It was after seven
+a.m., and Colonel Broadwood's troopers were trying to shake off
+flanking parties of the enemy as they rode to the north, towards our
+previous camp. Our batteries were still pounding the Khalifa's main
+body, which had got to within 1400 yards of the south-western angle of
+the zereba. Wavering, and driven before the murderous tornado of
+exploding bombs and pitiless lead, they too swung round and made for
+cover beyond range, flying towards the west and slightly to the rear.
+Yacoub and Melik followed the black flag in the same direction, and
+the dervish left wing edged off to Um Mutragan. They had come, first
+of all, direct, as if intending to assault the western angles of the
+zereba. Then Yacoub and Melik had led them to the right, so that they
+covered Surgham and came on in front of the British division. Blindly
+they had stumbled into the impassable fire from the south face of our
+lines and ultimately relinquishing the task had hastened, as I have
+stated, across our front towards their main body. The guns and Maxims
+withal of Wauchope's and Maxwell's infantry, must have weakened the
+hope in the Khalifa's breast of closing with us. Although the range
+was longer, the central columns had been subjected to almost as
+destructive a cannonading as the dervishes on Surgham's slopes got. So
+far it had been a gunner's day, and to the artillery in the
+preliminary stages, if not--with one exception--in the later, belonged
+the full honours of the fight. At length with one mind, banner-bearers
+and all, swiftly the dervish columns, remaining intact, faced to the
+left, and moved behind the western hills. There was a pause, a respite
+for some minutes, which their jehadieh and others left upon the field
+of battle profited by to crawl upon their stomachs to within 800 yards
+less or more of the zereba, and open a sharp rifle fire upon us.
+Volley firing and shell firing dislodged many of them, but others kept
+potting away, increasing our casualty returns, particularly in the
+1st, or Wauchope's brigade. Just then the battle broke out with
+greater fury than ever. What happened in the dervish army may be
+guessed. Out of immediate danger and re-formed, the Khalifa and Yacoub
+determined upon a second attack. With a rush like a mountain torrent
+three columns spouted from shallow ravines, and at a break-neck run
+came forward. Part of Wad Melik's men uprose from the west sides of
+Surgham, the Khalifa and Yacoub came upon us from the south-west, and
+a smaller body from the west. In half delirium and full frenzy on
+rushed the dervishes. Our guns, knowing the range to a nicety--for
+they were able to see landmarks put down the day before--hurled at
+them avalanches of shell. The vivid air blazed and shook, and the
+hail of Lee-Metfords cut, like mighty scythes, lanes in the columns
+massed ten-deep. Greater resolution and bravery no men ever possessed.
+In face of destruction and death they continued their wild race. But
+they were thinning or being thinned as they drew nearer. When about
+1100 yards away a body of horsemen, two hundred or so, the Khalifa's
+own tribesmen, Taaisha Baggara, chiefs and Emirs, setting spurs to
+their horses charged direct for the zereba. Cannon and Maxims smashed
+them, infantry bullets beat against and pierced through them. At every
+stride their numbers diminished, horses and riders being literally
+blown over or cut and thrown down. Undaunted a remnant held on to
+within two or three hundred yards of Colonel Maxwell's line, where the
+last of the gallant foemen tumbled and bit the dust. Partly encouraged
+by the self-sacrificing devotion of the horsemen, the footmen
+followed. The black flag was carried to within 900 yards of Colonel
+Maxwell's left. Learning from their earlier failure, the Khalifa's men
+directed their attack upon the Egyptian troops. But the British
+division's cross-fire smote them, and the guns and Maxims knocked all
+cohesion out of their ranks. Still defiantly they set their standards
+and died around them. Then I noted there were again signs of wavering
+amongst the main body, who were hanging back. The big black flag was
+stuck in a heap of stones, and the more devoted sought to rally there.
+Abdullah himself and his chiefs endeavoured to collect the broken
+columns. It was attempted in the face of a bombardment that would have
+shaken a city, and a fusilade that ought to have mown down every
+blade of halfa-grass near. But Maxwell's men seemed not quite to get
+the range. The flag and flagstaff were riddled with bullet holes, and
+the dead were being piled around. Still, dervish after dervish sprang
+to uphold the black banner of Mahdism. A herculean black grasped the
+staff in one hand, and leaned negligently against it for what appeared
+to be the space of five or ten minutes,--probably less than one
+minute,--ere the soldiers managed to give him his final quietus. Then
+it was that the remnant of the army of the Khalifa began to melt away.
+It was more than human nature could bear. The dense columns had shrunk
+to companies, the companies to driblets, which finally fled westward
+to the hills, leaving the field white with jibbeh-clad corpses like a
+landscape dotted with snowdrifts.
+
+It was about eight o'clock, and the first action was virtually over
+and won. Good fortune, as the Sirdar admitted, had in many respects
+attended him. With a trifling loss of a few hundred men he had
+discomfited and slain 10,000 of the great dervish army. Presumably,
+Abdullah had lost the flower of his brave and devoted troops. There
+were yet a thousand or more of Jehadieh lying about under cover
+potting at the zereba. Many of them shammed being wounded to get
+closer to us. Sharp volleys and more shell-fire duly disposed of those
+determined snipers. It was from that source, during the critical
+stages of the battle when the infantry were stopping the Khalifa's
+columns, that our chief casualties occurred. Some of these
+sharpshooters crept to within 800 yards of the British lines, and up
+to 400 yards from Maxwell's. It was from them that Captain Caldecott
+received his death-wound and the Cameron losses came. I could not but
+observe the fact, as I walked and rode about behind the firing lines
+during the action. Still, the battle of Omdurman has the right to be
+considered from the victor's point of view the safest action ever
+fought. The Warwick loss in the first action was one officer killed
+and two men wounded; the Camerons, one man killed and two officers and
+eighteen men wounded--Colonel Money had two horses shot under him, as
+at the Atbara; the Seaforths had eighteen men wounded; and the
+Lincolns ten men wounded. In General Lyttelton's brigade the Grenadier
+Guards had one officer, Captain Bagshot, and four men wounded; the
+Northumberland Fusiliers had but one man wounded; the Lancashire
+Fusiliers four men wounded; and the Rifles six men wounded.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE BATTLE OF OMDURMAN--_Continued._
+
+THE CAVALRY FIGHTS--MACDONALD'S SAVING ACTION.
+
+
+Before I deal with the second phase of the battle, there is something
+more to be said of the first. So far I have but written of the
+infantry and the artillery. It is no easy task to give a succinct
+account of a whole catalogue of events happening at the same time over
+so widespread a field. The battle of Omdurman was full of incident and
+of Homeric combats. Whilst we in the zereba were awaiting, ready and
+confident of the issue, the oncoming of the enemy, the two regiments
+of Egyptian cavalry and the Camel Corps, which had advanced on the
+right to Um Mutragan hills,--South Kerreri jebels,--like the 21st
+Lancers at El Surgham on the left were opposing the dervish advance.
+Their orders were to check the dervish left. The nine squadrons of
+troopers with Colonel Broadwood remained on the plain, but the Camel
+Corps, seven companies, with four Maxims, and the horse battery went
+up the west shoulder of one of the Um Mutragan hills. As the dervishes
+were advancing very rapidly, the four Maxims under Captain Franks
+were recalled into the zereba before they had fired a shot, or ere
+the mounted troops got into action. Three dismounted squadrons of
+Egyptian troopers thereupon went forward and temporarily occupied the
+position which had been assigned to the Maxims. The Camel Corps were
+already afoot, and had lined the crest and slopes of the hill, waiting
+to fire as soon as the Mahdists came within range. When the big
+columns of the dervishes, led by the Sheikh Ed Din, Khalifa Khalil and
+Ali Wad Helu, approached nearer, Major Young's horse battery of six
+guns began shelling them at 1500 yards range. The Camel Corps then
+opened a sharp fusilade, and within a few minutes a brisk fight was
+going on. But the enemy neither halted nor stayed in face of the fire.
+It only served to quicken their pace, and they ran forward shooting
+rapidly the while. An order was sent to the Camel Corps to retire at
+once, as the dervishes were seen to be trying to cut them off by
+advancing on both sides of the hill. Before the order carried by
+Lieutenant Lord Tullibardine actually reached them, they had suffered
+severely and were falling back. A large number of men and camels had
+been hit. The cavalry endeavoured to relieve the pressure. Ultimately,
+though hotly pressed by the dervishes who got to within a few hundred
+yards, the Horse Artillery and the Camel Corps took up a second
+position upon a ridge fully half a mile to the rear. From the zereba
+we could see that the mounted troops were being hurried, and that the
+action taking place was an exceedingly sharp one. In fact, before the
+guns and the Camel Corps got into position upon the second ridge, the
+dervishes were firing at them from the summit and slopes of Um
+Mutragan. Major Young had only fired a round or two from his guns when
+the enemy were but 600 yards off. The dervishes were swarming along
+the eastern sides of Um Mutragan, running direct for the guns and the
+Camel Corps. Colonel Broadwood formed his cavalry up to charge, and
+Major Mahan led his regiment of "Gippy" troopers forward. But a
+detachment of the Camel Corps under Captain Hopkinson pluckily stood
+their ground, covering the retirement of their comrades and the
+batteries down the very rough slope. Unfortunately, Captain Hopkinson
+was severely wounded, and a native officer and a number of men were
+killed. Falling back along the east and north sides of the hill the
+force was sorely pressed by the enemy, and a series of brave and
+bristling hand-to-hand encounters took place. Near the crest of a
+hill, one of the "wheelers" of the horse battery was shot. The traces
+could not be cut in time, so the gun had to be abandoned. At the
+critical moment another gun collided with it, and was upset beside the
+first, so both pieces, with, later on, a third, fell temporarily into
+the dervishes' hands. They did nothing with them. Colonel Broadwood,
+on finding the enemy pushing so determinedly, as though they had
+struck the whole of the Sirdar's army, directed the Camel Corps to
+retire to the zereba. Luckily, two of the gunboats, getting sight and
+range of the eager dervishes who were hunting the camelmen, began
+firing with every piece of armament they could bring to bear. I
+assume they saved the situation, for the Camel Corps were hard
+pressed, and lost eighty men before they got to the river and into a
+safe position under the shelter of the gunboats and Macdonald's
+brigade, which was at the north end of the zereba. The myth of a Camel
+Corps as a useful fighting unit had been exploded. Meantime, Colonel
+Broadwood's troopers rode away to the north, trying to shake off
+outflanking parties of dervishes. The Sheikh Ed Din and Khalil
+continued to pursue the cavalry with great eagerness and venom.
+Several times bodies of 200 and 300 Baggara horsemen threatened to
+charge, but Majors Mahan and Le Gallias turning upon these riders sent
+them flying back helter-skelter. For five miles the cavalry was, so to
+speak, driven from pillar to post by the dervish infantry. When the
+pursuit had been pressed four miles, and more, north of the zereba,
+Major Mahan succeeded in clearing the flanks, whereupon the dervishes
+gave up the chase and sat down to rest. One advantage came of the
+hot-headed pursuit; it led two columns of the enemy away, and only a
+portion of those dervish commands got back in time to engage in the
+assault upon the zereba.
+
+When the Khalifa Abdullah, who escaped being killed, retired with his
+shattered army after their futile attack behind the western hills a
+little south of Um Mutragan, it was thought that the fighting spirit
+had been knocked out of the enemy. There was no assurance that if the
+Sirdar and his men followed after the Khalifa the dervishes would risk
+a second battle. They had the legs of us, and would presumably use
+them to run away, or to harass us if we went after them into the
+wilderness. Discreetly and shrewdly the Sirdar decided to march his
+army straight into Omdurman, but six miles distant. We were able to
+move upon inside lines and over open ground, so that if the Khalifa
+meant to race us for the place he would have to fight at a
+disadvantage. The command was issued about 8.30 to prepare to march
+out of camp for Omdurman. Our wounded, who had been borne from the
+field on stretchers, were put upon the floating hospitals. Colonel
+Collinson's brigade was told off to guard stores and material to be
+left behind for a time. Ammunition was drawn from the reserve stores
+afloat, and the supply columns' boxes were refilled, as well as the
+battery limbers and the men's pouches. The army was again equipped for
+action as though it had not fired a shot. Camels were reloaded, and
+all was in readiness for a start. We could see bodies of the enemy
+still flaunting their banners, and watching our every movement from
+the western hills. Wounded dervishes were crawling and dragging
+wearily back from their fated field towards Omdurman. There was the
+occasional crack of a rifle as some dervish sniped us, or invited a
+shot from the Egyptian battalions. Many of our black soldiers actually
+wept with vexation on being withdrawn from the firing line to make
+room for guns and Maxims. One man, who declared he had not fired a
+shot, was only comforted on being assured that the battle was not
+altogether over, that his chance would come later.
+
+I think it was about 9 a.m. when the Sirdar's army, re-formed for
+marching, stepped clear of the zereba and the trenches. The order of
+advance for the infantry was as before, in échelon of brigades, the
+British being on the left and in front. Lyttelton's 2nd brigade was
+leading, Wauchope's was behind it. On the right were Maxwell's and
+Lewis's brigades. Macdonald was to look after our extreme right rear
+flank, whilst Collinson followed in the gap nearer the river.
+Lyttelton's brigade was directed to pass to the left, east of Jebel
+Surgham, Maxwell's left was to extend to and pass over the hill,
+whilst Lewis and Macdonald would sweep part of the valley between
+Surgham and South Kerreri. Such was the general direction to be taken,
+exposing a front measured on the bias, of fully one mile. Once more
+the 21st Lancers trotted out towards Jebel Surgham to make sure there
+were no large bodies of the enemy in hiding. Keeping somewhat closer
+to the river than previously, and avoiding the main field of battle,
+they passed to the east of the hill. Part of their duty was to check,
+if possible, any attempt of the enemy to fall back into Omdurman, or
+at least delay such an operation. Great numbers of scattered dervishes
+were seen, some of whom fired at the troopers. Keeping on until about
+half a mile or more south of Surgham, a small party of dervish
+cavalry, about thirty, and what was thought to be a few footmen, were
+seen hiding in a depression or khor. Colonel Martin determined to push
+the party back and interpose his regiment between them and Omdurman. A
+few spattering shots came from the khor, as the four squadrons formed
+in line to charge. "A" squadron, under Major Finn, was on the
+right, next it was "B" squadron, commanded by Major Fowle. On the left
+of "B" was "D," or the made-up squadron, led by Captain Eadon, and "C"
+squadron, under Captain Doyne, was on the extreme left.
+
+[Illustration: A.
+
+GENERAL VIEW PLAN.
+
+MACDONALD'S FIGHT AND 21ST LANCERS' CHARGE.]
+
+Leading the regiment forward at a gallop from a point 300 yards away,
+the Lancers dashed at the enemy, who at once opened a sharp musketry
+fire upon our troopers. A few casualties occurred before the dervishes
+were reached, but the squadrons closed in and setting the spurs into
+their horses rushed headlong for the enemy. In an instant it was seen
+that, instead of 200 men, the 21st had been called upon to charge
+nearly 1500 fierce Mahdists lying concealed in a narrow, but in places
+deep and rugged, khor. In corners the enemy were packed nearly fifteen
+deep. Down a three-foot drop went the Lancers. There was a moment or
+so of wild work, thrusting of steel, lance, and sword, and rapid
+revolver shooting. Somehow the regiment struggled through, and up the
+bank on the south side. Nigh a score of lances had been left in
+dervish bodies, some broken, others intact. Lieutenant Wormwald made a
+point at a fleeing Baggara, but his sabre bent and had to be laid
+aside. Captain Fair's sword snapped over dervish steel, and he flung
+the hilt in his opponent's face. Major Finn used his revolver, missing
+but two out of six shots. Colonel Martin rode clean through without a
+weapon in his hand. Then the regiment rallied 200 yards beyond the
+slope. Probably 80 dervishes had been cut or knocked down by the
+shock. But the few seconds' bloody work had been almost equally
+disastrous for the Lancers. Lieutenant R. Grenfell and fifteen men had
+been left dead in the khor. It so happened that the squadrons on the
+two wings had comparatively easy going and did not strike the densest
+groups of the enemy. Squadrons "D" and "B" fared badly, and
+particularly Lieutenant Grenfell's troop, of whom ten men fell with
+that officer. In their front was a high rough bank of boulders, almost
+impassable for a horse. They were cut down and hacked by the enemy.
+His brother, Lieutenant H. M. Grenfell, subsequently recovered his
+watch, which had been thrust through by a dervish lance point and had
+stopped at 8.40 a.m. Young Robert Grenfell was probably struck from
+behind with a Mahdist sword blade, and killed instantly as his charger
+was endeavouring to scramble up the wall of loose stones and rock.
+Melées were taking place to right and left, every trooper having any
+difficulty in getting out of the khor being instantly surrounded by
+mounted dervishes and footmen. Lieutenant Nesham in leading his troop
+was savagely attacked. His helmet was cut off his head, and he was
+wounded severely upon the left forearm and right leg. The bridle reins
+of his charger were cut, but he piloted the animal safely through. "B"
+and "D" squadrons lost respectively nine killed and eleven wounded,
+and seven killed and eight wounded. Lieutenant Molyneux, R.H.G., had
+his horse knocked over. He called to a trooper not to leave him, and
+the man replied, "All right, sir, I won't leave you." Together they
+had a busy time. Two dervishes attacked the lieutenant; he shot one,
+but the other cut him over the right arm, causing him to drop his
+revolver. He then ran for it and got away. Lieutenants Brinton and
+Pirie received wounds. Private Ives of "A" squadron picked up a
+wounded comrade in the nullah, and got chased and separated from his
+regiment. He reached the infantry covered with his comrade's blood.
+The latter was killed, but Ives was not seriously hurt.
+
+Lieutenant Montmorency, having got through safely, turned back to look
+for his troop-sergeant Carter. Captain Kenna went with him. At the
+moment they were not aware that young Grenfell had fallen. Lieutenants
+T. Connally and Winston Churchill also turned about to rescue two
+non-commissioned officers of their respective troops. They succeeded
+in their laudable task. Surgeon-Captain Pinches, whose horse had been
+shot under him on the north side of the khor, was saved by the pluck
+of his orderly, Private Peddar, who brought him out on his horse.
+Meanwhile, Captain Kenna and Lieutenant Montmorency, who were
+accompanied by Corporal Swarbrick, saw Lieutenant Grenfell's body and
+tried to recover it. They fired at the dervishes with their revolvers,
+and drove them back. Dismounting, Montmorency and Kenna tried to lift
+the body upon the lieutenant's horse. Unluckily, the animal took
+fright and bolted. Swarbrick went after it. Major Wyndham, the second
+in command of the Lancers, had his horse shot in the khor. He was one
+of the few who escaped after such a calamity. The animal fortunately
+carried him across, up, and beyond the slope ere it dropped down
+dead. Lieutenant Smith, who was near, offered him a seat, and the
+Major grasped the stirrup to mount. Just then--for these events have
+taken longer in telling than in happening--Montmorency and Kenna found
+the dervishes pressing them hard, both being in instant danger of
+being killed. Swarbrick had brought back the horse, and Kenna turned
+to Major Wyndham and gave him a seat behind, then leaving Grenfell's
+body they rejoined their command. Proceeding about 300 yards to the
+south-east from the scene of the charge, Colonel Martin dismounted his
+whole regiment, and opened fire upon the dervishes. Getting into
+position where his men could fire down the khor, a detachment of
+troopers soon drove away the last of the enemy. Thereupon a party
+advanced and recovered the bodies of Lieutenant Grenfell and the
+others who had fallen in the khor.
+
+[Illustration: B.
+
+THE ZAREBA BEFORE THE BATTLE.]
+
+It was a daring, a great feat of arms for a weakened regiment of 320
+men to charge in line through a compact body of 1500 dervish footmen,
+packed in a natural earthwork. Perhaps it is even a more remarkable
+feat that they were able to cut their way through with only a loss of
+22 killed and 50 officers and men wounded and 119 casualties in
+horseflesh. Many of the poor beasts only lived long enough to carry
+their riders out of the jaws of death. One cannot refuse to admire the
+gallant deed, which probably had as good an effect upon the enemy as a
+bigger victory of our arms; but the obvious comment will be that made
+about the Balaclava charge--equally heroic, and not, I honestly think,
+less useful--"C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre." On
+searching the ground inside the khor sixty dead dervishes were found
+where the central squadrons passed over. A small heap lay around
+Lieutenant Grenfell and his troop. Four of our men were found alive,
+but died before they could be moved. A sword-cut had cleft young
+Grenfell's head and given him a painless death. The bodies were, as
+usual, full of sword-cuts and spear-thrusts inflicted by the enemy
+before and after the victims had breathed their last.
+
+
+EGYPTIAN HEROISM.
+
+[Illustration: MACDONALD'S BRIGADE ADVANCING.]
+
+It is a long tale I am telling, but yet the most brilliant and heroic
+episode of a day so full of glowing incident remains to be told. About
+9.20 a.m. the Sirdar led his troops slowly forward towards Omdurman.
+Great as the slaughter had been, thousands of dervishes could be seen
+still watching us from the western hills. Behind them they had
+re-formed again into compact divisions. The Sirdar's direction, I have
+said, was that his troops were to swing clear of the zereba and march
+in échelon with the 2nd British brigade leading Moving out a few
+hundred yards, Lyttelton's brigade, which, as before, marched in four
+parallel columns of battalions, the Guards on the right, swung to the
+left. They were making to pass Surgham, leaving it upon their right.
+The 1st British brigade, Major-General Wauchope's, was behind, and had
+turned to the left to follow the 2nd brigade. Behind, in succession,
+were Maxwell's, Lewis's, and Macdonald's Egyptian or Khedivial
+brigades. The nature of the ground forced some of them out of their
+true relative positions. Macdonald had marched out due west. The
+dervishes, like wolves upon the scent for prey, suddenly sprang from
+unexpected lairs. With swifter feet and fiercer courage than ever they
+dashed for the comparatively isolated brigade of Colonel Macdonald.
+Although I was far away at the moment with the 1st or Lyttelton's
+brigade, the shouts, the noise of the descending tornado reached me
+there. From behind the southern slope of Um Mutragan hills the Khalifa
+was charging Macdonald with an intact column of 12,000 men, the
+banner-bearers and mounted Emirs again in the forefront. A broad
+stream, running from the south and the east, of dervishes who had lain
+hidden sprang up and ran to strike in upon the south-east corner of
+Macdonald's brigade. Worse still, Sheikhs Ed Din and Khalifa
+Khalil, returned from chasing the Egyptian cavalry, were hastening
+with their division at full speed to attack him in rear. Scarcely a
+soul in the Sirdar's army, from the leader down, but saw the
+unexpected singular peril of the situation. I turned to a friend and
+said, "Macdonald is in for a terrible time. Will any get out of it?"
+Then I rode at a gallop, disregarding the venomous dervishes hanging
+about, up the slopes of Surgham, where, spread like a picture, the
+scene lay before me. Prompt in execution, the Sirdar rapidly issued
+orders for the artillery and Maxims to open fire upon the Khalifa's
+big column. Eagerly he watched the batteries coming into action. At
+the same moment the remaining brigades were wheeled to face west, and
+Major-General Wauchope's was sent back at the double to help the
+staunch battalions of Colonel Macdonald, now beset on all sides.
+Fortunately Macdonald knew his men thoroughly, for he had had the
+training of all of them, the 9th, 10th, 11th Soudanese, and the 2nd
+Egyptians under Major Pink. No force could have been in time to save
+them had they not fought and saved themselves. Lewis's brigade was
+nearest, but it was almost a mile away, and the dervishes were wont to
+move so that ordinary troops seemed to stand still. And Lewis, for
+reasons of his own, determined to remain where he was.
+
+[Illustration: SIRDAR DIRECTING ADVANCE ON OMDURMAN.]
+
+[Illustration: C.
+
+PLATE I.
+
+MACDONALD'S BRIGADE.
+
+FIRST ATTACK. KHALIFA'S DIVISION.]
+
+Indecision or flurry would have totally wrecked Macdonald's brigade,
+but happily their brigadier well knew his business. An order was sent
+him which, had it been obeyed, would have ensured inevitable disaster
+to the brigade, if not a catastrophe to the army. He was bade to
+retire by, possibly, his division commander. Macdonald knew better
+than attempt a retrograde movement in the face of so fleet and daring
+a foe. It would have spelled annihilation. The sturdy Highlandman
+said, "I'll no do it. I'll see them d----d first. We maun just fight."
+And meanwhile Major-General A. Hunter was scurrying to hurry up
+reinforcements--a wise measure. Other messages which could not reach
+Macdonald in time were being sent to him by the Sirdar to try and hold
+on, that help was coming. Yes; but the surging dervish columns were
+converging upon the brigade upon three sides. Surely it would be
+engulfed and swept away was the fear in most minds. And what other
+wreck would follow? Ah! that could wait for answer. It was a crucial
+moment. A single Khedivial brigade was going to be tested in a way
+from which only British squares had emerged victorious. Most
+fortunately, Colonel Long, R.A., had sent three batteries to accompany
+Colonel Macdonald's brigade, namely, Peake's, Lawrie's, and de
+Rougemont's. The guns were the handy and deadly Maxim-Nordenfeldt
+(12½-pounders). Macdonald had marched out with the 11th Soudanese on
+his left, the 2nd Egyptian, under Major Pink, in the centre, and the
+10th Soudanese on the right, all being in line. Behind the 10th, in
+column, were the 9th Soudanese. Major Walter commanded the 9th, Major
+Nason the 10th, and Major Jackson the 11th Soudanese battalions. Going
+forward to meet the Khalifa's force Colonel Macdonald threw his
+whole brigade practically into line, disregarding for the moment the
+assaulting columns of Sheikh Ed Din, which providentially were a
+little behind in the attack. The batteries went to the front in
+openings between the battalions and smote the faces of the dervish
+columns. Steadily the infantry fired, the blacks in their own pet
+fashion independently, the 2nd Egyptians in careful, well-aimed
+volleys. Afar we could see and rejoice that the brigade was giving a
+magnificent account of itself. The Khalifa's dervishes were being
+hurled broadcast to the ground. Major Williams at last with his
+15-pounders, our other batteries, and the Maxims were finding the
+range and ripping into shreds the solid lines of dervishes. Still the
+enemy pressed on, their footmen reaching to within 200 yards of
+Macdonald's line. Scores of Emirs and lesser leaders, with spearmen
+and swordsmen, fell only a few feet from the guns and the unshaken
+Khedivial infantry. It is said one or two threw spears across the
+indomitable soldiery, and other dervishes turned the flanks, but were
+instantly despatched. A few salvoes and volleys shook the looser
+attacking columns of dervishes. The Khalifa's division had at length
+received such a surfeit of withering fire that the rear lines began to
+hold back, and the desperate rushes of the chiefs and their personal
+retainers grew fewer and feebler. But Sheikh Ed Din was at length
+within 1000 yards running with his confident legions to encompass and
+destroy the 1st Khedivial brigade. Macdonald, as soon as he saw that
+he could hold his own against the whole array of the Khalifa's
+personally commanded divisions, threw back his right, the 9th, and one
+and then another battery. He was now fairly beset on all sides, but
+fighting splendidly, doggedly. The dervishes, taking fresh courage,
+made redoubled efforts to destroy him. It was by far the finest, the
+most heroic struggle of the day. A second battalion, the famous
+fighting 11th Soudanese, under Jackson, which lost so heavily at
+Atbara, swung round and interposed itself to Khalil's and Sheikh Ed
+Din's fierce followers. Furious as was the blast of lead and iron, the
+dervishes had all but forged in between the 9th and 11th battalions,
+when the 2nd Egyptian, wheeling at the double, filled the gap. Without
+hesitation the fellaheen, let it be said, stood their ground, and,
+full of confidence, called to encourage each other, and gave shot and
+bayonet point to the few more truculent dervishes who, escaping shot
+and shell, dashed against their line.
+
+[Illustration: D.
+
+PLATE II.
+
+MACDONALD'S BRIGADE.
+
+SECOND ATTACK. SHEIKH ED DIN'S MEN.]
+
+It was a tough, protracted struggle, but Colonel Macdonald was slowly,
+determinedly, freeing himself and winning all along the line. The
+Camel Corps came out to his assistance, and formed up some distance
+off on the right of the 11th Soudanese. Shells and showers of bullets
+from the Maxims on the gunboats drove back the rear lines of Sheikh Ed
+Din's men. Three battalions of Wauchope's got up to assist in
+completing the rout of the Khalifa. The Lincolns, doubling to the
+right, got in line on the left of the Camel Corps, and assisted in
+finishing off the retreating bands of the Khalifa's son. I then saw
+the dervishes for the first time in all those years of campaigns
+turn tail, stoop, and fairly run for their lives to the shelter of
+the hills. It was a devil-take-the-hindmost race, and the only one I
+ever saw them engage in through half a score of battles. Beyond all
+else the double honours of the day had been won by Colonel Macdonald
+and his Khedivial brigade, and that without any help that need be
+weighed against the glory of his single-handed triumph. He achieved
+the victory entirely off his own bat, so to speak, proving himself a
+tactician and a soldier as well as what he has long been known to be,
+the bravest of the brave. I but repeat the expressions in everybody's
+mouth who saw the wonderful way in which he snatched success from what
+looked like certain disaster. The army has a hero and a thorough
+soldier in Macdonald, and if the public want either they need seek no
+farther. I know that the Sirdar and his staff fully recognised the
+nature of the service he rendered. A non-combatant general officer who
+witnessed the scene declared one might see 500 battles and never such
+another able handling of men in presence of an enemy. When the final
+rout of the dervishes had been achieved it was about 10 a.m. The
+Sirdar wheeled his brigades to the left, into their original position,
+and marched them straightway towards Omdurman. Passing slowly over the
+battle-field the awful extent of the carnage was made evident. In my
+first wires I insisted that our total casualties were about 500, and
+the enemy's over 10,000 slain. Macdonald lost about 128 men. I
+subsequently ascertained that the total of our killed and wounded was
+about 524. The dervish killed certainly numbered over 15,000, and
+their wounded probably as many more. Mahdism had been more than
+"smashed," it had been all but extirpated. So may all plagues end.
+
+[Illustration: KHALIFA'S CAPTURED STANDARD (SIRDAR EXTREME LEFT).]
+
+On the march the British troops having to swing aside from where the
+Khalifa's black flag still stood, it fell into the hands of an
+Egyptian brigade, and was conveyed to the Sirdar by Captain Sir Henry
+Rawlinson and Major Lord Edward Cecil. It was given to an Egyptian
+orderly to carry behind the headquarters staff. Unfortunately, it
+attracted the attention of some of our own people on the gunboats who
+were unaware it had been captured. Several rounds were fired at the
+supposed dervishes following it, and then it was discreetly furled for
+a time. By midday the army had arrived at the northern outskirts of
+Omdurman, where the troops were halted near the Nile to obtain food
+and water. I rode forward and saw that there were thousands of
+dervishes in the town, many of them Baggara. The cavalry were sent as
+speedily as possible, after watering and feeding the horses, towards
+the south side of the town, and the gunboats were ordered up the
+river. Several deputations of citizens, Greeks and natives, came out
+and saw Slatin Pasha and the Sirdar. It was stated that the people
+would surrender, and that there would be no difficulty in occupying
+the place. The Khalifa, it was said, was in his house and must yield.
+Slatin Pasha, by the way, had gone over the battle-field and
+identified many of the slain Emirs. At 4.20 p.m., with two batteries,
+several Maxims and Colonel Maxwell's brigade leading, the Sirdar rode
+down the great north thoroughfare towards the central part of the
+squalid town. The houses, or more accurately huts, were full of
+dervishes, hundreds of whom were severely wounded. Women and children
+flocked into the streets, raising cries of welcome to us. Of all the
+vile, dirty places on earth, Omdurman must rank first. There was no
+effort at sanitary observances, and dead animals, camels, horses,
+donkeys, dogs, goats, sheep, cattle, in all stages of putrefaction,
+lay about the streets and lanes. There were dead men, women, and
+children, too, lying in the open.
+
+[Illustration: CHIEF THOROUGHFARE, OMDURMAN.
+
+(MULAZIM WALL, LEFT. OSMAN DIGNA'S HOUSE, RIGHT.)]
+
+[Illustration: EFFECT OF SHELL FIRE UPON WALL (MULAZIM ENCLOSURE).]
+
+We passed the big rectangular stone wall enclosing the Khalifa's
+special quarters. Within its area were his Mulazimin or body-guards'
+quarters, his granaries, treasuries, arsenal, the Mahdi's tomb, and
+the great praying square, misnamed the Mosque. Except the tomb, the
+Khalifa's and his sons' houses, the town was void of buildings of any
+style or finish. I admit the great stone wall was of good masonry, and
+so was the well-finished praying-square wall. The Sirdar and party
+were frequently shot at, particularly on nearing the Khalifa's
+quarters. Abdullah slipped out with his treasures as the Sirdar
+arrived at his gate. It was long after sunset and dark when, with
+difficulty, the prison was reached, and Charles Neufeld brought out
+of his loathsome den, where he had spent eleven years in chains. He
+looked well, notwithstanding his long and irksome captivity, feeling,
+as he said, like a man drunk with new wine, on account of his release.
+That night I helped to relieve him from his fetters, freeing the limbs
+from the heavy bar and chains. Tired, worn out, without water or food,
+the Sirdar and his staff, as well as many more of us, were glad to
+escape out of Omdurman back to where the British camp was pitched in
+the northern outskirts. There I and others lay down and fell asleep on
+the bare desert, hoping to wake and find that our servants and
+baggage had turned up. Two of my colleagues had fared worse than I
+that day. Colonel F. Rhodes, of the _Times_, had been shot in the
+shoulder within the zereba early in the fight, and the Hon. Hubert
+Howard, of the _New York Herald_, was killed almost under my eyes, in
+the paved courtyard of the Khalifa, opposite the Mahdi's tomb. Such is
+the hasty record of as exciting and interesting a battle and a day's
+campaigning as it ever fell to mortal man to witness. Neither in my
+experience nor in my reading can I recall so strange and picturesque a
+series of incidents happening within the brief period of twelve
+hours.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+STORIES OF THE BATTLE--OMDURMAN.
+
+
+There are numberless incidents and details remaining untold of the
+great battle and the fall of Omdurman. So singular and interesting an
+action is almost without parallel. "That villainous gunpowder" of
+former days was so sparingly used in the fight by the Sirdar's army
+that every part of the battle-field could be plainly seen. In the
+first stage the heaviest firing was by the British; the Lee-Metfords
+with cordite made little or no smoke. Maxwell's men of the Khedivial
+army, with their Martini-Henrys, never fired so fast as to cause any
+thick white cloud to shut out the view and hang between them and the
+enemy. Lewis's and Macdonald's brigades were never very heavily
+engaged whilst the troops remained zerebaed. Perhaps it was the light
+south wind which blew the men's rifle smoke behind us at once, but
+that was not what I thought. There seemed to be none to blow away. I
+recall that in the thick of the battle of Tamai with Davis's square,
+and at Abu Klea, the smoke cloud that hung like a curtain before our
+eyes was a source of danger. Save for the erratic, occasional whizzing
+of the enemy's bullets, the thud of a hit and the dropping, weltering
+in his blood, of a man here and there, watched from our firing lines
+the combat enlisted and fascinated the attention with barely a
+suggestion of danger to the onlooker. Few will ever see again so great
+and brave a show. A vast army, with a front of three miles, covering
+an undulating plain--warriors mounted and afoot, clad in quaint and
+picturesque drapery, with gorgeous barbaric display of banners,
+burnished metal, and sheen of steel--came sweeping upon us with the
+speed of cavalry. Half-a-dozen batteries smote them, a score of Maxims
+and 10,000 rifles unceasingly buffeted them, making great gaps and
+rending their ranks in all directions. With magnificent courage,
+without pause, the survivors invariably drew together, furiously,
+frenziedly running to cross steel with us. Their ardour and mad
+devotion won admiration on all sides in our own ranks. Poor, misguided
+Jehadieh and hocussed Arabs of the spacious and cruel Soudan! With
+such troops disciplined and trained by English officers the policing
+of Africa would be an easy affair. Try and try as they did, they could
+not moving openly pass through our blasts of fire. Some few there were
+who got by subtler means to within 600 yards of the British front and
+200 yards from Maxwell's blacks, there to yield their lives.
+
+Among the earliest, if not the first man, wounded in the zereba on 2nd
+September was Corporal Mackenzie, of "C" Company Seaforth Highlanders.
+About 6.10 a.m. he was hit in the leg by a ricochet. The wound was
+dressed, and Mackenzie stuck to his post. At 6.30 a.m., when the
+action was almost in full swing, as Private Davis and Corporal Taylor,
+R.A.M.C., were carrying a wounded soldier upon a stretcher to the
+dressing hospital, Davis was shot through the head and killed, and
+Taylor was severely wounded in the shoulder.
+
+Whilst our batteries were hurling death and destruction from the
+zereba at the Khalifa's army, Major Elmslie's battery of 50-pounder
+howitzers was battering the Mahdi's tomb to pieces and breaching the
+great stone wall in Omdurman. The practice with the terrible Lyddite
+shells was better than before, and the dervishes, even more clearly
+than we, must have seen from the volcanic upheavals when the missiles
+struck, that their capital was being wrecked. It must have been
+something of a disillusion to many of them to note that the sacred
+tomb of their Mahdi was suffering most of all from the infidels' fire.
+Several of the gunboats assisted in the bombardment, but their chief
+duty was to drive all bodies of the enemy away from the river. Major
+Elmslie threw altogether some 410 Lyddite shells into Omdurman. Most
+of them detonated, but there were a few that merely flared. It was the
+fumes from these that imparted a chrome colour to the surrounding
+earth and stonework. Why the Khalifa did not make greater use of his
+artillery and musketry became more of a puzzle than ever when we saw
+how well provided he was in both respects. He had a battery of
+excellent big Krupps that were never fired, besides eight or ten
+machine guns. As for rifles, his men must have carried at least 25,000
+into action against us. Had they employed these in "sniping" as at
+Abu Kru, the Sirdar would have had to march out and attack them.
+
+The victory of Omdurman owed much to the masterly serving of the
+artillery. Even in Macdonald's severely contested action, the three
+batteries of Maxim-Nordenfeldt 12½-pounders did much to save the
+situation. These were Peake's, Lawrie's, and de Rougemont's, with, in
+the latter part of the fight, three Krupp guns of the horse artillery.
+The Camel Corps also brought up two Maxims to help at the close of the
+battle to repulse Sheikh Ed Din. Macdonald handled his guns as
+superbly as he did his infantry. At the Atbara against Mahmoud, the
+light powerful Maxim-Nordenfeldts had proved that they could be
+successfully fought side by side with infantry. Between the battalion
+intervals, therefore, the dauntless gunners stood firing point-blank
+at the dervish columns. Throughout the battle Major Williams' 32nd
+Field Battery, R.A., fired 420 rounds. Three of the Maxim-Nordenfeldt
+batteries (all Egyptian) fired 100 rounds per gun, whilst Major
+Lawrie's battery, No. 4 Egyptian, also Maxim-Nordenfeldt guns, fired
+over that number, or 900 rounds in all. All these batteries were of
+six guns each. Captain Smeaton fired from his six Maxims, stationed in
+the zereba south-east corner, 54,000 rounds. One of the wants much
+felt by the gunners was the need of more shrapnel during the action.
+Twice at least the allowance supply was temporarily exhausted. Yet it
+is not to be assumed on that account that the reserve ammunition was
+difficult to be got at or that the firing lines were insufficiently
+fed. The arrangements in these respects were admirable. During the
+zereba action, the Grenadier Guards fired the largest number of
+rounds. The Camerons fired 34 rounds per man. Five companies of the
+Lincolns in the firing line, 32 rounds each man. The Northumberland
+Fusiliers fired in all 1200 rounds, and the Lancashire Fusiliers 400
+rounds.
+
+Many of our wounded were hit with bullets from elephant guns, brass
+cased Mausers, Remingtons, and repeating rifles. The great majority of
+the dervishes carried Remingtons, and these, as a rule, were in
+passably good condition. Probably they were officers or crack shots
+among the Jehadieh and Arabs that fired into the zereba with the small
+bore Mausers. Most of their shooting was too high, though the
+direction was right enough. When the first phase of the action ceased
+at 8.30 a.m., hundreds, if not thousands of wounded dervishes upon the
+field rose and moved away. Some of these were seen going back towards
+Omdurman, others walked towards the west to rejoin their friends. No
+attempt was made on our side to molest them, the order to "cease fire"
+having been given. It was either then or a little earlier that the
+large body of natives, possibly camp followers, behind the Khalifa's
+force, melted away, flowing back to the town. At that time some of our
+army camp followers, or servants, went forward from the zereba to pick
+up trophies from the field. A party of four went towards a small group
+of dead dervishes lying about 300 yards on the left front of Maxwell's
+brigade. I noticed them picking up spears and swords. A correspondent
+rode out to join them, Mr Bennett Stanford, who was formerly in the
+"Royals." In company with another colleague I rode out from the
+British lines to join him, curious to see the effect of our fire. At
+the moment a dervish arose, apparently unwounded, and spear in hand
+charged the servants, who incontinently bolted back to the zereba. My
+companion also turned back, but I was yet over 200 yards away, and so
+rode forward. One of the men attacked by the dervish was a native
+non-commissioned officer. He had followed the others out. Dropping
+upon his knee he aimed at the dervish, but his Martini-Henry missed
+fire. He fired again and missed, then, the dervish being very near
+him, ran for the zereba. Mr Bennett Stanford, who was splendidly
+mounted, with a cocked four-barrelled Lancaster pistol aimed
+deliberately at the dervish, who turned towards him. Waiting till the
+jibbeh-clad warrior was but a score of paces or so off, Mr Stanford
+fired, and appeared to miss also, for the dervish without halt rushed
+at him, whereupon he easily avoided him, riding off. Then the dervish
+turned to the soldier who, encumbered with his rifle, did not run
+swiftly. By that time I had drawn up so as to interpose between them,
+passing beyond the dervish. I pulled up my rather sorry nag--my best
+was for carrying despatches--and took deliberate aim. The dervish
+turned upon me as I wished. I fired and believe hit him, and as my
+horse was jibbing about fired a second shot from my revolver with less
+success, then easily got out of the dervish's reach. He had a heavy
+spear and showed no sign of throwing it as I rode away, keeping well
+out of his reach. The camp followers by then were all safe, and so was
+the native soldier, Mr Dervish having the field very much to himself.
+Thereupon an A.D.C., Lieutenant Smyth, came galloping out and riding
+hard past, fired at the fellow but missed. Checking his horse
+Lieutenant Smyth wheeled it about, and he and the dervish collided.
+The man, who by this time appeared somewhat weak, grabbed the
+Lieutenant and strove to drive his lance into him. With great
+hardihood Lieutenant Smyth fired his revolver in the dervish's face,
+killing him instantly. It was a wondrous narrow escape for the
+Lieutenant. The instant afterwards I asked him if he had been badly
+wounded, but he declared that he was untouched, a statement I could
+scarcely credit, and so repeated my question in another form, to
+receive a similar answer. In the excitement of the moment he no doubt
+did not feel the slight spear wound he actually received upon the arm,
+which saved him from the thrust aimed at his body. An examination of
+the dead dervish showed he had received four bullet wounds.
+
+The following is a brief and well-balanced account of the charge of
+the Lancers furnished me by an officer who was present:--"We moved
+along to the left--_i.e._, east of Surgham--following up the enemy on
+that flank. Our object was to prevent them retiring into Omdurman or,
+at any rate, delay their retreat. A body of dervishes were seen
+crouching not far off to the right. Colonel Martin determined to push
+the enemy back and interpose between them and the town. The regiment,
+of four squadrons, was wheeled into line. When 300 yards off we
+started to charge, and were met by a heavy musketry fire from the
+enemy. At first it was ill-directed, but very soon casualties occurred
+in our ranks from it. Instead of a few dervishes, we tumbled upon over
+500 hidden in a fold of the ground. They were in a khor, or nullah,
+into which we had to drop, and they lined it twenty deep in places.
+Our weight, however, carried us through. The dervishes, when we struck
+them, did not break, but "bunched" together, showing no fear of
+cavalry. There was half a minute's hacking, cutting, spearing, and
+shooting in all directions; then we cleared them, and rallied on the
+far side. Halting about 300 yards off, men were dismounted, and we
+opened a sharp fire from our carbines on the enemy, driving them to
+the westward in ten minutes. The charge was really successful in its
+object, as the retirement from that part of the field into Omdurman
+was stopped. We left perhaps sixty dervishes on the field in the
+charge, and killed about 100 more with our subsequent fire." The
+dervish leader who was sitting on a fine black Dongolawi horse was
+killed in the melée. A trooper met him in the khor and ran him through
+with his spear.
+
+By far the finest feature of that morning of battles was the action
+fought by Colonel Macdonald with his brigade. The dervish forces that
+sought to crush him numbered fully 20,000 men. To oppose them he had
+but four battalions, or in all less than 3000 Soudanese and Egyptian
+soldiers. With a tact, coolness, and hardihood I have never seen
+equalled, Colonel Macdonald manoeuvred and fought his men. They
+responded to his call with confidence and alacrity begotten of long
+acquaintance and implicit faith in their leader. He had led several of
+the battalions through a score of fierce fights and skirmishes, always
+emerging and covering himself and his men with glory, honour and
+victory. All of them knew him, they were proud of him, and reposed
+implicit confidence in their general. Unmistakably the Khalifa and his
+son, the Sheikh Ed Din, thought that their fortunate hour had
+come--that, in detail, they would destroy first Macdonald, then one by
+one the other Khedivial brigades. What might have been, had father and
+son arrived at the same time and distance on both sides of Macdonald,
+as they evidently intended, I will not venture to discuss. Happily the
+onslaughts of the wild, angry dervishes did not quite synchronise, and
+Colonel Macdonald was able to devote virtually his whole firing
+strength to the overthrow of the Khalifa's division ere rapidly
+turning about first one then another of his battalions to deal with
+the Sheikh Ed Din's unbroken columns. The enemy on both sides got very
+close in, hundreds of them being killed almost at the feet of the men
+of the 1st Khedivial brigade. Dervish spears were thrown into and over
+the staunch and unyielding Soudanese and Fellaheen soldiery. Peake's,
+Lawrie's, and de Rougemont's batteries stood their ground, side by
+side with the infantry, never wavering, firing point-blank upon the
+dervish masses. Majors Jackson, Nason, and Walter were, as usual,
+proud of the steadiness of their blacks--the 11th, 10th, and 9th
+battalions--whilst Major Pink, of the 2nd Egyptian, was elated with
+the stout way his soldiers doubled, wheeled, and at a critical moment
+rushed to fill up a gap near one of the batteries. The "Gippies"
+looked without flinching straight into the eyes of the dervishes, and
+fired volleys that would have done credit to a British regiment. The
+hulking, physically strong "Fellah" had at last taken the measure of
+his enemy, and meant to prove himself the better man of the two. And
+he did--delighted with himself and his comrades, calling to them,
+chiding the dervishes, and stepping out of the ranks to meet the
+onrush of those of the enemy who came near, to stop it with bullet or
+bayonet. But chief of all was Macdonald, going hither and thither and
+issuing his orders as if on parade, with a sharp snap to each command.
+Two armies saw it all, and one at least admired his intrepid valour.
+One hundred black-flag Taaisha, the Khalifa's own Baggara tribesmen
+and part of his body-guard, charged impetuously. Spurring their horses
+to their utmost speed leading the footmen, down they came straight for
+the brigade. Cannon, Maxims, and rifles roared, and, bold as the
+Taaisha rode, neither horse nor man lived to get within one hundred
+yards of our Soudanese and Gippies. Steady as a gladiator, with what
+to some of us looked like inevitable disaster staring him in the face,
+Colonel Macdonald fought his brigade for all it was worth. He quickly
+moved upon the best available ground, formed up, wheeled about, and
+stood to die or win. He won practically unaided, for the pinch was all
+but over when the Camel Corps, hurrying up, formed upon his right,
+after he had faced about to receive the Sheikh Ed Din's onslaught. The
+Lincolns, who arrived later on, helped to hasten the flight of the
+enemy, whose repulse was assured ere they or any of Wauchope's brigade
+were within 1200 yards of Macdonald. Lewis's brigade were not even
+able to assist so much, and such outside help as came in time to be of
+use was in the first instance from the guns of Major Williams' and
+another battery, and the Maxims upon the left near Surgham hurried
+forward by the Sirdar himself, as I saw. General Hunter came over to
+the headquarters-staff galloping to get assistance, and rode back with
+Wauchope's brigade, which doubled for a considerable distance, so
+serious was the situation and nervous the tension of that thrilling
+ten minutes. Had the brilliant, the splendid deed of arms wrought by
+Macdonald been done under the eyes of a sovereign, or in some other
+armies, he had surely been created a General on the spot. If the
+public are in search of the real hero of the battle of Omdurman there
+he is, ready made--one who committed no blunder to be redeemed by
+courageous conduct afterwards. He boldly exercised his right of
+personal judgment in a moment of extreme peril, and the result amply
+justified the soundness of his decision.
+
+It was about 11.50 a.m. when the Sirdar wheeled his army about to
+resume the march upon Omdurman. The dervishes who had escaped
+slaughter had bent their bodies and run from the fatal field, going
+far off behind the western range of hills. Moving slowly and in
+échelon, as when we first set out, we passed over part of the
+battle-field. Groups of unwounded dervishes, who insisted on fighting
+and sniping the troops, had to be dealt with as well as all others who
+persisted in being truculent. Like everybody else at the head of the
+column, I was shot at repeatedly. All of the enemy, however, who
+showed the least disposition to surrender were left unmolested.
+Hundreds of dervishes who had been wounded hobbled on in front of our
+army. We could see the Khalifa's forces behind the hills watching us
+and streaming upon a parallel line towards Omdurman. But the dervishes
+were no longer in compact military array or ranged in division under
+chiefs. They were mostly scattered in small groups and bands spread
+over a very wide area. It was a rabble, and had lost semblance of
+being an army with power of concerted action. When Macdonald's fight
+was over, the Egyptian cavalry under Colonel Broadwood returned and
+formed up near the camelry. They, with the Camel Corps, moved forward
+on the right as before during the final advance upon the Khalifa's
+capital. Men and horses had done a week of the hardest kind of work,
+but both were yet willing and full of spirit. As for the 21st Lancers,
+the few mounts remaining fit for work scarcely counted as a cavalry
+force. The gunboats and the infantry saw to our left, which was not
+difficult, for upon that hand the country was quite bare. About 2 p.m.
+the army reached the northern outskirts of Omdurman, the British
+division upon the left. Gatacre's men were nearest the Nile, Maxwell
+and Lewis being almost opposite one of the main thoroughfares of the
+town. A halt for water--the great necessity--food, and rest was
+ordered. Parties were instantly detailed to fill water-bottles and
+fantasses, iron tanks. The cooks, too, got to work, and fires were
+kindled with wood torn from neighbouring huts, and a meal was
+prepared. Under the burning sunshine, down upon the loose dirt and
+gravel, officers and men sprawled to rest themselves. There was a very
+muddy creek or inset near, and thither went thousands, parched with
+thirst, to drink, not hesitatingly but gulping down copious draughts
+of water, tough and thick as from a clay puddle. I wandered with my
+horse a little way into the town, and ultimately down towards the main
+stream of the Nile, where the water was cleaner and cooler than by the
+halting-place. There were plenty of dervishes to be seen about,
+looking from lanes and walls, but they were far from being
+particularly aggressive at that part of the town. Indeed, several
+large groups of men, Arabs and negroes, came up bearing white rags on
+sticks in front of them. I went forward and met parties of them, and
+advised them to go into the British lines, where the soldiers would
+receive them as friends. Watering my horse, I let him feed on grass by
+the river's brink, filled my water-bottle, and then returned by a
+circuitous route. The natives were not all inclined to be friendly,
+for a few preferred shooting at the stranger. But their practice was
+very bad.
+
+Returning to where the troops still lay, I found that a fresh movement
+was afoot. Report had been brought that hundreds of lesser sheikhs and
+leaders were in the town ready to surrender with their followers if
+their lives would be spared. The assurance sought was quickly conveyed
+to them. Slatin Pasha, who had been indefatigable on the battle-field,
+watching the course of events and locating the commands of the various
+important dervish chiefs, had received news that the Khalifa was still
+in the town. The Pasha, on passing over the field, had searched around
+the black flag and other noted leaders' banners to see who lay there.
+In the heaped dead about the Khalifa's flag he had seen Yacoub,
+Abdullah's brother, and many more leaders, but the arch head of
+Mahdism, the Sheikh Ed Din and Osman Digna were nowhere to be found.
+Amongst the dead Emirs identified were Osman Azrak, leader of the
+cavalry, Wad el Melik, Ali Wad Helu, Yunis, Ibrahim Khalil, Mahmoud's
+brother, el Fadl, Osman Dekem, Zaki Ferar, Abu Senab, Mousa Zacharia,
+and Abd el Baki. The Khalifa had come into action riding a horse. As
+that did not suit him he changed for a camel and, finding the latter
+position too dangerously conspicuous, rode off the field on
+donkey-back. Perhaps the most concise summing up of the battle fell
+from a "Tommy's" lips: "Them dervishes are good uns, and no mistake.
+They came on in thousands on thousands to lay us out, but we shifted
+them fast enough."
+
+It was not quite four o'clock, afternoon. Slatin Pasha had got news
+from former friends that the fugitives and townspeople would gladly
+surrender, so the sooner the Sirdar marched in and took possession the
+better. True, the Khalifa with several hundreds of followers, or
+mayhap a thousand or more, was yet within the central part of
+Omdurman. Most of his Jehadieh, it was urged, would give in at once if
+an opportunity were afforded them, and Abdullah could be caught. With
+Maxwell's brigade, Major Williams' battery and several Maxims, the
+Sirdar and headquarters staff pushed along the wide thoroughfare that
+leads from the north past the west end of the great rectangular wall,
+towards the Mosque inclosure and Mahdi's tomb. The infantry, guns, and
+Maxims preceded but a few paces in front. Vile beyond description was
+Omdurman, its dwellings, streets, lanes, and spaces. Beasts pay more
+regard to sanitation than dervishes. Pools of slush and stagnant water
+abounded. Dead animals in all stages of decomposition lay there in
+hundreds and thousands. There were besides littering the place camels,
+horses, donkeys, dead and wounded fresh from the battle-field. And
+there were many other ghastly sights. Dead and wounded dervishes lay
+in pools of blood in the roadway. Several of the dying enemy grimly
+saluted the staff as we passed. An Emir who, horribly mauled by a
+shell, lay pinned under his dead horse waved his hand and fell back a
+corpse. Our guns and Maxims had opened once or twice to turn the armed
+fugitives from the town. The compounds and huts were full of wounded
+and unwounded dervishes, most of the latter having Remingtons and
+waist-belts full of cartridges, besides carrying spears and swords.
+In the open thoroughfares there were many bodies of women and children
+lying stark and stiff. The majority of these victims were young girls.
+Many of the poor creatures had evidently been running towards the
+river to try and escape when caught and killed by jealous and cruel
+masters or husbands. The scenes were shocking, the smells abominable
+and quite overpowering to many who sought to ride in with the General.
+
+There was something like a reception for the Sirdar on his entering
+the town. The women and children, mostly slaves, filled the
+thoroughfares, and in their peculiar guinea-fowl cackling fashion
+cheered the troops. Notables in jibbehs, which they had not yet had
+time to turn inside out, as nearly every native did afterwards, came
+and salaamed, smote their breasts, and kissed the hands and even the
+garments' hem of the Sirdar and his staff. In truly Oriental fashion
+they completed the ceremonial of obeisance and fealty by throwing dust
+upon their already frowsy enough heads. It was curious to watch the
+various recognitions extended to Slatin, and how the latter did not
+forget his old friends, who had been kind to him, or his Eastern
+manners in exchanging courtesies. When they realised that we were not
+cannibals, which they did very quickly, and that the Khalifa and
+others must have deceived them, they ran about amongst the troops. It
+was with difficulty at times the ranks were kept clear of them. Our
+Western leniency surprised them. The Sirdar shook hands with certain
+of the notables, including several of the Greeks and Jaalin. One of
+the most extraordinary incidents was the appearance of the Khalifa's
+own band with drums and horns to play in the 13th Soudanese. Evidently
+it was a case of black relations, for they played the battalion, Major
+Smith-Dorian's, out as well as into town on the following day.
+
+The people were ordered to carry the good news about that none who
+gave up their arms would be killed or hurt, and that there was no
+intention on our part to sack the town or injure anybody. What? A
+captured city in the Soudan not to be given over to the victorious
+troops to do with as they liked! I am sure the natives of both sexes
+were amazed. And I cannot say all looked quite satisfied at the
+announcement. The crowd in the streets quickly increased; they
+evidently believed that we meant them no harm, and that they could do
+as they liked. In the bombardment the Lyddite shells had knocked down
+a gateway leading into the buildings and square mile of town enclosed
+by the great rectangular stone wall built by the Khalifa. For a space
+of fifty yards, several big holes had been blown in the structure,
+which was fourteen feet high and over four feet in thickness. Some of
+these breaches led into the beit-el-mal, or public granary. A few
+wretched, hungry slaves ventured to help themselves to the grain,
+chiefly dhura, that had partly poured out into the street. No one
+interfered with them. Within half an hour all the women and children
+in the town apparently, to the number of several thousands, were
+running pell-mell to loot the granary. Men also joined in plundering
+the Khalifa's storehouse. They ran against our horses, tripped over
+each other and fell in their crazy haste to fill sacks, skins, and
+nondescript vessels of all sorts--metal, wood and clay--with grain.
+Women staggered under burdens that would assure their households of
+food for months. It became a saturnalia and jubilee for the long,
+half-starved slaves, men and women. By-and-by looting became more
+general. The houses of Emirs who had run away or been killed were
+entered and plundered by the populace. Donkeys were caught and loaded
+with spoils of war, and driven off to huts on the outskirts near where
+the troops bivouacked after their long and fatiguing day. During the
+earlier part of that night there was much noise and hubbub in Omdurman
+with constant firing of rifles. Maxwell's men, however, assisted by
+numbers of friendly Jaalin, finally succeeded in enforcing something
+like order and peace.
+
+[Illustration: KHALIFA'S HOUSE.]
+
+After the reception near the centre of the town the Sirdar proceeded
+with part of Colonel Maxwell's brigade along the west side of the big
+wall. Osman Digna's house was passed on the way. We got as far as the
+south-west corner into full view of the Mahdi's tomb, which was about
+400 yards to the east. In the same direction and equidistant was the
+Khalifa's house. Beside us was the Praying Square or Mosque, a space
+of bare ground of about ten acres or so in extent. As soon as the
+troops got beyond the big wall and in sight of the tomb and Khalifa's
+house, a brisk fusilade from Remingtons by the Jehadieh body-guard
+protecting Abdullah was opened against us. Fortunately, the big stone
+wall was not loopholed on either side. Indeed there appeared to be no
+provision for its defenders to fire from it unless they mounted to
+the top. The Sirdar and staff fell back, and the guns and Maxims went
+forward a little. Maxwell's men then dealt with the enemy, and the
+Sirdar, still led by Slatin Pasha, whom the dervishes called
+"Saladin," turned back to try and make his way through the breaches in
+the north wall. Troops were sent in to clear the compound of
+dervishes, most of whom surrendered at once. But exit upon the south
+side was barred by interior walls and gates. Then the Sirdar essayed
+going along by the river's margin between the wall, the Nile, and the
+forts, to turn the south-east angle. A sharp and accurate fire from
+the Jehadieh stopped that advance for a time. Gunboats were ordered
+forward to drive the dervishes from their cover. The soldiers pushed
+farther through the compound, and the gunboats swept the Jehadieh with
+Maxims and quick-firing cannon. About 5 p.m., with the shadows rapidly
+lengthening, the rough way between the river and the great wall was
+partly cleared of the enemy. Thereupon the Sirdar and staff forded a
+dirty, wide creek, the crossing being girth high, and trotted a few
+hundred yards up stream. With double teams, four guns of the 32nd
+Battery, Major Williams', were got across the pool, accompanying the
+headquarters.
+
+Entering a gateway through the outer rectangular wall, the force moved
+towards the Mahdi's tomb and the Khalifa's chief residence or palace.
+The Sirdar and staff reined up before Abdullah's doorway, for the
+dervish leader's house was surrounded by an inner wall and various
+small buildings. We were in a higgledy-piggledy looking corner,
+surrounded by rough shelters or stables for animals, horses and
+camels, and the unfinished but covered approaches to the Mahdi's tomb.
+The staff sat on horseback facing the doorway and dwelling; I pulled
+in opposite beside an angle of the wall. Upon the Sirdar's right were
+some corrugated iron roofed sheds, and a little in front the Praying
+Square. Behind was the Mahdi's tomb, and at no great distance various
+important dervish buildings. Abdullah had so planted himself that he
+had easy and private access to all places of public resort as well as
+the official quarters.
+
+[Illustration: MAHDI'S TOMB--EFFECT OF LYDDITE SHELLS.]
+
+Slatin Pasha, Colonel Maxwell, and several soldiers, with one or two
+others, went in and searched for the Khalifa. A few minutes previously
+he had slipped out by a back door with the more important part of his
+personal treasures. His harem had been sent away earlier in the day.
+Mr Hubert Howard, correspondent of the _New York Herald_ and the
+London _Times_, was near the headquarters staff. He came over to where
+I was and chatted. To a companion who had joined me he offered some
+cigarettes. He said it had been a splendid day, and he had seen much.
+Nothing could have been better than the way things turned out, and he
+was glad he had been through it from first to last, cavalry charge
+included. Then he said he would like to get a photograph or two of the
+surroundings and the Khalifa's house. I told him the light was spent
+and he could get no good results. He said he would try, and rode
+inside the courtyard. A minute or less later, there was the roar and
+crash of a shrapnel shell, which burst over our heads in very
+dangerous proximity. The iron and bullets struck the walls and rattled
+upon the corrugated iron roofs alongside. "That," I said to my
+companion and an artillery officer hard by, "was one of our own guns."
+The officer, Major Williams, I think, replied he feared indeed that it
+was so. A similar opinion was apparently entertained by the Sirdar and
+staff, for gallopers were sent to the officer in charge of the two
+guns of the 32nd Battery left on the west side of the wall in the main
+thoroughfare, to cease firing at once. Before riding up to the
+Khalifa's door the Sirdar had hailed the gunboats, and one of them,
+the "Sultan," came near enough inshore for us to converse with those
+on board and for the commander to receive orders to stop all firing at
+Abdullah's quarters. A few seconds after the first shrapnel burst,
+another pitched over our heads, aimed apparently like the previous one
+at the Khalifa's compound. Indeed, it appeared so later, for those of
+our men at the south-west corner of the wall saw a number of armed
+Jehadieh who were gathering behind Abdullah's compound. The Maxims
+also opened fire on what was probably a body of the enemy covering
+Abdullah's retirement, and who, at any rate, were firing at the
+troops. Immediately after the second shell exploded the Sirdar and
+headquarters rode off, returning by the road we entered, to the main
+thoroughfare upon the west side of the enclosing wall. I remained a
+few minutes longer, two shells bursting overhead in the interval, and
+with my companion retraced our steps, rejoining the headquarters'
+following. Mr Hubert Howard was struck upon the side of the head by a
+bullet or fragment of a shell and killed instantly. His body was
+removed and covered up by Colonel Maxwell and his men.
+
+[Illustration: INTERIOR MAHDI'S TOMB (GRILLE AROUND SARCOPHAGUS).]
+
+[Illustration: KHALIFA'S GALLOWS (CUTTING DOWN HIS LAST VICTIM).]
+
+Arrangements were made for the instant pursuit of the Khalifa, who, I
+was told, only left his palace about five o'clock or sometime after we
+had penetrated into Omdurman. Notables and dervishes who came in to us
+were freely used by the staff to run hither and thither conveying
+intimation to all their friends, that the war being over they should
+lay down their arms. In that way the news of the collapse of Mahdism
+was widely spread, and bands of thirty and forty of the Jehadieh and
+even of the Baggara surrendered. The presence of our Soudanese
+soldiers facilitated matters, for they saw in them, at any rate,
+countrymen. I had no difficulty in persuading several large groups of
+dervishes, whom I could see from my horse inside their compounds, to
+come out into the lanes or roadway and lay down their rifles. By such
+means the headquarters' advance through the town was made possible and
+relatively easy. The sun had set and darkness was upon us before the
+Sirdar and staff, going at times in single file, reached the common
+prison where the Assouan merchant, Charles Neufeld, was confined.
+Whilst accompanying a convoy of rifles presented by the Egyptian
+Government in 1886 to Sheikh Saleh of the friendly Kabbabish tribe,
+Neufeld had been captured by a party of dervishes. Like the other
+European prisoners who fell into their hands, he had undergone great
+hardships and experienced all the trials of misfortune. Neufeld and
+several hundred natives who had incurred the Khalifa's ire or distrust
+were found in a pestilential enclosure less than an acre in extent,
+surrounded by mud-walls. All of them wore heavy leg chains, and a
+few were handcuffed besides. The principal jail deliveries were by
+disease and the gallows; the latter were almost daily in use. Three
+rough sets of them stood together near the great wall. Limbs of trees
+stuck into the ground, with a cross-piece overhead, that was how the
+gallows were fashioned. A last victim of the Khalifa was cut down
+shortly after the troops entered Omdurman.
+
+[Illustration: NEUFELD ON GUNBOAT "SHEIK"--CUTTING OFF HIS
+ANKLE-IRONS.]
+
+Neufeld was found under a mat-covered lean-to built against the
+mud-wall. There was no other protection for the prisoners from
+sunshine or rain than coarse worn matting spread upon sticks and laid
+against the walls. The enclosure was without any sanitary arrangements
+whatever. A well had been dug near the middle of the yard and from
+there the prisoners drew all the water they used. The Sirdar conversed
+with the prisoner, and a fruitless effort was made to find the jailer
+and have Neufeld's irons removed. Ultimately, when night had quite
+fallen and it was pitch dark, Neufeld was set upon an officer's horse,
+and the Sirdar and headquarters bringing him with them rode outside to
+where the main body of the army was bivouacking upon the desert, north
+of Omdurman. Later on I found means to have Neufeld's irons removed.
+He had three sets of leg irons fastened round his ankles; a heavy bar
+weighing fourteen pounds, and two thick chains above that. The heavy
+rings upon the legs we could not get off without other appliances than
+a hammer and iron wedge, so they were left to be removed next day on
+the gunboat "Sheik." It was found necessary on that occasion to grip
+the rings in a vice and cut them with a cold chisel. We, however, so
+freed his limbs that he could walk. Having written a second batch of
+despatches by the light of a guttering candle and handed them to the
+press censor, we lay down in our clothes to try and sleep--no easy
+thing to do when you had to hold the bridle of your hungry horse the
+while, and other equally restless Arab steeds were, after their
+manner, seeking to eat him or kick him to pieces. We were without food
+or water, for in the thrice altered camping grounds our servants had
+got lost. In a flurry between dozing and waking we spent the night,
+hoping for the morrow. When it came there was daylight but no
+breakfast. Indeed, it was not until the afternoon of the 3rd September
+that our servants and baggage re-appeared.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+CLOSE OF CAMPAIGN.--GORDON MEMORIAL SERVICE, KHARTOUM.
+
+
+[Illustration: KHALIFA'S CHIEF EUNUCH (SURRENDERS IN BRITISH CAMP).]
+
+Although the beginning of a campaign often drags, the ending is
+usually abrupt. With the defeat and flight of Abdullah, Mahdism became
+a thing of the past. True, there were several minor engagements fought
+later against isolated recalcitrant bodies of dervishes who were too
+loyal to their old leaders. But these affairs in no way affected the
+result achieved upon the battle-field of Omdurman. During the night or
+early morning of the 2nd and 3rd of September, Colonel Macdonald's
+brigade advanced into the city to help to keep the peace, and to
+secure the surrender of all the armed bands of the enemy. Large bodies
+of dervishes were still moving about both within and without Omdurman.
+I had myself seen many hundreds of natives set out about dusk to
+revisit the battle-field in search of plunder, to rescue wounded
+friends, and to bury their dead kinsmen. Those who showed a peaceable
+disposition were not molested, but all with arms were arrested and
+penned under guards in the Praying Square. Many prisoners were secured
+on the battle-field, but relatively only a few thousands. On 3rd
+September and following days enormous numbers surrendered, coming into
+town or being sent in by the cavalry and friendlies. In fact, they
+became so numerous that it was found almost impossible to deal with
+them. When dervishes of the Jaalin and other tribes that had abandoned
+Mahdism came in they were at once told to behave themselves, and were
+allowed to go where they liked. The townsfolk and others who wished to
+be let alone, turned their jibbehs inside out, at once a renunciation
+of the Khalifa and his works as well as a sanitary gain. Some there
+were who, averse to over-cleanliness, simply tore the dervish patches
+off their dress, thus also resuming their fealty to the Khedive. The
+roll of prisoners, however, in spite of convenient blindness in
+letting all the lesser men who wished to escape do so, swelled to
+about 11,000. In a house to house visitation the more important rebel
+sheikhs and Baggara in hiding were caught and kept under arrest with
+their followers. All the Greeks and the local chiefs whom Slatin Pasha
+knew to be secretly inimical to the dervish rule, were from the first
+secured safe permits and absolute liberty. Among them were many of the
+Mahdi's relatives, former rulers of tribes, and Emirs once high in
+power. Of wounded dervishes over 9000 were treated by the British and
+Egyptian Army Medical Staffs, although the doctors' hands were busy
+enough for two days with our own sick and wounded.
+
+[Illustration: FRESH BATCH WOUNDED AND UNWOUNDED DERVISH PRISONERS,
+OMDURMAN, 4TH SEPT. 1898.]
+
+Within twenty-four hours after the Sirdar's entry Omdurman began to
+assume the signs of orderly government. Thousands of the prisoners as
+well as the natives were set to work to clean up the place. The
+wounded were all carried into temporary hospitals and the dead were
+decently interred in Moslem burial-places out upon the desert. Then
+the thoroughfares were scrupulously scavengered by gangs of
+yesterday's furious foemen, blacks and Baggara. The dead things were
+put under ground, and the stagnant pools were drained or filled in.
+Within a week it became actually possible to walk without an attack of
+violent nausea in Omdurman. Visits were constantly paid to the
+battle-field for the double purpose of rescuing any wounded
+dervishes there might be and counting the dead. The large number of
+the enemy who for days survived shocking wounds, to which a European
+would have instantly or speedily succumbed, was appalling. These
+wretched creatures had been seen crawling or dragging themselves for
+miles to get to the Nile for water or into villages for succour. Food
+and water were sent out to them by the Sirdar's orders on the day
+after the battle, when it was seen that the natives gave neither heed
+nor help to other than their own immediate kinsmen upon the field.
+Even in the town rations were distributed to the needy. The gunboats
+going up and down the river saw many sorry sights. Wounded dervishes
+were lying by hundreds along the river's bank. Some, whose thirst had
+maddened them, had drunk copiously, and then swooned and died, their
+heads and shoulders covered with water and the rest of their bodies
+stretched upon the strand. General Gatacre and Lieut. Wood on riding
+to revisit the zereba near Kerreri, met a dervish, part of one of
+whose legs had been blown off by a shell. The man was hobbling along,
+leaning upon a broken spear handle, making for Omdurman, with his limb
+burned and roughly tied up. They gave him food and water and passed on
+meeting others. A mile away, the mounted orderly drew the General's
+attention to an object upon the ground with the exclamation: "Blest if
+it isn't that bloke's foot!" which sure enough was the case. A number
+of officers were told off to count the enemy's dead upon the
+battle-field. Sections of the ground were assigned to each. The actual
+count was 10,800 dead bodies, which did not include all the slain,
+for there were those who died in Omdurman, and afar upon the desert.
+One of the officers wrote, "I won't enter into details of our day's
+work. It suffices to say, that a piece of cotton-wool soaked in
+eucalyptus placed in the nostrils and an ample supply of neat brandy
+were only just sufficient to keep us on our legs for the six hours
+that we were at the job." He and two others had undertaken to make a
+sketch in addition to helping to count the slain. Unfortunately, the
+sketch was lost.
+
+And all might have been otherwise, for the Sirdar offered before the
+battle to treat with the Khalifa. Here is the copy of the letter, as
+translated and published, bearing upon the subject.
+
+                                                  "_30th August 1898._
+                                                 "Viz., 11 Rabi Akhar,
+                                                          "1316 (M.E.)
+
+    "From the Sirdar of the Troops, Soudan,
+
+    "To Abdulla, son of Mohamed El-Taaishi, Head of the Soudan.
+
+    "Bear in your mind that your evil deeds throughout the Soudan,
+    particularly your murdering a great number of the Mohammedans
+    without cause or excuse, besides oppression and tyranny,
+    necessitated the advance of my troops for the destruction of your
+    throne, in order to save the country from your devilish doings and
+    iniquity. Inasmuch as there are many in your keeping for whose
+    blood you are held responsible--innocent, old, and infirm, women
+    and children and others--abhorring you and your government, who
+    are guilty of nothing; and because we have no desire that they
+    should suffer the least harm, we ask you to have them removed from
+    the Dem (literally, enclosure) to a place where the shells of guns
+    and bullets of rifles shall not reach them. If you do not do so,
+    the shells and bullets cannot recognise them and will
+    consequently kill them, and afterwards you will be responsible
+    before God for their blood.
+
+    "Stand firm you and your helpers only in the field of battle to
+    meet the punishment prepared for you by the praised God. But if
+    you and your Emirs incline to surrender to prevent blood being
+    shed, we shall receive your envoy with due welcome, and be sure
+    that we shall treat you with justice and peace.
+
+                                                  "(Sealed) KITCHENER,
+                                 "Sirdar of the Troops in the Soudan."
+
+Colonel Maxwell was appointed Commandant of Omdurman, and his brigade
+was quartered in the town, detachments occupying the principal
+buildings. Among the places so held were the Arsenal, the Khalifa's
+and his son the Sheikh Ed Din's houses, the Treasury, Tomb and Mosque
+enclosure. The rest of the troops were moved two miles to the north of
+the town, where a camp was formed along the river bank. Omdurman was
+too abominably dirty to risk keeping a single soldier in the place
+other than was absolutely necessary. Not an hour was wasted. The
+Sirdar's practice was--abundant work for each day and all plans
+prepared ahead for the next. The submission of sheikhs and their
+followers had to be received, the pursuit of the Khalifa pressed,
+wounded dervishes and prisoners provided for, as well as the thousands
+of poor in Omdurman helped in various ways. Then there had to be
+arranged-for the disposal of the spoils of war, repatriation for many
+of Abdullah's enforced subjects, the formal re-occupation of Khartoum,
+and the immediate despatch back to Lower Egypt of the British troops
+whose services were no longer required. All this and much more was
+done, nor am I aware that anything was neglected, not even the
+correspondents, who were evidently too seldom far removed from the
+General's thoughts. Hurrying into the town early on Saturday morning,
+3rd September, to attend Howard's funeral, I found that within half an
+hour after sunrise all the dead dervishes, with the murdered women and
+children, had been removed to the native burial-grounds outside
+Omdurman. In my rambles in the capital that day I visited the only two
+passable dwellings in the place, Abdullah's and his son Osman's. Both
+houses had a pretence of tidiness and comfort, particularly the Sheikh
+Ed Din's. There were paved courtyards, doors, windows with shutters,
+plastered walls, cupboards, benches, and ottomans. In each there were
+several rooms furnished in a rude style with articles of European
+manufacture. Of glass-ware, crockery, and large mirrors there was an
+abundance. The Khalifa's favourite reception-room and a chamber in the
+harem were almost covered with big looking-glasses. Angry Jaalin and
+others who had forced an entrance on the previous day, or else mayhap
+the Lyddite bombs, had smashed the mirrors and most of the domestic
+ware into atoms. Spears and swords had been freely used to hack the
+furniture and fittings about. A wealth of printed and manuscript books
+and papers in Arabic characters were scattered, torn, and thrown into
+a shed.
+
+The kitchens, stables and outhouses were odorously barbaric in
+squalor. They were in strange contrast to any of the rooms in the
+rabbit warren of attached dwelling-places within the Khalifa's private
+compound. Around the Mahdi's tomb were great splashes of human blood.
+On the previous evening I had seen many dead dervishes lying in that
+vicinity. In their credulous faith in Mohamed Achmed they had flocked
+there for safety, only to be killed by our fire. Of 120 who were
+praying around the tomb when a 50-lb. Lyddite shell burst, but
+eighteen escaped alive, and these were sorely wounded. The tomb,
+carefully stuccoed over inside and out, was built of stone and
+well-burned bricks. The base of the square wall from which the
+cone-shaped dome sprang was over six feet thick, the vaulted roof
+tapering to about eighteen inches at the apex. Great holes had been
+knocked in the north-east side, and the rubbish had tumbled in,
+breaking the brass and iron grille round the catafalque. Beneath,
+covered by two huge blocks of stone, lay Mohamed Achmed's remains.
+Early that day violent hands were laid on the brass rails in the outer
+windows and grille. The catafalque was stripped of its black and red
+cloth covering, and the wood-work was totally destroyed. All the
+yellow lettered panels, with texts from the Koran and the Mahdi's
+prayer-book, as well as the blue and yellow scroll work, were smashed
+or carried off by relic-hunters. The false prophet was so speedily
+discredited that not a dervish amongst the tens of thousands but
+regarded these and the subsequent proceedings with complete
+indifference. To destroy utterly the legend of Mohamed Achmed's
+mission, when the British troops had returned to Cairo the Mahdi's
+body was disinterred. It had been roughly embalmed and the features
+were said to be recognisable. The common people who saw the remains
+almost doubted their senses, for it had been given out that the Mahdi
+had merely gone off on a visit to heaven and would shortly return.
+That his body was found surprised them, as they thought he had gone
+aloft in the flesh, the object of the tomb being to mark the spot
+where he took leave of the earth and would return to it. Perhaps it
+may be deplored that Mohamed Achmed's remains were broken up, part
+being cast into the Nile, whilst the head and other portions of the
+body were retained for presentation, it is said, to medical colleges.
+There were those who thought that the wisest course would have been to
+expose the remains for all to see them who cared to, and then to hand
+them over to the natives to bury in one of their cemeteries as if he
+had been an ordinary man. But the Soudan is not Europe, nor are its
+inhabitants amenable to measures eminently satisfactory to civilised
+northern races. The tomb was subsequently levelled to the ground by an
+explosion of gun-cotton and the débris was cleared away.
+
+I had a good look over the Khalifa's war arsenal. There were plenty of
+cannon, old and new, as well as machine guns, rifles, pistols, and
+fowling pieces of all kinds. Musical instruments, war-drums,
+elephants' tusks used as horns, coats of chain-mail old and new, and
+steel helmets. Most of the latter are quite modern, being part of 600
+supplied by a London firm of sword makers--Wilkinson & Co., Pall Mall,
+to a former Khedive's body-guard. Somehow these plate and chain
+crusader-like head-pieces seem all to have drifted south. There were
+hundreds of dervish battle flags, including several duplicate black
+silk banners such as the Khalifa carried during the action, and
+thousands of native spears, swords, and shields. In short, it would be
+easier to tell what was not in that extraordinary storehouse than what
+was. Among other articles I saw were: Ivory, powder, percussion caps,
+old lead, copper, tin, bronze, cloth, looms, pianos, sewing machines,
+agricultural implements, boilers, steam-engines, ostrich feathers,
+gum, hippopotamus hides, iron and wooden bedsteads, drums, bugles,
+field glasses--Lieutenant Charles Grenfell's, lost at El Teb in the
+Eastern Soudan in 1883, were found there--bolts, zinc, rivets, paints,
+india-rubber, leather, boots, knapsacks, water-bottles, flags, and
+clothes. There were three state coaches--one of them might at a pinch
+have served for the Lord Mayor--and an American buggy. They needed a
+little retrimming, but there was harness and material enough to have
+rigged out the four vehicles in style. In short, the arsenal held the
+jettisoned cargo of the whole aforetime Egyptian Soudan, with much
+besides drawn from Abyssinia and Central Africa. Truly, the Khalifa
+must have been a strange man, with a fine acquisitive instinct
+abnormally cultivated.
+
+[Illustration: NEUFELD, WITH ABYSSINIAN WIFE AND CHILDREN; ALSO FELLOW
+PRISONER.]
+
+Neufeld, quite contrary to Slatin Pasha's way of speaking, declared to
+me that the Khalifa was not at all a bad sort of man, nor an
+exceptionally cruel Arab task-master, and certainly not a monster. The
+Khalifa, he said, had often come and chatted with him. Abdullah had
+vowed to him, that if he were able to have his own way he would make a
+close friend of him, and have him always near his person. The Khalifa
+asserted he liked white men, admired their knowledge and ability, and
+would, were he permitted, have many of them in Khartoum. As everybody
+knew, he befriended the Greeks, because he could do that with safety,
+for the natives were not so jealous of them as of other white men. The
+Taaisha were, he declared, absurdly suspicious of his intercourse with
+Neufeld, and were always bringing him tales, to try and get him to
+kill all the white men without exception. His countrymen's jealous,
+narrow fanaticism annoyed him, but what, he asked, could he do, for he
+was very much in their power, and unable to afford to fly in their
+faces? Abdullah often spoke thus, according to Neufeld, and, as the
+latter also said, frequently that leader of the fanatical dervishes
+exhibited keen interest in acquiring information about Europe and its
+people. He hoped to make peace some day with the outside world, and be
+allowed thereafter to rule the Soudan. All this, I submit, is rather
+puzzling, in view of the filthy den the Khalifa kept Neufeld shut up
+in, and the manner in which he loaded him with heavy leg-irons. During
+his captivity, Neufeld had with him an Abyssinian girl, or rather
+woman. She was taken prisoner with him. Thereafter she devotedly
+ministered to his wants, fetched water and food, and made, under his
+tuition, really eatable bread. Neufeld, who said he met me in 1884-85,
+up the Nile, when he was attached to the army, gave me a piece of this
+bread, and I found it quite palatable. Yeast is easily made in the
+Soudan with sour dough and sugar.
+
+As arsenals mayhap date back to the eras of Tubal Cain and Vulcan, it
+was to be expected the Khalifa would also have his modern smithy. He
+made his own gunpowder, shells, and bullets, and the metallic cases
+for his troops' Remington rifles. The country was laid under
+contribution to supply copper for that purpose, and he essayed the
+filling of percussion caps with fulminate, not over successfully I
+hope. He had his cartridge manufactory, and a very well equipped
+engineer shop as well. Yea, the potentate was setting up a Zoo,
+wherein I saw three young lions chained to posts by neck collars, as
+though those savage beasts were watch-dogs. As for the engineer shop,
+with foundry and smithy attached, the Beit el Mauna, it was part of a
+cleverly planned square of buildings with a river frontage and a
+spacious yard. The designer was one El Osta Abdullah, a former
+employee of General Gordon's in Khartoum Arsenal. There were several
+steam engines; the principal one driving the main shafting was of 28
+horse-power. The fly-wheel was 4 feet in diameter. There were five
+lathes, one cat-head lathe--36 inch, three drills, and other tools
+including a slotting machine, all in perfect going order. The
+machinery had formed part of the dismantled Khartoum Arsenal, and had
+been removed into Omdurman to be nearer the watchful eyes of Yacoub,
+who superintended the workshops, though destitute of mechanical
+knowledge. El Osta was the foreman and had numbers of natives, free
+and prisoners, under him. There were plenty of crucibles for iron as
+well as brass smelting. The blasts of furnaces and smithy fires were
+served from fanners driven by machinery. There were paint shops and
+stores, the floors of which were laid in bricks. In truth, the arsenal
+was in process of extension. Two more engines for the shop were in
+course of completion. The steamers disabled or wrecked in the 1885
+campaign had all been recovered and overhauled by the dervishes. They
+were sagacious enough to make use of all the skilled labour to be
+found amongst the Turkish and Egyptian prisoners who fell into their
+hands. Although the Khalifa's river steamers, recaptured by the
+Sirdar, could steam fully as well as ever, their hulls and decks were
+dreadfully rotten and dilapidated, not a pound of paint nor any fresh
+timber having been used upon them in all the intervening years.
+
+"Is that mean, dirty compound, with those squalid mud-huts, facing the
+Khalifa's big wall, Osman Digna's house?" I asked. "Yes," said my
+native informant, "that is the house of the robber-chief, Osman
+Digna." I entered and found within only a few wretched slaves and poor
+Hadendowas. Osman, like the Khalifa, had given us the slip, leaving
+behind such of his people as he thought of no value, and hurrying away
+with all his women and treasure towards the south. They had horses and
+camels, and upon the best of them they decamped. Several of the
+notorious Osman Digna's tribal retainers were caught. These wretched
+Hadendowas were, I was told, glad to be permitted subsequently to
+return to their own country. Over 300 Abyssinians were amongst our
+prisoners. They had volunteered or been coerced into joining the
+dervish ranks. All of them were surprised to find themselves kindly
+treated. In due course, those who cared to go--men, women and
+children--were provided with free passages back to Abyssinia. The
+Sirdar held several receptions, whereat the principal native leaders
+and sheikhs attended. Amongst others delighted at the overthrow of the
+Khalifa were all the survivors of the old Khedivial army, who had been
+abandoned to their fate for years. Of these were the whilom Governor
+of Senaar, a native artillery officer who had been with Hicks Pasha,
+and Gordon Pasha's native medical attendant.
+
+During the week after the battle the British and Khedivial troops, by
+brigades, made triumphal marches into and through Omdurman. Proceeding
+from our camp with flags flying and bands playing, they went along the
+main thoroughfares to the Tomb and Mosque, returning by a circuitous
+route to quarters. The ex-dervishes and other natives flocked in
+thousands to see the finely-equipped and well-disciplined battalions
+led by the Sirdar. It was an exhibition of power they quite
+understood, and one which won from them open praise at the gallant
+bearing of our soldiery. The immediate effect was to produce a feeling
+of deep respect for the authority of the new order of things.
+
+When it was found that the Khalifa had escaped by the south end of
+Omdurman, Colonel Broadwood, with his two regiments of Egyptian
+cavalry and the Camel Corps, started in pursuit. Gunboats also
+proceeded up the White Nile to head off the fugitives. Unfortunately
+as there had been a very general rainfall, the desert routes towards
+Kordofan were not absolutely waterless. The cavalry soon found that
+they were upon a hot trail; and men, women, and children, who had been
+unable to keep pace with the flying Khalifa and Osman Digna, were
+picked up. Some of these, no doubt, had purposely given their master
+the slip. It was in that way that Abdullah's chief wife, the Sheikh Ed
+Din's mother, was caught and brought in by the "friendlies." One poor
+woman, just confined, had the babe, a male, taken away by her lord,
+whilst she was left to shift for herself. Happily, her life was saved.
+
+As I have said relatively little about the Egyptian cavalry, I will
+let one of their officers tell what they did. Colonel Broadwood had
+under him a magnificent body of officers, British and Egyptian.
+Captain Legge of the 20th Hussars was the brigade-major. The narrative
+in question was given to me a few days after the victory.
+
+"The Sirdar's orders on the morning of the battle to Colonel Broadwood
+were, to take up successive positions on his (the Sirdar's) right
+flank, and to prevent the enemy's left from overlapping too far. The
+fear was that the dervishes might attack upon the north or weakest
+side of the zereba. After rejoining the infantry towards the end of
+the assault made on Macdonald's brigade we were formed into two lines.
+Turning our backs to the Nile, that is, facing west, we galloped in
+pursuit of the retreating dervishes. For four miles we rode forward
+without check. Then we wheeled to the left, towards Omdurman, and
+swept the country on the right front of the Sirdar over a width of
+four miles. We were shot at repeatedly, and sometimes heavily, by
+bands of fugitives, but we never drew rein, using lance and sword upon
+all who showed fight. In that draw we made 1000 prisoners, breaking
+the Remingtons of those who had rifles and sending our captives under
+escort of a squadron to the Sirdar. When close to Omdurman we came
+across a large body of dervishes full of 'buck.' Four of our squadrons
+went for them. They charged clean through them, wheeled, and charged
+back again. That took the sting out of them, though there were still
+individual dervishes who would keep trying to charge us. Colonel
+Broadwood came up at that juncture with the supports, whereupon the
+enemy all bolted for the hills. At 2 p.m. we reported to headquarters,
+and, following the infantry, went to water our horses at the Nile. The
+same afternoon we passed through part of Omdurman and went out upon
+the open desert to the south-west. At 6.30 p.m. Slatin Pasha brought
+us orders to start immediately in pursuit of the Khalifa. We went on
+as best we could until 8.30 p.m., without food or water. Trying to run
+in towards the river to procure both, for a gunboat was to carry our
+supplies, we found it was impossible to get within two miles of the
+Nile owing to the overflow having turned the margin into boggy land.
+Besides, the bushy inaccessible ground was teeming with hostile
+dervishes. We had missed our way. Without off-saddling, we bivouacked
+where we were, forming square. At 4 a.m. we mounted and rode on,
+going until 8.30 a.m., when we got down to the river. There Slatin
+Pasha quitted us, returning to Omdurman. We halted for an hour,
+watered and fed our poor horses, and had a bite for ourselves. Then we
+remounted and rode fifteen miles farther south. We had reached a point
+just thirty-five miles south of Omdurman. Our horses had been going
+almost continuously for four days previously, the forage was finished,
+and the animals exhausted, so we again halted. Supplies had been
+ordered forward to that spot, but the overflow prevented us from being
+able to get near enough the native boats to draw upon them for stores.
+We decided to bivouac there and take our chance of being able somehow
+to get at the boats. Next morning we were ordered back into Omdurman.
+Slatin Pasha had learned from fugitives and natives that the Khalifa
+was still twenty-five miles ahead of us. Abdullah had with him 100
+Taaisha Baggara, and had procured fresh camels and horses, so was
+'going strong,' too good for us to catch up. The riverside country
+people could not credit that we had defeated the Khalifa and taken
+Omdurman. On our way back we picked up six of Osman Digna's
+Hadendowas. They said Osman was riding with the Khalifa, showing him
+the tracks and bypaths, with all of which he was familiar. We heard
+that neither Osman nor the Khalifa was wounded, and that Sheikh Ed Din
+was likewise untouched."
+
+It has been too readily accepted that the Black, although an
+incomparably fine infantry-man, would not make a good trooper. There
+are Blacks and Blacks as there are "Browns and Browns." Many of the
+negroid races of the Central Soudan are excellent horsemen. The dash
+of the Khalifa's mounted men was superb. So it came about that after
+Omdurman the Sirdar decided to reinforce the Egyptian cavalry with a
+newly raised squadron or two composed entirely of Blacks. Ex-dervishes
+of suitable smartness and physique were permitted to join the new
+body, the ranks of which were filled in a very short time, for
+hundreds eagerly volunteered. The accounts I have since heard of the
+1st Black Cavalry are eminently favourable. There can be no doubt
+about one thing,--whatever may be said of fellaheen troopers, the
+Blacks will charge home.
+
+Another matter that merits a little more detail is the action fought
+by Major Stuart Wortley's "friendlies," and the work accomplished by
+the flotilla under Commander Keppel, R.N. It was the gunboats that
+transported the British infantry from their camps at Dakhala and
+Darmali so smartly to Wad Habeshi. Their assistance in that respect
+reduced the campaign from one of months to days, and lessened the
+risks to the troops. Eight steamers arrived at Dakhala on one
+occasion, and the transport department did its duty so well that they
+were loaded and despatched back up stream within twenty-four hours.
+Royan Island had not only been made a depôt of stores, but a
+sanatorium where sick officers and men were sent as a "pick 'em up."
+An order from the Sirdar on the 30th of August was wired to Royan, to
+find 235 men and 8 officers who were well enough to man the gunboats,
+to be in short amateur marines. At that date there were 327 sick upon
+the island. Most of them were eager to get to the front, but the
+doctors would not certify that any of them were able to bear the
+fatigue of marching. There was therefore great rejoicing among the
+more convalescent, for they had begun to despair of seeing the fight.
+The hospital state showed that there were then at Royan 46 men of the
+Warwicks, 69 of the Lincolns, 62 of the Seaforths, 36 of the Camerons,
+19 of the Grenadier Guards, 42 of the Northumberland Fusiliers, 42 of
+the Lancashire Fusiliers, and 21 of the Rifles. From 25 to 40 men were
+marched on board each of the gunboats the same day. Captain Ferguson
+of the Northumberland Fusiliers became marine officer on board the
+"Sultan," Lieutenant Allardice went to the "Sheik," Lieutenant Seymour
+of the Grenadier Guards to the "Melik," Captain Ritchie to the
+"Nazir," Lieutenant Arbuthnot to the "El Hafir," and Lieutenant
+Jackson and other officers respectively to the "Tamai," "Fatah,"
+"Metemmeh," etc.
+
+On the 31st of August the "Melik" kept abreast of the cavalry acting
+as a screen. At noon of the same day the "Sultan" and the "Melik" and
+"Nazir" were sent to shell the dervish tents and tukals seen to the
+east of Kerreri village. The enemy were found in some force, about
+3500 strong. Eight or ten shrapnel were fired into their zerebaed
+camp. Right in the middle of the tents the first shell burst. The
+dervishes struck their camp instantly, and mounted men and footmen ran
+to the hills, their flight quickened by the gunboats' Maxims. Their
+zereba was burned. South Kerreri village was found unoccupied. The
+steamers proceeded a little further up stream, had a look at Tuti
+Island, and on the west bank caught sight of a body of dervishes, Emir
+Zaccharia's men, who also had a taste of shrapnel and Maxims.
+
+On the 1st of September at 5.30 a.m. the steamers "Sultan," "Melik,"
+"Sheik," "Nazir," "Fatah," "Tamai," and "Abu Klea" went again up the
+river to destroy the forts and land the 50-pounder Lyddite howitzer
+battery on Tuti Island, whence it was to shell Omdurman. Major Stuart
+Wortley and part of his force were also to be transferred to that
+island to support Major Elmslie's battery and clear off any dervishes.
+It was found, as I have already stated, that Tuti was unsuitable as a
+position, and the Lyddite guns were landed instead upon the east or
+right bank of the river. The "Sultan" opened the attack, firing at the
+forts and pitching shells into Omdurman. In a short time the other
+gunboats came to her assistance, and the mud forts, of which there
+were a dozen or more, were promptly silenced. Several of the dervish
+gunners' shells, however, only missed the steamers that were their
+target by a very few yards. Happily the embrasures of the forts were
+so badly made, that the enemy had but a small angle of fire. It was in
+more than one instance impossible for the dervish guns to train except
+straight to their front. The flotilla passed down behind Tuti Island,
+going by the east bank, and were brought-to below the island. There
+the 37th R.A. Battery was landed, and the Lyddite shell fire was
+directed against the great wall and the Mahdi's tomb, the range of the
+latter being 3200 yards. Many dervishes were seen in and around
+Omdurman, and a number were noticed upon the right bank. Two of the
+gunboats remained all night to protect the Lyddite battery, using
+their electric search-lights to detect any lurking dervishes. The
+steamers fired that day several hundred shells and 8000 rounds from
+their Maxims. Captain Prince Christian Victor was attached on board
+the "Sultan," and Prince Teck, who had a sharp attack of fever and had
+temporarily to abandon his squadron in the Egyptian cavalry, saw that
+and the next day's battle from one of the other gunboats.
+
+On the 2nd of September the "Melik" ran a little way up stream before
+sunrise and then returned. In the first stage of the battle the
+"Nazir," "Fatah," "Sheik," "El Hafir" and another protected the south
+front of the Sirdar's camp, whilst the "Sultan," "Melik" and "Tamai"
+guarded the north end of it. There were over 100 shells were fired
+from the "Sultan" at 3000 to 2800 yards ranges. The "Melik" found the
+enemy's columns with their quick-firing 15 pounders at under 1500
+yards range on one occasion. During the second phase of the battle,
+the "Melik" dropped again down stream, and struck Sheikh Ed Din's
+column as the enemy advanced to attack Macdonald's brigade, treating
+the dervishes to all her artillery. When Omdurman was occupied by the
+troops the flotilla again rendered valuable help. After the action the
+gunboats were sent, part up the White, part up the Blue Nile, to carry
+the good news and break up any dervish camps. The "Sultan," "Melik,"
+"Sheik," "Nazir," and "Fatah" proceeded up the White Nile. Commander
+Keppel went 115 miles south of Omdurman. He saw but few of the enemy.
+The country was much overflowed, the river was nearly 6 miles wide in
+several places, the wooded banks and bush being under water.
+
+On the 2nd of September Major Stuart Wortley and his friendlies had a
+brisk engagement with Emir Isa Zaccharia. Major Elmslie had begun the
+day's battle at 5.30 a.m. with a salvo of his six guns, throwing the
+50 lb. Lyddite shells into Omdurman. Wortley's friendlies, later on,
+advanced in fine style, in open order, and drove about 800 Jehadieh
+out of a village. About 350 were killed, including their leader. The
+remainder bolted off towards the Blue Nile, pursued by the Jaalin and
+others. At the close of the action Major Wortley, Captain Buckle,
+Lieut. C. Wood, and two non-commissioned English officers walked down
+towards the point from which Major Elmslie's battery was firing. They
+were seen and charged by about twenty-five dervish horsemen. Luckily,
+heavy, boggy land intervened, and Lieut. Wood and Major Wortley
+dropped the leading horsemen, when some of the Jaalin rallied and came
+to their assistance. The rout of the Baggara was completed, the
+dervish horsemen leaving eleven dead upon the field.
+
+On Sunday morning, 4th September, the Press were invited by
+Headquarters to go over by steamer to Khartoum. We were told that an
+official ceremony which we ought not to miss was about to take place.
+There were an unusual number of correspondents. The previous
+restrictions and military objections to their presence had been made
+ridiculous by the widest throwing open of the door to all. The Sirdar
+and Headquarters embarked upon the "Melik." We found that
+representative detachments from all the commands in the army were
+being ferried over in boats and giassas towed by the steamers. From
+every British battalion there were present eighty-one officers and
+men. The 21st Lancers were represented by ten officers and twenty-four
+non-commissioned officers and men. Two officers and seven men were
+sent by each battery of artillery, and two officers and five men from
+the Maxim batteries. There were also representative sections from the
+Khedivial forces. As the steamers drew up alongside the stone-wall
+quay before the ruined Government House where General Gordon made his
+last stand, the soldiers were seen to be already in position. There
+was but little space between the quay wall and the buildings, for the
+débris of bricks and stone from the overturned structure nearly
+blocked up the former open promenade facing the muddy Blue Nile. The
+ruined walls and forts looked picturesque in their deep setting of
+dark-green palms, mimosa, and tall orange-trees. Compared with
+treeless, brown, arid Omdurman, Khartoum wore an air of romance and
+loveliness that well became such historic ground. An odour of blossom
+and fruit was wafted from the wild and spacious Mission and Government
+House gardens, which even the dervishes had not been able to wreck
+totally.
+
+[Illustration: DISTANT VIEW, KHARTOUM (FROM BLUE NILE).]
+
+Two flagstaffs had been erected upon the top of the one-storied wall
+fronting the Blue Nile. The Sirdar ranged facing the building and the
+flagstaffs. Behind him were the Headquarters Staff, the Generals of
+division, and others. To his left, formed up at right angles, were the
+representative detachments of the Egyptian army, the 11th Soudanese,
+with their red heckles in their fezzes, in the front line. Upon the
+Sirdar's right were the detachments of Gatacre's division, each in
+its regimental order of seniority. Standing a few paces in front of
+the Sirdar, but facing him, upon a mound of earth and bricks, were the
+four chaplains attached to the British infantry--Presbyterian, Church
+of England, Roman Catholic, and Wesleyan. _En passant_, though it is
+an army secret, in nothing was the Sirdar's power and strong will more
+manifest than in securing the presence that day in amity of the four
+representatives of religion. One of the reverend gentlemen, presumably
+on the strength of the superior claims of his orthodoxy, refused to
+join in any service in which clergymen of any other denomination bore
+a part. The Sirdar sent a peremptory order, without a word of
+explanation, for that cleric to embark forthwith and return to Cairo.
+Instead, he hastened to Headquarters and made his peace, and had the
+order withdrawn. Upon their right was a small body of Royal Engineer
+officers, Gordon's own corps. A hundred natives or more had gathered
+on the outside, wondering what was going to happen. The Sirdar himself
+had been the first to land upon the quay and walk towards the
+building, the windows of which Gordon had caused to be filled in to
+stop entrance of the dervish bullets from Tuti. There were plenty of
+marks of the enemy's musketry fire, as well as the dents of shell and
+round shot. The former official entrance was within a littered
+courtyard upon the opposite side of the building. It was whilst
+descending the interior stairway to meet the dervishes that Gordon was
+hacked and slain by the fierce fanatics and his body cast into the
+courtyard.
+
+Ten o'clock was the official hour notified for the ceremonial, which
+commenced upon a signal from the Sirdar. A British band played a few
+bars of "God Save the Queen." Whilst all were saluting, Lieutenant
+Stavely, R.N., and Captain J. Watson, A.D.C., standing on the west
+side of the wall ran up a brilliant silk Union Jack to the top of
+their flagstaff, hauling the halyard taut as the flag flapped smartly
+in the breeze. It had barely begun to ascend when Lieutenant Milford
+and Effendi Bakr, at the adjacent pole, ran up the Egyptian flag.
+Thereupon an Egyptian band played at some length the Khedivial hymn.
+At its close the Sirdar called for three cheers for "The Queen," which
+were given voluminously, even the natives shouting, though, perhaps,
+they didn't quite know why. Three cheers for the Khedive were also
+heartily given. Meantime the "Melik's" quick-firing guns were rolling
+out a royal salute, and, as usual with them, making things jump aboard
+the lightly built craft and smashing glass and crockery in all
+directions.
+
+[Illustration: HOISTING FLAGS, KHARTOUM.]
+
+Ere the echo of cannon had died away another ceremony had begun. The
+British band played softly the "Dead March in Saul," and every head
+was bared in memory of Gordon. His funeral obsequies were at last
+taking place upon the spot where he fell. Then the Egyptian band
+played their quaint funeral march, and the native men and women,
+understanding that, and whom it was played for, raised their
+prolonged, shrill, wailing cry. Count Calderai, the Italian Military
+Attaché, who stood near the Sirdar, was deeply affected, whilst Count
+von Tiedmann, the German Attaché, who appeared in his magnificent
+white Cuirassier uniform on the occasion, was even more keenly
+impressed, a soldier's tears coursing down his cheeks. But there!
+Other eyes were wet, and cheeks too, as well as his, and bronzed
+veterans were not ashamed of it either. Sadness and bitter memories!
+So the Gordon legend, if you will, shall live as long as the English
+name endures. A brief pause, and in gentle voice and manner the Rev.
+John M. Sims, Presbyterian Chaplain--Gordon's faith--broke the
+silence. In his brief prayer he said: "Our help is in the name of the
+Lord who made heaven and earth." Then he observed, "Let us hear God's
+word as written for our instruction," reading from Psalm XV. the
+following verses: "Lord, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle? Who shall
+dwell in Thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh
+righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth
+not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a
+reproach against his neighbour. In whose eyes a vile person is
+contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth
+to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that putteth not out his money
+to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these
+things shall never be moved." "And to God's great name shall be all
+the praise and glory, world without end. Amen." When Mr Sims had
+concluded, the Rev. A. W. B. Watson, Church of England Chaplain,
+recited the Lord's Prayer. Following him the Rev. R. Brindle, Roman
+Catholic Chaplain, prayed, saying: "O Almighty God, by whose
+providence are all things which come into the lives of men, whether of
+suffering which Thou permittest, or of joy and gladness which Thou
+givest, look down, we beseech Thee, with eyes of pity and compassion
+on this land so loved by that heroic soul whose memory we honour
+before Thee this day. Give back to it days of peace. Send to it rulers
+animated by his spirit of justice and righteousness. Strengthen them
+in the might of Thy power, that they may labour in making perfect the
+work to which he devoted and for which he gave his life. And grant to
+us, Thy servants, that we may copy his virtues of self-sacrifice and
+fortitude, so that when Thou callest we may each be able to answer, 'I
+have fought the good fight,'--a blessing which we humbly ask in the
+name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen."
+
+When Father Brindle had concluded, the pipers, accompanied by muffled
+drums, played the Coronach as a lament. The weird Highland minstrelsy
+seemed quite in keeping with the place and solemn scene. Then the
+Khedivial band played a hymn tune, "Thy Will be Done," and the sad
+ceremony was closed to the boom of minute guns. Generals Rundle,
+Gatacre, and Hunter then stepped forward and congratulated the Sirdar
+upon the successful completion of his task, and the commanding
+officers and others, following their example, did the same. Sir
+Herbert acknowledged their greeting, and announced that the men would
+be allowed to break off for half an hour or so to go over the ruins
+and gardens if they wished. Everybody availed himself of the
+opportunity. In a few minutes a throng of officers and men who had
+scrambled over the débris filled the roofless rooms and packed the
+stairway where Gordon was struck down. I was surprised to find that
+even the youngest, most callow soldiers knew their Khartoum and the
+story of Gordon's fight and death. So deep and far had the tale
+travelled. There were speculations and suggestions as to how the end
+exactly came about that were a revelation to me, so full of
+information and pregnant of observation were many of the men's
+remarks. Throng succeeded throng in the rooms and stairways, whilst
+others went to explore the outhouses and the gardens. The passion
+flowers and the pomegranates were in bloom, but the oranges and limes
+were in fruit. Leaves and buds were plucked by all of us as souvenirs.
+Brigade-Major Snow, who was with the Camel Corps in 1884-85 across the
+Bayuda desert, produced a tiny bottle of champagne that was to have
+been drunk in Khartoum when we got there. He opened it, and shared the
+driblet with a few of the old campaigners. By one p.m. we were all
+back again in Omdurman, leaving behind two companies of the 11th
+Battalion to hold Khartoum for the two flags, the hoisting of which,
+side by side, the Egyptians regarded as natural and most proper.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+KHARTOUM MEMORIAL COLLEGE.--THE OFFICIAL DESPATCHES.
+
+
+It was decided by the Sirdar, from whom no successful appeal was
+possible, that, after the occupation of Khartoum, the war
+correspondents had no longer any pretext for remaining in the country.
+There were no questions raised by the military to excuse their ruling.
+No more was heard about the difficulties of transport, the scarcity of
+provisions, and everything being required for the soldiers. Had not
+the keen Greek sutlers, as usual, followed the army in shoals,
+managing somehow to convey themselves and their goods to the front? We
+had not been two days encamped at Omdurman before some of these
+traders arrived, and, dumping their sacks and boxes by the wayside,
+started selling forthwith. The natives, too, speedily reassured,
+brought out and squatted before baskets of dates, onions, and other
+comestibles they were anxious to dispose of for English or Egyptian
+money. Rightly contemning the Khalifa's coinage as practically
+valueless, they refused to accept it in payment, and proffered to sell
+all they possessed at the price of old copper. The British troops
+made their triumphal entry into Omdurman on the 5th of September, and
+several of the correspondents left for England the same day. We who
+remained had a sort of Hobson's choice, either to return to Cairo on
+the 8th September or to remain in Omdurman out of which we should not
+be allowed to stir until all the British troops had gone, when we
+should have to leave with the last batch. Which course we should adopt
+was with fine humour left to be decided by a majority of ourselves.
+For once the Press was practically unanimous and elected to shake the
+dust of the Soudan from their feet, and so it came about that the war
+correspondents had to fold their tents and go, disposing of their
+quadrupeds as best they could. There was no alternative in the case of
+the horses between accepting any price for them or shooting them, for,
+in the Soudan, there being no grazing, a horse must have a master or
+starve. I disposed of a £40 animal for £1 and got but little more for
+three others. The camels and stores fetched somewhat better prices.
+Our servants we took back to their homes.
+
+Yet for sundry reasons I was anxious to be allowed to remain longer in
+the Soudan. There was news of fighting and movement up the Blue Nile.
+Emir Ahmed Fadl bringing a force of 3000 dervishes from Gedarif to
+assist the Khalifa had been driven back by the gunboat "Sultan." More
+important still, rumours had reached us that the French, under
+Marchand, were at Fashoda. I knew that the Sirdar intended sending a
+force upon the gunboats up the White Nile to Fashoda and Sobat, so I
+made both verbal and written requests to the General for permission to
+accompany the expedition. That, I was told, could not be granted. We
+had full confirmation of the fact that Major Marchand was at Fashoda
+brought down to Omdurman on the 7th September by the dervish steamer
+"Tewfikieh." I boarded her and had a long chat with the captain (reis)
+and members of the crew, all of whom wore jibbehs. The little craft
+was an ex-Thames, above-the-bridges, penny steamer with Penn's
+oscillating engines. She was one of the boats Gordon sent from
+Khartoum in 1884 to meet the Desert Column at Metemmeh. She was, if
+possible, more dilapidated-looking than ever. By guarded questioning I
+ascertained that the "Tewfikieh" was three days out from Fashoda. She
+and the "Safieh," another dervish steamer, had been hotly fired upon
+by the French who were occupying the old Egyptian fort with 100
+Senegalese or natives of Timbuctoo. A number of local natives,
+Shilluks, who had long been hostile to the dervishes, were
+co-operating with the strangers. The reis accurately described the
+French flag which was flying over the works and the appearance of the
+Europeans. I was also able to procure several of the Lebel rifle
+bullets that had entered the upper structure of the steamer. The
+censor struck out from my telegrams all allusion to the presence of
+the French at Fashoda, and I had to wait until I returned to Lower
+Egypt to transmit the news to London. I openly held that the Fashoda
+affair should be promptly and fully disclosed to the British public,
+and I acted upon that conviction.
+
+The "Safieh" remained up the Nile, making fast to the bank about 100
+miles north of Fashoda, to await the return of the "Tewfikieh" with
+orders from the Khalifa and reinforcements to destroy the French. No
+doubt there was an attempt made to carry out an Anglophobe idea of
+effecting a friendly alliance with the Mahdists so as to secure to
+France the right of access to the Nile and the Bahr el Ghazal. It was
+an effort to achieve the impossible, to negotiate a treaty with wild
+beasts. Had the dervishes, or even the "Safieh's" people who were
+drumming up recruits, been granted a fortnight to do it in the
+Marchand expedition would have been totally destroyed. The "Tewfikieh"
+arrived in a dust-storm and passed the Sirdar's gunboats unseen, and
+it was not until she got to Omdurman that the dervish reis and crew
+realised what had happened. With quick wit the skipper acted, for
+those who go upon waters are of a catholicity of creed and
+good-fellowship very different from ordinary landsmen. He ran his
+craft to the bank, landed with one of his crew and paid a visit to
+headquarters, where he surrendered himself and his craft. Both were at
+once accepted, and during the course of the same day the "Tewfikieh"
+again hoisted the Khedivial flag and was employed in towing and ferry
+work. The captain and crew stood by their ship working her, and though
+dressed as dervishes were on the flotilla muster-roll for wages and
+rations. The like befell the other dervish steamers that came into
+the Sirdar's hands. For two days there was a sale of the loot
+captured by the army. Arms, drums, flags, and nearly all the smaller
+articles found in the arsenal were auctioned. Some £4000 or more of
+ivory and other merchandise were put aside. On the first day big
+prices were paid by officers and men for trophies, but the following
+day spears and swords were sold for trifling sums. The money derived
+from the sale was set aside for distribution as prize money. All the
+battalions, batteries, and corps had, however, free gifts of guns,
+flags, or other trophies for souvenirs. On the afternoon of the 8th
+September the correspondents and their belongings proceeded on the
+horribly frowsy, rat-overrun, dervish steamer "Bordein" to Dakhala,
+the railhead. The steamer was packed upon and below deck with British
+soldiers, about 50 of whom were sick, whilst several were wounded.
+Stowed almost like cattle, sitting, squatting, lying anywhere, anyhow,
+without shade or shelter, we underwent two days of it on board. It was
+found necessary to tie up occasionally for wood (fuel), and at night
+the steamer was always moored to the bank. These occasions provided
+the needed opportunity to prepare and partake of meals, and find space
+to sleep upon the shore. But it was war-time, and extra roughing-it is
+always an accompaniment of the game in uncivilised countries. Within a
+week, thanks to the desert railway and the post-boats, we were back
+enjoying the delicious flesh-pots of Egypt, first on board Messrs
+Cook's magnificent Nile steamers, and thereafter in Shepheard's hotel,
+Cairo.
+
+On the way down I saw something and heard more of the excellent
+base-hospital established at Abadia, of which Lieut.-Col. Clery,
+R.A.M.C., was in charge. Landing stages had been erected for receiving
+the sick and wounded, and wells were dug from which, owing to
+infiltration, clear water was drawn for use in the hospital. All
+water, however, used for food or drink was in addition filtered and
+boiled. The percentage of recovery by patients was eminently
+satisfactory. Major Battersby, R.A.M.C, had a Röntgen Ray apparatus
+which was employed in twenty-two cases to locate bullets and
+fractures. In connection with the treatment of the sick and wounded,
+it is to be regretted that earlier and greater use was not made of the
+National Aid Society's offer to provide steamers properly fitted for
+carrying invalids. A railway journey in Egypt or the Soudan is, at the
+best, a painful experience for even those who are well. From Assouan
+to Cairo every invalided soldier could and should have been
+transported by water, on just such a craft as the hospital,
+"Mayflower," which the Society promptly and admirably equipped the
+moment the authorities gave their consent. As early as June 1898
+Lieut.-Col. Young, on behalf of the Red Cross Society, wrote
+intimating a desire to assist, entirely at their own expense, in the
+expedition. This application met with a refusal, and it was not until
+the 1st of August 1898 that the Foreign Office replied to a subsequent
+appeal that the Sirdar would gladly accept their proffer. Had the
+matter been settled in June, instead of August, there could have been
+three hospital ships plying, enough to transport every sick soldier
+by water. By the 6th of September the "Mayflower" was ready with a
+crew and a complement of nurses. The army provided their own medical
+staff, the Society running the steamer and supplying the cuisine,
+which was under the direction of a French "chef." The "Mayflower" was
+able to convey, in most comfortable quarters, with every possible
+attention to their needs, seventy-two sick and wounded soldiers.
+Pjamas, socks, shirts and other necessaries were given free to every
+patient. The steamer did good service, making at least three round
+trips to bring down patients.
+
+The wounds received in battle had scarce been dressed before the
+Sirdar was seeking to give effect to his schemes for the well-being of
+the Soudanese. Means were taken for the speedy connecting by telegraph
+of Suakin and Berber, Suakin, Kassala, Gedarif, Khartoum. The wire
+from Dakhala to Nasri was brought on to Omdurman a few days after the
+victory. Arrangements were further made to bridge the Atbara and carry
+forward the Wady Halfa-Abu Hamed-Dakhala line along the east bank to a
+point upon the Blue Nile opposite Khartoum. That railway will be
+completed in 1899, and there will be through train service from Wady
+Halfa to the junction of the two Niles. With the suitable steamers
+already in hand, there should be, all the year round, water
+communication up the Blue Nile for hundreds of miles, and upon the
+White Nile, with a few porterages, to the Great Equatorial Lakes, and
+west through the Bahr el Ghazal country. So much was for commerce, for
+material benefaction, but there was besides recognition of what was
+due to higher needs. I knew the Sirdar had long entertained the idea
+of fitly commemorating General Gordon's glorious self-abnegation in
+striving to help the natives, single-handed, fighting unto death
+ignorance and fanaticism. A scheme that would provide for the
+education of the youth of the Soudan, conveying to them the stores of
+knowledge taught in the colleges of civilised countries, was what he
+aimed at. The desired institution should be founded in Khartoum, which
+was to become a centre of light and guidance for the new nation being
+born to rule Central Africa. As the Mussulman is nothing if not
+fanatical whenever religious questions are introduced, it was to be a
+foundation solely devoted to teaching exact knowledge without any
+"ism."
+
+I had the opportunity afforded me of several conversations with the
+Sirdar upon the subject so dear to him, "a Gordon Memorial College in
+Khartoum." The substance of these interviews I cabled fully to the
+_Daily Telegraph_, which, with most other journals, warmly advocated
+the carrying out of the scheme. It was certain that Gordon and
+Khartoum would remain objects of interest to our race, and that public
+sentiment demanded the erection of some proper memorial of the sad
+past. Nothing better than the founding of a People's College could be
+thought of. Lamentable ignorance of the world and all therein was and
+yet is the direct curse of the land. The natives have had no
+opportunity of learning anything beyond the parrot-smattering of the
+Koran, the one book of Moslem schools. The rudimentary knowledge
+common to British schoolboys transcends all the learning of the wise
+in the Soudan. The people, Arabs and blacks, are docile and capable of
+readily learning everything taught in the ordinary scholastic
+curriculum at home. With a minimum annual income of £1500 a year,
+teachers and apparatus could, it was said, be provided, although in
+addition five or six thousand pounds sterling would be required for
+preliminary outlay. The land and part of the necessary buildings, the
+Sirdar intimated, would probably be presented as a gift by the
+Egyptian Government. It would be futile, as all knew, trying to
+succeed with a staff of native teachers. Tribal relations and other
+causes stood in the way, and unless the college was to be doomed to
+failure it would have to be launched and conducted by virile European
+professors. Much if not all of the food required for the staff and
+scholars could be purchased cheaply or might be raised in the college
+grounds by the pupils themselves. Technical training would be taught
+hand in hand with the ordinary courses. These were the outlines of the
+Sirdar's communications, who, by the way, at that date was already
+being known as Lord Kitchener of Khartoum. It having been noticed that
+certain dignitaries and others were, through the press, ruining the
+scheme by attempts to foist upon it theological and medical schools, a
+complete answer was found for their statements by a near relative of
+Gordon Pasha. In the course of conversation he referred to what I knew
+to be the facts, that the British and Egyptian army doctors wherever
+stationed in the Soudan, or from Assouan south, were wont to give
+medicines and professional services to the civil population free of
+charge. General Gordon, I was authorised to state, was no
+narrow-spirited Christian, for he always put the need of giving
+education before attempts at proselytising. It is not generally known
+amongst strait-laced sectarians or churchmen that Gordon Pasha, at his
+own expense, built a mosque for the devout Mohammedans whom he ruled,
+and that his name, as worthy to be remembered in Moslem annals, is
+inscribed upon the walls of the Mosque at Mecca. That General Gordon
+was a staunch Christian goes without saying, but he was no churl who
+could not esteem and respect the faith of his fellow-men. But the case
+is well summed up in Lord Kitchener's subsequent letter to the press.
+
+The Sirdar wrote:--
+
+    "SIR,--I trust that it will not be thought that I am trespassing
+    too much upon the goodwill of the British public, or that I am
+    exceeding the duties of a soldier, if I call your attention to an
+    issue of very grave importance arising immediately out of the
+    recent campaign in the Soudan. That region now lies in the pathway
+    of our Empire, and a numerous population has become practically
+    dependent upon men of our race.
+
+    "A responsible task is henceforth laid upon us, and those who have
+    conquered are called upon to civilise. In fact, the work
+    interrupted since the death of Gordon must now be resumed.
+
+    "It is with this conviction that I venture to lay before you a
+    proposal which, if it met with the approval and support of the
+    British public and of the English-speaking race, would prove of
+    inestimable benefit to the Soudan and to Africa. The area of the
+    Soudan comprises a population of upwards of three million persons,
+    of whom it may be said that they are wholly uneducated. The
+    dangers arising from that fact are too obvious and have been too
+    painfully felt during many years past for me to dwell upon them.
+    In the course of time, no doubt, an education of some sort, and
+    administered by some hands, will be set on foot. But if Khartoum
+    could be made forthwith the centre of an education supported by
+    British funds and organised from Britain, there would be secured
+    to this country indisputably the first place in Africa as a
+    civilising power, and an effect would be created which would be
+    felt for good throughout the central regions of that continent. I
+    accordingly propose that at Khartoum there should be founded and
+    maintained with British money a college bearing the name of the
+    Gordon Memorial College, to be a pledge that the memory of Gordon
+    is still alive among us, and that his aspirations are at length to
+    be realised.
+
+    "Certain questions will naturally arise as to whom exactly we
+    should educate, and as to the nature of the education to be given.
+    Our system would need to be gradually built up. We should begin by
+    teaching the sons of the leading men, the heads of villages, and
+    the heads of districts. They belong to a race very capable of
+    learning and ready to learn. The teaching, in its early stages,
+    would be devoted to purely elementary subjects, such as reading,
+    writing, geography, and the English language. Later, and after
+    these preliminary stages had been passed, a more advanced course
+    would be instituted, including a training in technical subjects
+    specially adapted to the requirements of those who inhabit the
+    Valley of the Upper Nile. The principal teachers in the college
+    would be British and the supervision of the arrangements would be
+    vested in the Governor-General of the Soudan. I need not add that
+    there would be no interference with the religion of the people.
+
+    "The fund required for the establishment of such a college is
+    £100,000. Of this, £10,000 would be appropriated to the initial
+    outlay, while the remaining £90,000 would be invested, and the
+    revenue thence derived would go to the maintenance of the college
+    and the support of the staff of teachers. It would be clearly
+    impossible at first to require payment from the pupils, but as the
+    college developed and the standard of its teaching rose, it would
+    be fair to demand fees in respect of this higher education, which
+    would thus support itself, and render the college independent of
+    any further call upon the public. It is for the provision of this
+    sum of £100,000 that I now desire to appeal, on behalf of a race
+    dependent upon our mercy, in the name of Gordon, and in the cause
+    of that civilisation which is the life of the Empire of Britain.
+
+    "I am authorised to state that Her Majesty the Queen has been
+    graciously pleased to become the patron of the movement. His Royal
+    Highness the Prince of Wales has graciously consented to become
+    vice-patron.
+
+    "I may state that a general council of the leading men of the
+    country is in course of formation. Lord Hillingdon has kindly
+    consented to accept the post of hon. treasurer. The Hon. George
+    Peel has accepted to act as hon. secretary, and all communications
+    should be addressed to him at 67, Lombard Street, London, E.C.
+    Subscriptions should be paid to the Sirdar's Fund for the 'Gordon
+    Memorial College' at Khartoum, Messrs Glyn, Mills, Currie, & Co.,
+    67, Lombard Street, London, E.C.
+
+    "Enclosed herewith is a letter from the Marquis of Salisbury, in
+    which he states that this scheme represents the only policy by
+    which the civilising mission of this country can effectively be
+    accomplished. His lordship adds that it is only to the rich men of
+    this country that it is possible for me to look, yet I should be
+    glad for this appeal to find its way to all classes of our people.
+
+    "I further enclose a letter from the Baroness Burdett-Coutts,
+    whose devotion to the cause of Africa has been not the least of
+    her magnificent services. I forward, besides, an important
+    telegram from the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, and letters of great
+    weight from the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, and the Lord Provost of
+    Glasgow. I would venture to address myself to the other great
+    municipalities of the Kingdom.
+
+    "Above all, it is in the hands of the Press of this country that I
+    place this cause. I look with confidence to your support in the
+    discharge of this high obligation.--I have the honour to remain,
+    yours faithfully,
+
+                                     "(Signed) KITCHENER OF KHARTOUM."
+
+Lords Salisbury and Rosebery, and many more distinguished personages,
+followed the example of the Sovereign and the Prince of Wales and
+became supporters of the proposed institution. In the Metropolis as
+well as in all the chief towns of the Kingdom the matter was taken up
+enthusiastically. An influential committee was formed. The
+subscriptions were showered in from home and abroad, wherever the
+English tongue was spoken and Gordon had been known. In less than a
+month the £100,000, and considerably more, were subscribed, and the
+establishment of the Memorial College assured.
+
+Lieut.-Colonel C. S. B. Parsons, R.A., Governor of Kassala and the Red
+Sea littoral, to whom I have previously referred when we were
+advancing against Omdurman, was menacing the dervish outpost of
+Gedarif. Later on, when Ahmed Fadl was marching to reinforce his
+master the Khalifa, Colonel Parsons was leading his Egyptians,
+Abyssinian irregulars, and friendlies from Kassala up the head waters
+or khor of the Atbara, far to the southward, and thence to a tributary
+of the Blue Nile where the enemy had long had a garrison. The fifteen
+years' campaign against Mahdism was nigh over, but not quite
+concluded, with the victory of Omdurman. On receiving the check from
+the gunboats, Fadl and his dervishes retreated up the Blue Nile to
+where they had come from, their own country upon the borders of
+Abyssinia. News seems to have reached them of Colonel Parsons'
+advance, and it became a race for Gedarif. The Egyptians had a good
+start, and managed to reach and capture the place and occupy the two
+forts, one on either side of the river, or, what it is more
+frequently, the khor, before the dervishes got back. Fadl was a man
+of mettle and resolutely assaulted the town and forts of which he had
+so long been governor. A desperate action ensued, but Fadl was beaten
+off with a loss of 700, it is said, in killed and wounded. The
+casualties in Colonel Parsons' force were about 100. But the
+dervishes, though severely beaten, soon returned to attack the forts.
+With increased numbers they sat down before the place and began to
+harass sorely the Egyptian troops, cutting their communications with
+Kassala, whence by wire to Massowah over the Italian lines and up the
+Red Sea to Egypt the Sirdar was able to keep in touch with Colonel
+Parsons. They endeavoured again, on several occasions, to storm one or
+other of the forts, which were about half a mile apart, but happily
+they were invariably repulsed. Still they persisted in their tactics
+of worrying, evidently determined to recapture the place. At last
+matters grew so serious that Major-General Rundle was sent with a
+brigade of infantry and several batteries to deal with Ahmed Fadl's
+dervishes. Advancing up the Blue Nile in gunboats, the Egyptian force
+cleared the banks of all the many wandering armed bands of the enemy.
+Through the aid of the wily Abyssinian scouts, information was sent to
+and received from Colonel Parsons and a plan arranged for catching
+Fadl and his men between two attacking columns. Seventeen hundred men
+of the Omdurman force attacked the dervishes on one side, whilst
+Colonel Parsons' garrison assailed them from the other. The enemy were
+completely routed and scattered in all directions. Hundreds of
+dervishes were slain, and ultimately many who escaped were so closely
+pressed by friendlies and Abyssinians that they surrendered. A
+thousand fugitive Baggara or so vainly tried to make their way up the
+Blue Nile, in order to retire to their former country in Kordofan.
+They were caught crossing far up stream, near Rosaires, by Colonel
+Lewis, vigorously attacked, defeated, and finally scattered. Thus the
+last dervish army in the field was destroyed, and the country
+reclaimed to the side of peace, order, and civilised government.
+
+The following are the official despatches of Lieutenant-General Sir
+Francis Grenfell, who commanded the British troops in Egypt, and of
+the Sirdar, relating to the battle of Omdurman:--
+
+    THE OFFICIAL DESPATCHES.
+
+                            Headquarters, Cairo, _September 16, 1898_.
+
+    SIR,--1. I have the honour to forward a despatch from
+    Major-General Sir H. Kitchener, K.C.B., Sirdar, describing the
+    later phases of the Soudan Campaign, and the final action on 2nd
+    September.
+
+    2. The Sirdar, in this despatch, recounts in brief, simple terms
+    the events of the closing phase of one of the most successful
+    campaigns ever conducted by a British General against a savage
+    foe, resulting in the capture of Omdurman, the destruction of the
+    dervish power in the Soudan, and the reopening of the waterway to
+    the Equatorial Provinces.
+
+    3. The concentration of the army on the Atbara was carried out to
+    the hour, and the arrangements for the transport of the force to
+    the vicinity of the battle-field were made by the Sirdar and his
+    staff with consummate ability. All difficulties were foreseen and
+    provided for, and, from the start of the campaign to its close at
+    Omdurman, operations have been conducted with a precision and
+    completeness which have been beyond all praise; while the skill
+    shown in the advance was equalled by the ability with which the
+    army was commanded in the field.
+
+    The Sirdar's admirable disposition of the force, the accurate fire
+    of the artillery and Maxims, and the steady fire discipline of the
+    infantry, assisted by the gunboats, enabled him to destroy his
+    enemy at long range before the bulk of the British and Egyptian
+    force came under any severe rifle fire, and to this cause may be
+    attributed the comparatively small list of casualties. Never were
+    greater results achieved at such a trifling cost.
+
+    4. The heavy loss in killed and wounded in the 21st Lancers is to
+    be deeply regretted. But the charge itself, against an
+    overwhelming force of sword and spear men over difficult ground,
+    and under unfavourable conditions, was worthy of the best
+    traditions of British cavalry.
+
+    5. As regards the force employed, I can say with truth that never,
+    in the course of my service, have I seen a finer body of troops
+    than the British contingent of cavalry, artillery, engineers, and
+    infantry placed at the disposal of the Sirdar, as regards
+    physique, smartness, and soldierlike bearing. The appearance of
+    the men speaks well for the present recruiting department, and was
+    a source of pride to every Englishman who saw them.
+
+    6. While thoroughly endorsing the Sirdar's recommendations, I
+    desire to call attention to the good work done by Major-General
+    Henderson, C.B., and staff at Alexandria, who conducted the
+    disembarkation of the force, and by my own staff at Cairo.
+
+    On Colonel H. Cooper, Assistant Adjutant-General, and
+    Lieut.-Colonel L. A. Hope, Deputy-Assistant Adjutant-General, fell
+    the brunt of the work in the despatch of the British Division to
+    the front.
+
+    I also desire to acknowledge the services of Brevet-Colonel A. O.
+    Green, Commanding Royal Engineer; Surgeon-General H. S. Muir,
+    M.D., Principal Medical Officer; Lieut.-Colonel F. O. Leggett,
+    Army Ordnance Department; Colonel F. Treffry, Army Pay Department;
+    Veterinary-Captain Blenkinsop, and the junior officers of the
+    various departments.
+
+    Major Williams, my C.R.A., was indefatigable in organising the
+    mule transport for the 32nd and 37th Field Batteries.
+
+    7. I have received the greatest assistance from the Egyptian
+    Railway Administration in the movements of the troops both going
+    south and returning.
+
+    Thanks to the admirable system organised by Iskander Bey Fahmy,
+    the traffic manager, all the services were rapidly and punctually
+    carried out.
+
+    8. I am sending this despatch home by my _Aide-de-camp_,
+    Lieutenant H. Grenfell, 1st Life Guards, who acted as Orderly
+    Officer to Brigadier-General Honourable N. G. Lyttelton, C.B.,
+    commanding Second British Brigade in the Soudan.--I have, &c.,
+
+                                 FRANCIS GRENFELL, Lieutenant-General,
+                                                  Commanding in Egypt.
+
+The despatch from Major-General Sir Herbert Kitchener, Sirdar, to
+Lieutenant-General Sir Francis Grenfell, commanding in Egypt, was as
+follows:--
+
+                                        Omdurman, _September 5, 1898_.
+
+    SIR,--It having been decided that an expeditionary force of
+    British and Egyptian troops should be sent against the Khalifa's
+    army in Omdurman, I have the honour to inform you that the
+    following troops were concentrated at the North End of the Sixth
+    Cataract, in close proximity to which an advanced supply depôt had
+    been previously formed at Nasri Island.
+
+    BRITISH TROOPS.--21st Lancers; 32nd Field Battery, Royal
+    Artillery; 37th Howitzer Battery, Royal Artillery; 2 40-prs.,
+    Royal Artillery. Infantry Division:--1st Brigade: 1st Battalion
+    Warwickshire Regiment, 1st Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, 1st
+    Battalion Seaforth Highlanders, 1st Battalion Cameron Highlanders,
+    6 Maxims, Detachment Royal Engineers. 2nd Brigade: 1st Battalion
+    Grenadier Guards, 1st Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, 2nd
+    Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade, 4
+    Maxims, Detachment Royal Engineers.
+
+    EGYPTIAN TROOPS.--9 Squadrons, Cavalry; 1 Battery, Horse
+    Artillery; 4 Field Batteries; 10 Maxims; 8 Companies, Camel Corps.
+    1st Brigade: 2nd Egyptian Battalion; 9th, 10th, and 11th
+    Soudanese Battalions. 2nd Brigade: 8th Egyptian Battalion; 12th,
+    13th, and 14th Soudanese Battalions. 3rd Brigade: 3rd, 4th, 7th,
+    and 15th Egyptian Battalions. 4th Brigade: 1st, 5th, 17th, and
+    18th Egyptian Battalions. Camel Transport.
+
+    On 24th August the troops began moving by successive divisions to
+    Jebel Royan, where a depôt of supplies and a British communication
+    hospital of two hundred beds were established.
+
+    On 28th August, the army marched to Wadi el Abid, and on the
+    following day proceeded to Sayal, from whence I despatched a
+    letter to the Khalifa, warning him to remove his women and
+    children, as I intended to bombard Omdurman unless he surrendered.
+
+    Next day the army marched to Sururab, and on September 1 reached
+    the village of Egeiga, two miles south of the Kerreri hills, and
+    within six miles of Omdurman. Patrols of the enemy's horsemen were
+    frequently seen during the march falling back before our cavalry,
+    and their outposts being driven in beyond Egeiga, our advanced
+    scouts came in full view of Omdurman, from which large bodies of
+    the enemy were seen streaming out and marching north.
+
+    At noon, from the slopes of Jebel Surgham, I saw the entire
+    dervish army some three miles off advancing towards us, the
+    Khalifa's black flag surrounded by his Mulazimin (body-guard)
+    being plainly discernible. I estimated their numbers at 35,000
+    men, though, from subsequent investigation, this figure was
+    probably under-estimated, their actual strength being between
+    forty and fifty thousand. From information received, I gather that
+    it was the Khalifa's intention to have met us with this force at
+    Kerreri, but our rapid advance surprised him.
+
+    The troops were at once disposed around the village of Egeiga,
+    which formed an excellent position with a clear field of fire in
+    every direction, and shelter-trenches and zerebas were prepared.
+
+    At 2 p.m. our vedettes reported that the enemy had halted, and
+    later on it was observed that they were preparing bivouacs and
+    lighting fires. Information was received that the Khalifa
+    contemplated a night attack on our position, and preparations to
+    repel this were made, at the same time the Egeiga villagers were
+    sent out to obtain information in the direction of the enemy's
+    camp with the idea that we intended a night attack, and, this
+    coming to the Khalifa's knowledge, he decided to remain in his
+    position; consequently, we passed an undisturbed night in the
+    zereba.
+
+    Meanwhile the gunboats, under Commander Keppel, which had shelled
+    the dervish advanced camp near Kerreri on 31st August, proceeded
+    at daylight on 1st September, towing the Howitzer Battery to the
+    right bank, whence, in conjunction with the Irregulars under Major
+    Stuart Wortley, their advance south was continued. After two forts
+    had been destroyed and the villages gallantly cleared by the
+    Irregulars, the Howitzers were landed in a good position on the
+    right bank, from whence an effective fire was opened on Omdurman,
+    and, after a few rounds, the conspicuous dome over the Mahdi's
+    tomb was partially demolished, whilst the gunboats, steaming past
+    the town, also effectually bombarded the forts, which replied with
+    a heavy, but ill-directed fire.
+
+    At dawn on the following morning (2nd September), our mounted
+    patrols reported the enemy advancing to attack, and by 6.30 a.m.
+    the Egyptian Cavalry, which had been driven in, took up a position
+    with the Horse Artillery, Camel Corps, and four Maxims on the
+    Kerreri ridge on our right flank.
+
+    At 6.40 a.m. the shouts of the advancing dervish army became
+    audible, and a few minutes later their flags appeared over the
+    rising ground, forming a semi-circle round our left and front
+    faces. The guns of the 32nd Field Battery opened fire at 6.45 a.m.
+    at a range of two thousand eight hundred yards, and the dervishes,
+    continuing to advance rapidly, delivered their attack with all
+    their accustomed dash and intrepidity. In a short time the troops
+    and Maxims on the left and front were hotly engaged, whilst the
+    enemy's riflemen, taking up positions on the slopes of Jebel
+    Surgham, brought a long-range fire to bear on the zereba, causing
+    some casualties, and their spearmen, continually reinforced from
+    the rear, made attempt after attempt to reach our lines.
+
+    Shortly after 8.0 a.m. the enemy's main attack was repulsed. At
+    this period a large and compact body of dervishes was observed
+    attempting to march round our right, and advancing with great
+    rapidity they soon became engaged with our mounted troops on the
+    Kerreri ridge. One of the gunboats which had been disposed to
+    protect the river flanks at once proceeded down stream to afford
+    assistance to the somewhat hardly-pressed mounted troops, and
+    coming within close range of the dervishes inflicted heavy loss on
+    them, upwards of 450 men being killed in a comparatively
+    circumscribed area. The Artillery and Maxims on the left face of
+    the zereba also co-operated, and the enemy was forced to retire
+    again under cover of the hills.
+
+    All attacks on our position having failed, and the enemy having
+    retired out of range, I sent out the 21st Lancers to clear the
+    ground on our left front and head off any retreating dervishes
+    from the direction of Omdurman. After crossing the slopes of Jebel
+    Surgham they came upon a body of dervishes concealed in a
+    depression of the ground; these they gallantly charged, but
+    finding, too late to withdraw, that a much larger body of the
+    enemy lay hidden, the charge was pressed home through them, and,
+    after rallying on the other side, they rode back, driving off the
+    dervishes, and remaining in possession of the ground. Considerable
+    loss was inflicted on the enemy; but I regret to say that here
+    fell Lieutenant R. Grenfell (12th Lancers) and twenty men.
+
+    Meanwhile I had ordered the army to follow in échelon of brigades
+    from the left. At 9.30 a.m. the front brigades having reached the
+    sand ridge running from the west end of Jebel Surgham towards the
+    river, a halt was ordered to enable the rear brigades to get into
+    position, and I then received information that the Khalifa was
+    still present in force on the left slopes of Surgham; a change of
+    front half-right of the three leading brigades was, therefore,
+    ordered, and it was during this movement that Macdonald's brigade
+    became hotly engaged, whilst taking up position on the right of
+    the échelon.
+
+    Learning from General Hunter, who was with Macdonald's brigade,
+    that he might require support, I despatched Wauchope's brigade to
+    reinforce him, and ordered the remaining brigades to make a
+    further change half-right.
+
+    No sooner had Macdonald repelled the dervish onslaught than the
+    force, which had retired behind the Kerreri hills, emerged again
+    into the plain and rapidly advanced to attack him, necessitating a
+    further complete change of front of his brigade to the right. This
+    movement was admirably executed, and now, supported by a portion
+    of Wauchope's brigade on the right and by Lewis's brigade
+    enfilading the attack on the left, he completely crushed this
+    second most determined dervish charge.
+
+    Meantime Maxwell's and Lyttelton's brigades had been pushed on
+    over the slopes of Jebel Surgham, and driving before them the
+    dervish forces under the Khalifa's son, Osman Sheikh ed Din, they
+    established themselves in a position which cut off the retreat on
+    Omdurman of the bulk of the dervish army, who were soon seen
+    streaming in a disorganised mass towards the high hills many miles
+    to the west, closely pursued by the mounted troops, who cleared
+    the right front and flanks of all hesitating and detached parties
+    of the enemy.
+
+    The battle was now practically over, and Lyttelton's and Maxwell's
+    brigades marched down to Khor Shambat, in the direction of
+    Omdurman, which was reached at 12.30 p.m., and here the troops
+    rested and watered. The remainder of Hunter's division and
+    Wauchope's brigade reached the same place at 3 p.m.
+
+    At 2 p.m. I advanced with Maxwell's brigade and the 32nd Field
+    Battery through the suburbs of Omdurman to the great wall of the
+    Khalifa's enclosure, and, leaving two guns and three battalions to
+    guard the approaches, the 13th Soudanese Battalion and four guns
+    (32nd Field Battery) were pushed down by the north side of the
+    wall to the river, and, accompanied by three gunboats which had
+    been previously ordered to be ready for this movement, these
+    troops penetrated the breaches in the wall made by the howitzers,
+    marched south along the line of forts, and turning in at the main
+    gateway found a straight road leading to the Khalifa's house and
+    Mahdi's tomb; these were speedily occupied, the Khalifa having
+    quitted the town only a short time before our entry, after a vain
+    effort to collect his men for further resistance.
+
+    The gunboats continued up the river clearing the streets of
+    dervishes, and, having returned to the remainder of the brigade
+    left at the corner of the wall, these were pushed forward, and
+    occupied all the main portions of the town. Guards were at once
+    mounted over the principal buildings and Khalifa's stores, and
+    after visiting the prison and releasing the European prisoners,
+    the troops bivouacked at 7 p.m. around the town, after a long and
+    trying day, throughout which all ranks displayed qualities of high
+    courage, discipline, and endurance.
+
+    The gunboats and Egyptian Cavalry and Camel Corps at once started
+    in pursuit south; but owing to the exhausted condition of the
+    animals and the flooded state of the country, which prevented them
+    from communicating with the gunboat carrying their forage and
+    rations, they were reluctantly obliged to abandon the pursuit
+    after following up the flying Khalifa for 30 miles through marshy
+    ground. The gunboats continued south for 90 miles, but were unable
+    to come in touch with the Khalifa, who left the river and fled
+    westward towards Kordofan, followed by the armed friendly tribes
+    who took up the pursuit on the return of the mounted troops.
+
+    Large stores of ammunition, powder, some sixty guns of various
+    sorts, besides vast quantities of rifles, swords, spears, banners,
+    drums, and other war materials, were captured on the battle-field
+    and in Omdurman.
+
+    The result of this battle is the practical annihilation of the
+    Khalifa's army, the consequent extinction of Mahdism in the
+    Soudan, and the submission of the whole country formerly ruled
+    under Egyptian authority. This has re-opened vast territories to
+    the benefits of peace, civilisation, and good government.
+
+    On 4th September the British and Egyptian flags were hoisted with
+    due ceremony on the walls of the ruined Palace of Khartoum, close
+    to the spot where General Gordon fell, and this event is looked
+    upon by the rejoicing populations as marking the commencement of a
+    new era of peace and prosperity for their unfortunate country.
+
+    It would be impossible for any Commander to have been more ably
+    seconded than I was by the General Officers serving under me.
+    Major-Generals Hunter, Rundle, and Gatacre have displayed the
+    highest qualities as daring and skilful leaders, as well as being
+    endowed with administrative capabilities of a high order. It is in
+    the hands of such officers that the Service may rest assured their
+    best interests will, under all circumstances, be honourably
+    upheld, and while expressing to them my sincere thanks for their
+    cordial co-operation with me, I have every confidence in most
+    highly recommending the names of these General Officers for the
+    favourable consideration of Her Majesty's Government.
+
+    The manner in which the Brigadiers handled their respective
+    brigades, their thorough knowledge of their profession, and their
+    proved skill in the field, mark them out, one and all, as fitted
+    for higher rank, and I have great pleasure in submitting their
+    names for favourable consideration:--Brigadier-Generals N. G.
+    Lyttelton and A. G. Wauchope; Lieutenant-Colonels J. G. Maxwell,
+    H. A. Macdonald, D. F. Lewis and J. Collinson.
+
+    Macdonald's brigade was highly tested, bearing the brunt of two
+    severe attacks delivered at very short intervals from different
+    directions, and I am sure it must be a source of the greatest
+    satisfaction to Colonel Macdonald, as it is to myself and the
+    whole army, that the very great care he has for long devoted to
+    the training of his brigade has proved so effectual, enabling his
+    men to behave with the greatest steadiness under most trying
+    circumstances, and repelling most successfully two determined
+    dervish onslaughts.
+
+    I should also mention under this category the excellent services
+    performed by Colonel R. H. Martin, commanding 21st Lancers; by
+    Lieut.-Colonel Long, commanding the combined British and Egyptian
+    Artillery; and by Lieut.-Colonel R. G. Broadwood, commanding the
+    Egyptian Cavalry; as well as by Major R. J. Tudway, commanding the
+    Camel Corps. I consider that these various arms could not have
+    been more efficiently commanded than they were throughout the
+    recent operations. The best result was, I believe, attained, and
+    it is due to the skilful handling of their respective commands
+    that the dervish defeat was so complete.
+
+    The Medical Department was administered with ability and skill by
+    Surgeon-General Taylor, Principal Medical Officer, who was well
+    assisted by Colonel M'Namara, whilst the medical organisation of
+    the Egyptian Army fully maintained its previous excellent
+    reputation under the direction of Lieut.-Colonel Gallwey and his
+    staff. The general medical arrangements were all that could have
+    been desired, and I believe the minimum of pain and maximum of
+    comfort procurable on active service in this country was attained
+    by the unremitting energy, untiring zeal, and devotion to their
+    duty of the entire medical staff.
+
+    Owing to the long line of communications by rail, river, and
+    desert, the work of maintaining a thoroughly efficient supply and
+    transport system, both by land and water, was arduous in the
+    extreme, and that a large British and Egyptian force was brought
+    up to within striking distance of Khartoum, amply supplied with
+    all its requirements, reflects the greatest credit on the supply
+    and transport system. I wish to cordially thank the officers of
+    the Supply, Transport and Railway Departments for the satisfactory
+    results which have attended their labours.
+
+    I consider that the excellent ration which was always provided
+    kept the men strong and healthy and fit to endure all the
+    hardships of an arduous campaign, enabling them, at a critical
+    moment, to support the exceptional fatigue of continuous marching
+    and fighting for some fourteen hours during the height of a Soudan
+    summer.
+
+    The Intelligence Department were, as usual, thoroughly efficient,
+    and their forecasts of the intentions and actions of the enemy
+    were accurate. Colonel Wingate and Slatin Pacha worked
+    indefatigably, and, with their staff, deserve a prominent place
+    amongst those to whom the success of the operations is due.
+
+    The excellent service performed by the gunboats under Commander
+    Keppel and his subordinate officers of the Royal Navy is deserving
+    of special mention. These gunboats have been for a long time past
+    almost constantly under fire; they have made bold reconnaissances
+    past the enemy's forts and rifle pits, and on the 1st and 2nd
+    September, in conjunction with the Irregular levies under Major
+    Stuart Wortley, and the Howitzer Battery, they materially aided in
+    the capture of all the forts on both banks of the Nile, and in
+    making the fortifications of Omdurman untenable. In bringing to
+    notice the readiness of resource, daring, and ability of Commander
+    Keppel and his officers, I wish also to add my appreciation of the
+    services rendered by Engineer E. Bond, Royal Navy, and the
+    engineering staff, as well as of the detachments of the Royal
+    Marine Artillery and the gun crews, who have gained the hearty
+    praise of their commanders.
+
+    The Rev. R. Brindle, the Rev. J. M. Simms, the Rev. A. W. B.
+    Watson, and the Rev. O. S. Watkins won the esteem of all by their
+    untiring devotion to their sacred duties and by their unfailing
+    and cheerful kindness to the sick and wounded at all times.
+
+    To all my personal staff my thanks are specially due for the great
+    assistance they at all times rendered me.
+
+    In conclusion, I have great pleasure in expressing my
+    appreciation of the services rendered by the detachments of the
+    Royal Engineers, Army Ordnance Corps, and Telegraph and Postal
+    Departments.
+
+The names of a large number of officers, non-commissioned officers,
+and men who had been brought to the Sirdar's notice for good service
+were appended to the despatch.
+
+Two other documents call for notice, the Queen's message and the
+Sirdar's general order to his army after the victory.
+
+    "From the Queen to the Sirdar, Khartoum.--I congratulate you and
+    all your brave troops under fire on the brilliant success which
+    you have achieved. I am grieved for the losses which have been
+    sustained, but trust the wounded are doing well.--VICTORIA."
+
+    "The Sirdar congratulates all the troops upon their excellent
+    behaviour during the general action to-day, resulting in the total
+    defeat of the Khalifa's forces and worthily avenging Gordon. The
+    Sirdar regrets the loss that has occurred, and, while warmly
+    thanking the troops, wishes to place on record his admiration for
+    their courage, discipline, and endurance.
+
+                                           "(Signed) H. M. L. RUNDLE."
+
+Long lists of honours and promotions were subsequently published in
+the _Gazette_. Of these, the more prominent officers who received such
+recognition of their distinguished services were as follows: The
+Sirdar was raised to the peerage as Lord Kitchener of Khartoum. In
+addition thereto the dignity G.C.B. was conferred upon the Sirdar, and
+Sir Francis Grenfell. Major-Generals W. F. Gatacre, A. Hunter, and H.
+M. L. Rundle were created K.C.B.'s, and the dignity of Companion of
+the Bath was granted to Surgeon-General William Taylor, Colonel V.
+Hatton, Colonel L. C. Money, Colonel T. E. Verner, Colonel W. H.
+M'Namara, R.A.M.C., Lieut.-Col. R. A. Hope, Lieut.-Col. Collingwood,
+Lieut.-Col. D. F. Lewis, Lieut.-Col. J. Collinson, Lieut.-Col. W. E.
+G. Forbes, Lieut.-Col. M. Q. Jones, Lieut.-Col. F. R. South,
+Lieut.-Col. R. H. Martin, Lieut.-Col. W. G. C. Wyndham, and Commander
+C. R. Keppel, R. N. Colonel F. R. Wingate was made a Knight Commander
+of the Order of St Michael and St George, and a like dignity was
+conferred upon Colonel R. Slatin Pasha. Distinguished Service Orders
+were granted to the Rev. R. Brindle, Lieut.-Col. C. V. F. Townshend,
+Lieut.-Col. G. A. Hughes, Lieut.-Col. C. J. Blomfield, Lieut.-Col. F.
+Lloyd, Major E. J. M. Stuart Wortley, Major E. M. Wilson, R.A.M.C.,
+Major G. Cockburn, Major Hon. C. Lambton, Major N. E. Young, Major C.
+E. Laurie, and Major F. J. Maxse, Captain C. C. Fleming, R.A.M.C.,
+Lieutenant G. C. M. Hall, Lieutenant F. Hubbard. The Khedive conferred
+the Medjidieh and Osmanlieh orders on a large number of officers.
+Others, whose names did not appear in the order list, figured in that
+of army promotions. Victoria Crosses were given to Captain P. A.
+Kenna, 21st Lancers, Lieutenant R. H. L. J. de Montmorency, 21st
+Lancers, Private Thomas Byrne, 21st Lancers (for turning back in the
+charge and rescuing Lieutenant Molyneux), Captain N. M. Smyth, 2nd
+Dragoon Guards.
+
+Lieut.-Col. H. A. Macdonald, C.B., D.S.O., was made an extra A.D.C. to
+the Queen.
+
+The Sirdar on his return to Lower Egypt met with an enthusiastic
+reception. Lord Cromer, Sir Francis Grenfell and all the notables in
+Cairo met him and the troops turned out to escort him to his
+residence. He was entertained in Cairo at a grand banquet. When he
+visited England even a heartier and grander welcome was extended to
+the victor of Omdurman and the destroyer of Mahdism. The public
+acclaimed him, and honours and dignities were showered upon him ere he
+returned to resume his self-imposed task of reconstructing the Soudan.
+
+Colonel Hector A. Macdonald alone seems as yet to have had extended to
+him scant military recognition of his invaluable services. The post of
+A.D.C. to Her Majesty is a coveted dignity, but a mere honorary
+office, carrying neither pay nor emolument. Indeed it is the other
+way, for the accessories required to bedeck the person will cost at
+least £25. But the fact cannot be forgotten, or cried down, that
+Colonel Macdonald saved the situation. He fought a single-handed
+battle against tremendous odds and won. First he faced the Khalifa and
+fought him to a finish, and then faced about and served Sheikh Ed
+Din's unbeaten dervishes in much the same fashion. For reasons that
+could be given, and which reflect no discredit upon the other
+brigadier, Colonel Lewis' force was not moved promptly up to
+Macdonald's support. Honour lists and promotion lists still keep
+cropping up, and possibly the military authorities are yet
+deliberating what is the right thing to do in Macdonald's case. In the
+Scotch press, and particularly in that of the Far North, there has
+been much adverse comment on the ungenerous treatment accorded their
+countryman. The Highlanders, as is their nature, write and speak
+passionately of the matter, and pertinently ask if the authorities
+wish no more Highland recruits. From the paper of his own district,
+the Dingwall _North Star_, I quote the following lines:--
+
+    "In glen and clachan, England's tardy debt
+    The clansmen's pride will adequately pay:
+    Round Nor'land hearths when lamplit nights are long,
+    Thy fame shall ever live in many a tale and song."
+
+The battle of Omdurman was not the only occasion in which Colonel
+Macdonald has exhibited magnificent tactical skill combined with
+soldierly dash and undaunted courage. It is not so long since the
+Atbara was fought, and in half a score of engagements before that he
+quitted himself equally well. He was deservedly promoted from the
+ranks, and to Field-Marshal Lord Roberts is due the credit of having
+discovered and properly appreciated the gallant Highlandman. His
+record is one for any man to be proud of, for to his own hand he owes
+his present distinguished position. I again quote from the _North
+Star_:--
+
+    "Colonel Macdonald was born at Rootfield, in the parish of
+    Urquhart, in the county of Ross and Cromarty, and on the property
+    of Mr Mackenzie of Allangrange. He began life as a stable-boy with
+    Bailie Robertson, of the National Hotel, Dingwall, when tenant of
+    the farm of Kinkell, Conon Bridge. At the age of seventeen he went
+    to Inverness and became an apprentice draper with Mr William
+    Mackay, late of the Clan Tartan Warehouse. In this capacity he
+    served two years, but finding mercantile life distasteful to him,
+    he enlisted in the 92nd Regiment. Here his qualities procured
+    for him rapid promotion. He successively and successfully
+    discharged the duties of drill-instructor, pay-sergeant, and other
+    non-commissioned offices, and held the rank of colour-sergeant at
+    the commencement of the Afghan campaign, wherein he repeatedly so
+    greatly distinguished himself.
+
+    "Macdonald's first engagement with an enemy was at Jagi Thanni. On
+    that occasion General Roberts, escorted by the 9th Lancers and 5th
+    Punjaub Cavalry, advanced from Ali Kheyl to Kushi, and, while
+    passing by Jagi Thanni, he was attacked by about 2000 Mangals and
+    Machalgah Ghilzais, who there lay in ambush. Fortunately, early
+    intimation of the Mangals' hostile intentions reached Fort
+    Karatiga, a mile or two off, and a party of 45 men of the 3rd
+    Sikhs, under Jemander Shere Mahomed Khan, was at once sent out to
+    reconnoitre, and, as firing was soon afterwards heard in the
+    direction the party had gone, Colour-Sergeant Macdonald promptly
+    turned out with 18 men of his own regiment, and overtaking the
+    Sikhs, he took over command of the whole, and, gallantly leading
+    his little force across a difficult river and up a steep hill, he
+    boldly attacked and dislodged the enemy from a strong position on
+    the crest, but not before four of the Sikhs were killed, and
+    Deputy-Surgeon-General Townsend, who rode near General Roberts,
+    severely wounded. The enemy's loss here was about 30 killed.
+    Macdonald's brilliant services on this occasion averted something
+    like a disaster. In a Divisional Order, Roberts wrote:--'The above
+    non-commissioned officer and a native officer, with a handful of
+    soldiers, drove before them a large body of Mangals, who had
+    assembled to stop the road, ... the great coolness, judgment, and
+    gallantry with which they behaved.' In his despatch, dated Cabul,
+    15th October, and published in the _Gazette_, General Roberts
+    further said:--'Meanwhile, a warm engagement had for some time
+    been carried on in the direction of Karatiga, and presently large
+    numbers of the enemy were seen retreating before a small
+    detachment of the 92nd Highlanders and 3rd Sikhs, which had been
+    sent out from Karatiga, and which was, with excellent judgment and
+    boldness, led up a steep spur commanding the defile. The energy
+    and skill with which this party was handled reflected the highest
+    credit on Colour-Sergeant Hector Macdonald, 92nd Highlanders, and
+    Jemander Shere Mahomed, 3rd Sikhs. But for their excellent
+    services on this occasion, it might probably have been impossible
+    to carry out the programme of our march.' In the same _Gazette_
+    was published another despatch from Sir F. Roberts, dated Cabul,
+    20th October, in which he says:--'Colour-Sergeant H. Macdonald, a
+    non-commissioned officer, whose excellent and skilful management
+    of a small detachment when opposed to immensely superior numbers
+    in the Hazardarakht defile was mentioned in my despatch of the
+    16th instant, here again distinguished himself.' This refers to
+    his conduct at Charasiab, at the close of which action our brave
+    countryman was sent for by Roberts, who publicly complimented and
+    thanked him personally for 'the ability and intelligence with
+    which he handled the party under his command' at the battle.
+    Macdonald's commission was conferred on the recommendation of
+    General Roberts, that distinguished officer having witnessed
+    repeated proofs of his valour and capacity."
+
+In 1885 Colonel Macdonald joined the then reorganised Egyptian
+Constabulary and received rapid promotion. From these, on other
+changes being made, he passed into the Khedivial army, drilling and
+training new Soudanese levies. So thorough a soldier is too valuable
+to be longer left in the Soudan now that peace is assured.
+
+[Illustration: COL. H. MACDONALD AT OMDURMAN, WITH OFFICER AND
+NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICER OF 1ST BRIGADE.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE FASHODA AFFAIR.--A RED BRITISH LINE THROUGH AFRICA.
+
+
+France is following in the footsteps of Spain. A fatality dogs her
+schemes of empire and colonisation. In truth she has no colonies--they
+are but military possessions. She has set her face, alone and in
+conjunction with others, in America, Asia, and Africa to hoop our
+enterprises in with bands of iron. Failure attended her policy across
+the Atlantic, in India, in Burmah, and but the other day at Fashoda.
+Her object in that last instance was to connect her possessions in
+West and East Africa, so that the red British lines which are steadily
+extending from North and South Africa should never be joined. France
+is the largest holder of territory upon the Dark Continent, and she
+probably regarded that fact as the best justification for her subtle
+move, through the Marchand and Abyssinian Missions, to add still more
+to her dominions. She had been permitted to hoop us about at Bathurst
+and Sierra Leone upon the West Coast and has all but completed the
+same process round Ashantee and the Niger countries, not to speak of
+elsewhere. Madagascar she had grabbed without a shadow of excuse, but
+time and South African civilisation will make it a bigger Cuba.
+Already her failures at government in that vast African island are
+grievous. Less than five years ago, to use a phrase I have employed
+elsewhere, property and life were ridiculously safe in that country.
+But then the Hovas and Prime Minister Rainilaiarivony ruled the land.
+Other changes predicted have come about there. The one native who
+showed honesty and courage in successfully opposing them at Tamatave
+the French subsequently executed. The Queen and Prime Minister were
+banished. Speaking English, the chief foreign language spoken, has
+been tabooed. Natives who are heard using it, or suspected of
+employing our mother tongue, are thrust into prison and kept there,
+_pour encourager les autres_, until they promise to discontinue
+speaking it. Association of natives with English or Americans renders
+them marked persons. The Protestant missions are regarded as centres
+of treason and enmity to French authority. Quickly, as foretold, has
+come about their reward(?) for non-interference politically in the
+early days of French intrigue. Had they insisted, with the British
+Government of a bygone day, in saving the island for the Malagasy,
+they would have succeeded. Our commerce has also had to suffer, for
+the French _instruct_ the natives that they must only buy articles of
+French manufacture. The native who purchases British or American goods
+soon discovers, from the severe handling he receives through the local
+officials, that he has made a serious mistake. Robbery and
+lawlessness are rife, and in many places neither life nor property is
+safe beyond rifle-shot of the French garrisons. The facts are
+notorious and are in possession of the Foreign Office in Downing
+Street.
+
+It had leaked out a day or two after the battle that the Sirdar
+intended accompanying the expedition to Fashoda. The troops ordered to
+proceed up the Nile with him were paraded outside Omdurman on the
+morning of the 8th of September. These were 600 men of the 11th
+Soudanese under Major Jackson, 600 men of the 13th Soudanese under
+Major Smith Dorrian, 100 men of the Cameron Highlanders under Captain
+the Hon. A. D. Murray, and Captain Peake's battery of 12½-pounder
+Maxim-Nordenfeldt guns. At the same time the force that was to be sent
+across to reoccupy and assist in rebuilding the ruined Government
+buildings in Khartoum also turned out for inspection. Nothing was left
+to chance. Care was taken that only those fit and well should proceed
+on the gunboats and barges to Fashoda. Provision was made that the
+work of reconstruction should go on in his absence, and that Khartoum
+and Omdurman should be left in a proper state of defence. A great air
+of official mystification and secrecy prevailed respecting everything
+that happened at that time. Particulars were difficult to glean of the
+actual condition of affairs up the Blue and White Niles. Even the
+plans for the removal of the military headquarters and the
+re-establishment of the central authority in Khartoum were sealed
+against us. As the telegraph service was in the Sirdar's hands, much
+of the pains bestowed to keep news from us was surely unnecessary.
+But the Sirdar has a way of bestowing confidences on no one--simply
+issuing orders when the occasion arrives.
+
+Since my return to England a reference to the correspondence disclosed
+in the official despatches or Fashoda Blue-book proves the correctness
+of the information that reached me even at that early stage. From the
+summary of the documents which appeared in the _Daily Telegraph_ of
+10th October, we learn that "before the battle of Omdurman Lord
+Salisbury had given instructions to the Sirdar through Lord Cromer,"
+as follows:--
+
+    "It is desirable that you should be placed in possession of the
+    views of Her Majesty's Government in respect to the line of action
+    to be followed in the event of Khartoum being occupied at an early
+    date by the forces now operating in the Soudan under the command
+    of Sir Herbert Kitchener.
+
+    "Her Majesty's Government do not contemplate that after the
+    occupation of Khartoum any further military operations on a large
+    scale, or involving any considerable expense, will be undertaken
+    for the occupation of the provinces to the south. But the Sirdar
+    is authorised to send two flotillas, one up the White and the
+    other up the Blue Nile.
+
+    "You are authorised to settle the composition of these two forces
+    in consultation with the Sirdar.
+
+    "Sir Herbert Kitchener should in person command the White Nile
+    flotilla as far as Fashoda, and may take with him a small body of
+    British troops, should you concur with him in thinking such a
+    course desirable.
+
+    "The officer in command of the Blue Nile flotilla is authorised to
+    go as far as the foot of the cataract, which is believed to
+    commence about Rosaires. He is not to land troops with a view to
+    marching beyond the point on the river navigable for steamers.
+    Should he, before reaching Rosaires, encounter any Abyssinian
+    outposts, he is to halt, report the circumstance, and wait for
+    further instructions.
+
+    "In dealing with any French or Abyssinian authorities who may be
+    encountered, nothing should be said or done which would in any way
+    imply a recognition on behalf of Her Majesty's Government of a
+    title to possession on behalf of France or Abyssinia to any
+    portion of the Nile Valley."
+
+Although everybody engaged in the Fashoda expedition was repeatedly
+warned not to disclose anything about it, and to forget all they had
+seen or heard, I was enabled very shortly after the event to wire, day
+by day, the whole story of the enterprise. It was General Grant, who,
+during the Civil War in the United States of America, terribly vexed
+at the newspaper correspondents, on one occasion vowed he would send
+them all away and not have a press-man in his army. "Then, General,"
+said the American journalist addressed, "may I ask what are you going
+to do without soldiers, every man of them can speak and write?"
+General Grant saw the absurdity of the position and smiled, and there
+was an end of the matter. It was, perhaps, a choice of one of two
+evils, either accepting and making the best of the situation to allow
+the trained journalists to remain, or to prepare to meet a tremendous
+inundation of wild letter-writing from all ranks that would find its
+way into the public press and do incalculable harm. "Other times,
+other manners," and those modern generals discredit themselves who
+fail to recognise at the close of the nineteenth century that the
+schoolmaster and the press must be reckoned with.
+
+The information given me by the reis of the "Tewfikieh" proved
+accurate in almost every detail. I confess that, at the time, knowing
+the Arab indifference to exactness in dates, I did not credit his
+assertion that Marchand had reached Fashoda six weeks before the
+dervishes attacked him. Floating down stream in a small steam launch,
+aluminum row-boats, and other craft, the Frenchmen arrived off Fashoda
+on the 10th of July. In 1892-93 the French Government had begun
+sending military or quasi-scientific missions from the west and east
+African coasts to obtain treaties and pre-emption claims to territory
+in the interior. That the French flag should wave from sea to sea was
+their confessed desire. Their incentive was to forestall and annoy
+Great Britain and render worthless the blood and treasure our country
+might spend in smashing the dervishes. Major Marchand set out from the
+west coast or French Congo in 1896, with a small body of Europeans and
+about 500 Senegalese troops. With indomitable zeal and courage he
+pushed east, reaching the vast basin lands of the Bahr el Ghazal after
+sore hardships and the loss of many of his men, chiefly from sickness.
+The spirit that animated the leader and his followers may be gathered
+from the following lines which were written some time ago by a
+non-commissioned officer of Senegalese Rifles to his relatives.
+
+    "We have no rest, not even for a single day, as a moment's delay
+    might render all our exertions useless. All that we shall have
+    done will be wasted if the English or others occupy our route when
+    we want to pass. When you read this letter we shall either be on
+    the Nile or our bones will be slowly whitening in the Egyptian
+    brushwood under a torrid sun. I verily believe that if we are
+    destroyed I shall retain regret for our failure in another world."
+
+Fashoda is 444 miles by river south of Omdurman. It is situated upon
+the west bank, on a low headland which at high Nile becomes an island.
+Before the Mahdist rising, Fashoda was a fortified Egyptian station
+with a garrison of 1000 men, and a native population of nearly 4000.
+The place was enclosed within a ditch and a sun-dried brick wall. From
+its position it commanded the passage of the Nile, which was less than
+half a mile in width. The dervishes allowed the place to fall into
+ruins, only maintaining a very small garrison--less than 100 men--to
+raid for grain to supply Omdurman with, and to collect revenue from
+the native boats. Like the rest of the Soudan, the Shilluk country, in
+which Fashoda is situated, had suffered terribly and been sadly
+depopulated. The country of the Shilluk negroes used to extend for
+several hundred miles northward down the left bank of the Nile from
+the Bahr el Ghazal. It was but a strip, ten miles or so in width,
+their nearest neighbours, with whom they were usually at war, being
+the Baggara Arabs. Like so many other riverain tracts susceptible of
+cultivation, it once teemed with people, the villages along the banks
+appearing to be one continuous row of dwellings. Helped by the
+Shilluks, Major Marchand had no difficulty in capturing Fashoda. The
+old fortification was built upon the only accessible strip of dry
+land, at high Nile, available for miles along the bank in that
+vicinity. Seen from the river, the works consisted of a rectangular
+mud-wall about 200 yards in length, protected by horse-shoe bastions
+at the corners. The Khalifa being as usual in need of supplies sent
+out a small foraging expedition many weeks before our arrival on the
+scene. Starting in the steamers "Safieh" and "Tewfikieh," they
+collected grain and cattle, shipping them down to Omdurman. Learning
+that Europeans had been seen at Fashoda, part of the force proceeded
+there, and engaged the French, attacking them by land and water. The
+date was the 25th of August. Behaving with great steadiness, and
+helped by Shilluks, after a stiff fight the dervishes were driven off,
+after losing a number of men, by Marchand's little garrison. "If they
+had had cannon," said the dervish skipper to me, "they fired so well
+that they would have sunk our steamers." The dervish captains then ran
+their boats down stream to collect their followers and return to
+assault the position. About 100 miles north the "Safieh" stopped to
+collect the raiders, who numbered about a thousand with four brass
+guns.
+
+At six o'clock on the morning of the 10th September, the Sirdar set
+out from Omdurman with his expeditionary force. The troops were
+embarked upon the gunboats "Sultan," "Sheik," "Fatah," and barges
+towed by these vessels. Colonel Wingate, Major Lord Edward Cecil,
+Captain J. K. Watson, A.D.C., and other officers, accompanied the
+General on the stern-wheel steamer "Dal," which had for armament
+several Maxims. A Union Jack, as well as an Egyptian flag, was hoisted
+on the boat. Abundance of ammunition and two months' provisions for
+the force were carried on the steamers and tows. The steamers went
+along very leisurely, going only by daylight. In the afternoon, or
+towards sunset, the flotilla made fast to some suitable bank. The
+troops then formed a sort of camp, and parties went out with saws and
+axes to cut timber for fuel for the boilers. The hard gummy mimosa and
+sunt, when there is not too much sap in it, burns fiercely with a glow
+almost equal to ordinary coal. South of Omdurman, the river still
+being in full flood, the Nile had overspread the low banks for miles.
+There were places where it resembled a lake, two to six miles wide,
+dotted with islands. Landing was not always easily effected, for the
+banks were frequently marshy. There was plenty of good sizable wood to
+be had all along the river, the only difficulty being to reach and cut
+it. More than once, in order to "fill up" the vessels for next day's
+steaming, the Camerons and Soudanese soldiers laboured far into the
+night, hewing and carrying timber for fuel by candle-light and the
+electric beam. Nearing Fashoda the Nile in places ran through channels
+but 400 yards in width. The water was deep and relatively clear, with
+a current of but two miles or less an hour. Unfortunately, it rained
+heavily nearly every night, and the troops quartered upon the barges
+got drenched to the skin, the water pouring, in so many shower-baths,
+through the cracked boarded coverings. It is a peculiarity of most
+tropical climates, that Jupiter Pluvius does most of his work between
+the hours of sunset and sunrise. The natives met with as a rule were
+disposed to be friendly. Those with whom the men talked would not
+quite credit the statement that the Khalifa had been defeated, his
+army destroyed, and that he had run away. On Saturday the 17th
+September, the gunboat "Abu Klea" caught up with and joined the
+flotilla.
+
+During the same night, dervish deserters, blacks, and Arabs came in.
+They stated that a short way further up there was a camp of the enemy.
+On Sunday morning, 18th September, when near Kaka, some 65 miles north
+of Fashoda, the dervish steamer "Safieh" was sighted, lying at the
+east bank close by the enemy's camp. The "Sultan" forged ahead and
+began shelling the enemy with all her guns, using the Maxims as well.
+With great alacrity the dervishes on shore replied, if indeed they did
+not fire first. A few shots also came from the "Safieh." With their
+rifled guns from behind screens of bushes the enemy bravely stood up,
+making excellent practice at the gunboats. The "Sultan" had several
+very narrow escapes, shells passing close over her bows and stern.
+When the other gunboats got up, what with cannon, quick-firing guns,
+and Maxims brought to bear upon the dervish camp, it was speedily
+wrecked and torn. The enemy bolted into the bush, leaving over 200
+dead and wounded behind, including several Baggara and the chief Emir.
+A few shells from the "Sultan" had hulled and shattered the "Safieh,"
+so the victory was complete. Detachments were landed from the gunboats
+and the dervishes driven still further afield. Their camp was looted
+and burned, and the "Safieh" and several nuggars temporarily repaired
+and sent down to Omdurman. It was found that the patch put upon the
+"Safieh's" boiler by chief-engineer Benbow in 1885 was intact. That
+steamer went to rescue Sir Charles Wilson's party who were wrecked on
+their return from Khartoum. Near Shabluka she was attacked by a
+dervish fort and hulled. Lord Charles Beresford, who was in command,
+stuck to the vessel after the boiler blew up, and during the night it
+was repaired. On Sunday, 18th September, the Sirdar despatched a
+Shilluk runner to go by land with a letter to Major Marchand telling
+him of the approach of the Egyptian flotilla. Next morning a reply was
+brought out to the "Dal" when it was within sight of Fashoda by an
+officer in a row-boat flying the French flag, that the garrison would
+receive him as a friendly visitor. Major Marchand furthermore declared
+that by treaty the territory belonged to France and he had
+communicated the fact to his Government, sending his despatches
+through Abyssinia. Precise details of what had been done were
+included.
+
+It was 10 a.m. of the 19th September when the expedition reached
+Fashoda and saw the French flag flying over the fort. A Senegalese
+sentry was walking beneath the tricolor, and a row of these black
+riflemen's heads peeped from the walls and trenches. All of them had
+evidently been turned out under arms. Apparently there were about 300
+people--not more--in the fortification. Steaming close in without
+being hailed, the vessels hove to opposite the works. A row-boat
+manned by Senegalese pushed from the shore and made for the "Dal."
+From the stern staff drooped the French flag, and by the tiller sat
+Major Marchand and an officer, M. Germain. The Major was dressed in a
+suit of white ducks. Below the medium height, of spare habit, with
+something like Dundreary side whiskers, he looked elderly and worn,
+almost twice his years, for he is still a young man. As he stepped
+aboard the steamer, he was received at the side. He and his companion
+shook hands with the Sirdar and the other members of the headquarters
+staff. A relatively brief conference ensued, at which the Sirdar
+stated the object of his mission and his official instructions to
+recover the lost provinces for Egypt. He intended, he said, to occupy
+and hold them. Major Marchand intimated that he had established a
+prior claim for his Government, and had entered into treaties with the
+local rulers securing rights for France to the country along the Nile
+south and through the Bahr el Ghazal. He had established posts at
+Meshra er Rek and elsewhere in that region. Without express orders to
+the contrary from his Government, he would not abandon the old
+Egyptian fort, nor concede an inch of the territory he had acquired.
+The Sirdar said he meant to land, and although he would avoid a
+collision if possible with the Major and his party, yet he would not
+be dissuaded from carrying out his orders because it might be
+unpleasant. Would, he asked, the Major oppose him with force; his
+means were inadequate to do so with any hope of success. Major
+Marchand replied, "No," he was not in a position to justify any
+attempt to contend with arms against the strong flotilla and land army
+that could be brought against him by the Sirdar. Still, he would
+neither yield nor withdraw without the order of his Government. The
+Sirdar stated he was not adverse to letting the two Governments
+settle the matter, meantime they as soldiers could remain on amicable
+terms. In the course of an hour or so he would land his troops and
+occupy a position as near the fort as possible. Major Marchand
+protested, but said that he, under the circumstances, would have to
+accept the situation.
+
+Refreshments are always in order on board a ship where the Royal Navy
+is in command. Over a friendly glass of champagne Marchand and the
+Sirdar chatted on topics of general interest. The Major intimated that
+he was rather short of ammunition and stores. He had sent his steam
+launch south to try and bring up supplies and reinforcements from his
+other stations. The doctor was anxious to obtain the assistance and
+advice of some of the British medical staff as to the best treatment
+of beri-beri or sleeplessness sickness, which had appeared among them.
+Several of the mission had succumbed to that weird disease. It is not
+unknown in the United Kingdom, a case having recently occurred at
+Richmond Asylum, Dublin. After spending about half an hour on board,
+Major Marchand and M. Germain, accompanied by Colonel Wingate and
+Commander Keppel, went ashore together in the row-boat. Landing at the
+fort, the party were received by the garrison with military honours.
+The two British officers were shown every courtesy, and escorted over
+the works, which had been considerably strengthened. A morass or small
+lagoon cut the fortification off in rear from the mainland. It was a
+position which could not easily have been carried by assault, but was
+indefensible against cannon. The Senegalese Tirailleurs forming the
+garrison were paraded for their inspection. There appeared to be about
+120 of them, all stalwart, soldierly fellows, beside whom the
+Frenchmen looked shrunken and diminutive. In addition to the
+Senegalese, or rather natives of Timbuctoo, for such they were, about
+150 Shilluks and nondescript natives made up the remainder of the
+garrison. Including Major Marchand there were nine Europeans, or five
+commissioned and four non-commissioned officers. Of four others who
+had succumbed on the way, two died of beri-beri, one was killed by a
+fall from a tree, and a third by a crocodile. The Nile in that
+vicinity was found to be teeming with animal life. Not only crocodiles
+but hippopotami were seen by those on board the flotilla.
+
+Eventually the five steamers crept as close inshore towards the north
+end of the fort as the shallow overflown land admitted. Colonel
+Wingate and Commander Keppel having returned on board, all the troops
+were ordered to disembark. The steamers were made fast to the banks,
+and planks were placed ashore. They were of little use, for officers
+and men had to flounder and wade through the shallows before they
+reached firm ground 300 yards from the bank. Four of the guns of
+Peake's battery were also landed. The force having been formed up was
+marched a short distance to the south. It was halted behind and
+exactly covering the French position from the land side, the flanks
+overlapping and enclosing the old line of Egyptian works. A tall
+flag-pole which was brought ashore was set up on a ruined bastion in
+line with the French tricolor and about 300 yards behind it. Then the
+Sirdar and staff came and stood around the pole. An instant later, the
+order having been given, the Egyptian flag was hoisted to the top, and
+the Soudanese bands played a few bars of the Khedivial anthem. Ere the
+music ceased, the Sirdar, setting the example, called for three cheers
+for His Highness the Khedive. The British flag, the Union Jack, was
+meanwhile flying inshore from the "Dal." None of the French officers
+attended the ceremony, but the Senegalese and the natives watched the
+proceedings with great interest. In fact, as many of the soldiers of
+the 11th and 13th Soudanese battalions were Shilluks, there had been
+numerous greetings and interchanges of courtesy between them. The
+worthy old Lieutenant Ali Gaffoon, a Shilluk, who had been in his
+youth a sheikh and soldier, and who had fought in Mexico for
+Maximilian, and since entered the Khedive's service, soon had crowds
+of his countrymen and countrywomen flocking to see him. Immediately
+after the flag was hoisted, Major Jackson was appointed commandant of
+the Fashoda district, and left with a garrison of the 11th Soudanese
+battalion and four guns of Captain Peake's battery. A large quantity
+of stores of various kinds was landed for their use. Meanwhile E
+Company of the Cameron Highlanders and the rest of the troops returned
+on board ship. The bands and pipers again played as the troops marched
+away, the Highlandmen stepping off to the tune of the "Cameron Men." E
+Company of the Camerons numbered exactly 100 rank and file under five
+officers: Captain Hon. A. Murray, Lieutenants Hoare, Cameron,
+Alderson, and Surgeon-Captain Luther.
+
+The fraternisation of the Soudanese soldiers and the Shilluks became
+thorough. An informal reception of the natives, sheikhs, and headmen,
+some of whom were attended by their wives, was held by the Sirdar
+ashore and afterwards on board the "Dal." It was observed that,
+although hundreds of natives were seen, they were only brought forward
+in batches of less than a dozen to be presented. Besides, a
+considerable interval always elapsed before the arrival of the
+succeeding groups. Ali Gaffoon and his countrymen-comrades in the
+ranks, with pardonable tribal pride, were adverse to bringing their
+relatives and friends forward until the natives put on some clothes.
+For that purpose they had borrowed or got together about a dozen Arab
+dresses of kinds, wherewith to cover the bodies and limbs of the
+unsophisticated Shilluks. The national costume for men is a state of
+nudity, but they occasionally sprinkle their bodies with red or grey
+ashes. The women usually wear scant leather or thong aprons. When the
+Sirdar ascertained the true cause of the delay, time pressing, he
+intimated he would waive for the nonce their putting on of ceremonial
+attire. "Let them all come as they are," and they did. They evinced
+the liveliest interest and pleasure in all they saw and heard in camp
+and aboard ship. The chiefs declared they had signed no treaty with
+the French nor conceded any of their country. All of them asserted
+that they were subjects of the Khedive, to whom they renewed their
+allegiance forthwith. The French mission had been short of food and
+they had helped them only by giving supplies. Incidentally it may be
+stated that the Shilluk country is exceedingly fertile. At one time it
+was the most densely populated region of the Soudan for its acreage,
+containing a population of over 2,000,000 souls, living under an
+ancient dynasty of kings. From 1884 the Shilluks repeatedly warred
+with the dervishes. In 1894 they rose again and fought for a long time
+before their Queen was slain and they were put down. On that occasion
+the Mahdists behaved with more than usual ferocity, putting thousands
+to the sword. Strange to say, great numbers of Shilluks, like other
+Soudan blacks, fought against us under the Khalifa's banners. The
+moment, however, they were captured, with great readiness they
+enlisted in the Khedivial army. Latterly so many deserters and
+prisoners brought by their friends offered themselves as soldiers,
+that only the smartest and strongest were chosen.
+
+That afternoon the "Dal" and two of the gunboats left Fashoda and
+steamed away up the Nile towards Sobat. Before leaving, the Sirdar
+sent a formal written document to Major Marchand, protesting against
+any usurpation by another Power of the rights of Great Britain and
+Egypt to the Nile Valley. He stated that he would refuse to recognise
+in any way French authority in the country. There was found to be
+large quantities of grass weed and sudd in the Nile at no great
+distance from Fashoda. In several places the clear channels were less
+than 150 yards wide. As the steamers made southing, the river became
+narrower and the obstacles to navigation more serious--floating
+islands of weeds and banked sudd blocking the fairway, leaving it but
+50 yards or less in width. It is about 62 miles from Fashoda to the
+Sobat river, that Abyssinian tributary to the Nile. There was formerly
+an Egyptian station and fort on the neck of land at the junction of
+the two rivers. Other stations were also held by Khedivial troops
+further up the river in the old days before the Mahdi's rebellion. It
+was on the 20th September, the date as officially given, that the
+flotilla reached Sobat. The place was overgrown with bush, as compared
+with what had formerly been the case. Only a few natives were seen
+upon the mainland and islands, and they were friendly disposed. The
+Sobat, though but 150 yards or so wide, is 30 feet deep when in flood.
+Its yellow stream runs at two knots an hour, the current driving far
+into the wider and slacker waters of the Nile, which is about
+three-quarters of a mile wide at that point. The banks were
+accessible, and a landing of the troops was much more easily effected
+than had been the case at Fashoda. As soon as the soldiers and the two
+remaining guns of Captain Peake's battery were got ashore, the
+Egyptian flag was formally hoisted and greeted. It was the Sirdar who
+directed the whole proceedings. The ceremonial observance attending
+the re-occupation was precisely similar to that which had taken place
+at Fashoda. Major Smith Dorian was placed in command of the post and
+district. Three companies of the 13th Soudanese were left as a
+garrison together with the two Maxim-Nordenfeldt guns. A gunboat was
+also detailed to proceed a little way up the Sobat and the Bahr el
+Ghazal.
+
+Next morning the vessels having been filled up with fuel, the Sirdar,
+with the Camerons and the remainder of the troops not detached for
+garrison duty, steamed away back towards Omdurman. No news had
+penetrated to that remote region about the overthrow of the dervishes
+and very little was known about the passing mission under Major
+Marchand. The same day, 21st September, Fashoda was reached, and a
+short stay was made. All was quiet and the two flags were flying just
+as the Sirdar had left them. But the place had been transformed all
+the same. A military camp had arisen that looked like a village.
+Tukals and shelters covered the clearing behind the French lines.
+Trenches also had been dug and Marchand's party were completely hemmed
+in from the landward side as well as by water, the gunboats
+controlling the river. The Shilluks had all gone over and put
+themselves under Major Jackson and the Khedivial flag. A sort of
+bazaar had been started and the country was already making for peace.
+There was universal rejoicing at the downfall of the Khalifa. A
+determination was expressed of promptly dealing with him or Osman
+Digna, should either of them pass that way. The new twin-screw
+gunboats "Sultan" and "Sheik" had nine days' rations for troops put
+aboard. They were then detached, being ordered to remain behind for
+patrol duty. Their instructions were to keep the river and banks clear
+of all armed bands of dervishes, and, if necessary, afford assistance
+to the posts at Sobat and Fashoda. They were also bidden to prevent
+the transport of war material, or conveyance of reinforcements, except
+by accredited Khedivial officers. The Sirdar in a note informed Major
+Marchand that he had prohibited the transport of all war material upon
+the Nile. Thereafter the Sirdar resumed the journey downstream. The
+long and fertile island of Abba--it extends for 20 miles--was passed
+without seeing anything of the fugitive Khalifa and his followers. It
+was to Abba island the Mahdi went, and it was there the rebellion
+first broke out. Subsequently it was ascertained that Abdullah and
+Osman Digna with their retainers sought shelter in the heavy woods
+opposite Abba island, and they were stated to be in hiding there at
+the end of December 1898. The Sirdar and headquarters got back to
+Omdurman on the 25th of September.
+
+Popular feeling ran very high at home when it was ascertained that,
+despite repeated notification, the French had tried to grasp the
+fruits of the British victory over the dervishes. A Liberal statesman
+had, years before, declared, that any attempt on the part of France to
+occupy the Upper Nile valley lands would be regarded as an unfriendly
+act by this country. Conservative statesmen had endorsed that official
+pronouncement; yet, in face of these declarations, the thing had been
+done with every evidence of a fine contempt for British feeling and
+self-respect. The enemies of England in Egypt and elsewhere were
+sniggering. Our diplomatic and military chiefs were making unusual
+efforts to keep the Marchand affair a profound secret. At every stage
+down the Nile from Omdurman to Cairo, the Camerons and all who had
+been to Fashoda and Sobat were officially warned to keep the matter a
+profound secret. The case I thought was too serious to be left hidden
+in the breasts of a few where the issues involved were so tremendous.
+So I openly set myself to learning what had happened, and wiring every
+scrap of information for publication. Several officers were sent down
+from Omdurman with special despatches. Long before they arrived even
+in Cairo, cypher messages extending to many folios had been forwarded
+day after day direct from Khartoum to Downing Street.
+
+The Sirdar reached Cairo on the 6th of October and left for England on
+the 21st of the same month. By that time much had happened. The
+official despatches had been published in a Parliamentary paper and
+there were ominous preparations for war in both France and Great
+Britain. Fleets were being got ready for sea and feverish activity
+prevailed in Gallic and British arsenals. The insistence of the
+Parisian Ministers in seeking to have other questions discussed side
+by side with the demand for the evacuation of Fashoda and their
+dilatory tactics but increased the feeling of irritation in the United
+Kingdom. Statesmen seemed to be undecided and diplomacy, as usual,
+revolving in a circle. Happily, this country was never better prepared
+for war, and that in the end, as has so often been the case, proved
+the best advocate for peace. It would be uncharitable to emphasise the
+fact of the French Government slipping away from one after another of
+the positions they had taken up in reference to the whole question.
+That being Frenchmen they felt acutely the false moves they had made
+goes without saying. Whilst war was impending and the French
+Government seemed bent upon driving our Government to that point, the
+anti-British Pashas and the Gallic set in Egypt were jubilant. The
+Turkish Pashas and Beys were openly chuckling and romancing about
+unheard-of things. It is in Egypt, as it is in Armenia and was in the
+Balkans: the Turk is the enemy of good government and freedom for the
+people. A check to British policy and rule meant to them a possible
+return of the old corrupt days when they did as they liked, treating
+fellaheen and negroes as slaves. Had Great Britain in this instance
+yielded a jot of her just rights to the intriguing and bellicose
+spirit of French officialism Egypt would have been made an impossible
+place for our countrymen to remain in. Being in Cairo and Alexandria
+at the time I was privately assured by scores of my countrymen, men in
+business and in public offices, that they would be obliged to quit
+Egypt if France succeeded in her pretensions to the Nile Valley. Petty
+annoyances, tyranny, all manner of injustice and even violence would
+be resorted to, to force them to leave and to drive British interests
+to the wall.
+
+I avail myself again of the excellent synopsis of the official
+despatches dealing with the Fashoda incident, which appeared in the
+_Daily Telegraph_. The Parliamentary papers in question were issued on
+the 9th of October last. The official papers opened with a despatch
+from Sir Edmund Monson to the Foreign Secretary, bearing date December
+10, 1897. Therein the British Ambassador says:--
+
+    "The despatches which I have recently addressed to your lordship
+    respecting the reports of the massacre of the Marchand Expedition,
+    and the comments made in connection with this rumoured disaster by
+    the French Press, will have already shown your lordship how
+    necessary it has become to remind the French Government of the
+    views held by that of Her Majesty as to their sphere of influence
+    in the Upper Nile Valley; and it has been with great satisfaction
+    that I have found myself so promptly authorised to make a
+    communication upon the subject to M. Hanotaux. Made in the way in
+    which it has been suggested by your lordship, I see no reason why
+    this communication should prejudice the chances of our coming to a
+    satisfactory arrangement upon the question with which we are
+    dealing in connection with the situation in West Africa."
+
+Sir Edmund Monson enclosed in the despatch a copy of a note he had
+addressed to M. Hanotaux, at that period French Minister of Foreign
+Affairs, as follows:--
+
+    "The other point to which it is necessary to advert is the
+    proposed recognition of the French claim to the northern and
+    eastern shores of Lake Chad. If other questions are adjusted, Her
+    Majesty's Government will make no difficulty about this condition.
+    But in doing so they cannot forget that the possession of this
+    territory may in the future open up a road to the Nile; and they
+    must not be understood to admit that any other European Power than
+    Great Britain has any claim to occupy any part of the Valley of
+    the Nile. The views of the British Government upon this matter
+    were plainly stated in Parliament by Sir Edward Grey some years
+    ago during the Administration of the Earl of Rosebery, and were
+    formally communicated to the French Government at the time. Her
+    Majesty's present Government entirely adhere to the language that
+    was on this occasion employed by their predecessors."
+
+To this M. Hanotaux replied:--
+
+    "In any case the French Government cannot, under present
+    circumstances, refrain from repeating the reservations which it
+    has never failed to express every time that questions relating to
+    the Valley of the Nile have been brought forward. Thus, in
+    particular, the declarations of Sir Edward Grey, to which the
+    British Government has referred, gave rise to an immediate protest
+    by our representative in London, the terms of which he repeated
+    and developed in the further conversations which he had at the
+    Foreign Office on the subject. I myself had occasion, in the
+    sitting of the Senate on April 5, 1895, to make, in the name of
+    the Government, declarations to which I consider that I am all the
+    more justified in referring from the fact that they have called
+    forth no reply from the British Government."
+
+The speech to which M. Hanotaux refers is published at length in an
+appendix, and, so far from being a reply to Sir Edward Grey, it gives
+the French position completely away.
+
+    "I now come, gentlemen," he said, "to the question of the Upper
+    Nile. I will explain the situation to the Senate in a few words;
+    for I think it will be useful to complete the explanations which
+    M. de Lamarzelle has already given on this subject. Between the
+    country of the lakes and the point of Wady Halfa, on the Nile,
+    extends a vast region, measuring twenty degrees of latitude, or
+    2000 kilometres, that is, more than the breadth of Western Europe
+    from Gibraltar to Dunkirk. In this region there is at this moment,
+    perhaps, not a single European; in any case, there does not exist
+    any power derived, by any title, from a European authority. It is
+    the country of the Mahdi! Now, gentlemen, it is the future of this
+    country which fills with an uneasiness, which we may describe as
+    at least premature, the minds of a certain number of persons
+    interested in Africa. The Egyptians who occupied this vast domain
+    for a considerable time have moved to the north. Emin Pasha
+    himself was compelled to withdraw. The rights of the Sultan and
+    the Khedive alone continue to exist over the regions of the Soudan
+    and of Equatorial Africa."
+
+That is to say, after the Mahdi, who was the _de facto_ ruler, the
+authority over the whole basin of the Upper Nile reverted to the
+Khedive and the Sultan as his suzerain, which is exactly the position
+taken up by Lord Salisbury in his despatch of September 9, 1898.
+
+Major Marchand has had various titles conferred upon him, and in the
+penultimate despatch contained in the papers he is described by Lord
+Salisbury as "a French explorer who is on the Upper Nile in a
+difficult position." To M. Delcassé, however, is reserved the honour
+of giving him an official designation. On September 7 the French
+Foreign Minister, in an interview with Sir E. Monson, after handsomely
+complimenting the British Government on the victory of Omdurman,
+expressed his anxiety about a possible meeting of the Sirdar and M.
+Marchand.
+
+    "Should he (M. Marchand) be met with, his Excellency said that he
+    had received instructions to be most careful to abstain from all
+    action which might cause local difficulties, and that he had been
+    enjoined to consider himself as an 'emissary of civilisation'
+    without any authority whatever to decide upon questions of right,
+    which must properly form the subject of discussion between Her
+    Majesty's Government and that of the French Republic.
+
+    "M. Delcassé therefore begged me to inform your lordship of this
+    fact, and expressed the hope that the commander of Her Majesty's
+    naval forces on the river might be instructed to take no steps
+    which might lead to a local conflict with regard to such questions
+    of right."
+
+It may be remarked, in passing, that this view of the position of the
+emissary of civilisation does not tally with that which M. Marchand
+subsequently gave to the Sirdar, to whom he stated "that he had
+received precise orders for the occupation of the country and the
+hoisting of the French flag over the Government buildings at Fashoda,
+and added that, without the orders of his Government, which, however,
+he expected, would not be delayed, it was impossible for him to retire
+from the place."
+
+The instructions given by Lord Salisbury, through Lord Cromer, to the
+Sirdar, have been given elsewhere in this chapter.
+
+On September 11 our Ambassador informed M. Delcassé of the advance of
+the Sirdar up the Nile, and on the 18th the French Foreign Minister
+stated further:--
+
+    "As a matter of fact, there is no Marchand Mission. In 1892 and
+    1893 M. Liotard was sent to the Upper Ubanghi as Commissioner,
+    with instructions to secure French interests in the north-east. M.
+    Marchand had been appointed one of his subordinates, and received
+    all his orders from M. Liotard. There could be no doubt that for a
+    long time past the whole region of the Bahr-el-Ghazal had been out
+    of the influence of Egypt."
+
+Sir E. Monson left M. Delcassé in no doubt as to the view Her
+Majesty's Government took of the situation. Of the interview referred
+to, he reports to Lord Salisbury as follows, under date September
+22:--
+
+    "Although his Excellency made two or three allusions to the
+    reasons for which, in his opinion, the French might consider that
+    the region in question was open to their advance, he himself
+    volunteered the suggestion that discussion between us would be
+    inopportune.
+
+    "In this I, of course, concurred, reminding him of the terms of
+    your lordship's telegram of the 9th inst.; but I told him, as
+    emphatically as I could, that I looked upon the situation at
+    Fashoda, if M. Marchand had occupied that town, as very serious,
+    inasmuch as Her Majesty's Government would certainly not acquiesce
+    in his remaining there, nor would they consent to relinquishing
+    the claims of Egypt to the restoration of all the country latterly
+    subject to the Khalifa, which had heretofore been a portion of
+    her territory. I felt it to be my duty, I said, to speak with
+    extreme frankness, and to assure him that on this point no
+    compromise would be possible.
+
+    "M. Delcassé listened to me with grave attention, but his reply
+    was chiefly to the effect that if the two Governments discussed
+    the matter with calmness and a sincere desire to avoid a conflict,
+    there could be no doubt of our arriving at a peaceable and
+    satisfactory solution. France does not desire a quarrel. In saying
+    this he could speak with absolute certainty. All his colleagues in
+    the Government are, like himself, anxious for good relations with
+    England. If this anxiety is reciprocated on the other side of the
+    Channel (and the tone of the English Press inspires him with
+    doubts of this) there can be no danger.
+
+    "I replied that Her Majesty's Government have no desire to pick a
+    quarrel with France, but that nothing could be gained by my
+    concealing from him the gravity of the situation as I regarded it,
+    or the fixed determination of Her Majesty's Government to
+    vindicate claims of the absolute justice of which they hold that
+    there can be no question. I, of course, avoided the use of any
+    expression which might sound like a menace, but short of this I
+    did my best to make my declaration of the impossibility of the
+    French being allowed to remain at Fashoda as clear and distinct as
+    could be expressed in words."
+
+On 25th September, the day the expedition returned from Fashoda to
+Omdurman, Mr Rennell Rodd, who during the absence of Lord Cromer in
+Europe was in charge of affairs in Egypt, telegraphed to Lord
+Salisbury the following despatch, which had been received from the
+Sirdar:--
+
+    "I found at Fashoda, whence I have just returned, M. Marchand with
+    8 officers and 120 men. The French flag had been hoisted over the
+    old Government buildings in which they were located. I sent a
+    letter announcing my approach on the day before my arrival at
+    Fashoda. On the following morning, September 19, a reply was
+    brought to me from M. Marchand by a small rowing-boat carrying the
+    French flag. It stated that he had arrived at Fashoda on July 10,
+    having been instructed by his Government to occupy the
+    Bahr-el-Ghazal up to the confluence of the Bahr-el-Jebel, and also
+    the Shilluk country on the left bank of the White Nile as far as
+    Fashoda. It went on to say that he had concluded a treaty with the
+    Shilluk chiefs by which they placed the country under the
+    protection of France, and that he had sent this treaty to his
+    Government for ratification by way of Abyssinia, as well as by the
+    Bahr-el-Ghazal. He described his fight with the dervishes on
+    August 25, and stated that, in anticipation of a second and more
+    serious attack, he had sent his steamer south for reinforcements,
+    but that our arrival had prevented a further attack.
+
+    "When we arrived at Fashoda, M. Marchand and M. Germain came on
+    board our steamer, and I at once informed them that the presence
+    of a French party at Fashoda and in the Nile valley must be
+    considered as a direct infringement of the rights of Egypt and of
+    the British Government, and I protested in the strongest terms
+    against the occupation of Fashoda by M. Marchand and his party,
+    and the hoisting of the French flag in the dominions of his
+    Highness the Khedive. M. Marchand stated, in reply, that he had
+    received precise orders for the occupation of the country and the
+    hoisting of the French flag over the Government buildings at
+    Fashoda, and added that, without the orders of his Government,
+    which, however, he expected would not be delayed, it was
+    impossible for him to retire from the place. I then inquired of
+    him whether, in view of the fact that I was accompanied by a
+    superior force, he was prepared to resist the hoisting of the
+    Egyptian flag at Fashoda. He hesitated, and replied that he could
+    not resist. The Egyptian flag was then hoisted, about 500 yards
+    south of the French flag, on a ruined bastion of the old Egyptian
+    fortifications, commanding the only road which leads into the
+    interior from the French position. The latter is entirely
+    surrounded to the north by impassable marshes.
+
+    "Before leaving for the south I handed to M. Marchand a formal
+    written protest on the part of the Governments of Great Britain
+    and Egypt against any occupation of any part of the Nile valley
+    by France, as being an infringement of the rights of those
+    Governments. I added that I could not recognise the occupation by
+    France of any part of the Nile valley.
+
+    "I left at Fashoda a garrison of one Soudanese battalion, four
+    guns, and a gunboat under Major Jackson, whom I appointed
+    Commandant of the Fashoda district, and I proceeded to Sobat,
+    where the flag was hoisted and a post established on September 20.
+    We did not see or hear anything of the Abyssinians on the Sobat,
+    but were informed that their nearest post was about 350 miles up
+    that river. The Bahr-el-Jebel being entirely blocked by floating
+    weed, I gave orders for a gunboat to patrol up the Bahr-el-Ghazal
+    in the direction of Meshra-er-Rek. As we passed Fashoda on the
+    return journey north, I sent M. Marchand a letter stating that all
+    transport of war material on the Nile was absolutely prohibited,
+    as the country was under military law. The chief of the Shilluk
+    tribe, accompanied by a large number of followers, has come into
+    Major Jackson's camp. He entirely denies having made any treaty
+    with the French, and the entire tribe express the greatest delight
+    at returning to allegiance to us.
+
+    "M. Marchand is in want of ammunition and supplies, and any that
+    may be sent to him must take months to arrive at their
+    destination. He is cut off from the interior, and is quite
+    inadequately provided with water transport. Moreover, he has no
+    following in the country, and nothing could have saved his
+    expedition from being annihilated by the dervishes if we had been
+    a fortnight later in crushing the Khalifa."
+
+The gist of this despatch was communicated to the French Government,
+accompanied by a notification that the Sirdar's "language and
+proceedings" had the complete approval of Lord Salisbury. M. Delcassé
+was evidently at his wits' end to escape from an _impasse_ which was
+chiefly of his own creation.
+
+In an interview with Sir E. Monson on September 27 he wished to put
+off a final decision till he had received the despatches which M.
+Marchand had forwarded in duplicate by way of the French Congo and
+Abyssinia respectively.
+
+    "To gain time, M. Delcassé," writes our Ambassador, "wished that I
+    should request your lordship to consent to a telegram being sent
+    by the French agent at Cairo to Khartoum, to be forwarded from
+    thence up the Nile to Fashoda. The telegram would contain
+    instructions to M. Marchand to send at once one of the French
+    officers serving on his mission to Cairo with a copy of his
+    above-mentioned report, so that the French Government might learn
+    its contents as soon as possible. They were, of course, ready to
+    bear all the expense.
+
+    "Stress was laid by M. Delcassé upon the great desire entertained
+    at Paris to prevent any serious difficulty from arising; at the
+    same time, he felt convinced, especially in view of the conduct of
+    the Sirdar at Fashoda, acting as he undoubtedly was under
+    instructions, that Her Majesty's Government were as anxious as the
+    French Government to avoid a conflict.
+
+    "I told M. Delcassé in reply that I must conclude from the
+    language which he had held that the French Government had decided
+    that they would not recall M. Marchand before receiving his
+    report, and I asked if I was right in this conclusion. I pointed
+    out to his Excellency that M. Marchand himself is stated to be
+    desirous of retiring from his position, which appeared to be a
+    disagreeable one. Such being the case, I must urgently press him
+    to tell me whether he refused at once to recall M. Marchand.
+
+    "After considering his reply for some few minutes, his Excellency
+    said that he himself was ready to discuss the question in the most
+    conciliatory spirit, but I must not ask him for the impossible.
+
+    "I pointed out that your lordship's telegram of the 9th inst.,
+    which I had communicated to him at the time, had made him aware
+    that Her Majesty's Government considered that there could be no
+    discussion upon such questions as the right of Egypt to Fashoda."
+
+To this Lord Salisbury replied next day:
+
+    "Her Majesty's Government cannot decline to assist in forwarding a
+    message from the French Agent in Egypt to a French explorer who
+    is on the Upper Nile in a difficult position, and your Excellency
+    is authorised to inform M. Delcassé that Her Majesty's Acting
+    Agent at Cairo will be instructed to transmit to Omdurman
+    immediately any such message, and at the same time to request Sir
+    H. Kitchener to forward it thence to its destination by any
+    opportunity which may be available.
+
+    "Her Majesty's Government do not desire to be made acquainted with
+    the purport of the message. But you must explain that they are
+    unable to accept any responsibility for the results to the safety
+    or health of the explorer which the delay in quitting his present
+    situation may bring about."
+
+The official papers closed with the following laconic despatch from
+Lord Salisbury to Sir E. Monson, bearing date 3rd October.
+
+    "I request your Excellency to inform the French Minister for
+    Foreign Affairs that, in accordance with his wish, his message for
+    M. Marchand has been transmitted to Khartoum, and will be
+    forwarded thence to its destination. In order to avoid any
+    misunderstanding, you should state to M. Delcassé that the fact of
+    Her Majesty's Government having complied with his Excellency's
+    request in regard to the transmission of the message does not
+    imply the slightest modification of the views previously expressed
+    by them. You should add that, whether in times of Egyptian or
+    Dervish dominion, the region in which M. Marchand was found has
+    never been without an owner, and that, in the view of Her
+    Majesty's Government, his expedition into it with an escort of 100
+    Senegalese troops has no political effect, nor can any political
+    significance be attached to it."
+
+In the appendix were given past speeches and despatches by M. Decrais,
+M. Hanotaux, Lord Kimberley, Sir E. Grey, etc.
+
+The rest can be quickly told. Military and naval preparations for war
+in both countries were redoubled and the public tone was bellicose.
+Consols were affected and war appeared almost inevitable. It was
+an occasion for union among all who rightly set patriotism above
+party. Lord Rosebery, Late Premier, with splendid grace and
+disinterestedness, in a speech, 13th October, voiced the sentiment of
+the masses and classes. His lordship said:--
+
+    "Behind the policy of the British Government in this matter there
+    is the untiring and united strength of the nation itself.
+    (Cheers.) It is the policy of the last Government deliberately
+    adopted and sustained by the present Government. (Cheers.) That is
+    only a matter of form, but it is the policy of the nation itself,
+    and no Government that attempted to recede from or palter with
+    that policy would last a week. (Loud cheers.) I am perfectly
+    certain that no idea or intention of any weakening on this point
+    or this question has entered the head of Her Majesty's present
+    advisers."
+
+Messages were transmitted up the Nile to Major Marchand at Fashoda. In
+response thereto he sent Captain Baratier down with despatches. That
+officer arrived with Slatin Pasha in Cairo on the 20th October. His
+despatches were wired to Paris, for which Baratier himself started
+next day. It happened that the Sirdar, who also left for England on
+that date, was a fellow-traveller with him. Another hitch occurred,
+the French Government stating that Marchand's report made no allusion
+to the meeting with the Sirdar at Fashoda. That they would have to
+wait for before giving an answer. Marchand, it was alleged, had not
+had time to bring his report down to date, when Baratier left him.
+They had not long to wait, for suddenly the announcement was sprung
+that Major Marchand, acting on his own volition, had left Fashoda and
+was coming down by Khedivial transport, to Cairo. He arrived in that
+city on the evening of 3rd November, and got a deservedly hearty
+reception from the English as well as the French community. Prominent
+officials, civil and military, were there to greet the brave and hardy
+explorer. His companion, Captain Baratier, who had been to Paris and
+had hastened back intending to return to Fashoda, met the Major next
+day in Cairo. But on the very day that Major Marchand reached Cairo,
+the French Government had issued an official note stating it had been
+decided to evacuate Fashoda, as the position had been reported
+untenable. So saying "No, no, they would ne'er consent," they
+consented.
+
+At the Mansion House banquet given to the Sirdar, on 4th November,
+Lord Salisbury said:--
+
+    "I received from the French Ambassador this afternoon the
+    information that the French Government had come to the conclusion
+    that the (Fashoda) occupation was of no sort of value to the
+    French Republic, and they thought that under those circumstances,
+    to persist in an occupation which only cost them money and did
+    harm, merely because some of their advisers thought they would be
+    an unwelcome neighbour, would not show the wisdom with which the
+    French Republic has uniformly been guided. They have done what I
+    believe every Government would have done in the same
+    position--they have resolved that the occupation must cease. A
+    formal intimation to that effect was made to me this afternoon,
+    and it has been conveyed to the French authorities at Cairo. I do
+    not wish to be misunderstood as saying that all causes of
+    controversy are by this removed between the French Government and
+    ourselves. It is probably not so, and it may be that we shall have
+    many discussions in the future, but a cause of controversy of a
+    singularly acute and somewhat dangerous character has been
+    removed, and we cannot but congratulate ourselves upon it."
+
+In the same connection it is of interest to learn what Major Marchand
+had to say. The full text of his speech made at a banquet given to him
+and Captain Baratier by the French Club at Cairo on the 7th October
+appeared in the Press. In the presence of the Acting French Diplomatic
+Agent and others, Major Marchand said:--
+
+    "Monsieur le Ministre de France, Monsieur le Président,
+    Messieurs--There are two reasons why you will not expect a speech
+    from me. In the first place I am only a soldier and no orator; and
+    then one cannot be talkative on a day of reflection, a day which
+    brings to me personally a great sorrow, the official abandonment
+    of Fashoda. Fashoda! it was only a point--it is true that it
+    synthetised everything. But if we lose the point we abandon
+    nothing of our thesis. To reflect is not to despair--on the
+    contrary. The experiences of this world teach us that the sum of
+    our sorrows is not greater than that of our joys. The more the
+    black period may be prolonged the more quickly will approach the
+    dawn of proud aspirations at length realised. And the granite
+    Sphinx which near at hand dreams on the desert sands, the Sphinx
+    which saw the passage of Bonaparte, which saw Lesseps and his
+    work, has not yet uttered its last word, has not murmured the
+    supreme sentence. The more fiercely evil fortune may pursue us the
+    more should we call to our aid the great hopes which swell the
+    heart and fortify the will. The French colony in Cairo, moreover,
+    has shown more than ten times over already that it knows no
+    discouragement. I should like, my dear and valiant compatriots, to
+    give you some small recompense. Listen! When, nearly three years
+    ago, the Congo-Nile mission left France, it was not in order to
+    make a more or less famous journey of exploration. No, its aim was
+    far higher. You have already guessed it. Why, then, proclaim it
+    here? We desired (here the speaker paused a moment) to carry
+    across French Africa to the French in Egypt a hand-grip from the
+    French of France. The road was long, sometimes hard; we have
+    reached our destination, however, since I have the honour to greet
+    you here to-day. Do you not see a symbol in this? Fortune, which
+    detests broad and easy paths, is perhaps at this moment on her
+    way, bringing you the succour so patiently looked for. We must
+    never despair, and who can say that the Sphinx may not be about to
+    smile? It is for this that I have come to tell you that if we are
+    few to-day we shall be many to-morrow--who forget nothing, who
+    abandon nothing. It is with this thought that I drink to your
+    health, gentlemen, the health of the French colony in Egypt. To
+    the Greater France!"
+
+It is easy to feel great sympathy with so gallant and hardy a soldier,
+who, having successfully accomplished the perilous mission entrusted
+to him by his Government, found support denied him and his work
+fruitless. Major Marchand and Captain Baratier again availed
+themselves of the Egyptian military transport to return to their
+comrades. At half-past 8 a.m., 11th December, the French hauled down
+their flag at Fashoda, and left for the Sobat river. They were
+intending to make their way up that stream to the nearest Abyssinian
+post, and thereafter, striking through Menelik's country, hoped to
+arrive on the East African coast at Djibutil. Their sick comrades they
+entrusted to the Egyptian military authorities to send home by the
+Nile through Lower Egypt. The invalided Frenchmen and Senegalese in
+question reached Cairo at the end of the year.
+
+Perhaps it was only to be expected that the French press and
+politicians would display increased virulence against this country
+over the Fashoda settlement. But their persistence in that course, and
+the fact of their present extraordinary naval expenditure, can only
+mean getting ready for war against Great Britain. This may lead our
+people to consider whether it would not be cheapest and wisest to
+settle the quarrel off-hand. True, delay makes for peace, but a peace
+that is to be a struggle to overtop one another in armaments may be
+more costly in every sense than sharp and decisive warfare. The chief
+cause of the soreness in France against us is our presence in Egypt.
+Yet the French have no such vital interest there as this country has.
+To many of our colonies and dependencies the shortest way lies through
+Egypt. Again, the French form quite a minority in numbers and wealth
+among the foreign communities in Egypt. Since 1882, the year of
+occupation, Great Britain has been careful to avoid interference with
+the privileges and rights of all foreigners. In what community
+controlled by France through sixteen years would it have been allowed
+that an alien language should be maintained in use in public places.
+No official step has been taken to diminish the use of French in
+street nomenclature, or public conveyances, or public departments in
+Egypt until last year. Arabic is the language of the people, and
+English is the language of commerce in the country. A sensible change
+in the direction indicated is at last evident, even in Cairo and
+Alexandria. Shops and warehouses are displaying Anglo-Saxon signs, and
+the natives are discarding French and are speaking English as the one
+foreign language necessary to acquire.
+
+There has been talk among our neighbours of emulating the Sirdar's
+enterprise and founding French colleges at Khartoum and Fashoda. But
+urged by less disinterested motives they may find it necessary instead
+to devote their funds to the cultivation of the Gallic tongue in Lower
+and Upper Egypt, rather than in the Soudan. In the year 1897, in
+Tantah, the third largest town in the Delta, there were 130 scholars
+learning French and but 40 studying English. In 1898 there were 98 at
+the English classes and but a moiety at the French. The scholastic
+year 1899, according to the officials of the Public Instruction
+Department, will see a farther and even more serious decline in the
+study of the French language. The French officials themselves are
+painfully aware that the Gallic speech, for colloquial intercourse
+between educated natives and Europeans, is doomed if matters continue
+as at present. In Assouan, where during 1897 much the same state of
+things prevailed as at Tantah; in 1898 there were 118 scholars
+learning English and but three at the French classes.
+
+Until quite recently, it was wont to be the case in Lower Egypt that
+there were always two pupils learning French to one devoting attention
+to acquiring English. In Upper Egypt of late years the difference had
+not been so marked, the proportion of French and English students
+being about equal. These figures refer to primary classes in Upper
+Egypt, and to secondary, as well as primary, classes in Cairo and
+Alexandria. As a matter of fact, the results of the examinations did
+not follow in quite the same proportion in the Delta. About three
+pupils have passed in French to two in English. Shortly after the
+battle of Omdurman, applications had to be made for entrance into the
+school classes for English and French tuition. In a great number of
+schools, in both Upper and Lower Egypt, especially in the stronghold
+of the French tongue--the Delta--not a single application was made by
+candidates for entrance to the second primaries, in which French
+teaching begins. That means to say that there will a dearth and
+practically a cessation of French teaching in 1899 in the primary
+schools, and subsequently, or in 1900, the year of the Exposition
+Universelle at Paris, a total discontinuance of it in the secondary
+schools. Taking the secondary schools examinations throughout the
+whole of Lower Egypt by themselves, I learn that in 1898, although
+there were a larger proportion of candidates for French certificates
+of proficiency, yet the numbers that actually passed in each language
+were about the same. The Examining Commissioners are Egyptian,
+English, and French.
+
+It is in Egypt as in certain other countries. The great ambition of
+every lad is to get into the Government service, and failing that to
+become a lawyer. Law schools are therefore well attended. Heretofore
+budding lawyers have been taught in French classes only. An
+English-speaking law section was started in 1898. The natives are
+quick to appreciate any change which is to their advantage. Pupils in
+the secondary schools have now opened to them careers which have
+heretofore been closed. There is in truth a silent, but certain to be
+effective, educational and social revolution begun in Egypt. No more
+will every whim and caprice of those who seek to obstruct the advance
+of the Egyptians be tolerated. In 1899 for the first time examining
+educational centres will be established at Assouan and Suakin. All
+those south of Assiut will be for English students only, for French
+will be quite dropped. Not only will there be a college at Khartoum
+but one at Kassala, where English as well as Arabic will be taught. In
+a new and thorough manner has the regeneration of Egypt and the Soudan
+been undertaken. The dream of a red English through-traffic line from
+Cairo to Cape Town will have a speedy realisation. Possibly within
+eighteen months the railway will be carried to the Sobat. Certainly
+before 1899 is ended there will be through communication with
+Khartoum. Mr Cecil Rhodes is busy with his South African lines, which
+by that time should be up to the Zambesi, and within three years after
+there will possibly be open rail and water communication from the
+Mediterranean to Cape Town. But before then the telegraph wire will
+bind North and South Africa together, and to the United Kingdom.
+
+
+
+
+POSTSCRIPT.
+
+
+This volume was written and in the printer's hands when an article by
+a Mr E. N. Bennett appeared in the columns of _The Contemporary
+Review_, entitled "After Omdurman." That gentleman made a series of
+grave charges reflecting upon the Anglo-Egyptian arms, not only during
+the Khartoum Expedition, but also on their conduct in Egypt and the
+Soudan since 1882. In the _Daily Telegraph_ and elsewhere I have
+deservedly stigmatised Mr Bennett's allegations as untrue, stupid, and
+wantonly mischievous.
+
+In the pages of _The Khartoum Campaign, 1898_, can be read the
+detailed version of events which happened in the field "before" as
+well as "after" Omdurman. I venture to think that abundant refutation
+will be found in the Work of most of Mr Bennett's scandalous
+assertions. Although it may seem to lend further temporary importance
+to what that gentleman has written, as his accusations were made
+public under the cover of a respectable magazine, perhaps a few words
+more may not be out of place.
+
+Mr Bennett's article was seemingly framed on the specious pretext of,
+under a discussion of the principles of international law, questions
+of belligerency, Geneva Convention rules, and so forth, to base
+thereon a claim for the treatment of dervishes as combatants entitled
+to all the amenities of civilised warfare. Several pages of his
+composition are given up to treating upon that matter. For instance,
+he says--"Moreover, it is worth remembering that the dervishes were
+not 'savages' in the sense in which the word is applied to the
+followers of a Lobengula or a Samory. On the contrary, they satisfied
+all the requirements for recognition as an armed force." Now, that is
+an aspersion upon Lobengula and Samory in particular. For unredeemed
+devilishness, the dervishes have had no equals. The fact is, that the
+Mahdists made it a constant practice to ruthlessly slaughter all
+prisoners in battle, wounded or unwounded; to enslave, torture, or
+murder their enemies, active or passive; to loot and to burn; to slay
+children and debauch women. To set up a pretext that such monsters are
+entitled to the grace and consideration of the most humane laws, is to
+beggar commonsense and yap intolerable humbug. Yet British
+self-respect was such, Mr Bennett to the contrary notwithstanding,
+that the dervishes were treated as men, and not as wild beasts.
+
+Started upon his false pursuit, Mr Bennett proceeds from error to
+error, abounding in reckless misstatements, atrocious imputations, and
+scattering charges void of truth. As briefly as possible, I will deal
+with his accusations. One of his first deliverances is as
+follows:--"It is, of course, an open secret that in all our Soudan
+battles the enemy's wounded have been killed. The practice has, ever
+since the days of Tel-el-Kebir, become traditional in Soudanese
+warfare. After the battle of Atbara, it was announced that 3000
+dervishes had been killed. There was practically no mention of the
+wounded.... How, then, was it that no wounded were accounted for at
+the Atbara?" Again he writes:--"But I cannot help thinking that if the
+killing of the wounded had been sternly repressed at Tel-el-Kebir and
+during the earlier Soudan campaigns, our dervish enemies would have
+learned to expect civilised treatment," etc. Gaining courage, probably
+from his own audacity, Mr Bennett had the hardihood to virtually
+declare that the cruelties permitted by British officers made the
+dervishes what they were.
+
+Now, I went through the 1882 war in Egypt as well as most of the
+campaigns in the Soudan. I am therefore in a better position than he
+to declare, that his allegations are a perversion of the truth. It was
+neither the practice at Tel-el-Kebir nor subsequent thereto for
+British led troops to kill wounded men. The insinuation that they did
+so, or connived at such slaughter, is a stupid or a malicious
+falsehood. In every battle within the period referred to, large
+numbers of wounded and unwounded prisoners were taken, and invariably
+great lenience was shown. Surgical treatment also was, whenever
+possible, always promptly rendered. Indeed, they were in countless
+cases treated as tenderly as our own wounded. This further: in action
+there are no soldiers less prone to needless blood-spilling, or men
+readier to forgive and forget, than "Tommy Atkins." Official returns
+exist setting at rest the fiction about Tel-el-Kebir and the Soudan
+battles. At Tel-el-Kebir many thousand prisoners were made, and in
+other engagements our hands were always full of dervish wounded. At
+El Teb, Tamai, Abu Klea, Abu Kru, Gemaizeh, Atbara, and elsewhere,
+wounded dervishes fell into our hands, and received every attention
+from the medical staff. And in some of these actions our troops were
+themselves in sore straits. Several hundred dervishes were picked up
+within and without the Atbara dem, including the leader Mahmoud and
+his two cousins. Be it remembered, our troops only remained there a
+few hours, marching back to the Nile.
+
+Still further abominable charges Mr Bennett lays at the door of his
+countrymen who command British and Khedivial troops. The Sirdar
+himself is included in his rigmarole of accusations. But whether
+dealing with particulars or the general course of events, Mr Bennett
+discloses that he has scarcely a nodding acquaintanceship with truth.
+He has said:--"This wholesale slaughter was not confined to Arab
+servants," _i.e._, killing wounded dervishes. "The Soudanese seemed to
+revel in the work, and continually drove their bayonets through men
+who were absolutely unconscious.... This unsoldierly work was not even
+left to the exclusive control of the black troops; our British
+soldiers took part in it."
+
+On whatever ground Mr Bennett may seek to support these assertions,
+they are unwarranted and untruthful libels. There was no wholesale
+slaughter of wounded dervishes, nor was there anything done in the
+least justifying or providing a decent pretext for that ferocious
+accusation. Very many thousands of dervish wounded fell into our hands
+that day and later. Officers have written to the press, denying these
+charges and the rest of Mr Bennett's tale of monstrosity. The Sirdar
+himself has confirmed by a personal cablegram my refutation of them.
+Here is another of Mr Bennett's suggestions of evil-doing, by innuendo
+and assertion:--"It was stated that orders had been given to kill the
+wounded." And, "If the Sirdar really believes that the destruction of
+the wounded was a military necessity," etc. Can colossal crassness go
+further? There is not and never was a scintilla of truth for the
+charge of wholesale slaughtering of wounded dervishes, nor that the
+Sirdar ever issued such an order, or that any reputable person ever
+received it, or ever had it hinted to him. The accusation is an
+unmitigated untruth, and absolutely at variance with all that was said
+and done by the Sirdar before and during the course of the battle and
+the pursuit. I certainly never heard of the matter until Mr Bennett
+made the accusation, and I cannot trace its authorship beyond himself.
+From the Sirdar down, contradictions of the charge have deservedly
+been slapped in Mr Bennett's face.
+
+But it is almost sheer waste of words to follow and refute line by
+line the article "After Omdurman." Other of Mr Bennett's accusations
+were: that the 21st Lancers, on the way to the front, robbed
+hen-roosts and stricken villagers; that once in Omdurman the Soudanese
+troops abandoned discipline, looted, ravished, and murdered the whole
+night long; that on land and water our cannon and Maxims were
+deliberately turned upon unarmed flying inhabitants, massacring,
+without pity, men, women, and children. An these charges had been
+true, I should have hastened to denounce the culprits, whoever they
+were, in the interests of humanity and country. Happily, Mr Bennett's
+tale is utterly without foundation, whatever reflection that casts
+upon his condition. The Lancers passed through nothing but deserted
+villages, where there were neither natives nor roosts to rob, even had
+they been so disposed. As for the Soudanese troops, their discipline
+throughout was perfect; there was no looting, no ravishing nor murder
+done by them or any other divisions of the soldiery. Nor did our
+gunners on shore or afloat ever fire upon unarmed people. Let it be
+recalled that those whom Mr Bennett so flippantly accuses are
+honourable gentlemen and fellow-countrymen. Three things in this
+connection are worthy of special note. When the first dervish attack
+upon our zereba was repulsed and Wad Melik's dead, dying and shamming
+warriors carpeted the north slopes of Jebel Surgham and the plain in
+front. "Cease fire" was sounded. Thereafter the dervishes arose from
+the ground in hundreds and thousands and walked off, without awakening
+a renewal of our fire from cannon, Maxims, or rifles. At the entry
+into Omdurman the artillery and gunboats were ordered to be careful
+how they fired, and grave risks were incurred by the Sirdar and staff
+in personally counselling to friend and foe a cessation of fighting.
+
+Inaccuracy and sensationalism Mr Bennett is welcome to, and to the
+sort of notoriety it has brought him. Cheap maudlin sentiment may
+profess a pity for those "dervish homes ruined" by the successes of
+British arms. The dervishes in their day had no homes. Nay, they made
+honest profession that their mission was to destroy other people's,
+and do without carking domesticity, as that detracted from the merit
+of preparation for paradise. As I have elsewhere said, one of the
+"fads" of the day is to hold that liberalism of mind is always
+characterised by being a friend to every country and race but your
+own. Exact truth is as illusive to discovery by that as other
+pernicious methods. That there may have been one or two instances of
+cruelty practised on the battle-field is possible. Something of the
+kind always takes place in warfare as in everyday life. But only the
+amateur would magnify a few instances into a catalogue of charges.
+Alas! you cannot eliminate from armies, any more than from ordinary
+communities, the foolish, insane, and criminal.
+
+                                                           THE AUTHOR.
+
+LONDON, _February 1899_.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+NEILL AND COMPANY, LTD., PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.
+
+
+
+
+_FOURTH IMPRESSION NOW READY._
+
+SIRDAR AND KHALIFA;
+
+OR THE
+
+RE-CONQUEST OF THE SOUDAN.
+
+BY
+
+BENNET BURLEIGH.
+
+WITH PORTRAITS, NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS, MAPS, AND PLAN OF BATTLE.
+
+DEMY 8vo, 12s.
+
+
+THE DAILY NEWS says:--"Picturesque, spirited, and trustworthy
+narrative.... The book comprises a summary of the military situation,
+and a glance at the probable course of the renewed operations which
+are now on the point of commencing."
+
+THE PALL MALL GAZETTE says:--"Nothing could be more timely. It is
+unnecessary at this time of day to speak of Mr Burleigh's familiar
+style ... always to the point, clear, and vigorous; or of his
+matter--the matter of an experienced, shrewd, and fearless war
+correspondent. The book is just the book for the occasion, and will
+make the tale that is coming directly more real to many of us. Mr
+Burleigh gives a few useful introductory chapters dealing with
+previous events, and a very interesting account of a trip to Kassala,
+'our new possession'; but in the main it is the story of the Atbara
+Campaign. The book makes good reading, entirely apart from its timely
+instructiveness."
+
+THE ST JAMES'S GAZETTE says:--"Its real value to the judicious reader
+lies in the fact that it is a faithful record by a highly skilled
+observer of the day-by-day life of an Anglo-Egyptian Army engaged in
+desert warfare. The country itself--river and wilderness--the rival
+leaders, the soldiery, their appearance, arms, and uniform, their
+eating and drinking, their lying down and their rising up, their
+marching and the final rush of battle--these are all here before us in
+a living picture, making the book in reality an invaluable 'vade
+mecum' for those who wish to realise just what it is that our men are
+doing to-day between the Atbara and Omdurman."
+
+THE WESTMINSTER GAZETTE says:--"The book is profoundly interesting.
+Readers familiar with the author's letters in _The Daily Telegraph_ do
+not need to be told that he is a master of vivid and picturesque
+narrative. Mr Burleigh has been an eye-witness during the course of
+all the campaigns in the Soudan in which British troops have been
+employed, and therefore writes out of full knowledge and experience."
+
+THE MORNING POST says:--"Many chapters are devoted to the Atbara
+Campaign and the incidents connected with it, the storming of
+Mahmoud's entrenched Camp on the 7th of April last, and interviews
+with that Emir after he was taken prisoner. Mr Burleigh's book, it
+will be sufficient to say, should prove very useful to all who follow
+the progress of the Force now advancing on Omdurman. In a
+supplementary chapter will be found official despatches, and the work
+is provided with a map of the Soudan, and plans of the Battle of the
+Atbara and of the Island of Meroe, showing positions before the
+battle. The illustrations are numerous. Among them is a frontispiece
+portrait of the Sirdar."
+
+THE DAILY CHRONICLE says:--"We are given a connected and very
+comprehensible account of all the operations up to the destruction of
+Mahmoud's host and the Sirdar's triumphant return to Berber.... The
+description of the main battle itself is very vivid and complete."
+
+THE SCOTSMAN says:--"Mr Bennet Burleigh's new volume, 'Sirdar and
+Khalifa,' comes just in the nick of time. Its object is to recount the
+story of the reconquest of the Soudan up to the Battle of Atbara.... A
+very readable book."
+
+THE DAILY TELEGRAPH says:--"Readers of _The Daily Telegraph_ will not
+be chary of accepting our estimate of the value of this book when we
+remind them that its author is Mr Bennet Burleigh, who has acted
+throughout the numerous campaigns which have been waged in the Soudan
+as the War Correspondent of this journal, and gained himself a
+well-merited reputation for his pluck in the face of the enemy, his
+endurance of hardship and fatigue, his excellence of judgment, and his
+graphic descriptions of the shock of battle.... It only remains to say
+that this book is well illustrated, handsomely printed, and is in
+every way a worthy record of a brief but memorable campaign."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Khartoum Campaign, 1898, by Bennet Burleigh
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KHARTOUM CAMPAIGN, 1898 ***
+
+***** This file should be named 25504-8.txt or 25504-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/5/0/25504/
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Chris Logan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/25504-8.zip b/25504-8.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ffcd7d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-8.zip
diff --git a/25504-h.zip b/25504-h.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..56653a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h.zip
diff --git a/25504-h/25504-h.htm b/25504-h/25504-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c093145
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/25504-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,9111 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Khartoum Campaign, by Bennet Burleigh.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+/*<![CDATA[  XML blockout */
+<!--
+    body {
+      margin-left: 10%;
+      margin-right: 10%;
+    }
+
+    em {
+      font-style: italic;
+    }
+
+    h1,h2,h3,h4 {
+      clear: both;
+      text-align: center;
+    }
+
+    p {
+      margin-top: .75em;
+      text-align: justify;
+    }
+
+    #adverts h2 {
+      font-size: 2em;
+      font-variant: small-caps;
+    }
+
+    #adverts .bennet {
+      font-size: .8em;
+    }
+
+    #adverts .by {
+      font-size: .5em;
+    }
+
+    #adverts .demy {
+      text-align: center;
+    }
+
+    #adverts .impression_ready {
+      font-style: italic;
+      font-weight: bold;
+      text-align: center;
+      text-decoration: underline;
+    }
+
+    #adverts .or_the {
+      font-size: .5em;
+    }
+
+    #adverts .portraits {
+      font-variant: small-caps;
+      text-align: center;
+    }
+
+    #adverts .reconquest {
+      font-size: .8em;
+    }
+
+    #adverts .reviewer {
+      font-variant: small-caps;
+    }
+
+    .blockquot {
+      margin-left: 5%;
+      margin-right: 10%;
+    }
+
+    .caption {
+      font-size: smaller;
+      font-variant: small-caps;
+      font-weight: bold;
+    }
+
+    .chapter_summary {
+      font-size: 1.2em;
+      font-variant: small-caps;
+      text-align: center;
+    }
+
+    .chapter_summary em {
+      font-variant: normal;
+    }
+
+    .despatches {
+      font-variant: small-caps;
+      text-align: center;
+    }
+
+    .figcenter {
+      margin: auto;
+      text-align: center;
+    }
+
+    .figright {
+      clear: right;
+      float: right;
+      margin: 1em 0em 1em 1em;
+      padding: 0;
+      text-align: center;
+    }
+
+    .kitchener_head {
+      text-align: right;
+    }
+
+    .letter_head {
+      font-variant: small-caps;
+      text-align: right;
+    }
+
+    .letter_head em {
+      font-variant: normal;
+    }
+
+    .letter_signed {
+      text-align: right;
+    }
+
+    .letter_where {
+      font-variant: small-caps;
+    }
+
+    .letter_where em {
+      font-variant: normal;
+    }
+
+    .letter_who {
+      font-variant: small-caps;
+      text-align: right;
+    }
+
+    .letter_who em {
+      font-variant: normal;
+    }
+
+    #loi {
+      margin-left: 15%;
+      width: 60%;
+    }
+
+    #loi .page {
+      left: 70%;
+      position: absolute;
+      text-align: right;
+      width: 10em;
+    }
+
+    #loi .pagehead {
+      font-variant: small-caps;
+      left: 70%;
+      position: absolute;
+      text-align: right;
+      text-transform: lowercase;
+      width: 10em;
+    }
+
+    #maps {
+      margin-left: 15%;
+      width: 60%;
+    }
+
+    #maps .page {
+      left: 70%;
+      position: absolute;
+      text-align: right;
+      width: 10em;
+    }
+
+    .pagenum {
+      font-size: 0.7em;
+      font-style: normal;
+      left: 92%;
+      position: absolute;
+      text-align: right;
+    }
+
+    .personname {
+      font-variant: small-caps;
+    }
+
+    .poem {
+      margin-left:10%;
+      margin-right:10%;
+      text-align: left;
+    }
+
+    .poem br {
+      display: none;
+    }
+
+    .poem .stanza {
+      margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;
+    }
+
+    .poem span.i0 {
+      display: block;
+      margin-left: 0em;
+      padding-left: 3em;
+      text-indent: -3em;
+    }
+
+    .poem span.i2 {
+      display: block;
+      margin-left: 1em;
+      padding-left: 3em;
+      text-indent: -3em;
+    }
+
+    .poem span.i28 {
+      display: block;
+      margin-left: 14em;
+      padding-left: 3em;
+      text-indent: -3em;
+    }
+
+    .printers {
+      font-size: 0.8em;
+      text-align: center;
+    }
+
+    .psalm {
+      font-variant: small-caps;
+      text-transform: lowercase;
+    }
+
+    .section_break {
+      border-top: 2px solid gray;
+      clear: both;
+      margin-top: 2em;
+      margin-bottom: 2em;
+      margin-left: auto;
+      margin-right: auto;
+      width: 65%;
+    }
+
+    .sir {
+      font-variant: small-caps;
+    }
+
+    .subcaption {
+      font-size: smaller;
+      font-variant: small-caps;
+      font-weight: normal;
+    }
+
+    .super {
+      font-size: 70%;
+      vertical-align: super;
+    }
+
+    .the_end {
+      margin-bottom: 5em;
+      margin-top: 5em;
+      text-align: center;
+    }
+
+    .thought_break {
+      border-top: 2px solid silver;
+      clear: both;
+      margin-top: 2em;
+      margin-bottom: 2em;
+      margin-left: auto;
+      margin-right: auto;
+      width: 45%;
+    }
+
+    #title_pages .author_of {
+      font-size: .8em;
+      text-align: center;
+    }
+
+    #title_pages .bennet {
+      font-size: .8em;
+    }
+
+    #title_pages .by {
+      font-size: .5em;
+    }
+
+    #title_pages .impression {
+      margin-top: 4em;
+      text-align: center;
+    }
+
+    #title_pages .or_the {
+      font-size: .5em;
+    }
+
+    #title_pages .printers {
+      font-variant: small-caps;
+      margin-top: 4em;
+      text-align: center;
+    }
+
+    #title_pages .reconquest {
+      font-size: .8em;
+    }
+
+    #title_pages .with_maps {
+      font-variant: small-caps;
+      margin-top: 4em;
+      text-align: center;
+    }
+
+    #toc {
+      margin-left: 15%;
+      width: 60%;
+    }
+
+    #toc em {
+      font-variant: normal;
+    }
+
+    #toc p {
+      font-variant: small-caps;
+    }
+
+    #toc .chapter {
+      margin-top: 2em;
+      text-align: center;
+    }
+
+    #toc .page {
+      left: 70%;
+      position: absolute;
+      text-align: right;
+      text-transform: lowercase;
+      width: 10em;
+    }
+
+    #toc .pagenum {
+      font-variant: normal;
+    }
+
+    #toc .postscript {
+      margin-top: 4em;
+    }
+
+    #trannote {
+      background-color: silver;
+      border: solid 2px;
+      margin-bottom: 4em;
+      margin-top: 4em;
+      padding: 0em 1em;
+    }
+
+    #trannote h2 {
+      font-size: 1.5em;
+      font-weight: bold;
+      text-align: center;
+    }
+
+    #trannote p {
+      text-align: center;
+    }
+
+    .troops {
+      font-variant: small-caps;
+    }
+    // -->
+    /* XML end  ]]>*/
+    </style>
+  </head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Khartoum Campaign, 1898, by Bennet Burleigh
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Khartoum Campaign, 1898
+       or the Re-Conquest of the Soudan
+
+Author: Bennet Burleigh
+
+Release Date: May 17, 2008 [EBook #25504]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KHARTOUM CAMPAIGN, 1898 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Chris Logan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div id="trannote">
+<h2>Transcriber's note.</h2>
+<p>Larger versions of the maps in this book can be viewed by clicking on the map image.</p>
+</div>
+
+<div id="title_pages">
+<h1>KHARTOUM CAMPAIGN<br /><br />
+
+1898<br /><br />
+
+<span class="or_the">OR THE</span><br /><br />
+
+<span class="reconquest">RE-CONQUEST OF THE SOUDAN</span><br /><br />
+
+<span class="by">BY</span><br /><br />
+
+<span class="bennet">BENNET BURLEIGH.</span></h1>
+
+<p class="author_of">AUTHOR OF "SIRDAR AND KHALIFA."</p>
+
+<p class="with_maps">With Maps, Plans of Battle, and Numerous
+Illustrations</p>
+
+<p class="impression">SECOND IMPRESSION.</p>
+
+<p class="printers">LONDON: CHAPMAN &amp; HALL, Limited<br />
+1899</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="section_break"></div>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 345px;"><a name="Illustration_MACDONALD" id="Illustration_MACDONALD"></a>
+<img src="images/macdonald.jpg" width="345" height="500" alt="Brigadier-General H. A. Macdonald, C.B., D.S.O." title="Brigadier-General H. A. Macdonald, C.B., D.S.O." />
+<span class="caption">Brigadier-General H. A. Macdonald, C.B., D.S.O.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="section_break"></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span></p>
+<h2>PREFACE.</h2>
+
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 350px;"><a name="Illustration_BURLEIGH" id="Illustration_BURLEIGH"></a>
+<img src="images/burleigh.jpg" width="350" height="500" alt="Bennet Burleigh" title="Bennet Burleigh" />
+<span class="caption">Bennet Burleigh.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>By the overthrow of Mahdism, the great region of Central Africa has
+been opened to civilisation. From the date of the splendid victory of
+Omdurman, 2nd September 1898, may be reckoned the creation of a vast
+Soudan empire. At so early a stage, it is idle to speculate whether
+the country will be held as a British possession, or as a province of
+Egypt. "The land of the blacks," and their truculent Arab despoilers,
+has the intrinsic qualities that secure distinction. Given peace, it
+may be expected that the mixed negroid races of the Upper Nile will
+prove themselves as orderly and industrious as they are conspicuously
+brave. Whoever rules them wisely, will have the control of the best
+native tribes of the Dark Continent, the raw material of a mighty
+state. This, too, is foreshadowed; the dominant power in Central
+Northern Africa, if no farther afield, will have its capital in
+Khartoum, "Ethiopia will soon stretch out her hands unto God."</p>
+
+<p>The recent events which have so altered the condition of affairs upon
+the Upper Nile, deserve more than ephemeral record. A campaign so full
+of in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span>spiriting incident, a victory which has brought presage of a
+great and prosperous Soudan, merits re-telling. Through half a score
+of battles or more, from the beginning to the death of Mahdism, I have
+followed British and Egyptian troops into action against the
+dervishes. I knew General Hicks, and had the luck to miss accompanying
+his ill-fated expedition. In the present volume, "Khartoum Campaign,"
+the narrative of the reconquest is completed, the history being
+carried to the occupation of Fashoda and Sobat, including the
+withdrawal of Major Marchand's French mission. I have made use of my
+telegrams and letters to the <em>Daily Telegraph</em>, London, and the full
+notes I made from day to day during the campaign. Besides, I have
+quoted in certain cases from official sources, and given extracts from
+verbal and written communications made to me by distinguished officers
+engaged in the operations.</p>
+
+<p>For use of maps, sketches, and photographs, I am indebted to the
+proprietors of the <em>Daily Telegraph</em>, to Mr Ross of <em>Black and White</em>,
+Surgeon-General William Taylor, Colonel Frank Rhodes, Lieutenant E. D.
+Loch, Grenadier Guards, Mr Francis Gregson, Mr Munro of Dingwall,
+N.B., and others.</p>
+
+<p class="letter_who">BENNET BURLEIGH.</p>
+<p class="letter_where">London, <em>December 1898</em>.</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="section_break"></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+<div id="toc">
+<p><span class="page">PAGE</span></p>
+
+<p class="chapter">CHAPTER I.</p>
+
+<p>Introductory&mdash;Review of the Field,<span class="page"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">1</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="chapter">CHAPTER II.</p>
+
+<p>Days of Waiting and Preparation,<span class="page"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">14</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="chapter">CHAPTER III.</p>
+
+<p>Mustering for the Overthrow of Mahdism,<span class="page"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">35</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="chapter">CHAPTER IV.</p>
+
+<p>By the Way&mdash;From Cairo to Dakhala,<span class="page"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">45</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="chapter">CHAPTER V.</p>
+
+<p>Dakhala Camp: Gossip and Duty,<span class="page"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">63</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="chapter">CHAPTER VI.</p>
+
+<p>Marching in the Soudan&mdash;From Dakhala to Wad Habeshi,<span class="page"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">75</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="chapter">CHAPTER VII.</p>
+
+<p>With the Army in the Field&mdash;Wad Hamid to El Hejir,<span class="page"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">92</a></span></p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="chapter">CHAPTER VIII.</p>
+
+<p>El Hejir to Um Terif&mdash;Incidents and Accidents,<span class="page"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">105</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="chapter">CHAPTER IX.</p>
+
+<p>Advance to Kerreri&mdash;Skirmishing with the Enemy,<span class="page"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">119</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="chapter">CHAPTER X.</p>
+
+<p>The Battle of Omdurman&mdash;First Phase of the Fight,<span class="page"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">135</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="chapter">CHAPTER XI.</p>
+
+<p>Battle of Omdurman&mdash;<em>continued.</em>&mdash;The Cavalry Fights&mdash;Macdonald's
+Saving Action,<span class="page"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">167</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="chapter">CHAPTER XII.</p>
+
+<p>Stories of the Battle&mdash;Omdurman,<span class="page"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">199</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="chapter">CHAPTER XIII.</p>
+
+<p>Close of Campaign&mdash;Gordon Memorial Service, Khartoum,<span class="page"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">228</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="chapter">CHAPTER XIV.</p>
+
+<p>Khartoum Memorial College&mdash;The Official Despatches,<span class="page"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">263</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="chapter">CHAPTER XV.</p>
+
+<p>The Fashoda Affair&mdash;A Red British Line through Africa,<span class="page"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">295</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="postscript">Postscript,<span class="page"><a href="#POSTSCRIPT">334</a></span></p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<div class="section_break"></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="ILLUSTRATIONS" id="ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2>
+
+
+<div id="loi">
+<p>&nbsp;<span class="pagehead">PAGE</span></p>
+
+<p>Brigadier-General H. A. Macdonald, C.B., D.S.O.,<span class="page"><em><a href="#Illustration_MACDONALD">Frontispiece</a></em></span></p>
+
+<p>Bennet Burleigh,<span class="page"><em>To face page</em> <a href="#Illustration_BURLEIGH">1</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Headquarters, Wady Halfa,<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_HQ_HALFA">9</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Darmali (British Brigade Summer Quarters),<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_DARMALI">23</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Group of Staff Officers&mdash;Colonel Wingate in Centre,<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_STAFF_OFFICERS">34</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Street in Dakhala,<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_DAKHALA_STREET">53</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Troops going to Wad Habeshi,<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_TROOPS">58</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Wood Station (<em>en route</em> to Omdurman),<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_WOOD_STATION">69</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Loading Up&mdash;Breaking Camp,<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_BREAKING_CAMP">77</a></span></p>
+
+<p>21st Lancers&mdash;Advance Guard,<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_ADVANCE_GUARD">81</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Halt by the Way,<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_HALT">87</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Slatin Pasha (on Foot),<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_PASHA_FOOT">89</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Artillery going towards Omdurman,<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_ARTILLERY">125</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Battle of Omdurman&mdash;Zereba Action,<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_ZEREBA_ACTION">151</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Macdonald's Brigade advancing,<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_ADVANCING">182</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Sirdar directing Advance on Omdurman,<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_SIRDAR_DIRECTING">183</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Khalifa's Captured Standard (Sirdar extreme left),<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_CAPTURED_STANDARD">195</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Chief Thoroughfare, Omdurman (Mulazim Wall, left; Osman
+Digna's House, right),<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_THOROUGHFARE">196</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Effect of Shell Fire upon Wall (Mulazim Enclosure),<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_EFFECT_SHELL">197</a></span></p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Khalifa's House,<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_HOUSE">217</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mahdi's Tomb&mdash;Effect of Lyddite Shells,<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_TOMB">219</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Interior Mahdi's Tomb (Grille around Sarcophagus),<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_TOMB_INTERIOR">221</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Khalifa's Gallows (cutting down his Last Victim),<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_GALLOWS">223</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Neufeld on Gunboat "Sheik"&mdash;Cutting off his Ankle-Irons,<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_ANKLE_IRONS">225</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Khalifa's Chief Eunuch (surrenders in British Camp),<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_EUNUCH">229</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Fresh Batch Wounded and Unwounded Dervish Prisoners,
+Omdurman, 4th September 1898,<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_PRISONERS">231</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Neufeld, with Abyssinian Wife and Children; also Fellow
+Prisoner,<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_NEUFELD">241</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Distant View, Khartoum (from Blue Nile),<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_KHARTOUM">255</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Hoisting Flags, Khartoum,<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_FLAGS">259</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Col. H. Macdonald at Omdurman, with Officer and Non-Commissioned
+Officer of 1st Brigade,<span class="page"><a href="#Illustration_MACDONALD_OMDURMAN">291</a></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<h2>MAPS AND PLANS.</h2>
+
+<div id="maps">
+<p>General View Plan, "A,"<span class="page"><em>page</em> <a href="#Illustration_MAP_A">173</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Zereba Plan, "B,"<span class="page">"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#Illustration_MAP_B">179</a></span></p>
+
+<p>First Attack on Macdonald's Brigade, "C," Plate 1,<span class="page">"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#Illustration_MAP_C">187</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Second Attack on Macdonald's Brigade, "D," Plate 2,<span class="page">"&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="#Illustration_MAP_D">191</a></span></p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<div class="section_break"></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="KHARTOUM_CAMPAIGN" id="KHARTOUM_CAMPAIGN"></a>KHARTOUM CAMPAIGN.</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 426px;"><a href="images/map_big.png">
+<img src="images/map.png" width="426" height="500" alt="THE SOUDAN AND THE UPPER NILE." title="THE SOUDAN AND THE UPPER NILE. (click to enlarge)" /></a>
+<span class="caption">THE SOUDAN AND THE UPPER NILE.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="section_break"></div>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h3>
+
+<p class="chapter_summary">Introductory.&mdash;Review of Field.</p>
+
+
+<p>It is an easier and kindlier duty to set forth facts than to proclaim
+opinions and pronounce judgments. Before Tel-el-Kebir was fought in
+September 1882 and the Egyptian army beaten and disbanded, the
+insurrection headed by the Mahdi or False Prophet had begun. In the
+disrupted condition of affairs which succeeded Arabi Pasha's defeat by
+British arms the dervish movement made further rapid progress. To Sir
+Evelyn Wood, V.C., at the close of 1882, was assigned the task, as
+Sirdar or Commander-in-Chief of the Khedivial troops, of forming a
+real native army. It was that distinguished soldier, aided by an
+exceptionally able staff, who first took in hand the re-organisation
+and proper training of the fellaheen recruits. By dint of drill,
+discipline and stiffening with British commissioned and
+non-commissioned officers he soon made passable soldiers of the
+"Gippies." The new army was at first restricted to eight battalions
+of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> Egyptian infantry, one regiment of cavalry, and four batteries of
+artillery. Although there were Soudanese amongst Arabi's troops, they
+were mostly gunners. It was not until May 1884 that the first "black"
+regiment was raised. Yet it had been notorious that the Soudanese were
+the only Khedivial soldiers who made anything of a stubborn stand
+against us in the 1882 campaign. The blacks who came down with the
+Salahieh garrison on the 9th of August 1882, and joined in the
+surprise attack upon General Graham's brigade then in camp at
+Kassassin, were not easily driven off. The large body of Egyptian
+infantry and cavalry, although supported by several Krupp batteries
+which, issuing from the Tel-el-Kebir lines, assailed us in front, were
+readily checked and pushed back. It was our right rear that the
+"blacks" and others forming the Salahieh column menaced, and it
+required some tough fighting before Sir Baker-Russell with his cavalry
+and horse artillery was able to drive them off. In truth, the "blacks"
+held on long after the main body of Arabi's force had abandoned their
+intention of driving the British into the Suez Canal or the sea.</p>
+
+<p>The first Soudanese battalion was recruited and mustered-in at Suakim.
+It got the next numeral in regimental order, and so became known as
+the "Ninth." Many of the blacks who enlisted in the Ninth&mdash;Dinkas,
+Shilluks, Gallas, and what not&mdash;were deserters from the Mahdi's
+banner, or dervishes who had been taken prisoners at El Teb and Tamai.
+It has never yet been deemed advisable to enrol any of the Arab
+tribesmen <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>in the Khedivial regular army. Hadendowa, Kababish, Jaalin,
+Baggara, and many other clans, lack no physical qualifications for a
+military career. Their desperate courage in support of a cause they
+have at heart is an inspiration of self-immolation. But they are as
+uncertain and difficult to regulate by ordinary methods of discipline
+as the American Red Indian, and so are only fitted for irregular
+service. In March 1885 General Sir Francis Grenfell succeeded to the
+Sirdarship. With tact and energy he carried still further forward the
+excellent work of his predecessor. Four additional Soudanese
+battalions were created during his term, and the army was strengthened
+and better equipped for its duties in many other respects. Sir Francis
+had the satisfaction of leading his untried soldiers against the
+dervishes, and winning brilliant victories and, in at least one
+instance, over superior numbers. He it was, who, at Toski in August
+1889, routed an invading army of dervishes, whereat was killed their
+famous leader Wad en Nejumi. That battle put an end to the dream of
+the Mahdists to overrun and conquer Egypt and the world. The Khalifa
+thereafter found his safest policy, unless attacked, was to let the
+regular Egyptian forces severely alone.</p>
+
+<p>It was shown that, when well handled, the fellaheen and the blacks
+could defeat the dervishes. Lord Kitchener of Khartoum became Sirdar
+in the spring of 1892. His career in the land of the Nile may be
+briefly summarised: first as a Lieutenant, then successively as
+Captain, Major, Colonel and General, that Royal Engineer Officer from
+1882 has been actively employed either in Egypt proper or the Soudan.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>
+He has, during that interval, been entrusted with many perilous and
+delicate missions and independent commands. Whatever was given him to
+do was carried through with zeal and resolution. In his time also
+little by little the Khedivial forces have been increased. A sixth
+Soudanese battalion was raised in 1896, and in that and the following
+year four additional fellaheen battalions were added to the army. When
+the Khartoum campaign began, the total muster-roll of the regular
+troops was eighteen battalions of infantry, ten squadrons of cavalry,
+a camel corps of eight companies, five batteries of artillery,
+together with the customary quota of engineers, medical staff,
+transport, and other departmental troops. There was a railway
+construction battalion numbering at least 2000 men, but they were
+non-combatants. As the whole armed strength of Egypt was, for the
+occasion, practically called into the field, the peace of the Delta
+had to be secured by other means. A small armed body called the Coast
+Guard and the ordinary police, apart from the meagre British garrison,
+were responsible for public tranquillity. The re-organisation and
+increase of the Coast Guard, which was decided on, into an army of
+8000 men, was a brilliant idea, and one of the recent master-strokes
+of Lord Cromer and the Sirdar. It is ostensibly a quasi-civil force,
+and it was formed and equipped without the worry of international
+queries and interference. The Coast Guard is mainly composed of picked
+men, including old soldiers and reservists. Their duties carry them
+into the interior as well as along the sea-coast, for, partly on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>
+account of the salt tax, there are revenue defaulters along the
+borders of the Nile as well as by the Mediterranean and Red Sea. They
+are dressed like soldiers and are armed with Remingtons.</p>
+
+<p>Mohammed Achmed, who called himself the Mahdi, or the last of the
+prophets, whose mission was to convert the world to Islamism, was a
+native of Dongola. He was born near El Ordeh, or New Dongola, in 1848,
+and was the son of a carpenter. In person, he was above the medium
+height, robust, and with a rather handsome Arab cast of features.
+During 1884 I saw his brother and two of his nephews in a village
+south of El Ordeh. All of them were tall stalwart men, light of
+complexion for Dongolese, courteous and hospitable to strangers.
+Mohammed Achmed, from his youth, evinced a taste for religious studies
+coupled with the ascetic extravagances of a too emotional nature. From
+Khartoum to Fashoda he acquired a great reputation for sanctity.
+Religious devotees gathered around him and followed him to his retreat
+upon the island of Abba. There he, in May 1881, first announced his
+claims as the true Mahdi. His barefaced assertions of special divine
+command and guidance found credulous believers. With the wisdom of the
+serpent he had added to his influence and security as a prophet by
+marrying daughters of Baggara sheiks, <em>i.e.</em> chiefs. Mohammed Achmed
+was a vigorous and captivating preacher, learned in all the literature
+of the Koran, ever ready with apt and telling quotations. His early
+teaching was decidedly socialistic, including a command for the
+overthrow of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> the then existing civil state. His principles have been
+summed up officially as "an insistence upon universal law and
+religion&mdash;his own&mdash;with community of goods, and death to all who
+refused adherence to his tenets." Unfortunately, "opportunity" played
+into his hands. The misrule of the Pashas, the burden of over-taxation
+coupled with the legal suppression of the slave trade, and the
+demoralisation of the Egyptian forces enabled Mohammed Achmed to rebel
+successfully. Troops sent against him were defeated and annihilated.
+Towns capitulated to his arms and within a period of two years the
+inhabitants of the Soudan were hailing him as the true Mahdi, their
+invincible deliverer. With the capture of Khartoum, on the morning of
+the 26th of January 1885, and the abandonment of the Soudan and its
+population&mdash;the Egyptian frontier being fixed by British Government
+order at Wady Halfa&mdash;the over-lordship of that immense region from the
+Second Cataract to the Equatorial Lakes was yielded to the so-called
+Mahdi Mohammed Achmed did not long enjoy his conquests. Success killed
+him as it has done many a lesser man. For a season he gave himself up
+to a life of indolence and the grossest lust. On the 22nd of June
+1885, less than six months after Gordon's head had been struck off and
+brought to him, the Mahdi suddenly died. It is said by some that his
+death was due to smallpox, by others that one of his women captives
+poisoned him in revenge for the murder of her relatives. His demise
+was kept secret for a time by his successor Abdullah, the chief
+Khalifa, and the other dervish leaders. It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> was given out that the
+Mahdi's spirit had been called to Heaven for a space but would soon
+return to lead his hosts to fresh triumphs and further fat spoils. A
+tomb was erected over the place where his body lay, and the legend of
+his mission was taken over by Abdullah, who also in due season had
+visions and communicated reputed divine ordinances to the dervishes.
+Abdullah, who was ignorant, illiterate and cruel, far beyond his dead
+master&mdash;"the cruellest man on earth," Slatin Pasha dubbed him,&mdash;by his
+exactions and treacheries soon overreached himself. Events were
+hastening to the overthrow of Mahdism. Sheiks and tribes fell away
+from the Khalifa and returned to the fold of orthodox Mohammedanism.
+By 1889, as an aggressive force seeking to enlarge its boundaries,
+Mahdism was spent. Thereafter, stage by stage, its power dwindled,
+although Omdurman, the dervish capital, remained the headquarters of
+the strongest native military power that North Africa has ever known.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Cromer has been blamed for many things he did, and much that he
+left undone, during the earlier days of Mahdism. A fuller knowledge of
+the whole circumstances justifies my saying that, as custodian of
+<em>British interests</em>, he acted throughout with singular prudence and
+great forbearance. It was not with his wish or approval that several
+of the untoward expeditions against the dervishes were undertaken. It
+is permissible to regret that, from a variety of causes, the British
+Government engaged in more than one ill-considered and irresolute
+campaign for the destruction of Mahdism. Much treasure and countless
+thousands<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> of lives were foolishly squandered and all without the
+least compensating advantage. The barren results of the Soudan
+campaigns directed from the War Office in Pall Mall form too painful a
+subject for discussion. It is only fair to say, that the military
+officials' hands may have been much hampered from Downing Street.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"><a name="Illustration_HQ_HALFA" id="Illustration_HQ_HALFA"></a>
+<img src="images/hq_halfa.jpg" width="350" height="258" alt="Headquarters, Wady Halfa." title="Headquarters, Wady Halfa." />
+<span class="caption">Headquarters, Wady Halfa.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>As I have stated elsewhere, it was not until 1896 that the serious
+reconquest of the Soudan was begun. Before then there had been, as Mr
+Gladstone after all appropriately termed them, "military operations,"
+but not a state of war. He might have called them "blood-spilling
+enterprises," for they were only that and no more. The re-occupation
+of the province of Dongola in 1896, freed the Nile up to Merawi, and
+gave the disaffected Kababish, Jaalin and riverain tribesmen a chance
+of reverting to their allegiance to the Khedive. It also enabled the
+Sirdar to pass his gunboats farther up the river. Another gain issuing
+from the forward movement was that his right was secured from serious
+attack. Then followed the building of the wonderful Wady Halfa direct
+desert railway towards Abu Hamid, Berber, and Dakhala at the mouth of
+the Atbara. It was the 1897 campaign which put all these places into
+the Sirdar's hands. During that year's high Nile, he passed his
+gunboats over the long stretch of cataracts betwixt Merawi and Abu
+Hamid, and ran them up the river where they co-operated with the land
+forces, regulars and friendlies. Nay more, the steamers were set to do
+a double duty: convey stores to the advanced posts and assail and
+harass the dervishes, pushing as far south as Shendy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> and Shabluka,
+the Sixth Cataract. By prodigies of labour and enterprise the railroad
+was speedily constructed to Abu Hamid, then on to Berber, and thence
+to Dakhala. The whole situation became greatly simplified the moment
+the line reached Abu Hamid. From the first, the question of dealing a
+death-blow to Mahdism with British-led troops had turned upon the
+solution of the transport problem. The through rail and river
+connection once established from Cairo <em>vi&acirc;</em> Wady Halfa to Abu Hamid
+put an end forever to all serious difficulty of providing adequate
+supplies for the troops. From Abu Hamid the Nile is navigable far
+south for many months during the year. Then again,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> the occupation of
+Abu Hamid unlocked the Korosko desert caravan route and drew more wary
+and recanting dervishes away from the Khalifa. Following the capture
+of Abu Hamid, Berber was promptly taken for Egypt by the friendlies,
+and the Suakim-Berber trade route, which had been closed for many
+years, was re-opened.</p>
+
+<p>The end was slowly drawing near, for the Sirdar was closing the lines
+and mustering his forces for a final blow. Railroad construction went
+forward apace. At the rate of from one to two miles a day track was
+laid so as to get the line up to Dakhala. Meanwhile, workshops were
+being erected at suitable points, and three additional screw gunboats,
+built in England, were re-fitted for launching. The flotilla was
+becoming formidable; it comprised 13 vessels, stern-wheelers and
+screw-steamers, all armed with cannon and machine guns and protected
+by bullet-proof shields.</p>
+
+<p>Believing there was a chance to wreck the railroad and capture
+outposts and stores, Mahmoud, a nephew and favourite general of the
+Khalifa's, led a powerful dervish army from Shendy north to raid the
+country to and beyond Berber. In spite of the gunboats, after
+disposing of the recalcitrant Jaalins, Mahmoud crossed the Nile at
+Metemmeh to the opposite bank. Accompanied by the veteran rebel, Osman
+Digna, he quitted Aliab, marching to the north-east with 10,000
+infantry, riflemen and spearmen, ten small rifled brass guns and 4000
+cavalry. It was his intention to cross the Atbara about 30 miles up
+from the Nile, and fall upon the flank and rear of the Sirdar's
+detached and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> outlying troops, killing them in detail. He reckoned too
+confidently and without full knowledge. Using the steamers and the
+railways the Sirdar quickly concentrated his whole force, bringing men
+rapidly up from Wady Halfa and the province of Dongola. The entrenched
+Egyptian camp at the junction of the Atbara with the Nile was
+strengthened, and General Gatacre's brigade of British troops was
+moved on to Kunur, where Macdonald's and Maxwell's brigades also
+repaired. Mahmoud had ultimately to be attacked in his own chosen
+fortified camp. His army was destroyed and he himself was taken
+prisoner. So closed the unexpected Atbara campaign in March last.
+Thereafter, as the Khalifa showed no intention of inviting fresh
+disaster by sending down another army to attack, the Sirdar despatched
+his troops into summer rest-camps. Dry and shady spots were selected
+by the banks of the Nile between Berber and Dakhala. One or another of
+the numberless deserted mud villages was usually chosen for
+headquarters and offices. With these for a nucleus, the battalion or
+brigade encampment was pitched in front and the quarters were fenced
+about with cut mimosa thorn-bush, forming a zereba. All along the
+Upper Nile, wherever there is a strip of cultivable land, or where
+water can be easily lifted from the river or wells for irrigation,
+there the natives had villages of mud and straw huts. In many places,
+for miles following miles, these hamlets fringe the river's banks,
+sheltered amidst groves of mimosa and palms. The fiendish cruelty and
+wanton destructiveness of the dervishes, who, not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> satiated with
+slaughtering the villagers&mdash;men, women and children&mdash;further glutted
+their fury by firing the homesteads and cutting down the date palms,
+resulted in depopulating the country. Ignorant and fanatical in their
+religious frenzy to convert mankind to their new-found creed, the
+Mahdists held that the surest way to rid the world forthwith of all
+unbelievers lay in making earth too intolerable to be lived in.</p>
+
+<p>These native dwellings, when cleaned, were not uncomfortable abodes.
+As the flat roofs were thickly covered with mats and grass whilst,
+except the doorway, the openings in the mud-walls were small, they
+were even in the glare of noontide heat, pleasantly cool and shady.
+The troops found that straw huts or tukals afforded far better
+protection than the tents from the sun and from dust-storms. So it
+came about that, copying the example set by the fellaheen and black
+soldiers, "Tommy Atkins" also built himself shelters, and "lean-to's"
+of reeds, palm leaves and straw. Drills and field exercises were
+relaxed, and the troops had time to rig up alfresco stages and
+theatres and to enjoy variety entertainments provided by comrades with
+talent for minstrelsy and the histrionic arts. Meanwhile the
+preparations for the final campaign against Mahdism were not
+slackened. Vast quantities of supplies and material of war were stored
+at Dakhala. Outposts were pushed forward and Shendy was occupied,
+whilst Metemmeh was held by friendly Jaalin tribesmen, who had
+suffered much at the Khalifa's hands. The Bayuda desert route also had
+been cleared of dervishes by these and by neighbouring<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> tribesmen. On
+the direct track from Korti to Omdurman, outlying wells and oases were
+in possession of the Kababish and their allies who had broken away
+from Abdullah's tyranny. The whirligig of time had transformed the
+equality preachings, and "unity in the faith" of Mahdism into the
+unbridled supremacy of the Baggara and especially the Taaisha branch
+of that sept over all the people of the Soudan. They alone were
+licensed to rob, ravish and murder with impunity. It was the natural
+sequence of lawless society. Once the foe they leagued to plunder and
+kill had been disposed of, they turned and rent each other. Abdullah
+being a Taaisha, he, as a prop to his own pretensions, set them in
+authority over all the races of the Soudan. One by one, however, Arab
+clansmen and blacks repented and deserted Mahdism.</p>
+
+<p>The time was ripe for ending the mad mutiny against government and
+civilisation. July is the period of high Nile in the upper reaches,
+and the Sirdar planned that his army should be ready to move forward
+by then. At that date all was in readiness. The Egyptian army which
+was to take the field consisted of one division of four brigades, each
+of four battalions with artillery, cavalry and camelry. Besides these
+there were two brigades of British infantry&mdash;Gatacre's division&mdash;a
+regiment of British cavalry, the 21st Lancers, and two and a half
+English batteries, with many Maxims. It was known that Abdullah had
+called into Omdurman all his best men and meant giving battle.</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="section_break"></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h3>
+
+<p class="chapter_summary">Days of Waiting and Preparation.</p>
+
+
+<p>"Everything comes to him who waits," but the weariness of it is
+sometimes terrible. Oftentimes waiting is vain, without accompaniment
+of hard work. The Sirdar made deliberate choice to carve out a career
+in Egypt. He did so in the dark days when the outlook was the reverse
+of promising, in nearly every aspect, to a man of action. Abdication
+of our task of reconstruction was in the air, the withdrawal of the
+British army of occupation a much-talked-of calamity. Through every
+phase of the situation, Kitchener stuck to his guns, keeping to
+himself his plans for the reconquest of the Soudan. He wrought and
+watched while he waited, selecting and surrounding himself with able
+officers, and exacting from each diligence and obedience in the
+discharge of their duties. The Dongola campaign and the fortuitous one
+of the Atbara against Mahmoud greatly strengthened his position. There
+might be further delay, but his triumphal entry into Omdurman and the
+downfall of the Khalifa were certain. The Sirdar had but to ask, to
+receive all the material and men he wished for.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> He adhered to his
+early decision to employ only as many British troops as were actually
+necessary to stiffen the Khedivial army, and no more.</p>
+
+<p>After the battle and victory of the Atbara in the spring, the British
+troops, or Gatacre's brigade, marched back from Omdabiya by easy
+stages to the Nile. The wounded and sick were conveyed into the base
+hospital at Dakhala, whence they were afterwards sent down to
+Ginenetta or, as it then was, Rail-head. From that point they were, as
+each case required, forwarded by train and steamboat to Wady Halfa and
+Cairo. It was at Darmali, 12 miles or more north of Dakhala, that the
+British soldiers went into summer-quarters. On the 14th of April the
+brigade mustered 3818 strong, made up as follows:&mdash;833 Camerons, 826
+Seaforths, 969 Lincolns, and 665 Warwicks. Two companies of Warwicks
+had been left in the Dongola province when the advance was made.
+Besides the muster of battalions enumerated, the brigade included a
+Maxim battery, detachments of the Army Service Corps, and other
+details. The "Tommies" settled down in camp, living under peace
+conditions, for with the rout of Mahmoud's men, the nearest dervish
+force worth considering was as far off as Shabluka Cataract. Everybody
+was bidden to make himself as snug as possible. Outlying houses and
+walls were thrown down to secure a free circulation of air. As for
+sunlight, that was shut out wherever practicable. The first home
+drafts to make up for losses arrived at Darmali on the 23rd of April.
+About 130 men then <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>joined. It was thought desirable to maintain the
+British battalions at their full strength, and some of them mustered
+nearly one thousand strong. As the percentage of sick was continuous,
+and the rate increased as the campaign progressed, the actual roll of
+men "fit for duty" grew less as we neared Omdurman. Of course,
+"youths," and all the "weedy ones," were in the first instance
+rejected by the army doctors, and were never permitted to go to the
+front. Men over 25 years of age were preferred, and it so happened
+that both the Grenadier Guards and the Northumberland Fusiliers had a
+high average of relatively old soldiers, and consequently few sick.
+From the end of April until the end of May, dull hot days in the
+Soudan, leave was granted to officers to run down to Alexandria and
+have a "blow" at San Stefano, by the sea-side. There were quite a
+number of deaths in the brigade shortly after the men got into camp,
+the customary reaction having set in on account of the exposure and
+strain precedent to the victory of the Atbara. To reduce the numbers
+quartered at Darmali, the Lincolns and Warwicks, on the 19th of April,
+were marched a mile farther north along the Nile, to Es Selim, where
+they formed a separate encampment, the Camerons and Seaforths
+remaining at the first-named place. The average daily number of sick
+in the brigade at that period was 100 to 150. On one occasion there
+were 190 men reported unfit for duty. Most of the cases were not of a
+serious nature, and the patients speedily recovered and returned to
+their places in the ranks. There was no lack of stores and even
+dainties at the camps, for supplies were carried up by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> caravan,
+escorted by Jaalin friendlies, from Berber and elsewhere. Much of the
+sickness in the army was probably due to the men recklessly drinking
+unboiled and unfiltered Nile water. At that season the river had sunk
+into its narrowest bed, and there were backwashes and sluggish
+channels full of light-green tinted water. More filters were procured,
+and extra care was taken with all the water used for domestic
+purposes.</p>
+
+<p>In May there were route marches twice a week, the brigade going off at
+5.30 a.m. and returning about 7.30 a.m., all in the cool of the
+morning or such bearable temperature as there was in the 24 hours'
+daily round in that month. During these exercises the troops had
+plenty of firing practice, being taught to blaze away at bushes, and
+occasionally at targets representing dervishes. In that way the
+remainder of the million of tip-filed Lee-Metford bullets were
+disposed of, for it had been arranged that there was to be a new
+cartridge case for the Omdurman campaign. The latest pattern
+"man-stopper" was a bullet fashioned with a hollow or crater at the
+point, the nickel casing being perforated.</p>
+
+<p>So the days droned past for the British soldiers, with little to do
+beyond essaying the impossible of trying to keep cool. It was often
+otherwise with the Egyptians, for they had to assist in getting the
+railroad through to Dakhala from Ginenetta, in forwarding boats and
+stores, and later on in establishing wood stations and cutting fuel
+for the steamers. The first of the tropical summer rain showers fell
+at Darmali on the 27th of May. On the 18th of June Major-General
+Gatacre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> went off on a shooting excursion up the Atbara, taking with
+him a party of ten officers and a few orderlies. They found relatively
+little big game but plenty of gazelle and birds. The bodies of the
+slain in Mahmoud's zereba at Omdabiya still lay where they fell,
+unburied, but dried up and mummified by the sun. Natives had stripped
+the place and carried off everything left behind by us. A number of
+dervishes were seen lurking about, part of the defeated army of the
+enemy, who were afraid to return to Omdurman, anticipating that the
+Khalifa would have them killed. Indeed, it appeared that numbers of
+the runaways had settled down at New Hilgi, and were attempting to
+cultivate. As for the four or five thousand dervish cavalry that
+Mahmoud had with him, they also never returned to Omdurman. Quite
+probably they made their way back to their original homes in small
+bands, rightly believing that Mahdism was doomed. Assured of pardon
+and good treatment at our hands, fourteen of the Mahdists and a number
+of women came in with General Gatacre's people. No attempt was made by
+the dervishes in the neighbourhood to "snipe" the party. They returned
+to Darmali on the 27th of June. With the sun gone north came the
+rising of the Nile and fresh breezes. The gunboats kept diligently
+patrolling the river, watching for any signs of movement on the part
+of the Khalifa and his forces. The enemy were reported to be gathering
+in large numbers at Omdurman for the coming conflict. As Shendy was
+held by a small force of Egyptians, and Metemmeh nominally by the
+Jaalin for us, frequent visits were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> made to those posts. Later on,
+other shooting parties went up to Omdabiya and found that there was an
+increase in the numbers of natives about, and that flocks and herds
+were to be seen grazing in the vicinity. The tribesmen showed that
+they had abandoned the Khalifa by tearing the dervish patches off
+their clothing. All being quiet, and peace assured in the Dongola
+province, the two detached companies of the Warwickshire left Korti
+and joined their comrades in Es Selim camp.</p>
+
+<p>July was a very busy month. The river flotilla and transport service
+had all to be thoroughly organised for the impending advance. Gunboats
+received the final touches and completed their armament. The steamers,
+barges and giassas, native sailing craft, underwent thorough repair.
+More and still more munitions of war and provisions were sent forward
+and stored at Dakhala. That post grew into a formidable camp. The
+three new twin-screw gunboats built on the Thames, besides other
+ship-work reconstruction, were put together near Abadia, a village
+above the Fifth Cataract and north of Berber. The railroad had been
+hastily laid and completed to Abadia after the battle of Atbara.
+Thither the sections of the barges and steamers needed for the
+campaign had been sent by rail from Wady Halfa. Before that date,
+engineering and other workshops had been erected at Abadia, which,
+because of its favourable position, was chosen for a permanent camp
+and industrial centre. Base-hospitals, too, were built there, in order
+that the wounded and sick might travel as far as possible by water.
+Astonishing as had been the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> rapidity with which the Wady Halfa Abu
+Hamid portion of the desert railroad was laid, smarter work still was
+done carrying the line through to the Atbara. The utmost energy was
+put forth, after the defeat of Mahmoud, by the Director of Railways,
+Major Girouard, R.E., to get the track completed to Dakhala, the
+junction of the Atbara with the Nile. Not only the railroad battalion,
+which was nearly 3000 strong, but every available Khedivial soldier,
+laboured in some way or other at the task. They put their hearts and
+thews to the toil, for it was recognised that its completion not only
+solved the transport problem, but was a swift and sure means of return
+to Egypt. The railroad battalion worked wonders in grading and laying.
+Fellaheen and negro, they showed a vim and intelligence in
+track-making that Europeans could not surpass. Native lads, some in
+their early teens, clothed with little beyond a sense of their own
+importance and "army ammunition boots," many sizes too big for their
+feet, adjusted the fish-plates and put on the screw nuts. Then, for
+those who bore the heavy burden of rails and sleepers and carried
+material for the road bed, there were licensed fools, mummers, and
+droll mimics, who by their antics revived the lagging spirits of the
+gangs. There is an unsuspected capacity for mimicry in what are called
+savage men. I have seen Red Indians give excellent pantomimic
+entertainments, and aborigines in other lands exhibit high mumming
+talent. In the railroad battalion there was an eccentric negro who was
+a very king of jesters. From the Sirdar and the Khalifa downwards&mdash;for
+he was an ex-dervish<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> and had played pranks in Omdurman&mdash;none escaped
+a parodying portrayal of their mannerisms. He imitated the tones of
+their voice and twisted and contorted his face and body to resemble
+the originals. Nothing was sacred from that mimic any more than from a
+sapper. He showed us Osman Digna's little ways, and gave ghastly
+imitations of trials, mutilations and executions by hanging in the
+Mahdist camps. And these things were for relaxation, though maybe they
+served as a reminder of the dervishes' brutal rule. There were
+vexations and jokes of another sort for Major Girouard and those held
+tightly responsible for the rapid construction and regular running of
+the material trains, as indeed all trains were. When the line had been
+laid beyond Abu Dis, for a time known as Rail-head, the camp and
+quarters were moved on to the next station. Abu Dis sank in dignity
+and population until only a corporal and two men were left to guard
+the place and work the sidings. The desert railway being a single
+track, frequent sidings are indispensable for the better running of
+trains. All the control for working the system was vested in the Wady
+Halfa officials. One night there came to them over the wires an
+alarmist message to send no more trains to Abu Dis. It was the
+corporal who urgently rang up his chiefs. What could it mean? Had they
+deserted, or, more likely, were the dervishes raiding the district? A
+demand was made from Wady Halfa for the corporal to explain what had
+happened. His answer was naive, if not satisfactory: "The wild beasts
+have come down from the hills, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> we really cannot accept any trains
+from any direction." "What do you mean?" was again queried back. So
+the corporal and his two men responded: "Sir, there are wild beasts
+all around the hut and tent; what can we do? We dare not stir out."
+"Light fires, you magnoons," (fools), was the final rejoinder, and the
+train service went forward as usual. It appeared that the hyenas and
+wolves, wont to snap up a living around the men's camp, bereft of
+their pickings were in a state of howling starvation, and had turned
+up and made an appeal, by no means mute, to the station guard, which
+the latter failed to understand or appreciate. In a remarkably short
+space of time the hyenas and pariah dogs had adopted the habit of
+scavengering around all the camps and snifting along the track, after
+the trains, for stray scraps.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"><a name="Illustration_DARMALI" id="Illustration_DARMALI"></a>
+<img src="images/darmali.jpg" width="350" height="254" alt="Darmali (British Brigade Summer Quarters)." title="Darmali (British Brigade Summer Quarters)." />
+<span class="caption">Darmali (British Brigade Summer Quarters).</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>I returned to Cairo early in July, where, having paid into the
+Financial Military Secretary's hands the &pound;50 security required of war
+correspondents, intended to cover cost of railway fares south of Wady
+Halfa, and for any forage drawn from the stores, I received the
+official permit to proceed to the front. All the restrictions as to
+the number of correspondents allowed up, which were imposed during the
+Atbara campaign, were singularly enough removed, and the "very open
+door" policy substituted. In consequence, there was a large number,
+over sixteen in all, of so-called representatives of the press at the
+front. As an old correspondent aptly observed, some of them
+represented anything but journals or journalism, the name of a
+newspaper being used merely as a cover for notoriety and medal
+hunting.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> Having secured my warrant to join the Sirdar's army, I
+started from Cairo for Assouan and Wady Halfa. The headquarters at
+that date were still in Wady Halfa. On the 21st of July the first
+detachments of the reinforcements that were to make up the British
+force to a division, which Major-General Gatacre was to command, left
+Cairo for the south. Thereafter, nearly day by day up to the 9th of
+August inclusive, troops were sent forward. These consisted of
+artillery, cavalry, the 21st Lancers, baggage animals, Royal
+Engineers, Army Service Corps, Medical Corps, and the four battalions
+of infantry which were to form the second British brigade. The brigade
+in question comprised 1st Battalion of the Grenadier Guards, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> 1st
+Northumberland Fusiliers, the 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers, and the 2nd
+Battalion Rifle Brigade, together with a battery of Maxims manned by a
+detachment of the Royal Irish Fusiliers. Brigadier-General the
+Honourable N. G. Lyttelton, C.B., commanded the second brigade, whilst
+Major-General Gatacre's former command, the 1st British Brigade, was
+taken over by Brigadier-General J. Wauchope. The first brigade was
+made up of the Lincolns, Warwicks, Seaforths, and Camerons, with six
+Maxims. To prepare for eventualities, and clench the special training
+he had bestowed upon his men, Major-General Gatacre issued a printed
+slip of notes, or hints, to his men. I give the salient points of that
+production:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"1. As the strength of a European force lies in the occupation of and
+in movement over open ground, which gives it advantage of fire, so the
+strength of a dervish force lies in fighting in depressions of the
+ground, or in a jungle country out of which they can pour suddenly and
+quickly their thousands of spear-armed warriors, who, unless checked
+by a murderous fire, constitute a grave danger, even to a perfectly
+disciplined force.</p>
+
+<p>"It follows, then, that a force halted for the night must always be
+protected where possible by a zereba, which will check under fire the
+attacking dervishes.</p>
+
+<p>"2. That a cleared zone be prepared along outer edge of the zereba.</p>
+
+<p>"3. That a force, when moving, should march at a respectful distance
+from jungle cover.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>"4. It should have the ground in its front and on its flanks searched
+out by cavalry, mounted infantry, or native levies.</p>
+
+<p>"5. That when mounted troops have found the enemy, they must
+invariably clear the front of the infantry to enable the latter to use
+their rifles.</p>
+
+<p>"6. That brigades must be so trained that each battalion and
+individual soldier must know how to get into the best formation with
+the least possible delay for meeting the attack of the spearmen, who,
+it must be remembered, can move at least three times as quickly as a
+British soldier can double.</p>
+
+<p>"To carry out the above, a high standard of training and steadiness is
+required, and battalions must be provided with a liberal supply of
+cutting tools, felling axes, hand axes and bill hooks to enable them,
+the instant the battalion marches into bivouac, to cut down small
+trees or strong branches of prickly trees with which to construct a
+thorn fence.</p>
+
+<p>"Piquets must be withdrawn at dusk, otherwise they might get
+surrounded and cut off, or, in falling back, would possibly suffer
+from the defenders of the zereba.</p>
+
+<p>"The protection of the zereba against surprise must depend on the
+vigilance of its sentries and piquets which line the fence, and whose
+strength will naturally depend on the proximity of the dervishes to
+the force. With reliable information, and the ground properly
+reconnoitred, a patrol of ten men per company, patrolling constantly
+and noiselessly along the inner edge of the zereba, is adequate, so
+long as the enemy's dem is say 15 miles distant (a day's march); when
+nearer than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> this, the strength of the piquets to remain awake and
+under arms will depend upon the circumstances of the moment.</p>
+
+<p>"All night duties of this nature should be found by companies, so that
+portions of the line along its whole length shall be on duty. Words of
+command and orders must be given in a low tone; there must be no
+shouting and no fires burning till the hour arrives for making the
+morning tea. Men should always be allowed to smoke, but should be
+warned of the danger of fire in zereba by a cigarette or match-end
+thrown into dry grass.</p>
+
+<p>"Officers must sleep immediately behind their men; a certain number
+will always be on duty.</p>
+
+<p>"All, officers and men, must sleep in their clothes, boots and
+accoutrements, and each man must have his rifle with him. None but
+sentries' should be loaded, and bayonets should not be fixed, even by
+the patrols, except when there is expectancy of attack. Under no
+circumstances should men sleep with their bayonets fixed, or serious
+accidents will occur.</p>
+
+<p>"And here, one word about 'alarms.' I do not refer to the assembly by
+bugle sound, but what is ordinarily called a panic, in other words a
+disgraceful absence of discipline and self-control, which, while
+ruining the reputation of the corps concerned as a reliable battalion,
+may be the cause of serious mischief, and must be disastrous to the
+confidence the General Officer places in its officers and men.</p>
+
+<p>"One of the great advantages accruing to an army on service is the
+close association of the officer with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> man; each learns something
+from the other, and the officer will, in after years, appreciate the
+value of the habit he gets into of talking to his men and of storing
+up in his mind all sorts of dodges and hints, which assist troops in
+the field to make themselves comfortable; more than this, it is in the
+field only that the officer can get the opportunity of instilling into
+the men's minds the necessity for deliberation under fire, the high
+standard of the regiment, its past history, its superiority in
+everything to all other regiments in the division, and his confidence
+in his men to maintain such a standard of excellence. In many
+expeditions it has happened that shots have been fired at nothing,
+night after night, thus disturbing the whole force; such bad habits
+must be firmly checked."</p>
+
+<p>Before leaving Cairo I had the opportunity of witnessing a trial of
+the new siege guns that were to be used in levelling the walls and
+defences of Omdurman. To the eastward of Abbassieh barracks, near the
+rifle ranges, 150 feet of stone wall had been erected. It was a
+replica of part of the structure which the Khalifa had built around
+the tomb of the Mahdi, his own grounds, that of his body-guard, and
+the more important buildings situated in the centre of the dervish
+capital.</p>
+
+<p>The stout rectangular wall at Omdurman stood with its narrowest side
+facing the Nile, and its longest sides ran inland from the river for
+about a mile. It was twelve feet in height, and even more in places,
+ten feet in thickness at the base, tapering to six feet at the top. It
+was a well-made structure, laid in mortar and faced on either side
+with dressed limestone blocks.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>Shortly after six a.m. on the morning of 22nd July, a large number of
+officers assembled at the Abbassieh ranges to watch the result of the
+experiments of the sham bombardment. Lieutenant-General Sir Francis
+Grenfell and staff, Major-General Lyttelton, and many others were
+present. It was arranged that the new 5-inch howitzer battery, with
+the "Lyddite" or high explosive shells, was to make the first attempt
+to breach or throw down the wall. There were six of these new
+howitzers, and they were worked by the 37th Field Battery, commanded
+by Major Elmslie. Except that the bore was larger, there was little to
+distinguish the pieces from the 15-lb. Maxim-Nordenfeldt automatic
+recoil guns used at the battle of the Atbara. The latter cannon,
+however, only used cordite, whereas the 5-inch howitzer shells are
+filled with a picric compound resembling M. Turpin's melinite. For
+over ten years Russia has had 100-lb. howitzer batteries in the field,
+firing high explosives. It was the Sirdar who insisted upon the
+necessity of being supplied with these light and handy cannon. Neither
+the velocity nor the range of their shell-fire is great, but it is
+enough&mdash;4000 yards or thereby&mdash;for all practical purposes, and is
+fairly accurate. The explosion of the picric shells was very violent,
+and the danger area about 300 yards from where they burst. It has been
+found that, with about six or eight mules to draw the guns, the
+battery was quite mobile. Egyptian drivers were employed, though the
+men serving the guns were all British artillerymen. Even the drivers
+of the 32nd Field Battery, commanded by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> Major Williams, had "gippy"
+teamsters. Both batteries were drawn by smart Cyprus mules. The
+howitzers opened fire at 750 yards from the wall. With few exceptions,
+the Lyddite shells hit the mark. Range is given more by increase or
+diminution of the charge than elevation or depression of the
+howitzers. The guns kicked viciously and ran back at each discharge.
+Bursting violently, the shells threw out big sheets of tawny flame,
+followed by showers of stones and a cloud of dust and brownish smoke.
+It was possible to see the missiles in their flight and note where
+they struck. As each shell rushed through the air it made a noise not
+unlike an express train passing under a bridge. There were salvoes of
+two or three guns, and huge chunks were knocked out of the wall.
+Pieces of flying d&eacute;bris frequently dropped at no great distance from
+the gunners. It was plain that the shells were bursting upon impact,
+and only blowing away the face of the wall to the depth of but a foot
+or two. Had there been thick shells with retarding fuses the structure
+might have been breached in two or three rounds.</p>
+
+<p>After a preliminary ten rounds had been fired, the wall was closely
+inspected. It was seen that infantry might have clambered over the
+d&eacute;bris to the top of the structure and jumped down upon the other
+side. A strange feature was that wherever the "Lyddite" explosive
+failed to detonate the stones and ground around had been transformed
+to a deep chrome colour. The battery was moved closer, to about 350
+yards from the wall, and the firing was recommenced at that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> range.
+Much better results were obtained, and the upper part of the wall was
+knocked away, and easy, practicable breaches made. One of the other
+advantages of these new guns is that with reduced firing charges they
+become reliable mortars, and the high explosive shells can be dropped
+over a wall or building, so as to drive the defenders from their
+works. Not a man would have escaped injury had there been an enemy
+behind the wall, for blocks of stone were scattered in all directions.
+When the howitzers had finished their practice, six rounds were fired
+from two 40-lb. Armstrong guns, which were also ordered to assist in
+breaching Omdurman's walls. Next to the 7-lb. screw guns the 40-lb.
+Armstrong is reputed to be the most accurate shooting cannon in the
+British service. Mounted on lofty carriages, these siege guns were
+laid to fire at 800 yards range. Oddly enough, one of the 40-lbs.
+scored as high a percentage of misses as the howitzers. The great
+velocity of the 40-lb. shells, filled with the slower-bursting
+gunpowder, carried them well into the part of the wall aimed at, with
+the result that, in a few seconds, they made a good breach. The
+morning's experiments were concluded by a detachment of the Royal
+Irish Fusiliers, under Captain Churches, firing their Maxims against
+targets representing bands of dervishes, the dummy enemy being, as
+usual, riddled with bullets.</p>
+
+<p>From Cairo to Dakhala, evidence was not lacking that the form and
+movement of preparations for the general advance were growing apace.
+Every train and boat going south was overloaded with officers, men,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>
+and transport animals, together with munitions of war galore for the
+campaign. The gunboats and deserters brought in reports that the
+dervishes were concentrating at Omdurman. The strongly defensible
+positions of Shabluka, together with the mud forts, had been evacuated
+by the dervishes. Very quickly the Sirdar sent small bodies of troops
+up stream to occupy suitable positions for wood-cutting and forming
+advance camps. In that way the river pass at the Sixth Cataract was
+seized without the long anticipated fight for that difficult bit of
+country. The Nile highway was at length in the Sirdar's undisputed
+possession up to within thirty miles of Omdurman.</p>
+
+<p>There is no dustier journey by rail, or one of an altogether more
+uncomfortable nature, than from Cairo to Shellal. It is bad enough in
+the so-called winter season, for you have to breathe an atmosphere of
+dust the whole way, and are powdered and almost suffocated before you
+reach Luxor. The same trip taken in midsummer, in the stuffy, crowded
+carriages of the Egyptian lines, is real martyrdom, or something akin
+thereto. High speed or over twenty-five miles an hour is not
+attempted. Although the journey ordinarily occupies thirty-two hours,
+I was forty hours <em>en route</em>. There are no refreshment-bars or
+restaurants for the supply of palatable food or drink for the fierce
+needs of the passengers. I made some provision for the trip, and
+managed to survive it, as I have done before, but I cannot forget its
+tortures any more than the newest of new-comers. Not until we reached
+Assouan could we secure a fair supply of water and get a bath and an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>
+enjoyable meal. That same afternoon, I, with three other
+correspondents, was allowed to take passage on barge No. 9, which,
+with two giassas, was taken in tow up to Wady Halfa by a sternwheeler.
+Among others proceeding on the craft to join the army were
+Major-General Wauchope and Surgeon-General Taylor, and a number of
+other army medicoes, fresh in their new dignity as officers of the
+"Royal Army Medical Corps." Under the instruction of Surgeon-General
+Taylor, Surgeon-Major Wilson was good enough to present each of us
+with a packet of first field dressings, a kindness which I
+appreciated, but of which I hoped not to have need.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="Illustration_STAFF_OFFICERS" id="Illustration_STAFF_OFFICERS"></a>
+<img src="images/staff_officers.jpg" width="500" height="338" alt="Group of Staff Officers.&mdash;Colonel Wingate in Centre." title="Group of Staff Officers.&mdash;Colonel Wingate in Centre." />
+<span class="caption">Group of Staff Officers.&mdash;Colonel Wingate in Centre.<br /></span>
+<span class="subcaption">(Left to right: Major Lord Edward Cecil, A.D.C.&mdash;Major Kincaid.&mdash;Major J. K. Watson, A.D.C.&mdash;Colonel
+Wingate&mdash;Surgeon-Colonel Gallwey, P.M.O.&mdash;Major H. G. Fitton.)</span>
+</div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="section_break"></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h3>
+
+<p class="chapter_summary">Mustering for the Overthrow of Mahdism.</p>
+
+
+<p>A hackneyism lacks the picturesqueness of originality, but is as
+useful in its way as a public road to a desired destination. The
+quotation which I am at the moment anxious to make use of is, "The
+mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small." Time
+the avenger had all but fulfilled the meed of punishment for the evil
+day of 26th January 1885, when the streets of Khartoum ran with blood,
+and the headless body of General Gordon was left to be hacked and hewn
+by ferocious hordes of dervishes. Major-General Sir Herbert H.
+Kitchener had so managed that the decisive blow should be delivered in
+the most effective manner. Stage by stage he had moved forward and
+improved his lines of communication. The advanced base, or point of
+departure for the campaign, was no longer Wady Halfa, or Korti in the
+province of Dongola, as in 1884, but Dakhala. Nay, with the
+unassailable power and command of the Nile his flotilla gave him, it
+might be said the real base of the Sirdar's army was where he chose to
+fix it, even hard by Omdurman. As for the Khalifa,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> ruined to some
+extent by years of successes and easy victories, he was committing the
+fatal military error of over-confidence. He had drawn around him from
+all parts of the Soudan the best of his trusty warriors, the pick of
+the fighting tribes of Africa. The leaders were mostly sheiks who were
+too far committed to hope for pardon and restoration, in the event of
+defeat, from the Khedivial Government. Besides, there were still
+plenty of ignorant fanatics amongst the chosen "Ansar," or servants of
+God, to fire the naturally truculent mass of armed men.</p>
+
+<p>To ensure the smashing of the Mahdists, the Sirdar was leading the
+largest and best equipped expedition ever seen south of Wady Halfa.
+The river flotilla comprised eleven well-armed steam gunboats. For the
+transport of troops and stores beyond Dakhala he had numberless native
+craft, giassas, nuggars, several steamers, and specially constructed
+iron barges. What with their crews and detachments of British gunners,
+engineers, and infantry, each gunboat had a fighting force of about
+100 men aboard. These vessels could easily have carried many more
+hands; indeed, the newest type of Nile men-o'-war, the twin-screw
+steamers, were built to convey a thousand soldiers. The land forces
+included over 8000 British troops and fully 15,000 Egyptian and
+Soudanese soldiery. In artillery the army was exceptionally strong.
+Lieut.-Colonel C. J. Long, R.A., commanding that arm, had practically
+eight batteries and ten Maxims at his disposal, not counting the
+machine guns, Maxims, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>attached to the British division. The artillery
+included the 32nd Field Battery R.A. of six 15-pounders under Major
+Williams; the 37th Field Battery R.A. of six 5-inch howitzers under
+Major Elmslie, and two 40-pounders R.A. Armstrong guns under Lieut.
+Weymouth. There were also, No. 1 Egyptian Horse Artillery Battery
+(Krupps) under Major Young, R.A., of six guns; No. 2 Egyptian Field
+(mule) Battery under Major Peake, consisting of six 12&frac12;-pounder
+Maxim-Nordenfeldt automatic recoil guns, firing when necessary a
+double shell, and Egyptian Field Batteries Nos. 3, 4, and 5, each of
+six of the same type of guns, under Captain C. G. Stewart, R.A., Major
+Lawrie, R.A., and Major de Rougemont, R.A., and two 6-centimetres
+Krupps on mules. The ten Maxims, or at least six of them, were mounted
+upon galloping carriages drawn by horses. On these vehicles or limbers
+the gunners could remain in position and bring the weapons into action
+at any moment. Captain Franks had the control of these machine guns,
+two of which were, nominally, attached to each Egyptian battery.
+Besides the four brigades of Khedivial infantry, together with
+artillery, cavalry, and camelry, and minor details, the Egyptian army
+also included a large transport column of some 2800 camels and about
+as many men.</p>
+
+<p>A new solar-hat, a poke-bonnet sort of head-gear, was designed and
+tied on the pates of one thousand transport camels as an experiment to
+prevent sickness and sunstroke. Although the brutes have the smallest
+modicum of brains, they are very liable to attacks of illness from
+heat-exhaustion. That they are born in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> the tropics confers no
+immunity. Strange to say, on the march south from Assouan, of a
+thousand and odd only one animal succumbed to sunstroke, and that was
+a camel that had no sun-bonnet. If anything could have added to the
+naturally lugubrious expression of those lumbering freight carriers,
+it was the jaunty poke-bonnets with the attenuated "Oh, let us be
+joyful" visages grinning beneath. The transport department was managed
+by Colonel F. W. Kitchener, brother of the Sirdar. His care it was,
+when the army actually took the field, to see that the supplies of
+food, forage, and ammunition advanced with the columns. As a matter of
+fact, in that respect the campaign, as at the Atbara, was admirably
+ordered, and the troops lacked for nothing in reason. There were few
+mules and donkeys employed in the baggage trains, the bulk of the
+stores being camel-borne. It was the free and full use of water
+transport, by the Nile, that enabled supplies to be sent on rapidly
+and regularly with the army when the troops advanced beyond Rail-head.
+Besides the regular army which was to proceed up the left or west bank
+and attack Omdurman, there was a column of armed friendlies who were
+to operate against the dervishes quartered between Shendy and
+Khartoum, by the east or right bank of the Nile. Nor were the bands of
+tribesmen upon that shore the only auxiliaries who had volunteered to
+assist in overthrowing Mahdism. Jaalin scouts and runners put
+themselves under the Sirdar's orders to scour the front and flanks of
+the army, at least up to Kerreri. Colonel Parsons, R.A.,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> was to lead
+a mixed force of fellaheen soldiers, Abyssinian levies, ex-Italian
+Ascari, and Arabs from Kassala to attack Gedarif and menace Khartoum
+from the east.</p>
+
+<p>There was a degree of soreness in several British battalions at not
+being allowed to bear part in the campaign. The troops forming the
+Army of Occupation believed that they should have had the first call.
+Among these were the Royal Irish Fusiliers. It had been anticipated
+that as they were next on the army list for active foreign service,
+they would certainly not be passed over. Instead of receiving orders
+to march, they were left severely alone, another Fusilier battalion
+being sent in their place. The proceeding gave rise to much bickering
+and bitterness in certain quarters. An attempt, I believe, was made to
+send half of the Royal Irish Fusiliers to the front, but that fell
+through owing to various causes. According to the War Office
+requirements, the Royal Irish Fusiliers were not in a satisfactory
+condition. There were serious drawbacks which would have terribly
+militated against the effective employment of the battalion as a
+first-class fighting unit. Individually, the men were all right, but
+the battalion record in certain respects was held to be very faulty. I
+have no wish to cavil at the War Office authorities' honest desire to
+serve the public and yet temper their judgment with mercy to
+individuals. But the case was one where they should not have
+temporised in any way. As matters turned out, the Royal Irish
+Fusiliers were very angry at being passed over at the eleventh hour
+for another regiment. For several<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> generations they have never had a
+chance of being in action. They were fairly spoiling for a fight, and
+it was hard, at the last moment, to have the road to glory closed in
+their faces for the deficiencies of the few.</p>
+
+<p>He whom Arabs and blacks of the whole Soudan call the "Grand Master of
+the Art of Flight," our old friend Osman Digna, was with the Khalifa
+in Omdurman. Osman was wily and experienced, and his counsel, had it
+been listened to by his chief, would have added to the difficulties of
+carrying the Mahdist stronghold by assault. I have some knowledge of
+that astute ex-slavedealer and trader's ways in the Eastern Soudan and
+elsewhere. He, many years ago, even condescended to honour me with his
+correspondence and an invitation to join the true believers, <em>i.e.</em>,
+the Mahdists. I have no doubt he meant well, but the land and the
+dervishes were alike abhorrent to me. Osman had quietly come to the
+wise conclusion that Mahdism was near its end. With his usual
+prescience he made his own arrangements without consulting the
+Khalifa. Early in the year he had all his women and children and such
+wealth as he could smuggle out of the country sent over to Jeddah.
+There his family are now living under the protection of some of his
+old friends and kinsmen. When Omdurman fell he had no intention, the
+Hadendowas said, of sharing the Khalifa's further fortunes in hiding
+among the wilds of Kordofan. He would instead try and escape across
+the Red Sea and rejoin his family. The Arab clansmen are like the
+Hielan' caterans; they may fight and quarrel with one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> another, but
+unless there is a blood feud it is unlikely they will help either the
+English or the Egyptians to bag old Osman Digna. If the Turk gets him
+for a subject, well, the Sublime Porte is likely to be deeply sorry
+for it later on. "Fresh troubles in Yemen," or elsewhere in the
+Arabian Peninsula, will be amongst the headlines of news from that
+quarter once Osman the plotter finds his feet again after his last
+flight. After the Atbara he just missed being taken by the skin of his
+teeth, so to speak. His camp letters and private correspondence were
+all secured. It was in this way: When the news of the Atbara victory
+reached Kassala, Captain Benson and a party of about 200 Abyssinian
+irregulars set out to see whether Osman Digna and his more immediate
+followers were not trying to make their way back to Omdurman, vi&acirc;
+Aderamat and Abu Delek. It may be recollected that the fugitive Shiekh
+had established a camp at the last-named place after he had been
+driven out of the Eastern Soudan. Sure enough, Captain Benson and the
+irregulars came up with Osman Digna and 400 of his people encamped
+near the Atbara. They called on them to surrender, but that they would
+not do. A running fight began, in the course of which Osman, his
+nephew Mousa and many more escaped. The Abyssinians, however, killed
+and captured over 200 of the dervish leader's followers, and returned
+in triumph with the captives and spoils. I am told that Mousa Digna,
+though he watched the fight in question, never fired a shot. The tale
+goes, that he has never drawn sword or trigger against us since we
+gave him his life<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> at the battle of Gemaizeh, near Suakin. That
+morning I found Mousa, shot through the stomach, reclining upon the
+ground. He was still truculent, and brandishing his spear. The
+Soudanese were anxious to despatch him forthwith, and fired several
+shots at him, the aim of which I spoiled by direct interference. I had
+even then difficulty in getting Mousa to lie down quietly, having to
+show him my revolver. Finally, he partly realised the situation. He
+was taken up, carried into Suakin, carefully attended to, fed upon a
+milk diet, and, in the end, recovered and returned to his Uncle Osman
+and the dervishes. It has always been upon my mind that I was therein
+instrumental in furnishing a dervish recruit to the cause of furious
+anarchy, and I am relieved to think Mousa is not without compunction,
+if not a decent modicum of conscience. But your proper Hadendowa is
+not a Baggara.</p>
+
+<p>"Three removals are worse than a fire," and it is much the same in
+campaigning. Constant trudging to and fro, making and breaking camps
+with the hardships of marches and raw ground for bivouacs, furnish a
+bigger mortality bill than an ordinary battle. One of the smart things
+done by the Sirdar, which served to show that he had closely knit all
+the ends of the new frontier lines together, was to bring troops up
+from the Dongola province and the Red Sea Littoral, to swell the
+strength of his army in the field. The 5th Egyptian battalion under
+Colonel Abd El Borham marched across from Suakin to Berber in eighteen
+days. It was not by any means sought to make it a forced march. The
+Fifth was accompanied by a company, 100 men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> and animals, of the Camel
+Corps and had 40 baggage camels for ordinary transport. Leisurely, day
+by day, they tramped along over the 250 odd miles of rock and sand
+that intervene betwixt the Nile and the sea. Hadendowa and Bishaim
+tribesmen were friendly, and scouts led them in the best tracks
+whether they tramped by night or by day. At one place they had to make
+a long forced march as the water in the wells had been exhausted by a
+previous caravan. In time to come, with a little outlay, new wells
+will be dug and an abundant supply of water provided along the whole
+route. Later on, the 5th Egyptian battalion marched up from Berber to
+Dakhala camp. The men were tall, muscular fellaheen. They were, as has
+become the custom in Egypt since the army has been officered by the
+Queen's soldiers, played into quarters on this occasion by a native
+Soudanese band to the swinging tune of "O, dem Golden Slippers."</p>
+
+<p>It is warm enough in Lower Egypt in July to be uncomfortable, and to
+turn the most obdurate into a melting mood. Assouan has the deserved
+reputation of being hotter in that month than Aden, the Persian Gulf,
+or&mdash;well, any other hot place. So, as I have said before, the British
+troops were not required to do more than the minimum of duty at that
+period. Decidedly "circumstances alter cases," even in matters
+military. I hope I may be pardoned for these recurring quotations and
+saws. The intolerably fervent solar heat of the Soudan at that season
+did not admit of much originality in thought, expression, or act. One
+of my companions was a veritable modern Sancho<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> Panza, and in one's
+limp, mental, noontide condition his sapient "instances" were
+catching. When he left Cairo, as he confided to me, though it was warm
+enough there, he decided not to buy too thin clothing lest he might
+catch cold. He therefore purchased articles that even in England would
+be called woolly and comfortable. Later on, as he reclined upon his
+couch in a thrice-raised Turkish bath temperature, he lamented that he
+"could not catch cold" even in a state of nature or next to it. He no
+longer wondered at Sydney Smith's wish to sit in his bones, and
+thought that expression would have acquired additional force if the
+witty divine had added "packed in ice."</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="section_break"></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h3>
+
+<p class="chapter_summary">By the Way&mdash;From Cairo to Dakhala.</p>
+
+
+<p>Ten days from London to the junction of the Atbara with the Nile: so
+far from England and yet so near. By-and-by, no doubt, the Brindisi
+mail, speeding in connection with the Khartoum express, will make the
+run in seven or eight days. From England to Port Said is now but a
+matter of four days by the new Peninsular and Oriental service. It
+took me six days from Cairo to reach Dakhala. The officials prefer to
+know the place as "Atbara Camp." There is no absolute rule for the
+bestowal of proper names, or at least no practice one need care about
+in the Soudan, so I prefer to dub the locality by its native title of
+Dakhala, or Dakhelha. It saves a word in telegraphing, and there is
+more fitness in calling that dusty, dirty enclosure by the less
+euphonious name.</p>
+
+<p>One could not but note what a wondrous change in the military and
+political situation had been wrought in the land since 1884&ndash;85.
+Railways had solved every difficulty of dealing with the dervishes.
+Quite easily nowadays the remote provinces of the whilom great
+Egyptian equatorial empire can be reached and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> governed. With ordinary
+care under the altered conditions millions of Arabs and blacks can be
+transformed from chronic-rebellious into trusty loyal subjects. There
+has been bloodguiltiness and to spare in the Soudan since 1883&ndash;84,
+therefore the rehabilitation of the country through the setting up of
+just government will be in the nature of discharging a duty long
+incumbent upon Great Britain. From the Atbara southward, the Niles and
+their tributaries are open to steam navigation the year round. The
+possession of these noble waterways, which extend over thousands of
+miles, includes the fee-simple of sovereignty in the fertile lands of
+the two Nile basins and their commerce. By admirable foresight and
+indomitable Anglo-Saxon persistence the Sirdar had achieved a unique
+position in African conquest. He had got together an armed force "fit
+to go anywhere and to do anything." The heart of Africa was his, to
+loose or to bind. Of all the terrible railway rides in the world, for
+dirt and discomfort, none compares with the trip from Cairo to Luxor
+and Assouan. The carriages are stuffy and unclean, and during the
+whole journey one stifles in an opaque atmosphere of grit mixed with
+the sweepings of the ages. The calcined earths quickly cushion the
+seats, powder you from head to foot, and fill your pockets and every
+other receptacle with soil enough to make you feel like a landed
+proprietor&mdash;or, at any rate, rich enough in loam to lay out a suburban
+garden. With all the accessories at hand for the creation of an acrid
+and measureless thirst, neither the railway authorities nor private
+enterprise have had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> the wit as yet to provide travellers with the
+means of mitigating their sufferings. It is little short of a horror
+to think of that journey of over forty hours' duration, which had to
+be endured without the succour to be found in a refreshment-room
+where, for a consideration, could be got a sparkling cool drink or a
+mouthful of passable victuals. Were it to take me a month to travel
+the distance by river, if time permitted I had rather adventure next
+time upon the Nile than ever go by train over that line again. I
+confess I have made the journey by rail frequently but it becomes
+really more unendurable each trip. Of course I laid in stores of
+liquids and solids for the voyage. I ought to have known better, but
+one thinks nothing of the toothache when it is past. The mineral
+waters became too hot to drink, and not quite near enough the
+boiling-point to make good tea of, whilst, as for the provisions, such
+as got not too high, were so swathed in layers of questionable dust
+and grit as to be repulsive. Keeping even passably tidy was
+impossible, and in personal cleanliness a London scavenger could give
+a traveller by rail from Cairo to Assouan many points. It was at Wady
+Halfa that I got booked in the way-bill for Dakhala, or Atbara Camp,
+390 miles away. The construction of the Halfa-Atbara line was, as I
+have said before, a masterpiece of military strategy, the credit for
+which is due to the Sirdar. By-and-by a railway bridge will span the
+Atbara at Dakhala, and the iron way will be laid into Khartoum. The
+170 miles betwixt the Atbara and Khartoum offer no difficulties, and
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> line will be laid within a year from the time when the money is
+granted the Sirdar for its construction.</p>
+
+<p>Since the foregoing was written, the requisite amount has been voted
+Lord Kitchener of Khartoum, and the contracts for material have been
+issued and signed. About a quarter of a million sleepers have to be
+delivered in Egypt before the end of June 1899. The Atbara and forty
+small khors will be bridged, and the work be completed in twelve
+months. It is intended that the terminus shall be on the east bank
+opposite Khartoum.</p>
+
+<p>All the trains on the Halfa-Atbara line carried goods, ordinary
+passengers being incidental. Four of my colleagues, Major Sitwell, of
+the Egyptian army, and myself got places in a horse-box. In the next
+truck to us, likewise a horse-box, were five English officers,
+returning to duty with Gatacre's, or rather Wauchope's, brigade at
+Darmali. In that same horse-box truck we five contrived to cook, eat,
+sleep, and dress for two round days, for, as I have stated, there were
+no restaurants or buffets within 1000 miles of the desert railway. The
+wayside stations were but sidings or halting-places where the
+locomotives drew coal and water, of which small supplies were usually
+stored under an Egyptian corporal's guard. Ours was a long and heavy
+train, and more than once on the up grade to No. 6 or Summit station
+out from Halfa the engine came to a standstill, "to recover its
+breath," as the negroes said. In the horse-box we got along together
+for the most part very comfortably, accommodating ourselves to the
+situation. Such a picnic as we had then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> made it less of a puzzle to
+the common understanding how certain creatures are able to do with a
+tight-fitting shell for their house and home. If Major Girouard, R.E.,
+had not left the direction of the Soudan military railways&mdash;which
+under the Sirdar he built&mdash;to join the Board of the Egyptian lines, we
+should, I believe, have had better provision made for passengers.
+Ziehs, or porous native clay-jars to hold cool drinking water, and
+various other little accessories to lighten the hardships of the trip
+would surely have been provided. Later on, the officials took care to
+have ziehs and plenty of cool drinking water in the carriages and
+trucks of all trains carrying troops, so that the men had at least
+plenty to drink.</p>
+
+<p>On our way up we passed Wauchope's brigade encamped at Es Selim and
+Darmali. Colonel Macdonald's 1st and Colonel Maxwell's 2nd Khedivial
+Brigades started to march from Berber to Dakhala about that time, the
+end of July. Many of the British soldiers, so as not to sleep upon the
+ground, had built for themselves benches of mud or sun-dried bricks,
+whereon they spread their blankets. The plan secured some immunity
+from such crawling things as scorpions and snakes. Sun-baked mud in
+the Soudan is a hard and decently clean material for bench or bed. The
+Theatres Royal, Darmali and Es Selim, were in full swing, though it
+was very 'dog-days' weather. Officers liberally patronised the men's
+entertainments and occasionally held jollifications of their own.
+There were a good many who exercised the cheerful spirit of Mark
+Tapley under the trials of the Soudan.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> Lively and original skits and
+verses were given at these symposiums. Here are a few verses of a
+topical song on the refractory blacks and fellaheen fallen under the
+condemnation of either the civil or military law and forced to hard
+labour. It was written and frequently sung by a clever young engineer
+officer:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">We're convicts at work in the Noozle,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">We carry great loads on our backs,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And often our warders bamboozle,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And sleep 'neath mountains of sacks.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i28">Chorus: Ri-tooral il looral, &amp;c.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>(The Noozle is the commissariat dep&ocirc;t.)</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">We convicts start work at day dawning,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Boilers we mount about noon,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Sleepers we load in the morning,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And rails by the light of the moon.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Our warders are blacks, who cry Masha! (march),<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And strike us if we don't obey,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or else he's a Hamla Ombashi,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Who allows us to fuddle all day.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Hamla Ombashi is a corporal of the transport service, and "fuddle" is
+to sit down. It was the chorus with spoken words interlarded that
+caught on astonishingly, and showed that the men's lungs were in
+magnificent condition. Another howler, but by another author, was
+"Roll on to Khartoum." Here is a specimen verse and the chorus:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Come, forward march, and do your duty,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Though poor your grub, no rum, bad 'bacca,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Step out, for fighting and no booty,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">To trace a free red line thro' Africa.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>
+<span class="i0">No barney, boys, give over mousing,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">True Britons are ye from hill and fen,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Now rally lads, and drop all grousing,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And pull together like soldier-men.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i28">Chorus.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Then roll on, boys, roll on to Khartoum,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">March ye and fight by night or by day,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Hasten the hour of the Dervishes' doom,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Gordon avenge in old England's way.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>"Grousing" is Tommy Atkins for grumbling, which is an Englishman's
+birthright. As for no rum, subsequently the men were allowed two tots
+a week; Wednesdays and Saturdays were, I think, the days of issue.
+Less than half a gill was each man's share. I am inclined to believe
+had there been a daily issue of the same quantity of rum it had been
+better, and the young soldiers might have escaped with less fever.</p>
+
+<p>Dakhala had undergone many changes since March. It was bigger in every
+respect, but no better as a camping-ground. Truth to tell, it was so
+bad as to be well-nigh intolerable. The correspondents' quarters were
+exceptionally vile, the location being the worst possible within the
+lines. We had no option, and so had to pitch our tents behind the
+noozle in a ten-acre waste of dirtiest, lightest loam, which swished
+around in clouds by day and night, making us grimy as coal-heavers,
+powdering everything, even our food and drink, with gritty dust and
+covering us in our blankets inches deep. The river breeze was barred
+from us, and the green and fresher banks of the Atbara and the Nile,
+beyond the fort, were for other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> than correspondents' camps. Many rows
+of mud huts had been built in the interior. As for the sun-dried brick
+parapets and ramparts of the fortifications, these were already
+crumbling to ruin or being cast down for use in newer structures. The
+lofty wooden lookout staging, called the Eiffel Tower, had been
+removed, and its timbers converted to other purposes. On the
+completion of the railway to Dakhala, Abadia had become but a
+secondary workshop centre. Newer and larger shipbuilding yards and
+engine works were erected by the Atbara. Under Lieutenant Bond, R.N.,
+and Mr Haig gunboats, steamers, barges and sailing craft were put in
+thorough order, native artisans toiling day and night. The clang of
+hammermen, riveters, carpenters and caulkers resounded along the river
+front. The Dakhala noozle was an immense dep&ocirc;t, stuffed full of grain,
+provisions, ammunition boxes, ropes, wires, iron, medical stores and
+other material, like one of the great London docks. As usual the
+indefatigable Greek trader had adventured upon the scene. North of the
+fortified lines, with the help of the natives he had run up a mud
+town. It consisted of a double row of one-storeyed houses, between
+which ran a street of nearly 300 yards. The place, known as the
+bazaar, was a hive of stores, wretched caf&eacute;s, and the like. As the
+Sirdar had had all the beer and liquor in the place seized and put
+under seal before the advent of Mr T. Atkins, there was little to be
+had in Dakhala bazaar besides a not too pure soda-water, coffee,
+sardines, beans, maccaroni, oil, tobacco and matches.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 475px;"><a name="Illustration_DAKHALA_STREET" id="Illustration_DAKHALA_STREET"></a>
+<img src="images/dakhala_street.jpg" width="475" height="330" alt="Street in Dakhala." title="Street in Dakhala." />
+<span class="caption">Street in Dakhala.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>For six weeks southerly winds blew almost daily. South of 17 degrees,
+the northerly breeze does not commence to blow before the end of
+August. It was warm, extremely warm, under the burning tropical sun.
+The heat bore down like a load upon head and shoulders and enveloped
+us like a blast from a roaring furnace. About noontide it was
+ordinarily 120 degrees Fahr. in my tent. Still, I am sure it was by no
+means so oppressive as at Korti in March 1885. The Atbara and the Nile
+helped to temper the fiery glow that radiated from the desert rocks
+and sands. At best, the heat is a sore trial, but to be borne with
+more patience than the "devils" and sand storms that bother by night
+as well as by day. Snow-drifts are mild visitations of Providence
+compared with a dust storm or whirlwind. These latter would smother
+you, if you would let them, quicker and less respectably than a shroud
+of snow. Jack Frost bites mildly, preferring to do his serious work by
+dulling the nerves; but the Dust Devil is a cruel tormentor from first
+to last. You may bury your head in folds of cloth and mosquito
+netting, and sweat and stifle in the attempt, but he snuffs you and
+powders you all the same. He puffs his finest clouds in your face, and
+round and round you till you find bedding and clothing are no more
+protection against him than they are against the R&ouml;ntgen ray. One
+particular night he came in great strength to Dakhala, heaped waves of
+sand over us, dug great hollows around our quarters, and completed his
+diabolical games by completely overturning two of my colleagues'
+tents. I saw<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> my friends emerge from the ruins of canvas, bedding, and
+boxes, wild, half-clad, terra-cotta figures, such as may have escaped
+from the destruction of Pompeii. But the human mind is a curious
+thing. It does not acknowledge defeat easily, and so a victim said to
+me he had pulled his tent down to keep it from falling. The Dust Devil
+had nothing to do with it.</p>
+
+<p>Early in August the situation assumed a peculiar interest to us of the
+fourth estate. We were told that the troops were shortly going forward
+to rendezvous at Nasri Island, whereas it was a matter of notoriety
+that Wad Habeshi, which was further south, had been selected as the
+advanced camp for the army on leaving Dakhala. Of course, not one word
+of the true state of matters were we permitted to wire home.
+Detachments, true enough, had been sent ahead to "cut wood" and set up
+a camp upon Nasri Island. But that was merely to have a secure
+secondary dep&ocirc;t and hospital station. It had been ascertained after
+the occupation of Shendy that the dervishes were in no great strength
+at Shabluka or the Sixth Cataract. They occasionally sent down about a
+thousand Baggara horsemen to that place, and their riders scouted
+around the bluff rocks and hills bordering the Nile on either side of
+the "bab," or water-gateway and rapids of Shabluka. As a rule, only
+about two hundred of them ever crossed to the east bank. The others
+hung around on the west bank, and built low walls for riflemen and dug
+a number of trenches and then returned to Omdurman. A few hundred only
+remained to guard the forts and the narrow fairway. Much labour<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> had
+been expended and considerable rude skill shown by the enemy in
+building bastions and other defensive works at various places on the
+river,&mdash;particularly in the Shabluka gorge and before Omdurman. Why
+the Khalifa committed the blunder of making no adequate preparation
+for defending the pass at Shabluka it is difficult to understand. Only
+one conclusion suggests itself. He was probably afraid to trust his
+followers so far from his sight, lest the negroes should desert. We
+continually heard from our own blacks that most of Abdullah's
+<em>jehadieh</em> Soudani riflemen would come over to us the first chance
+they got. Major-Generals Hunter and Gatacre, having learned that the
+dervish infantry had been withdrawn from Shabluka, scouted south up to
+the cataract and selected Wad Habeshi as a suitable camp and
+rendezvous. That village, or rather district, is on the west bank,
+south of Nasri Island and but fifteen miles north of Shabluka.</p>
+
+<p>A big zereba was made at Wad Habeshi and trenches were dug. The place,
+in short, long before the British troops stirred south beyond Dakhala,
+was turned into a fortified post and made the real rendezvous of the
+Sirdar's army.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"><a name="Illustration_TROOPS" id="Illustration_TROOPS"></a>
+<img src="images/troops.jpg" width="350" height="222" alt="Troops going to Wad Habeshi." title="Troops going to Wad Habeshi." />
+<span class="caption">Troops going to Wad Habeshi.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>On 2nd August, in the face of a strong south wind, the 1st and 2nd
+Khedivial brigades, respectively Colonel Macdonald's and Colonel
+Maxwell's, embarked in very close order on steamers and giassas for
+Wad Habeshi. The distance was about 140 miles by water from Dakhala,
+but it took the gunboats and their tows over three days to get there,
+for the craft were deeply ladened with men and stores. The soupy
+whirling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> Nile flood washed the decks of the steamers almost from stem
+to stern. It was little short of the rarest good fortune there was no
+accident by the way. Everybody turned out to see the brigades off.
+Merrily stepped the black battalions, their women-folk raising the
+usual shrill cry of jubilation, whilst the bands played the favourite
+air, "O, dem Golden Slippers." Regimental bands do droll things
+occasionally. I remember in the year of the Dongola Campaign and the
+cholera visitation, 1896, a grim blunder made by a native battalion's
+band. The serious surroundings of those days led me to say nothing of
+the matter at that time. Military interments, in cholera cases, were
+ordinarily made very early in the morning or late in the afternoon,
+just before sunset. A popular native Egyptian officer fell a victim to
+the epidemic one afternoon. The sun<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> had but set when the funeral
+party, headed by the full regimental band, were seen hastening towards
+the cemetery, for there was no time to lose. The tune actually being
+played was not the "Dead March in Saul" but "Up I came with my little
+lot." When the gunboats started up the Nile for Wad Habeshi, towing
+alongside barges and giassas, all the crafts crammed with men and
+stores, more than one of the fellaheen battalions were regaled with
+the full strains of "'E dunno were 'e are."</p>
+
+<p>By the end of July the Egyptian cavalry&mdash;nine squadrons&mdash;under Colonel
+Broadwood, with the camel corps under Major Tudway, the horse
+artillery and one or two batteries, had been ferried across from
+Dakhala to the west bank. On the 4th of August the whole of the
+mounted force named, about 2000 strong, started to march along the
+bank to Wad Habeshi. Going along the bank means, at high Nile, leading
+the troops upon a course half to a full mile from the river so as to
+avoid creeks and overflows and, at same time, secure the advantage of
+moving upon the more open ground beyond the zone of cultivation, out
+upon the edge of the bare desert. It was also early in August that the
+last of the fourteen double-decked iron barges, designed for the
+conveyance of troops, was finished at Dakhala. Except the surplus and
+reserve stores everything was put to instant service. As good a march
+in its way, if not better in some respects than that of the 5th
+Egyptian battalion from Suakin to Berber, was the tramp of the 17th
+Egyptian&mdash;also a fellaheen regiment&mdash;from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> Merawi to Dakhala. They
+made a record rapid tramp, following the Nile, up to Dakhala.</p>
+
+<p>At Dakhala I frequently saw and conversed with the Sirdar, Generals
+Rundle and Gatacre, Colonels Wingate and Slatin Pasha. There seemed no
+reason to doubt but that the Khalifa would remain at Omdurman and give
+us a fight. Abdullah the Taaisha gave out as widely as he could that
+he meant actual business and dying if necessary at the Mahdi's tomb.
+His women-folk had not then been sent away, and that looked promising
+for battle. We heard that he was building more stout walls and digging
+numberless trenches for defence. Of ammunition for small arms and his
+ordinary brass rifled guns we were told he had no lack. For the three
+or four excellent batteries of Krupps he possessed he had but sixty
+rounds per cannon&mdash;enough, with good common and shrapnel shell, had he
+made right use of his means, to have made matters unpleasant for us
+until our gunners and Maxims found the range. It was regarded as
+doubtful whether he would be able to employ any of the machine guns in
+the dervish armoury. Of all Gordon's "penny steamers" only one, it was
+said, was serviceable, and she was kept under steam night and day at
+Omdurman.</p>
+
+<p>Though he kept a bold front, blustered, and promised his adherents no
+end of good things, and told them that, as in 1884&ndash;85, it was God's
+will to turn the English back at the eleventh hour, Khalifa Abdullah
+was truly in a parlous state. With all the Sirdar's care, we could not
+keep from the dervish leader the extent of our preparations or
+forwardness for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> advance. As usual, Sir Herbert Kitchener was well
+ahead of the time planned for moving on. We learned that, bar
+unforeseen accidents and delays, the whole of his army would be in
+front of Omdurman in a little over one month from the 1st of August.
+Two dates in September were given for the fall of that stronghold. It
+turned out to be neither. Kordofan had become openly rebellious
+against the Khalifa. A caravan of over 1140 people, with women,
+children and cattle marching overland, had arrived from that remote
+region at Korti in the Dongola province. The multitude, who were
+accompanied by many influential sheikhs flying from Mahdist misrule,
+sent a deputation to the Sirdar asking his assistance to take and hold
+El Obeid. As if that were not enough in the way of shutting the door
+behind the Khalifa, sheikhs came down from the Blue Nile provinces,
+seeking protection. Help was given to them, and bodies of friendlies
+were got together to seize Senaar and other important places. The Nile
+was running very swift and full in August, the current moving at fully
+six miles an hour past Dakhala. In July the Atbara, which had again
+begun slowly to flow, suddenly rose, the muddy water roaring along in
+a series of terraced wave-walls. Its 300-yards wide bed, where it
+joined the Nile, was within a few minutes choked with the tawny flood
+up to nearly the top of the 30-foot banks on either side. Bursting
+into the Nile the sea of soup seemed to push its way in a well-defined
+stream nearly across the 1200-yards broad bosom of the Father of
+Waters.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>The first half of the 2nd Battalion of the Rifle Brigade arrived on
+the 2nd of August at Dakhala, during a blustering dust-storm. For all
+that, black and travel-stained, they were glad to detrain, and to plod
+through the sand, and breast the laden atmosphere, in order to get
+into camp hard by the Atbara. The following day the remainder of the
+battalion marched in under somewhat pleasanter conditions. Everybody
+turned out to cheer the smart, soldierlike detachments. On the 6th
+inst. the first half of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards arrived,
+and later on the remainder. The Sirdar and Generals Rundle and
+Gatacre, and the staffs went to greet them. A finer and more stalwart
+body of troops was never seen in the Soudan. Native opinion was more
+than favourable respecting them, and I heard observations on all sides
+that the Khalifa had no men he could set against them. The Sirdar and
+General Gatacre also expressed themselves much pleased with the
+appearance of the Grenadiers, who looked like seasoned soldiers and
+came in without a sick man in their ranks.</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="section_break"></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h3>
+
+<p class="chapter_summary">Dakhala Camp: Gossip and Duty.</p>
+
+
+<p>Dirt is the essence of savagery, and there is a superfluity of both in
+the Soudan. I have no desperate wish so to describe the vileness of
+the surroundings of the correspondents' camp at Dakhala that even
+casual thinkers will sniff at it. The place was bad enough in all
+conscience, and, mayhap, therein I have said all that is necessary. As
+for the worry of our lives, squatted as we were in the least agreeable
+quarter of the big rectangular fort, long will the memory of those
+days and nights burden our existence. What a time I had on those sand
+and dust heaps, where every puff of wind and every footfall raised
+clouds of pulverised cosmos. For two weeks, amid the wretched scene,
+hideous by night as by day, I persisted in existing. It was a huge pen
+with men, horses, camels, donkeys, dogs and poultry hobnobbing amid a
+daily wreckage of old provision tins, garbage of soiled forage and
+stable-sweepings and whatnot. All that, with a temperature of 116
+degrees to 120 degrees Fahr. in the shade, wore the temper and added
+amazingly to the consumption of wet things. At the Grenadier Guards'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>
+mess one sultry evening they consumed twenty-eight dozen of sodas, and
+it was not a record night. Without giving anybody's secret away, I may
+say I know a gentleman who could polish off three dozen at a sitting,
+and unblushingly call for more. These are details of more interest to
+teetotalers than to the general public. Yet, not to let the subject
+pass without a word of caution to afflicted future travellers in the
+Soudan, the inordinate use of undiluted mineral waters of native
+manufacture is most dangerous to health.</p>
+
+<p>We correspondents had to wink both eyes in much of our telegraphic
+news from the front, for military reasons. The press censor was
+Colonel Wingate, chief of the Intelligence Department. In his absence,
+Major-General Rundle, chief of staff, usually acted. Personally,
+either gentleman was all that could be desired. Both were alike ready
+and courteous in the discharge of their at all times rather onerous
+duty, giving frequent audience to the numerous contingent of eager
+newsmen, garrulous and prodigal with pencil and pen. Some of the
+new-comers to the business felt sorely hit, because they were
+precluded from writing at large upon all subjects connected with the
+campaign. The excision of their copy grieved and hurt them as much as
+if they had been subjected to a real surgical amputation. Yet those
+two officers but obeyed orders, for after all, and under every
+circumstance, the Sirdar, as I am well aware, was the real censor. It
+is perhaps fairly open to argument whether the course adopted in
+dealing with correspondents' copy was wise or necessary in a war
+against an ignorant and savage foe.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> There was, at least, one official
+blunder which gave occasion for much annoyance, and ought to have been
+promptly remedied, or better still, never committed. It was expected
+of Colonel Wingate, the censor, that amid multifarious important
+responsibilities as chief of the Intelligence branch he should find
+time daily to peruse and correct tens of thousands of words, often
+crabbedly written, in press messages. With the approach of the day of
+battle, his own department taxed more and more his entire attention,
+and side by side the correspondents' telegrams grew in length and
+importance. The task of proper censorship under such conditions was
+impossible for any human being to discharge adequately. On that
+account the public interest suffered, for press matters were often
+neither promptly nor fully despatched. As a rule, the correspondents
+were left in blissful ignorance of what had been cut out of their
+copy, as well as of the exact nature of the residuum transmitted.
+Besides these grievances there was one of favouritism alleged, but of
+that there is always more or less in every phase of life and
+association. All told, it may be thought that the correspondents'
+complaints were of no very serious character. That depends on how they
+are looked at. I have no taste for cavilling or grumbling over events
+that are past. Surely, however, there is a middle way somewhere to be
+found between the absolutism of a general in the field, who may gag
+the correspondents or treat them as camp followers, and the clear
+right of the British public under our free institutions to have news
+dealing with the progress of their arms rapidly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> transmitted home. I
+am well aware of the grave responsibilities that hedge a
+commander-in-chief, and the cruel injury that an unrestrained
+non-combatant may do him by recklessly writing on subjects calculated
+to jeopardise the success of a campaign and hazard countless lives and
+fortunes. The latter is an remote possibility. A commander-in-chief
+has to consider that any enemy worth his salt is usually kept informed
+by spies and deserters, and press-men who are known and cognisant of
+their duty are no more likely to betray secrets to their country's
+enemies than any officer or soldier in the Queen's service. And
+nowadays the private correspondence from troops in the field cannot be
+suppressed, and it is often published. Commanders of armies will
+either have to accept the presence of recognised writers, over whom
+they can exercise some control, or instead stand powerless before a
+dangerous flood of random army letters poured into the public press.
+The case can be met with judgment and care&mdash;plus penalties where
+deserved. I am bringing no charges here, but discussing a vexed and
+withal important question. I am glad to say that during the Omdurman
+Campaign there was no attempt, within my knowledge, of muzzling the
+press. This does not bear upon the Fashoda incident, but that came
+later.</p>
+
+<p>Nasri Island as a base of concentration was, as I have intimated, a
+blind. Although we correspondents were not permitted to go up the
+river, or indeed move beyond the Atbara, until the Sirdar and
+headquarters had started, yet we kept ourselves fully informed of all
+that was happening at the front. There had been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> one or two little
+skirmishes between bands of mounted dervishes and our wood-cutting
+parties of Khedivial infantry. In these encounters our men had
+generally the best of the fighting, and the Baggara horsemen
+invariably retreated with a few empty saddles. In July Major-Generals
+Hunter and Gatacre had, during a small reconnaissance, proceeded as
+far up as Shabluka Cataract or Rapid on one of the gunboats. The
+enemy, it was seen, were in no great strength there, and the seven
+well-planned, thick-walled mud forts blocking the passage were weakly
+held. Those two officers landed with a small body of troops and
+surveyed a suitable camping site, at what they called Wad Hamid, but
+which, in reality, was north of that place and close to Wad Habeshi.
+The object was to find a spot easily accessible by river and land, and
+with not too much bush about. At that season, the Nile having in many
+places overflowed its lower borders, marshes extended for miles along
+the ordinarily solid river banks. Wad Habeshi was merely a native
+wood-cutting station at first, but little by little troops appeared on
+the scene, and a large entrenched camp, with lines extending for
+several miles, was duly formed. At the end of July two steamers, which
+had made the perilous voyage up the Nile from the province of Dongola,
+came in and made fast alongside the mud bars at Dakhala.</p>
+
+<p>It was still early in August when all the four battalions of
+Major-General Hon. N. G. Lyttelton's Second British Brigade reached
+Dakhala. They were quartered in a cool and cleanly camp by the Atbara,
+to the south-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>east of the fortified lines. The 21st Lancers also
+arrived at Dakhala in due course. Major Williams' Field Battery, the
+32nd R.A. of 15-pounders; Major Elmslie's 37th R.A., with the new
+50-pounder Howitzers firing Lyddite shells; and Lieut. Weymouth's two
+40-pounder Armstrong guns, besides other cannon and Maxims, were
+likewise on time. Very smartly the batteries and Maxims were stowed
+aboard native craft, which were taken in tow by gunboats to Wad Hamid.
+Detachments of gunners accompanied the pieces and carriages, but the
+majority of the artillerymen were ferried to the west bank, whence
+they marched overland to the new camp. It was at Wad Habeshi that the
+army was first actually marshalled as a concrete force, and forthwith
+took the field. Not a moment was lost by day or night in moving men
+and supplies onward. The little paddle steamer captured from the
+dervishes during the 1896 Dongola Expedition, which had been repaired
+and sent to Dakhala, was continually carrying troops and stores from
+the east to the west bank. As the Nile was running at the rate of six
+miles an hour in its wide bed, the "El Tahara," as the craft was
+called, had to make a big circuit to effect a passage. The "El Tahara"
+was one of the boats General Gordon built at Khartoum but never lived
+to launch. As she was a new craft, the Mahdi changed her name, calling
+her "The Maid," instead of "Khartoum," as it had been intended to dub
+her. She was an excellent vessel, with fine engines much too powerful
+for her frame.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"><a name="Illustration_WOOD_STATION" id="Illustration_WOOD_STATION"></a>
+<img src="images/wood_station.jpg" width="350" height="239" alt="Wood Station (en route to Omdurman)." title="Wood Station (en route to Omdurman)." />
+<span class="caption">Wood Station (en route to Omdurman).</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Both Surgeon-General Taylor, on behalf of the British division, and
+Surgeon-Colonel Gallwey, for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> Egyptian troops, completed their
+arrangements for succouring the sick and wounded upon the march from
+Shabluka to the attack upon Omdurman. Adequate provision was made for
+field hospitals, floating hospitals and relief stations, for medical
+officers, and attendants, with cradlets and stretchers, to follow each
+military unit into action. For the British infantry it meant,
+substantially, that behind each battalion a medical officer and two
+non-commissioned officers should march, accompanied by six camels
+bearing cacolets, and men with nine stretchers. A somewhat modified
+scheme was got out for the cavalry and artillery, as well as for the
+other Khedivial troops. In the anticipated action before Omdurman,
+temporary operating stations were to be set up, out of ordinary
+rifle-range, and native craft,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> which had been fitted up with cots,
+were to be brought as near the scene as practicable to receive the
+wounded.</p>
+
+<p>An attempt made to lay a cable from Dakhala to the west bank was not
+over successful. It was found that the great sag, caused by the
+current, carried the cable down stream, so the whole length ran out
+before the opposite bank was reached. The steamer "Melik" was the
+telegraph ship, and paid the cable out from a wooden reel placed on
+her stern quarter. A few days after the failure she was employed
+picking up the wire, most of which was recovered by Captain Manifold,
+R.E., who was the director of military telegraphs in the last as in
+the three previous expeditions against the dervishes. The recovered
+line was relaid across the Atbara, which is barely a third of the
+width of the Nile. From the south bank of the Atbara two land lines
+pass up the east shore of the Nile. Upon a lofty corresponding pair of
+trestles an overhead wire was also hung across the smaller river. A
+few miles south of Dakhala a cable had been laid to an island and
+thence to the west bank. From the latter point an ordinary land wire
+ran along the desert to Metemmeh. Later on it was laid to Omdurman.
+The line was put down step by step as the troops advanced. Thus an
+alternative system of telegraphic communication with Khartoum was
+early provided for.</p>
+
+<p>It stirred the blood of everybody in our dull camp to see detachment
+after detachment of the second British brigade detrain. Most of us
+turned out and like schoolboys followed the drums and fifes as they
+played the troops to their camping-ground. A half-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>battalion of the
+Grenadier Guards, led by Colonel Villiers-Hatton, arrived at Dakhala
+on the 6th of August. Hale and strong the big fellows looked in their
+campaigning khaki. "First-class fighting material," as Arabs and
+negroes, who are by no means poor judges, were openly heard to confess
+in their interchange of confidences. There is always much camp chaff
+and yarning amongst "Tommies"&mdash;and their officers, too, for that
+matter&mdash;at the expense of England's picked battalions. "Have you seen
+the 'Queen's Company,' my man," asked a subaltern of the Grenadiers
+one day of a private in the Northumberland Fusiliers. Now the "Queen's
+Company" are all over six feet in stature, and there was a friendly
+rivalry in grenadiership between them and certain Fusilier regiments.
+The question was asked when the troops were marching over undulating
+but rather bare ground where the tufted grass was little over knee
+high. It happened the officer had been detached on other duty, and was
+anxious to rejoin his command. "I think, sir," said the Northumbrian,
+saluting respectfully, "that they have got lost in the long grass."
+The subaltern looked unutterable things, but the "Tommy" held a
+stoical face and said not a word more till the officer went off to
+hunt anew for his men. For all the chaff, every one was glad to see
+the Guards, and to speak of them as the Queen's soldiers. Of the
+second brigade General Gatacre said that a better body of troops could
+not be wished for by any general.</p>
+
+<p>I rode out to several of the brigade field-days, or rather, mornings,
+for there was plenty of drilling and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> field exercises for Lyttelton's
+men. The brigade was repeatedly practised in attack formation against
+imaginary bodies of dervishes, as well as at assaulting supposed
+works. On more than one of these occasions the gallant Colonel of the
+Guards, not having his charger up at that date, led his Grenadiers
+afoot, and once, at any rate, was mounted on donkey-back.
+Particularism gets lost in the desert. In the man&oelig;uvres the troops
+were usually led in line, the flanks being supported by two or three
+companies in quarter column, and the centre having in rear a few
+sections of companies ready to fill gaps. Save for a little noise in
+passing orders, the result of a fast-becoming obsolete school of
+training, even captious criticism could find no actual fault with
+their work. Advancing across wadies and scaling knolls upon the
+desert, the troops were instructed to open fire with ball cartridge.
+The range given was 500 yards, and the ammunition used was the
+tip-filed Lee-Metford bullets. As at the Atbara, without halting, the
+line moved slowly on, the front rank firing as at a battue, each man
+independently. There were a few section volleys tried, the soldiers
+pausing for an instant to deliver their fire. Once or twice also, the
+rear rank was closed up, and joined in the fusilade. One effect was to
+paralyse the deer and birds within range. I noticed that the tip-filed
+bullets did not usually spread, and that their man-stopping quality
+was something of a myth. Even the dum-dum does not invariably "set up"
+on striking an object. For the Omdurman Campaign a new hollow-nosed
+bullet was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> issued for the Lee-Metfords. So far as I was able to
+judge, it generally spread on hitting, and made a deadly wound,
+tearing away bone and flesh at the point of exit.</p>
+
+<p>On the 12th of August the 21st Lancers, together with camel and mule
+transport animals, were crossed to the west bank in readiness for
+marching to Wad Hamid. Saturday, the 13th August, was a very busy day
+at Dakhala. On that date the Sirdar went by steamer to the front,
+direct to Wad Habeshi. It was given out he was merely going on a
+flying visit for inspection. There was renewed active drilling of
+troops. Eight steamers that came down were reloaded and sent back with
+troops and stores in the course of twenty-four hours. General Gatacre
+went to Darmali, and there assisted in the embarkation of his old
+brigade, Major-General A. Wauchope's. The task was effected within the
+course of twelve hours, the Camerons, Seaforths, Lincolns and
+Warwicks, with their kits and supplies, being densely packed upon the
+steamers "Zafir," "Nazir," "Fatah," and the barges and giassas, which
+these craft towed. Had the Thames Conservancy writs run on the Nile
+there would have been terrible fines exacted for unlawful
+overcrowding. On the 14th August these stern-wheelers, heavily laden
+with Wauchope's men, steamed at a fast rate past the Atbara camp, on
+their way south. These craft, the first of which took part in the 1896
+Dongola Expedition, turned out to be really the most useful and
+dependable of the whole Nile flotilla. They steamed remarkably well,
+towed splendidly, and were, besides,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> good fighting craft. The three
+Admiralty-designed twin-screw steamers, "Sheikh" "Sultan" and "Melik,"
+were not as fast as had been expected; they could not tow any
+reasonably big load, and, though they were stuffed with many
+novelties, few of the innovations were of the least practical value.
+They needed all their engine power to steam and when under weigh had
+none to spare for driving the circular saws to cut firewood for fuel,
+or to start the dynamos to work the search lights with which they were
+fitted. Major Collinson, commanding the 4th Khedivial Brigade, left
+Atbara camp for the front with the 17th and 18th Battalions, or half
+his force, the 1st and 5th Battalions having preceded him some time
+previously.</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="section_break"></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h3>
+
+<p class="chapter_summary">Marching in the Soudan&mdash;From Dakhala to Wad Habeshi.</p>
+
+
+<p>What a land the Soudan is! As a sorely-tried friend said to me, after
+passing a succession of sleepless nights owing to the dust and rain
+storms, and overburdened days because of the heat, "What do the
+British want in this country? Is it the intention of the Government to
+do away with capital punishment and send all felons here? I am not
+surprised the camel has the hump. I would develop one here myself.
+What an accursed country!" Yes, it is not an elysium; and when one
+allows the dirt, heat, and discomfort to wither all power of
+endurance, the Soudan becomes a horror and anathema, particularly in
+the summer time. Now, the camel is to me the personification of animal
+wretchedness, a fit creature for the wilderness. The Arabs have a
+legend that the Archangel Michael, anxious to try his skill at
+creative work, received permission to make an attempt, and the camel
+was the issue of his bungling handiwork. Poor brute, his capacity for
+enjoyment is, perhaps, the most restricted of the whole animal
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>kingdom. Ferocious of aspect, with a terrible voice, he is
+nevertheless the most timid of beasts, and his fine air of haughty
+superciliousness is, like the rest, but a sham. It might be fancied
+that he is for ever nursing some secret grief, for he takes you
+unawares by lying down and suddenly dying. Yet that is ordinarily but
+his method of proclaiming an attack of indigestion.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"><a name="Illustration_BREAKING_CAMP" id="Illustration_BREAKING_CAMP"></a>
+<img src="images/breaking_camp.jpg" width="350" height="228" alt="Loading Up&mdash;Breaking Camp." title="Loading Up&mdash;Breaking Camp." />
+<span class="caption">Loading Up&mdash;Breaking Camp.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>I struck my tent at Dakhala on the 15th of August, packed my gear, and
+during the course of the day crossed over to the west bank with my
+servants, horses, camels and other belongings. Having obtained
+permission from headquarters to go up to the front, I decided to go by
+land, marching with the cavalry and guns, for I was not free to travel
+except in their company, at least until we reached Metemmeh but of
+that anon. The column in question was under Colonel Martin of the 21st
+Lancers, and comprised three squadrons of that regiment, or about 300
+men mounted upon Arab horses; three batteries, the 32nd R.A., the 37th
+R.A. (howitzers), and the Egyptian Horse Artillery; two Maxims with
+division and transport trains, and a number of officers' led horses.
+As I have already explained, the guns of the 32nd and 37th field
+batteries, together with the limbers and ammunition, were sent on to
+Wad Habeshi by water. There was much merrymaking as usual that
+evening, for we were to start on the morrow. I squatted like many more
+in the low rough scrub by the river's brink with my caravan around me.
+During the evening I went out to dine with some officer friends. As I
+had over a mile to walk to their pitch, the poor glare of the camp
+fires made the darkness more inky, and I had sundry narrow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> escapes
+from tumbling into ditches and water holes. Our bivouac was an
+ill-omened beginning to the route march of the column under Colonel
+Martin. One of the periodical summer gales came on, raising whirlwinds
+of dust and sand. To complete our discomfiture a thunderstorm
+followed, and there was a heavy sprinkling of rain for herbage, but
+too much for men. Truly, misfortunes rarely befall singly. It was a
+big Nile year, not a flood, but enough and to spare. A blessing, no
+doubt, for Lower Egypt, but a calamity for us, for during the night
+the river rose 2 feet, and overflowed its low, level banks. The water
+overran part of the camping ground, compelling many a drenched soldier
+to shift his quarters hurriedly. We got through the dark and troublous
+night somehow,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> though keenly vexed by the muttered discontent of the
+camels, and the persistent, blatant, variegated amorous braying of 500
+donkeys. A cat upon the tiles, a Romeo, was to this as a tin whistle
+to a trombone. Sleep was a nightmare. It was after six a.m. before the
+head of the column moved out towards the desert track. The rear did
+not get away before eight o'clock, much too late an hour for marching
+in the Soudan. The weather was hot, the sun scorching despite a brisk
+southerly breeze. Lieutenant H. M. Grenfell had charge of the fine
+Cyprus mule train for carrying the British divisional baggage. There
+was with the column a great following of native servants mounted upon
+sturdy Soudan donkeys. The gawky camel shuffles along, a picture of
+woe with a load of 2 cwt. to 4 cwt., whilst the little moke trips
+smartly with almost an equal weight upon his back. Two Jaalin guides
+were supposed to show us the shortest and best track. Major Mahan, of
+the Egyptian Cavalry, had been told off to keep an eye on them and to
+assist us generally during the march. Two squadrons of Lancers rode in
+front, whilst the rest of the troopers were supposed to protect the
+flanks and act as "whippers-in" to the column. Fortunately, there was
+no enemy nearer than Kerreri or Omdurman, for our line was usually
+stretched out for a great distance; two, three, and four miles often
+intervened between the head and rear of the column.</p>
+
+<p>After a few days of such marching as we had, straggling became the
+normal condition of affairs, except so far as the leading squadrons of
+Lancers were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> concerned. The last three days of the journey, in fact,
+became a sort of "go-as-you-please" tramp. To inexperience and want of
+wise forethought may be set down most of the difficulties, hardships,
+and losses that befell that column on its 140-mile march south,
+whereof later.</p>
+
+<p>During the earlier portion of our first day's march (16th August) the
+track lay along the edge of a pebbly desert, which left but a skirting
+of one to three miles of loam and rank vegetation between its
+measureless sterility and the tawny Nile waters. The small rounded
+pebbles and the fine sand of the Nubian wilderness were surely
+fashioned in some great lake or sea of a prehistoric past. Far as we
+were from the dervishes, a childish terror of them was entertained by
+the servants. At the last moment several domestics decamped, my cook
+among them. I rode back three miles to catch the rascal. With unwonted
+alacrity and prescience he had recrossed to the opposite bank before I
+arrived at the place of bivouac, and, having no time, I had to retrace
+my steps without his enforced attendance. It had been arranged that
+the column should only go fifteen miles the first day. What with
+winding and twisting to avoid flooded khors or shallow gulleys we
+marched over twenty miles I fancy. At any rate, with no protracted
+halting for meals or for baiting the animals, we trudged on throughout
+the heat and worry of the day until sunset. It was putting both men
+and animals to the severest possible strain, and few of the soldiers,
+at least, had had any preliminary hardening, for they had been
+travelling for days by boat and train and were out of condition.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> As a
+rule, the Lancers trotted a few miles ahead, halted, dismounted, and
+waited for the convoy to come up. Then they would ride on again, halt,
+and so on, repeating the proceeding many times during each day's
+march. From start to finish the column was ever a loosely-jointed
+body. The pace was slow, little more than 2&frac14; miles an hour, though Sir
+Herbert Stewart's Bayuda desert column managed to average upon a
+longer and almost waterless route, from Korti to Metemmeh, 2&frac34; miles an
+hour. In that campaign, however, most of our marching was done during
+the cooler hours of very early morning and late eventide.</p>
+
+<p>The head of the column turned in towards the river about three p.m. on
+the 16th, at Makaberab, or, as the natives call it, Omdabiya&mdash;<em>i.e.</em>,
+the place of hyenas. For over a mile, men and animals had to make
+their way through halfa-grass scrub, and then over bare alluvial land,
+deeply sun-cracked and scored in all directions. The ground was
+cris-crossed like a chessboard, the lines being a foot to two feet
+apart, and four to six inches wide, and several feet in depth. There
+were numberless spills through these pitfalls. One camel snapped his
+leg, and many mules and horses were strained and lamed. It was indeed
+fat land, and had formerly grown cotton. The cracks, as we found
+later, were full of scorpions. During that night's bivouac, and in the
+early morning, very many men and animals were stung by these venomous
+pests. Only one soldier succumbed from a scorpion sting during the
+campaign. The pain of the wound is as an intense burning or wounding,
+and continues trouble<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>some for hours. Ammonia was freely used by the
+doctors when the stings were severe, but where whisky could be got,
+that was preferred.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"><a name="Illustration_ADVANCE_GUARD" id="Illustration_ADVANCE_GUARD"></a>
+<img src="images/advance_guard.jpg" width="350" height="219" alt="21st Lancers&mdash;Advance Guard." title="21st Lancers&mdash;Advance Guard." />
+<span class="caption">21st Lancers&mdash;Advance Guard.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>We were early astir on the 17th inst., but it was not until daylight
+or 5.30 a.m. that it was safe for the column to pick its way out of
+the field of cracks. Why the spot was selected, except as an earthly
+trial, I am unable to state, officially or otherwise. Hard by, on
+either hand, there was solid and most passable ground for bivouacking.
+We had a good many stragglers on the 16th inst., most of whom came
+rather late tumbling and grumbling to supper and bed on the rough dank
+ground. Others lost their way and wandered to the Nile, where they
+were guided by natives, and later were lucky to get a lift to the
+front<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> upon gunboats. Two men of the 21st Lancers left upon the desert
+with a sick comrade down with sunstroke, watched him die, and,
+scraping a grave, buried him where he expired. Lieutenant Winston
+Churchill, who was detained until late at Dakhala, in trying to follow
+us, lost his way, and had to pass the night alone upon the desert. He
+sat holding his horse till daybreak, and then, burning with thirst,
+made his way to the Nile. Subsequently he hired a native guide and was
+enabled to come up with the column on the afternoon of the 17th.
+Spending the night alone upon the desert has been many times my lot in
+Soudan campaigns.</p>
+
+<p>During Wednesday's march, 17th August, we crossed the low shoulders of
+many rocky ridges. They are called "jebels" (hills), but most of them,
+including Jebel Egeda, which we passed, are little, if any, higher
+than Primrose-Hill, London, though it is not a conical, but a long,
+barn-roofed range. Near there I saw an enormous native cemetery. It
+extended to perhaps fifty acres, the pebble-covered mounds over the
+graves dotting the bare desert and the sides of the hills. I have an
+impression that there are ancient funeral mounds near there, and that
+the burying-place of Aliab is older than the invasion of the Arab
+Jaalin. There were fragments of sculptured stones, granite, and blocks
+of sandstone, and I noticed one broken memorial slab covered with
+Greek characters. Farther on we had to turn aside to avoid wadies and
+khors, up which the Nile had flowed. We were able to water the animals
+at some of those places. The mules and horses buried their noses in
+the flood and drank greedily, and the camels also<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> had a fine,
+long-necked thirst. We were ourselves too parched to care about the
+impurities of the Nile, and soldiers and officers swallowed great
+draughts of the soupy stuff.</p>
+
+<p>Late in the afternoon of the 17th the column turned to the river to
+bivouac at Kitaib, a twenty-two miles journey for the day. Too late it
+was found that the ration dep&ocirc;t there, from which the column was to
+draw fresh supplies, was upon the farther side of a newly-made inlet.
+The column had to repack, and turn west to round the creek. We reached
+Kitaib No. 2 about six p.m. Part of the battery mules and transport,
+however, got leave to remain at the first halting-place, as they stood
+in no need of supplies, and I unpacked by myself, bivouacking under a
+clump of tall mimosa trees hard by a vast deserted village and a long
+grove of date palms. I believe that over a score of men lost the road
+that night and ultimately wandered to the river and got to the front
+by steamer. There were several cases of heat exhaustion and sunstroke,
+but happily few of a serious nature. Two troopers, who floundered
+through the marshy land, got taken aboard a gunboat when they were
+utterly prostrate. Others, whose horses went lame or had to be killed,
+were ordered down to the Nile to secure passage on as best they could.
+In the darkness, as I was eating my evening meal by candle-light, two
+Lancers shouted and rode up. They had the too common but true story to
+tell of having missed the track. I found supper and breakfast for
+them, and started them off with their troop at eight o'clock next
+morning, the 18th August,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> for the column left Kitaib at a late hour.
+My servants were glad of the soldiers' arrival, for they were terribly
+afraid of robbers, the district being infested with marauding natives.
+During the night several fugitives from Omdurman passed us going
+north. Eighteen Shaggieh, who had escaped in a sail-boat, were but
+four days out from Khartoum. They professed to be delighted to get
+away. The Khalifa, they said, had ordered every sail-boat to go south
+of Khartoum. Taking advantage of a thunderstorm, they headed down
+stream and got away. According to them, the dervishes were killing all
+the Jaalin who were suspected of trying to escape north, and the
+Shaggieh and other northern tribesmen stood in little better plight.
+All natives, other than blacks and Baggara, who could get away from
+Omdurman were running off, as they believed the fall of the dervish
+rule was assured. The Khalifa's son, Osman, whose title was Sheikh
+Ed-Din, wanted to make terms. For months the youth had been in
+disgrace, but his father had reinstated him in the position of
+Commander-in-Chief of the Forces. Osman openly declared that fighting
+against the Sirdar and the English was hopeless, and that it was wiser
+to try and treat with us. Khalifa Abdullah and his brother Yacoub,
+however, would not hear of treating for peace, urging that their own
+people in that event would kill them. The only possible course was war
+to the death. From an excellent source I learned that the dervishes
+were well supplied with guns and ammunition, and that the Khalifa had
+about five millions sterling of treasure laid by.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>From Kitaib can be seen the dozen pyramids of Meroe, part of the
+kingdom of the famous Queen of Sheba. To right and left upon the
+opposite bank are catacombs, ruins of old temples, towns and forts of
+a bygone civilisation. The country on both sides of the Nile in that
+region has spacious alluvial belts, big as the Fayoum and as
+susceptible to the arts of the cultivator. Such hills as there are
+rise for the most part abruptly from flat land capable of limitless
+irrigation. To anticipate somewhat: the region, south of Abu Hamed, up
+to and even beyond Khartoum, has all the natural advantages of Lower
+Egypt and something more. Berber is but 245 miles from Suakin. The
+Nubian kingdom of antiquity, or that of the Queen of Sheba, must have
+been of enormous extent, marvellous fertility and great richness.
+Ethiopia may yet fulfil the prophecy. From Kitaib we marched about
+eighteen miles to Maguia, passing through a forest of mimosa bush, the
+track but rarely branching out amongst the halfa-grass upon the more
+open country. About three p.m. the column turned in towards a side
+stream and settled down near the village of Maguia. The wind rose as
+usual at night, yet for all that the bivouac was fairly good, and
+there was plenty of grazing. Next day, the 19th, we managed to make an
+early start, getting away about 5.30 a.m. The distance to be traversed
+was but fourteen or sixteen miles, and the column reached the
+halting-place, Magawiya, about two p.m. We made our way over broken,
+cracked ground to the river's edge, and there bivouacked under the
+shade of a magnificent forest of stately date palms.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> The ripening
+fruit had been extensively plucked by thieving natives, but there was
+enough left for our men. It was a most picturesque scene for a camp,
+but an unwholesome place for all that. It was given out that the
+column was to rest a day at Magawiya, as the place was a wood and food
+supply dep&ocirc;t. During the course of the evening the sternwheeler
+"Kaibur" came in, and a sick officer, Lieutenant Russell, and about a
+score or more of men were sent back upon her to Dakhala, or Atbara
+camp. It merits record that a party of Egyptian gunners carried upon a
+native bed or angreeb a sick British artilleryman from Maguia to
+Magawiya, from bivouac to bivouac. That was something like good
+comradeship and <em>esprit de corps</em>.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"><a name="Illustration_HALT" id="Illustration_HALT"></a>
+<img src="images/halt.jpg" width="350" height="210" alt="Halt by the Way." title="Halt by the Way." />
+<span class="caption">Halt by the Way.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>At nightfall the column was formed up so that the men slept upon the
+ground within supporting distance of each other. Sentries and patrols
+also were set, but the force was not one, I fancy, that would have
+been able to offer a stubborn resistance to a surprise party of
+dervishes. On Saturday, the 20th of August, as was anticipated, the
+troops remained in camp and enjoyed much needed rest and opportunities
+for washing. Several gunboats and steamers passed us during the day
+going south, including one upon which were a number of correspondents
+who were enjoying their <em>dolce far niente</em> under awnings in a breezy
+draught with inexhaustible supplies of filtered and mineral waters. We
+saw the Grenadier Guards, the Lincolns, and other battalions pass us,
+and steam slowly up stream towards Wady Hamed. On Sunday, the 21st, a
+really early start for the first time was effected.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> We were to march
+as far as Abu Kru that day, and encamp near the spot held by Stewart's
+handful of men in 1885. Major Williams, R.A., went off with his
+battery, the 32nd, at 3.30 a.m., and the 37th battery accompanied him.
+Lieutenant H. Grenfell got away at four a.m., and the Lancers at 5.20
+a.m. I pushed ahead of the troops in order to have time to revisit
+some of the old ground I had been over with the Desert Column in
+1884&ndash;85. It was odd, that though hundreds still survived who marched
+with Sir Herbert Stewart, there were but fifteen persons in the whole
+of the Sirdar's army who got through to Metemmeh. Of those still less
+went in and left with the force that fought at Abu Klea and Abu Kru.
+Of the very numerous body of correspondents there were but two. I
+regretted that there were not several score or more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> of old officers
+and men who went through the terrible Bayuda Desert campaign. Most of
+them would have sacrificed much to have been in at the death of
+Mahdism.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"><a name="Illustration_PASHA_FOOT" id="Illustration_PASHA_FOOT"></a>
+<img src="images/pasha_foot.jpg" width="350" height="251" alt="Slatin Pasha (on Foot)." title="Slatin Pasha (on Foot)." />
+<span class="caption">Slatin Pasha (on Foot).</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Metemmeh had been made a slaughter-pen by the dervishes under Mahmoud.
+It was truly an awful Golgotha. Dead animals lay about in all
+directions in thousands, without and within the long, straggling,
+deserted town. I rode up and looked at the remains of the little fort
+and the loopholed walls on the south end of Metemmeh, close to which I
+had ridden on 21st January 1885, and got hotly fired at for my pains.
+Then I walked over the ruins of the Guards' triangular fort at Gubat.
+The place was still capable of defence, and the trenches and
+rifle-pits were much as we left them on 13th February with General
+Buller. As for the graves, they were intact. The big earthwork we all
+helped to raise near the river was covered with water, except a corner
+of the western parapet. It was, however, partly thrown down, and the
+ditch and slopes were overgrown with grass and bushes. Then I rode
+away to Abu Kru battle-field and had a look at what remained of the
+zereba, the little detached fort I had asked might be built, and the
+graves of our dead. Some of these had been rifled. Heaps of dead
+animal bones lay about, for we lost many camels that 19th January
+1885. The enemy had gathered up and buried all their own dead. So
+overgrown was the place that it was barely recognisable. I stood,
+however, again where Stewart received his fatal wound, where Cameron,
+of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> <em>Standard</em>, and St Leger Herbert lay with soldier comrades,
+and I wandered round to where Lord Charles Beresford worked the
+Gardners against the dervishes outside Metemmeh, whilst I found the
+range for him through my glasses, by watching the spatter of the
+bullets upon the sand. That night my thoughts were full of bygone
+scenes and doings in the most heroic campaign of modern history,
+Stewart's magnificent ride from Korti to Metemmeh. There came back to
+me the pain felt on the receipt of the evil news of Gordon's death,
+brought to us by Stuart Wortley, and of the slaughter at Khartoum, all
+of which might so easily have been averted but for&mdash;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>On Monday, 22nd August, the batteries again got away before the
+Lancers, starting at 3.30 and four a.m. The day's march was to Agaba,
+about twenty-six miles, and the next day's about nineteen to Wad
+Habeshi. Wady Hamed, which is nearer Jebel Atshan, was where one of
+Gordon's steamers, the "Tal Howeiya," returning with Sir Charles
+Wilson's party, was wrecked on 29th January 1885. Making a d&eacute;tour into
+the desert on quitting Abu Kru, I left Colonel Martin's column, and
+rode on with one native servant to Wady Hamed. As a matter of fact,
+the camp was neither at Wad Habeshi nor Wady Hamed, but between the
+two. The latter, however, was the official name. But that my man was
+very apprehensive of meeting patrolling dervishes, I would have ridden
+direct across country, starting from a point opposite Nasri Island,
+where the dep&ocirc;t of supplies was. On the pretext of watering the horses
+he got me back to the river. The consequence was that I rode over
+fifty miles on Monday. However, I managed to reach Wady Hamed before
+sunset. On my way in I met the Sirdar, out, as usual, on an inspecting
+tour. He was good enough to greet me kindly and direct me to the
+correspondents' camp; those of my comrades of the Press who voyaged by
+steamer had just arrived. The new camp was an immense place over three
+miles long. It was a zerebaed enclosure lying along the margin of the
+Nile in a field of halfa-grass broken up with clumps of palms and
+mimosa. The country all around was as a vast prairie. Beyond the reach
+of the Nile's overflow the sand and loam was bare of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> vegetation. The
+river was studded with scores of verdant islands, and to the south we
+could see the peaks and ridges of Shabluka, through which the Nile,
+when in flood, surges like a mill race between narrow rocky barriers.</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="section_break"></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h3>
+
+<p class="chapter_summary">With the Army in the Field&mdash;Wad Hamid to El Hejir.</p>
+
+
+<p>Wad Hamid was a camp of magnificent distances, restful to the eyes but
+distressful to the feet. The soil was rich loam, and at no remote date
+had been mostly under cultivation. There were several pretty clumps of
+dhoum palms, and a few scraggy mimosa by the river's margin. Of
+tree-shade for the troops there was practically none. Much of the
+thorny bush had been cut to form a zereba. In fact, there were two
+zerebas, the British division having a dividing line between their
+quarters and those of the Khedivial force. There was also a semblance
+of cleared roadways about the camp, but the ground was too spacious to
+be easily made snug and tidy. Wad Hamid camp was quite five miles
+nearer to Omdurman than Wad Habeshi. We were within the long stretch
+known as the Shabluka or Sixth Cataract. For 15 miles or thereabouts
+the Nile pours in deep, strong flood through a narrow valley, which in
+places contracts to a gorge or ca&ntilde;on. The channel is studded with
+islets and rocks, and at one point the river races<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> through a
+wedge-shaped cleft, apparently little more than 100 yards in width.</p>
+
+<p>After my long ride in from Metemmeh I had to let my horse rest for two
+days. So until my servants arrived with my spare led horses I had to
+go about afoot. My camels and baggage were with the column. It was
+more of a hardship tramping from place to place in the hot dusty camp
+than roughing it upon the bare ground and living upon scratch and
+scrappy meals of biscuit, "bully beef," and sardines, till my men came
+in, put up my tent, and cooked my food. The British division was at
+the south end of the long rectangular encampment. An interval of a
+mile or more separated the divisional headquarters, whilst some of the
+battalions had their lines 2 miles apart. Beyond all, another 2 miles
+off, was the camel corps bivouacking by the rocks and foothills of the
+Shabluka range. Their only shade from the noon-day glare was such as
+they could get behind detached black granitic boulders and blocks. Wad
+Hamid camp, viewed not too closely, was a pleasing picture set in a
+background of dark hills with a bordering of wide tawny river flowing
+in front. There were a good many tents in the British lines, but
+relatively few in the Khedivial, for there fellaheen and Soudani had
+sheltered themselves as usual under palm leaf and grass huts, or
+beneath their brown soldier blankets. It was one of the clever
+campaigning dodges recently taught the native soldiers by our
+officers, to attach loops of twine or tape along the edges of their
+spare blankets, so that these coverings could be quickly laced
+together and spread over light bamboos or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> sticks, forming very
+comfortable quarters. The Sirdar's headquarters tents were always
+distinguishable by the big waving Egyptian flag, a crescent and star
+on a red ground, and near it a bigger "drapeau rouge" flaunted the
+talismanic lettering&mdash;"Intelligence Headquarters." Before
+Major-General Gatacre's divisional headquarters flapped Britain's
+emblem, a full-sized Union Jack. Major-General A. Hunter's tent had an
+Egyptian flag dangling from a native spear, and the Brigade-Commanders
+all had their respective colours planted before their quarters.
+Colonel H. A. Macdonald, "Fighting Mac," had a characteristic brigade
+banner, readily distinguishable. It was an ensign made up of four
+squares or blocks of different colours, the colours of the respective
+battalions of the command. To descend to particulars, besides the
+Sirdar's and the Generals' flags, there were battalion and company
+colours, and hospital, artillery, engineer, and various other flags.
+In the Khedivial army the battalions were known by numerals from 1 to
+18. The Arabic numeral of each native battalion was worn by the men on
+their tall fezes and the khaki covers for the head-gear. It was found
+necessary to devise a head-covering to shield the men from sunstroke.
+That worn over the fez could be so adjusted as to afford shade for the
+nape of the neck, and in front a scoop for the eyes, so that the
+article became transmogrified into something between a kepi and a
+helmet. The British "Tommies'" khaki helmet-covers were ornamented
+with coloured cotton patches and regimental badges. Of course the
+object of the patches was to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> enable officers and men to identify
+easily their respective commands. The Rifles wore a square dark green
+patch, which the Soudan sun bleached to a pea green. The Lancashire
+Fusiliers wore a yellow square patch, and the Northumberland Fusiliers
+a red diagonal band round the helmet. As for the Grenadier Guards
+their insignia was a jaunty red and blue rosette. In Wauchope's
+brigade the Lincolns sported a plain square white patch, the Warwicks
+a red square, the Seaforths a white plume, nicknamed the "duck's
+tuft," and the Camerons a "true blue" square patch.</p>
+
+<p>The rapid thrusting forward of his whole army from Darmali and Dakhala
+within a period of ten days was not the least astonishing and
+brilliant strategical feat achieved by the Sirdar. In that space of
+time troops, stores, and all the impedimenta for an army of 25,000 men
+had been moved forward about 150 miles in an enemy's country. No doubt
+he knew his foe; he certainly always had them under the closest
+observation. For that reason the Sirdar was able to do things, and did
+do them, that other Generals would have blundered over. The great
+river before the camp, with its flotilla of gunboats, looking like
+American river-steamers, the forest of masts, the lofty poles of the
+lateen-rigged giassas, and the abundance of commodious barges gave a
+broad hint how the transport of so many men and so much material had
+been so smartly effected. Provisions, forage, ammunition, all on the
+most liberal scale, he had got together. With the troops there were to
+be carried supplies for fifteen days, and enough<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> to last as long
+again were to be accumulated upon Royan Island at the south end of the
+Sixth Cataract. Placing the reserve supplies and base hospitals upon
+islands meant that both would be safe from any raiding dervishes.
+Beyond Wad Hamid everybody was to move in the lightest possible order.
+Officers had to limit their baggage, so that it should not weigh more
+than 60 lbs., and the men were to march in the lightest of kits. Camel
+transport was cut down, and all animals not absolutely necessary were
+to be left behind. For the conveyance of the baggage of each British
+battalion 32 camels were allowed. All the men's heavy baggage,
+overcoats, knapsacks, kit bags were sent on by river transport in
+native craft. A blanket a-piece was what the men had, and that was
+carried for them by the baggage camels. Quite enough for any European
+to carry in the Soudan in August were his clothes, rifle,
+accoutrements, and 100 rounds of ball cartridge. The native battalions
+had assigned to each command 39 to 42 camels, as well as two giassas
+or nuggars. These carried all the regimental belongings, and also most
+of the men's things, for the Khedivial troops never marched with kits,
+blankets, or any encumbrances upon them. Clad in comfortable knitted
+jerseys, with breeches, putties, and good serviceable high-lows, the
+men of the native regiments stride freely along, each bearing only
+rifle, bayonet, and ammunition.</p>
+
+<p>The massing of the forces at Wad Hamid was all but complete. Part of
+the Rifle Brigade, detained on the river by storms and contrary head
+winds, were the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> only absentees. On the opposite bank of the Nile had
+been mustered the mixed body of friendly natives, who, accompanied and
+supported by a gunboat, were to clear that side of the dervishes when
+the Sirdar advanced. It was known that they would have to deal with,
+probably, 1000 Mahdists under Zeki Osman. Our allies included Ababdeh,
+Bisharin, Jaalin, Shaggieh, Shukrieh, Aburin, and other tribesmen led
+nominally by Abdul Azim, the brave Ababdeh Sheikh. They were armed
+with Remington rifles, but carried in addition their own swords and
+spears. That they might be better led and prove to be of real value,
+Major Stuart-Wortley, with Lieut. Charles Wood as his A.D.C., was sent
+across to take the command. Wortley was received with every
+demonstration of heartiness by the Sheikhs, who placed themselves and
+their followers entirely under that able officer's orders. The
+friendlies were most enthusiastic and eagerly asked to be led against
+their dervish enemies. As these allies and the Sirdar's forces were to
+march by the river's margin when possible, signalling would be nearly
+always practicable between them. Telegraphic communication was opened
+to Wad Hamid from Dakhala by Captain Manifold, R.E., and his sappers
+almost as soon as the troops got into camp. With much hard work the
+line had been put upon poles as far south as Nasri. When the army
+subsequently advanced, as poles were not readily procurable the bare
+iron telegraphic wire was laid upon the ground. In the crisp, hot
+atmosphere of the Soudan, as there is little leakage, long distances
+can be worked through an unprotected wire laid upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> the desert. When
+there were rain-storms of course telegraphic communication over such
+lines became impossible.</p>
+
+<p>On 23rd August, the day following my arrival at Wad Hamid, the Sirdar
+held a great review of his army. At 6 o'clock in the morning the force
+was paraded upon the open desert a mile and half inland from the Nile.
+R&eacute;veille had been at an hour before sunrise. It was a pleasant
+morning, for a fresh breeze was blowing, and the air was agreeably
+cool. Several of the younger soldiers, however, succumbed to the
+effects of the tropical sun during the few hours the troops were kept
+employed, and they had to be carried back to camp. Although the
+cavalry, with part of the artillery and Maxims, did not parade, there
+was a big enough force upon the ground to make an imposing display.
+The army was drawn up in line with a front over a mile in length.
+Major-General Gatacre's division was upon the left, with the Grenadier
+Guards forming his right. The Queen's soldiers were ranged in mass of
+companies, column of fours right, whilst the native soldiery were
+brigaded in line, Macdonald upon the extreme right, with Collinson's
+brigade in reserve. The troops wheeled into column, deployed, changed
+front, and engaged in firing exercise. As might have been expected,
+there was more celerity and accuracy in changing formation displayed
+by the British than in the native brigades. All the men were very keen
+at their work, the expectation of being about to engage the enemy
+doubtless lending special interest to their field-day. The camp, as
+all camps ever were,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> was full of strange yarns&mdash;"shaves" about what
+was going on at Omdurman, and the Khalifa's intentions. "Abdullah
+would fight? No, he would run away; he was laying down mines in the
+Nile to blow up our gunboats. A Tunisian had devised a torpedo, but as
+it was being lowered from a dervish boat, the machine exploded, and
+the engineer was hoisted with his own petard." Then there were stories
+of extraordinary discoveries of precious minerals&mdash;gold mines by the
+score. Two young officers, who wished some fun with a distinguished
+military gentleman not unconnected with South Africa, persisted in
+finding diamonds, pieces of rock-crystal, which, with an air of
+mystery and importance, they submitted to his contemptuous inspection.
+But a Major had the better of the expert on one occasion. He vowed he
+had found diamonds, genuine diamonds, upon the open desert, as good as
+any in South Africa or anywhere else; that he would be sworn to
+forfeit &pound;50 if the expert did not endorse his judgment. He had picked
+up in one small spot no less than five. Burning with impatience to see
+these precious jewels, the expert begged for just one peep at them.
+The Major gratified him with some feigned reluctance; produced a "five
+of diamonds," a castaway from some "Tommy's" pack of cards.</p>
+
+<p>On the night of the 23rd of August Wad Hamid camp was swept by a
+fierce storm of wind and rain. The temperature dropped 22&deg;, and it
+became positively chilly. As we were within the rainy belt, which
+extends up to 17&deg; North, visitations of that sort<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> during the summer
+were to be expected. The troops bore the discomfort of cold and wet
+clothes uncomplainingly, waiting for daybreak, and the tardy sun, to
+get dry and warm. Bugle calls were a work of supererogation on the
+morning of Wednesday, 24th August, everybody having been astir long
+before r&eacute;veille. It had been given out in general orders&mdash;one of those
+gracious niceties of military courtesy never exhibited to the
+correspondents in these later Soudan campaigns&mdash;that the Khedivial
+troops were to proceed that day to the south of Shabluka Cataract. The
+journey thither was to be made by the army in two stages, and the
+British division was to follow on Thursday. Wad Bishari, about
+half-way, was the first portion, and there the men were to bivouac one
+night. Next day they were to complete the distance, making a d&eacute;tour to
+avoid the rough hills of Shabluka, and going into a new camp laid out
+at El Hejir. At 5 a.m. Macdonald's and Lewis's brigades paraded, and
+under the command of Major-General Hunter, stepped off. So the end at
+last began to loom in sight. Major-General Gatacre wished to go part
+of the way the same day, in order to reduce the distance to be
+marched, but the Sirdar put his veto thereon, observing that if the
+"Tommies" could not do a little march of 13 miles, they could not walk
+any distance. In the afternoon, at 4 o'clock, the remainder of the
+Khedivial division&mdash;Maxwell's and Collinson's brigades&mdash;set out for
+Wad Bishari to join their comrades. The men were in fine spirits as
+they left, cheering and singing to the strains of their bands as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> they
+gaily marched away. Some of the Egyptian soldiers were told off to
+remain at the worst places of the Cataract to assist in towing the
+native craft through the rapids.</p>
+
+<p>The bugles called the men of Lyttelton's brigade to duty at 3 a.m. on
+Thursday, the 25th of August. I cannot say that the call awoke them
+from slumber, for all night there had been most disturbing noises
+coming from the riverside, where native soldiers were reloading
+giassas with stores going forward to Royan Island, for that new dep&ocirc;t.
+Royan occupies a position at the south gateway of Shabluka. It is a
+finely conspicuous island, for upon the north end there is a lofty
+barn-roofed jebel or hill. From the summit of Jebel Royan, at an
+altitude of 600 feet, can be seen 40 miles away the outlines of
+Omdurman and Khartoum&mdash;that is in the morning or evening, when the
+distorting freaks of the mirage are not in evidence. The steamboat
+skippers who had ten-horse power steam sirens, used them, after the
+manner of their kind, and made night doubly hideous. At 3 a.m. began
+our orchestra in the 2nd British brigade lines. All the camels, horses
+and mules had to be watered and fed. The cheerful camels then had to
+be loaded, that operation being carried on as usual with a terrible
+grunting chorus, all the brutes taking part. The gunboats got off
+before daylight. At five o'clock sharp, ere it was full daylight,
+Lyttelton's men started, marching off in three parallel columns, each
+battalion having its own advance guard. Four Maxims were with the
+brigade. Behind the infantry was part of the Egyptian transport<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>
+train. The Sirdar inspected the column, and saw them started fairly on
+the way to Wad Bishari. Major-General Gatacre, as usual, rode out with
+them to the bivouac, and then galloped back to camp. The troops were
+in great glee at setting off. The men marched briskly, their officers
+tramping beside them. On the whole, the track was tolerable, mostly
+compact sand and gravel. In some places, however, it was rough and
+full of loose stones, and the sand lay deep and soft in several khors
+and wadies that had to be crossed. The worst bit was in the second
+day's march into El Hejir, where a d&eacute;tour had to be made to avoid the
+Shabluka Hills.</p>
+
+<p>At 5 in the afternoon of the 25th of August the 1st British brigade,
+Major-General Wauchope's men, also left for El Hejir <em>vi&acirc;</em> Bishari.
+The "Rifles" or, rather, half the battalion, marched with them. Owing
+to various causes, the "Rifles" were not all assembled with the
+British division until the army reached El Hejir. In the end, the
+second half of the battalion of that crack corps was transported by
+water direct to El Hejir. They had quite a grievous mishap at Wad
+Hamid. The upper part of a barge, on which many of the men's kits and
+coats were stored, collapsed, and most of the articles fell into the
+river and were lost. Wauchope's brigade marched forward in five
+parallel columns, with intervals for deploying between each. The men
+turned towards the west to get clear of the cultivable belt, for the
+track afforded easier going along the margin of the desert. Behind the
+brigade, protected by the usual rear-guard, were six Maxims, the
+medica<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> corps, a transport column, and a numerous following of native
+servants riding on heavily laden donkeys. The battalion bands played
+favourite regimental tunes as the men marched away. The pipers of the
+Camerons gave the "Earl of Mansfield," whilst, with fifes and drums,
+the Seaforths' pipers skirled "Black Donald of Balloch." News was
+heliographed into Wad Hamid headquarters before we left that the
+gunboats had seized Royan Island and established a post there, the
+natives not disputing possession.</p>
+
+<p>By the end of that week, 27th August, Wad Hamid camp was evacuated.
+Nasri Island, however, was retained as a dep&ocirc;t, and a small force was
+left there. On Friday, the 26th of August, after a great fantasia and
+war-dance, Stuart Wortley's column of armed friendlies moved south.
+That evening they encountered and drove back a small body of dervish
+horsemen. On our side of the Nile, part of the cavalry had been
+scouting up to 10 miles south of El Hejir. Captain Haig, with a
+squadron of Egyptian horse, fell in with a small body of Baggara under
+Sheikh Yunis, and had a brush with them, one or two being wounded on
+either side. The Sirdar and headquarters embarked at 9 a.m., 27th
+August, on the gunboat "Fatah," to steam through Shabluka. I left Wad
+Hamid the same day with one servant, rode through to El Hejir, 22
+miles, and arrived in the afternoon, having ridden out of my way to
+see the narrower gorges of the Cataract. The spaciousness of the
+previous camp was conspicuously absent at El Hejir. In rather thick
+bush<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> and on partly overflowed alluvial ground, the lines were drawn
+closely together. As the river kept rising, it soon became difficult,
+without making a considerable d&eacute;tour, to pass from one part to another
+of the ground by the water's margin.</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="section_break"></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span></p>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h3>
+
+<p class="chapter_summary">El Hejir to Um Terif&mdash;Incidents and Accidents.</p>
+
+
+<p>Your Arab is picturesque but poisonous: a fine specimen of a man,
+though his usefulness in the economy of things is not apparent, at
+least upon the surface. He dislikes steady, hard work, is a dreamer
+with a deeply religious tinge, but all the same cruel and remorseless
+in the pursuit of any object. We were well into the region that he had
+ruled and ruined: a country capable of easily producing wealth,
+charred and laid waste. The indigenous negro, on the other hand, is
+not averse to toil,&mdash;nay, generally delights in it under normal
+conditions,&mdash;is simple in his tastes, true in his conduct according to
+his lights, and readily turned to better things. Your Arab seems to be
+the reverse of all that, and yet he is a delightful person in his way,
+though a belated savage. Burned villages, blackened hearths,
+destruction on every hand, these were the telltale evidences before
+our eyes of what the Khalifa and his hordes had achieved. Behind all
+that there were the ruins of a great and long departed civilisation
+that the early flood of Arab invasion doubtless did some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>thing to
+destroy. Once again, as in the Atbara campaign, was the army closely
+followed by bands of the faithful wives of the black soldiers. These
+women as aforetime pitched their camp ordinarily half a mile or so in
+rear of the men's, choosing broken ground and thick bush through which
+they could escape if attacked by dervish raiders. In rude huts and
+shelters built with their own hands amid the thorny mimosa and dhoum
+palms, they washed, ground corn, made bread, cooked food, patched and
+mended, and waited upon their uxorious soldier lords. "If handsome
+were what handsome does," these negresses would have been beautiful,
+but they were very far from it, poor creatures, except as I hope in
+the eyes of their husbands. Talk of the cares of a young family, not
+even that vexed their stout hearts and merry natures nor made them lag
+in marching to war with their spouses. Alas! even the pains and toils
+of maternity were fought down by young negro mothers, and I had my
+attention called more than once to women with almost new-born babies
+in their arms trudging along to keep up with the army. In such cases
+the women and men generously did all in their power to lighten the
+burden of the new mothers. Their household goods were borne upon other
+already overloaded backs, and if a donkey was procurable the mother
+and child were set to ride upon its back.</p>
+
+<p>El Hejir camp was fenced about with a stout hedge of cut mimosa.
+Besides that there were several smaller zerebas enclosing different
+commands and several of the headquarters. There was plenty of halfa
+grass for grazing and an abundance of mimosa for firewood<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> for the
+men's cooking pots and the steamers' boilers. Roads had been laid out,
+and troughs of mud were built, at which the horses and camels were
+watered, for the river's bank was unsafe. The site of the camp was not
+unattractive. In front the great river was dotted with luxuriant
+islands. On the left hand rose Jebel Royan, a Bass-rock-like hill
+rising from Royan island around which the Nile flowed like a sea.
+Again the Khedivial division had sheltered itself in straw huts,
+tukals and under blanket shelters. The British soldier had a few tents
+and much uncovered ground at his disposal for bivouac. It may be added
+that the health and general spirits of the army were splendid.</p>
+
+<p>At El Hejir the press correspondents, or at any rate those
+representing the big dailies, except the <em>Times</em>, discovered they had
+a grievance. The news agencies shared that feeling with their
+colleagues. Even into war the affairs of business life obtrude. It is
+not an unmixed evil to have a grievance; trouble and ridicule come of
+having too many at the same time. I drafted a letter to Colonel
+Wingate on the subject&mdash;a sort of "Round Robin" which the majority of
+the correspondents signed, after which it was given to that gentleman,
+who stood in a sort of god-fatherly position to us. A form of telegram
+was also written and handed him for his vis&eacute;, that it might be
+forwarded, though in somewhat slightly altered phraseology, to each of
+our journals. These papers explain themselves, and as they have never
+seen the light and the incident is as yet one of the unrecorded events
+of the campaign, I append them:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p class="letter_head">"(Cablegram) <em>Daily Telegraph</em>, London.</p>
+
+<p>"Matter-Notoriety, <em>Times</em> has two correspondents here although
+one, Howard, ostensibly represents <em>New York Herald</em>, but all his
+messages are addressed <em>Times</em>, London, where read. I suggest your
+getting <em>World</em> or other American newspaper, which would give
+advantage additional correspondent. Recollect all telegrams are
+despatched in sections of 200 words. <em>Times</em> therefore gets 400
+words messages. Correspondents have lodged formal complaint.</p>
+
+<p class="letter_who">"Burleigh.</p>
+<p class="letter_where">"El Hejir."</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<p>The following is a copy of the letter handed in:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p class="letter_head">"<em>28th August, 1898</em>,<br />
+"El Hejir Camp.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir,&mdash;It has been a matter of notoriety for some days that the
+<em>London Times</em> has two correspondents with the Sirdar's army,
+Colonel F. Rhodes and the Hon. Hubert Howard. No doubt it may be
+said that the latter represents the <em>New York Herald</em> to which he
+is nominally accredited. We are, however, well aware that his
+dispatches are forwarded directly to the <em>Times</em> Office where it
+is not over-straining the question to say that they are there read
+and used. Under the rules, all telegraphic messages must be
+delivered in sections of 200 words, each correspondent being only
+permitted to send in rotation that number of words and no more.</p>
+
+<p>"The fact that the <em>Times</em> has practically two representatives to
+other newspapers' one gives them a manifestly unfair advantage.</p>
+
+<p>"We need scarcely state, that in a campaign of this importance the
+British public are most keenly interested. Our Editors would have
+sent out, had not the military regulations precluded their doing
+so, more than one representative from each newspaper or agency to
+accompany the army. We respectfully submit that it is our duty to
+claim equal facilities with the <em>Times</em>, and we ask you to take
+such action as may be necessary, that our employers shall not be
+placed at any disadvantage.&mdash;Yours respectfully,</p>
+
+<p>"To Colonel Wingate,<br />
+"Chief Intelligence Department."</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>It was a fine way of spending the Sunday, but really we were all too
+busy to bear the troops company at any of the services that day.
+Colonel Wingate laid the matter before the Sirdar, who struck with the
+justice of our plea summoned us all before him, when we stated our
+case anew. He gave his decision, that the <em>Times</em> correspondents twain
+should only have the right to send 100 words each by telegram. We
+disclaimed having any desire to curtail their letter-writing. That did
+not matter. The affair I am glad to say was conducted throughout with
+much good feeling, both Colonel Frank Rhodes and Mr Hubert Howard
+acknowledging the right of our contention, and the affair gave rise to
+no break in friendship. Colonel F. Rhodes acted very promptly and
+generously, for before the Sirdar gave his decision he came to us and
+offered his individual undertaking, that he would decline to send a
+line by telegraph, leaving to Mr Howard the sole right to wire.</p>
+
+<p>On Saturday the 27th August, whilst the deeply laden stern gunboat
+"Zafir" with giassas in tow alongside was coming up the river, she
+suddenly commenced to sink. The water rushed over her fore-deck, and
+the officers, soldiers and crew were unable to beach her on the east
+bank before she went down. Indeed there was a scurry to get into the
+giassas and cut them loose lest they also should be lost. The vessel
+went down about ten miles north of Shendy, subsiding in water 30 feet
+deep, and only part of her funnel and upper structure remained
+visible. With her there was temporarily lost over 70 tons of stores,
+including much ammunition<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> and many bales of clothing. She had been
+chosen by Commander Keppel, R.N., as the flag-ship of the flotilla and
+was rightly regarded by the "Admiral" as a fine vessel. It appeared
+that through over-loading and rough weather water got into the hold,
+and within two minutes, or before anything could be done to save her,
+she sank. Captain Prince Christian Victor was aboard, he having been
+assigned to duty with the "Admiral," for the craft carried a number of
+soldiers as well as an ordinary crew. Both the Prince and Commander
+Keppel had narrow escapes. Providentially, no lives were lost,
+everybody being picked up by the giassas or managing to scramble
+ashore. As soon as possible afterwards operations were commenced to
+recover part of the cargo. The ship was secured from drifting by a
+hawser being passed around her standing gear, and made fast to stout
+trees ashore. Then some of the natives dived and several of the Maxims
+and boxes of ammunition were salved. As for the craft there was
+nothing to be done under the circumstances but to place a guard and
+wait until the fall of the Nile enabled her to be unloaded and
+refloated. Whilst Commander Keppel and his officers and crew were
+making the best of it, the little ex-dervish steamer "El Tahara" hove
+in sight with Major-General Rundle and several officers on board. She
+lent all the assistance possible and then taking in tow the giassas
+with Prince Christian Victor, Commander Keppel and the rest of the
+shipwrecked crew, except the guard left behind, the "Tahara" with an
+extra head of steam, churned up to El Hejir.</p>
+
+<p>I think there had been an intention at headquarters to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> make a few
+days' stay at El Hejir, and get the army well in hand before going
+closer to the enemy. The gunboats began embarking all their ammunition
+and commenced putting up their extra bullet proof protecting shields.
+But the Nile persisted in rising and again flooding part of our camp,
+interposing once more between the British and Egyptian lines a broad
+arm of water. So again the army was ordered to "move on." Drills and
+sundry other plans for exercises fell through and special precautions
+were taken to guard camps and convoys from surprise as the army drew
+nearer to Omdurman.</p>
+
+<p>On Sunday, 28th August, at 3.40 a.m., the bugles were sounding in the
+Egyptian portion of El Hejir camp. It was nearly an hour later before
+r&eacute;veille went in the British lines and the Lincolns made us think of
+our sins and forswear all sleep by playing their awakening air, "Old
+Man Barry." By 5 a.m., Major-General Hunter's division of four
+brigades, with bands playing, were streaming out of their zereba
+openings and taking the broad, well-worn tracks across the sand and
+gravel ridges towards Um Terif. Macdonald's brigade was in the van,
+and was followed in order by Lewis's, Maxwell's, and Collinson's, with
+the baggage of each brigade behind the command. The guns were upon the
+right of the division, the steamers covering the left. As for the
+cavalry and camelry, spread over a wide front, their duty was to
+search for the enemy and make sure the troops should have ample
+warning of the approach of any dervishes. The two military attach&eacute;s,
+Major Calderari, Italian, and Captain Von Tied<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>mann, German, rode on
+with the native troops. It was a cool morning and the battalions
+headed by their bands playing all the while marched as if going to a
+review. The Soudan soldiers' wives turned out again and mustered along
+the line of route just beyond the camp confines. As the battalions
+passed them, they shouted and gesticulated to their husbands, calling
+on them to behave like men and not turn back in battle. Yet probably
+over half of these same doughty black soldiers had been dervishes
+before they came over to us. "Victory or death," was the cry of these
+fiery Amazons to their warrior lovers. He would have been recreant
+indeed or a marvellously brave man that would have returned to one of
+them a confessed runaway from battle. It was not surprising that the
+Sirdar did not object to their presence in the field, and occasionally
+saw that they were helped with rations when food was not otherwise
+procurable.</p>
+
+<p>The desertion of El Hejir proceeded apace. In the afternoon of Sunday
+at four o'clock, when the fierce heat of day had declined,
+Major-General Gatacre's division in its turn marched off to Um Terif.
+The brigades moved onward in parallel columns, with the artillery in
+the interval and the 21st Lancers covering the front, flanks and rear
+of the infantry. Tommy was jubilant and carolled, as he tramped,
+topical songs and patriotic ditties. He heeded not the boisterous
+south wind that ladened the atmosphere with dust till there was
+darkness as of a city fog. Battle-day and settling of old scores was
+near, and withal the end of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>the campaign, so he pounded along. It was
+a rough tramp by the light of a growing moon. About 9 p.m. they
+reached their camping and were assigned their usual position, facing
+south, the side nearest the enemy. There was necessarily some delay as
+the battalions were being told off to their assigned limits where each
+had to pass the night ready to spring to arms. Detachments were
+detailed to cut bush and form a zereba, whilst others attended to the
+indispensable culinary department.</p>
+
+<p>Each day our cavalry had seen slowly retiring before them a few of the
+mounted dervish patrols. Nearing Um Terif, the enemy's scouts became
+more numerous and inquisitive. Whilst a company of the Lancashire
+Fusiliers stood on guard during the making of the zereba the infantry
+had their first encounter with a dervish. From the desert there came a
+rush and rattling over the gravel and loose stones, as from a
+stampeded horse or mule. It was coming in their direction but neither
+sentry nor main body thought of challenging. In an instant a mounted
+Baggara dashed past the sentries and ran plump against a corner of the
+company bowling over two or three men. Whether it was a deliberate
+madcap charge, or the fellow was bolting from the other battalions and
+lost his way is never likely to be known. Possibly he did not
+anticipate finding British troops three-quarters of a mile from the
+river. At any rate he dropped or threw his spear wildly, then,
+wheeling about, galloped back into darkness almost before the fact
+that he was an enemy had been realised. The men's rifles were
+unloaded, so the dervish was not fired upon. And had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> they been
+loaded, under the circumstances even then the officer, as he informed
+me, would have hesitated to shoot, lest he should unnecessarily alarm
+the whole camp. The spear left behind by the dervish horseman was one
+of the lighter barbed-edge kind.</p>
+
+<p>Um Terif camp was not a pleasant location. There was overflowed land
+between the troops and the river, and the ground we had to bivouac
+upon was rough. On Monday morning, the 29th August, before full dawn,
+four squadrons of Egyptian horse and four companies of Tudway's Camel
+Corps proceeded on a reconnaissance towards the Kerreri. The
+twin-screw gunboat "Melik" also steamed up the river a few miles, but
+neither quest resulted in adding much to the information already
+possessed as to the Khalifa's intentions and exact whereabouts.
+Whether or not we were to have our first battle at Kerreri none knew.
+The fact was that during the night there had been a violent
+thunderstorm accompanied by wind and rain. Daylight came with a
+cessation of rain but the gale blew steadily from the south, raising
+quite a sea on the Nile and a fog of sand and dust on land. It was
+impossible to see or move any distance with security, and that was no
+doubt the cause why the reconnaissances in both instances drew blank.</p>
+
+<p>Formal councils of war were rare events during the campaign. A chat
+with his officers, the eliciting of their opinions off-hand and a
+watchful pair of eyes in every direction early and late, was enough
+for the Sirdar. The delays caused by the storms however were becoming
+embarrassing, and it was certain the men's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> health would suffer if
+they were compelled to linger much longer <em>en route</em>. Still it was
+well to be quite ready before pushing in to attack the Khalifa whose
+large army, it was reported, would fight desperately. At a council of
+war held on Monday, August 29th, at which all the Generals, including
+the Brigadiers, were present, it was decided to remain until the next
+day in Um Terif. The flotilla had been unable to concentrate in time,
+the strong current and head wind making most of the vessels unduly
+late in arriving from El Hejir. A piece of good news came to us from
+the friendlies over the river. They were wont to march abreast with
+us, moving up the east bank. We could usually see them across the half
+mile or more of water that intervened, streaming along in their
+conspicuous garments under the mimosa and palms, or treading through
+the bush and long grass. On their way to their encampment opposite
+they had fallen in with a small band of dervishes who were busily
+looting a village. The natives of the place had offended the Khalifa
+by absenting themselves from Omdurman, and so were being cruelly
+maltreated. Major Stuart-Wortley's Arabs ran forward and opened a
+sharp rifle fire upon the raiders, who replied with a few shots and
+then bolted. A hot pursuit was instituted and five of the dervish
+footmen were caught. The friendlies also had the luck to capture a
+dervish sailing boat laden with grain. That evening at sunset, a few
+Baggara horsemen and footmen were seen upon the nearest hills watching
+the Sirdar's camp.</p>
+
+<p>It was at Um Terif that the army, with all its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> equipment, was for the
+first time got together within the confines of the same encampment.
+From there also it set out next day in battle array, ready to
+encounter the Khalifa's full strength. In the clear atmosphere of the
+early morning and in the late afternoon when the bewildering mirage
+and dancing haze had vanished, from any knoll could be seen the large
+village of Kerreri. There the Mahdists had built a strong mud-walled
+fort by the bank of the Nile. They had besides blocked the road with a
+military camp big enough to shelter in huts and tukals several
+thousand men. Information brought us by natives, spies and deserters,
+was to the effect, that only a small body of dervishes had been left
+at Kerreri under Emir Yunis for the purpose of observing the movements
+of our army. Kerreri, which the Arabs pronounce with a prolonged Doric
+or Northumbrian roll of the r's, as though there were at least a dozen
+of them in the word, is upon the margin of a belt of rough gravel,
+stone, and low detached hills that extend to the southward, to
+Omdurman and beyond. The alluvial strip by the Nile, along which we
+had marched so many days, gave place to ridges and hummocks of sand,
+gravel, and rock.</p>
+
+<p>So we waited impatiently at Um Terif for the flotilla with the fifteen
+days' supplies on board. Meanwhile the axes of an army of soldier
+wood-choppers were clanging upon the hard timber, which was being
+felled for firewood. The ruin of agriculture had meant the growth of
+bush, and there was an abundance of useful mimosa and sunt growing on
+the alluvial lands by the river.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>I ought to reproach myself, but I don't, for not having written of the
+aggravating southern gale with its accompaniment of drifts of horrid
+dust and sand as the "terrible khamseen" or sirocco. Travellers' tales
+about having to bury yourself in the sand, or at least swathe head and
+body in folds of cloth, in order to avoid being choked with grit, I
+know. The real thing is bad enough without resorting to poetic or
+journalistic licence, though some will do that anyhow. It is
+sufficiently trying to grow hot and perspire so freely that the
+driving dust, the scavenger drift of chaos and the ages, caught by the
+moisture, courses down the features and trickles from the hands in so
+many miniature turbid streamlets. During a dust-storm everybody has
+the appearance of a toiling hodman. Feminine relations would have wept
+had they seen and recognised their soldier lads in that sorry state.
+Even the dashing officers and men of the Grenadier Guards ceased to be
+objects of admiration, and the War Office would have howled with
+exquisite torture at sight of their hair and clothes. Speak of
+wrapping clothes around head or body to keep out the dust? It is sheer
+nonsense to prate so. Why it is hard enough to gape and gasp and catch
+a mouthful of sanded breath, without that added worry. There is
+nothing for it, but to grin and bear it and get through with the
+swallowing of that proverbial peck of dust in a life-time, as quickly
+and quietly as possible.</p>
+
+<p>The fighting gunboats or armed flotilla consisted of the "Sultan,"
+Lieutenant Cowan, R.N.; "Sheik," Lieutenant Sparks, R.N.; "Melik,"
+Major Gordon,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> R.E.; "Fatah," Lieutenant Beatty, R.N.; "Nazir,"
+Lieutenant Hon. Hood, R.N.; "El Hafir" ("El Teb"), Lieutenant Stavely,
+R.N.; "Tamai," Lieutenant Talbot, R.N.; "Metemmeh," Lieutenant
+Stevenson, R.E.; and "Abu Klea," Captain Newcombe, R.E. On the loss of
+the "Zafir," Commander Keppel, R.N., transferred his flag to the
+"Sultan," one of the new twin-screw gunboats.</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="section_break"></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h3>
+
+<p class="chapter_summary">Advance to Kerreri&mdash;Skirmishing with the Enemy.</p>
+
+
+<p>"Death and his brother sleep" can only be staved off; they overcome in
+the end. The tired soldiers dropped into profound slumber, although
+the night of the 29th August at Um Terif was boisterous and the cruel
+enemy near. It was one of the real surprises of the campaign, that the
+Mahdists never really harassed us, or ventured to rush our lines under
+cover of night, or in the fog of a dust storm. It has often been too
+hastily assumed that the dervishes never attacked by night. By the
+Nile and in the Eastern Soudan they repeatedly pushed attacks under
+cover of darkness, or worried their opponents by persistent
+sniping,&mdash;as for instance at Tamai, before Suakin and Abu Klea. Then
+again, their final and successful assault upon Khartoum was delivered
+at dawn. Hicks Pasha's force was hammered early and late. It is all
+the more strange, therefore, that they left the Sirdar's army severely
+alone, never practising their familiar harassing tactics and seeking
+to secure an advantage. Numerous, swift of foot, with spears and
+swords, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> odds would have been much more in their favour had they
+come down like wolves in the night. It is difficult to say exactly
+what would have happened, and it is not pleasant to contemplate what
+might have befallen. In such a conflict the Sirdar's losses would have
+been great. Could it have been that the Khalifa believed some of the
+stories set about that our army intended paying him a surprise visit
+by night, as we did Mahmoud, and so he kept his men in camp quietly
+waiting for us. The utmost precautions were taken by the Sirdar and
+his generals to protect the lines. A strong zereba surrounded the
+camp; sentries were doubled, and active patrols were on the alert all
+night. The gale continued until after sunset, when heavy rain clouds
+gathered, obscuring the moonlight. By and by there came on a violent
+and protracted thunderstorm, accompanied by an almost continuous
+deluge. There was nothing to be done but to lie fast wrapped in great
+coat or blanket and await the passing of the hours, wet, chilled,
+ruminating on all sorts of queer subjects. I managed to undo a corner
+of my packed tent and under it obtained relative warmth, and dryness
+in spots.</p>
+
+<p>The persistence of that storm bred despair. It was nearly 8 a.m. on
+Tuesday the 30th August, when, having drenched us all to the marrow,
+the rain ceased. The sun, although two hours high, was battling with a
+fine mist. It was in a perfect downpour of rain at four o'clock in the
+morning, that r&eacute;veille had been sounded. And it was in sludge and
+slush camels and mules were fed and loaded, and horses baited and
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>saddled. By 5.20 a.m. the army was at length on the march out of
+camp, our faces set towards a village called Merreh, best indicated
+upon the maps as Seg or Sheikh el Taib, the latter being the name of a
+low hill. The distance the force was expected to trudge was about
+eight miles, but the overflowed land put two miles more on. When
+daylight came we could see Abdul Azim's friendlies upon the opposite
+side of the Nile. Led by Major Stuart-Wortley, with whom were
+Lieutenant R. Wood and Captain Buckle, the camels of their column kept
+pace with ours. Closely skirting the east bank that day, Abdul Azim's
+warriors had their right supported by one of the gunboats.</p>
+
+<p>With the Sirdar and staff riding at the head of the infantry columns,
+the army advanced in the formation in which it had been determined to
+attack the enemy at Kerreri. Once more our mounted troops pushed far
+ahead, covering a wide stretch of country, the 21st Lancers under
+Colonel Martin on the left, the Egyptian cavalry under Colonel
+Broadwood and eight companies of the Camel Corps under Major Tudway on
+the extreme right. The infantry presented a front of three brigades
+marching in &eacute;chelon. A battery of artillery was attached to each
+infantry brigade except Collinson's brigade. Three battalions were
+detached from the whole force to guard the baggage and transport which
+followed in the rear. In front on the left, or nearest the Nile, was
+Wauchope's brigade. The four British battalions thereof marched side
+by side in column, the Lincolns upon the right, the Warwicks on the
+left, with the Seaforths and Camerons between them. To the right of
+Wauchope's brigade was Max<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>well's, and next it Lewis's Khedivial
+brigades. Behind each of the three leading brigades above named
+(reading from left to right) were Lyttelton's, Collinson's, and
+Macdonald's commands. Seen upon the desert the army had the appearance
+of a huge square with front a mile broad. The day being cloudy, and
+cooler than usual for the season, General Gatacre and his brigadiers
+voted at a council to extend the march. That course was adopted, the
+army keeping on, but with very many brief halts for the brigades to
+regain their formation. By the extra tramp the troops were enabled to
+pass beyond the broad margin of thick bush out upon the comparatively
+open, pebbly, and rocky ground, which sloped to a narrow strip of
+soft, wet loam fringing the river. About 1 p.m., when still fully one
+mile north of the hill of Sheikh el Taib, the army halted and a camp
+was made. Access to the Nile was very difficult, for overflowed, boggy
+land interposed. Roads, however, were made with cut bush, and the
+animals were led over them to be watered. During the army's march the
+Lancers scoured the country far in front. They managed to get into
+touch with some dervish patrols whilst scouting. The opposing troopers
+looked at each other from relatively open ground, and standing
+separated by only a few hundred yards. One Baggara horseman came
+within 150 yards of our men. The Lancers, keen to engage with steel,
+did not attempt to fire upon their intrusive foemen, but innocently
+tried instead to bag them. Several times our troopers advanced to the
+charge, but the enemy, when the Lancers sought to put hands upon them,
+were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> gone. That day the Baggara horsemen were met with in far greater
+numbers than previously. By instructions, the Lancers rushed one of
+the many small villages, or groups of native mud-dwellings and beehive
+straw huts that dotted the sparse bush-land a mile or more inland from
+the river beyond Sheikh el Taib. Several of the enemy hastened away,
+and in one of the huts a man in dervish dress was found awaiting the
+troops. He turned out to be a secret agent of Colonel Wingate's
+Intelligence Department. The spy in question was a Shaggieh, named
+Eshanni, and but thirty hours out from Omdurman. I was led to
+understand that he gave much valuable information as to the position
+and strength of the Khalifa's force and the state of affairs in
+Omdurman. We were told that the Khalifa meant to attack us at or near
+Kerreri. There was an old-time prophecy of the Persian Sheikh
+Morghani, whose tomb is near Kassala, that the English soldiers would
+one day fight at Kerreri. Mahomed Achmed and Abdullah had further
+added to the prediction that there they were to be attacked and
+defeated by the dervishes under the Khalifa. Kerreri plain, therefore,
+had become a sort of holy place of pilgrimage to the Mahdists. It was
+called the "death place of all the infidels," and thither at least
+once a year repaired the Khalifa and his following to look over the
+coming battle-ground and render thanks in anticipation for the
+wholesale slaughter of the unbelievers and the triumph of the true
+Moslems.</p>
+
+<p>All except those on duty were abed by last post <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>on 30th August at
+Sheikh el Taib camp. Lights were ordered out, and the camp for a time
+relapsed into darkness and silence. Headquarters and all other tents
+had been struck and packed. During the night there was shooting, the
+crack of the musketry sounding relatively near, but occasioning little
+annoyance. The bullets were badly aimed if directed against the
+British quarters. Whether the firing was really meant for "sniping" by
+the dervishes, or was only a note of warning to their friends of our
+presence, was not easy to decide with any degree of certainty. There
+was no big roll of wounded to test the enemy's intent by, and a later
+incipient alarm caused in another part of the camp in the small hours
+was possibly all a mistake. One thing the dervishes did do. After the
+manner of hill-men, they lit beacon fires on the rocky ridges around
+us to warn the Khalifa of our whereabouts.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"><a name="Illustration_ARTILLERY" id="Illustration_ARTILLERY"></a>
+<img src="images/artillery.jpg" width="350" height="233" alt="Artillery going towards Omdurman." title="Artillery going towards Omdurman." />
+<span class="caption">Artillery going towards Omdurman.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>That night the camp lines had been drawn still closer than ever, only
+260 yards' front being given to each battalion. On the morning of 31st
+the troops were early astir. By 5.30 a.m. the main body, following the
+mounted troops, had faced to the right, and were marching to the
+westward so as to clear the bush and get out upon the open desert
+tracks leading to Omdurman. The ground the army passed over was
+broken, and there was scrub with several small khors to cross, so the
+force proceeded slowly and cautiously. Four of the gunboats steamed up
+the river, keeping abreast of our widely spread out cavalry. About six
+o'clock the Lancers had again ascended to the top of El Taib, a hill
+from which at that hour I was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>enabled to get a view of the dervish
+camp. It appeared to be about ten miles due south. The Mahdists were
+disposed in three long dense lines, at almost right angle to the
+river. They were partly hidden among the low scrub west of Kerreri
+town or village, their right being quite 2000 yards from the Nile,
+which showed they had a wholesome respect for the gunboats. Flags and
+helios were speedily busy in the hands of our signalmen sending back
+information to the Sirdar. Seeing groups of dervishes within range, as
+well as bands of Baggara horsemen, the gunboats opened fire from their
+15-pounders and Maxims shortly after 7 a.m., driving the enemy's
+nearest patrols into hiding or out of range.</p>
+
+<p>In one of the numberless villages passed, there were several mutilated
+and charred human bodies, victims of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> dervish suspicion, greed and
+cruelty. Pushing well ahead on our right the Khedivial mounted force
+got a chance to send a few volleys into groups of Abd el Baki's
+scouts. That Emir commanded the dervish outlying forces. It was still
+quite early when after an easy journey of eight miles the infantry
+turned aside towards the river. The army was halted at a place called
+Sururab, a few miles north of Kerreri. Why it was called Sururab I
+know not, nor have I found the name on any map; but that was the
+official designation given to the place where the force subsequently
+bivouacked. The only reasonable fault to be found with Sururab was
+that the river banks were exceedingly difficult of access. Our camps
+were getting from bad to worse. That day flocks of huge vultures were
+to be seen circling overhead as the army advanced. It may have been
+our approach that disturbed them from their carrion feasts in the
+devastated villages and the abandoned dervish camps. Omdurman itself
+must also have long been a choice feeding place for them.</p>
+
+<p>Once more the Sirdar's army had to spend an uncomfortable night. The
+few tents that had been carried so far afield belonged to
+headquarters, generals, commanding officers, and correspondents. They
+were more of a burden than a comfort, for all canvas had to be struck
+by last post, and thereafter neither lights nor loud talking were
+permitted. The native troops' low shelter tents made out of their
+spare rough blankets were allowed to pass unchallenged. It was another
+night to be remembered which the army passed at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> Sururab. Early in the
+evening the clouds gathered, and a series of violent thunderstorms,
+accompanied by heavy rain, continued almost without cessation through
+the weary, lagging hours. Rolled in their blankets, the soldiers,
+wetted through, lay upon the sodden ground. Such of us as could
+crawled under sheets of canvas or waterproofs, but these afforded
+little protection from the driving sheets of falling water. From
+Sirdar to private none escaped a thorough wetting. The enemy, had he
+chosen, might have advanced from Kerreri or Omdurman, and been upon us
+ere an alarm could have been given. Shortly after sunset everybody had
+to be within the zereba. All openings in the hedge were thereafter
+stopped up, and no one was allowed outside before r&eacute;veille. Officers
+and men of Gatacre's division had as usual to sleep in their places
+lying down in the ranks fully dressed, with their arms beside them,
+ready to spring to attention. Sentinels and patrols, watchful and
+observant, moved noiselessly about throughout the whole night. True,
+there were outside a few of Slatin's most trusted native friends,
+chiefly Jaalin, set to listen and raise an outcry if the Khalifa's
+dervishes came down upon us under cover of the inky night. But I had
+grave doubts whether these native allies would have been of any
+service, as the likelihood was that they were huddled under some rock
+or tree, shivering in their wraps and sheepskins. Had the Khalifa been
+astute or a tactician he would have attacked our camp at Sururab that
+night or early <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>next morning. He must have succeeded, at any rate, in
+getting close enough to us without our hearing a note of warning to
+have placed his army upon a practical equality with ours in point of
+value of rifle fire. The Remington at 300 yards is as good as the
+Lee-Metford for killing or wounding. His superiority in numbers and
+mobility would have been all in his favour. Luckily, it was not to be.
+We were again allowed to sleep in such peace as the elements would
+permit. The fact remains that the dervishes lost another of the
+several excellent chances they had to do us signal hurt.</p>
+
+<p>R&eacute;veille went at 3.45 a.m. on 1st September. Little need of it there
+was, for the men were astir, trying to keep warm by stamping about. In
+the driving rain and slush the army got ready to march forward. The
+boats, as usual, were sent on with the surplus stores, whilst the men
+carried one day's emergency rations in their haversacks, and two days'
+ordinary food was taken upon the camels of each battalion. Once more
+the brigades marched in &eacute;chelon. Gatacre's division was leading as
+before on the left, with Wauchope's brigade in front, and Lyttelton's
+behind. Steadily, deliberately, the armed tide of men flowed over the
+undulating plain, down into shallow khors, swelling through the scrub,
+their serried ranks always plainly to be seen. I went forward again
+with the cavalry, accompanying the 21st Lancers, who were upon the
+left front. The Egyptian troopers and the camelry went to their usual
+place upon the right. In a short time we found that the dervish
+advanced camp west of Kerreri had been abandoned, the enemy having
+fallen back and joined<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> their main force under the Khalifa nearer
+Omdurman. Word was sent back to the Sirdar that the track was clear of
+the enemy, and so the skirmish before getting into camp, which all the
+infantry expected with some degree of confidence and elation, did not
+happen. By 10 a.m. the army had wheeled into the lines assigned it in
+the southward portion of the scattered village of Kerreri. Once more
+both wings rested upon the Nile, Gatacre's division in front (south),
+Macdonald's brigade at the north, with Collinson's brigade within and
+in reserve. The army encamped in an irregular triangular enclosure, on
+one side being the river, our flanks and face being protected by the
+gunboats. Our zereba outline was something like a broken-backed
+pyramid.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst the infantry were settling down in camp at Kerreri the cavalry
+were pushing in the enemy's outposts. The British division cut and
+built around their front a good stout thorny zereba. Lyttelton's
+brigade and three batteries were placed nearest the river. Upon their
+right was Wauchope's brigade, next to it was Maxwell's and Lewis's
+brigades, and then to the right, Macdonald's crack command.
+Collinson's brigade was held in reserve within the zereba; Colonels
+Maxwell, Lewis and Macdonald had their front protected by a double
+line of ordinary shelter-trenches dug in the loose sand and gravel.
+The British Tommies had no trench. Going forward a mile or so to
+rejoin the cavalry I climbed the rugged granitic slopes of Surgham
+Hill. Like most of the "jebels," or mounts, in this region, compared
+with the spacious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> wilderness about them they are but toy hills. Few
+of them are much over 150 feet high, large as they often loom in the
+deceiving light of the Soudan. Many are but 50 feet in height, and
+there are regular, peaky, and prettily-shaped little mountain ranges,
+the summits of which overtop the plain but five to ten yards. Such
+hills children might build in play by the sea-shore. Surgham was quite
+a big one, and the signallers soon took possession of it, flagging and
+"helioing" back to camp. From its top I was enabled to see Omdurman,
+with Khartoum in the distance. The Mahdi's white, cone-shaped tomb,
+its dome girt with rings, and ornamented with brazen finials, globe
+and crescent, shone not six miles away in the midst of miles of mud
+and straw huts. Four arabesque finials rose, one from each corner of
+the supporting wall. Before the town was a wall of white tents, the
+original camping ground of the Khalifa's levies and reinforcements
+drawn from distant garrisons. Midway to Omdurman, or within three
+miles of where I stood, was the whole dervish army. Clearly they had
+moved out from the city, and were organised as a force prepared for
+instant battle. Their tents, camels, and impedimenta had been left
+behind. Only a few low shelter-tents marked the lines in which the
+Khalifa's army lay in the sparse bush. There were flags and banners by
+hundreds, indicating the position of the leaders, chiefs and lesser
+emirs. The Khalifa's great black banner, with its Arabic lettering
+sewn in the same material, was displayed from a lofty bamboo pole,
+planted in the dense central part of the force. To the left of it,
+our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> right, were green and blue flags of the Shereef, or second
+Khalifa, and Osman or Sheikh Ed Din, the Khalifa's son and
+generalissimo of his army. Osman, we heard, had been reinstated in
+parental favour, for he had fallen from grace for advising his father
+to make peace with the Sirdar. As in a daisy-pied field, there were
+dervish battle flags everywhere among the thick, swart lines that in
+rows barred our way to Omdurman. The banners were in all colours and
+shades, shapes, and sizes, but only the Khalifa's was black. The force
+was apparently drawn up in five bodies or divisions. Abdullah's, in
+the centre, must have numbered fully 10,000 men. Counting as carefully
+as I could, I estimated the enemy who were to be seen as at least
+numbering 30,000, and, perhaps, 35,000 men. Horsemen and camelmen
+could be seen moving about their lines, and here and there others
+riding, native fashion, on donkey-back. It seemed to be a
+well-organised, intelligently-handled enemy we had in front.</p>
+
+<p>Thereafter I rode onward and joined the farthest Lancers' outposts.
+Small parties of dervishes, mostly Jaalin and blacks, who were caught
+by the troopers, but had perhaps purposely given the Khalifa the slip,
+were rounded up and sent back under escort as prisoners. Meanwhile
+both the British and Khedivial mounted troops kept pushing on, driving
+in the enemy's scouts. By noon there had been a series of attempts on
+our side to charge, but the foemen always gave way. The Egyptian
+cavalry under Colonel Broadwood and the camelry under Major Tudway,
+making a wide d&eacute;tour, got close to the dervish left, and en<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>gaged the
+enemy occasionally with rifles and Maxims. But the enemy's horse came
+out in strength, supported by footmen, and threatened them, so
+Broadwood's men had to fall back.</p>
+
+<p>Four of the Sirdar's gunboats, which had meanwhile steamed ahead, were
+briskly battering the Mahdist riverside forts. These works, like those
+abandoned to us at Shabluka Cataract and Kerreri, were strong,
+well-built earthen bastions, with flanking curtains. The central
+semicircular portion was pierced with three embrasures for ordnance,
+but so badly made as to admit of but a limited area of fire. Each
+curtain was loopholed for musketry. There was a deep, wide trench
+before the works, the parapet of which was about ten feet high, whilst
+the walls of earth were about three yards in thickness. Despite the
+skill shown in the construction and placing of the forts, the
+gunboats, by bringing their Maxims and quick-firing guns to bear,
+passed them unscathed. There were Krupp guns mounted in most of these
+works, but not a steamer was hit. Another event of even greater
+importance was meanwhile happening. From the first it had been planned
+that the Lyddite guns and the 40-pounder Armstrong cannon should be
+employed to batter down or breach the Khalifa's walls. The howitzers
+were sent on by one of the gunboats to be landed on Tuti Island, which
+is opposite Khartoum, for that purpose. But it was found the maps were
+wrong, and a better position was selected within suitable range on the
+solid land of the east bank. As for the 40-pounders it was found too
+inconvenient to tranship such heavy ordnance.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>The battery firing the 50-lb. Lyddite shells having found the range,
+about 3000 yards, opened fire upon Omdurman. In quick succession rapid
+splashes of lurid flame burst in the town, followed by great clouds of
+dust and whirling stones. I watched them training the howitzers on the
+great wall and the whited sepulchre of the false prophet. With the
+third shot they struck the base and anon the top of the Mahdi's tomb,
+smashing the structure, and bringing down the uppermost cap of it. The
+nature of the bombardment and its success was galling to the dervish
+force, as could be seen by the commotion it excited in the city and
+their camp. Our cavalry on the left got to skirmishing again with the
+enemy's outposts, on which we had closed to within 800 yards. Bodies
+of their horsemen came out and drove our advanced scouts in. Then,
+three squadrons of the Lancers were led forward by Colonel Martin, and
+the enemy once more retired. This, seemingly, was too much for the
+Khalifa, so his whole army was set in motion against us. They came on
+deliberately, but smartly, their infantry trying to surround and cut
+our troopers off. Dismounting part of his men, Colonel Martin
+materially delayed the enemy's advance, for the dervishes sent out
+lines of black riflemen to deal with the Lancers. A rattling skirmish
+at 500 to 800 yards ranges was in a few minutes in full progress. News
+was sent back to the Sirdar that the enemy's army were coming on <em>en
+masse</em>, and step by step Colonel Martin's troops were retired towards
+Mount Surgham and the river. Our retreat was pressed, and the regiment
+had to mount and trot off behind the shelter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> of Surgham to avoid the
+vigorous advance of the dervishes. Among our mounted troops there were
+relatively few losses, although the enemy must have suffered
+considerably. I noticed many of them being knocked over by the
+Lancers' fire. Before 3 p.m. the Sirdar had all his infantry and guns
+in position, awaiting the expected attack within his lines at Kerreri.
+A few mud-huts on the south face of the zereba materially added to the
+strength of the position. Our cavalry had all to continue retiring,
+and ultimately the Lancers went down to the river so as to clear the
+front of the army. Surgham Hill was occupied by a few of the
+dervishes. From there they must have had an excellent view of our
+camp; indeed, they had as good a panoramic peep at us as we had at
+them. For some reason the Khalifa thought better of attacking us that
+day, and so halted with his main body quite out of range. Towards
+sunset his men gradually retired, going back to their former position.
+They had left their camp-fires burning, and their chunks of meat and
+cakes of rough grain cooking under the supervision of slaves and
+followers when they came out against the Lancers. So it happened on
+the eve of the coming battle both armies rested quietly in their
+respective camps, eating, sleeping, and the devout praying, within a
+five miles' march of each other. For supper our men had stringy bully
+beef and biscuit or bread. The dervishes had hunks of freshly roasted
+mutton, goat and cattle, done on the embers, and bannocks of dhura
+meal. Extra precautions were again observed to secure the Sirdar's
+army from any night attack.</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="section_break"></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h3>
+
+<p class="chapter_summary">The Battle of Omdurman&mdash;First Phase of the Fight.</p>
+
+
+<p>In this and the succeeding chapter, the account given of the victory
+of Omdurman is substantially the same as that which appeared in the
+columns of various issues of the <em>Daily Telegraph</em>. The narrative,
+although hastily prepared, gives an accurate description of the fight,
+and copies of it not being now procurable, I venture to make use of
+it, adding only here and there lines of new matter. I have reserved to
+a later chapter the personal narratives of officers who were in the
+action, and who have kindly supplied me with particulars of the part
+borne by the gunboats, the cavalry, and Major Stuart-Wortley's
+friendlies. With these I have coupled various details drawn from my
+own observation. I found that through errors in transmission of the
+messages, or mistakes in dealing with them, part of my copy had got
+credited to other sources.</p>
+
+<p class="letter_who">Omdurman, <em>2nd September 1898</em>.</p>
+
+<p>The supreme and greatest victory ever achieved by British arms in the
+Soudan has been won by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> Sirdar's ever-victorious forces, after one
+of the most picturesque battles of the century. At last! After fifteen
+vexatious years spent in trying to get here, an Anglo-Egyptian army
+has recovered Khartoum and occupied Omdurman. Gordon has been avenged
+and justified. The dervishes have been overwhelmingly routed, Mahdism
+has been "smashed," whilst the Khalifa's capital of Omdurman has been
+stripped of its barbaric halo of sanctity and invulnerability.
+Striking and dramatic as has been the manner in which the ending of
+the curse of the Soudan has come about, the tale need lose none of its
+force by being simply told. The grandeur of the plain story requires
+no straining after catchwords. Of those who with Sir Herbert Stewart's
+desert column toiled and fought to reach Metemmeh in January 1885,
+less than a dozen are with the Sirdar's army, and of these but three,
+including the writer, were correspondents. But to the narrative of the
+battle which, at a stroke, has broken down the potent savage barriers
+of blood and cruelty, and re-opened the heart of the great African
+continent to the sweetening influences of civilised government.</p>
+
+<p>Storm and cloud had passed. The moon rose early on the night of 1st
+September. It shone brightly over and around our bivouac, south of
+Kerreri village, or near Um Mutragan, according to the cartographers.
+The north end of our camp lines approached the river just 500 yards
+south of the ruined dervish redoubt of Kerreri. Sentinels were posted
+along the irregular-shaped triangle, or, shall I call it, broken
+semi-circle,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> within which the army lay. The sentries had a fair range
+of view to their front. Men on the lookout also occupied the roofs of
+the few native mud-huts at the south-western corner of the camp. Four
+Jaalin scouts were sent forward to Surgham Hill to listen, and to
+apprise the troops of any movement on the part of the Khalifa's army.
+Other friendlies lay about outside, hearkening and watching, to warn
+us of any attempt of the enemy to surprise the zereba. The sentries
+were bid to shoot at any man rushing singly upon him, and to fire upon
+large bodies advancing at the double. Men running in, however, in
+pairs, were either to be challenged or allowed to come in without
+being fired on. Such was the simple yet ample arrangement. To
+anticipate somewhat, it so happened that about midnight there was some
+firing, and the four Jaalin "smellers of danger and dervishes" upon
+Jebel Surgham came sprinting in, a four-in-hand, and cleared the broad
+cut mimosa hedge that was piled before the lines of Gatacre's
+division, at a bound. The time they made broke all records.</p>
+
+<p>From the north to the south end along the river the camp was about one
+mile in length, and its greatest width about 1200 yards. There were a
+few mud-huts within the space enclosed by mimosa and the double line
+of shallow shelter-trenches. The cut bushes were piled in front of the
+British troops, who were facing Omdurman and the south; the trenches
+covered the approach from the west and north where the Khedivial
+troops stood on guard. Neither extremity of the lines of defence,
+zereba or trench, quite extended to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> river. Openings of about
+thirty to fifty yards were left. Besides these there were other small
+passage-ways left open during daylight, but closed at night. Near the
+river facing south the ground was rough, and there were several huts,
+so that the security of the camp was not imperilled by the failure to
+carry the hedge or trenches to the Nile's brink. Lyttelton's brigade
+were placed upon the left south front. Wauchope's men continued the
+line to the right. In the south gap were three companies of the 2nd
+Battalion Rifle Brigade, their left resting on the river. On their
+immediate right were three batteries&mdash;the 32nd Field Battery of
+English 15-pounders, under Major Williams; two Maxim-Nordenfeldt
+mountain batteries, 12&frac12;-pounders, respectively under Captains Stewart
+and de Rougemont; and six Maxims under Captain Smeaton. Later on these
+guns and Maxims during the first stage of the battle&mdash;for the action
+resolved itself into a double event ere the combat ceased&mdash;were
+wheeled out until they were firing almost at right angles to the
+zereba line. On the right of the guns, in succession, were the
+remainder of the Rifles, the Lancashire Fusiliers, the Northumberland
+Fusiliers, and the Grenadier Guards. In the interval between General
+Lyttelton's brigade and General Wauchope's, which stood next to it,
+were two Maxims. Then came the Warwicks, Camerons, Seaforths, and
+Lincolns. To the Lincolns' right, where the trenches began and the
+line faced nearly west, was Colonel Maxwell's brigade. Between
+Wauchope's and Maxwell's brigades were two Maxims, and, I think, for a
+time during the first attack made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> by the dervishes, the two-gun mule
+battery of six-centimetre Krupp guns. To complete the tale of the guns
+placed for defending the camp, there was Major Lawrie's battery of
+Maxim-Nordenfeldts on the right of Maxwell's brigade next Macdonald's,
+and on the north side, near the right of the position facing west,
+Major Peake's battery of Maxim-Nordenfeldts. These guns had done so
+well at the Atbara, that the Sirdar promptly increased his artillery
+by adding three batteries of that class. Maxwell's brigade was
+composed of three Soudanese and one Egyptian battalion, viz., 8th
+Egyptian, and 12th, 13th, and 14th Soudanese. Farther north, to the
+right of Colonel Maxwell's men, was Lewis Bey's brigade of Egyptian
+troops&mdash;the 3rd, 4th, 7th, and 15th Battalions. The 15th Battalion was
+a fine lot, mostly reservists. Upon the farthest west and northern
+face of the protected camp was. Colonel Macdonald's oft-tried and
+famous fighting brigade, made up of the 9th, 10th, and 11th Soudanese,
+with the true-as-steel 2nd Egyptians. Within the wall of hedge,
+trenches, and armed infantry, in reserve, was another brigade, the 4th
+Khedivial, commanded by Major Collinson. It was made up of the 1st,
+5th, 17th, and 18th Egyptian battalions. The two last-named were
+relatively newly-raised regiments, but were composed of fine
+soldierly-looking fellaheen. The divisional brigade and battalion
+commanders and staff were:&mdash;British division, Major-General Gatacre
+commanding; staff: Major Robb, D.A.G.; Captain R. Brooke, A.D.C.;
+Lieuts. Cox and Ingle, orderly officers; Surgeon-Colonel <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>MacNamara,
+P.M.O. First British Infantry brigade, Brigadier-General A. Wauchope;
+staff: Major Doyle Snow, brigade-major; Captain Rennie, A.D.C.;
+Surgeon-Lieut.-Colonel Sloggett, P.M.O. Second brigade,
+Brigadier-General, Hon. N. G. Lyttelton; staff: Major A Court,
+brigade-major; Captain Henderson, A.D.C. Surgeon-General W. Taylor was
+the principal medical officer of the British division. Lieut.-Colonel
+C. J. Long, R.A., commanded all the artillery. Khedivial
+troops&mdash;Infantry division, Major-General A. Hunter, commanding; staff:
+Surgeon-Colonel Gallwey, P.M.O.; Captain Kincaid, D.A.G.; Lieut.
+Smythe, A.D.C. 1st brigade, Brigadier H. A. Macdonald; Major C. Keith
+Falconer, brigade-major. 2nd brigade, Brigadier Lewis; 3rd brigade,
+Brigadier Maxwell; 4th brigade, Brigadier Collinson.</p>
+
+<p>The battalion commanders of British troops were:&mdash;Grenadier Guards,
+Lieut.-Colonel Villiers-Hatton; Lancashire Fusiliers, Lieut.-Colonel
+Collingwood; Northumberland Fusiliers, Lieut.-Colonel C. G. C. Money;
+Rifle Brigade, Colonel Howard; Warwickshires, Lieut.-Colonel Forbes;
+Lincolns, Lieut.-Colonel Louth; Camerons, Lieut.-Colonel G. L. C.
+Money; Seaforths, Lieut.-Colonel Murray. Those of the Khedivial
+battalions were:&mdash;Macdonald's brigade, Majors Pink, 2nd Egyptian;
+Walter, 9th Soudanese; Nason, 10th Soudanese; Jackson, 11th Soudanese.
+Lewis's brigade, Majors Sellem, 3rd Egyptian; Sparkes, 4th Egyptian;
+Fatby Bey, 7th Egyptian; and Major Hickman, 15th Egyptian. Maxwell's
+brigade, Majors Kalousie, 8th Egyptian; Townsend, 12th Soudanese;
+Smith-Dorian, 13th Soudanese; Shekleton, 14th Soudanese.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> Collinson's
+brigade, Captains (O.C.'s) Bainbridge, 1st Egyptian; Abd El Gervad
+Borham, 5th Egyptian; Bunbury, 17th Egyptian; and Matchell, 18th
+Egyptian.</p>
+
+<p>The troops were ranged two deep in front with a partial second double
+line or supports placed twenty yards or so behind them. These assisted
+in the fight to pass ammunition to the firing line and carry back the
+dead and wounded. Somewhat removed from the zereba and trenches, and
+nearer the Nile were the hospitals, the transport, the stores, nearly
+3000 camels, and about 500 mules. The Egyptian cavalry and camelry
+were picketed at the north of the camp, and the 21st Lancers at the
+south end, both being within the lines. All along the river's bank
+beside the camp were moored the gunboats, steamers and barges, with a
+fleet of a hundred or more native sailing boats, at once a means of
+defence and a supply column. The gunboat "Melik" was moored a few
+hundred yards south of where the Rifles were posted. Occasionally the
+flotilla flashed their search-lights upon Jebel Surgham, and swept the
+scrub and desert in front of the troops. The enemy's scouts, however,
+were never disclosed in the radii of the electric beams. In fact, the
+first notice we had that the dervishes were about to inspect our
+environment was the impetuous incoming of our friendlies from Jebel
+Surgham and the cracking of snipers' guns in the bush mingled with the
+buzzing of bullets overhead. A battalion rose quietly from the ground,
+for the troops slept clear of the hedge, and went forward a few paces
+to man the zereba. On learning what was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> actually taking place they
+returned to their blankets and to sleep.</p>
+
+<p>For all the row the dervish spies, snipers and others made, the army
+was not really disturbed. Once more we had to thank fortune that the
+enemy made no vigorous attempt to assail the camp during the night.
+True, earlier in the evening a few badly-directed rifle-shots had come
+whistling across the zereba. Prowling dervish scouts had even
+occasionally crept close enough to draw upon themselves the attention
+of our double sentries and alert patrols. A small section volley at
+one period of the night was fired at a knot of the enemy's would-be
+bush-whackers. The unusual rattle of musketry caused an incipient
+alarm in one of the battalions. Tommy, however, behaved well,
+collectively, never stirring, but waiting "for orders." The peace of
+the night hours was, I repeat, never seriously broken, the
+Anglo-Egyptian army enjoying their needed sleep. After midnight things
+quieted down and from the dervish camp no sound was carried to us by
+the soft south wind. All was absolutely still in that direction. The
+noggara or war-drum was a dead thing, beating not to quarters, as we
+had heard it during the day when out with the cavalry. Nor was the
+deep-bayed booming of the ombeyas, or elephant horns, re-echoing to
+rally the tribesmen under their leaders' banners.</p>
+
+<p>It was 3.40 a.m. on 2nd September when the bugles called the 22,000
+men of the Sirdar's army from slumber. Quickly the troops were astir,
+and the camp full of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>bustling preparation. It was given out that we
+were not to move forward quite as early as usual. But circumstances
+alter cases, and very soon loads and saddles were adjusted with extra
+care. Everything was made as trim as possible, and belts were buckled
+tightly for action. There was a sense and expectancy of coming battle
+abroad, and an eager desire permeating all ranks to have it out with
+the dervishes then or never. It had come at length to be generally
+accepted that the enemy would not bolt nor slip through our fingers,
+but would accept the gage of battle which the Sirdar meant shortly to
+give him. We were going to march out, attack, and storm the Khalifa
+and his great army in their chosen lines and trenches. In a way we
+felt half-heartedly grateful to our sportsmanlike enemy for not having
+harassed our marches or bivouacs. We were, within the next hour or so,
+to have yet more to thank the dervishes and their Khalifa for. Truly
+Abdullah was amazingly ignorant of war tactics, or astoundingly
+confident in the prowess of his arms. From the reckless, magnificent
+manner in which the dervishes comported themselves in the earlier
+stages of the fight that ensued, I incline to the belief that the
+Khalifa and his men, true to their crass, credulous notions, were
+overweeningly confident in themselves. A fatal fault, they underrated
+their opponents. His Emirs, Jehadieh, and Baggara had so often proved
+themselves invincible in their combats against natives of the Soudan,
+that they had come to hold that none would face their battle shock.
+There was pride of countless triumphs, and the long enjoyment of
+despotic lordship that hardened<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> their wills and thews to win victory
+or perish. I failed later to see the old fanaticism that once made
+them, though pierced through and through with bayonet or sword, fight
+till the last heart-throb ceased. Let me not be misunderstood. Despite
+their possible doubts about the Khalifa's divine mission, the dervish
+army fought with courage and dash until they were absolutely broken.
+Their personal hardihood bravely compared with the days of Tamai and
+Abu Klea. It was when the fight was nearly over that there were
+evidences of that of which there was so little in the old days, viz.,
+that a large remnant would accept life at our hands. Again, as the
+sequel showed, the Sirdar's star was in the ascendant.</p>
+
+<p>Everything was in readiness in our camp by 5 a.m. Camels, horses,
+mules, and donkeys had been watered and fed, and the men had disposed
+of an early breakfast of cocoa or tea, coarse biscuit, and tinned
+meat. Infantry and artillery had made sure of their full supply of
+ammunition, and the reserve was handy to draw more from. Tommy Atkins
+carried 100 rounds of the new hollow-nosed Lee-Metford cartridges.
+Behind him were mules loaded with a further twenty rounds for him. The
+Khedivial soldiers had 120 rounds of Martini-Henry cartridges. To hark
+back: at 4.30 a.m., ere dawn had tinged the east, the Sirdar bade
+Colonel Broadwood, commanding the Egyptian cavalry, send out two
+squadrons to ascertain what the enemy was about. Thereupon one
+squadron rode off to the hills on the west&mdash;known locally as South
+Kerreri jebels, but marked on most<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> maps as Um Mutragan. Besides being
+misnamed, they are plotted in out of place and as if the range trended
+east and west. It runs nearly north and south. Kerreri hills were low
+and black, like most of the jebels thereabout. They stand fully two
+miles west of the Nile. Another squadron, under Captain Hon. E.
+Baring, proceeded south to Jebel Surgham, the low hill, about one mile
+in front of the British division. I have written about it before.
+Surgham was used for heliograph and flag signalling on the 1st, the
+previous day, and is the last of the detached hills or ranges lying
+near the river on the north towards Omdurman. The squadron going west
+soon reached South Kerreri hill, and reported that the enemy were
+still in camp. It was early, and not clear daylight, and the distance
+to the Khalifa's encampment was greater from South Kerreri hill than
+that from Jebel Surgham to where the dervishes lay in the bush and
+hollows around Wady Shamba. Captain Baring's party, on the other hand,
+met with small patrols of the enemy near Jebel Surgham. Turning the
+hill at a few minutes past five o'clock, in the yet slanting daylight,
+he at once detected that the Khalifa's army, which had apparently been
+largely reinforced during the night, was marching forward to attack
+us. Gallopers and orderlies came riding back furiously with the news
+for the Sirdar. Sir Herbert Kitchener, Major-General Rundle, and the
+whole headquarters staff were already mounted. Colonel Broadwood was
+despatched to verify the startling report, and to bring in further
+particulars. Meantime the preparations on our side<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> for an advance
+were suspended, and guns, Maxims, and infantry moved up and wheeled
+into positions upon the firing line. Ominous was that silent march of
+six paces to their front made by the British infantry to get close to
+the zereba and the clearing for action of Maxims and cannon, and the
+examining of the breeches of the Lee-Metfords. For the first time the
+magazines were to be used. The Khedivial soldiers swarmed into their
+trenches. Anon, the Tommy Atkinses were ordered to lie down behind
+their hedge of cut mimosa to rest and wait. From a little distance, no
+doubt, our camp looked silent, deserted, and as void of danger as any
+other part of the plain. Standing a few yards behind each command were
+placed in reserve sometimes two, sometimes three companies, which had
+been withdrawn from the battalion on their immediate front. These
+reserves were to fill gaps or stiffen the firing line, should it be
+too closely pressed. With the companies in reserve were the stretchers
+and bearers. A little farther back was the British divisional field
+hospital, planted in a congeries of native dirt-huts. The scattered
+mud-huts within the lines afforded excellent cover to the sick and
+wounded, as well as a degree of protection for the camels, horses,
+mules, and donkeys picketed near the middle ground of the camp.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Broadwood returned swiftly with the news that the whole
+dervish army was really in motion, and that if it held upon its
+apparent course its right wing would pass about 500 yards to the west
+of Jebel Surgham. That hill was within easy shelling distance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> from
+the gunboats, and the solitary instance of prudence that the dervishes
+had so far shown was to keep far enough inland to render the
+assistance of the flotilla of as little help as possible to us. Some
+there were who thought that Jebel Surgham should have been made the
+central stronghold of our camp, and that the army ought to have slept
+behind it on the previous night. The wisdom of that suggestion was
+most doubtful. Where we were the gunboats could more easily cover the
+whole position.</p>
+
+<p>It was about 5 a.m. when the 21st Lancers started forward to undertake
+their daily task of scouting and covering the left flank of the
+Sirdar's army. They reached Jebel Surgham a few minutes later and
+relieved Captain Baring's squadron, which at once rode away and joined
+the remaining squadrons of Egyptian cavalry on South Kerreri hill,
+whither Colonel Broadwood had by that time gone with his troopers.
+Every inch of Surgham hill and the yellow sand ridges, gravel mounds,
+and shallow khors to the south and west of it had been explored by the
+Lancers the day before. Riding straight out from the zereba ere the
+faintly-glowing dawn had come, I joined the Lancers on Surgham. A
+dismounted squadron occupied part of the southern slopes, a troop or
+more were on the higher points and summit keeping sharp eyes on the
+enemy. Flag-signallers were preparing for work at the place where the
+day before helios had been busy flashing news from gunboats and
+cavalry to the headquarters. As I climbed the rugged slopes of Jebel
+Surgham leading my horse, I heard a mighty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> rumbling as of tempestuous
+rollers and surf bearing down upon a rock-bound shore. When I had gone
+but a few strides farther there burst upon my sight a moving,
+undulating plain of men, flecked with banners and glistening steel.
+Who should count them? They were compact, not to be numbered. Their
+front from east to west extended over three miles, a dense mass
+flowing towards us. It was a great, deep-bodied flood, rather than an
+avalanche, advancing without flurry, solidly, with presage of power.
+The sound of their coming grew each instant louder, and became
+articulate. It was not alone the reverberation of the tread of horses
+and men's feet I heard and seemed to feel as well as hear, but a
+voiced continuous shouting and chanting&mdash;the dervish invocation and
+battle challenge, "Allah el Allah! Rasool Allah el Mahdi!" they
+reiterated in vociferous rhymed rising measure, as they swept over the
+intervening ground. Their ranks were well kept, the serried lines
+marching with military regularity, with swaying of flags and
+brandishing of big-bladed, cruel spears and two-edged swords. Emirs
+and chiefs on horseback rode in front and along the lines,
+gesticulating and marshalling their commands. Mounted Baggara trotted
+about along the inner lines of footmen. There were apparently as
+before five great divisions in the dervish army. The Khalifa's corps
+was near the right centre, with his son, Sheikh Ed Din's division on
+his left. The relative positions of the great chiefs were readily
+recognisable by their banners, which were carried in the midst of
+their chosen body-guards. Khalifa Abdullah's great black banner,
+black-lettered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> with texts from the Koran and the Mahdi's sayings, was
+upheld by his Mulazimin. It flew, spread out, flaunting in the wind,
+acclaimed by his followers. The flag was about two yards square, and
+was supported on a 20-feet bamboo pole, ornamented at top with a
+silver bowl and spandrel, as well as a tassel. The force marching with
+it must have numbered 20,000 armed men, besides servants and
+followers. His son, Osman, known as Sheikh Ed Din, and the nominal
+commander-in-chief of the dervish armies, led into battle a division
+of the Jehadieh (riflemen) and spearmen, together 15,000 strong. His
+force was ranged under blue, green, yellow, and white banners. With
+him was Khalil, the second Khalifa, Osman Azrak, Emir Yunis, Abdel
+Baki, and other noted chiefs of the Baggara. Yacoub, the notorious
+brother of the Khalifa Abdullah, commanded the big column upon his
+relative's right hand. Still farther to their right were the divisions
+led by Wad Helu and Wad Melik. The joint forces of these twain
+probably numbered 12,000 or 14,000 men. Besides the main army there
+was a second line, possibly made up from the Omdurman populace, with a
+baggage train of camels and donkeys. I found out subsequently that the
+enemy were amply provisioned. Camels and donkeys carried water and
+grain, mostly dhura, for the Khalifa's army. The dervishes, as a rule,
+had their goatskin wallets filled with grain, onions, and a piece of
+roasted meat.</p>
+
+<p>The battle of Omdurman began at 5.30 a.m. with a salvo of six guns
+from Major Elmslie's battery on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> east Nile bank. They were fired
+from the 5-inch howitzers, which sent a half-dozen of 50-lb. Lyddite
+shells hurtling around the tomb and the Khalifa's quarters. Like a
+spouting volcano, clouds of flame, stones, and dust burst from out the
+city. The line of strong forts before the town and upon Tuti island
+had been silenced by them and the gunboats the previous day. Although
+the dervishes had built stout works, and had plenty of cannon and
+ammunition, they made a wretchedly bad stand against the gunboats,
+injuring none of them. The overpowering weight as well as the accuracy
+of our steamers' fire ended the naval part of the battle almost as
+soon as it was begun. Quick-firers and Maxims were trained to bear
+into the embrasures of the Khalifa's forts. As a consequence, the
+enemy's gunners were only able to fire a few wild rounds at the
+vessels. Jealous and suspicious of everyone, Abdullah left his arsenal
+full of unemployed batteries, Krupps, and machine guns, and only took
+three of either of the latter weapons with him into the field against
+us. After the labour too of taking them there, he made but little use
+of them. As I learned, the Greeks, some thirty-five, and all
+able-bodied men, had to march out of Omdurman and follow the Khalifa
+to battle. I by no means, I think, over-estimate the enemy's numbers
+when I state that there were 50,000 dervishes of sorts who advanced
+against us, sworn to leave not a single soul alive in the Sirdar's
+army. Abdullah, professedly sanguine of success, had bade the mollahs
+and others attend him at noon prayers in the mosque and Mahdi's tomb,
+where he would go<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 151]<br />[Pg 152]<br />[Pg 153]</a></span>to worship immediately after his victory. He had
+returned into town, and spent part of the night of 1st and 2nd
+September in his own house.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 473px;"><a name="Illustration_ZEREBA_ACTION" id="Illustration_ZEREBA_ACTION"></a>
+<img src="images/zereba_action.jpg" width="473" height="332" alt="Battle of Omdurman&mdash;Zereba Action." title="Battle of Omdurman&mdash;Zereba Action." />
+<span class="caption">Battle of Omdurman&mdash;Zereba Action.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>The gunboats, which had gone on that morning, joined in the renewed
+bombardment of Omdurman, begun by Major Elmslie. But it was only for a
+short space, for the Sirdar recalled the steamers by signal to assist
+in repelling the attack when it was seen the Khalifa meant giving
+battle. Three squadrons of Lancers halted on the northern side of
+Jebel Surgham. A troop of them pushed on to the sandy ridges
+south-west of Surgham hill. Part of them dismounted, and with much
+hardihood began firing at about 1000 yards' range at the oncoming
+dervishes. It was as if a few men afoot were seeking to interpose to
+hold back the invading ocean. Instantly dervish riflemen and horsemen
+shot out from the Khalifa's lines and came streaming to engage the
+handful of troopers. The skirmishing Lancers desisted, mounted, and
+rode back to their main body. Of those of the Lancers who stood it out
+longest were the groups upon the top of Surgham and upon its eastern
+side. Colonel Martin got his four squadrons together as the dervishes
+drew in towards him. The enemy's right was now thrown forward, facing
+straight for the angle of the camp where the British division stood.
+At a swinging gait came the vast army of Mahdism. I was still near
+Surgham and believed that I could discern the Khalifa himself in the
+centre of a jostling, excited throng of footmen and horsemen. He was
+seated upon a richly caparisoned Arab steed, guarded on all sides by
+stalwart<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> natives armed with rifles and swords. A troop of mounted
+Emirs in front and a big retinue of Baggara and other chiefs on
+horseback riding behind surely proclaimed him to be Abdullah, the
+Mahdi's successor. Far before him was borne his terrible black banner.
+Around him religious dervishes screamed, gesticulated, and shouted
+"Allah's" name, confident that they had come out to see the
+annihilation of the invading infidels. Had it not been long foretold
+that the victorious battle would be fought at Kerreri, which ever
+after should be known among the faithful as "the death-field of the
+infidels"? Were not the white stones there already to mark our graves?
+I was fortunate to be able to scan the nearest of the dervish columns,
+from a distance of but 800 yards. The battle was about to open in
+fierce earnest. Away went the Lancers at the gallop, back to the
+zereba, but, edging towards the river, to clear our infantry's front
+and line of fire. It was around the left of the 2nd battalion of the
+Rifle Brigade that the troopers passed in. I took a somewhat shorter,
+hasty cut, entering the zereba near where the three batteries stood,
+on the British left. Away off upon and under Um Mutragan, the Egyptian
+mounted troops, the nine squadrons of cavalry, eight companies of the
+Camel Corps, and the horse artillery, all under Colonel Broadwood,
+were pluckily endeavouring to tackle the left wing of the Khalifa's
+forces. They held on, perhaps, too long; at any rate, until most of
+them were in a position of serious danger. As their fight and the more
+important general action happened at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> the same time, I must defer
+further description of it for the moment.</p>
+
+<p>It was a magnificent spectacle that rose before the Sirdar's army as
+the dervish columns came sweeping into view, filling the landscape
+between Surgham and Um Mutragan. In that great multitude were gathered
+the fiercest, most sanguinary body of savage warriors the world has
+ever held or known. Arabs and blacks, chosen by Abdullah himself,
+picked out because of their tried courage, strength, and devotion&mdash;the
+flower of the fighting Soudan tribes. Under other conditions
+Abdullah's army might have matched itself to win against double their
+number of any men similarly armed. Fearless of danger, agile yet
+strong, each man carried with him into the fight the conviction that
+the Khalifa would conquer. A great shout of exultation went up from
+the dervish legions when they saw, ranged in the low ground before
+them, the Sirdar's, small army, their imagined prey. There was a
+mighty waving of banners and flashing of steel when, breaking into a
+run, they bent forward to close upon us. The British division rose to
+their feet to be ready, and the Khedivial troops closed up their
+ranks. There was a murmur of satisfaction from Gatacre's division and
+real cries of delight from the black troops on seeing the enemy were
+coming to attack. Never was there a grander, more imposing militant
+display seen than when the great dervish army rushed to engage,
+heedless of life or death. In an instant the Sirdar, who stood near
+the right of Wauchope's brigade, passed an order for the three
+batteries on the left<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>&mdash;Major Williams', Stewart's, de Rougemont's&mdash;to
+open fire. The guns were laid at 2800 yards, a range the delight of
+gunners, and sighted to the west of Surgham, where the black flag and
+the largest mass of the enemy were. The hour was 6.35 a.m. Almost at
+the first shot the true range was found. Quick as thought thereafter
+the eighteen guns on our left began raining fire, iron, and lead upon
+the leading and main columns of the enemy. Two batteries to the right
+and many of the Maxims added to the fury of the fearful death-dealing
+storm bursting over and amongst the dervish ranks. The long 15-pounder
+English field cannon hit with the precision of match rifles, and were
+discharged as though they had been quick-firing guns. As for the
+stinging Maxim-Nordenfeldts, with their big single and bigger double
+shells, they bucked and jumped like kicking horses, yet were fired so
+fast that the barrels must have been well-nigh red-hot. The air was
+torn with hurtling shell at the first awful salvo, when shrapnel burst
+in all directions, smiting the dervishes as with Heaven's
+thunderbolts, and strewing the ground with maimed and dead. The
+leading columns paused as if they had received a shock, or had stopped
+to catch breath. Hundreds had been slain in that one discharge, and
+the fire was rapidly increasing, not slackening. Disregarding their
+dead and wounded, the dervishes closed their ranks as with one accord,
+and came on with fresh energy. Their banner-bearers and the Baggara
+horsemen pushed to the front, doubtless to further encourage the still
+dauntless footmen. Surely there never was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> wilder courage displayed.
+In the face of a fire that mowed down battalions and smashed great
+gaps into their columns they flinched not nor turned. Noticing the
+enemy's persistency, the Sirdar sent bidding General Lyttelton try
+them with long-range volleys from the Lee-Metfords. Major Lord Edward
+Cecil took the message, and Lieutenant H. M. Grenfell got the range
+from the gunners. The Grenadier Guards, who had the honour of being
+the first of our infantry to engage, were ordered to fire section
+volleys to their right at the Khalifa's division; the range 2700
+yards. Standing up and pointing their rifles over the hedge they
+blazed away very steadily at the dervishes. Occasionally they caught
+and slew a group, but at that period it was difficult to make out,
+even through good field-glasses, whether the infantry fire was really
+effective. There was no doubt about what the gunners were doing, for
+horses and riders and footmen were bowled over or sank to the ground
+as shrapnel and common shell struck their ranks. The artillerymen
+invariably trained their weapons to bear upon the front of the densest
+of the dervish columns, seeking to pulverise them. As for the
+Maxims&mdash;and I closely watched the effect of their fire through my
+glasses&mdash;I am compelled to say that they often failed to settle upon
+the swarming foe. At any rate, their effectiveness was not equal to
+what might have been expected. Would the Khalifa succeed, in the face
+of such an awful cannonade, in reaching the zereba with a corporal's
+guard? But after all, it usually takes tons of iron and lead to kill a
+man. There was marvellous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> vitality in the dervish masses. Thousands
+were knocked over by the screaming, bursting shells, which made hills
+and plain ring with thunderous uproar. But numbers of the apparently
+killed were merely wounded, and they speedily rose and truculently
+hastened forward anew with their fellow-tribesmen. A diversion that
+told momentarily in the enemy's favour occurred. The extreme dervish
+right at that moment appeared climbing the slopes of Jebel Surgham.
+Emir Melik's wing, hidden from view by that intervening high ground,
+had, as it came on, been reinforced by a part of Yacoub's division. By
+other accounts Osman Digna, as well, had united forces with Melik.
+There suddenly sprang into threatening proximity before us, a force of
+at least fifteen odd thousand men, with a wide surf-line of white,
+red, and gold lettered banners, less than a mile away. Brandishing
+their weapons and shouting "Allah!" down the slopes they ran towards
+the zereba. Emirs rode in front, and gaunt, black riflemen sped like
+hounds, keeping pace with the horses. The guns of one battery, then
+another, and finally all three, upon General Lyttelton's left, were
+turned upon them. Maxims also were swung round, and the long-distance
+volleys were dropped for shorter ranges. The dervish main columns
+which had got shelter in low khors re-appeared, and without pause
+joined in the hot rush for our zereba. Our elated foemen evidently
+thought they would at last be able to close with us. In their
+ignorance they reckoned not with the accuracy and discipline of the
+British infantry fire. Nor had they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> then learned to dread the
+terrible bullets of our men's Lee-Metford rifles. Later in the day, as
+well as on the following one, I heard many expressions of regret from
+wounded and unwounded dervishes that they were so mad as to charge the
+white soldiers, whose bullets rarely missed. The light was good, the
+hour about 7 a.m., and the ranges shifted rapidly from 1700 yards to
+1500 yards, 1200 yards down to 1000 yards. Guns, Maxims, and rifles
+were blazing in fullest fury at the enemy, as, in their heroic effort,
+they sought to charge home upon us. From wing to wing Gatacre's
+division was firing sharply, a blaze of flame, section volleys and
+independently. The Grenadier Guardsmen's shooting was noted as
+conspicuously steady and deadly effective. Except the two companies of
+the Rifles on the left, who, owing to the nature of the ground on
+their front, could do little, the British infantry were hotly
+occupied. Rifles became too warm to be held, and were in some cases
+changed for those of rear-rank men's. In one or two instances the
+reserves closed up, to give every soldier an opportunity of being
+actually engaged. They took the place of sections in the firing lines,
+whilst their comrades fell back and refilled their cartridge pouches.
+The Lancers sent forward a dismounted squadron or two which filled the
+gap between the zereba and the Nile, whilst the gunboats "Melik" and
+"Sultan" moved in and took part in that stage of the battle. And still
+the dervishes got nearer, swinging up their left, for their right was
+now fairly held by the British fire. Colonels Maxwell's and Lewis's
+brigades had to address<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> themselves to the task of checking the
+Khalifa's attack. Colonel Long had so disposed the cannon and Maxims
+that the guns rendered invaluable help. At that period the main body
+of the dervishes moved forward more carefully, taking cover and
+evidently watching the issue of Yacoub's and Wad Melik's assaulting
+columns.</p>
+
+<p>The army of white flags, led by Yacoub and Wad Melik, exhibited dash,
+courage, and persistence. Never was a column of men so hammered and
+mutilated and probably so surprised. They were torn and thrown about
+as puppets before the hurricane of shell fire, and laid in windrows
+like cut grain before the hail of the Lee-Metfords. Twelve hundred
+short yards away, Surgham's bare slopes were being literally covered
+with corpses and writhing wounded. In sheer blundering brutishness,
+the ferocious dervishes tried to stem the storm. Wave followed wave of
+men, they surged together, inviting greater disaster, but always
+striving to get nearer us. Their front had covered the whole slopes of
+Jebel Surgham and their left overlapped part of the Khalifa's right.
+Death was reaping a gigantic harvest. Hecatombs of slain were being
+spread everywhere in front. The fight was terrible, the slaughter
+dreadful. So far we had scarcely suffered loss, only a few of the
+enemy's riflemen having paused and thought of firing at us. Muskets
+they had discharged in the air, after their manner, when advancing
+from their encampment. But that is one of their customs, employed to
+work up a proper warlike ardour. Viewed from our side, it had been so
+far<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> the least dangerous battle ever soldier bore part in. For five,
+ten minutes, less or more&mdash;the drama being enacted was too fearful and
+fascinating for one to take note of time&mdash;Yacoub and his legions still
+strove to breast the whirlwind of destruction involving them.
+Battered, torn, rent into groups, the survivors at length began to
+move off rapidly across our front, to their left. As yet there was no
+running away, they were but changing direction and massing at another
+point. With, if possible, swifter, deadlier fire they were followed
+and driven. Maxims, Lee-Metfords, and Martini-Henrys from Maxwell's
+brigade shattered the loose and weakened dervish columns. The few
+rounds fired back at us by the enemy from their Krupp gun and rifled
+cannon, which were stationed near the Khalifa's banner during the
+first part of the action, did no harm. In fact, their shells burst two
+or three hundred yards short of the zereba. At first they were
+mistaken for badly-aimed shells fired by the gunboats, from which a
+few pitched near us, or by the batteries upon our left. For a moment
+the Sirdar was wroth at what was fancied to be our gunners' blundering
+practice. It was quickly discovered, however, that the particular
+shells in question were aimed by the dervishes. Very soon,&mdash;whether
+settled by our guns, our Maxims, or by infantry volleys, I know
+not,&mdash;the dervish cannon and their foolish efforts to shell our lines
+troubled us no more. We knew afterwards that they had also got one of
+their 5-barrelled Nordenfeldts to work for a while. Nobody in our
+ranks, I think, was actually aware of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> fact at the time, so
+indifferent was the aiming and so bad the handling of the gun.</p>
+
+<p>Still, the crucial stage of the first action was not over. The Sheikh
+Ed Din had driven the Egyptian cavalry and Camel Corps from Um
+Mutragan, inflicting loss upon them and getting temporary possession
+of several guns of the horse battery. He was following them up
+vigorously, and the Camel Corps, protected by the gunboats' fire, was
+seeking shelter near the river and close to the north end of the
+zereba, where it luckily succeeded in getting. It was after seven
+a.m., and Colonel Broadwood's troopers were trying to shake off
+flanking parties of the enemy as they rode to the north, towards our
+previous camp. Our batteries were still pounding the Khalifa's main
+body, which had got to within 1400 yards of the south-western angle of
+the zereba. Wavering, and driven before the murderous tornado of
+exploding bombs and pitiless lead, they too swung round and made for
+cover beyond range, flying towards the west and slightly to the rear.
+Yacoub and Melik followed the black flag in the same direction, and
+the dervish left wing edged off to Um Mutragan. They had come, first
+of all, direct, as if intending to assault the western angles of the
+zereba. Then Yacoub and Melik had led them to the right, so that they
+covered Surgham and came on in front of the British division. Blindly
+they had stumbled into the impassable fire from the south face of our
+lines and ultimately relinquishing the task had hastened, as I have
+stated, across our front towards their main body. The guns and Maxims
+withal of Wauchope's and Max<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>well's infantry, must have weakened the
+hope in the Khalifa's breast of closing with us. Although the range
+was longer, the central columns had been subjected to almost as
+destructive a cannonading as the dervishes on Surgham's slopes got. So
+far it had been a gunner's day, and to the artillery in the
+preliminary stages, if not&mdash;with one exception&mdash;in the later, belonged
+the full honours of the fight. At length with one mind, banner-bearers
+and all, swiftly the dervish columns, remaining intact, faced to the
+left, and moved behind the western hills. There was a pause, a respite
+for some minutes, which their jehadieh and others left upon the field
+of battle profited by to crawl upon their stomachs to within 800 yards
+less or more of the zereba, and open a sharp rifle fire upon us.
+Volley firing and shell firing dislodged many of them, but others kept
+potting away, increasing our casualty returns, particularly in the
+1st, or Wauchope's brigade. Just then the battle broke out with
+greater fury than ever. What happened in the dervish army may be
+guessed. Out of immediate danger and re-formed, the Khalifa and Yacoub
+determined upon a second attack. With a rush like a mountain torrent
+three columns spouted from shallow ravines, and at a break-neck run
+came forward. Part of Wad Melik's men uprose from the west sides of
+Surgham, the Khalifa and Yacoub came upon us from the south-west, and
+a smaller body from the west. In half delirium and full frenzy on
+rushed the dervishes. Our guns, knowing the range to a nicety&mdash;for
+they were able to see landmarks put down the day before&mdash;hurled at
+them avalanches of shell. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> vivid air blazed and shook, and the
+hail of Lee-Metfords cut, like mighty scythes, lanes in the columns
+massed ten-deep. Greater resolution and bravery no men ever possessed.
+In face of destruction and death they continued their wild race. But
+they were thinning or being thinned as they drew nearer. When about
+1100 yards away a body of horsemen, two hundred or so, the Khalifa's
+own tribesmen, Taaisha Baggara, chiefs and Emirs, setting spurs to
+their horses charged direct for the zereba. Cannon and Maxims smashed
+them, infantry bullets beat against and pierced through them. At every
+stride their numbers diminished, horses and riders being literally
+blown over or cut and thrown down. Undaunted a remnant held on to
+within two or three hundred yards of Colonel Maxwell's line, where the
+last of the gallant foemen tumbled and bit the dust. Partly encouraged
+by the self-sacrificing devotion of the horsemen, the footmen
+followed. The black flag was carried to within 900 yards of Colonel
+Maxwell's left. Learning from their earlier failure, the Khalifa's men
+directed their attack upon the Egyptian troops. But the British
+division's cross-fire smote them, and the guns and Maxims knocked all
+cohesion out of their ranks. Still defiantly they set their standards
+and died around them. Then I noted there were again signs of wavering
+amongst the main body, who were hanging back. The big black flag was
+stuck in a heap of stones, and the more devoted sought to rally there.
+Abdullah himself and his chiefs endeavoured to collect the broken
+columns. It was attempted in the face of a bombardment that would have
+shaken a city, and a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> fusilade that ought to have mown down every
+blade of halfa-grass near. But Maxwell's men seemed not quite to get
+the range. The flag and flagstaff were riddled with bullet holes, and
+the dead were being piled around. Still, dervish after dervish sprang
+to uphold the black banner of Mahdism. A herculean black grasped the
+staff in one hand, and leaned negligently against it for what appeared
+to be the space of five or ten minutes,&mdash;probably less than one
+minute,&mdash;ere the soldiers managed to give him his final quietus. Then
+it was that the remnant of the army of the Khalifa began to melt away.
+It was more than human nature could bear. The dense columns had shrunk
+to companies, the companies to driblets, which finally fled westward
+to the hills, leaving the field white with jibbeh-clad corpses like a
+landscape dotted with snowdrifts.</p>
+
+<p>It was about eight o'clock, and the first action was virtually over
+and won. Good fortune, as the Sirdar admitted, had in many respects
+attended him. With a trifling loss of a few hundred men he had
+discomfited and slain 10,000 of the great dervish army. Presumably,
+Abdullah had lost the flower of his brave and devoted troops. There
+were yet a thousand or more of Jehadieh lying about under cover
+potting at the zereba. Many of them shammed being wounded to get
+closer to us. Sharp volleys and more shell-fire duly disposed of those
+determined snipers. It was from that source, during the critical
+stages of the battle when the infantry were stopping the Khalifa's
+columns, that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>our chief casualties occurred. Some of these
+sharpshooters crept to within 800 yards of the British lines, and up
+to 400 yards from Maxwell's. It was from them that Captain Caldecott
+received his death-wound and the Cameron losses came. I could not but
+observe the fact, as I walked and rode about behind the firing lines
+during the action. Still, the battle of Omdurman has the right to be
+considered from the victor's point of view the safest action ever
+fought. The Warwick loss in the first action was one officer killed
+and two men wounded; the Camerons, one man killed and two officers and
+eighteen men wounded&mdash;Colonel Money had two horses shot under him, as
+at the Atbara; the Seaforths had eighteen men wounded; and the
+Lincolns ten men wounded. In General Lyttelton's brigade the Grenadier
+Guards had one officer, Captain Bagshot, and four men wounded; the
+Northumberland Fusiliers had but one man wounded; the Lancashire
+Fusiliers four men wounded; and the Rifles six men wounded.</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="section_break"></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h3>
+
+<p class="chapter_summary">The Battle of Omdurman&mdash;<em>Continued.</em></p>
+
+<p class="chapter_summary">The Cavalry Fights&mdash;Macdonald's Saving Action.</p>
+
+
+<p>Before I deal with the second phase of the battle, there is something
+more to be said of the first. So far I have but written of the
+infantry and the artillery. It is no easy task to give a succinct
+account of a whole catalogue of events happening at the same time over
+so widespread a field. The battle of Omdurman was full of incident and
+of Homeric combats. Whilst we in the zereba were awaiting, ready and
+confident of the issue, the oncoming of the enemy, the two regiments
+of Egyptian cavalry and the Camel Corps, which had advanced on the
+right to Um Mutragan hills,&mdash;South Kerreri jebels,&mdash;like the 21st
+Lancers at El Surgham on the left were opposing the dervish advance.
+Their orders were to check the dervish left. The nine squadrons of
+troopers with Colonel Broadwood remained on the plain, but the Camel
+Corps, seven companies, with four Maxims, and the horse battery went
+up the west shoulder of one of the Um Mutragan hills. As the dervishes
+were advancing very rapidly, the four Maxims under Captain Franks
+were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> recalled into the zereba before they had fired a shot, or ere
+the mounted troops got into action. Three dismounted squadrons of
+Egyptian troopers thereupon went forward and temporarily occupied the
+position which had been assigned to the Maxims. The Camel Corps were
+already afoot, and had lined the crest and slopes of the hill, waiting
+to fire as soon as the Mahdists came within range. When the big
+columns of the dervishes, led by the Sheikh Ed Din, Khalifa Khalil and
+Ali Wad Helu, approached nearer, Major Young's horse battery of six
+guns began shelling them at 1500 yards range. The Camel Corps then
+opened a sharp fusilade, and within a few minutes a brisk fight was
+going on. But the enemy neither halted nor stayed in face of the fire.
+It only served to quicken their pace, and they ran forward shooting
+rapidly the while. An order was sent to the Camel Corps to retire at
+once, as the dervishes were seen to be trying to cut them off by
+advancing on both sides of the hill. Before the order carried by
+Lieutenant Lord Tullibardine actually reached them, they had suffered
+severely and were falling back. A large number of men and camels had
+been hit. The cavalry endeavoured to relieve the pressure. Ultimately,
+though hotly pressed by the dervishes who got to within a few hundred
+yards, the Horse Artillery and the Camel Corps took up a second
+position upon a ridge fully half a mile to the rear. From the zereba
+we could see that the mounted troops were being hurried, and that the
+action taking place was an exceedingly sharp one. In fact, before the
+guns and the Camel Corps got into position upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> the second ridge, the
+dervishes were firing at them from the summit and slopes of Um
+Mutragan. Major Young had only fired a round or two from his guns when
+the enemy were but 600 yards off. The dervishes were swarming along
+the eastern sides of Um Mutragan, running direct for the guns and the
+Camel Corps. Colonel Broadwood formed his cavalry up to charge, and
+Major Mahan led his regiment of "Gippy" troopers forward. But a
+detachment of the Camel Corps under Captain Hopkinson pluckily stood
+their ground, covering the retirement of their comrades and the
+batteries down the very rough slope. Unfortunately, Captain Hopkinson
+was severely wounded, and a native officer and a number of men were
+killed. Falling back along the east and north sides of the hill the
+force was sorely pressed by the enemy, and a series of brave and
+bristling hand-to-hand encounters took place. Near the crest of a
+hill, one of the "wheelers" of the horse battery was shot. The traces
+could not be cut in time, so the gun had to be abandoned. At the
+critical moment another gun collided with it, and was upset beside the
+first, so both pieces, with, later on, a third, fell temporarily into
+the dervishes' hands. They did nothing with them. Colonel Broadwood,
+on finding the enemy pushing so determinedly, as though they had
+struck the whole of the Sirdar's army, directed the Camel Corps to
+retire to the zereba. Luckily, two of the gunboats, getting sight and
+range of the eager dervishes who were hunting the camelmen, began
+firing with every piece <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>of armament they could bring to bear. I
+assume they saved the situation, for the Camel Corps were hard
+pressed, and lost eighty men before they got to the river and into a
+safe position under the shelter of the gunboats and Macdonald's
+brigade, which was at the north end of the zereba. The myth of a Camel
+Corps as a useful fighting unit had been exploded. Meantime, Colonel
+Broadwood's troopers rode away to the north, trying to shake off
+outflanking parties of dervishes. The Sheikh Ed Din and Khalil
+continued to pursue the cavalry with great eagerness and venom.
+Several times bodies of 200 and 300 Baggara horsemen threatened to
+charge, but Majors Mahan and Le Gallias turning upon these riders sent
+them flying back helter-skelter. For five miles the cavalry was, so to
+speak, driven from pillar to post by the dervish infantry. When the
+pursuit had been pressed four miles, and more, north of the zereba,
+Major Mahan succeeded in clearing the flanks, whereupon the dervishes
+gave up the chase and sat down to rest. One advantage came of the
+hot-headed pursuit; it led two columns of the enemy away, and only a
+portion of those dervish commands got back in time to engage in the
+assault upon the zereba.</p>
+
+<p>When the Khalifa Abdullah, who escaped being killed, retired with his
+shattered army after their futile attack behind the western hills a
+little south of Um Mutragan, it was thought that the fighting spirit
+had been knocked out of the enemy. There was no assurance that if the
+Sirdar and his men followed after the Khalifa the dervishes would risk
+a second battle. They had the legs of us, and would presumably<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> use
+them to run away, or to harass us if we went after them into the
+wilderness. Discreetly and shrewdly the Sirdar decided to march his
+army straight into Omdurman, but six miles distant. We were able to
+move upon inside lines and over open ground, so that if the Khalifa
+meant to race us for the place he would have to fight at a
+disadvantage. The command was issued about 8.30 to prepare to march
+out of camp for Omdurman. Our wounded, who had been borne from the
+field on stretchers, were put upon the floating hospitals. Colonel
+Collinson's brigade was told off to guard stores and material to be
+left behind for a time. Ammunition was drawn from the reserve stores
+afloat, and the supply columns' boxes were refilled, as well as the
+battery limbers and the men's pouches. The army was again equipped for
+action as though it had not fired a shot. Camels were reloaded, and
+all was in readiness for a start. We could see bodies of the enemy
+still flaunting their banners, and watching our every movement from
+the western hills. Wounded dervishes were crawling and dragging
+wearily back from their fated field towards Omdurman. There was the
+occasional crack of a rifle as some dervish sniped us, or invited a
+shot from the Egyptian battalions. Many of our black soldiers actually
+wept with vexation on being withdrawn from the firing line to make
+room for guns and Maxims. One man, who declared he had not fired a
+shot, was only comforted on being assured that the battle was not
+altogether over, that his chance would come later.</p>
+
+<p>I think it was about 9 a.m. when the Sirdar's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> army, re-formed for
+marching, stepped clear of the zereba and the trenches. The order of
+advance for the infantry was as before, in &eacute;chelon of brigades, the
+British being on the left and in front. Lyttelton's 2nd brigade was
+leading, Wauchope's was behind it. On the right were Maxwell's and
+Lewis's brigades. Macdonald was to look after our extreme right rear
+flank, whilst Collinson followed in the gap nearer the river.
+Lyttelton's brigade was directed to pass to the left, east of Jebel
+Surgham, Maxwell's left was to extend to and pass over the hill,
+whilst Lewis and Macdonald would sweep part of the valley between
+Surgham and South Kerreri. Such was the general direction to be taken,
+exposing a front measured on the bias, of fully one mile. Once more
+the 21st Lancers trotted out towards Jebel Surgham to make sure there
+were no large bodies of the enemy in hiding. Keeping somewhat closer
+to the river than previously, and avoiding the main field of battle,
+they passed to the east of the hill. Part of their duty was to check,
+if possible, any attempt of the enemy to fall back into Omdurman, or
+at least delay such an operation. Great numbers of scattered dervishes
+were seen, some of whom fired at the troopers. Keeping on until about
+half a mile or more south of Surgham, a small party of dervish
+cavalry, about thirty, and what was thought to be a few footmen, were
+seen hiding in a depression or khor. Colonel Martin determined to push
+the party back and interpose his regiment between them and Omdurman. A
+few spattering shots came from the khor, as the four squadrons formed
+in line to charge.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 173]<br />[Pg 174]<br />[Pg 175]</a></span> "A" squadron, under Major Finn, was on the
+right, next it was "B" squadron, commanded by Major Fowle. On the left
+of "B" was "D," or the made-up squadron, led by Captain Eadon, and "C"
+squadron, under Captain Doyne, was on the extreme left.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 319px;"><a name="Illustration_MAP_A" id="Illustration_MAP_A"></a><a href="images/map_a_big.png">
+<img src="images/map_a.png" width="319" height="500" alt="A. GENERAL VIEW PLAN. MACDONALD&#39;S FIGHT AND 21ST LANCERS&#39; CHARGE."
+title="A. GENERAL VIEW PLAN. MACDONALD&#39;S FIGHT AND 21ST LANCERS&#39; CHARGE. (click to enlarge)" /></a>
+<span class="caption">A.<br />
+GENERAL VIEW PLAN.<br />
+MACDONALD&#39;S FIGHT AND 21<span class="super">ST</span> LANCERS&#39; CHARGE.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Leading the regiment forward at a gallop from a point 300 yards away,
+the Lancers dashed at the enemy, who at once opened a sharp musketry
+fire upon our troopers. A few casualties occurred before the dervishes
+were reached, but the squadrons closed in and setting the spurs into
+their horses rushed headlong for the enemy. In an instant it was seen
+that, instead of 200 men, the 21st had been called upon to charge
+nearly 1500 fierce Mahdists lying concealed in a narrow, but in places
+deep and rugged, khor. In corners the enemy were packed nearly fifteen
+deep. Down a three-foot drop went the Lancers. There was a moment or
+so of wild work, thrusting of steel, lance, and sword, and rapid
+revolver shooting. Somehow the regiment struggled through, and up the
+bank on the south side. Nigh a score of lances had been left in
+dervish bodies, some broken, others intact. Lieutenant Wormwald made a
+point at a fleeing Baggara, but his sabre bent and had to be laid
+aside. Captain Fair's sword snapped over dervish steel, and he flung
+the hilt in his opponent's face. Major Finn used his revolver, missing
+but two out of six shots. Colonel Martin rode clean through without a
+weapon in his hand. Then the regiment rallied 200 yards beyond the
+slope. Probably 80 dervishes had been cut or knocked down by the
+shock. But the few seconds' bloody work had been almost<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> equally
+disastrous for the Lancers. Lieutenant R. Grenfell and fifteen men had
+been left dead in the khor. It so happened that the squadrons on the
+two wings had comparatively easy going and did not strike the densest
+groups of the enemy. Squadrons "D" and "B" fared badly, and
+particularly Lieutenant Grenfell's troop, of whom ten men fell with
+that officer. In their front was a high rough bank of boulders, almost
+impassable for a horse. They were cut down and hacked by the enemy.
+His brother, Lieutenant H. M. Grenfell, subsequently recovered his
+watch, which had been thrust through by a dervish lance point and had
+stopped at 8.40 a.m. Young Robert Grenfell was probably struck from
+behind with a Mahdist sword blade, and killed instantly as his charger
+was endeavouring to scramble up the wall of loose stones and rock.
+Mel&eacute;es were taking place to right and left, every trooper having any
+difficulty in getting out of the khor being instantly surrounded by
+mounted dervishes and footmen. Lieutenant Nesham in leading his troop
+was savagely attacked. His helmet was cut off his head, and he was
+wounded severely upon the left forearm and right leg. The bridle reins
+of his charger were cut, but he piloted the animal safely through. "B"
+and "D" squadrons lost respectively nine killed and eleven wounded,
+and seven killed and eight wounded. Lieutenant Molyneux, R.H.G., had
+his horse knocked over. He called to a trooper not to leave him, and
+the man replied, "All right, sir, I won't leave you." Together they
+had a busy time. Two dervishes attacked the lieutenant; he shot one,
+but the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> other cut him over the right arm, causing him to drop his
+revolver. He then ran for it and got away. Lieutenants Brinton and
+Pirie received wounds. Private Ives of "A" squadron picked up a
+wounded comrade in the nullah, and got chased and separated from his
+regiment. He reached the infantry covered with his comrade's blood.
+The latter was killed, but Ives was not seriously hurt.</p>
+
+<p>Lieutenant Montmorency, having got through safely, turned back to look
+for his troop-sergeant Carter. Captain Kenna went with him. At the
+moment they were not aware that young Grenfell had fallen. Lieutenants
+T. Connally and Winston Churchill also turned about to rescue two
+non-commissioned officers of their respective troops. They succeeded
+in their laudable task. Surgeon-Captain Pinches, whose horse had been
+shot under him on the north side of the khor, was saved by the pluck
+of his orderly, Private Peddar, who brought him out on his horse.
+Meanwhile, Captain Kenna and Lieutenant Montmorency, who were
+accompanied by Corporal Swarbrick, saw Lieutenant Grenfell's body and
+tried to recover it. They fired at the dervishes with their revolvers,
+and drove them back. Dismounting, Montmorency and Kenna tried to lift
+the body upon the lieutenant's horse. Unluckily, the animal took
+fright and bolted. Swarbrick went after it. Major Wyndham, the second
+in command of the Lancers, had his horse shot in the khor. He was one
+of the few who escaped after such a calamity. The animal fortunately
+carried him across, up, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>beyond the slope ere it dropped down
+dead. Lieutenant Smith, who was near, offered him a seat, and the
+Major grasped the stirrup to mount. Just then&mdash;for these events have
+taken longer in telling than in happening&mdash;Montmorency and Kenna found
+the dervishes pressing them hard, both being in instant danger of
+being killed. Swarbrick had brought back the horse, and Kenna turned
+to Major Wyndham and gave him a seat behind, then leaving Grenfell's
+body they rejoined their command. Proceeding about 300 yards to the
+south-east from the scene of the charge, Colonel Martin dismounted his
+whole regiment, and opened fire upon the dervishes. Getting into
+position where his men could fire down the khor, a detachment of
+troopers soon drove away the last of the enemy. Thereupon a party
+advanced and recovered the bodies of Lieutenant Grenfell and the
+others who had fallen in the khor.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 324px;"><a name="Illustration_MAP_B" id="Illustration_MAP_B"></a><a href="images/map_b_big.png">
+<img src="images/map_b.png" width="324" height="500" alt="B. THE ZAREBA BEFORE THE BATTLE."
+title="B. THE ZAREBA BEFORE THE BATTLE. (click to enlarge)" /></a>
+<span class="caption">B.<br />
+THE ZAREBA BEFORE THE BATTLE.</span>
+</div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It was a daring, a great feat of arms for a weakened regiment of 320
+men to charge in line through a compact body of 1500 dervish footmen,
+packed in a natural earthwork. Perhaps it is even a more remarkable
+feat that they were able to cut their way through with only a loss of
+22 killed and 50 officers and men wounded and 119 casualties in
+horseflesh. Many of the poor beasts only lived long enough to carry
+their riders out of the jaws of death. One cannot refuse to admire the
+gallant deed, which probably had as good an effect upon the enemy as a
+bigger victory of our arms; but the obvious comment will be that made
+about the Balaclava charge&mdash;equally heroic, and not, I honestly think,
+less useful&mdash;"C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> On
+searching the ground inside the khor sixty dead dervishes were found
+where the central squadrons passed over. A small heap lay around
+Lieutenant Grenfell and his troop. Four of our men were found alive,
+but died before they could be moved. A sword-cut had cleft young
+Grenfell's head and given him a painless death. The bodies were, as
+usual, full of sword-cuts and spear-thrusts inflicted by the enemy
+before and after the victims had breathed their last.</p>
+
+
+<h4>EGYPTIAN HEROISM.</h4>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"><a name="Illustration_ADVANCING" id="Illustration_ADVANCING"></a>
+<img src="images/advancing.jpg" width="350" height="228" alt="Macdonald&#39;s Brigade advancing." title="Macdonald&#39;s Brigade advancing." />
+<span class="caption">Macdonald&#39;s Brigade advancing.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>It is a long tale I am telling, but yet the most brilliant and heroic
+episode of a day so full of glowing incident remains to be told. About
+9.20 a.m. the Sirdar led his troops slowly forward towards Omdurman.
+Great as the slaughter had been, thousands of dervishes could be seen
+still watching us from the western hills. Behind them they had
+re-formed again into compact divisions. The Sirdar's direction, I have
+said, was that his troops were to swing clear of the zereba and march
+in &eacute;chelon with the 2nd British brigade leading Moving out a few
+hundred yards, Lyttelton's brigade, which, as before, marched in four
+parallel columns of battalions, the Guards on the right, swung to the
+left. They were making to pass Surgham, leaving it upon their right.
+The 1st British brigade, Major-General Wauchope's, was behind, and had
+turned to the left to follow the 2nd brigade. Behind, in succession,
+were Maxwell's, Lewis's, and Macdonald's Egyptian or Khedivial
+brigades. The nature of the ground<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> forced some of them out of their
+true relative positions. Macdonald had marched out due west. The
+dervishes, like wolves upon the scent for prey, suddenly sprang from
+unexpected lairs. With swifter feet and fiercer courage than ever they
+dashed for the comparatively isolated brigade of Colonel Macdonald.
+Although I was far away at the moment with the 1st or Lyttelton's
+brigade, the shouts, the noise of the descending tornado reached me
+there. From behind the southern slope of Um Mutragan hills the Khalifa
+was charging Macdonald with an intact column of 12,000 men, the
+banner-bearers and mounted Emirs again in the forefront. A broad
+stream, running from the south and the east, of dervishes who had lain
+hidden sprang up and ran to strike in upon the south-east corner of
+Macdonald's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 183]<br />[Pg 184]<br />[Pg 185]</a></span> brigade. Worse still, Sheikhs Ed Din and Khalifa
+Khalil, returned from chasing the Egyptian cavalry, were hastening
+with their division at full speed to attack him in rear. Scarcely a
+soul in the Sirdar's army, from the leader down, but saw the
+unexpected singular peril of the situation. I turned to a friend and
+said, "Macdonald is in for a terrible time. Will any get out of it?"
+Then I rode at a gallop, disregarding the venomous dervishes hanging
+about, up the slopes of Surgham, where, spread like a picture, the
+scene lay before me. Prompt in execution, the Sirdar rapidly issued
+orders for the artillery and Maxims to open fire upon the Khalifa's
+big column. Eagerly he watched the batteries coming into action. At
+the same moment the remaining brigades were wheeled to face west, and
+Major-General Wauchope's was sent back at the double to help the
+staunch battalions of Colonel Macdonald, now beset on all sides.
+Fortunately Macdonald knew his men thoroughly, for he had had the
+training of all of them, the 9th, 10th, 11th Soudanese, and the 2nd
+Egyptians under Major Pink. No force could have been in time to save
+them had they not fought and saved themselves. Lewis's brigade was
+nearest, but it was almost a mile away, and the dervishes were wont to
+move so that ordinary troops seemed to stand still. And Lewis, for
+reasons of his own, determined to remain where he was.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 477px;"><a name="Illustration_SIRDAR_DIRECTING" id="Illustration_SIRDAR_DIRECTING"></a>
+<img src="images/sirdar_directing.jpg" width="477" height="330" alt="Sirdar directing Advance on Omdurman." title="Sirdar directing Advance on Omdurman." />
+<span class="caption">Sirdar directing Advance on Omdurman.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="Illustration_MAP_C" id="Illustration_MAP_C"></a><a href="images/map_c_big.png">
+<img src="images/map_c.png" width="500" height="382" alt="C. PLATE I. MACDONALD&#39;S BRIGADE. First Attack. Khalifa&#39;s Division."
+title="C. PLATE I. MACDONALD&#39;S BRIGADE. First Attack. Khalifa&#39;s Division. (click to enlarge)" /></a>
+<span class="caption">C.<br />
+PLATE I.<br />
+MACDONALD&#39;S BRIGADE.<br />
+First Attack. Khalifa&#39;s Division.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Indecision or flurry would have totally wrecked Macdonald's brigade,
+but happily their brigadier well knew his business. An order was sent
+him which, had it been obeyed, would have ensured<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> inevitable disaster
+to the brigade, if not a catastrophe to the army. He was bade to
+retire by, possibly, his division commander. Macdonald knew better
+than attempt a retrograde movement in the face of so fleet and daring
+a foe. It would have spelled annihilation. The sturdy Highlandman
+said, "I'll no do it. I'll see them d&mdash;&mdash;d first. We maun just fight."
+And meanwhile Major-General A. Hunter was scurrying to hurry up
+reinforcements&mdash;a wise measure. Other messages which could not reach
+Macdonald in time were being sent to him by the Sirdar to try and hold
+on, that help was coming. Yes; but the surging dervish columns were
+converging upon the brigade upon three sides. Surely it would be
+engulfed and swept away was the fear in most minds. And what other
+wreck would follow? Ah! that could wait for answer. It was a crucial
+moment. A single Khedivial brigade was going to be tested in a way
+from which only British squares had emerged victorious. Most
+fortunately, Colonel Long, R.A., had sent three batteries to accompany
+Colonel Macdonald's brigade, namely, Peake's, Lawrie's, and de
+Rougemont's. The guns were the handy and deadly Maxim-Nordenfeldt
+(12&frac12;-pounders). Macdonald had marched out with the 11th Soudanese on
+his left, the 2nd Egyptian, under Major Pink, in the centre, and the
+10th Soudanese on the right, all being in line. Behind the 10th, in
+column, were the 9th Soudanese. Major Walter commanded the 9th, Major
+Nason the 10th, and Major Jackson the 11th Soudanese battalions. Going
+forward to meet the Khalifa's force Colonel<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 187]<br />[Pg 188]<br />[Pg 189]</a></span> Macdonald threw his
+whole brigade practically into line, disregarding for the moment the
+assaulting columns of Sheikh Ed Din, which providentially were a
+little behind in the attack. The batteries went to the front in
+openings between the battalions and smote the faces of the dervish
+columns. Steadily the infantry fired, the blacks in their own pet
+fashion independently, the 2nd Egyptians in careful, well-aimed
+volleys. Afar we could see and rejoice that the brigade was giving a
+magnificent account of itself. The Khalifa's dervishes were being
+hurled broadcast to the ground. Major Williams at last with his
+15-pounders, our other batteries, and the Maxims were finding the
+range and ripping into shreds the solid lines of dervishes. Still the
+enemy pressed on, their footmen reaching to within 200 yards of
+Macdonald's line. Scores of Emirs and lesser leaders, with spearmen
+and swordsmen, fell only a few feet from the guns and the unshaken
+Khedivial infantry. It is said one or two threw spears across the
+indomitable soldiery, and other dervishes turned the flanks, but were
+instantly despatched. A few salvoes and volleys shook the looser
+attacking columns of dervishes. The Khalifa's division had at length
+received such a surfeit of withering fire that the rear lines began to
+hold back, and the desperate rushes of the chiefs and their personal
+retainers grew fewer and feebler. But Sheikh Ed Din was at length
+within 1000 yards running with his confident legions to encompass and
+destroy the 1st Khedivial brigade. Macdonald, as soon as he saw that
+he could hold his own against the whole array of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> Khalifa's
+personally commanded divisions, threw back his right, the 9th, and one
+and then another battery. He was now fairly beset on all sides, but
+fighting splendidly, doggedly. The dervishes, taking fresh courage,
+made redoubled efforts to destroy him. It was by far the finest, the
+most heroic struggle of the day. A second battalion, the famous
+fighting 11th Soudanese, under Jackson, which lost so heavily at
+Atbara, swung round and interposed itself to Khalil's and Sheikh Ed
+Din's fierce followers. Furious as was the blast of lead and iron, the
+dervishes had all but forged in between the 9th and 11th battalions,
+when the 2nd Egyptian, wheeling at the double, filled the gap. Without
+hesitation the fellaheen, let it be said, stood their ground, and,
+full of confidence, called to encourage each other, and gave shot and
+bayonet point to the few more truculent dervishes who, escaping shot
+and shell, dashed against their line.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="Illustration_MAP_D" id="Illustration_MAP_D"></a><a href="images/map_d_big.png">
+<img src="images/map_d.png" width="500" height="388" alt="D. PLATE II. MACDONALD&#39;S BRIGADE. Second Attack. Sheikh Ed Din&#39;s Men."
+title="D. PLATE II. MACDONALD&#39;S BRIGADE. Second Attack. Sheikh Ed Din&#39;s Men. (click to enlarge)" /></a>
+<span class="caption">D.<br />
+PLATE II.<br />
+MACDONALD&#39;S BRIGADE.<br />
+Second Attack. Sheikh Ed Din&#39;s Men.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>It was a tough, protracted struggle, but Colonel Macdonald was slowly,
+determinedly, freeing himself and winning all along the line. The
+Camel Corps came out to his assistance, and formed up some distance
+off on the right of the 11th Soudanese. Shells and showers of bullets
+from the Maxims on the gunboats drove back the rear lines of Sheikh Ed
+Din's men. Three battalions of Wauchope's got up to assist in
+completing the rout of the Khalifa. The Lincolns, doubling to the
+right, got in line on the left of the Camel Corps, and assisted in
+finishing off the retreating bands of the Khalifa's son. I then saw
+the dervishes for the first time in all those years of campaigns
+turn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 191]<br />[Pg 192]<br />[Pg 193]</a></span> tail, stoop, and fairly run for their lives to the shelter of
+the hills. It was a devil-take-the-hindmost race, and the only one I
+ever saw them engage in through half a score of battles. Beyond all
+else the double honours of the day had been won by Colonel Macdonald
+and his Khedivial brigade, and that without any help that need be
+weighed against the glory of his single-handed triumph. He achieved
+the victory entirely off his own bat, so to speak, proving himself a
+tactician and a soldier as well as what he has long been known to be,
+the bravest of the brave. I but repeat the expressions in everybody's
+mouth who saw the wonderful way in which he snatched success from what
+looked like certain disaster. The army has a hero and a thorough
+soldier in Macdonald, and if the public want either they need seek no
+farther. I know that the Sirdar and his staff fully recognised the
+nature of the service he rendered. A non-combatant general officer who
+witnessed the scene declared one might see 500 battles and never such
+another able handling of men in presence of an enemy. When the final
+rout of the dervishes had been achieved it was about 10 a.m. The
+Sirdar wheeled his brigades to the left, into their original position,
+and marched them straightway towards Omdurman. Passing slowly over the
+battle-field the awful extent of the carnage was made evident. In my
+first wires I insisted that our total casualties were about 500, and
+the enemy's over 10,000 slain. Macdonald lost about 128 men. I
+subsequently ascertained that the total of our killed and wounded was
+about 524. The dervish killed certainly numbered over 15,000, and
+their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> wounded probably as many more. Mahdism had been more than
+"smashed," it had been all but extirpated. So may all plagues end.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"><a name="Illustration_CAPTURED_STANDARD" id="Illustration_CAPTURED_STANDARD"></a>
+<img src="images/captured_standard.jpg" width="350" height="276" alt="Khalifa&#39;s Captured Standard (Sirdar Extreme Left)." title="Khalifa&#39;s Captured Standard (Sirdar Extreme Left)." />
+<span class="caption">Khalifa&#39;s Captured Standard (Sirdar Extreme Left).</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>On the march the British troops having to swing aside from where the
+Khalifa's black flag still stood, it fell into the hands of an
+Egyptian brigade, and was conveyed to the Sirdar by Captain Sir Henry
+Rawlinson and Major Lord Edward Cecil. It was given to an Egyptian
+orderly to carry behind the headquarters staff. Unfortunately, it
+attracted the attention of some of our own people on the gunboats who
+were unaware it had been captured. Several rounds were fired at the
+supposed dervishes following it, and then it was discreetly furled for
+a time. By midday the army had arrived at the northern outskirts of
+Omdurman, where the troops were halted near the Nile to obtain food
+and water. I rode forward and saw that there were thousands of
+dervishes in the town, many of them Baggara. The cavalry were sent as
+speedily as possible, after watering and feeding the horses, towards
+the south side of the town, and the gunboats were ordered up the
+river. Several deputations of citizens, Greeks and natives, came out
+and saw Slatin Pasha and the Sirdar. It was stated that the people
+would surrender, and that there would be no difficulty in occupying
+the place. The Khalifa, it was said, was in his house and must yield.
+Slatin Pasha, by the way, had gone over the battle-field and
+identified many of the slain Emirs. At 4.20 p.m., with two batteries,
+several Maxims and Colonel Maxwell's brigade leading, the Sirdar rode
+down the great north thoroughfare<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> towards the central part of the
+squalid town. The houses, or more accurately huts, were full of
+dervishes, hundreds of whom were severely wounded. Women and children
+flocked into the streets, raising cries of welcome to us. Of all the
+vile, dirty places on earth, Omdurman must rank first. There was no
+effort at sanitary observances, and dead animals, camels, horses,
+donkeys, dogs, goats, sheep, cattle, in all stages of putrefaction,
+lay about the streets and lanes. There were dead men, women, and
+children, too, lying in the open.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"><a name="Illustration_THOROUGHFARE" id="Illustration_THOROUGHFARE"></a>
+<img src="images/thoroughfare.jpg" width="350" height="273" alt="Chief Thoroughfare, Omdurman. (Mulazim Wall, Left. Osman Digna&#39;s House, Right.)"
+title="Chief Thoroughfare, Omdurman. (Mulazim Wall, Left. Osman Digna&#39;s House, Right.)" />
+<span class="caption">Chief Thoroughfare, Omdurman.<br />
+(Mulazim Wall, Left. Osman Digna&#39;s House, Right.)</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"><a name="Illustration_EFFECT_SHELL" id="Illustration_EFFECT_SHELL"></a>
+<img src="images/effect_shell.jpg" width="350" height="281" alt="Effect of Shell Fire upon Wall (Mulazim Enclosure)." title="Effect of Shell Fire upon Wall (Mulazim Enclosure)." />
+<span class="caption">Effect of Shell Fire upon Wall (Mulazim Enclosure).</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>We passed the big rectangular stone wall enclosing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> the Khalifa's
+special quarters. Within its area were his Mulazimin or body-guards'
+quarters, his granaries, treasuries, arsenal, the Mahdi's tomb, and
+the great praying square, misnamed the Mosque. Except the tomb, the
+Khalifa's and his sons' houses, the town was void of buildings of any
+style or finish. I admit the great stone wall was of good masonry, and
+so was the well-finished praying-square wall. The Sirdar and party
+were frequently shot at, particularly on nearing the Khalifa's
+quarters. Abdullah slipped out with his treasures as the Sirdar
+arrived at his gate. It was long after sunset and dark when, with
+difficulty, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> prison was reached, and Charles Neufeld brought out
+of his loathsome den, where he had spent eleven years in chains. He
+looked well, notwithstanding his long and irksome captivity, feeling,
+as he said, like a man drunk with new wine, on account of his release.
+That night I helped to relieve him from his fetters, freeing the limbs
+from the heavy bar and chains. Tired, worn out, without water or food,
+the Sirdar and his staff, as well as many more of us, were glad to
+escape out of Omdurman back to where the British camp was pitched in
+the northern outskirts. There I and others lay down and fell asleep on
+the bare desert,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> hoping to wake and find that our servants and
+baggage had turned up. Two of my colleagues had fared worse than I
+that day. Colonel F. Rhodes, of the <em>Times</em>, had been shot in the
+shoulder within the zereba early in the fight, and the Hon. Hubert
+Howard, of the <em>New York Herald</em>, was killed almost under my eyes, in
+the paved courtyard of the Khalifa, opposite the Mahdi's tomb. Such is
+the hasty record of as exciting and interesting a battle and a day's
+campaigning as it ever fell to mortal man to witness. Neither in my
+experience nor in my reading can I recall so strange and picturesque a
+series of incidents happening within the brief period of twelve
+hours.</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="section_break"></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h3>
+
+<p class="chapter_summary">Stories of the Battle&mdash;Omdurman.</p>
+
+
+<p>There are numberless incidents and details remaining untold of the
+great battle and the fall of Omdurman. So singular and interesting an
+action is almost without parallel. "That villainous gunpowder" of
+former days was so sparingly used in the fight by the Sirdar's army
+that every part of the battle-field could be plainly seen. In the
+first stage the heaviest firing was by the British; the Lee-Metfords
+with cordite made little or no smoke. Maxwell's men of the Khedivial
+army, with their Martini-Henrys, never fired so fast as to cause any
+thick white cloud to shut out the view and hang between them and the
+enemy. Lewis's and Macdonald's brigades were never very heavily
+engaged whilst the troops remained zerebaed. Perhaps it was the light
+south wind which blew the men's rifle smoke behind us at once, but
+that was not what I thought. There seemed to be none to blow away. I
+recall that in the thick of the battle of Tamai with Davis's square,
+and at Abu Klea, the smoke cloud that hung like a curtain before our
+eyes was a source of danger. Save for the erratic, occasional whizzing
+of the enemy's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> bullets, the thud of a hit and the dropping, weltering
+in his blood, of a man here and there, watched from our firing lines
+the combat enlisted and fascinated the attention with barely a
+suggestion of danger to the onlooker. Few will ever see again so great
+and brave a show. A vast army, with a front of three miles, covering
+an undulating plain&mdash;warriors mounted and afoot, clad in quaint and
+picturesque drapery, with gorgeous barbaric display of banners,
+burnished metal, and sheen of steel&mdash;came sweeping upon us with the
+speed of cavalry. Half-a-dozen batteries smote them, a score of Maxims
+and 10,000 rifles unceasingly buffeted them, making great gaps and
+rending their ranks in all directions. With magnificent courage,
+without pause, the survivors invariably drew together, furiously,
+frenziedly running to cross steel with us. Their ardour and mad
+devotion won admiration on all sides in our own ranks. Poor, misguided
+Jehadieh and hocussed Arabs of the spacious and cruel Soudan! With
+such troops disciplined and trained by English officers the policing
+of Africa would be an easy affair. Try and try as they did, they could
+not moving openly pass through our blasts of fire. Some few there were
+who got by subtler means to within 600 yards of the British front and
+200 yards from Maxwell's blacks, there to yield their lives.</p>
+
+<p>Among the earliest, if not the first man, wounded in the zereba on 2nd
+September was Corporal Mackenzie, of "C" Company Seaforth Highlanders.
+About 6.10 a.m. he was hit in the leg by a ricochet. The wound was
+dressed, and Mackenzie stuck to his post.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> At 6.30 a.m., when the
+action was almost in full swing, as Private Davis and Corporal Taylor,
+R.A.M.C., were carrying a wounded soldier upon a stretcher to the
+dressing hospital, Davis was shot through the head and killed, and
+Taylor was severely wounded in the shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst our batteries were hurling death and destruction from the
+zereba at the Khalifa's army, Major Elmslie's battery of 50-pounder
+howitzers was battering the Mahdi's tomb to pieces and breaching the
+great stone wall in Omdurman. The practice with the terrible Lyddite
+shells was better than before, and the dervishes, even more clearly
+than we, must have seen from the volcanic upheavals when the missiles
+struck, that their capital was being wrecked. It must have been
+something of a disillusion to many of them to note that the sacred
+tomb of their Mahdi was suffering most of all from the infidels' fire.
+Several of the gunboats assisted in the bombardment, but their chief
+duty was to drive all bodies of the enemy away from the river. Major
+Elmslie threw altogether some 410 Lyddite shells into Omdurman. Most
+of them detonated, but there were a few that merely flared. It was the
+fumes from these that imparted a chrome colour to the surrounding
+earth and stonework. Why the Khalifa did not make greater use of his
+artillery and musketry became more of a puzzle than ever when we saw
+how well provided he was in both respects. He had a battery of
+excellent big Krupps that were never fired, besides eight or ten
+machine guns. As for rifles, his men must have carried at least 25,000
+into action<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> against us. Had they employed these in "sniping" as at
+Abu Kru, the Sirdar would have had to march out and attack them.</p>
+
+<p>The victory of Omdurman owed much to the masterly serving of the
+artillery. Even in Macdonald's severely contested action, the three
+batteries of Maxim-Nordenfeldt 12&frac12;-pounders did much to save the
+situation. These were Peake's, Lawrie's, and de Rougemont's, with, in
+the latter part of the fight, three Krupp guns of the horse artillery.
+The Camel Corps also brought up two Maxims to help at the close of the
+battle to repulse Sheikh Ed Din. Macdonald handled his guns as
+superbly as he did his infantry. At the Atbara against Mahmoud, the
+light powerful Maxim-Nordenfeldts had proved that they could be
+successfully fought side by side with infantry. Between the battalion
+intervals, therefore, the dauntless gunners stood firing point-blank
+at the dervish columns. Throughout the battle Major Williams' 32nd
+Field Battery, R.A., fired 420 rounds. Three of the Maxim-Nordenfeldt
+batteries (all Egyptian) fired 100 rounds per gun, whilst Major
+Lawrie's battery, No. 4 Egyptian, also Maxim-Nordenfeldt guns, fired
+over that number, or 900 rounds in all. All these batteries were of
+six guns each. Captain Smeaton fired from his six Maxims, stationed in
+the zereba south-east corner, 54,000 rounds. One of the wants much
+felt by the gunners was the need of more shrapnel during the action.
+Twice at least the allowance supply was temporarily exhausted. Yet it
+is not to be assumed on that account that the reserve ammunition was
+difficult to be got at or that the firing lines were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> insufficiently
+fed. The arrangements in these respects were admirable. During the
+zereba action, the Grenadier Guards fired the largest number of
+rounds. The Camerons fired 34 rounds per man. Five companies of the
+Lincolns in the firing line, 32 rounds each man. The Northumberland
+Fusiliers fired in all 1200 rounds, and the Lancashire Fusiliers 400
+rounds.</p>
+
+<p>Many of our wounded were hit with bullets from elephant guns, brass
+cased Mausers, Remingtons, and repeating rifles. The great majority of
+the dervishes carried Remingtons, and these, as a rule, were in
+passably good condition. Probably they were officers or crack shots
+among the Jehadieh and Arabs that fired into the zereba with the small
+bore Mausers. Most of their shooting was too high, though the
+direction was right enough. When the first phase of the action ceased
+at 8.30 a.m., hundreds, if not thousands of wounded dervishes upon the
+field rose and moved away. Some of these were seen going back towards
+Omdurman, others walked towards the west to rejoin their friends. No
+attempt was made on our side to molest them, the order to "cease fire"
+having been given. It was either then or a little earlier that the
+large body of natives, possibly camp followers, behind the Khalifa's
+force, melted away, flowing back to the town. At that time some of our
+army camp followers, or servants, went forward from the zereba to pick
+up trophies from the field. A party of four went towards a small group
+of dead dervishes lying about 300 yards on the left front of Maxwell's
+brigade. I noticed them picking up spears and swords. A correspondent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>
+rode out to join them, Mr Bennett Stanford, who was formerly in the
+"Royals." In company with another colleague I rode out from the
+British lines to join him, curious to see the effect of our fire. At
+the moment a dervish arose, apparently unwounded, and spear in hand
+charged the servants, who incontinently bolted back to the zereba. My
+companion also turned back, but I was yet over 200 yards away, and so
+rode forward. One of the men attacked by the dervish was a native
+non-commissioned officer. He had followed the others out. Dropping
+upon his knee he aimed at the dervish, but his Martini-Henry missed
+fire. He fired again and missed, then, the dervish being very near
+him, ran for the zereba. Mr Bennett Stanford, who was splendidly
+mounted, with a cocked four-barrelled Lancaster pistol aimed
+deliberately at the dervish, who turned towards him. Waiting till the
+jibbeh-clad warrior was but a score of paces or so off, Mr Stanford
+fired, and appeared to miss also, for the dervish without halt rushed
+at him, whereupon he easily avoided him, riding off. Then the dervish
+turned to the soldier who, encumbered with his rifle, did not run
+swiftly. By that time I had drawn up so as to interpose between them,
+passing beyond the dervish. I pulled up my rather sorry nag&mdash;my best
+was for carrying despatches&mdash;and took deliberate aim. The dervish
+turned upon me as I wished. I fired and believe hit him, and as my
+horse was jibbing about fired a second shot from my revolver with less
+success, then easily got out of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>dervish's reach. He had a heavy
+spear and showed no sign of throwing it as I rode away, keeping well
+out of his reach. The camp followers by then were all safe, and so was
+the native soldier, Mr Dervish having the field very much to himself.
+Thereupon an A.D.C., Lieutenant Smyth, came galloping out and riding
+hard past, fired at the fellow but missed. Checking his horse
+Lieutenant Smyth wheeled it about, and he and the dervish collided.
+The man, who by this time appeared somewhat weak, grabbed the
+Lieutenant and strove to drive his lance into him. With great
+hardihood Lieutenant Smyth fired his revolver in the dervish's face,
+killing him instantly. It was a wondrous narrow escape for the
+Lieutenant. The instant afterwards I asked him if he had been badly
+wounded, but he declared that he was untouched, a statement I could
+scarcely credit, and so repeated my question in another form, to
+receive a similar answer. In the excitement of the moment he no doubt
+did not feel the slight spear wound he actually received upon the arm,
+which saved him from the thrust aimed at his body. An examination of
+the dead dervish showed he had received four bullet wounds.</p>
+
+<p>The following is a brief and well-balanced account of the charge of
+the Lancers furnished me by an officer who was present:&mdash;"We moved
+along to the left&mdash;<em>i.e.</em>, east of Surgham&mdash;following up the enemy on
+that flank. Our object was to prevent them retiring into Omdurman or,
+at any rate, delay their retreat. A body of dervishes were seen
+crouching not far off to the right. Colonel Martin determined to push
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> enemy back and interpose between them and the town. The regiment,
+of four squadrons, was wheeled into line. When 300 yards off we
+started to charge, and were met by a heavy musketry fire from the
+enemy. At first it was ill-directed, but very soon casualties occurred
+in our ranks from it. Instead of a few dervishes, we tumbled upon over
+500 hidden in a fold of the ground. They were in a khor, or nullah,
+into which we had to drop, and they lined it twenty deep in places.
+Our weight, however, carried us through. The dervishes, when we struck
+them, did not break, but "bunched" together, showing no fear of
+cavalry. There was half a minute's hacking, cutting, spearing, and
+shooting in all directions; then we cleared them, and rallied on the
+far side. Halting about 300 yards off, men were dismounted, and we
+opened a sharp fire from our carbines on the enemy, driving them to
+the westward in ten minutes. The charge was really successful in its
+object, as the retirement from that part of the field into Omdurman
+was stopped. We left perhaps sixty dervishes on the field in the
+charge, and killed about 100 more with our subsequent fire." The
+dervish leader who was sitting on a fine black Dongolawi horse was
+killed in the mel&eacute;e. A trooper met him in the khor and ran him through
+with his spear.</p>
+
+<p>By far the finest feature of that morning of battles was the action
+fought by Colonel Macdonald with his brigade. The dervish forces that
+sought to crush him numbered fully 20,000 men. To oppose them he had
+but four battalions, or in all less than 3000<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> Soudanese and Egyptian
+soldiers. With a tact, coolness, and hardihood I have never seen
+equalled, Colonel Macdonald man&oelig;uvred and fought his men. They
+responded to his call with confidence and alacrity begotten of long
+acquaintance and implicit faith in their leader. He had led several of
+the battalions through a score of fierce fights and skirmishes, always
+emerging and covering himself and his men with glory, honour and
+victory. All of them knew him, they were proud of him, and reposed
+implicit confidence in their general. Unmistakably the Khalifa and his
+son, the Sheikh Ed Din, thought that their fortunate hour had
+come&mdash;that, in detail, they would destroy first Macdonald, then one by
+one the other Khedivial brigades. What might have been, had father and
+son arrived at the same time and distance on both sides of Macdonald,
+as they evidently intended, I will not venture to discuss. Happily the
+onslaughts of the wild, angry dervishes did not quite synchronise, and
+Colonel Macdonald was able to devote virtually his whole firing
+strength to the overthrow of the Khalifa's division ere rapidly
+turning about first one then another of his battalions to deal with
+the Sheikh Ed Din's unbroken columns. The enemy on both sides got very
+close in, hundreds of them being killed almost at the feet of the men
+of the 1st Khedivial brigade. Dervish spears were thrown into and over
+the staunch and unyielding Soudanese and Fellaheen soldiery. Peake's,
+Lawrie's, and de Rougemont's batteries stood their ground, side by
+side with the infantry, never wavering, firing point-blank<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> upon the
+dervish masses. Majors Jackson, Nason, and Walter were, as usual,
+proud of the steadiness of their blacks&mdash;the 11th, 10th, and 9th
+battalions&mdash;whilst Major Pink, of the 2nd Egyptian, was elated with
+the stout way his soldiers doubled, wheeled, and at a critical moment
+rushed to fill up a gap near one of the batteries. The "Gippies"
+looked without flinching straight into the eyes of the dervishes, and
+fired volleys that would have done credit to a British regiment. The
+hulking, physically strong "Fellah" had at last taken the measure of
+his enemy, and meant to prove himself the better man of the two. And
+he did&mdash;delighted with himself and his comrades, calling to them,
+chiding the dervishes, and stepping out of the ranks to meet the
+onrush of those of the enemy who came near, to stop it with bullet or
+bayonet. But chief of all was Macdonald, going hither and thither and
+issuing his orders as if on parade, with a sharp snap to each command.
+Two armies saw it all, and one at least admired his intrepid valour.
+One hundred black-flag Taaisha, the Khalifa's own Baggara tribesmen
+and part of his body-guard, charged impetuously. Spurring their horses
+to their utmost speed leading the footmen, down they came straight for
+the brigade. Cannon, Maxims, and rifles roared, and, bold as the
+Taaisha rode, neither horse nor man lived to get within one hundred
+yards of our Soudanese and Gippies. Steady as a gladiator, with what
+to some of us looked like inevitable disaster staring him in the face,
+Colonel Macdonald fought his brigade for all <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>it was worth. He quickly
+moved upon the best available ground, formed up, wheeled about, and
+stood to die or win. He won practically unaided, for the pinch was all
+but over when the Camel Corps, hurrying up, formed upon his right,
+after he had faced about to receive the Sheikh Ed Din's onslaught. The
+Lincolns, who arrived later on, helped to hasten the flight of the
+enemy, whose repulse was assured ere they or any of Wauchope's brigade
+were within 1200 yards of Macdonald. Lewis's brigade were not even
+able to assist so much, and such outside help as came in time to be of
+use was in the first instance from the guns of Major Williams' and
+another battery, and the Maxims upon the left near Surgham hurried
+forward by the Sirdar himself, as I saw. General Hunter came over to
+the headquarters-staff galloping to get assistance, and rode back with
+Wauchope's brigade, which doubled for a considerable distance, so
+serious was the situation and nervous the tension of that thrilling
+ten minutes. Had the brilliant, the splendid deed of arms wrought by
+Macdonald been done under the eyes of a sovereign, or in some other
+armies, he had surely been created a General on the spot. If the
+public are in search of the real hero of the battle of Omdurman there
+he is, ready made&mdash;one who committed no blunder to be redeemed by
+courageous conduct afterwards. He boldly exercised his right of
+personal judgment in a moment of extreme peril, and the result amply
+justified the soundness of his decision.</p>
+
+<p>It was about 11.50 a.m. when the Sirdar wheeled his army about to
+resume the march upon Omdurman. The dervishes who had escaped
+slaughter had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> bent their bodies and run from the fatal field, going
+far off behind the western range of hills. Moving slowly and in
+&eacute;chelon, as when we first set out, we passed over part of the
+battle-field. Groups of unwounded dervishes, who insisted on fighting
+and sniping the troops, had to be dealt with as well as all others who
+persisted in being truculent. Like everybody else at the head of the
+column, I was shot at repeatedly. All of the enemy, however, who
+showed the least disposition to surrender were left unmolested.
+Hundreds of dervishes who had been wounded hobbled on in front of our
+army. We could see the Khalifa's forces behind the hills watching us
+and streaming upon a parallel line towards Omdurman. But the dervishes
+were no longer in compact military array or ranged in division under
+chiefs. They were mostly scattered in small groups and bands spread
+over a very wide area. It was a rabble, and had lost semblance of
+being an army with power of concerted action. When Macdonald's fight
+was over, the Egyptian cavalry under Colonel Broadwood returned and
+formed up near the camelry. They, with the Camel Corps, moved forward
+on the right as before during the final advance upon the Khalifa's
+capital. Men and horses had done a week of the hardest kind of work,
+but both were yet willing and full of spirit. As for the 21st Lancers,
+the few mounts remaining fit for work scarcely counted as a cavalry
+force. The gunboats and the infantry saw to our left, which was not
+difficult, for upon that hand the country was quite bare. About 2 p.m.
+the army reached the northern outskirts of Omdurman,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> the British
+division upon the left. Gatacre's men were nearest the Nile, Maxwell
+and Lewis being almost opposite one of the main thoroughfares of the
+town. A halt for water&mdash;the great necessity&mdash;food, and rest was
+ordered. Parties were instantly detailed to fill water-bottles and
+fantasses, iron tanks. The cooks, too, got to work, and fires were
+kindled with wood torn from neighbouring huts, and a meal was
+prepared. Under the burning sunshine, down upon the loose dirt and
+gravel, officers and men sprawled to rest themselves. There was a very
+muddy creek or inset near, and thither went thousands, parched with
+thirst, to drink, not hesitatingly but gulping down copious draughts
+of water, tough and thick as from a clay puddle. I wandered with my
+horse a little way into the town, and ultimately down towards the main
+stream of the Nile, where the water was cleaner and cooler than by the
+halting-place. There were plenty of dervishes to be seen about,
+looking from lanes and walls, but they were far from being
+particularly aggressive at that part of the town. Indeed, several
+large groups of men, Arabs and negroes, came up bearing white rags on
+sticks in front of them. I went forward and met parties of them, and
+advised them to go into the British lines, where the soldiers would
+receive them as friends. Watering my horse, I let him feed on grass by
+the river's brink, filled my water-bottle, and then returned by a
+circuitous route. The natives were not all inclined to be friendly,
+for a few preferred shooting at the stranger. But their practice was
+very bad.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>Returning to where the troops still lay, I found that a fresh movement
+was afoot. Report had been brought that hundreds of lesser sheikhs and
+leaders were in the town ready to surrender with their followers if
+their lives would be spared. The assurance sought was quickly conveyed
+to them. Slatin Pasha, who had been indefatigable on the battle-field,
+watching the course of events and locating the commands of the various
+important dervish chiefs, had received news that the Khalifa was still
+in the town. The Pasha, on passing over the field, had searched around
+the black flag and other noted leaders' banners to see who lay there.
+In the heaped dead about the Khalifa's flag he had seen Yacoub,
+Abdullah's brother, and many more leaders, but the arch head of
+Mahdism, the Sheikh Ed Din and Osman Digna were nowhere to be found.
+Amongst the dead Emirs identified were Osman Azrak, leader of the
+cavalry, Wad el Melik, Ali Wad Helu, Yunis, Ibrahim Khalil, Mahmoud's
+brother, el Fadl, Osman Dekem, Zaki Ferar, Abu Senab, Mousa Zacharia,
+and Abd el Baki. The Khalifa had come into action riding a horse. As
+that did not suit him he changed for a camel and, finding the latter
+position too dangerously conspicuous, rode off the field on
+donkey-back. Perhaps the most concise summing up of the battle fell
+from a "Tommy's" lips: "Them dervishes are good uns, and no mistake.
+They came on in thousands on thousands to lay us out, but we shifted
+them fast enough."</p>
+
+<p>It was not quite four o'clock, afternoon. Slatin Pasha had got news
+from former friends that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> fugitives and townspeople would gladly
+surrender, so the sooner the Sirdar marched in and took possession the
+better. True, the Khalifa with several hundreds of followers, or
+mayhap a thousand or more, was yet within the central part of
+Omdurman. Most of his Jehadieh, it was urged, would give in at once if
+an opportunity were afforded them, and Abdullah could be caught. With
+Maxwell's brigade, Major Williams' battery and several Maxims, the
+Sirdar and headquarters staff pushed along the wide thoroughfare that
+leads from the north past the west end of the great rectangular wall,
+towards the Mosque inclosure and Mahdi's tomb. The infantry, guns, and
+Maxims preceded but a few paces in front. Vile beyond description was
+Omdurman, its dwellings, streets, lanes, and spaces. Beasts pay more
+regard to sanitation than dervishes. Pools of slush and stagnant water
+abounded. Dead animals in all stages of decomposition lay there in
+hundreds and thousands. There were besides littering the place camels,
+horses, donkeys, dead and wounded fresh from the battle-field. And
+there were many other ghastly sights. Dead and wounded dervishes lay
+in pools of blood in the roadway. Several of the dying enemy grimly
+saluted the staff as we passed. An Emir who, horribly mauled by a
+shell, lay pinned under his dead horse waved his hand and fell back a
+corpse. Our guns and Maxims had opened once or twice to turn the armed
+fugitives from the town. The compounds and huts were full of wounded
+and unwounded dervishes, most of the latter having Remingtons and
+waist-belts full of cartridges, besides<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> carrying spears and swords.
+In the open thoroughfares there were many bodies of women and children
+lying stark and stiff. The majority of these victims were young girls.
+Many of the poor creatures had evidently been running towards the
+river to try and escape when caught and killed by jealous and cruel
+masters or husbands. The scenes were shocking, the smells abominable
+and quite overpowering to many who sought to ride in with the General.</p>
+
+<p>There was something like a reception for the Sirdar on his entering
+the town. The women and children, mostly slaves, filled the
+thoroughfares, and in their peculiar guinea-fowl cackling fashion
+cheered the troops. Notables in jibbehs, which they had not yet had
+time to turn inside out, as nearly every native did afterwards, came
+and salaamed, smote their breasts, and kissed the hands and even the
+garments' hem of the Sirdar and his staff. In truly Oriental fashion
+they completed the ceremonial of obeisance and fealty by throwing dust
+upon their already frowsy enough heads. It was curious to watch the
+various recognitions extended to Slatin, and how the latter did not
+forget his old friends, who had been kind to him, or his Eastern
+manners in exchanging courtesies. When they realised that we were not
+cannibals, which they did very quickly, and that the Khalifa and
+others must have deceived them, they ran about amongst the troops. It
+was with difficulty at times the ranks were kept clear of them. Our
+Western leniency surprised them. The Sirdar shook hands with certain
+of the notables, including several of the Greeks and Jaalin. One of
+the most extraordinary incidents was the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> appearance of the Khalifa's
+own band with drums and horns to play in the 13th Soudanese. Evidently
+it was a case of black relations, for they played the battalion, Major
+Smith-Dorian's, out as well as into town on the following day.</p>
+
+<p>The people were ordered to carry the good news about that none who
+gave up their arms would be killed or hurt, and that there was no
+intention on our part to sack the town or injure anybody. What? A
+captured city in the Soudan not to be given over to the victorious
+troops to do with as they liked! I am sure the natives of both sexes
+were amazed. And I cannot say all looked quite satisfied at the
+announcement. The crowd in the streets quickly increased; they
+evidently believed that we meant them no harm, and that they could do
+as they liked. In the bombardment the Lyddite shells had knocked down
+a gateway leading into the buildings and square mile of town enclosed
+by the great rectangular stone wall built by the Khalifa. For a space
+of fifty yards, several big holes had been blown in the structure,
+which was fourteen feet high and over four feet in thickness. Some of
+these breaches led into the beit-el-mal, or public granary. A few
+wretched, hungry slaves ventured to help themselves to the grain,
+chiefly dhura, that had partly poured out into the street. No one
+interfered with them. Within half an hour all the women and children
+in the town apparently, to the number of several thousands, were
+running pell-mell to loot the granary. Men also joined in plundering
+the Khalifa's storehouse. They ran against our horses, tripped over
+each other and fell in their crazy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> haste to fill sacks, skins, and
+nondescript vessels of all sorts&mdash;metal, wood and clay&mdash;with grain.
+Women staggered under burdens that would assure their households of
+food for months. It became a saturnalia and jubilee for the long,
+half-starved slaves, men and women. By-and-by looting became more
+general. The houses of Emirs who had run away or been killed were
+entered and plundered by the populace. Donkeys were caught and loaded
+with spoils of war, and driven off to huts on the outskirts near where
+the troops bivouacked after their long and fatiguing day. During the
+earlier part of that night there was much noise and hubbub in Omdurman
+with constant firing of rifles. Maxwell's men, however, assisted by
+numbers of friendly Jaalin, finally succeeded in enforcing something
+like order and peace.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"><a name="Illustration_HOUSE" id="Illustration_HOUSE"></a>
+<img src="images/house.jpg" width="350" height="282" alt="Khalifa&#39;s House." title="Khalifa&#39;s House." />
+<span class="caption">Khalifa&#39;s House.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>After the reception near the centre of the town the Sirdar proceeded
+with part of Colonel Maxwell's brigade along the west side of the big
+wall. Osman Digna's house was passed on the way. We got as far as the
+south-west corner into full view of the Mahdi's tomb, which was about
+400 yards to the east. In the same direction and equidistant was the
+Khalifa's house. Beside us was the Praying Square or Mosque, a space
+of bare ground of about ten acres or so in extent. As soon as the
+troops got beyond the big wall and in sight of the tomb and Khalifa's
+house, a brisk fusilade from Remingtons by the Jehadieh body-guard
+protecting Abdullah was opened against us. Fortunately, the big stone
+wall was not loopholed on either side. Indeed there appeared to be no
+provision for its defenders to fire from it unless they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> mounted to
+the top. The Sirdar and staff fell back, and the guns and Maxims went
+forward a little. Maxwell's men then dealt with the enemy, and the
+Sirdar, still led by Slatin Pasha, whom the dervishes called
+"Saladin," turned back to try and make his way through the breaches in
+the north wall. Troops were sent in to clear the compound of
+dervishes, most of whom surrendered at once. But exit upon the south
+side was barred by interior walls and gates. Then the Sirdar essayed
+going along by the river's margin between the wall, the Nile, and the
+forts, to turn the south-east angle. A sharp and accurate fire<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> from
+the Jehadieh stopped that advance for a time. Gunboats were ordered
+forward to drive the dervishes from their cover. The soldiers pushed
+farther through the compound, and the gunboats swept the Jehadieh with
+Maxims and quick-firing cannon. About 5 p.m., with the shadows rapidly
+lengthening, the rough way between the river and the great wall was
+partly cleared of the enemy. Thereupon the Sirdar and staff forded a
+dirty, wide creek, the crossing being girth high, and trotted a few
+hundred yards up stream. With double teams, four guns of the 32nd
+Battery, Major Williams', were got across the pool, accompanying the
+headquarters.</p>
+
+<p>Entering a gateway through the outer rectangular wall, the force moved
+towards the Mahdi's tomb and the Khalifa's chief residence or palace.
+The Sirdar and staff reined up before Abdullah's doorway, for the
+dervish leader's house was surrounded by an inner wall and various
+small buildings. We were in a higgledy-piggledy looking corner,
+surrounded by rough shelters or stables for animals, horses and
+camels, and the unfinished but covered approaches to the Mahdi's tomb.
+The staff sat on horseback facing the doorway and dwelling; I pulled
+in opposite beside an angle of the wall. Upon the Sirdar's right were
+some corrugated iron roofed sheds, and a little in front the Praying
+Square. Behind was the Mahdi's tomb, and at no great distance various
+important dervish buildings. Abdullah had so planted himself that he
+had easy and private access to all places of public resort as well as
+the official quarters.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"><a name="Illustration_TOMB" id="Illustration_TOMB"></a>
+<img src="images/tomb.jpg" width="350" height="279" alt="Mahdi&#39;s Tomb&mdash;Effect of Lyddite Shells." title="Mahdi&#39;s Tomb&mdash;Effect of Lyddite Shells." />
+<span class="caption">Mahdi&#39;s Tomb&mdash;Effect of Lyddite Shells.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Slatin Pasha, Colonel Maxwell, and several soldiers, with one or two
+others, went in and searched for the Khalifa. A few minutes previously
+he had slipped out by a back door with the more important part of his
+personal treasures. His harem had been sent away earlier in the day.
+Mr Hubert Howard, correspondent of the <em>New York Herald</em> and the
+London <em>Times</em>, was near the headquarters staff. He came over to where
+I was and chatted. To a companion who had joined me he offered some
+cigarettes. He said it had been a splendid day, and he had seen much.
+Nothing could have been better than the way things turned out,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> and he
+was glad he had been through it from first to last, cavalry charge
+included. Then he said he would like to get a photograph or two of the
+surroundings and the Khalifa's house. I told him the light was spent
+and he could get no good results. He said he would try, and rode
+inside the courtyard. A minute or less later, there was the roar and
+crash of a shrapnel shell, which burst over our heads in very
+dangerous proximity. The iron and bullets struck the walls and rattled
+upon the corrugated iron roofs alongside. "That," I said to my
+companion and an artillery officer hard by, "was one of our own guns."
+The officer, Major Williams, I think, replied he feared indeed that it
+was so. A similar opinion was apparently entertained by the Sirdar and
+staff, for gallopers were sent to the officer in charge of the two
+guns of the 32nd Battery left on the west side of the wall in the main
+thoroughfare, to cease firing at once. Before riding up to the
+Khalifa's door the Sirdar had hailed the gunboats, and one of them,
+the "Sultan," came near enough inshore for us to converse with those
+on board and for the commander to receive orders to stop all firing at
+Abdullah's quarters. A few seconds after the first shrapnel burst,
+another pitched over our heads, aimed apparently like the previous one
+at the Khalifa's compound. Indeed, it appeared so later, for those of
+our men at the south-west corner of the wall saw a number of armed
+Jehadieh who were gathering behind Abdullah's compound. The Maxims
+also opened fire on what was probably a body of the enemy covering
+Abdullah's retirement,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> and who, at any rate, were firing at the
+troops. Immediately after the second shell exploded the Sirdar and
+headquarters rode off, returning by the road we entered, to the main
+thoroughfare upon the west side of the enclosing wall. I remained a
+few minutes longer, two shells bursting overhead in the interval, and
+with my companion retraced our steps, rejoining the headquarters'
+following. Mr Hubert Howard was struck upon the side of the head by a
+bullet or fragment of a shell and killed instantly. His body was
+removed and covered up by Colonel Maxwell and his men.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"><a name="Illustration_TOMB_INTERIOR" id="Illustration_TOMB_INTERIOR"></a>
+<img src="images/tomb_interior.jpg" width="350" height="276" alt="Interior Mahdi&#39;s Tomb (Grille around Sarcophagus)." title="Interior Mahdi&#39;s Tomb (Grille around Sarcophagus)." />
+<span class="caption">Interior Mahdi&#39;s Tomb (Grille around Sarcophagus).</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="Illustration_GALLOWS" id="Illustration_GALLOWS"></a>
+<img src="images/gallows.jpg" width="500" height="336" alt="Khalifa&#39;s Gallows (cutting down his Last Victim)." title="Khalifa&#39;s Gallows (cutting down his Last Victim)." />
+<span class="caption">Khalifa&#39;s Gallows (cutting down his Last Victim).</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Arrangements were made for the instant pursuit of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> the Khalifa, who, I
+was told, only left his palace about five o'clock or sometime after we
+had penetrated into Omdurman. Notables and dervishes who came in to us
+were freely used by the staff to run hither and thither conveying
+intimation to all their friends, that the war being over they should
+lay down their arms. In that way the news of the collapse of Mahdism
+was widely spread, and bands of thirty and forty of the Jehadieh and
+even of the Baggara surrendered. The presence of our Soudanese
+soldiers facilitated matters, for they saw in them, at any rate,
+countrymen. I had no difficulty in persuading several large groups of
+dervishes, whom I could see from my horse inside their compounds, to
+come out into the lanes or roadway and lay down their rifles. By such
+means the headquarters' advance through the town was made possible and
+relatively easy. The sun had set and darkness was upon us before the
+Sirdar and staff, going at times in single file, reached the common
+prison where the Assouan merchant, Charles Neufeld, was confined.
+Whilst accompanying a convoy of rifles presented by the Egyptian
+Government in 1886 to Sheikh Saleh of the friendly Kabbabish tribe,
+Neufeld had been captured by a party of dervishes. Like the other
+European prisoners who fell into their hands, he had undergone great
+hardships and experienced all the trials of misfortune. Neufeld and
+several hundred natives who had incurred the Khalifa's ire or distrust
+were found in a pestilential enclosure less than an acre in extent,
+surrounded by mud-walls. All of them wore heavy leg <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 223]<br />[Pg 224]<br />[Pg 225]</a></span>chains, and a
+few were handcuffed besides. The principal jail deliveries were by
+disease and the gallows; the latter were almost daily in use. Three
+rough sets of them stood together near the great wall. Limbs of trees
+stuck into the ground, with a cross-piece overhead, that was how the
+gallows were fashioned. A last victim of the Khalifa was cut down
+shortly after the troops entered Omdurman.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"><a name="Illustration_ANKLE_IRONS" id="Illustration_ANKLE_IRONS"></a>
+<img src="images/ankle_irons.jpg" width="350" height="338" alt="Neufeld on Gunboat &quot;Sheik&quot;&mdash;Cutting off his
+Ankle-Irons." title="Neufeld on Gunboat &quot;Sheik&quot;&mdash;Cutting off his Ankle-Irons." />
+<span class="caption">Neufeld on Gunboat &quot;Sheik&quot;&mdash;Cutting off his Ankle-Irons.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Neufeld was found under a mat-covered lean-to built against the
+mud-wall. There was no other protection<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> for the prisoners from
+sunshine or rain than coarse worn matting spread upon sticks and laid
+against the walls. The enclosure was without any sanitary arrangements
+whatever. A well had been dug near the middle of the yard and from
+there the prisoners drew all the water they used. The Sirdar conversed
+with the prisoner, and a fruitless effort was made to find the jailer
+and have Neufeld's irons removed. Ultimately, when night had quite
+fallen and it was pitch dark, Neufeld was set upon an officer's horse,
+and the Sirdar and headquarters bringing him with them rode outside to
+where the main body of the army was bivouacking upon the desert, north
+of Omdurman. Later on I found means to have Neufeld's irons removed.
+He had three sets of leg irons fastened round his ankles; a heavy bar
+weighing fourteen pounds, and two thick chains above that. The heavy
+rings upon the legs we could not get off without other appliances than
+a hammer and iron wedge, so they were left to be removed next day on
+the gunboat "Sheik." It was found necessary on that occasion to grip
+the rings in a vice and cut them with a cold chisel. We, however, so
+freed his limbs that he could walk. Having written a second batch of
+despatches by the light of a guttering candle and handed them to the
+press censor, we lay down in our clothes to try and sleep&mdash;no easy
+thing to do when you had to hold the bridle of your hungry horse the
+while, and other equally restless Arab steeds were, after their
+manner, seeking to eat him or kick him to pieces. We were without food
+or water, for in the thrice altered camping grounds our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> servants had
+got lost. In a flurry between dozing and waking we spent the night,
+hoping for the morrow. When it came there was daylight but no
+breakfast. Indeed, it was not until the afternoon of the 3rd September
+that our servants and baggage re-appeared.</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="section_break"></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h3>
+
+<p class="chapter_summary">Close of Campaign.&mdash;Gordon Memorial Service, Khartoum.</p>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"><a name="Illustration_EUNUCH" id="Illustration_EUNUCH"></a>
+<img src="images/eunuch.jpg" width="350" height="299" alt="Khalifa&#39;s Chief Eunuch (Surrenders in British Camp)." title="Khalifa&#39;s Chief Eunuch (Surrenders in British Camp)." />
+<span class="caption">Khalifa&#39;s Chief Eunuch (Surrenders in British Camp).</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Although the beginning of a campaign often drags, the ending is
+usually abrupt. With the defeat and flight of Abdullah, Mahdism became
+a thing of the past. True, there were several minor engagements fought
+later against isolated recalcitrant bodies of dervishes who were too
+loyal to their old leaders. But these affairs in no way affected the
+result achieved upon the battle-field of Omdurman. During the night or
+early morning of the 2nd and 3rd of September, Colonel Macdonald's
+brigade advanced into the city to help to keep the peace, and to
+secure the surrender of all the armed bands of the enemy. Large bodies
+of dervishes were still moving about both within and without Omdurman.
+I had myself seen many hundreds of natives set out about dusk to
+revisit the battle-field in search of plunder, to rescue wounded
+friends, and to bury their dead kinsmen. Those who showed a peaceable
+disposition were not molested, but all with arms were arrested and
+penned under guards in the Praying Square. Many prisoners were secured
+on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>battle-field, but relatively only a few thousands. On 3rd
+September and following days enormous numbers surrendered, coming into
+town or being sent in by the cavalry and friendlies. In fact, they
+became so numerous that it was found almost impossible to deal with
+them. When dervishes of the Jaalin and other tribes that had abandoned
+Mahdism came in they were at once told to behave themselves, and were
+allowed to go where they liked. The townsfolk and others who wished to
+be let alone, turned their jibbehs inside out, at once a renunciation
+of the Khalifa and his works as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> well as a sanitary gain. Some there
+were who, averse to over-cleanliness, simply tore the dervish patches
+off their dress, thus also resuming their fealty to the Khedive. The
+roll of prisoners, however, in spite of convenient blindness in
+letting all the lesser men who wished to escape do so, swelled to
+about 11,000. In a house to house visitation the more important rebel
+sheikhs and Baggara in hiding were caught and kept under arrest with
+their followers. All the Greeks and the local chiefs whom Slatin Pasha
+knew to be secretly inimical to the dervish rule, were from the first
+secured safe permits and absolute liberty. Among them were many of the
+Mahdi's relatives, former rulers of tribes, and Emirs once high in
+power. Of wounded dervishes over 9000 were treated by the British and
+Egyptian Army Medical Staffs, although the doctors' hands were busy
+enough for two days with our own sick and wounded.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="Illustration_PRISONERS" id="Illustration_PRISONERS"></a>
+<img src="images/prisoners.jpg" width="500" height="357" alt="Fresh Batch Wounded and Unwounded Dervish Prisoners,
+Omdurman, 4th Sept. 1898." title="Fresh Batch Wounded and Unwounded Dervish Prisoners, Omdurman, 4th Sept. 1898." />
+<span class="caption">Fresh Batch Wounded and Unwounded Dervish Prisoners, Omdurman, 4th Sept. 1898.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Within twenty-four hours after the Sirdar's entry Omdurman began to
+assume the signs of orderly government. Thousands of the prisoners as
+well as the natives were set to work to clean up the place. The
+wounded were all carried into temporary hospitals and the dead were
+decently interred in Moslem burial-places out upon the desert. Then
+the thoroughfares were scrupulously scavengered by gangs of
+yesterday's furious foemen, blacks and Baggara. The dead things were
+put under ground, and the stagnant pools were drained or filled in.
+Within a week it became actually possible to walk without an attack of
+violent nausea in Omdurman. Visits were constantly paid to the
+battle-field for the double purpose of rescuing any wounded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 231]<br />[Pg 232]<br />[Pg 233]</a></span>
+dervishes there might be and counting the dead. The large number of
+the enemy who for days survived shocking wounds, to which a European
+would have instantly or speedily succumbed, was appalling. These
+wretched creatures had been seen crawling or dragging themselves for
+miles to get to the Nile for water or into villages for succour. Food
+and water were sent out to them by the Sirdar's orders on the day
+after the battle, when it was seen that the natives gave neither heed
+nor help to other than their own immediate kinsmen upon the field.
+Even in the town rations were distributed to the needy. The gunboats
+going up and down the river saw many sorry sights. Wounded dervishes
+were lying by hundreds along the river's bank. Some, whose thirst had
+maddened them, had drunk copiously, and then swooned and died, their
+heads and shoulders covered with water and the rest of their bodies
+stretched upon the strand. General Gatacre and Lieut. Wood on riding
+to revisit the zereba near Kerreri, met a dervish, part of one of
+whose legs had been blown off by a shell. The man was hobbling along,
+leaning upon a broken spear handle, making for Omdurman, with his limb
+burned and roughly tied up. They gave him food and water and passed on
+meeting others. A mile away, the mounted orderly drew the General's
+attention to an object upon the ground with the exclamation: "Blest if
+it isn't that bloke's foot!" which sure enough was the case. A number
+of officers were told off to count the enemy's dead upon the
+battle-field. Sections of the ground were assigned to each. The actual
+count<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> was 10,800 dead bodies, which did not include all the slain,
+for there were those who died in Omdurman, and afar upon the desert.
+One of the officers wrote, "I won't enter into details of our day's
+work. It suffices to say, that a piece of cotton-wool soaked in
+eucalyptus placed in the nostrils and an ample supply of neat brandy
+were only just sufficient to keep us on our legs for the six hours
+that we were at the job." He and two others had undertaken to make a
+sketch in addition to helping to count the slain. Unfortunately, the
+sketch was lost.</p>
+
+<p>And all might have been otherwise, for the Sirdar offered before the
+battle to treat with the Khalifa. Here is the copy of the letter, as
+translated and published, bearing upon the subject.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p class="kitchener_head">"<em>30th August 1898.</em><br />
+"Viz., 11 Rabi Akhar,<br />
+"1316 (M.E.)<br /></p>
+
+<p>"From the Sirdar of the Troops, Soudan,</p>
+
+<p>"To Abdulla, son of Mohamed El-Taaishi, Head of the Soudan.</p>
+
+<p>"Bear in your mind that your evil deeds throughout the Soudan,
+particularly your murdering a great number of the Mohammedans
+without cause or excuse, besides oppression and tyranny,
+necessitated the advance of my troops for the destruction of your
+throne, in order to save the country from your devilish doings and
+iniquity. Inasmuch as there are many in your keeping for whose
+blood you are held responsible&mdash;innocent, old, and infirm, women
+and children and others&mdash;abhorring you and your government, who
+are guilty of nothing; and because we have no desire that they
+should suffer the least harm, we ask you to have them removed from
+the Dem (literally, enclosure) to a place where the shells of guns
+and bullets of rifles shall not reach them. If you do not do so,
+the shells and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> bullets cannot recognise them and will
+consequently kill them, and afterwards you will be responsible
+before God for their blood.</p>
+
+<p>"Stand firm you and your helpers only in the field of battle to
+meet the punishment prepared for you by the praised God. But if
+you and your Emirs incline to surrender to prevent blood being
+shed, we shall receive your envoy with due welcome, and be sure
+that we shall treat you with justice and peace.</p>
+
+<p class="letter_signed">
+"(Sealed) <span class="personname">Kitchener</span>,<br />
+"Sirdar of the Troops in the Soudan."<br />
+</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<p>Colonel Maxwell was appointed Commandant of Omdurman, and his brigade
+was quartered in the town, detachments occupying the principal
+buildings. Among the places so held were the Arsenal, the Khalifa's
+and his son the Sheikh Ed Din's houses, the Treasury, Tomb and Mosque
+enclosure. The rest of the troops were moved two miles to the north of
+the town, where a camp was formed along the river bank. Omdurman was
+too abominably dirty to risk keeping a single soldier in the place
+other than was absolutely necessary. Not an hour was wasted. The
+Sirdar's practice was&mdash;abundant work for each day and all plans
+prepared ahead for the next. The submission of sheikhs and their
+followers had to be received, the pursuit of the Khalifa pressed,
+wounded dervishes and prisoners provided for, as well as the thousands
+of poor in Omdurman helped in various ways. Then there had to be
+arranged-for the disposal of the spoils of war, repatriation for many
+of Abdullah's enforced subjects, the formal re-occupation of Khartoum,
+and the immediate despatch back to Lower Egypt of the British troops
+whose services were no longer required. All this and much more was
+done, nor am I aware that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> anything was neglected, not even the
+correspondents, who were evidently too seldom far removed from the
+General's thoughts. Hurrying into the town early on Saturday morning,
+3rd September, to attend Howard's funeral, I found that within half an
+hour after sunrise all the dead dervishes, with the murdered women and
+children, had been removed to the native burial-grounds outside
+Omdurman. In my rambles in the capital that day I visited the only two
+passable dwellings in the place, Abdullah's and his son Osman's. Both
+houses had a pretence of tidiness and comfort, particularly the Sheikh
+Ed Din's. There were paved courtyards, doors, windows with shutters,
+plastered walls, cupboards, benches, and ottomans. In each there were
+several rooms furnished in a rude style with articles of European
+manufacture. Of glass-ware, crockery, and large mirrors there was an
+abundance. The Khalifa's favourite reception-room and a chamber in the
+harem were almost covered with big looking-glasses. Angry Jaalin and
+others who had forced an entrance on the previous day, or else mayhap
+the Lyddite bombs, had smashed the mirrors and most of the domestic
+ware into atoms. Spears and swords had been freely used to hack the
+furniture and fittings about. A wealth of printed and manuscript books
+and papers in Arabic characters were scattered, torn, and thrown into
+a shed.</p>
+
+<p>The kitchens, stables and outhouses were odorously barbaric in
+squalor. They were in strange contrast to any of the rooms in the
+rabbit warren of attached dwelling-places within the Khalifa's private
+compound.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> Around the Mahdi's tomb were great splashes of human blood.
+On the previous evening I had seen many dead dervishes lying in that
+vicinity. In their credulous faith in Mohamed Achmed they had flocked
+there for safety, only to be killed by our fire. Of 120 who were
+praying around the tomb when a 50-lb. Lyddite shell burst, but
+eighteen escaped alive, and these were sorely wounded. The tomb,
+carefully stuccoed over inside and out, was built of stone and
+well-burned bricks. The base of the square wall from which the
+cone-shaped dome sprang was over six feet thick, the vaulted roof
+tapering to about eighteen inches at the apex. Great holes had been
+knocked in the north-east side, and the rubbish had tumbled in,
+breaking the brass and iron grille round the catafalque. Beneath,
+covered by two huge blocks of stone, lay Mohamed Achmed's remains.
+Early that day violent hands were laid on the brass rails in the outer
+windows and grille. The catafalque was stripped of its black and red
+cloth covering, and the wood-work was totally destroyed. All the
+yellow lettered panels, with texts from the Koran and the Mahdi's
+prayer-book, as well as the blue and yellow scroll work, were smashed
+or carried off by relic-hunters. The false prophet was so speedily
+discredited that not a dervish amongst the tens of thousands but
+regarded these and the subsequent proceedings with complete
+indifference. To destroy utterly the legend of Mohamed Achmed's
+mission, when the British troops had returned to Cairo the Mahdi's
+body was disinterred. It had been roughly embalmed and the features
+were said to be recognis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>able. The common people who saw the remains
+almost doubted their senses, for it had been given out that the Mahdi
+had merely gone off on a visit to heaven and would shortly return.
+That his body was found surprised them, as they thought he had gone
+aloft in the flesh, the object of the tomb being to mark the spot
+where he took leave of the earth and would return to it. Perhaps it
+may be deplored that Mohamed Achmed's remains were broken up, part
+being cast into the Nile, whilst the head and other portions of the
+body were retained for presentation, it is said, to medical colleges.
+There were those who thought that the wisest course would have been to
+expose the remains for all to see them who cared to, and then to hand
+them over to the natives to bury in one of their cemeteries as if he
+had been an ordinary man. But the Soudan is not Europe, nor are its
+inhabitants amenable to measures eminently satisfactory to civilised
+northern races. The tomb was subsequently levelled to the ground by an
+explosion of gun-cotton and the d&eacute;bris was cleared away.</p>
+
+<p>I had a good look over the Khalifa's war arsenal. There were plenty of
+cannon, old and new, as well as machine guns, rifles, pistols, and
+fowling pieces of all kinds. Musical instruments, war-drums,
+elephants' tusks used as horns, coats of chain-mail old and new, and
+steel helmets. Most of the latter are quite modern, being part of 600
+supplied by a London firm of sword makers&mdash;Wilkinson &amp; Co., Pall Mall,
+to a former Khedive's body-guard. Somehow these plate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> and chain
+crusader-like head-pieces seem all to have drifted south. There were
+hundreds of dervish battle flags, including several duplicate black
+silk banners such as the Khalifa carried during the action, and
+thousands of native spears, swords, and shields. In short, it would be
+easier to tell what was not in that extraordinary storehouse than what
+was. Among other articles I saw were: Ivory, powder, percussion caps,
+old lead, copper, tin, bronze, cloth, looms, pianos, sewing machines,
+agricultural implements, boilers, steam-engines, ostrich feathers,
+gum, hippopotamus hides, iron and wooden bedsteads, drums, bugles,
+field glasses&mdash;Lieutenant Charles Grenfell's, lost at El Teb in the
+Eastern Soudan in 1883, were found there&mdash;bolts, zinc, rivets, paints,
+india-rubber, leather, boots, knapsacks, water-bottles, flags, and
+clothes. There were three state coaches&mdash;one of them might at a pinch
+have served for the Lord Mayor&mdash;and an American buggy. They needed a
+little retrimming, but there was harness and material enough to have
+rigged out the four vehicles in style. In short, the arsenal held the
+jettisoned cargo of the whole aforetime Egyptian Soudan, with much
+besides drawn from Abyssinia and Central Africa. Truly, the Khalifa
+must have been a strange man, with a fine acquisitive instinct
+abnormally cultivated.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="Illustration_NEUFELD" id="Illustration_NEUFELD"></a>
+<img src="images/neufeld.jpg" width="500" height="359" alt="Neufeld, with Abyssinian Wife and Children; also Fellow Prisoner."
+title="Neufeld, with Abyssinian Wife and Children; also Fellow Prisoner." />
+<span class="caption">Neufeld, with Abyssinian Wife and Children; also Fellow Prisoner.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Neufeld, quite contrary to Slatin Pasha's way of speaking, declared to
+me that the Khalifa was not at all a bad sort of man, nor an
+exceptionally cruel Arab task-master, and certainly not a monster. The
+Khalifa, he said, had often come and chatted with him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> Abdullah had
+vowed to him, that if he were able to have his own way he would make a
+close friend of him, and have him always near his person. The Khalifa
+asserted he liked white men, admired their knowledge and ability, and
+would, were he permitted, have many of them in Khartoum. As everybody
+knew, he befriended the Greeks, because he could do that with safety,
+for the natives were not so jealous of them as of other white men. The
+Taaisha were, he declared, absurdly suspicious of his intercourse with
+Neufeld, and were always bringing him tales, to try and get him to
+kill all the white men without exception. His countrymen's jealous,
+narrow fanaticism annoyed him, but what, he asked, could he do, for he
+was very much in their power, and unable to afford to fly in their
+faces? Abdullah often spoke thus, according to Neufeld, and, as the
+latter also said, frequently that leader of the fanatical dervishes
+exhibited keen interest in acquiring information about Europe and its
+people. He hoped to make peace some day with the outside world, and be
+allowed thereafter to rule the Soudan. All this, I submit, is rather
+puzzling, in view of the filthy den the Khalifa kept Neufeld shut up
+in, and the manner in which he loaded him with heavy leg-irons. During
+his captivity, Neufeld had with him an Abyssinian girl, or rather
+woman. She was taken prisoner with him. Thereafter she devotedly
+ministered to his wants, fetched water and food, and made, under his
+tuition, really eatable bread. Neufeld, who said he met me in 1884&ndash;85,
+up the Nile, when he was attached to the army, gave me a piece of this
+bread, and I found it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 241]<br />[Pg 242]<br />[Pg 243]</a></span> quite palatable. Yeast is easily made in the
+Soudan with sour dough and sugar.</p>
+
+<p>As arsenals mayhap date back to the eras of Tubal Cain and Vulcan, it
+was to be expected the Khalifa would also have his modern smithy. He
+made his own gunpowder, shells, and bullets, and the metallic cases
+for his troops' Remington rifles. The country was laid under
+contribution to supply copper for that purpose, and he essayed the
+filling of percussion caps with fulminate, not over successfully I
+hope. He had his cartridge manufactory, and a very well equipped
+engineer shop as well. Yea, the potentate was setting up a Zoo,
+wherein I saw three young lions chained to posts by neck collars, as
+though those savage beasts were watch-dogs. As for the engineer shop,
+with foundry and smithy attached, the Beit el Mauna, it was part of a
+cleverly planned square of buildings with a river frontage and a
+spacious yard. The designer was one El Osta Abdullah, a former
+employee of General Gordon's in Khartoum Arsenal. There were several
+steam engines; the principal one driving the main shafting was of 28
+horse-power. The fly-wheel was 4 feet in diameter. There were five
+lathes, one cat-head lathe&mdash;36 inch, three drills, and other tools
+including a slotting machine, all in perfect going order. The
+machinery had formed part of the dismantled Khartoum Arsenal, and had
+been removed into Omdurman to be nearer the watchful eyes of Yacoub,
+who superintended the workshops, though destitute of mechanical
+knowledge. El Osta was the foreman and had numbers of natives, free
+and prisoners, under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> him. There were plenty of crucibles for iron as
+well as brass smelting. The blasts of furnaces and smithy fires were
+served from fanners driven by machinery. There were paint shops and
+stores, the floors of which were laid in bricks. In truth, the arsenal
+was in process of extension. Two more engines for the shop were in
+course of completion. The steamers disabled or wrecked in the 1885
+campaign had all been recovered and overhauled by the dervishes. They
+were sagacious enough to make use of all the skilled labour to be
+found amongst the Turkish and Egyptian prisoners who fell into their
+hands. Although the Khalifa's river steamers, recaptured by the
+Sirdar, could steam fully as well as ever, their hulls and decks were
+dreadfully rotten and dilapidated, not a pound of paint nor any fresh
+timber having been used upon them in all the intervening years.</p>
+
+<p>"Is that mean, dirty compound, with those squalid mud-huts, facing the
+Khalifa's big wall, Osman Digna's house?" I asked. "Yes," said my
+native informant, "that is the house of the robber-chief, Osman
+Digna." I entered and found within only a few wretched slaves and poor
+Hadendowas. Osman, like the Khalifa, had given us the slip, leaving
+behind such of his people as he thought of no value, and hurrying away
+with all his women and treasure towards the south. They had horses and
+camels, and upon the best of them they decamped. Several of the
+notorious Osman Digna's tribal retainers were caught. These wretched
+Hadendowas were, I was told, glad to be permitted subsequently to
+return to their own country. Over 300<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> Abyssinians were amongst our
+prisoners. They had volunteered or been coerced into joining the
+dervish ranks. All of them were surprised to find themselves kindly
+treated. In due course, those who cared to go&mdash;men, women and
+children&mdash;were provided with free passages back to Abyssinia. The
+Sirdar held several receptions, whereat the principal native leaders
+and sheikhs attended. Amongst others delighted at the overthrow of the
+Khalifa were all the survivors of the old Khedivial army, who had been
+abandoned to their fate for years. Of these were the whilom Governor
+of Senaar, a native artillery officer who had been with Hicks Pasha,
+and Gordon Pasha's native medical attendant.</p>
+
+<p>During the week after the battle the British and Khedivial troops, by
+brigades, made triumphal marches into and through Omdurman. Proceeding
+from our camp with flags flying and bands playing, they went along the
+main thoroughfares to the Tomb and Mosque, returning by a circuitous
+route to quarters. The ex-dervishes and other natives flocked in
+thousands to see the finely-equipped and well-disciplined battalions
+led by the Sirdar. It was an exhibition of power they quite
+understood, and one which won from them open praise at the gallant
+bearing of our soldiery. The immediate effect was to produce a feeling
+of deep respect for the authority of the new order of things.</p>
+
+<p>When it was found that the Khalifa had escaped by the south end of
+Omdurman, Colonel Broadwood, with his two regiments of Egyptian
+cavalry and the Camel Corps, started in pursuit. Gunboats also
+proceeded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> up the White Nile to head off the fugitives. Unfortunately
+as there had been a very general rainfall, the desert routes towards
+Kordofan were not absolutely waterless. The cavalry soon found that
+they were upon a hot trail; and men, women, and children, who had been
+unable to keep pace with the flying Khalifa and Osman Digna, were
+picked up. Some of these, no doubt, had purposely given their master
+the slip. It was in that way that Abdullah's chief wife, the Sheikh Ed
+Din's mother, was caught and brought in by the "friendlies." One poor
+woman, just confined, had the babe, a male, taken away by her lord,
+whilst she was left to shift for herself. Happily, her life was saved.</p>
+
+<p>As I have said relatively little about the Egyptian cavalry, I will
+let one of their officers tell what they did. Colonel Broadwood had
+under him a magnificent body of officers, British and Egyptian.
+Captain Legge of the 20th Hussars was the brigade-major. The narrative
+in question was given to me a few days after the victory.</p>
+
+<p>"The Sirdar's orders on the morning of the battle to Colonel Broadwood
+were, to take up successive positions on his (the Sirdar's) right
+flank, and to prevent the enemy's left from overlapping too far. The
+fear was that the dervishes might attack upon the north or weakest
+side of the zereba. After rejoining the infantry towards the end of
+the assault made on Macdonald's brigade we were formed into two lines.
+Turning our backs to the Nile, that is, facing west, we galloped in
+pursuit of the retreating dervishes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> For four miles we rode forward
+without check. Then we wheeled to the left, towards Omdurman, and
+swept the country on the right front of the Sirdar over a width of
+four miles. We were shot at repeatedly, and sometimes heavily, by
+bands of fugitives, but we never drew rein, using lance and sword upon
+all who showed fight. In that draw we made 1000 prisoners, breaking
+the Remingtons of those who had rifles and sending our captives under
+escort of a squadron to the Sirdar. When close to Omdurman we came
+across a large body of dervishes full of 'buck.' Four of our squadrons
+went for them. They charged clean through them, wheeled, and charged
+back again. That took the sting out of them, though there were still
+individual dervishes who would keep trying to charge us. Colonel
+Broadwood came up at that juncture with the supports, whereupon the
+enemy all bolted for the hills. At 2 p.m. we reported to headquarters,
+and, following the infantry, went to water our horses at the Nile. The
+same afternoon we passed through part of Omdurman and went out upon
+the open desert to the south-west. At 6.30 p.m. Slatin Pasha brought
+us orders to start immediately in pursuit of the Khalifa. We went on
+as best we could until 8.30 p.m., without food or water. Trying to run
+in towards the river to procure both, for a gunboat was to carry our
+supplies, we found it was impossible to get within two miles of the
+Nile owing to the overflow having turned the margin into boggy land.
+Besides, the bushy inaccessible ground was teeming with hostile
+dervishes. We had missed our way. Without off-saddling, we bivouacked
+where<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> we were, forming square. At 4 a.m. we mounted and rode on,
+going until 8.30 a.m., when we got down to the river. There Slatin
+Pasha quitted us, returning to Omdurman. We halted for an hour,
+watered and fed our poor horses, and had a bite for ourselves. Then we
+remounted and rode fifteen miles farther south. We had reached a point
+just thirty-five miles south of Omdurman. Our horses had been going
+almost continuously for four days previously, the forage was finished,
+and the animals exhausted, so we again halted. Supplies had been
+ordered forward to that spot, but the overflow prevented us from being
+able to get near enough the native boats to draw upon them for stores.
+We decided to bivouac there and take our chance of being able somehow
+to get at the boats. Next morning we were ordered back into Omdurman.
+Slatin Pasha had learned from fugitives and natives that the Khalifa
+was still twenty-five miles ahead of us. Abdullah had with him 100
+Taaisha Baggara, and had procured fresh camels and horses, so was
+'going strong,' too good for us to catch up. The riverside country
+people could not credit that we had defeated the Khalifa and taken
+Omdurman. On our way back we picked up six of Osman Digna's
+Hadendowas. They said Osman was riding with the Khalifa, showing him
+the tracks and bypaths, with all of which he was familiar. We heard
+that neither Osman nor the Khalifa was wounded, and that Sheikh Ed Din
+was likewise untouched."</p>
+
+<p>It has been too readily accepted that the Black, although an
+incomparably fine infantry-man, would not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> make a good trooper. There
+are Blacks and Blacks as there are "Browns and Browns." Many of the
+negroid races of the Central Soudan are excellent horsemen. The dash
+of the Khalifa's mounted men was superb. So it came about that after
+Omdurman the Sirdar decided to reinforce the Egyptian cavalry with a
+newly raised squadron or two composed entirely of Blacks. Ex-dervishes
+of suitable smartness and physique were permitted to join the new
+body, the ranks of which were filled in a very short time, for
+hundreds eagerly volunteered. The accounts I have since heard of the
+1st Black Cavalry are eminently favourable. There can be no doubt
+about one thing,&mdash;whatever may be said of fellaheen troopers, the
+Blacks will charge home.</p>
+
+<p>Another matter that merits a little more detail is the action fought
+by Major Stuart Wortley's "friendlies," and the work accomplished by
+the flotilla under Commander Keppel, R.N. It was the gunboats that
+transported the British infantry from their camps at Dakhala and
+Darmali so smartly to Wad Habeshi. Their assistance in that respect
+reduced the campaign from one of months to days, and lessened the
+risks to the troops. Eight steamers arrived at Dakhala on one
+occasion, and the transport department did its duty so well that they
+were loaded and despatched back up stream within twenty-four hours.
+Royan Island had not only been made a dep&ocirc;t of stores, but a
+sanatorium where sick officers and men were sent as a "pick 'em up."
+An order from the Sirdar on the 30th of August was wired to Royan, to
+find 235 men and 8 officers who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> were well enough to man the gunboats,
+to be in short amateur marines. At that date there were 327 sick upon
+the island. Most of them were eager to get to the front, but the
+doctors would not certify that any of them were able to bear the
+fatigue of marching. There was therefore great rejoicing among the
+more convalescent, for they had begun to despair of seeing the fight.
+The hospital state showed that there were then at Royan 46 men of the
+Warwicks, 69 of the Lincolns, 62 of the Seaforths, 36 of the Camerons,
+19 of the Grenadier Guards, 42 of the Northumberland Fusiliers, 42 of
+the Lancashire Fusiliers, and 21 of the Rifles. From 25 to 40 men were
+marched on board each of the gunboats the same day. Captain Ferguson
+of the Northumberland Fusiliers became marine officer on board the
+"Sultan," Lieutenant Allardice went to the "Sheik," Lieutenant Seymour
+of the Grenadier Guards to the "Melik," Captain Ritchie to the
+"Nazir," Lieutenant Arbuthnot to the "El Hafir," and Lieutenant
+Jackson and other officers respectively to the "Tamai," "Fatah,"
+"Metemmeh," etc.</p>
+
+<p>On the 31st of August the "Melik" kept abreast of the cavalry acting
+as a screen. At noon of the same day the "Sultan" and the "Melik" and
+"Nazir" were sent to shell the dervish tents and tukals seen to the
+east of Kerreri village. The enemy were found in some force, about
+3500 strong. Eight or ten shrapnel were fired into their zerebaed
+camp. Right in the middle of the tents the first shell <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>burst. The
+dervishes struck their camp instantly, and mounted men and footmen ran
+to the hills, their flight quickened by the gunboats' Maxims. Their
+zereba was burned. South Kerreri village was found unoccupied. The
+steamers proceeded a little further up stream, had a look at Tuti
+Island, and on the west bank caught sight of a body of dervishes, Emir
+Zaccharia's men, who also had a taste of shrapnel and Maxims.</p>
+
+<p>On the 1st of September at 5.30 a.m. the steamers "Sultan," "Melik,"
+"Sheik," "Nazir," "Fatah," "Tamai," and "Abu Klea" went again up the
+river to destroy the forts and land the 50-pounder Lyddite howitzer
+battery on Tuti Island, whence it was to shell Omdurman. Major Stuart
+Wortley and part of his force were also to be transferred to that
+island to support Major Elmslie's battery and clear off any dervishes.
+It was found, as I have already stated, that Tuti was unsuitable as a
+position, and the Lyddite guns were landed instead upon the east or
+right bank of the river. The "Sultan" opened the attack, firing at the
+forts and pitching shells into Omdurman. In a short time the other
+gunboats came to her assistance, and the mud forts, of which there
+were a dozen or more, were promptly silenced. Several of the dervish
+gunners' shells, however, only missed the steamers that were their
+target by a very few yards. Happily the embrasures of the forts were
+so badly made, that the enemy had but a small angle of fire. It was in
+more than one instance impossible for the dervish guns to train except
+straight to their front. The flotilla passed down behind Tuti Island,
+going by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> east bank, and were brought-to below the island. There
+the 37th R.A. Battery was landed, and the Lyddite shell fire was
+directed against the great wall and the Mahdi's tomb, the range of the
+latter being 3200 yards. Many dervishes were seen in and around
+Omdurman, and a number were noticed upon the right bank. Two of the
+gunboats remained all night to protect the Lyddite battery, using
+their electric search-lights to detect any lurking dervishes. The
+steamers fired that day several hundred shells and 8000 rounds from
+their Maxims. Captain Prince Christian Victor was attached on board
+the "Sultan," and Prince Teck, who had a sharp attack of fever and had
+temporarily to abandon his squadron in the Egyptian cavalry, saw that
+and the next day's battle from one of the other gunboats.</p>
+
+<p>On the 2nd of September the "Melik" ran a little way up stream before
+sunrise and then returned. In the first stage of the battle the
+"Nazir," "Fatah," "Sheik," "El Hafir" and another protected the south
+front of the Sirdar's camp, whilst the "Sultan," "Melik" and "Tamai"
+guarded the north end of it. There were over 100 shells were fired
+from the "Sultan" at 3000 to 2800 yards ranges. The "Melik" found the
+enemy's columns with their quick-firing 15 pounders at under 1500
+yards range on one occasion. During the second phase of the battle,
+the "Melik" dropped again down stream, and struck Sheikh Ed Din's
+column as the enemy advanced to attack Macdonald's brigade, treating
+the dervishes to all her artillery. When Omdurman was occupied by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> the
+troops the flotilla again rendered valuable help. After the action the
+gunboats were sent, part up the White, part up the Blue Nile, to carry
+the good news and break up any dervish camps. The "Sultan," "Melik,"
+"Sheik," "Nazir," and "Fatah" proceeded up the White Nile. Commander
+Keppel went 115 miles south of Omdurman. He saw but few of the enemy.
+The country was much overflowed, the river was nearly 6 miles wide in
+several places, the wooded banks and bush being under water.</p>
+
+<p>On the 2nd of September Major Stuart Wortley and his friendlies had a
+brisk engagement with Emir Isa Zaccharia. Major Elmslie had begun the
+day's battle at 5.30 a.m. with a salvo of his six guns, throwing the
+50 lb. Lyddite shells into Omdurman. Wortley's friendlies, later on,
+advanced in fine style, in open order, and drove about 800 Jehadieh
+out of a village. About 350 were killed, including their leader. The
+remainder bolted off towards the Blue Nile, pursued by the Jaalin and
+others. At the close of the action Major Wortley, Captain Buckle,
+Lieut. C. Wood, and two non-commissioned English officers walked down
+towards the point from which Major Elmslie's battery was firing. They
+were seen and charged by about twenty-five dervish horsemen. Luckily,
+heavy, boggy land intervened, and Lieut. Wood and Major Wortley
+dropped the leading horsemen, when some of the Jaalin rallied and came
+to their assistance. The rout of the Baggara was completed, the
+dervish horsemen leaving eleven dead upon the field.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>On Sunday morning, 4th September, the Press were invited by
+Headquarters to go over by steamer to Khartoum. We were told that an
+official ceremony which we ought not to miss was about to take place.
+There were an unusual number of correspondents. The previous
+restrictions and military objections to their presence had been made
+ridiculous by the widest throwing open of the door to all. The Sirdar
+and Headquarters embarked upon the "Melik." We found that
+representative detachments from all the commands in the army were
+being ferried over in boats and giassas towed by the steamers. From
+every British battalion there were present eighty-one officers and
+men. The 21st Lancers were represented by ten officers and twenty-four
+non-commissioned officers and men. Two officers and seven men were
+sent by each battery of artillery, and two officers and five men from
+the Maxim batteries. There were also representative sections from the
+Khedivial forces. As the steamers drew up alongside the stone-wall
+quay before the ruined Government House where General Gordon made his
+last stand, the soldiers were seen to be already in position. There
+was but little space between the quay wall and the buildings, for the
+d&eacute;bris of bricks and stone from the overturned structure nearly
+blocked up the former open promenade facing the muddy Blue Nile. The
+ruined walls and forts looked picturesque in their deep setting of
+dark-green palms, mimosa, and tall orange-trees. Compared with
+treeless, brown, arid Omdurman, Khartoum wore an air of romance and
+loveliness that well became such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> historic ground. An odour of blossom
+and fruit was wafted from the wild and spacious Mission and Government
+House gardens, which even the dervishes had not been able to wreck
+totally.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 350px;"><a name="Illustration_KHARTOUM" id="Illustration_KHARTOUM"></a>
+<img src="images/khartoum.jpg" width="350" height="275" alt="Distant View, Khartoum (from Blue Nile)." title="Distant View, Khartoum (from Blue Nile)." />
+<span class="caption">Distant View, Khartoum (from Blue Nile).</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Two flagstaffs had been erected upon the top of the one-storied wall
+fronting the Blue Nile. The Sirdar ranged facing the building and the
+flagstaffs. Behind him were the Headquarters Staff, the Generals of
+division, and others. To his left, formed up at right angles, were the
+representative detachments of the Egyptian army, the 11th Soudanese,
+with their red heckles in their fezzes, in the front line. Upon the
+Sirdar's right were the detachments of Gatacre's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> division, each in
+its regimental order of seniority. Standing a few paces in front of
+the Sirdar, but facing him, upon a mound of earth and bricks, were the
+four chaplains attached to the British infantry&mdash;Presbyterian, Church
+of England, Roman Catholic, and Wesleyan. <em>En passant</em>, though it is
+an army secret, in nothing was the Sirdar's power and strong will more
+manifest than in securing the presence that day in amity of the four
+representatives of religion. One of the reverend gentlemen, presumably
+on the strength of the superior claims of his orthodoxy, refused to
+join in any service in which clergymen of any other denomination bore
+a part. The Sirdar sent a peremptory order, without a word of
+explanation, for that cleric to embark forthwith and return to Cairo.
+Instead, he hastened to Headquarters and made his peace, and had the
+order withdrawn. Upon their right was a small body of Royal Engineer
+officers, Gordon's own corps. A hundred natives or more had gathered
+on the outside, wondering what was going to happen. The Sirdar himself
+had been the first to land upon the quay and walk towards the
+building, the windows of which Gordon had caused to be filled in to
+stop entrance of the dervish bullets from Tuti. There were plenty of
+marks of the enemy's musketry fire, as well as the dents of shell and
+round shot. The former official entrance was within a littered
+courtyard upon the opposite side of the building. It was whilst
+descending the interior stairway to meet the dervishes that Gordon was
+hacked and slain by the fierce fanatics and his body cast into the
+courtyard.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>Ten o'clock was the official hour notified for the ceremonial, which
+commenced upon a signal from the Sirdar. A British band played a few
+bars of "God Save the Queen." Whilst all were saluting, Lieutenant
+Stavely, R.N., and Captain J. Watson, A.D.C., standing on the west
+side of the wall ran up a brilliant silk Union Jack to the top of
+their flagstaff, hauling the halyard taut as the flag flapped smartly
+in the breeze. It had barely begun to ascend when Lieutenant Milford
+and Effendi Bakr, at the adjacent pole, ran up the Egyptian flag.
+Thereupon an Egyptian band played at some length the Khedivial hymn.
+At its close the Sirdar called for three cheers for "The Queen," which
+were given voluminously, even the natives shouting, though, perhaps,
+they didn't quite know why. Three cheers for the Khedive were also
+heartily given. Meantime the "Melik's" quick-firing guns were rolling
+out a royal salute, and, as usual with them, making things jump aboard
+the lightly built craft and smashing glass and crockery in all
+directions.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 474px;"><a name="Illustration_FLAGS" id="Illustration_FLAGS"></a>
+<img src="images/flags.jpg" width="474" height="332" alt="Hoisting Flags, Khartoum." title="Hoisting Flags, Khartoum." />
+<span class="caption">Hoisting Flags, Khartoum.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Ere the echo of cannon had died away another ceremony had begun. The
+British band played softly the "Dead March in Saul," and every head
+was bared in memory of Gordon. His funeral obsequies were at last
+taking place upon the spot where he fell. Then the Egyptian band
+played their quaint funeral march, and the native men and women,
+understanding that, and whom it was played for, raised their
+prolonged, shrill, wailing cry. Count Calderai, the Italian Military
+Attach&eacute;, who stood near the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> Sirdar, was deeply affected, whilst Count
+von Tiedmann, the German Attach&eacute;, who appeared in his magnificent
+white Cuirassier uniform on the occasion, was even more keenly
+impressed, a soldier's tears coursing down his cheeks. But there!
+Other eyes were wet, and cheeks too, as well as his, and bronzed
+veterans were not ashamed of it either. Sadness and bitter memories!
+So the Gordon legend, if you will, shall live as long as the English
+name endures. A brief pause, and in gentle voice and manner the Rev.
+John M. Sims, Presbyterian Chaplain&mdash;Gordon's faith&mdash;broke the
+silence. In his brief prayer he said: "Our help is in the name of the
+Lord who made heaven and earth." Then he observed, "Let us hear God's
+word as written for our instruction," reading from Psalm <span class="psalm">XV.</span> the
+following verses: "Lord, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle? Who shall
+dwell in Thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh
+righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth
+not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a
+reproach against his neighbour. In whose eyes a vile person is
+contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth
+to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that putteth not out his money
+to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these
+things shall never be moved." "And to God's great name shall be all
+the praise and glory, world without end. Amen." When Mr Sims had
+concluded, the Rev. A. W. B. Watson, Church of England Chaplain,
+recited the Lord's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 259]<br />[Pg 260]<br />[Pg 261]</a></span> Prayer. Following him the Rev. R. Brindle, Roman
+Catholic Chaplain, prayed, saying: "O Almighty God, by whose
+providence are all things which come into the lives of men, whether of
+suffering which Thou permittest, or of joy and gladness which Thou
+givest, look down, we beseech Thee, with eyes of pity and compassion
+on this land so loved by that heroic soul whose memory we honour
+before Thee this day. Give back to it days of peace. Send to it rulers
+animated by his spirit of justice and righteousness. Strengthen them
+in the might of Thy power, that they may labour in making perfect the
+work to which he devoted and for which he gave his life. And grant to
+us, Thy servants, that we may copy his virtues of self-sacrifice and
+fortitude, so that when Thou callest we may each be able to answer, 'I
+have fought the good fight,'&mdash;a blessing which we humbly ask in the
+name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen."</p>
+
+<p>When Father Brindle had concluded, the pipers, accompanied by muffled
+drums, played the Coronach as a lament. The weird Highland minstrelsy
+seemed quite in keeping with the place and solemn scene. Then the
+Khedivial band played a hymn tune, "Thy Will be Done," and the sad
+ceremony was closed to the boom of minute guns. Generals Rundle,
+Gatacre, and Hunter then stepped forward and congratulated the Sirdar
+upon the successful completion of his task, and the commanding
+officers and others, following their example, did the same. Sir
+Herbert acknowledged their greeting, and announced that the men would
+be allowed to break off for half an hour or so to go over the ruins<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>
+and gardens if they wished. Everybody availed himself of the
+opportunity. In a few minutes a throng of officers and men who had
+scrambled over the d&eacute;bris filled the roofless rooms and packed the
+stairway where Gordon was struck down. I was surprised to find that
+even the youngest, most callow soldiers knew their Khartoum and the
+story of Gordon's fight and death. So deep and far had the tale
+travelled. There were speculations and suggestions as to how the end
+exactly came about that were a revelation to me, so full of
+information and pregnant of observation were many of the men's
+remarks. Throng succeeded throng in the rooms and stairways, whilst
+others went to explore the outhouses and the gardens. The passion
+flowers and the pomegranates were in bloom, but the oranges and limes
+were in fruit. Leaves and buds were plucked by all of us as souvenirs.
+Brigade-Major Snow, who was with the Camel Corps in 1884&ndash;85 across the
+Bayuda desert, produced a tiny bottle of champagne that was to have
+been drunk in Khartoum when we got there. He opened it, and shared the
+driblet with a few of the old campaigners. By one p.m. we were all
+back again in Omdurman, leaving behind two companies of the 11th
+Battalion to hold Khartoum for the two flags, the hoisting of which,
+side by side, the Egyptians regarded as natural and most proper.</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="section_break"></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h3>
+
+<p class="chapter_summary">Khartoum Memorial College.&mdash;The Official Despatches.</p>
+
+
+<p>It was decided by the Sirdar, from whom no successful appeal was
+possible, that, after the occupation of Khartoum, the war
+correspondents had no longer any pretext for remaining in the country.
+There were no questions raised by the military to excuse their ruling.
+No more was heard about the difficulties of transport, the scarcity of
+provisions, and everything being required for the soldiers. Had not
+the keen Greek sutlers, as usual, followed the army in shoals,
+managing somehow to convey themselves and their goods to the front? We
+had not been two days encamped at Omdurman before some of these
+traders arrived, and, dumping their sacks and boxes by the wayside,
+started selling forthwith. The natives, too, speedily reassured,
+brought out and squatted before baskets of dates, onions, and other
+comestibles they were anxious to dispose of for English or Egyptian
+money. Rightly contemning the Khalifa's coinage as practically
+valueless, they refused to accept it in payment, and proffered to sell
+all they possessed at the price<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> of old copper. The British troops
+made their triumphal entry into Omdurman on the 5th of September, and
+several of the correspondents left for England the same day. We who
+remained had a sort of Hobson's choice, either to return to Cairo on
+the 8th September or to remain in Omdurman out of which we should not
+be allowed to stir until all the British troops had gone, when we
+should have to leave with the last batch. Which course we should adopt
+was with fine humour left to be decided by a majority of ourselves.
+For once the Press was practically unanimous and elected to shake the
+dust of the Soudan from their feet, and so it came about that the war
+correspondents had to fold their tents and go, disposing of their
+quadrupeds as best they could. There was no alternative in the case of
+the horses between accepting any price for them or shooting them, for,
+in the Soudan, there being no grazing, a horse must have a master or
+starve. I disposed of a &pound;40 animal for &pound;1 and got but little more for
+three others. The camels and stores fetched somewhat better prices.
+Our servants we took back to their homes.</p>
+
+<p>Yet for sundry reasons I was anxious to be allowed to remain longer in
+the Soudan. There was news of fighting and movement up the Blue Nile.
+Emir Ahmed Fadl bringing a force of 3000 dervishes from Gedarif to
+assist the Khalifa had been driven back by the gunboat "Sultan." More
+important still, rumours had reached us that the French, under
+Marchand, were at Fashoda. I knew that the Sirdar intended sending a
+force upon the gunboats up the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> White Nile to Fashoda and Sobat, so I
+made both verbal and written requests to the General for permission to
+accompany the expedition. That, I was told, could not be granted. We
+had full confirmation of the fact that Major Marchand was at Fashoda
+brought down to Omdurman on the 7th September by the dervish steamer
+"Tewfikieh." I boarded her and had a long chat with the captain (reis)
+and members of the crew, all of whom wore jibbehs. The little craft
+was an ex-Thames, above-the-bridges, penny steamer with Penn's
+oscillating engines. She was one of the boats Gordon sent from
+Khartoum in 1884 to meet the Desert Column at Metemmeh. She was, if
+possible, more dilapidated-looking than ever. By guarded questioning I
+ascertained that the "Tewfikieh" was three days out from Fashoda. She
+and the "Safieh," another dervish steamer, had been hotly fired upon
+by the French who were occupying the old Egyptian fort with 100
+Senegalese or natives of Timbuctoo. A number of local natives,
+Shilluks, who had long been hostile to the dervishes, were
+co-operating with the strangers. The reis accurately described the
+French flag which was flying over the works and the appearance of the
+Europeans. I was also able to procure several of the Lebel rifle
+bullets that had entered the upper structure of the steamer. The
+censor struck out from my telegrams all allusion to the presence of
+the French at Fashoda, and I had to wait until I returned to Lower
+Egypt to transmit the news to London. I openly held that the Fashoda
+affair should be promptly and fully dis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>closed to the British public,
+and I acted upon that conviction.</p>
+
+<p>The "Safieh" remained up the Nile, making fast to the bank about 100
+miles north of Fashoda, to await the return of the "Tewfikieh" with
+orders from the Khalifa and reinforcements to destroy the French. No
+doubt there was an attempt made to carry out an Anglophobe idea of
+effecting a friendly alliance with the Mahdists so as to secure to
+France the right of access to the Nile and the Bahr el Ghazal. It was
+an effort to achieve the impossible, to negotiate a treaty with wild
+beasts. Had the dervishes, or even the "Safieh's" people who were
+drumming up recruits, been granted a fortnight to do it in the
+Marchand expedition would have been totally destroyed. The "Tewfikieh"
+arrived in a dust-storm and passed the Sirdar's gunboats unseen, and
+it was not until she got to Omdurman that the dervish reis and crew
+realised what had happened. With quick wit the skipper acted, for
+those who go upon waters are of a catholicity of creed and
+good-fellowship very different from ordinary landsmen. He ran his
+craft to the bank, landed with one of his crew and paid a visit to
+headquarters, where he surrendered himself and his craft. Both were at
+once accepted, and during the course of the same day the "Tewfikieh"
+again hoisted the Khedivial flag and was employed in towing and ferry
+work. The captain and crew stood by their ship working her, and though
+dressed as dervishes were on the flotilla muster-roll for wages and
+rations. The like befell the other dervish steamers that came into
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> Sirdar's hands. For two days there was a sale of the loot
+captured by the army. Arms, drums, flags, and nearly all the smaller
+articles found in the arsenal were auctioned. Some &pound;4000 or more of
+ivory and other merchandise were put aside. On the first day big
+prices were paid by officers and men for trophies, but the following
+day spears and swords were sold for trifling sums. The money derived
+from the sale was set aside for distribution as prize money. All the
+battalions, batteries, and corps had, however, free gifts of guns,
+flags, or other trophies for souvenirs. On the afternoon of the 8th
+September the correspondents and their belongings proceeded on the
+horribly frowsy, rat-overrun, dervish steamer "Bordein" to Dakhala,
+the railhead. The steamer was packed upon and below deck with British
+soldiers, about 50 of whom were sick, whilst several were wounded.
+Stowed almost like cattle, sitting, squatting, lying anywhere, anyhow,
+without shade or shelter, we underwent two days of it on board. It was
+found necessary to tie up occasionally for wood (fuel), and at night
+the steamer was always moored to the bank. These occasions provided
+the needed opportunity to prepare and partake of meals, and find space
+to sleep upon the shore. But it was war-time, and extra roughing-it is
+always an accompaniment of the game in uncivilised countries. Within a
+week, thanks to the desert railway and the post-boats, we were back
+enjoying the delicious flesh-pots of Egypt, first on board Messrs
+Cook's magnificent Nile steamers, and thereafter in Shepheard's hotel,
+Cairo.</p>
+
+<p>On the way down I saw something and heard more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> of the excellent
+base-hospital established at Abadia, of which Lieut.-Col. Clery,
+R.A.M.C., was in charge. Landing stages had been erected for receiving
+the sick and wounded, and wells were dug from which, owing to
+infiltration, clear water was drawn for use in the hospital. All
+water, however, used for food or drink was in addition filtered and
+boiled. The percentage of recovery by patients was eminently
+satisfactory. Major Battersby, R.A.M.C, had a R&ouml;ntgen Ray apparatus
+which was employed in twenty-two cases to locate bullets and
+fractures. In connection with the treatment of the sick and wounded,
+it is to be regretted that earlier and greater use was not made of the
+National Aid Society's offer to provide steamers properly fitted for
+carrying invalids. A railway journey in Egypt or the Soudan is, at the
+best, a painful experience for even those who are well. From Assouan
+to Cairo every invalided soldier could and should have been
+transported by water, on just such a craft as the hospital,
+"Mayflower," which the Society promptly and admirably equipped the
+moment the authorities gave their consent. As early as June 1898
+Lieut.-Col. Young, on behalf of the Red Cross Society, wrote
+intimating a desire to assist, entirely at their own expense, in the
+expedition. This application met with a refusal, and it was not until
+the 1st of August 1898 that the Foreign Office replied to a subsequent
+appeal that the Sirdar would gladly accept their proffer. Had the
+matter been settled in June, instead of August, there could have been
+three hospital ships plying, enough to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>transport every sick soldier
+by water. By the 6th of September the "Mayflower" was ready with a
+crew and a complement of nurses. The army provided their own medical
+staff, the Society running the steamer and supplying the cuisine,
+which was under the direction of a French "chef." The "Mayflower" was
+able to convey, in most comfortable quarters, with every possible
+attention to their needs, seventy-two sick and wounded soldiers.
+Pjamas, socks, shirts and other necessaries were given free to every
+patient. The steamer did good service, making at least three round
+trips to bring down patients.</p>
+
+<p>The wounds received in battle had scarce been dressed before the
+Sirdar was seeking to give effect to his schemes for the well-being of
+the Soudanese. Means were taken for the speedy connecting by telegraph
+of Suakin and Berber, Suakin, Kassala, Gedarif, Khartoum. The wire
+from Dakhala to Nasri was brought on to Omdurman a few days after the
+victory. Arrangements were further made to bridge the Atbara and carry
+forward the Wady Halfa-Abu Hamed-Dakhala line along the east bank to a
+point upon the Blue Nile opposite Khartoum. That railway will be
+completed in 1899, and there will be through train service from Wady
+Halfa to the junction of the two Niles. With the suitable steamers
+already in hand, there should be, all the year round, water
+communication up the Blue Nile for hundreds of miles, and upon the
+White Nile, with a few porterages, to the Great Equatorial Lakes, and
+west through the Bahr el Ghazal country. So much was for commerce, for
+material benefaction, but there was besides recognition<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> of what was
+due to higher needs. I knew the Sirdar had long entertained the idea
+of fitly commemorating General Gordon's glorious self-abnegation in
+striving to help the natives, single-handed, fighting unto death
+ignorance and fanaticism. A scheme that would provide for the
+education of the youth of the Soudan, conveying to them the stores of
+knowledge taught in the colleges of civilised countries, was what he
+aimed at. The desired institution should be founded in Khartoum, which
+was to become a centre of light and guidance for the new nation being
+born to rule Central Africa. As the Mussulman is nothing if not
+fanatical whenever religious questions are introduced, it was to be a
+foundation solely devoted to teaching exact knowledge without any
+"ism."</p>
+
+<p>I had the opportunity afforded me of several conversations with the
+Sirdar upon the subject so dear to him, "a Gordon Memorial College in
+Khartoum." The substance of these interviews I cabled fully to the
+<em>Daily Telegraph</em>, which, with most other journals, warmly advocated
+the carrying out of the scheme. It was certain that Gordon and
+Khartoum would remain objects of interest to our race, and that public
+sentiment demanded the erection of some proper memorial of the sad
+past. Nothing better than the founding of a People's College could be
+thought of. Lamentable ignorance of the world and all therein was and
+yet is the direct curse of the land. The natives have had no
+opportunity of learning anything beyond the parrot-smattering of the
+Koran, the one book of Moslem schools. The rudimentary knowledge
+common<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> to British schoolboys transcends all the learning of the wise
+in the Soudan. The people, Arabs and blacks, are docile and capable of
+readily learning everything taught in the ordinary scholastic
+curriculum at home. With a minimum annual income of &pound;1500 a year,
+teachers and apparatus could, it was said, be provided, although in
+addition five or six thousand pounds sterling would be required for
+preliminary outlay. The land and part of the necessary buildings, the
+Sirdar intimated, would probably be presented as a gift by the
+Egyptian Government. It would be futile, as all knew, trying to
+succeed with a staff of native teachers. Tribal relations and other
+causes stood in the way, and unless the college was to be doomed to
+failure it would have to be launched and conducted by virile European
+professors. Much if not all of the food required for the staff and
+scholars could be purchased cheaply or might be raised in the college
+grounds by the pupils themselves. Technical training would be taught
+hand in hand with the ordinary courses. These were the outlines of the
+Sirdar's communications, who, by the way, at that date was already
+being known as Lord Kitchener of Khartoum. It having been noticed that
+certain dignitaries and others were, through the press, ruining the
+scheme by attempts to foist upon it theological and medical schools, a
+complete answer was found for their statements by a near relative of
+Gordon Pasha. In the course of conversation he referred to what I knew
+to be the facts, that the British and Egyptian army doctors wherever
+stationed in the Soudan, or from Assouan south, were wont to give<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>
+medicines and professional services to the civil population free of
+charge. General Gordon, I was authorised to state, was no
+narrow-spirited Christian, for he always put the need of giving
+education before attempts at proselytising. It is not generally known
+amongst strait-laced sectarians or churchmen that Gordon Pasha, at his
+own expense, built a mosque for the devout Mohammedans whom he ruled,
+and that his name, as worthy to be remembered in Moslem annals, is
+inscribed upon the walls of the Mosque at Mecca. That General Gordon
+was a staunch Christian goes without saying, but he was no churl who
+could not esteem and respect the faith of his fellow-men. But the case
+is well summed up in Lord Kitchener's subsequent letter to the press.</p>
+
+<p>The Sirdar wrote:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="sir">Sir</span>,&mdash;I trust that it will not be thought that I am trespassing
+too much upon the goodwill of the British public, or that I am
+exceeding the duties of a soldier, if I call your attention to an
+issue of very grave importance arising immediately out of the
+recent campaign in the Soudan. That region now lies in the pathway
+of our Empire, and a numerous population has become practically
+dependent upon men of our race.</p>
+
+<p>"A responsible task is henceforth laid upon us, and those who have
+conquered are called upon to civilise. In fact, the work
+interrupted since the death of Gordon must now be resumed.</p>
+
+<p>"It is with this conviction that I venture to lay before you a
+proposal which, if it met with the approval and support of the
+British public and of the English-speaking race, would prove of
+inestimable benefit to the Soudan and to Africa. The area of the
+Soudan comprises a population of upwards of three million persons,
+of whom it may be said that they are wholly uneducated. The
+dangers arising from that fact are too obvious and have been too
+painfully felt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> during many years past for me to dwell upon them.
+In the course of time, no doubt, an education of some sort, and
+administered by some hands, will be set on foot. But if Khartoum
+could be made forthwith the centre of an education supported by
+British funds and organised from Britain, there would be secured
+to this country indisputably the first place in Africa as a
+civilising power, and an effect would be created which would be
+felt for good throughout the central regions of that continent. I
+accordingly propose that at Khartoum there should be founded and
+maintained with British money a college bearing the name of the
+Gordon Memorial College, to be a pledge that the memory of Gordon
+is still alive among us, and that his aspirations are at length to
+be realised.</p>
+
+<p>"Certain questions will naturally arise as to whom exactly we
+should educate, and as to the nature of the education to be given.
+Our system would need to be gradually built up. We should begin by
+teaching the sons of the leading men, the heads of villages, and
+the heads of districts. They belong to a race very capable of
+learning and ready to learn. The teaching, in its early stages,
+would be devoted to purely elementary subjects, such as reading,
+writing, geography, and the English language. Later, and after
+these preliminary stages had been passed, a more advanced course
+would be instituted, including a training in technical subjects
+specially adapted to the requirements of those who inhabit the
+Valley of the Upper Nile. The principal teachers in the college
+would be British and the supervision of the arrangements would be
+vested in the Governor-General of the Soudan. I need not add that
+there would be no interference with the religion of the people.</p>
+
+<p>"The fund required for the establishment of such a college is
+&pound;100,000. Of this, &pound;10,000 would be appropriated to the initial
+outlay, while the remaining &pound;90,000 would be invested, and the
+revenue thence derived would go to the maintenance of the college
+and the support of the staff of teachers. It would be clearly
+impossible at first to require payment from the pupils, but as the
+college developed and the standard of its teaching rose, it would
+be fair to demand fees in respect of this higher education, which
+would thus support itself, and render the college independent of
+any further call upon the public. It is for the provision of this
+sum of &pound;100,000<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> that I now desire to appeal, on behalf of a race
+dependent upon our mercy, in the name of Gordon, and in the cause
+of that civilisation which is the life of the Empire of Britain.</p>
+
+<p>"I am authorised to state that Her Majesty the Queen has been
+graciously pleased to become the patron of the movement. His Royal
+Highness the Prince of Wales has graciously consented to become
+vice-patron.</p>
+
+<p>"I may state that a general council of the leading men of the
+country is in course of formation. Lord Hillingdon has kindly
+consented to accept the post of hon. treasurer. The Hon. George
+Peel has accepted to act as hon. secretary, and all communications
+should be addressed to him at 67, Lombard Street, London, E.C.
+Subscriptions should be paid to the Sirdar's Fund for the 'Gordon
+Memorial College' at Khartoum, Messrs Glyn, Mills, Currie, &amp; Co.,
+67, Lombard Street, London, E.C.</p>
+
+<p>"Enclosed herewith is a letter from the Marquis of Salisbury, in
+which he states that this scheme represents the only policy by
+which the civilising mission of this country can effectively be
+accomplished. His lordship adds that it is only to the rich men of
+this country that it is possible for me to look, yet I should be
+glad for this appeal to find its way to all classes of our people.</p>
+
+<p>"I further enclose a letter from the Baroness Burdett-Coutts,
+whose devotion to the cause of Africa has been not the least of
+her magnificent services. I forward, besides, an important
+telegram from the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, and letters of great
+weight from the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, and the Lord Provost of
+Glasgow. I would venture to address myself to the other great
+municipalities of the Kingdom.</p>
+
+<p>"Above all, it is in the hands of the Press of this country that I
+place this cause. I look with confidence to your support in the
+discharge of this high obligation.&mdash;I have the honour to remain,
+yours faithfully,</p>
+
+<p class="letter_signed">"(Signed) <span class="personname">Kitchener of Khartoum</span>."</p></div>
+
+<p>Lords Salisbury and Rosebery, and many more distinguished personages,
+followed the example of the Sovereign and the Prince of Wales and
+became sup<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>porters of the proposed institution. In the Metropolis as
+well as in all the chief towns of the Kingdom the matter was taken up
+enthusiastically. An influential committee was formed. The
+subscriptions were showered in from home and abroad, wherever the
+English tongue was spoken and Gordon had been known. In less than a
+month the &pound;100,000, and considerably more, were subscribed, and the
+establishment of the Memorial College assured.</p>
+
+<p>Lieut.-Colonel C. S. B. Parsons, R.A., Governor of Kassala and the Red
+Sea littoral, to whom I have previously referred when we were
+advancing against Omdurman, was menacing the dervish outpost of
+Gedarif. Later on, when Ahmed Fadl was marching to reinforce his
+master the Khalifa, Colonel Parsons was leading his Egyptians,
+Abyssinian irregulars, and friendlies from Kassala up the head waters
+or khor of the Atbara, far to the southward, and thence to a tributary
+of the Blue Nile where the enemy had long had a garrison. The fifteen
+years' campaign against Mahdism was nigh over, but not quite
+concluded, with the victory of Omdurman. On receiving the check from
+the gunboats, Fadl and his dervishes retreated up the Blue Nile to
+where they had come from, their own country upon the borders of
+Abyssinia. News seems to have reached them of Colonel Parsons'
+advance, and it became a race for Gedarif. The Egyptians had a good
+start, and managed to reach and capture the place and occupy the two
+forts, one on either side of the river, or, what it is more
+frequently, the khor, before the dervishes got back. Fadl was a man
+of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> mettle and resolutely assaulted the town and forts of which he had
+so long been governor. A desperate action ensued, but Fadl was beaten
+off with a loss of 700, it is said, in killed and wounded. The
+casualties in Colonel Parsons' force were about 100. But the
+dervishes, though severely beaten, soon returned to attack the forts.
+With increased numbers they sat down before the place and began to
+harass sorely the Egyptian troops, cutting their communications with
+Kassala, whence by wire to Massowah over the Italian lines and up the
+Red Sea to Egypt the Sirdar was able to keep in touch with Colonel
+Parsons. They endeavoured again, on several occasions, to storm one or
+other of the forts, which were about half a mile apart, but happily
+they were invariably repulsed. Still they persisted in their tactics
+of worrying, evidently determined to recapture the place. At last
+matters grew so serious that Major-General Rundle was sent with a
+brigade of infantry and several batteries to deal with Ahmed Fadl's
+dervishes. Advancing up the Blue Nile in gunboats, the Egyptian force
+cleared the banks of all the many wandering armed bands of the enemy.
+Through the aid of the wily Abyssinian scouts, information was sent to
+and received from Colonel Parsons and a plan arranged for catching
+Fadl and his men between two attacking columns. Seventeen hundred men
+of the Omdurman force attacked the dervishes on one side, whilst
+Colonel Parsons' garrison assailed them from the other. The enemy were
+completely routed and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>scattered in all directions. Hundreds of
+dervishes were slain, and ultimately many who escaped were so closely
+pressed by friendlies and Abyssinians that they surrendered. A
+thousand fugitive Baggara or so vainly tried to make their way up the
+Blue Nile, in order to retire to their former country in Kordofan.
+They were caught crossing far up stream, near Rosaires, by Colonel
+Lewis, vigorously attacked, defeated, and finally scattered. Thus the
+last dervish army in the field was destroyed, and the country
+reclaimed to the side of peace, order, and civilised government.</p>
+
+<p>The following are the official despatches of Lieutenant-General Sir
+Francis Grenfell, who commanded the British troops in Egypt, and of
+the Sirdar, relating to the battle of Omdurman:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p class="despatches">The Official Despatches.</p>
+<p class="kitchener_head">Headquarters, Cairo, <em>September 16, 1898</em>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="sir">Sir</span>,&mdash;1. I have the honour to forward a despatch from
+Major-General Sir H. Kitchener, K.C.B., Sirdar, describing the
+later phases of the Soudan Campaign, and the final action on 2nd
+September.</p>
+
+<p>2. The Sirdar, in this despatch, recounts in brief, simple terms
+the events of the closing phase of one of the most successful
+campaigns ever conducted by a British General against a savage
+foe, resulting in the capture of Omdurman, the destruction of the
+dervish power in the Soudan, and the reopening of the waterway to
+the Equatorial Provinces.</p>
+
+<p>3. The concentration of the army on the Atbara was carried out to
+the hour, and the arrangements for the transport of the force to
+the vicinity of the battle-field were made by the Sirdar and his
+staff with consummate ability. All difficulties were foreseen and
+provided for, and, from the start of the campaign to its close at
+Omdurman, operations have been conducted with a precision and
+completeness which have been beyond all praise; while the skill
+shown in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> advance was equalled by the ability with which the
+army was commanded in the field.</p>
+
+<p>The Sirdar's admirable disposition of the force, the accurate fire
+of the artillery and Maxims, and the steady fire discipline of the
+infantry, assisted by the gunboats, enabled him to destroy his
+enemy at long range before the bulk of the British and Egyptian
+force came under any severe rifle fire, and to this cause may be
+attributed the comparatively small list of casualties. Never were
+greater results achieved at such a trifling cost.</p>
+
+<p>4. The heavy loss in killed and wounded in the 21st Lancers is to
+be deeply regretted. But the charge itself, against an
+overwhelming force of sword and spear men over difficult ground,
+and under unfavourable conditions, was worthy of the best
+traditions of British cavalry.</p>
+
+<p>5. As regards the force employed, I can say with truth that never,
+in the course of my service, have I seen a finer body of troops
+than the British contingent of cavalry, artillery, engineers, and
+infantry placed at the disposal of the Sirdar, as regards
+physique, smartness, and soldierlike bearing. The appearance of
+the men speaks well for the present recruiting department, and was
+a source of pride to every Englishman who saw them.</p>
+
+<p>6. While thoroughly endorsing the Sirdar's recommendations, I
+desire to call attention to the good work done by Major-General
+Henderson, C.B., and staff at Alexandria, who conducted the
+disembarkation of the force, and by my own staff at Cairo.</p>
+
+<p>On Colonel H. Cooper, Assistant Adjutant-General, and
+Lieut.-Colonel L. A. Hope, Deputy-Assistant Adjutant-General, fell
+the brunt of the work in the despatch of the British Division to
+the front.</p>
+
+<p>I also desire to acknowledge the services of Brevet-Colonel A. O.
+Green, Commanding Royal Engineer; Surgeon-General H. S. Muir,
+M.D., Principal Medical Officer; Lieut.-Colonel F. O. Leggett,
+Army Ordnance Department; Colonel F. Treffry, Army Pay Department;
+Veterinary-Captain Blenkinsop, and the junior officers of the
+various departments.</p>
+
+<p>Major Williams, my C.R.A., was indefatigable in organising the
+mule transport for the 32nd and 37th Field Batteries.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>7. I have received the greatest assistance from the Egyptian
+Railway Administration in the movements of the troops both going
+south and returning.</p>
+
+<p>Thanks to the admirable system organised by Iskander Bey Fahmy,
+the traffic manager, all the services were rapidly and punctually
+carried out.</p>
+
+<p>8. I am sending this despatch home by my <em>Aide-de-camp</em>,
+Lieutenant H. Grenfell, 1st Life Guards, who acted as Orderly
+Officer to Brigadier-General Honourable N. G. Lyttelton, C.B.,
+commanding Second British Brigade in the Soudan.&mdash;I have, &amp;c.,</p>
+
+<p class="letter_signed"><span class="personname">Francis Grenfell</span>, Lieutenant-General,<br />
+Commanding in Egypt.</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<p>The despatch from Major-General Sir Herbert Kitchener, Sirdar, to
+Lieutenant-General Sir Francis Grenfell, commanding in Egypt, was as
+follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p class="kitchener_head">Omdurman, <em>September 5, 1898</em>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="sir">Sir</span>,&mdash;It having been decided that an expeditionary force of
+British and Egyptian troops should be sent against the Khalifa's
+army in Omdurman, I have the honour to inform you that the
+following troops were concentrated at the North End of the Sixth
+Cataract, in close proximity to which an advanced supply dep&ocirc;t had
+been previously formed at Nasri Island.</p>
+
+<p><span class="troops">British Troops.</span>&mdash;21st Lancers; 32nd Field Battery, Royal
+Artillery; 37th Howitzer Battery, Royal Artillery; 2 40-prs.,
+Royal Artillery. Infantry Division:&mdash;1st Brigade: 1st Battalion
+Warwickshire Regiment, 1st Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, 1st
+Battalion Seaforth Highlanders, 1st Battalion Cameron Highlanders,
+6 Maxims, Detachment Royal Engineers. 2nd Brigade: 1st Battalion
+Grenadier Guards, 1st Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, 2nd
+Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade, 4
+Maxims, Detachment Royal Engineers.</p>
+
+<p><span class="troops">Egyptian Troops.</span>&mdash;9 Squadrons, Cavalry; 1 Battery, Horse
+Artillery; 4 Field Batteries; 10 Maxims; 8 Companies, Camel Corps.
+1st Brigade: 2nd Egyptian Battalion; 9th, 10th, and 11th<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>
+Soudanese Battalions. 2nd Brigade: 8th Egyptian Battalion; 12th,
+13th, and 14th Soudanese Battalions. 3rd Brigade: 3rd, 4th, 7th,
+and 15th Egyptian Battalions. 4th Brigade: 1st, 5th, 17th, and
+18th Egyptian Battalions. Camel Transport.</p>
+
+<p>On 24th August the troops began moving by successive divisions to
+Jebel Royan, where a dep&ocirc;t of supplies and a British communication
+hospital of two hundred beds were established.</p>
+
+<p>On 28th August, the army marched to Wadi el Abid, and on the
+following day proceeded to Sayal, from whence I despatched a
+letter to the Khalifa, warning him to remove his women and
+children, as I intended to bombard Omdurman unless he surrendered.</p>
+
+<p>Next day the army marched to Sururab, and on September 1 reached
+the village of Egeiga, two miles south of the Kerreri hills, and
+within six miles of Omdurman. Patrols of the enemy's horsemen were
+frequently seen during the march falling back before our cavalry,
+and their outposts being driven in beyond Egeiga, our advanced
+scouts came in full view of Omdurman, from which large bodies of
+the enemy were seen streaming out and marching north.</p>
+
+<p>At noon, from the slopes of Jebel Surgham, I saw the entire
+dervish army some three miles off advancing towards us, the
+Khalifa's black flag surrounded by his Mulazimin (body-guard)
+being plainly discernible. I estimated their numbers at 35,000
+men, though, from subsequent investigation, this figure was
+probably under-estimated, their actual strength being between
+forty and fifty thousand. From information received, I gather that
+it was the Khalifa's intention to have met us with this force at
+Kerreri, but our rapid advance surprised him.</p>
+
+<p>The troops were at once disposed around the village of Egeiga,
+which formed an excellent position with a clear field of fire in
+every direction, and shelter-trenches and zerebas were prepared.</p>
+
+<p>At 2 p.m. our vedettes reported that the enemy had halted, and
+later on it was observed that they were preparing bivouacs and
+lighting fires. Information was received that the Khalifa
+contemplated a night attack on our position, and preparations to
+repel this were made, at the same time the Egeiga villagers were
+sent out to obtain information in the direction of the enemy's
+camp with the idea that we intended a night attack, and, this
+coming to the Khalifa's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> knowledge, he decided to remain in his
+position; consequently, we passed an undisturbed night in the
+zereba.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile the gunboats, under Commander Keppel, which had shelled
+the dervish advanced camp near Kerreri on 31st August, proceeded
+at daylight on 1st September, towing the Howitzer Battery to the
+right bank, whence, in conjunction with the Irregulars under Major
+Stuart Wortley, their advance south was continued. After two forts
+had been destroyed and the villages gallantly cleared by the
+Irregulars, the Howitzers were landed in a good position on the
+right bank, from whence an effective fire was opened on Omdurman,
+and, after a few rounds, the conspicuous dome over the Mahdi's
+tomb was partially demolished, whilst the gunboats, steaming past
+the town, also effectually bombarded the forts, which replied with
+a heavy, but ill-directed fire.</p>
+
+<p>At dawn on the following morning (2nd September), our mounted
+patrols reported the enemy advancing to attack, and by 6.30 a.m.
+the Egyptian Cavalry, which had been driven in, took up a position
+with the Horse Artillery, Camel Corps, and four Maxims on the
+Kerreri ridge on our right flank.</p>
+
+<p>At 6.40 a.m. the shouts of the advancing dervish army became
+audible, and a few minutes later their flags appeared over the
+rising ground, forming a semi-circle round our left and front
+faces. The guns of the 32nd Field Battery opened fire at 6.45 a.m.
+at a range of two thousand eight hundred yards, and the dervishes,
+continuing to advance rapidly, delivered their attack with all
+their accustomed dash and intrepidity. In a short time the troops
+and Maxims on the left and front were hotly engaged, whilst the
+enemy's riflemen, taking up positions on the slopes of Jebel
+Surgham, brought a long-range fire to bear on the zereba, causing
+some casualties, and their spearmen, continually reinforced from
+the rear, made attempt after attempt to reach our lines.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after 8.0 a.m. the enemy's main attack was repulsed. At
+this period a large and compact body of dervishes was observed
+attempting to march round our right, and advancing with great
+rapidity they soon became engaged with our mounted troops on the
+Kerreri ridge. One of the gunboats which had been disposed to
+protect the river flanks at once proceeded down stream to afford
+assist<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>ance to the somewhat hardly-pressed mounted troops, and
+coming within close range of the dervishes inflicted heavy loss on
+them, upwards of 450 men being killed in a comparatively
+circumscribed area. The Artillery and Maxims on the left face of
+the zereba also co-operated, and the enemy was forced to retire
+again under cover of the hills.</p>
+
+<p>All attacks on our position having failed, and the enemy having
+retired out of range, I sent out the 21st Lancers to clear the
+ground on our left front and head off any retreating dervishes
+from the direction of Omdurman. After crossing the slopes of Jebel
+Surgham they came upon a body of dervishes concealed in a
+depression of the ground; these they gallantly charged, but
+finding, too late to withdraw, that a much larger body of the
+enemy lay hidden, the charge was pressed home through them, and,
+after rallying on the other side, they rode back, driving off the
+dervishes, and remaining in possession of the ground. Considerable
+loss was inflicted on the enemy; but I regret to say that here
+fell Lieutenant R. Grenfell (12th Lancers) and twenty men.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile I had ordered the army to follow in &eacute;chelon of brigades
+from the left. At 9.30 a.m. the front brigades having reached the
+sand ridge running from the west end of Jebel Surgham towards the
+river, a halt was ordered to enable the rear brigades to get into
+position, and I then received information that the Khalifa was
+still present in force on the left slopes of Surgham; a change of
+front half-right of the three leading brigades was, therefore,
+ordered, and it was during this movement that Macdonald's brigade
+became hotly engaged, whilst taking up position on the right of
+the &eacute;chelon.</p>
+
+<p>Learning from General Hunter, who was with Macdonald's brigade,
+that he might require support, I despatched Wauchope's brigade to
+reinforce him, and ordered the remaining brigades to make a
+further change half-right.</p>
+
+<p>No sooner had Macdonald repelled the dervish onslaught than the
+force, which had retired behind the Kerreri hills, emerged again
+into the plain and rapidly advanced to attack him, necessitating a
+further complete change of front of his brigade to the right. This
+movement was admirably executed, and now, supported by a portion
+of Wauchope's brigade on the right and by Lewis's brigade
+enfilading<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> the attack on the left, he completely crushed this
+second most determined dervish charge.</p>
+
+<p>Meantime Maxwell's and Lyttelton's brigades had been pushed on
+over the slopes of Jebel Surgham, and driving before them the
+dervish forces under the Khalifa's son, Osman Sheikh ed Din, they
+established themselves in a position which cut off the retreat on
+Omdurman of the bulk of the dervish army, who were soon seen
+streaming in a disorganised mass towards the high hills many miles
+to the west, closely pursued by the mounted troops, who cleared
+the right front and flanks of all hesitating and detached parties
+of the enemy.</p>
+
+<p>The battle was now practically over, and Lyttelton's and Maxwell's
+brigades marched down to Khor Shambat, in the direction of
+Omdurman, which was reached at 12.30 p.m., and here the troops
+rested and watered. The remainder of Hunter's division and
+Wauchope's brigade reached the same place at 3 p.m.</p>
+
+<p>At 2 p.m. I advanced with Maxwell's brigade and the 32nd Field
+Battery through the suburbs of Omdurman to the great wall of the
+Khalifa's enclosure, and, leaving two guns and three battalions to
+guard the approaches, the 13th Soudanese Battalion and four guns
+(32nd Field Battery) were pushed down by the north side of the
+wall to the river, and, accompanied by three gunboats which had
+been previously ordered to be ready for this movement, these
+troops penetrated the breaches in the wall made by the howitzers,
+marched south along the line of forts, and turning in at the main
+gateway found a straight road leading to the Khalifa's house and
+Mahdi's tomb; these were speedily occupied, the Khalifa having
+quitted the town only a short time before our entry, after a vain
+effort to collect his men for further resistance.</p>
+
+<p>The gunboats continued up the river clearing the streets of
+dervishes, and, having returned to the remainder of the brigade
+left at the corner of the wall, these were pushed forward, and
+occupied all the main portions of the town. Guards were at once
+mounted over the principal buildings and Khalifa's stores, and
+after visiting the prison and releasing the European prisoners,
+the troops bivouacked at 7 p.m. around the town, after a long and
+trying day, throughout which all ranks displayed qualities of high
+courage, discipline, and endurance.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>The gunboats and Egyptian Cavalry and Camel Corps at once started
+in pursuit south; but owing to the exhausted condition of the
+animals and the flooded state of the country, which prevented them
+from communicating with the gunboat carrying their forage and
+rations, they were reluctantly obliged to abandon the pursuit
+after following up the flying Khalifa for 30 miles through marshy
+ground. The gunboats continued south for 90 miles, but were unable
+to come in touch with the Khalifa, who left the river and fled
+westward towards Kordofan, followed by the armed friendly tribes
+who took up the pursuit on the return of the mounted troops.</p>
+
+<p>Large stores of ammunition, powder, some sixty guns of various
+sorts, besides vast quantities of rifles, swords, spears, banners,
+drums, and other war materials, were captured on the battle-field
+and in Omdurman.</p>
+
+<p>The result of this battle is the practical annihilation of the
+Khalifa's army, the consequent extinction of Mahdism in the
+Soudan, and the submission of the whole country formerly ruled
+under Egyptian authority. This has re-opened vast territories to
+the benefits of peace, civilisation, and good government.</p>
+
+<p>On 4th September the British and Egyptian flags were hoisted with
+due ceremony on the walls of the ruined Palace of Khartoum, close
+to the spot where General Gordon fell, and this event is looked
+upon by the rejoicing populations as marking the commencement of a
+new era of peace and prosperity for their unfortunate country.</p>
+
+<p>It would be impossible for any Commander to have been more ably
+seconded than I was by the General Officers serving under me.
+Major-Generals Hunter, Rundle, and Gatacre have displayed the
+highest qualities as daring and skilful leaders, as well as being
+endowed with administrative capabilities of a high order. It is in
+the hands of such officers that the Service may rest assured their
+best interests will, under all circumstances, be honourably
+upheld, and while expressing to them my sincere thanks for their
+cordial co-operation with me, I have every confidence in most
+highly recommending the names of these General Officers for the
+favourable consideration of Her Majesty's Government.</p>
+
+<p>The manner in which the Brigadiers handled their respective
+brigades, their thorough knowledge of their profession, and their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>
+proved skill in the field, mark them out, one and all, as fitted
+for higher rank, and I have great pleasure in submitting their
+names for favourable consideration:&mdash;Brigadier-Generals N. G.
+Lyttelton and A. G. Wauchope; Lieutenant-Colonels J. G. Maxwell,
+H. A. Macdonald, D. F. Lewis and J. Collinson.</p>
+
+<p>Macdonald's brigade was highly tested, bearing the brunt of two
+severe attacks delivered at very short intervals from different
+directions, and I am sure it must be a source of the greatest
+satisfaction to Colonel Macdonald, as it is to myself and the
+whole army, that the very great care he has for long devoted to
+the training of his brigade has proved so effectual, enabling his
+men to behave with the greatest steadiness under most trying
+circumstances, and repelling most successfully two determined
+dervish onslaughts.</p>
+
+<p>I should also mention under this category the excellent services
+performed by Colonel R. H. Martin, commanding 21st Lancers; by
+Lieut.-Colonel Long, commanding the combined British and Egyptian
+Artillery; and by Lieut.-Colonel R. G. Broadwood, commanding the
+Egyptian Cavalry; as well as by Major R. J. Tudway, commanding the
+Camel Corps. I consider that these various arms could not have
+been more efficiently commanded than they were throughout the
+recent operations. The best result was, I believe, attained, and
+it is due to the skilful handling of their respective commands
+that the dervish defeat was so complete.</p>
+
+<p>The Medical Department was administered with ability and skill by
+Surgeon-General Taylor, Principal Medical Officer, who was well
+assisted by Colonel M'Namara, whilst the medical organisation of
+the Egyptian Army fully maintained its previous excellent
+reputation under the direction of Lieut.-Colonel Gallwey and his
+staff. The general medical arrangements were all that could have
+been desired, and I believe the minimum of pain and maximum of
+comfort procurable on active service in this country was attained
+by the unremitting energy, untiring zeal, and devotion to their
+duty of the entire medical staff.</p>
+
+<p>Owing to the long line of communications by rail, river, and
+desert, the work of maintaining a thoroughly efficient supply and
+transport system, both by land and water, was arduous in the
+extreme, and that a large British and Egyptian force was brought
+up to within<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> striking distance of Khartoum, amply supplied with
+all its requirements, reflects the greatest credit on the supply
+and transport system. I wish to cordially thank the officers of
+the Supply, Transport and Railway Departments for the satisfactory
+results which have attended their labours.</p>
+
+<p>I consider that the excellent ration which was always provided
+kept the men strong and healthy and fit to endure all the
+hardships of an arduous campaign, enabling them, at a critical
+moment, to support the exceptional fatigue of continuous marching
+and fighting for some fourteen hours during the height of a Soudan
+summer.</p>
+
+<p>The Intelligence Department were, as usual, thoroughly efficient,
+and their forecasts of the intentions and actions of the enemy
+were accurate. Colonel Wingate and Slatin Pacha worked
+indefatigably, and, with their staff, deserve a prominent place
+amongst those to whom the success of the operations is due.</p>
+
+<p>The excellent service performed by the gunboats under Commander
+Keppel and his subordinate officers of the Royal Navy is deserving
+of special mention. These gunboats have been for a long time past
+almost constantly under fire; they have made bold reconnaissances
+past the enemy's forts and rifle pits, and on the 1st and 2nd
+September, in conjunction with the Irregular levies under Major
+Stuart Wortley, and the Howitzer Battery, they materially aided in
+the capture of all the forts on both banks of the Nile, and in
+making the fortifications of Omdurman untenable. In bringing to
+notice the readiness of resource, daring, and ability of Commander
+Keppel and his officers, I wish also to add my appreciation of the
+services rendered by Engineer E. Bond, Royal Navy, and the
+engineering staff, as well as of the detachments of the Royal
+Marine Artillery and the gun crews, who have gained the hearty
+praise of their commanders.</p>
+
+<p>The Rev. R. Brindle, the Rev. J. M. Simms, the Rev. A. W. B.
+Watson, and the Rev. O. S. Watkins won the esteem of all by their
+untiring devotion to their sacred duties and by their unfailing
+and cheerful kindness to the sick and wounded at all times.</p>
+
+<p>To all my personal staff my thanks are specially due for the great
+assistance they at all times rendered me.</p>
+
+<p>In conclusion, I have great pleasure in expressing my
+appreciation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> of the services rendered by the detachments of the
+Royal Engineers, Army Ordnance Corps, and Telegraph and Postal
+Departments. </p></div>
+
+
+<p>The names of a large number of officers, non-commissioned officers,
+and men who had been brought to the Sirdar's notice for good service
+were appended to the despatch.</p>
+
+<p>Two other documents call for notice, the Queen's message and the
+Sirdar's general order to his army after the victory.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"From the Queen to the Sirdar, Khartoum.&mdash;I congratulate you and
+all your brave troops under fire on the brilliant success which
+you have achieved. I am grieved for the losses which have been
+sustained, but trust the wounded are doing well.&mdash;<span class="personname">Victoria.</span>"</p>
+
+<p>"The Sirdar congratulates all the troops upon their excellent
+behaviour during the general action to-day, resulting in the total
+defeat of the Khalifa's forces and worthily avenging Gordon. The
+Sirdar regrets the loss that has occurred, and, while warmly
+thanking the troops, wishes to place on record his admiration for
+their courage, discipline, and endurance.</p>
+
+<p class="letter_signed">"(Signed) <span class="personname">H. M. L. Rundle</span>."</p></div>
+
+<p>Long lists of honours and promotions were subsequently published in
+the <em>Gazette</em>. Of these, the more prominent officers who received such
+recognition of their distinguished services were as follows: The
+Sirdar was raised to the peerage as Lord Kitchener of Khartoum. In
+addition thereto the dignity G.C.B. was conferred upon the Sirdar, and
+Sir Francis Grenfell. Major-Generals W. F. Gatacre, A. Hunter, and H.
+M. L. Rundle were created K.C.B.'s, and the dignity of Companion of
+the Bath was granted to Surgeon-General William Taylor, Colonel V.
+Hatton,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> Colonel L. C. Money, Colonel T. E. Verner, Colonel W. H.
+M'Namara, R.A.M.C., Lieut.-Col. R. A. Hope, Lieut.-Col. Collingwood,
+Lieut.-Col. D. F. Lewis, Lieut.-Col. J. Collinson, Lieut.-Col. W. E.
+G. Forbes, Lieut.-Col. M. Q. Jones, Lieut.-Col. F. R. South,
+Lieut.-Col. R. H. Martin, Lieut.-Col. W. G. C. Wyndham, and Commander
+C. R. Keppel, R. N. Colonel F. R. Wingate was made a Knight Commander
+of the Order of St Michael and St George, and a like dignity was
+conferred upon Colonel R. Slatin Pasha. Distinguished Service Orders
+were granted to the Rev. R. Brindle, Lieut.-Col. C. V. F. Townshend,
+Lieut.-Col. G. A. Hughes, Lieut.-Col. C. J. Blomfield, Lieut.-Col. F.
+Lloyd, Major E. J. M. Stuart Wortley, Major E. M. Wilson, R.A.M.C.,
+Major G. Cockburn, Major Hon. C. Lambton, Major N. E. Young, Major C.
+E. Laurie, and Major F. J. Maxse, Captain C. C. Fleming, R.A.M.C.,
+Lieutenant G. C. M. Hall, Lieutenant F. Hubbard. The Khedive conferred
+the Medjidieh and Osmanlieh orders on a large number of officers.
+Others, whose names did not appear in the order list, figured in that
+of army promotions. Victoria Crosses were given to Captain P. A.
+Kenna, 21st Lancers, Lieutenant R. H. L. J. de Montmorency, 21st
+Lancers, Private Thomas Byrne, 21st Lancers (for turning back in the
+charge and rescuing Lieutenant Molyneux), Captain N. M. Smyth, 2nd
+Dragoon Guards.</p>
+
+<p>Lieut.-Col. H. A. Macdonald, C.B., D.S.O., was made an extra A.D.C. to
+the Queen.</p>
+
+<p>The Sirdar on his return to Lower Egypt met with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> an enthusiastic
+reception. Lord Cromer, Sir Francis Grenfell and all the notables in
+Cairo met him and the troops turned out to escort him to his
+residence. He was entertained in Cairo at a grand banquet. When he
+visited England even a heartier and grander welcome was extended to
+the victor of Omdurman and the destroyer of Mahdism. The public
+acclaimed him, and honours and dignities were showered upon him ere he
+returned to resume his self-imposed task of reconstructing the Soudan.</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Hector A. Macdonald alone seems as yet to have had extended to
+him scant military recognition of his invaluable services. The post of
+A.D.C. to Her Majesty is a coveted dignity, but a mere honorary
+office, carrying neither pay nor emolument. Indeed it is the other
+way, for the accessories required to bedeck the person will cost at
+least &pound;25. But the fact cannot be forgotten, or cried down, that
+Colonel Macdonald saved the situation. He fought a single-handed
+battle against tremendous odds and won. First he faced the Khalifa and
+fought him to a finish, and then faced about and served Sheikh Ed
+Din's unbeaten dervishes in much the same fashion. For reasons that
+could be given, and which reflect no discredit upon the other
+brigadier, Colonel Lewis' force was not moved promptly up to
+Macdonald's support. Honour lists and promotion lists still keep
+cropping up, and possibly the military authorities are yet
+deliberating what is the right thing to do in Macdonald's case. In the
+Scotch press, and particularly in that of the Far North, there has
+been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> much adverse comment on the ungenerous treatment accorded their
+countryman. The Highlanders, as is their nature, write and speak
+passionately of the matter, and pertinently ask if the authorities
+wish no more Highland recruits. From the paper of his own district,
+the Dingwall <em>North Star</em>, I quote the following lines:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"In glen and clachan, England's tardy debt<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The clansmen's pride will adequately pay:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Round Nor'land hearths when lamplit nights are long,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thy fame shall ever live in many a tale and song."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The battle of Omdurman was not the only occasion in which Colonel
+Macdonald has exhibited magnificent tactical skill combined with
+soldierly dash and undaunted courage. It is not so long since the
+Atbara was fought, and in half a score of engagements before that he
+quitted himself equally well. He was deservedly promoted from the
+ranks, and to Field-Marshal Lord Roberts is due the credit of having
+discovered and properly appreciated the gallant Highlandman. His
+record is one for any man to be proud of, for to his own hand he owes
+his present distinguished position. I again quote from the <em>North
+Star</em>:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Colonel Macdonald was born at Rootfield, in the parish of
+Urquhart, in the county of Ross and Cromarty, and on the property
+of Mr Mackenzie of Allangrange. He began life as a stable-boy with
+Bailie Robertson, of the National Hotel, Dingwall, when tenant of
+the farm of Kinkell, Conon Bridge. At the age of seventeen he went
+to Inverness and became an apprentice draper with Mr William
+Mackay, late of the Clan Tartan Warehouse. In this capacity he
+served two years, but finding mercantile life distasteful to him,
+he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 291]<br />[Pg 292]<br />[Pg 293]</a></span> enlisted in the 92nd Regiment. Here his qualities procured
+for him rapid promotion. He successively and successfully
+discharged the duties of drill-instructor, pay-sergeant, and other
+non-commissioned offices, and held the rank of colour-sergeant at
+the commencement of the Afghan campaign, wherein he repeatedly so
+greatly distinguished himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Macdonald's first engagement with an enemy was at Jagi Thanni. On
+that occasion General Roberts, escorted by the 9th Lancers and 5th
+Punjaub Cavalry, advanced from Ali Kheyl to Kushi, and, while
+passing by Jagi Thanni, he was attacked by about 2000 Mangals and
+Machalgah Ghilzais, who there lay in ambush. Fortunately, early
+intimation of the Mangals' hostile intentions reached Fort
+Karatiga, a mile or two off, and a party of 45 men of the 3rd
+Sikhs, under Jemander Shere Mahomed Khan, was at once sent out to
+reconnoitre, and, as firing was soon afterwards heard in the
+direction the party had gone, Colour-Sergeant Macdonald promptly
+turned out with 18 men of his own regiment, and overtaking the
+Sikhs, he took over command of the whole, and, gallantly leading
+his little force across a difficult river and up a steep hill, he
+boldly attacked and dislodged the enemy from a strong position on
+the crest, but not before four of the Sikhs were killed, and
+Deputy-Surgeon-General Townsend, who rode near General Roberts,
+severely wounded. The enemy's loss here was about 30 killed.
+Macdonald's brilliant services on this occasion averted something
+like a disaster. In a Divisional Order, Roberts wrote:&mdash;'The above
+non-commissioned officer and a native officer, with a handful of
+soldiers, drove before them a large body of Mangals, who had
+assembled to stop the road, ... the great coolness, judgment, and
+gallantry with which they behaved.' In his despatch, dated Cabul,
+15th October, and published in the <em>Gazette</em>, General Roberts
+further said:&mdash;'Meanwhile, a warm engagement had for some time
+been carried on in the direction of Karatiga, and presently large
+numbers of the enemy were seen retreating before a small
+detachment of the 92nd Highlanders and 3rd Sikhs, which had been
+sent out from Karatiga, and which was, with excellent judgment and
+boldness, led up a steep spur commanding the defile. The energy
+and skill with which this party was handled reflected the highest
+credit on Colour-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>Sergeant Hector Macdonald, 92nd Highlanders, and
+Jemander Shere Mahomed, 3rd Sikhs. But for their excellent
+services on this occasion, it might probably have been impossible
+to carry out the programme of our march.' In the same <em>Gazette</em>
+was published another despatch from Sir F. Roberts, dated Cabul,
+20th October, in which he says:&mdash;'Colour-Sergeant H. Macdonald, a
+non-commissioned officer, whose excellent and skilful management
+of a small detachment when opposed to immensely superior numbers
+in the Hazardarakht defile was mentioned in my despatch of the
+16th instant, here again distinguished himself.' This refers to
+his conduct at Charasiab, at the close of which action our brave
+countryman was sent for by Roberts, who publicly complimented and
+thanked him personally for 'the ability and intelligence with
+which he handled the party under his command' at the battle.
+Macdonald's commission was conferred on the recommendation of
+General Roberts, that distinguished officer having witnessed
+repeated proofs of his valour and capacity." </p></div>
+
+<p>In 1885 Colonel Macdonald joined the then reorganised Egyptian
+Constabulary and received rapid promotion. From these, on other
+changes being made, he passed into the Khedivial army, drilling and
+training new Soudanese levies. So thorough a soldier is too valuable
+to be longer left in the Soudan now that peace is assured.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 310px;"><a name="Illustration_MACDONALD_OMDURMAN" id="Illustration_MACDONALD_OMDURMAN"></a>
+<img src="images/macdonald_omdurman.jpg" width="310" height="500" alt="Col. H. Macdonald (right) at Omdurman, with Officer and Non-Commissioned Officer of 1st Brigade."
+title="Col. H. Macdonald (right) at Omdurman, with Officer and Non-Commissioned Officer of 1st Brigade." />
+<span class="caption">Col. H. Macdonald (right) at Omdurman, with Officer and Non-Commissioned Officer of 1st Brigade.</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<div class="section_break"></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span></p>
+<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h3>
+
+<p class="chapter_summary">The Fashoda Affair.&mdash;A Red British Line through Africa.</p>
+
+
+<p>France is following in the footsteps of Spain. A fatality dogs her
+schemes of empire and colonisation. In truth she has no colonies&mdash;they
+are but military possessions. She has set her face, alone and in
+conjunction with others, in America, Asia, and Africa to hoop our
+enterprises in with bands of iron. Failure attended her policy across
+the Atlantic, in India, in Burmah, and but the other day at Fashoda.
+Her object in that last instance was to connect her possessions in
+West and East Africa, so that the red British lines which are steadily
+extending from North and South Africa should never be joined. France
+is the largest holder of territory upon the Dark Continent, and she
+probably regarded that fact as the best justification for her subtle
+move, through the Marchand and Abyssinian Missions, to add still more
+to her dominions. She had been permitted to hoop us about at Bathurst
+and Sierra Leone upon the West Coast and has all but completed the
+same process round Ashantee and the Niger countries, not to speak of
+elsewhere. Madagascar she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> had grabbed without a shadow of excuse, but
+time and South African civilisation will make it a bigger Cuba.
+Already her failures at government in that vast African island are
+grievous. Less than five years ago, to use a phrase I have employed
+elsewhere, property and life were ridiculously safe in that country.
+But then the Hovas and Prime Minister Rainilaiarivony ruled the land.
+Other changes predicted have come about there. The one native who
+showed honesty and courage in successfully opposing them at Tamatave
+the French subsequently executed. The Queen and Prime Minister were
+banished. Speaking English, the chief foreign language spoken, has
+been tabooed. Natives who are heard using it, or suspected of
+employing our mother tongue, are thrust into prison and kept there,
+<em>pour encourager les autres</em>, until they promise to discontinue
+speaking it. Association of natives with English or Americans renders
+them marked persons. The Protestant missions are regarded as centres
+of treason and enmity to French authority. Quickly, as foretold, has
+come about their reward(?) for non-interference politically in the
+early days of French intrigue. Had they insisted, with the British
+Government of a bygone day, in saving the island for the Malagasy,
+they would have succeeded. Our commerce has also had to suffer, for
+the French <em>instruct</em> the natives that they must only buy articles of
+French manufacture. The native who purchases British or American goods
+soon discovers, from the severe handling he receives through the local
+officials, that he has made a serious mistake. Robbery and
+lawlessness<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> are rife, and in many places neither life nor property is
+safe beyond rifle-shot of the French garrisons. The facts are
+notorious and are in possession of the Foreign Office in Downing
+Street.</p>
+
+<p>It had leaked out a day or two after the battle that the Sirdar
+intended accompanying the expedition to Fashoda. The troops ordered to
+proceed up the Nile with him were paraded outside Omdurman on the
+morning of the 8th of September. These were 600 men of the 11th
+Soudanese under Major Jackson, 600 men of the 13th Soudanese under
+Major Smith Dorrian, 100 men of the Cameron Highlanders under Captain
+the Hon. A. D. Murray, and Captain Peake's battery of 12&frac12;-pounder
+Maxim-Nordenfeldt guns. At the same time the force that was to be sent
+across to reoccupy and assist in rebuilding the ruined Government
+buildings in Khartoum also turned out for inspection. Nothing was left
+to chance. Care was taken that only those fit and well should proceed
+on the gunboats and barges to Fashoda. Provision was made that the
+work of reconstruction should go on in his absence, and that Khartoum
+and Omdurman should be left in a proper state of defence. A great air
+of official mystification and secrecy prevailed respecting everything
+that happened at that time. Particulars were difficult to glean of the
+actual condition of affairs up the Blue and White Niles. Even the
+plans for the removal of the military headquarters and the
+re-establishment of the central authority in Khartoum were sealed
+against us. As the telegraph service was in the Sirdar's hands, much
+of the pains bestowed to keep news from us was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> surely unnecessary.
+But the Sirdar has a way of bestowing confidences on no one&mdash;simply
+issuing orders when the occasion arrives.</p>
+
+<p>Since my return to England a reference to the correspondence disclosed
+in the official despatches or Fashoda Blue-book proves the correctness
+of the information that reached me even at that early stage. From the
+summary of the documents which appeared in the <em>Daily Telegraph</em> of
+10th October, we learn that "before the battle of Omdurman Lord
+Salisbury had given instructions to the Sirdar through Lord Cromer,"
+as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"It is desirable that you should be placed in possession of the
+views of Her Majesty's Government in respect to the line of action
+to be followed in the event of Khartoum being occupied at an early
+date by the forces now operating in the Soudan under the command
+of Sir Herbert Kitchener.</p>
+
+<p>"Her Majesty's Government do not contemplate that after the
+occupation of Khartoum any further military operations on a large
+scale, or involving any considerable expense, will be undertaken
+for the occupation of the provinces to the south. But the Sirdar
+is authorised to send two flotillas, one up the White and the
+other up the Blue Nile.</p>
+
+<p>"You are authorised to settle the composition of these two forces
+in consultation with the Sirdar.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir Herbert Kitchener should in person command the White Nile
+flotilla as far as Fashoda, and may take with him a small body of
+British troops, should you concur with him in thinking such a
+course desirable.</p>
+
+<p>"The officer in command of the Blue Nile flotilla is authorised to
+go as far as the foot of the cataract, which is believed to
+commence about Rosaires. He is not to land troops with a view to
+marching beyond the point on the river navigable for steamers.
+Should he, before reaching Rosaires, encounter any Abyssinian<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span>
+outposts, he is to halt, report the circumstance, and wait for
+further instructions.</p>
+
+<p>"In dealing with any French or Abyssinian authorities who may be
+encountered, nothing should be said or done which would in any way
+imply a recognition on behalf of Her Majesty's Government of a
+title to possession on behalf of France or Abyssinia to any
+portion of the Nile Valley." </p></div>
+
+<p>Although everybody engaged in the Fashoda expedition was repeatedly
+warned not to disclose anything about it, and to forget all they had
+seen or heard, I was enabled very shortly after the event to wire, day
+by day, the whole story of the enterprise. It was General Grant, who,
+during the Civil War in the United States of America, terribly vexed
+at the newspaper correspondents, on one occasion vowed he would send
+them all away and not have a press-man in his army. "Then, General,"
+said the American journalist addressed, "may I ask what are you going
+to do without soldiers, every man of them can speak and write?"
+General Grant saw the absurdity of the position and smiled, and there
+was an end of the matter. It was, perhaps, a choice of one of two
+evils, either accepting and making the best of the situation to allow
+the trained journalists to remain, or to prepare to meet a tremendous
+inundation of wild letter-writing from all ranks that would find its
+way into the public press and do incalculable harm. "Other times,
+other manners," and those modern generals discredit themselves who
+fail to recognise at the close of the nineteenth century that the
+schoolmaster and the press must be reckoned with.</p>
+
+<p>The information given me by the reis of the "Tewfi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>kieh" proved
+accurate in almost every detail. I confess that, at the time, knowing
+the Arab indifference to exactness in dates, I did not credit his
+assertion that Marchand had reached Fashoda six weeks before the
+dervishes attacked him. Floating down stream in a small steam launch,
+aluminum row-boats, and other craft, the Frenchmen arrived off Fashoda
+on the 10th of July. In 1892&ndash;93 the French Government had begun
+sending military or quasi-scientific missions from the west and east
+African coasts to obtain treaties and pre-emption claims to territory
+in the interior. That the French flag should wave from sea to sea was
+their confessed desire. Their incentive was to forestall and annoy
+Great Britain and render worthless the blood and treasure our country
+might spend in smashing the dervishes. Major Marchand set out from the
+west coast or French Congo in 1896, with a small body of Europeans and
+about 500 Senegalese troops. With indomitable zeal and courage he
+pushed east, reaching the vast basin lands of the Bahr el Ghazal after
+sore hardships and the loss of many of his men, chiefly from sickness.
+The spirit that animated the leader and his followers may be gathered
+from the following lines which were written some time ago by a
+non-commissioned officer of Senegalese Rifles to his relatives.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"We have no rest, not even for a single day, as a moment's delay
+might render all our exertions useless. All that we shall have
+done will be wasted if the English or others occupy our route when
+we want to pass. When you read this letter we shall either be on
+the Nile or our bones will be slowly whitening in the Egyptian
+brushwood under a torrid sun. I verily believe that if we are
+destroyed I shall retain regret for our failure in another world."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>Fashoda is 444 miles by river south of Omdurman. It is situated upon
+the west bank, on a low headland which at high Nile becomes an island.
+Before the Mahdist rising, Fashoda was a fortified Egyptian station
+with a garrison of 1000 men, and a native population of nearly 4000.
+The place was enclosed within a ditch and a sun-dried brick wall. From
+its position it commanded the passage of the Nile, which was less than
+half a mile in width. The dervishes allowed the place to fall into
+ruins, only maintaining a very small garrison&mdash;less than 100 men&mdash;to
+raid for grain to supply Omdurman with, and to collect revenue from
+the native boats. Like the rest of the Soudan, the Shilluk country, in
+which Fashoda is situated, had suffered terribly and been sadly
+depopulated. The country of the Shilluk negroes used to extend for
+several hundred miles northward down the left bank of the Nile from
+the Bahr el Ghazal. It was but a strip, ten miles or so in width,
+their nearest neighbours, with whom they were usually at war, being
+the Baggara Arabs. Like so many other riverain tracts susceptible of
+cultivation, it once teemed with people, the villages along the banks
+appearing to be one continuous row of dwellings. Helped by the
+Shilluks, Major Marchand had no difficulty in capturing Fashoda. The
+old fortification was built upon the only accessible strip of dry
+land, at high Nile, available for miles along the bank in that
+vicinity. Seen from the river, the works consisted of a rectangular
+mud-wall about 200 yards in length, protected by horse-shoe bastions
+at the corners. The Khalifa being as usual in need of supplies sent
+out a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> small foraging expedition many weeks before our arrival on the
+scene. Starting in the steamers "Safieh" and "Tewfikieh," they
+collected grain and cattle, shipping them down to Omdurman. Learning
+that Europeans had been seen at Fashoda, part of the force proceeded
+there, and engaged the French, attacking them by land and water. The
+date was the 25th of August. Behaving with great steadiness, and
+helped by Shilluks, after a stiff fight the dervishes were driven off,
+after losing a number of men, by Marchand's little garrison. "If they
+had had cannon," said the dervish skipper to me, "they fired so well
+that they would have sunk our steamers." The dervish captains then ran
+their boats down stream to collect their followers and return to
+assault the position. About 100 miles north the "Safieh" stopped to
+collect the raiders, who numbered about a thousand with four brass
+guns.</p>
+
+<p>At six o'clock on the morning of the 10th September, the Sirdar set
+out from Omdurman with his expeditionary force. The troops were
+embarked upon the gunboats "Sultan," "Sheik," "Fatah," and barges
+towed by these vessels. Colonel Wingate, Major Lord Edward Cecil,
+Captain J. K. Watson, A.D.C., and other officers, accompanied the
+General on the stern-wheel steamer "Dal," which had for armament
+several Maxims. A Union Jack, as well as an Egyptian flag, was hoisted
+on the boat. Abundance of ammunition and two months' provisions for
+the force were carried on the steamers and tows. The steamers <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span>went
+along very leisurely, going only by daylight. In the afternoon, or
+towards sunset, the flotilla made fast to some suitable bank. The
+troops then formed a sort of camp, and parties went out with saws and
+axes to cut timber for fuel for the boilers. The hard gummy mimosa and
+sunt, when there is not too much sap in it, burns fiercely with a glow
+almost equal to ordinary coal. South of Omdurman, the river still
+being in full flood, the Nile had overspread the low banks for miles.
+There were places where it resembled a lake, two to six miles wide,
+dotted with islands. Landing was not always easily effected, for the
+banks were frequently marshy. There was plenty of good sizable wood to
+be had all along the river, the only difficulty being to reach and cut
+it. More than once, in order to "fill up" the vessels for next day's
+steaming, the Camerons and Soudanese soldiers laboured far into the
+night, hewing and carrying timber for fuel by candle-light and the
+electric beam. Nearing Fashoda the Nile in places ran through channels
+but 400 yards in width. The water was deep and relatively clear, with
+a current of but two miles or less an hour. Unfortunately, it rained
+heavily nearly every night, and the troops quartered upon the barges
+got drenched to the skin, the water pouring, in so many shower-baths,
+through the cracked boarded coverings. It is a peculiarity of most
+tropical climates, that Jupiter Pluvius does most of his work between
+the hours of sunset and sunrise. The natives met with as a rule were
+disposed to be friendly. Those with whom the men talked would not
+quite credit the statement that the Khalifa had been defeated, his
+army destroyed, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> that he had run away. On Saturday the 17th
+September, the gunboat "Abu Klea" caught up with and joined the
+flotilla.</p>
+
+<p>During the same night, dervish deserters, blacks, and Arabs came in.
+They stated that a short way further up there was a camp of the enemy.
+On Sunday morning, 18th September, when near Kaka, some 65 miles north
+of Fashoda, the dervish steamer "Safieh" was sighted, lying at the
+east bank close by the enemy's camp. The "Sultan" forged ahead and
+began shelling the enemy with all her guns, using the Maxims as well.
+With great alacrity the dervishes on shore replied, if indeed they did
+not fire first. A few shots also came from the "Safieh." With their
+rifled guns from behind screens of bushes the enemy bravely stood up,
+making excellent practice at the gunboats. The "Sultan" had several
+very narrow escapes, shells passing close over her bows and stern.
+When the other gunboats got up, what with cannon, quick-firing guns,
+and Maxims brought to bear upon the dervish camp, it was speedily
+wrecked and torn. The enemy bolted into the bush, leaving over 200
+dead and wounded behind, including several Baggara and the chief Emir.
+A few shells from the "Sultan" had hulled and shattered the "Safieh,"
+so the victory was complete. Detachments were landed from the gunboats
+and the dervishes driven still further afield. Their camp was looted
+and burned, and the "Safieh" and several nuggars temporarily repaired
+and sent down to Omdurman. It was found that the patch put upon the
+"Safieh's" boiler by chief-engineer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> Benbow in 1885 was intact. That
+steamer went to rescue Sir Charles Wilson's party who were wrecked on
+their return from Khartoum. Near Shabluka she was attacked by a
+dervish fort and hulled. Lord Charles Beresford, who was in command,
+stuck to the vessel after the boiler blew up, and during the night it
+was repaired. On Sunday, 18th September, the Sirdar despatched a
+Shilluk runner to go by land with a letter to Major Marchand telling
+him of the approach of the Egyptian flotilla. Next morning a reply was
+brought out to the "Dal" when it was within sight of Fashoda by an
+officer in a row-boat flying the French flag, that the garrison would
+receive him as a friendly visitor. Major Marchand furthermore declared
+that by treaty the territory belonged to France and he had
+communicated the fact to his Government, sending his despatches
+through Abyssinia. Precise details of what had been done were
+included.</p>
+
+<p>It was 10 a.m. of the 19th September when the expedition reached
+Fashoda and saw the French flag flying over the fort. A Senegalese
+sentry was walking beneath the tricolor, and a row of these black
+riflemen's heads peeped from the walls and trenches. All of them had
+evidently been turned out under arms. Apparently there were about 300
+people&mdash;not more&mdash;in the fortification. Steaming close in without
+being hailed, the vessels hove to opposite the works. A row-boat
+manned by Senegalese pushed from the shore and made for the "Dal."
+From the stern staff drooped the French flag, and by the tiller sat
+Major Marchand and an officer, M. Germain. The Major was dressed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> in a
+suit of white ducks. Below the medium height, of spare habit, with
+something like Dundreary side whiskers, he looked elderly and worn,
+almost twice his years, for he is still a young man. As he stepped
+aboard the steamer, he was received at the side. He and his companion
+shook hands with the Sirdar and the other members of the headquarters
+staff. A relatively brief conference ensued, at which the Sirdar
+stated the object of his mission and his official instructions to
+recover the lost provinces for Egypt. He intended, he said, to occupy
+and hold them. Major Marchand intimated that he had established a
+prior claim for his Government, and had entered into treaties with the
+local rulers securing rights for France to the country along the Nile
+south and through the Bahr el Ghazal. He had established posts at
+Meshra er Rek and elsewhere in that region. Without express orders to
+the contrary from his Government, he would not abandon the old
+Egyptian fort, nor concede an inch of the territory he had acquired.
+The Sirdar said he meant to land, and although he would avoid a
+collision if possible with the Major and his party, yet he would not
+be dissuaded from carrying out his orders because it might be
+unpleasant. Would, he asked, the Major oppose him with force; his
+means were inadequate to do so with any hope of success. Major
+Marchand replied, "No," he was not in a position to justify any
+attempt to contend with arms against the strong flotilla and land army
+that could be brought against him by the Sirdar. Still, he would
+neither yield nor withdraw without the order of his Government. The
+Sirdar stated he was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> not adverse to letting the two Governments
+settle the matter, meantime they as soldiers could remain on amicable
+terms. In the course of an hour or so he would land his troops and
+occupy a position as near the fort as possible. Major Marchand
+protested, but said that he, under the circumstances, would have to
+accept the situation.</p>
+
+<p>Refreshments are always in order on board a ship where the Royal Navy
+is in command. Over a friendly glass of champagne Marchand and the
+Sirdar chatted on topics of general interest. The Major intimated that
+he was rather short of ammunition and stores. He had sent his steam
+launch south to try and bring up supplies and reinforcements from his
+other stations. The doctor was anxious to obtain the assistance and
+advice of some of the British medical staff as to the best treatment
+of beri-beri or sleeplessness sickness, which had appeared among them.
+Several of the mission had succumbed to that weird disease. It is not
+unknown in the United Kingdom, a case having recently occurred at
+Richmond Asylum, Dublin. After spending about half an hour on board,
+Major Marchand and M. Germain, accompanied by Colonel Wingate and
+Commander Keppel, went ashore together in the row-boat. Landing at the
+fort, the party were received by the garrison with military honours.
+The two British officers were shown every courtesy, and escorted over
+the works, which had been considerably strengthened. A morass or small
+lagoon cut the fortification off in rear from the mainland. It was a
+position which could not easily have been carried by assault,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> but was
+indefensible against cannon. The Senegalese Tirailleurs forming the
+garrison were paraded for their inspection. There appeared to be about
+120 of them, all stalwart, soldierly fellows, beside whom the
+Frenchmen looked shrunken and diminutive. In addition to the
+Senegalese, or rather natives of Timbuctoo, for such they were, about
+150 Shilluks and nondescript natives made up the remainder of the
+garrison. Including Major Marchand there were nine Europeans, or five
+commissioned and four non-commissioned officers. Of four others who
+had succumbed on the way, two died of beri-beri, one was killed by a
+fall from a tree, and a third by a crocodile. The Nile in that
+vicinity was found to be teeming with animal life. Not only crocodiles
+but hippopotami were seen by those on board the flotilla.</p>
+
+<p>Eventually the five steamers crept as close inshore towards the north
+end of the fort as the shallow overflown land admitted. Colonel
+Wingate and Commander Keppel having returned on board, all the troops
+were ordered to disembark. The steamers were made fast to the banks,
+and planks were placed ashore. They were of little use, for officers
+and men had to flounder and wade through the shallows before they
+reached firm ground 300 yards from the bank. Four of the guns of
+Peake's battery were also landed. The force having been formed up was
+marched a short distance to the south. It was halted behind and
+exactly covering the French position from the land side, the flanks
+overlapping and enclosing the old line of Egyptian works. A tall
+flag-pole which was brought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> ashore was set up on a ruined bastion in
+line with the French tricolor and about 300 yards behind it. Then the
+Sirdar and staff came and stood around the pole. An instant later, the
+order having been given, the Egyptian flag was hoisted to the top, and
+the Soudanese bands played a few bars of the Khedivial anthem. Ere the
+music ceased, the Sirdar, setting the example, called for three cheers
+for His Highness the Khedive. The British flag, the Union Jack, was
+meanwhile flying inshore from the "Dal." None of the French officers
+attended the ceremony, but the Senegalese and the natives watched the
+proceedings with great interest. In fact, as many of the soldiers of
+the 11th and 13th Soudanese battalions were Shilluks, there had been
+numerous greetings and interchanges of courtesy between them. The
+worthy old Lieutenant Ali Gaffoon, a Shilluk, who had been in his
+youth a sheikh and soldier, and who had fought in Mexico for
+Maximilian, and since entered the Khedive's service, soon had crowds
+of his countrymen and countrywomen flocking to see him. Immediately
+after the flag was hoisted, Major Jackson was appointed commandant of
+the Fashoda district, and left with a garrison of the 11th Soudanese
+battalion and four guns of Captain Peake's battery. A large quantity
+of stores of various kinds was landed for their use. Meanwhile E
+Company of the Cameron Highlanders and the rest of the troops returned
+on board ship. The bands and pipers again played as the troops marched
+away, the Highlandmen stepping off to the tune of the "Cameron Men." E
+Company of the Camerons numbered exactly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> 100 rank and file under five
+officers: Captain Hon. A. Murray, Lieutenants Hoare, Cameron,
+Alderson, and Surgeon-Captain Luther.</p>
+
+<p>The fraternisation of the Soudanese soldiers and the Shilluks became
+thorough. An informal reception of the natives, sheikhs, and headmen,
+some of whom were attended by their wives, was held by the Sirdar
+ashore and afterwards on board the "Dal." It was observed that,
+although hundreds of natives were seen, they were only brought forward
+in batches of less than a dozen to be presented. Besides, a
+considerable interval always elapsed before the arrival of the
+succeeding groups. Ali Gaffoon and his countrymen-comrades in the
+ranks, with pardonable tribal pride, were adverse to bringing their
+relatives and friends forward until the natives put on some clothes.
+For that purpose they had borrowed or got together about a dozen Arab
+dresses of kinds, wherewith to cover the bodies and limbs of the
+unsophisticated Shilluks. The national costume for men is a state of
+nudity, but they occasionally sprinkle their bodies with red or grey
+ashes. The women usually wear scant leather or thong aprons. When the
+Sirdar ascertained the true cause of the delay, time pressing, he
+intimated he would waive for the nonce their putting on of ceremonial
+attire. "Let them all come as they are," and they did. They evinced
+the liveliest interest and pleasure in all they saw and heard in camp
+and aboard ship. The chiefs declared they had signed no treaty with
+the French nor conceded any of their country. All of them asserted
+that they were subjects of the Khedive, to whom they re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>newed their
+allegiance forthwith. The French mission had been short of food and
+they had helped them only by giving supplies. Incidentally it may be
+stated that the Shilluk country is exceedingly fertile. At one time it
+was the most densely populated region of the Soudan for its acreage,
+containing a population of over 2,000,000 souls, living under an
+ancient dynasty of kings. From 1884 the Shilluks repeatedly warred
+with the dervishes. In 1894 they rose again and fought for a long time
+before their Queen was slain and they were put down. On that occasion
+the Mahdists behaved with more than usual ferocity, putting thousands
+to the sword. Strange to say, great numbers of Shilluks, like other
+Soudan blacks, fought against us under the Khalifa's banners. The
+moment, however, they were captured, with great readiness they
+enlisted in the Khedivial army. Latterly so many deserters and
+prisoners brought by their friends offered themselves as soldiers,
+that only the smartest and strongest were chosen.</p>
+
+<p>That afternoon the "Dal" and two of the gunboats left Fashoda and
+steamed away up the Nile towards Sobat. Before leaving, the Sirdar
+sent a formal written document to Major Marchand, protesting against
+any usurpation by another Power of the rights of Great Britain and
+Egypt to the Nile Valley. He stated that he would refuse to recognise
+in any way French authority in the country. There was found to be
+large quantities of grass weed and sudd in the Nile at no great
+distance from Fashoda. In several places the clear channels <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span>were less
+than 150 yards wide. As the steamers made southing, the river became
+narrower and the obstacles to navigation more serious&mdash;floating
+islands of weeds and banked sudd blocking the fairway, leaving it but
+50 yards or less in width. It is about 62 miles from Fashoda to the
+Sobat river, that Abyssinian tributary to the Nile. There was formerly
+an Egyptian station and fort on the neck of land at the junction of
+the two rivers. Other stations were also held by Khedivial troops
+further up the river in the old days before the Mahdi's rebellion. It
+was on the 20th September, the date as officially given, that the
+flotilla reached Sobat. The place was overgrown with bush, as compared
+with what had formerly been the case. Only a few natives were seen
+upon the mainland and islands, and they were friendly disposed. The
+Sobat, though but 150 yards or so wide, is 30 feet deep when in flood.
+Its yellow stream runs at two knots an hour, the current driving far
+into the wider and slacker waters of the Nile, which is about
+three-quarters of a mile wide at that point. The banks were
+accessible, and a landing of the troops was much more easily effected
+than had been the case at Fashoda. As soon as the soldiers and the two
+remaining guns of Captain Peake's battery were got ashore, the
+Egyptian flag was formally hoisted and greeted. It was the Sirdar who
+directed the whole proceedings. The ceremonial observance attending
+the re-occupation was precisely similar to that which had taken place
+at Fashoda. Major Smith Dorian was placed in command of the post and
+district. Three companies of the 13th Soudanese were left as a
+garrison together with the two Maxim-Nordenfeldt guns. A<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> gunboat was
+also detailed to proceed a little way up the Sobat and the Bahr el
+Ghazal.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning the vessels having been filled up with fuel, the Sirdar,
+with the Camerons and the remainder of the troops not detached for
+garrison duty, steamed away back towards Omdurman. No news had
+penetrated to that remote region about the overthrow of the dervishes
+and very little was known about the passing mission under Major
+Marchand. The same day, 21st September, Fashoda was reached, and a
+short stay was made. All was quiet and the two flags were flying just
+as the Sirdar had left them. But the place had been transformed all
+the same. A military camp had arisen that looked like a village.
+Tukals and shelters covered the clearing behind the French lines.
+Trenches also had been dug and Marchand's party were completely hemmed
+in from the landward side as well as by water, the gunboats
+controlling the river. The Shilluks had all gone over and put
+themselves under Major Jackson and the Khedivial flag. A sort of
+bazaar had been started and the country was already making for peace.
+There was universal rejoicing at the downfall of the Khalifa. A
+determination was expressed of promptly dealing with him or Osman
+Digna, should either of them pass that way. The new twin-screw
+gunboats "Sultan" and "Sheik" had nine days' rations for troops put
+aboard. They were then detached, being ordered to remain behind for
+patrol duty. Their instructions were to keep the river and banks clear
+of all armed bands of dervishes, and, if necessary, afford assistance
+to the posts at Sobat and Fashoda. They were also bidden to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> prevent
+the transport of war material, or conveyance of reinforcements, except
+by accredited Khedivial officers. The Sirdar in a note informed Major
+Marchand that he had prohibited the transport of all war material upon
+the Nile. Thereafter the Sirdar resumed the journey downstream. The
+long and fertile island of Abba&mdash;it extends for 20 miles&mdash;was passed
+without seeing anything of the fugitive Khalifa and his followers. It
+was to Abba island the Mahdi went, and it was there the rebellion
+first broke out. Subsequently it was ascertained that Abdullah and
+Osman Digna with their retainers sought shelter in the heavy woods
+opposite Abba island, and they were stated to be in hiding there at
+the end of December 1898. The Sirdar and headquarters got back to
+Omdurman on the 25th of September.</p>
+
+<p>Popular feeling ran very high at home when it was ascertained that,
+despite repeated notification, the French had tried to grasp the
+fruits of the British victory over the dervishes. A Liberal statesman
+had, years before, declared, that any attempt on the part of France to
+occupy the Upper Nile valley lands would be regarded as an unfriendly
+act by this country. Conservative statesmen had endorsed that official
+pronouncement; yet, in face of these declarations, the thing had been
+done with every evidence of a fine contempt for British feeling and
+self-respect. The enemies of England in Egypt and elsewhere were
+sniggering. Our diplomatic and military chiefs were making unusual
+efforts to keep the Marchand affair a profound secret. At every stage
+down the Nile from Omdurman to Cairo, the Camerons and all who had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span>
+been to Fashoda and Sobat were officially warned to keep the matter a
+profound secret. The case I thought was too serious to be left hidden
+in the breasts of a few where the issues involved were so tremendous.
+So I openly set myself to learning what had happened, and wiring every
+scrap of information for publication. Several officers were sent down
+from Omdurman with special despatches. Long before they arrived even
+in Cairo, cypher messages extending to many folios had been forwarded
+day after day direct from Khartoum to Downing Street.</p>
+
+<p>The Sirdar reached Cairo on the 6th of October and left for England on
+the 21st of the same month. By that time much had happened. The
+official despatches had been published in a Parliamentary paper and
+there were ominous preparations for war in both France and Great
+Britain. Fleets were being got ready for sea and feverish activity
+prevailed in Gallic and British arsenals. The insistence of the
+Parisian Ministers in seeking to have other questions discussed side
+by side with the demand for the evacuation of Fashoda and their
+dilatory tactics but increased the feeling of irritation in the United
+Kingdom. Statesmen seemed to be undecided and diplomacy, as usual,
+revolving in a circle. Happily, this country was never better prepared
+for war, and that in the end, as has so often been the case, proved
+the best advocate for peace. It would be uncharitable to emphasise the
+fact of the French Government slipping away from one after another of
+the positions they had taken up in reference to the whole <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span>question.
+That being Frenchmen they felt acutely the false moves they had made
+goes without saying. Whilst war was impending and the French
+Government seemed bent upon driving our Government to that point, the
+anti-British Pashas and the Gallic set in Egypt were jubilant. The
+Turkish Pashas and Beys were openly chuckling and romancing about
+unheard-of things. It is in Egypt, as it is in Armenia and was in the
+Balkans: the Turk is the enemy of good government and freedom for the
+people. A check to British policy and rule meant to them a possible
+return of the old corrupt days when they did as they liked, treating
+fellaheen and negroes as slaves. Had Great Britain in this instance
+yielded a jot of her just rights to the intriguing and bellicose
+spirit of French officialism Egypt would have been made an impossible
+place for our countrymen to remain in. Being in Cairo and Alexandria
+at the time I was privately assured by scores of my countrymen, men in
+business and in public offices, that they would be obliged to quit
+Egypt if France succeeded in her pretensions to the Nile Valley. Petty
+annoyances, tyranny, all manner of injustice and even violence would
+be resorted to, to force them to leave and to drive British interests
+to the wall.</p>
+
+<p>I avail myself again of the excellent synopsis of the official
+despatches dealing with the Fashoda incident, which appeared in the
+<em>Daily Telegraph</em>. The Parliamentary papers in question were issued on
+the 9th of October last. The official papers opened with a despatch
+from Sir Edmund Monson to the Foreign Secretary, bearing date December
+10, 1897. Therein the British Ambassador says:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"The despatches which I have recently addressed to your lordship
+respecting the reports of the massacre of the Marchand Expedition,
+and the comments made in connection with this rumoured disaster by
+the French Press, will have already shown your lordship how
+necessary it has become to remind the French Government of the
+views held by that of Her Majesty as to their sphere of influence
+in the Upper Nile Valley; and it has been with great satisfaction
+that I have found myself so promptly authorised to make a
+communication upon the subject to M. Hanotaux. Made in the way in
+which it has been suggested by your lordship, I see no reason why
+this communication should prejudice the chances of our coming to a
+satisfactory arrangement upon the question with which we are
+dealing in connection with the situation in West Africa." </p></div>
+
+<p>Sir Edmund Monson enclosed in the despatch a copy of a note he had
+addressed to M. Hanotaux, at that period French Minister of Foreign
+Affairs, as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"The other point to which it is necessary to advert is the
+proposed recognition of the French claim to the northern and
+eastern shores of Lake Chad. If other questions are adjusted, Her
+Majesty's Government will make no difficulty about this condition.
+But in doing so they cannot forget that the possession of this
+territory may in the future open up a road to the Nile; and they
+must not be understood to admit that any other European Power than
+Great Britain has any claim to occupy any part of the Valley of
+the Nile. The views of the British Government upon this matter
+were plainly stated in Parliament by Sir Edward Grey some years
+ago during the Administration of the Earl of Rosebery, and were
+formally communicated to the French Government at the time. Her
+Majesty's present Government entirely adhere to the language that
+was on this occasion employed by their predecessors." </p></div>
+
+<p>To this M. Hanotaux replied:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"In any case the French Government cannot, under present
+circumstances, refrain from repeating the reservations which it
+has never failed to express every time that questions relating to
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> Valley of the Nile have been brought forward. Thus, in
+particular, the declarations of Sir Edward Grey, to which the
+British Government has referred, gave rise to an immediate protest
+by our representative in London, the terms of which he repeated
+and developed in the further conversations which he had at the
+Foreign Office on the subject. I myself had occasion, in the
+sitting of the Senate on April 5, 1895, to make, in the name of
+the Government, declarations to which I consider that I am all the
+more justified in referring from the fact that they have called
+forth no reply from the British Government." </p></div>
+
+<p>The speech to which M. Hanotaux refers is published at length in an
+appendix, and, so far from being a reply to Sir Edward Grey, it gives
+the French position completely away.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"I now come, gentlemen," he said, "to the question of the Upper
+Nile. I will explain the situation to the Senate in a few words;
+for I think it will be useful to complete the explanations which
+M. de Lamarzelle has already given on this subject. Between the
+country of the lakes and the point of Wady Halfa, on the Nile,
+extends a vast region, measuring twenty degrees of latitude, or
+2000 kilometres, that is, more than the breadth of Western Europe
+from Gibraltar to Dunkirk. In this region there is at this moment,
+perhaps, not a single European; in any case, there does not exist
+any power derived, by any title, from a European authority. It is
+the country of the Mahdi! Now, gentlemen, it is the future of this
+country which fills with an uneasiness, which we may describe as
+at least premature, the minds of a certain number of persons
+interested in Africa. The Egyptians who occupied this vast domain
+for a considerable time have moved to the north. Emin Pasha
+himself was compelled to withdraw. The rights of the Sultan and
+the Khedive alone continue to exist over the regions of the Soudan
+and of Equatorial Africa." </p></div>
+
+<p>That is to say, after the Mahdi, who was the <em>de facto</em> ruler, the
+authority over the whole basin of the Upper Nile reverted to the
+Khedive and the Sultan as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> his suzerain, which is exactly the position
+taken up by Lord Salisbury in his despatch of September 9, 1898.</p>
+
+<p>Major Marchand has had various titles conferred upon him, and in the
+penultimate despatch contained in the papers he is described by Lord
+Salisbury as "a French explorer who is on the Upper Nile in a
+difficult position." To M. Delcass&eacute;, however, is reserved the honour
+of giving him an official designation. On September 7 the French
+Foreign Minister, in an interview with Sir E. Monson, after handsomely
+complimenting the British Government on the victory of Omdurman,
+expressed his anxiety about a possible meeting of the Sirdar and M.
+Marchand.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Should he (M. Marchand) be met with, his Excellency said that he
+had received instructions to be most careful to abstain from all
+action which might cause local difficulties, and that he had been
+enjoined to consider himself as an 'emissary of civilisation'
+without any authority whatever to decide upon questions of right,
+which must properly form the subject of discussion between Her
+Majesty's Government and that of the French Republic.</p>
+
+<p>"M. Delcass&eacute; therefore begged me to inform your lordship of this
+fact, and expressed the hope that the commander of Her Majesty's
+naval forces on the river might be instructed to take no steps
+which might lead to a local conflict with regard to such questions
+of right." </p></div>
+
+<p>It may be remarked, in passing, that this view of the position of the
+emissary of civilisation does not tally with that which M. Marchand
+subsequently gave to the Sirdar, to whom he stated "that he had
+received precise orders for the occupation of the country and the
+hoisting of the French flag over the Government buildings at Fashoda,
+and added that, without the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> orders of his Government, which, however,
+he expected, would not be delayed, it was impossible for him to retire
+from the place."</p>
+
+<p>The instructions given by Lord Salisbury, through Lord Cromer, to the
+Sirdar, have been given elsewhere in this chapter.</p>
+
+<p>On September 11 our Ambassador informed M. Delcass&eacute; of the advance of
+the Sirdar up the Nile, and on the 18th the French Foreign Minister
+stated further:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"As a matter of fact, there is no Marchand Mission. In 1892 and
+1893 M. Liotard was sent to the Upper Ubanghi as Commissioner,
+with instructions to secure French interests in the north-east. M.
+Marchand had been appointed one of his subordinates, and received
+all his orders from M. Liotard. There could be no doubt that for a
+long time past the whole region of the Bahr-el-Ghazal had been out
+of the influence of Egypt." </p></div>
+
+<p>Sir E. Monson left M. Delcass&eacute; in no doubt as to the view Her
+Majesty's Government took of the situation. Of the interview referred
+to, he reports to Lord Salisbury as follows, under date September
+22:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Although his Excellency made two or three allusions to the
+reasons for which, in his opinion, the French might consider that
+the region in question was open to their advance, he himself
+volunteered the suggestion that discussion between us would be
+inopportune.</p>
+
+<p>"In this I, of course, concurred, reminding him of the terms of
+your lordship's telegram of the 9th inst.; but I told him, as
+emphatically as I could, that I looked upon the situation at
+Fashoda, if M. Marchand had occupied that town, as very serious,
+inasmuch as Her Majesty's Government would certainly not acquiesce
+in his remaining there, nor would they consent to relinquishing
+the claims of Egypt to the restoration of all the country latterly
+subject to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> Khalifa, which had heretofore been a portion of
+her territory. I felt it to be my duty, I said, to speak with
+extreme frankness, and to assure him that on this point no
+compromise would be possible.</p>
+
+<p>"M. Delcass&eacute; listened to me with grave attention, but his reply
+was chiefly to the effect that if the two Governments discussed
+the matter with calmness and a sincere desire to avoid a conflict,
+there could be no doubt of our arriving at a peaceable and
+satisfactory solution. France does not desire a quarrel. In saying
+this he could speak with absolute certainty. All his colleagues in
+the Government are, like himself, anxious for good relations with
+England. If this anxiety is reciprocated on the other side of the
+Channel (and the tone of the English Press inspires him with
+doubts of this) there can be no danger.</p>
+
+<p>"I replied that Her Majesty's Government have no desire to pick a
+quarrel with France, but that nothing could be gained by my
+concealing from him the gravity of the situation as I regarded it,
+or the fixed determination of Her Majesty's Government to
+vindicate claims of the absolute justice of which they hold that
+there can be no question. I, of course, avoided the use of any
+expression which might sound like a menace, but short of this I
+did my best to make my declaration of the impossibility of the
+French being allowed to remain at Fashoda as clear and distinct as
+could be expressed in words." </p></div>
+
+<p>On 25th September, the day the expedition returned from Fashoda to
+Omdurman, Mr Rennell Rodd, who during the absence of Lord Cromer in
+Europe was in charge of affairs in Egypt, telegraphed to Lord
+Salisbury the following despatch, which had been received from the
+Sirdar:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"I found at Fashoda, whence I have just returned, M. Marchand with
+8 officers and 120 men. The French flag had been hoisted over the
+old Government buildings in which they were located. I sent a
+letter announcing my approach on the day before my arrival <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span>at
+Fashoda. On the following morning, September 19, a reply was
+brought to me from M. Marchand by a small rowing-boat carrying the
+French flag. It stated that he had arrived at Fashoda on July 10,
+having been instructed by his Government to occupy the
+Bahr-el-Ghazal up to the confluence of the Bahr-el-Jebel, and also
+the Shilluk country on the left bank of the White Nile as far as
+Fashoda. It went on to say that he had concluded a treaty with the
+Shilluk chiefs by which they placed the country under the
+protection of France, and that he had sent this treaty to his
+Government for ratification by way of Abyssinia, as well as by the
+Bahr-el-Ghazal. He described his fight with the dervishes on
+August 25, and stated that, in anticipation of a second and more
+serious attack, he had sent his steamer south for reinforcements,
+but that our arrival had prevented a further attack.</p>
+
+<p>"When we arrived at Fashoda, M. Marchand and M. Germain came on
+board our steamer, and I at once informed them that the presence
+of a French party at Fashoda and in the Nile valley must be
+considered as a direct infringement of the rights of Egypt and of
+the British Government, and I protested in the strongest terms
+against the occupation of Fashoda by M. Marchand and his party,
+and the hoisting of the French flag in the dominions of his
+Highness the Khedive. M. Marchand stated, in reply, that he had
+received precise orders for the occupation of the country and the
+hoisting of the French flag over the Government buildings at
+Fashoda, and added that, without the orders of his Government,
+which, however, he expected would not be delayed, it was
+impossible for him to retire from the place. I then inquired of
+him whether, in view of the fact that I was accompanied by a
+superior force, he was prepared to resist the hoisting of the
+Egyptian flag at Fashoda. He hesitated, and replied that he could
+not resist. The Egyptian flag was then hoisted, about 500 yards
+south of the French flag, on a ruined bastion of the old Egyptian
+fortifications, commanding the only road which leads into the
+interior from the French position. The latter is entirely
+surrounded to the north by impassable marshes.</p>
+
+<p>"Before leaving for the south I handed to M. Marchand a formal
+written protest on the part of the Governments of Great Britain
+and Egypt against any occupation of any part of the Nile valley
+by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span> France, as being an infringement of the rights of those
+Governments. I added that I could not recognise the occupation by
+France of any part of the Nile valley.</p>
+
+<p>"I left at Fashoda a garrison of one Soudanese battalion, four
+guns, and a gunboat under Major Jackson, whom I appointed
+Commandant of the Fashoda district, and I proceeded to Sobat,
+where the flag was hoisted and a post established on September 20.
+We did not see or hear anything of the Abyssinians on the Sobat,
+but were informed that their nearest post was about 350 miles up
+that river. The Bahr-el-Jebel being entirely blocked by floating
+weed, I gave orders for a gunboat to patrol up the Bahr-el-Ghazal
+in the direction of Meshra-er-Rek. As we passed Fashoda on the
+return journey north, I sent M. Marchand a letter stating that all
+transport of war material on the Nile was absolutely prohibited,
+as the country was under military law. The chief of the Shilluk
+tribe, accompanied by a large number of followers, has come into
+Major Jackson's camp. He entirely denies having made any treaty
+with the French, and the entire tribe express the greatest delight
+at returning to allegiance to us.</p>
+
+<p>"M. Marchand is in want of ammunition and supplies, and any that
+may be sent to him must take months to arrive at their
+destination. He is cut off from the interior, and is quite
+inadequately provided with water transport. Moreover, he has no
+following in the country, and nothing could have saved his
+expedition from being annihilated by the dervishes if we had been
+a fortnight later in crushing the Khalifa." </p></div>
+
+<p>The gist of this despatch was communicated to the French Government,
+accompanied by a notification that the Sirdar's "language and
+proceedings" had the complete approval of Lord Salisbury. M. Delcass&eacute;
+was evidently at his wits' end to escape from an <em>impasse</em> which was
+chiefly of his own creation.</p>
+
+<p>In an interview with Sir E. Monson on September 27 he wished to put
+off a final decision till he had received the despatches which M.
+Marchand had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> forwarded in duplicate by way of the French Congo and
+Abyssinia respectively.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"To gain time, M. Delcass&eacute;," writes our Ambassador, "wished that I
+should request your lordship to consent to a telegram being sent
+by the French agent at Cairo to Khartoum, to be forwarded from
+thence up the Nile to Fashoda. The telegram would contain
+instructions to M. Marchand to send at once one of the French
+officers serving on his mission to Cairo with a copy of his
+above-mentioned report, so that the French Government might learn
+its contents as soon as possible. They were, of course, ready to
+bear all the expense.</p>
+
+<p>"Stress was laid by M. Delcass&eacute; upon the great desire entertained
+at Paris to prevent any serious difficulty from arising; at the
+same time, he felt convinced, especially in view of the conduct of
+the Sirdar at Fashoda, acting as he undoubtedly was under
+instructions, that Her Majesty's Government were as anxious as the
+French Government to avoid a conflict.</p>
+
+<p>"I told M. Delcass&eacute; in reply that I must conclude from the
+language which he had held that the French Government had decided
+that they would not recall M. Marchand before receiving his
+report, and I asked if I was right in this conclusion. I pointed
+out to his Excellency that M. Marchand himself is stated to be
+desirous of retiring from his position, which appeared to be a
+disagreeable one. Such being the case, I must urgently press him
+to tell me whether he refused at once to recall M. Marchand.</p>
+
+<p>"After considering his reply for some few minutes, his Excellency
+said that he himself was ready to discuss the question in the most
+conciliatory spirit, but I must not ask him for the impossible.</p>
+
+<p>"I pointed out that your lordship's telegram of the 9th inst.,
+which I had communicated to him at the time, had made him aware
+that Her Majesty's Government considered that there could be no
+discussion upon such questions as the right of Egypt to Fashoda." </p></div>
+
+<p>To this Lord Salisbury replied next day:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Her Majesty's Government cannot decline to assist in forwarding a
+message from the French Agent in Egypt to a French explorer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> who
+is on the Upper Nile in a difficult position, and your Excellency
+is authorised to inform M. Delcass&eacute; that Her Majesty's Acting
+Agent at Cairo will be instructed to transmit to Omdurman
+immediately any such message, and at the same time to request Sir
+H. Kitchener to forward it thence to its destination by any
+opportunity which may be available.</p>
+
+<p>"Her Majesty's Government do not desire to be made acquainted with
+the purport of the message. But you must explain that they are
+unable to accept any responsibility for the results to the safety
+or health of the explorer which the delay in quitting his present
+situation may bring about." </p></div>
+
+<p>The official papers closed with the following laconic despatch from
+Lord Salisbury to Sir E. Monson, bearing date 3rd October.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"I request your Excellency to inform the French Minister for
+Foreign Affairs that, in accordance with his wish, his message for
+M. Marchand has been transmitted to Khartoum, and will be
+forwarded thence to its destination. In order to avoid any
+misunderstanding, you should state to M. Delcass&eacute; that the fact of
+Her Majesty's Government having complied with his Excellency's
+request in regard to the transmission of the message does not
+imply the slightest modification of the views previously expressed
+by them. You should add that, whether in times of Egyptian or
+Dervish dominion, the region in which M. Marchand was found has
+never been without an owner, and that, in the view of Her
+Majesty's Government, his expedition into it with an escort of 100
+Senegalese troops has no political effect, nor can any political
+significance be attached to it." </p></div>
+
+<p>In the appendix were given past speeches and despatches by M. Decrais,
+M. Hanotaux, Lord Kimberley, Sir E. Grey, etc.</p>
+
+<p>The rest can be quickly told. Military and naval preparations for war
+in both countries were redoubled <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span>and the public tone was bellicose.
+Consols were affected and war appeared almost inevitable. It was an
+occasion for union among all who rightly set patriotism above party.
+Lord Rosebery, Late Premier, with splendid grace and
+disinterestedness, in a speech, 13th October, voiced the sentiment of
+the masses and classes. His lordship said:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Behind the policy of the British Government in this matter there
+is the untiring and united strength of the nation itself.
+(Cheers.) It is the policy of the last Government deliberately
+adopted and sustained by the present Government. (Cheers.) That is
+only a matter of form, but it is the policy of the nation itself,
+and no Government that attempted to recede from or palter with
+that policy would last a week. (Loud cheers.) I am perfectly
+certain that no idea or intention of any weakening on this point
+or this question has entered the head of Her Majesty's present
+advisers." </p></div>
+
+<p>Messages were transmitted up the Nile to Major Marchand at Fashoda. In
+response thereto he sent Captain Baratier down with despatches. That
+officer arrived with Slatin Pasha in Cairo on the 20th October. His
+despatches were wired to Paris, for which Baratier himself started
+next day. It happened that the Sirdar, who also left for England on
+that date, was a fellow-traveller with him. Another hitch occurred,
+the French Government stating that Marchand's report made no allusion
+to the meeting with the Sirdar at Fashoda. That they would have to
+wait for before giving an answer. Marchand, it was alleged, had not
+had time to bring his report down to date, when Baratier left him.
+They had not long to wait, for suddenly the announcement was sprung
+that Major Marchand, acting on his own volition, had left Fashoda and
+was coming<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> down by Khedivial transport, to Cairo. He arrived in that
+city on the evening of 3rd November, and got a deservedly hearty
+reception from the English as well as the French community. Prominent
+officials, civil and military, were there to greet the brave and hardy
+explorer. His companion, Captain Baratier, who had been to Paris and
+had hastened back intending to return to Fashoda, met the Major next
+day in Cairo. But on the very day that Major Marchand reached Cairo,
+the French Government had issued an official note stating it had been
+decided to evacuate Fashoda, as the position had been reported
+untenable. So saying "No, no, they would ne'er consent," they
+consented.</p>
+
+<p>At the Mansion House banquet given to the Sirdar, on 4th November,
+Lord Salisbury said:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"I received from the French Ambassador this afternoon the
+information that the French Government had come to the conclusion
+that the (Fashoda) occupation was of no sort of value to the
+French Republic, and they thought that under those circumstances,
+to persist in an occupation which only cost them money and did
+harm, merely because some of their advisers thought they would be
+an unwelcome neighbour, would not show the wisdom with which the
+French Republic has uniformly been guided. They have done what I
+believe every Government would have done in the same
+position&mdash;they have resolved that the occupation must cease. A
+formal intimation to that effect was made to me this afternoon,
+and it has been conveyed to the French authorities at Cairo. I do
+not wish to be misunderstood as saying that all causes of
+controversy are by this removed between the French Government and
+ourselves. It is probably not so, and it may be that we shall have
+many discussions in the future, but a cause of controversy of a
+singularly acute and somewhat dangerous character<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> has been
+removed, and we cannot but congratulate ourselves upon it." </p></div>
+
+<p>In the same connection it is of interest to learn what Major Marchand
+had to say. The full text of his speech made at a banquet given to him
+and Captain Baratier by the French Club at Cairo on the 7th October
+appeared in the Press. In the presence of the Acting French Diplomatic
+Agent and others, Major Marchand said:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Monsieur le Ministre de France, Monsieur le Pr&eacute;sident,
+Messieurs&mdash;There are two reasons why you will not expect a speech
+from me. In the first place I am only a soldier and no orator; and
+then one cannot be talkative on a day of reflection, a day which
+brings to me personally a great sorrow, the official abandonment
+of Fashoda. Fashoda! it was only a point&mdash;it is true that it
+synthetised everything. But if we lose the point we abandon
+nothing of our thesis. To reflect is not to despair&mdash;on the
+contrary. The experiences of this world teach us that the sum of
+our sorrows is not greater than that of our joys. The more the
+black period may be prolonged the more quickly will approach the
+dawn of proud aspirations at length realised. And the granite
+Sphinx which near at hand dreams on the desert sands, the Sphinx
+which saw the passage of Bonaparte, which saw Lesseps and his
+work, has not yet uttered its last word, has not murmured the
+supreme sentence. The more fiercely evil fortune may pursue us the
+more should we call to our aid the great hopes which swell the
+heart and fortify the will. The French colony in Cairo, moreover,
+has shown more than ten times over already that it knows no
+discouragement. I should like, my dear and valiant compatriots, to
+give you some small recompense. Listen! When, nearly three years
+ago, the Congo-Nile mission left France, it was not in order to
+make a more or less famous journey of exploration. No, its aim was
+far higher. You have already guessed it. Why, then, proclaim it
+here? We desired (here the speaker paused a moment) to carry
+across French Africa to the French in Egypt a hand-grip from the
+French of France. The road was long, some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>times hard; we have
+reached our destination, however, since I have the honour to greet
+you here to-day. Do you not see a symbol in this? Fortune, which
+detests broad and easy paths, is perhaps at this moment on her
+way, bringing you the succour so patiently looked for. We must
+never despair, and who can say that the Sphinx may not be about to
+smile? It is for this that I have come to tell you that if we are
+few to-day we shall be many to-morrow&mdash;who forget nothing, who
+abandon nothing. It is with this thought that I drink to your
+health, gentlemen, the health of the French colony in Egypt. To
+the Greater France!" </p></div>
+
+<p>It is easy to feel great sympathy with so gallant and hardy a soldier,
+who, having successfully accomplished the perilous mission entrusted
+to him by his Government, found support denied him and his work
+fruitless. Major Marchand and Captain Baratier again availed
+themselves of the Egyptian military transport to return to their
+comrades. At half-past 8 a.m., 11th December, the French hauled down
+their flag at Fashoda, and left for the Sobat river. They were
+intending to make their way up that stream to the nearest Abyssinian
+post, and thereafter, striking through Menelik's country, hoped to
+arrive on the East African coast at Djibutil. Their sick comrades they
+entrusted to the Egyptian military authorities to send home by the
+Nile through Lower Egypt. The invalided Frenchmen and Senegalese in
+question reached Cairo at the end of the year.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps it was only to be expected that the French press and
+politicians would display increased virulence against this country
+over the Fashoda settlement. But their persistence in that course, and
+the fact of their present extraordinary naval expenditure, can only
+mean<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> getting ready for war against Great Britain. This may lead our
+people to consider whether it would not be cheapest and wisest to
+settle the quarrel off-hand. True, delay makes for peace, but a peace
+that is to be a struggle to overtop one another in armaments may be
+more costly in every sense than sharp and decisive warfare. The chief
+cause of the soreness in France against us is our presence in Egypt.
+Yet the French have no such vital interest there as this country has.
+To many of our colonies and dependencies the shortest way lies through
+Egypt. Again, the French form quite a minority in numbers and wealth
+among the foreign communities in Egypt. Since 1882, the year of
+occupation, Great Britain has been careful to avoid interference with
+the privileges and rights of all foreigners. In what community
+controlled by France through sixteen years would it have been allowed
+that an alien language should be maintained in use in public places.
+No official step has been taken to diminish the use of French in
+street nomenclature, or public conveyances, or public departments in
+Egypt until last year. Arabic is the language of the people, and
+English is the language of commerce in the country. A sensible change
+in the direction indicated is at last evident, even in Cairo and
+Alexandria. Shops and warehouses are displaying Anglo-Saxon signs, and
+the natives are discarding French and are speaking English as the one
+foreign language necessary to acquire.</p>
+
+<p>There has been talk among our neighbours of emulating the Sirdar's
+enterprise and founding French<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> colleges at Khartoum and Fashoda. But
+urged by less disinterested motives they may find it necessary instead
+to devote their funds to the cultivation of the Gallic tongue in Lower
+and Upper Egypt, rather than in the Soudan. In the year 1897, in
+Tantah, the third largest town in the Delta, there were 130 scholars
+learning French and but 40 studying English. In 1898 there were 98 at
+the English classes and but a moiety at the French. The scholastic
+year 1899, according to the officials of the Public Instruction
+Department, will see a farther and even more serious decline in the
+study of the French language. The French officials themselves are
+painfully aware that the Gallic speech, for colloquial intercourse
+between educated natives and Europeans, is doomed if matters continue
+as at present. In Assouan, where during 1897 much the same state of
+things prevailed as at Tantah; in 1898 there were 118 scholars
+learning English and but three at the French classes.</p>
+
+<p>Until quite recently, it was wont to be the case in Lower Egypt that
+there were always two pupils learning French to one devoting attention
+to acquiring English. In Upper Egypt of late years the difference had
+not been so marked, the proportion of French and English students
+being about equal. These figures refer to primary classes in Upper
+Egypt, and to secondary, as well as primary, classes in Cairo and
+Alexandria. As a matter of fact, the results of the examinations did
+not follow in quite the same proportion in the Delta. About three
+pupils have passed in French to two in English. Shortly after the
+battle of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> Omdurman, applications had to be made for entrance into the
+school classes for English and French tuition. In a great number of
+schools, in both Upper and Lower Egypt, especially in the stronghold
+of the French tongue&mdash;the Delta&mdash;not a single application was made by
+candidates for entrance to the second primaries, in which French
+teaching begins. That means to say that there will a dearth and
+practically a cessation of French teaching in 1899 in the primary
+schools, and subsequently, or in 1900, the year of the Exposition
+Universelle at Paris, a total discontinuance of it in the secondary
+schools. Taking the secondary schools examinations throughout the
+whole of Lower Egypt by themselves, I learn that in 1898, although
+there were a larger proportion of candidates for French certificates
+of proficiency, yet the numbers that actually passed in each language
+were about the same. The Examining Commissioners are Egyptian,
+English, and French.</p>
+
+<p>It is in Egypt as in certain other countries. The great ambition of
+every lad is to get into the Government service, and failing that to
+become a lawyer. Law schools are therefore well attended. Heretofore
+budding lawyers have been taught in French classes only. An
+English-speaking law section was started in 1898. The natives are
+quick to appreciate any change which is to their advantage. Pupils in
+the secondary schools have now opened to them careers which have
+heretofore been closed. There is in truth a silent, but certain to be
+effective, educational and social revolution begun in Egypt. No more
+will every whim and caprice of those who seek to obstruct the advance
+of the Egyptians be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> tolerated. In 1899 for the first time examining
+educational centres will be established at Assouan and Suakin. All
+those south of Assiut will be for English students only, for French
+will be quite dropped. Not only will there be a college at Khartoum
+but one at Kassala, where English as well as Arabic will be taught. In
+a new and thorough manner has the regeneration of Egypt and the Soudan
+been undertaken. The dream of a red English through-traffic line from
+Cairo to Cape Town will have a speedy realisation. Possibly within
+eighteen months the railway will be carried to the Sobat. Certainly
+before 1899 is ended there will be through communication with
+Khartoum. Mr Cecil Rhodes is busy with his South African lines, which
+by that time should be up to the Zambesi, and within three years after
+there will possibly be open rail and water communication from the
+Mediterranean to Cape Town. But before then the telegraph wire will
+bind North and South Africa together, and to the United Kingdom.</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="section_break"></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span></p>
+<h3><a name="POSTSCRIPT" id="POSTSCRIPT"></a>POSTSCRIPT.</h3>
+
+
+<p>This volume was written and in the printer's hands when an article by
+a Mr E. N. Bennett appeared in the columns of <em>The Contemporary
+Review</em>, entitled "After Omdurman." That gentleman made a series of
+grave charges reflecting upon the Anglo-Egyptian arms, not only during
+the Khartoum Expedition, but also on their conduct in Egypt and the
+Soudan since 1882. In the <em>Daily Telegraph</em> and elsewhere I have
+deservedly stigmatised Mr Bennett's allegations as untrue, stupid, and
+wantonly mischievous.</p>
+
+<p>In the pages of <em>The Khartoum Campaign, 1898</em>, can be read the
+detailed version of events which happened in the field "before" as
+well as "after" Omdurman. I venture to think that abundant refutation
+will be found in the Work of most of Mr Bennett's scandalous
+assertions. Although it may seem to lend further temporary importance
+to what that gentleman has written, as his accusations were made
+public under the cover of a respectable magazine, perhaps a few words
+more may not be out of place.</p>
+
+<p>Mr Bennett's article was seemingly framed on the specious pretext of,
+under a discussion of the principles of international law, questions
+of belligerency, Geneva Convention rules, and so forth, to base
+thereon a claim for the treatment of dervishes as combatants entitled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span>
+to all the amenities of civilised warfare. Several pages of his
+composition are given up to treating upon that matter. For instance,
+he says&mdash;"Moreover, it is worth remembering that the dervishes were
+not 'savages' in the sense in which the word is applied to the
+followers of a Lobengula or a Samory. On the contrary, they satisfied
+all the requirements for recognition as an armed force." Now, that is
+an aspersion upon Lobengula and Samory in particular. For unredeemed
+devilishness, the dervishes have had no equals. The fact is, that the
+Mahdists made it a constant practice to ruthlessly slaughter all
+prisoners in battle, wounded or unwounded; to enslave, torture, or
+murder their enemies, active or passive; to loot and to burn; to slay
+children and debauch women. To set up a pretext that such monsters are
+entitled to the grace and consideration of the most humane laws, is to
+beggar commonsense and yap intolerable humbug. Yet British
+self-respect was such, Mr Bennett to the contrary notwithstanding,
+that the dervishes were treated as men, and not as wild beasts.</p>
+
+<p>Started upon his false pursuit, Mr Bennett proceeds from error to
+error, abounding in reckless misstatements, atrocious imputations, and
+scattering charges void of truth. As briefly as possible, I will deal
+with his accusations. One of his first deliverances is as
+follows:&mdash;"It is, of course, an open secret that in all our Soudan
+battles the enemy's wounded have been killed. The practice has, ever
+since the days of Tel-el-Kebir, become traditional in Soudanese
+warfare. After the battle of Atbara, it was announced that 3000
+dervishes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> had been killed. There was practically no mention of the
+wounded.... How, then, was it that no wounded were accounted for at
+the Atbara?" Again he writes:&mdash;"But I cannot help thinking that if the
+killing of the wounded had been sternly repressed at Tel-el-Kebir and
+during the earlier Soudan campaigns, our dervish enemies would have
+learned to expect civilised treatment," etc. Gaining courage, probably
+from his own audacity, Mr Bennett had the hardihood to virtually
+declare that the cruelties permitted by British officers made the
+dervishes what they were.</p>
+
+<p>Now, I went through the 1882 war in Egypt as well as most of the
+campaigns in the Soudan. I am therefore in a better position than he
+to declare, that his allegations are a perversion of the truth. It was
+neither the practice at Tel-el-Kebir nor subsequent thereto for
+British led troops to kill wounded men. The insinuation that they did
+so, or connived at such slaughter, is a stupid or a malicious
+falsehood. In every battle within the period referred to, large
+numbers of wounded and unwounded prisoners were taken, and invariably
+great lenience was shown. Surgical treatment also was, whenever
+possible, always promptly rendered. Indeed, they were in countless
+cases treated as tenderly as our own wounded. This further: in action
+there are no soldiers less prone to needless blood-spilling, or men
+readier to forgive and forget, than "Tommy Atkins." Official returns
+exist setting at rest the fiction about Tel-el-Kebir and the Soudan
+battles. At Tel-el-Kebir many thousand prisoners were made, and in
+other engagements our hands were always full of dervish<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> wounded. At
+El Teb, Tamai, Abu Klea, Abu Kru, Gemaizeh, Atbara, and elsewhere,
+wounded dervishes fell into our hands, and received every attention
+from the medical staff. And in some of these actions our troops were
+themselves in sore straits. Several hundred dervishes were picked up
+within and without the Atbara dem, including the leader Mahmoud and
+his two cousins. Be it remembered, our troops only remained there a
+few hours, marching back to the Nile.</p>
+
+<p>Still further abominable charges Mr Bennett lays at the door of his
+countrymen who command British and Khedivial troops. The Sirdar
+himself is included in his rigmarole of accusations. But whether
+dealing with particulars or the general course of events, Mr Bennett
+discloses that he has scarcely a nodding acquaintanceship with truth.
+He has said:&mdash;"This wholesale slaughter was not confined to Arab
+servants," <em>i.e.</em>, killing wounded dervishes. "The Soudanese seemed to
+revel in the work, and continually drove their bayonets through men
+who were absolutely unconscious.... This unsoldierly work was not even
+left to the exclusive control of the black troops; our British
+soldiers took part in it."</p>
+
+<p>On whatever ground Mr Bennett may seek to support these assertions,
+they are unwarranted and untruthful libels. There was no wholesale
+slaughter of wounded dervishes, nor was there anything done in the
+least justifying or providing a decent pretext for that ferocious
+accusation. Very many thousands of dervish wounded fell into our hands
+that day and later. Officers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> have written to the press, denying these
+charges and the rest of Mr Bennett's tale of monstrosity. The Sirdar
+himself has confirmed by a personal cablegram my refutation of them.
+Here is another of Mr Bennett's suggestions of evil-doing, by innuendo
+and assertion:&mdash;"It was stated that orders had been given to kill the
+wounded." And, "If the Sirdar really believes that the destruction of
+the wounded was a military necessity," etc. Can colossal crassness go
+further? There is not and never was a scintilla of truth for the
+charge of wholesale slaughtering of wounded dervishes, nor that the
+Sirdar ever issued such an order, or that any reputable person ever
+received it, or ever had it hinted to him. The accusation is an
+unmitigated untruth, and absolutely at variance with all that was said
+and done by the Sirdar before and during the course of the battle and
+the pursuit. I certainly never heard of the matter until Mr Bennett
+made the accusation, and I cannot trace its authorship beyond himself.
+From the Sirdar down, contradictions of the charge have deservedly
+been slapped in Mr Bennett's face.</p>
+
+<p>But it is almost sheer waste of words to follow and refute line by
+line the article "After Omdurman." Other of Mr Bennett's accusations
+were: that the 21st Lancers, on the way to the front, robbed
+hen-roosts and stricken villagers; that once in Omdurman the Soudanese
+troops abandoned discipline, looted, ravished, and murdered the whole
+night long; that on land and water our cannon and Maxims were
+deliberately turned upon unarmed flying inhabitants, massacring,
+without pity, men, women, and children.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> An these charges had been
+true, I should have hastened to denounce the culprits, whoever they
+were, in the interests of humanity and country. Happily, Mr Bennett's
+tale is utterly without foundation, whatever reflection that casts
+upon his condition. The Lancers passed through nothing but deserted
+villages, where there were neither natives nor roosts to rob, even had
+they been so disposed. As for the Soudanese troops, their discipline
+throughout was perfect; there was no looting, no ravishing nor murder
+done by them or any other divisions of the soldiery. Nor did our
+gunners on shore or afloat ever fire upon unarmed people. Let it be
+recalled that those whom Mr Bennett so flippantly accuses are
+honourable gentlemen and fellow-countrymen. Three things in this
+connection are worthy of special note. When the first dervish attack
+upon our zereba was repulsed and Wad Melik's dead, dying and shamming
+warriors carpeted the north slopes of Jebel Surgham and the plain in
+front. "Cease fire" was sounded. Thereafter the dervishes arose from
+the ground in hundreds and thousands and walked off, without awakening
+a renewal of our fire from cannon, Maxims, or rifles. At the entry
+into Omdurman the artillery and gunboats were ordered to be careful
+how they fired, and grave risks were incurred by the Sirdar and staff
+in personally counselling to friend and foe a cessation of fighting.</p>
+
+<p>Inaccuracy and sensationalism Mr Bennett is welcome to, and to the
+sort of notoriety it has brought him. Cheap maudlin sentiment may
+profess a pity for those "dervish homes ruined" by the suc<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span>cesses of
+British arms. The dervishes in their day had no homes. Nay, they made
+honest profession that their mission was to destroy other people's,
+and do without carking domesticity, as that detracted from the merit
+of preparation for paradise. As I have elsewhere said, one of the
+"fads" of the day is to hold that liberalism of mind is always
+characterised by being a friend to every country and race but your
+own. Exact truth is as illusive to discovery by that as other
+pernicious methods. That there may have been one or two instances of
+cruelty practised on the battle-field is possible. Something of the
+kind always takes place in warfare as in everyday life. But only the
+amateur would magnify a few instances into a catalogue of charges.
+Alas! you cannot eliminate from armies, any more than from ordinary
+communities, the foolish, insane, and criminal.</p>
+
+<p class="letter_who">THE AUTHOR.</p>
+<p class="letter_where">London, <em>February 1899</em>.</p>
+
+
+<p class="the_end">THE END.</p>
+
+<div class="thought_break"></div>
+<p class="printers">NEILL AND COMPANY, LTD., PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.</p>
+
+
+
+<div class="section_break"></div>
+<div id="adverts">
+<p class="impression_ready"><em>FOURTH IMPRESSION NOW READY.</em></p>
+
+<h2>Sirdar and Khalifa;<br /><br />
+<span class="or_the">OR THE</span><br /><br />
+<span class="reconquest">Re-conquest of the Soudan.</span><br /><br />
+<span class="by">BY</span><br /><br />
+<span class="bennet">BENNET BURLEIGH.</span></h2>
+
+<p class="portraits">With Portraits, Numerous Illustrations, Maps,<br />
+and Plan of Battle.</p>
+
+<p class="demy">DEMY 8vo, 12s.</p>
+
+<p><span class="reviewer">The Daily News</span> says:&mdash;"Picturesque, spirited, and trustworthy
+narrative.... The book comprises a summary of the military situation,
+and a glance at the probable course of the renewed operations which
+are now on the point of commencing."</p>
+
+<p><span class="reviewer">The Pall Mall Gazette</span> says:&mdash;"Nothing could be more timely. It is
+unnecessary at this time of day to speak of Mr Burleigh's familiar
+style ... always to the point, clear, and vigorous; or of his
+matter&mdash;the matter of an experienced, shrewd, and fearless war
+correspondent. The book is just the book for the occasion, and will
+make the tale that is coming directly more real to many of us. Mr
+Burleigh gives a few useful introductory chapters dealing with
+previous events, and a very interesting account of a trip to Kassala,
+'our new possession'; but in the main it is the story of the Atbara
+Campaign. The book makes good reading, entirely apart from its timely
+instructiveness."</p>
+
+<p><span class="reviewer">The St James's Gazette</span> says:&mdash;"Its real value to the judicious reader
+lies in the fact that it is a faithful record by a highly skilled
+observer of the day-by-day life of an Anglo-Egyptian Army engaged in
+desert warfare. The country itself&mdash;river and wilderness&mdash;the rival
+leaders, the soldiery, their appearance, arms, and uniform, their
+eating and drinking, their lying down and their rising up, their
+marching and the final rush of battle&mdash;these are all here before us in
+a living picture, making the book in reality an invaluable 'vade
+mecum' for those who wish to realise just what it is that our men are
+doing to-day between the Atbara and Omdurman."</p>
+
+<p><span class="reviewer">The Westminster Gazette</span> says:&mdash;"The book is profoundly interesting.
+Readers familiar with the author's letters in <em>The Daily Telegraph</em> do
+not need to be told that he is a master of vivid and picturesque
+narrative. Mr Burleigh has been an eye-witness during the course of
+all the campaigns in the Soudan in which British troops have been
+employed, and therefore writes out of full knowledge and experience."</p>
+
+<p><span class="reviewer">The Morning Post</span> says:&mdash;"Many chapters are devoted to the Atbara
+Campaign and the incidents connected with it, the storming of
+Mahmoud's entrenched Camp on the 7th of April last, and interviews
+with that Emir after he was taken prisoner. Mr Burleigh's book, it
+will be sufficient to say, should prove very useful to all who follow
+the progress of the Force now advancing on Omdurman. In a
+supplementary chapter will be found official despatches, and the work
+is provided with a map of the Soudan, and plans of the Battle of the
+Atbara and of the Island of Meroe, showing positions before the
+battle. The illustrations are numerous. Among them is a frontispiece
+portrait of the Sirdar."</p>
+
+<p><span class="reviewer">The Daily Chronicle</span> says:&mdash;"We are given a connected and very
+comprehensible account of all the operations up to the destruction of
+Mahmoud's host and the Sirdar's triumphant return to Berber.... The
+description of the main battle itself is very vivid and complete."</p>
+
+<p><span class="reviewer">The Scotsman</span> says:&mdash;"Mr Bennet Burleigh's new volume, 'Sirdar and
+Khalifa,' comes just in the nick of time. Its object is to recount the
+story of the reconquest of the Soudan up to the Battle of Atbara.... A
+very readable book."</p>
+
+<p><span class="reviewer">The Daily Telegraph</span> says:&mdash;"Readers of <em>The Daily Telegraph</em> will not
+be chary of accepting our estimate of the value of this book when we
+remind them that its author is Mr Bennet Burleigh, who has acted
+throughout the numerous campaigns which have been waged in the Soudan
+as the War Correspondent of this journal, and gained himself a
+well-merited reputation for his pluck in the face of the enemy, his
+endurance of hardship and fatigue, his excellence of judgment, and his
+graphic descriptions of the shock of battle.... It only remains to say
+that this book is well illustrated, handsomely printed, and is in
+every way a worthy record of a brief but memorable campaign."</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Khartoum Campaign, 1898, by Bennet Burleigh
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KHARTOUM CAMPAIGN, 1898 ***
+
+***** This file should be named 25504-h.htm or 25504-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/5/0/25504/
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Chris Logan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+
+</pre>
+
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/25504-h/images/advance_guard.jpg b/25504-h/images/advance_guard.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c2f6734
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/advance_guard.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/advancing.jpg b/25504-h/images/advancing.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..035f046
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/advancing.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/ankle_irons.jpg b/25504-h/images/ankle_irons.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..242f3dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/ankle_irons.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/artillery.jpg b/25504-h/images/artillery.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3ab11ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/artillery.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/breaking_camp.jpg b/25504-h/images/breaking_camp.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..73e2cff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/breaking_camp.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/burleigh.jpg b/25504-h/images/burleigh.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6be1e96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/burleigh.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/captured_standard.jpg b/25504-h/images/captured_standard.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..573604a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/captured_standard.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/dakhala_street.jpg b/25504-h/images/dakhala_street.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..74f8314
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/dakhala_street.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/darmali.jpg b/25504-h/images/darmali.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cbdccd8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/darmali.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/effect_shell.jpg b/25504-h/images/effect_shell.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5e79fc3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/effect_shell.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/eunuch.jpg b/25504-h/images/eunuch.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..afa3c56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/eunuch.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/flags.jpg b/25504-h/images/flags.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..65a5803
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/flags.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/gallows.jpg b/25504-h/images/gallows.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fc32fd8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/gallows.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/halt.jpg b/25504-h/images/halt.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3c427f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/halt.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/house.jpg b/25504-h/images/house.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..622bab2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/house.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/hq_halfa.jpg b/25504-h/images/hq_halfa.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a36ba48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/hq_halfa.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/khartoum.jpg b/25504-h/images/khartoum.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bf93f82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/khartoum.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/macdonald.jpg b/25504-h/images/macdonald.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..18fc82e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/macdonald.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/macdonald_omdurman.jpg b/25504-h/images/macdonald_omdurman.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..271e7ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/macdonald_omdurman.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/map.png b/25504-h/images/map.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..37cf944
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/map.png
diff --git a/25504-h/images/map_a.png b/25504-h/images/map_a.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..376c56c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/map_a.png
diff --git a/25504-h/images/map_a_big.png b/25504-h/images/map_a_big.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6638cc1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/map_a_big.png
diff --git a/25504-h/images/map_b.png b/25504-h/images/map_b.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..faa5fb1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/map_b.png
diff --git a/25504-h/images/map_b_big.png b/25504-h/images/map_b_big.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f813831
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/map_b_big.png
diff --git a/25504-h/images/map_big.png b/25504-h/images/map_big.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..267266f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/map_big.png
diff --git a/25504-h/images/map_c.png b/25504-h/images/map_c.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..af447b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/map_c.png
diff --git a/25504-h/images/map_c_big.png b/25504-h/images/map_c_big.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ddfae4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/map_c_big.png
diff --git a/25504-h/images/map_d.png b/25504-h/images/map_d.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ea41367
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/map_d.png
diff --git a/25504-h/images/map_d_big.png b/25504-h/images/map_d_big.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..649aa19
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/map_d_big.png
diff --git a/25504-h/images/neufeld.jpg b/25504-h/images/neufeld.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eadcedc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/neufeld.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/pasha_foot.jpg b/25504-h/images/pasha_foot.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..090c679
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/pasha_foot.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/prisoners.jpg b/25504-h/images/prisoners.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..861ee6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/prisoners.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/sirdar_directing.jpg b/25504-h/images/sirdar_directing.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e758ec4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/sirdar_directing.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/staff_officers.jpg b/25504-h/images/staff_officers.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2ef60fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/staff_officers.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/thoroughfare.jpg b/25504-h/images/thoroughfare.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ee06852
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/thoroughfare.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/tomb.jpg b/25504-h/images/tomb.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b760888
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/tomb.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/tomb_interior.jpg b/25504-h/images/tomb_interior.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d022bee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/tomb_interior.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/troops.jpg b/25504-h/images/troops.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9fa11a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/troops.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/wood_station.jpg b/25504-h/images/wood_station.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e788e89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/wood_station.jpg
diff --git a/25504-h/images/zereba_action.jpg b/25504-h/images/zereba_action.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a700580
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-h/images/zereba_action.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/f0001.png b/25504-page-images/f0001.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6161359
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/f0001.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/f0001a-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/f0001a-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..83283c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/f0001a-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/f0001b-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/f0001b-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bb52f7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/f0001b-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/f0002.png b/25504-page-images/f0002.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7da8a45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/f0002.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/f0003.png b/25504-page-images/f0003.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..79cec54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/f0003.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/f0007.png b/25504-page-images/f0007.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bfc2726
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/f0007.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/f0008.png b/25504-page-images/f0008.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2642a60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/f0008.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/f0009.png b/25504-page-images/f0009.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d5e69d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/f0009.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/f0010.png b/25504-page-images/f0010.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..75ea225
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/f0010.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/f0011.png b/25504-page-images/f0011.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..94077f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/f0011.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/f0012.png b/25504-page-images/f0012.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..652c409
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/f0012.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0001.png b/25504-page-images/p0001.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0b4a810
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0001.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0002.png b/25504-page-images/p0002.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..44e89dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0002.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0003.png b/25504-page-images/p0003.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..42bfd2a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0003.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0004.png b/25504-page-images/p0004.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..506d360
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0004.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0005.png b/25504-page-images/p0005.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c6c1364
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0005.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0006.png b/25504-page-images/p0006.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f228f7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0006.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0007.png b/25504-page-images/p0007.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9ba4ff4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0007.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0008.png b/25504-page-images/p0008.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d9413f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0008.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0009-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0009-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4c975b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0009-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0009.png b/25504-page-images/p0009.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c11ebbe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0009.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0010.png b/25504-page-images/p0010.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a91687d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0010.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0011.png b/25504-page-images/p0011.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f2c4b92
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0011.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0012.png b/25504-page-images/p0012.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..07fa42f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0012.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0013.png b/25504-page-images/p0013.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..19f37a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0013.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0014.png b/25504-page-images/p0014.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..984977b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0014.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0015.png b/25504-page-images/p0015.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..911c0cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0015.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0016.png b/25504-page-images/p0016.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cd1e3c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0016.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0017.png b/25504-page-images/p0017.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..62f311d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0017.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0018.png b/25504-page-images/p0018.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..facc101
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0018.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0019.png b/25504-page-images/p0019.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e27f132
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0019.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0020.png b/25504-page-images/p0020.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2cb6251
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0020.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0021.png b/25504-page-images/p0021.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0c79f52
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0021.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0022.png b/25504-page-images/p0022.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5f5f629
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0022.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0023-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0023-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..45c6a67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0023-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0023.png b/25504-page-images/p0023.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0835cc0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0023.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0024.png b/25504-page-images/p0024.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b442200
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0024.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0025.png b/25504-page-images/p0025.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2731e8a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0025.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0026.png b/25504-page-images/p0026.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d6c1d1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0026.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0027.png b/25504-page-images/p0027.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2e8f8f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0027.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0028.png b/25504-page-images/p0028.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aff72fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0028.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0029.png b/25504-page-images/p0029.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..033bcd8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0029.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0030.png b/25504-page-images/p0030.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..864ad6b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0030.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0031.png b/25504-page-images/p0031.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b89751a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0031.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0032.png b/25504-page-images/p0032.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a9c1b35
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0032.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0034-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0034-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f554cc6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0034-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0034.png b/25504-page-images/p0034.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..077d78a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0034.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0035.png b/25504-page-images/p0035.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1d3f9fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0035.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0036.png b/25504-page-images/p0036.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1413d77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0036.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0037.png b/25504-page-images/p0037.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7119a97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0037.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0038.png b/25504-page-images/p0038.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..796ce58
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0038.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0039.png b/25504-page-images/p0039.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0245640
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0039.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0040.png b/25504-page-images/p0040.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..11a9e44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0040.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0041.png b/25504-page-images/p0041.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8c60206
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0041.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0042.png b/25504-page-images/p0042.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5c705b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0042.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0043.png b/25504-page-images/p0043.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9a79160
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0043.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0044.png b/25504-page-images/p0044.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a16f136
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0044.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0045.png b/25504-page-images/p0045.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..76d0f96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0045.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0046.png b/25504-page-images/p0046.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cfca764
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0046.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0047.png b/25504-page-images/p0047.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5c2e333
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0047.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0048.png b/25504-page-images/p0048.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dad799a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0048.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0049.png b/25504-page-images/p0049.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3873797
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0049.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0050.png b/25504-page-images/p0050.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..269f790
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0050.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0051.png b/25504-page-images/p0051.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..28b8e45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0051.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0052.png b/25504-page-images/p0052.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..76e4130
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0052.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0053-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0053-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8279d4a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0053-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0053.png b/25504-page-images/p0053.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..be01f61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0053.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0054.png b/25504-page-images/p0054.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c6f839f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0054.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0055.png b/25504-page-images/p0055.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8adb667
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0055.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0056.png b/25504-page-images/p0056.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5dfd20a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0056.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0057.png b/25504-page-images/p0057.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..acf7712
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0057.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0058-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0058-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c1d441b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0058-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0058.png b/25504-page-images/p0058.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c6a0bd5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0058.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0059.png b/25504-page-images/p0059.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cac4b1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0059.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0060.png b/25504-page-images/p0060.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8295e28
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0060.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0061.png b/25504-page-images/p0061.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b072487
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0061.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0062.png b/25504-page-images/p0062.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d7fc5ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0062.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0063.png b/25504-page-images/p0063.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7dbc081
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0063.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0064.png b/25504-page-images/p0064.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fa8f06a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0064.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0065.png b/25504-page-images/p0065.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..20ec7c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0065.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0066.png b/25504-page-images/p0066.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6529363
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0066.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0067.png b/25504-page-images/p0067.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f0a7c51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0067.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0068.png b/25504-page-images/p0068.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1981fda
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0068.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0069-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0069-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1a9c6f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0069-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0069.png b/25504-page-images/p0069.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..88f5dfc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0069.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0070.png b/25504-page-images/p0070.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..93a6205
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0070.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0071.png b/25504-page-images/p0071.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..73505c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0071.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0072.png b/25504-page-images/p0072.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2faaf53
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0072.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0073.png b/25504-page-images/p0073.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c5af554
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0073.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0074.png b/25504-page-images/p0074.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6399f77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0074.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0075.png b/25504-page-images/p0075.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4a43dfe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0075.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0076.png b/25504-page-images/p0076.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e792f4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0076.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0077-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0077-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d0bed56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0077-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0077.png b/25504-page-images/p0077.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ecce39f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0077.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0078.png b/25504-page-images/p0078.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..329bb59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0078.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0079.png b/25504-page-images/p0079.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..904c656
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0079.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0080.png b/25504-page-images/p0080.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..47a8235
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0080.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0081-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0081-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0d85203
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0081-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0081.png b/25504-page-images/p0081.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..006de86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0081.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0082.png b/25504-page-images/p0082.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d19928d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0082.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0083.png b/25504-page-images/p0083.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e036bbf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0083.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0084.png b/25504-page-images/p0084.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a0cc1c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0084.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0085.png b/25504-page-images/p0085.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0725384
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0085.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0086.png b/25504-page-images/p0086.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0b2db7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0086.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0087-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0087-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..14ab342
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0087-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0087.png b/25504-page-images/p0087.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5add27c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0087.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0088.png b/25504-page-images/p0088.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1c09330
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0088.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0089-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0089-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4e1852f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0089-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0089.png b/25504-page-images/p0089.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7885074
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0089.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0090.png b/25504-page-images/p0090.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bce6c7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0090.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0091.png b/25504-page-images/p0091.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1415726
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0091.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0092.png b/25504-page-images/p0092.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8682248
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0092.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0093.png b/25504-page-images/p0093.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0a955ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0093.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0094.png b/25504-page-images/p0094.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d772da9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0094.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0095.png b/25504-page-images/p0095.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5885612
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0095.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0096.png b/25504-page-images/p0096.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..71764d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0096.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0097.png b/25504-page-images/p0097.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7439d67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0097.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0098.png b/25504-page-images/p0098.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..92fd01d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0098.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0099.png b/25504-page-images/p0099.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3045a4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0099.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0100.png b/25504-page-images/p0100.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..374e62f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0100.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0101.png b/25504-page-images/p0101.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a7e7953
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0101.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0102.png b/25504-page-images/p0102.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..321ade3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0102.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0103.png b/25504-page-images/p0103.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..297b5db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0103.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0104.png b/25504-page-images/p0104.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4c74d46
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0104.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0105.png b/25504-page-images/p0105.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ece5bad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0105.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0106.png b/25504-page-images/p0106.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..66cad81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0106.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0107.png b/25504-page-images/p0107.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7e02bd6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0107.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0108.png b/25504-page-images/p0108.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7e035e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0108.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0109.png b/25504-page-images/p0109.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..43f5cec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0109.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0110.png b/25504-page-images/p0110.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..63a4c71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0110.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0111.png b/25504-page-images/p0111.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1482268
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0111.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0112.png b/25504-page-images/p0112.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6f321d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0112.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0113.png b/25504-page-images/p0113.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6cdf0d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0113.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0114.png b/25504-page-images/p0114.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f71fb8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0114.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0115.png b/25504-page-images/p0115.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..87f2922
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0115.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0116.png b/25504-page-images/p0116.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..59bd61f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0116.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0117.png b/25504-page-images/p0117.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..02276c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0117.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0118.png b/25504-page-images/p0118.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ad19ee1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0118.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0119.png b/25504-page-images/p0119.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..007fae2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0119.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0120.png b/25504-page-images/p0120.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3edd741
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0120.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0121.png b/25504-page-images/p0121.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b2498af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0121.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0122.png b/25504-page-images/p0122.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..22c6b57
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0122.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0123.png b/25504-page-images/p0123.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e0c38f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0123.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0124.png b/25504-page-images/p0124.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e00e5a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0124.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0125-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0125-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9699349
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0125-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0125.png b/25504-page-images/p0125.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2d3161c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0125.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0126.png b/25504-page-images/p0126.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4438181
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0126.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0127.png b/25504-page-images/p0127.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..71929de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0127.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0128.png b/25504-page-images/p0128.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ad44c5f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0128.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0129.png b/25504-page-images/p0129.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d6a2ab3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0129.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0130.png b/25504-page-images/p0130.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3539d08
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0130.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0131.png b/25504-page-images/p0131.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e788ee2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0131.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0132.png b/25504-page-images/p0132.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..00784f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0132.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0133.png b/25504-page-images/p0133.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..02e8b46
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0133.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0134.png b/25504-page-images/p0134.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a2bd449
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0134.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0135.png b/25504-page-images/p0135.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7df5333
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0135.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0136.png b/25504-page-images/p0136.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e20539
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0136.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0137.png b/25504-page-images/p0137.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e96e010
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0137.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0138.png b/25504-page-images/p0138.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e8819a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0138.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0139.png b/25504-page-images/p0139.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ed75716
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0139.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0140.png b/25504-page-images/p0140.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..90baaa8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0140.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0141.png b/25504-page-images/p0141.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d92b00e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0141.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0142.png b/25504-page-images/p0142.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..120cba2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0142.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0143.png b/25504-page-images/p0143.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..41665a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0143.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0144.png b/25504-page-images/p0144.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b1cc131
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0144.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0145.png b/25504-page-images/p0145.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..334dfcf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0145.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0146.png b/25504-page-images/p0146.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3150706
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0146.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0147.png b/25504-page-images/p0147.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5400dc2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0147.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0148.png b/25504-page-images/p0148.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e0c82d2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0148.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0149.png b/25504-page-images/p0149.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cef4649
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0149.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0150.png b/25504-page-images/p0150.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b54e42b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0150.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0151-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0151-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..504ab8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0151-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0151.png b/25504-page-images/p0151.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d6ec051
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0151.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0152.png b/25504-page-images/p0152.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..817c2c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0152.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0153.png b/25504-page-images/p0153.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..95c8b87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0153.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0154.png b/25504-page-images/p0154.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cafbf2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0154.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0155.png b/25504-page-images/p0155.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d8c3905
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0155.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0156.png b/25504-page-images/p0156.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a45016f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0156.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0157.png b/25504-page-images/p0157.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5168bc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0157.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0158.png b/25504-page-images/p0158.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae199ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0158.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0159.png b/25504-page-images/p0159.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bb0eb34
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0159.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0160.png b/25504-page-images/p0160.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a122880
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0160.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0161.png b/25504-page-images/p0161.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bbcc2af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0161.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0162.png b/25504-page-images/p0162.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0cbe65d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0162.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0163.png b/25504-page-images/p0163.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9f0d265
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0163.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0164.png b/25504-page-images/p0164.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5f86785
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0164.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0165.png b/25504-page-images/p0165.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f4061e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0165.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0166.png b/25504-page-images/p0166.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..30c3ff6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0166.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0167.png b/25504-page-images/p0167.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9e1260f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0167.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0168.png b/25504-page-images/p0168.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..00c6763
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0168.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0169.png b/25504-page-images/p0169.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e576b63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0169.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0170.png b/25504-page-images/p0170.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6f6377c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0170.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0171.png b/25504-page-images/p0171.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6f49e28
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0171.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0172.png b/25504-page-images/p0172.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b95d73e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0172.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0173-image1.png b/25504-page-images/p0173-image1.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0b58fdc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0173-image1.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0175.png b/25504-page-images/p0175.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c5c4603
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0175.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0176.png b/25504-page-images/p0176.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9b52e93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0176.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0177.png b/25504-page-images/p0177.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5a85415
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0177.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0178.png b/25504-page-images/p0178.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c65eff3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0178.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0179-image1.png b/25504-page-images/p0179-image1.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..765f9b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0179-image1.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0181.png b/25504-page-images/p0181.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7972a49
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0181.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0182-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0182-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8fcd792
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0182-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0182.png b/25504-page-images/p0182.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1aac46b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0182.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0183-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0183-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..618fe33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0183-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0185.png b/25504-page-images/p0185.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5658e55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0185.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0186.png b/25504-page-images/p0186.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4d44e84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0186.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0187-image1.png b/25504-page-images/p0187-image1.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e9ca3b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0187-image1.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0189.png b/25504-page-images/p0189.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2122f29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0189.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0190.png b/25504-page-images/p0190.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8416a64
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0190.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0191-image1.png b/25504-page-images/p0191-image1.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..81e09df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0191-image1.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0193.png b/25504-page-images/p0193.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..95de0ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0193.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0194.png b/25504-page-images/p0194.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5d31129
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0194.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0195-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0195-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b44b790
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0195-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0195.png b/25504-page-images/p0195.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..abe9b60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0195.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0196-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0196-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2aa3c4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0196-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0196.png b/25504-page-images/p0196.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..896c91c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0196.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0197-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0197-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6b5c011
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0197-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0197.png b/25504-page-images/p0197.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..764b320
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0197.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0198.png b/25504-page-images/p0198.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3e89f3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0198.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0199.png b/25504-page-images/p0199.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..25b41b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0199.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0200.png b/25504-page-images/p0200.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a0a0a93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0200.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0201.png b/25504-page-images/p0201.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..586f4af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0201.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0202.png b/25504-page-images/p0202.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..70aa855
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0202.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0203.png b/25504-page-images/p0203.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8f459a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0203.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0204.png b/25504-page-images/p0204.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..790a3a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0204.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0205.png b/25504-page-images/p0205.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0ba239c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0205.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0206.png b/25504-page-images/p0206.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..32cced2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0206.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0207.png b/25504-page-images/p0207.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bb56862
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0207.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0208.png b/25504-page-images/p0208.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..17d1e81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0208.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0209.png b/25504-page-images/p0209.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d94f2f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0209.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0210.png b/25504-page-images/p0210.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..79d999d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0210.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0211.png b/25504-page-images/p0211.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3c55e8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0211.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0212.png b/25504-page-images/p0212.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f6544d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0212.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0213.png b/25504-page-images/p0213.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a18a4fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0213.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0214.png b/25504-page-images/p0214.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..725de2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0214.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0215.png b/25504-page-images/p0215.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1ee5e5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0215.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0216.png b/25504-page-images/p0216.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f641bee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0216.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0217-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0217-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ba0e2e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0217-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0217.png b/25504-page-images/p0217.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3c167df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0217.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0218.png b/25504-page-images/p0218.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fb66802
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0218.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0219-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0219-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a9b417d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0219-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0219.png b/25504-page-images/p0219.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7b7bc6b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0219.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0220.png b/25504-page-images/p0220.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d56c2a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0220.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0221-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0221-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a4e627f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0221-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0221.png b/25504-page-images/p0221.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..472b378
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0221.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0222.png b/25504-page-images/p0222.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ef64629
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0222.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0223-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0223-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9b63297
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0223-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0225-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0225-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f78d23c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0225-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0225.png b/25504-page-images/p0225.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..121645d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0225.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0226.png b/25504-page-images/p0226.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c43c81b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0226.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0227.png b/25504-page-images/p0227.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..688dd85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0227.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0228.png b/25504-page-images/p0228.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5193bfd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0228.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0229-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0229-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d6adc65
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0229-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0229.png b/25504-page-images/p0229.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..613f455
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0229.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0230.png b/25504-page-images/p0230.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fce1d42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0230.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0231-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0231-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1d31526
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0231-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0233.png b/25504-page-images/p0233.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c1f8cbf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0233.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0234.png b/25504-page-images/p0234.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a3fc174
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0234.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0235.png b/25504-page-images/p0235.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d9af3fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0235.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0236.png b/25504-page-images/p0236.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b69043e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0236.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0237.png b/25504-page-images/p0237.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..edc0142
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0237.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0238.png b/25504-page-images/p0238.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..39578db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0238.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0239.png b/25504-page-images/p0239.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..43a9b6f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0239.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0240.png b/25504-page-images/p0240.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bd1dfe6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0240.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0241-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0241-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a5fade9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0241-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0243.png b/25504-page-images/p0243.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3e4d996
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0243.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0244.png b/25504-page-images/p0244.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..08b5bc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0244.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0245.png b/25504-page-images/p0245.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cfa1cd9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0245.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0246.png b/25504-page-images/p0246.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..090f263
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0246.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0247.png b/25504-page-images/p0247.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1641042
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0247.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0248.png b/25504-page-images/p0248.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8e217bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0248.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0249.png b/25504-page-images/p0249.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dd7f061
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0249.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0250.png b/25504-page-images/p0250.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..406fc2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0250.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0251.png b/25504-page-images/p0251.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9bebfe8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0251.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0252.png b/25504-page-images/p0252.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..28ee892
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0252.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0253.png b/25504-page-images/p0253.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..42303ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0253.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0254.png b/25504-page-images/p0254.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..56d50e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0254.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0255-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0255-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..efd534b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0255-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0255.png b/25504-page-images/p0255.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cf617c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0255.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0256.png b/25504-page-images/p0256.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..971a024
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0256.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0257.png b/25504-page-images/p0257.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..82f54eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0257.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0258.png b/25504-page-images/p0258.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5b32478
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0258.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0259-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0259-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..568fb44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0259-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0261.png b/25504-page-images/p0261.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..136d35a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0261.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0262.png b/25504-page-images/p0262.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..077a204
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0262.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0263.png b/25504-page-images/p0263.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6212cf0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0263.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0264.png b/25504-page-images/p0264.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..41388e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0264.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0265.png b/25504-page-images/p0265.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f0d863b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0265.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0266.png b/25504-page-images/p0266.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a46b02f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0266.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0267.png b/25504-page-images/p0267.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..73c07de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0267.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0268.png b/25504-page-images/p0268.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7c3cb0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0268.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0269.png b/25504-page-images/p0269.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f8b68c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0269.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0270.png b/25504-page-images/p0270.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..94a8cdd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0270.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0271.png b/25504-page-images/p0271.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3372897
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0271.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0272.png b/25504-page-images/p0272.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5ceeb56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0272.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0273.png b/25504-page-images/p0273.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a838543
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0273.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0274.png b/25504-page-images/p0274.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..77495f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0274.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0275.png b/25504-page-images/p0275.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c285931
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0275.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0276.png b/25504-page-images/p0276.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..881c43f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0276.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0277.png b/25504-page-images/p0277.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..94b6a8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0277.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0278.png b/25504-page-images/p0278.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b66bfcd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0278.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0279.png b/25504-page-images/p0279.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..16d0f19
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0279.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0280.png b/25504-page-images/p0280.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..396a91f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0280.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0281.png b/25504-page-images/p0281.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2dafd47
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0281.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0282.png b/25504-page-images/p0282.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..42c8f44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0282.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0283.png b/25504-page-images/p0283.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..623d833
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0283.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0284.png b/25504-page-images/p0284.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7cb5ed6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0284.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0285.png b/25504-page-images/p0285.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9ab121d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0285.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0286.png b/25504-page-images/p0286.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..08681dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0286.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0287.png b/25504-page-images/p0287.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..32fbb16
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0287.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0288.png b/25504-page-images/p0288.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..159041b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0288.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0289.png b/25504-page-images/p0289.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a1dc91e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0289.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0290.png b/25504-page-images/p0290.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aec4490
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0290.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0291-image1.jpg b/25504-page-images/p0291-image1.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cb774a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0291-image1.jpg
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0293.png b/25504-page-images/p0293.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a8854e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0293.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0294.png b/25504-page-images/p0294.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..776992d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0294.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0295.png b/25504-page-images/p0295.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..86847f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0295.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0296.png b/25504-page-images/p0296.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..723291a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0296.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0297.png b/25504-page-images/p0297.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aaa8776
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0297.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0298.png b/25504-page-images/p0298.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..981d32d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0298.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0299.png b/25504-page-images/p0299.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3874d2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0299.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0300.png b/25504-page-images/p0300.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8f56e3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0300.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0301.png b/25504-page-images/p0301.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..899010c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0301.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0302.png b/25504-page-images/p0302.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a0a2a36
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0302.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0303.png b/25504-page-images/p0303.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..75b46ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0303.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0304.png b/25504-page-images/p0304.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..23ea0e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0304.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0305.png b/25504-page-images/p0305.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..af18152
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0305.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0306.png b/25504-page-images/p0306.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ed907a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0306.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0307.png b/25504-page-images/p0307.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6be0ba9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0307.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0308.png b/25504-page-images/p0308.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..91d469b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0308.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0309.png b/25504-page-images/p0309.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cec1bcd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0309.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0310.png b/25504-page-images/p0310.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1e7cd59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0310.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0311.png b/25504-page-images/p0311.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d5b154b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0311.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0312.png b/25504-page-images/p0312.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f9609cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0312.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0313.png b/25504-page-images/p0313.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c82b1e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0313.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0314.png b/25504-page-images/p0314.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6890629
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0314.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0315.png b/25504-page-images/p0315.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..316f818
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0315.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0316.png b/25504-page-images/p0316.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8558477
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0316.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0317.png b/25504-page-images/p0317.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..08c9cd6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0317.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0318.png b/25504-page-images/p0318.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..60d9e27
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0318.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0319.png b/25504-page-images/p0319.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0b54653
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0319.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0320.png b/25504-page-images/p0320.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6212f08
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0320.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0321.png b/25504-page-images/p0321.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1b31031
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0321.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0322.png b/25504-page-images/p0322.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..61ac4ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0322.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0323.png b/25504-page-images/p0323.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8eb0768
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0323.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0324.png b/25504-page-images/p0324.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e50f57b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0324.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0325.png b/25504-page-images/p0325.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..15b1c37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0325.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0326.png b/25504-page-images/p0326.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..abe0fb5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0326.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0327.png b/25504-page-images/p0327.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..64eaaea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0327.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0328.png b/25504-page-images/p0328.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ca22fbd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0328.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0329.png b/25504-page-images/p0329.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..65d55d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0329.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0330.png b/25504-page-images/p0330.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..71bf0af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0330.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0331.png b/25504-page-images/p0331.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d02ddd1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0331.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0332.png b/25504-page-images/p0332.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2e1bd1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0332.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0333.png b/25504-page-images/p0333.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0df989c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0333.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0334.png b/25504-page-images/p0334.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d138bac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0334.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0335.png b/25504-page-images/p0335.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e8b8165
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0335.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0336.png b/25504-page-images/p0336.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cff3c79
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0336.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0337.png b/25504-page-images/p0337.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4c5d7b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0337.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0338.png b/25504-page-images/p0338.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3637b92
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0338.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0339.png b/25504-page-images/p0339.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..84602a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0339.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/p0340.png b/25504-page-images/p0340.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0fec7f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/p0340.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/q0001-image1.png b/25504-page-images/q0001-image1.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7502052
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/q0001-image1.png
diff --git a/25504-page-images/q0002-image1.png b/25504-page-images/q0002-image1.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ea2cc7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504-page-images/q0002-image1.png
diff --git a/25504.txt b/25504.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5f580fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,8554 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Khartoum Campaign, 1898, by Bennet Burleigh
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Khartoum Campaign, 1898
+       or the Re-Conquest of the Soudan
+
+Author: Bennet Burleigh
+
+Release Date: May 17, 2008 [EBook #25504]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KHARTOUM CAMPAIGN, 1898 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Chris Logan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+KHARTOUM CAMPAIGN
+
+1898
+
+OR THE
+
+RE-CONQUEST OF THE SOUDAN
+
+BY
+
+BENNET BURLEIGH.
+
+AUTHOR OF "SIRDAR AND KHALIFA."
+
+
+WITH MAPS, PLANS OF BATTLE, AND NUMEROUS
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+SECOND IMPRESSION.
+
+
+LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL, LIMITED
+1899
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+By the overthrow of Mahdism, the great region of Central Africa has
+been opened to civilisation. From the date of the splendid victory of
+Omdurman, 2nd September 1898, may be reckoned the creation of a vast
+Soudan empire. At so early a stage, it is idle to speculate whether
+the country will be held as a British possession, or as a province of
+Egypt. "The land of the blacks," and their truculent Arab despoilers,
+has the intrinsic qualities that secure distinction. Given peace, it
+may be expected that the mixed negroid races of the Upper Nile will
+prove themselves as orderly and industrious as they are conspicuously
+brave. Whoever rules them wisely, will have the control of the best
+native tribes of the Dark Continent, the raw material of a mighty
+state. This, too, is foreshadowed; the dominant power in Central
+Northern Africa, if no farther afield, will have its capital in
+Khartoum, "Ethiopia will soon stretch out her hands unto God."
+
+The recent events which have so altered the condition of affairs upon
+the Upper Nile, deserve more than ephemeral record. A campaign so full
+of inspiriting incident, a victory which has brought presage of a
+great and prosperous Soudan, merits re-telling. Through half a score
+of battles or more, from the beginning to the death of Mahdism, I have
+followed British and Egyptian troops into action against the
+dervishes. I knew General Hicks, and had the luck to miss accompanying
+his ill-fated expedition. In the present volume, "Khartoum Campaign,"
+the narrative of the reconquest is completed, the history being
+carried to the occupation of Fashoda and Sobat, including the
+withdrawal of Major Marchand's French mission. I have made use of my
+telegrams and letters to the _Daily Telegraph_, London, and the full
+notes I made from day to day during the campaign. Besides, I have
+quoted in certain cases from official sources, and given extracts from
+verbal and written communications made to me by distinguished officers
+engaged in the operations.
+
+For use of maps, sketches, and photographs, I am indebted to the
+proprietors of the _Daily Telegraph_, to Mr Ross of _Black and White_,
+Surgeon-General William Taylor, Colonel Frank Rhodes, Lieutenant E. D.
+Loch, Grenadier Guards, Mr Francis Gregson, Mr Munro of Dingwall,
+N.B., and others.
+
+                                                      BENNET BURLEIGH.
+
+LONDON, _December 1898_.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                                  PAGE
+
+    CHAPTER I.
+
+      INTRODUCTORY--REVIEW OF THE FIELD,                             1
+
+    CHAPTER II.
+
+      DAYS OF WAITING AND PREPARATION,                              14
+
+    CHAPTER III.
+
+      MUSTERING FOR THE OVERTHROW OF MAHDISM,                       35
+
+    CHAPTER IV.
+
+      BY THE WAY--FROM CAIRO TO DAKHALA,                            45
+
+    CHAPTER V.
+
+      DAKHALA CAMP: GOSSIP AND DUTY,                                63
+
+    CHAPTER VI.
+
+      MARCHING IN THE SOUDAN--FROM DAKHALA TO WAD HABESHI,          75
+
+    CHAPTER VII.
+
+      WITH THE ARMY IN THE FIELD--WAD HAMID TO EL HEJIR,            92
+
+    CHAPTER VIII.
+
+      EL HEJIR TO UM TERIF--INCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTS,               105
+
+    CHAPTER IX.
+
+      ADVANCE TO KERRERI--SKIRMISHING WITH THE ENEMY,              119
+
+    CHAPTER X.
+
+      THE BATTLE OF OMDURMAN--FIRST PHASE OF THE FIGHT,            135
+
+    CHAPTER XI.
+
+      BATTLE OF OMDURMAN--_continued._--THE CAVALRY
+      FIGHTS--MACDONALD'S SAVING ACTION,                           167
+
+    CHAPTER XII.
+
+      STORIES OF THE BATTLE--OMDURMAN,                             199
+
+    CHAPTER XIII.
+
+      CLOSE OF CAMPAIGN--GORDON MEMORIAL SERVICE, KHARTOUM,        228
+
+    CHAPTER XIV.
+
+      KHARTOUM MEMORIAL COLLEGE--THE OFFICIAL DESPATCHES,          263
+
+    CHAPTER XV.
+
+      THE FASHODA AFFAIR--A RED BRITISH LINE THROUGH AFRICA,       295
+
+    POSTSCRIPT,                                                    334
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+                                                                  PAGE
+
+    Brigadier-General H. A. Macdonald, C.B., D.S.O.,    _Frontispiece_
+
+    Bennet Burleigh,                               _To face page_    1
+
+    Headquarters, Wady Halfa,                                        9
+
+    Darmali (British Brigade Summer Quarters),                      23
+
+    Group of Staff Officers--Colonel Wingate in Centre,             34
+
+    Street in Dakhala,                                              53
+
+    Troops going to Wad Habeshi,                                    58
+
+    Wood Station (_en route_ to Omdurman),                          69
+
+    Loading Up--Breaking Camp,                                      77
+
+    21st Lancers--Advance Guard,                                    81
+
+    Halt by the Way,                                                87
+
+    Slatin Pasha (on Foot),                                         89
+
+    Artillery going towards Omdurman,                              125
+
+    Battle of Omdurman--Zereba Action,                             151
+
+    Macdonald's Brigade advancing,                                 182
+
+    Sirdar directing Advance on Omdurman,                          183
+
+    Khalifa's Captured Standard (Sirdar extreme left),             195
+
+    Chief Thoroughfare, Omdurman (Mulazim Wall, left; Osman
+    Digna's House, right),                                         196
+
+    Effect of Shell Fire upon Wall (Mulazim Enclosure),            197
+
+    Khalifa's House,                                               217
+
+    Mahdi's Tomb--Effect of Lyddite Shells,                        219
+
+    Interior Mahdi's Tomb (Grille around Sarcophagus),             221
+
+    Khalifa's Gallows (cutting down his Last Victim),              223
+
+    Neufeld on Gunboat "Sheik"--Cutting off his Ankle-Irons,       225
+
+    Khalifa's Chief Eunuch (surrenders in British Camp),           229
+
+    Fresh Batch Wounded and Unwounded Dervish Prisoners,
+    Omdurman, 4th September 1898,                                  231
+
+    Neufeld, with Abyssinian Wife and Children; also Fellow
+    Prisoner,                                                      241
+
+    Distant View, Khartoum (from Blue Nile),                       255
+
+    Hoisting Flags, Khartoum,                                      259
+
+    Col. H. Macdonald at Omdurman, with Officer and
+    Non-Commissioned Officer of 1st Brigade,                       291
+
+
+MAPS AND PLANS.
+
+    General View Plan, "A,"                                 _page_ 173
+
+    Zereba Plan, "B,"                                         "    179
+
+    First Attack on Macdonald's Brigade, "C," Plate 1,        "    187
+
+    Second Attack on Macdonald's Brigade, "D," Plate 2,       "    191
+
+
+
+
+KHARTOUM CAMPAIGN.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+INTRODUCTORY.--REVIEW OF FIELD.
+
+
+It is an easier and kindlier duty to set forth facts than to proclaim
+opinions and pronounce judgments. Before Tel-el-Kebir was fought in
+September 1882 and the Egyptian army beaten and disbanded, the
+insurrection headed by the Mahdi or False Prophet had begun. In the
+disrupted condition of affairs which succeeded Arabi Pasha's defeat by
+British arms the dervish movement made further rapid progress. To Sir
+Evelyn Wood, V.C., at the close of 1882, was assigned the task, as
+Sirdar or Commander-in-Chief of the Khedivial troops, of forming a
+real native army. It was that distinguished soldier, aided by an
+exceptionally able staff, who first took in hand the re-organisation
+and proper training of the fellaheen recruits. By dint of drill,
+discipline and stiffening with British commissioned and
+non-commissioned officers he soon made passable soldiers of the
+"Gippies." The new army was at first restricted to eight battalions
+of Egyptian infantry, one regiment of cavalry, and four batteries of
+artillery. Although there were Soudanese amongst Arabi's troops, they
+were mostly gunners. It was not until May 1884 that the first "black"
+regiment was raised. Yet it had been notorious that the Soudanese were
+the only Khedivial soldiers who made anything of a stubborn stand
+against us in the 1882 campaign. The blacks who came down with the
+Salahieh garrison on the 9th of August 1882, and joined in the
+surprise attack upon General Graham's brigade then in camp at
+Kassassin, were not easily driven off. The large body of Egyptian
+infantry and cavalry, although supported by several Krupp batteries
+which, issuing from the Tel-el-Kebir lines, assailed us in front, were
+readily checked and pushed back. It was our right rear that the
+"blacks" and others forming the Salahieh column menaced, and it
+required some tough fighting before Sir Baker-Russell with his cavalry
+and horse artillery was able to drive them off. In truth, the "blacks"
+held on long after the main body of Arabi's force had abandoned their
+intention of driving the British into the Suez Canal or the sea.
+
+The first Soudanese battalion was recruited and mustered-in at Suakim.
+It got the next numeral in regimental order, and so became known as
+the "Ninth." Many of the blacks who enlisted in the Ninth--Dinkas,
+Shilluks, Gallas, and what not--were deserters from the Mahdi's
+banner, or dervishes who had been taken prisoners at El Teb and Tamai.
+It has never yet been deemed advisable to enrol any of the Arab
+tribesmen in the Khedivial regular army. Hadendowa, Kababish, Jaalin,
+Baggara, and many other clans, lack no physical qualifications for a
+military career. Their desperate courage in support of a cause they
+have at heart is an inspiration of self-immolation. But they are as
+uncertain and difficult to regulate by ordinary methods of discipline
+as the American Red Indian, and so are only fitted for irregular
+service. In March 1885 General Sir Francis Grenfell succeeded to the
+Sirdarship. With tact and energy he carried still further forward the
+excellent work of his predecessor. Four additional Soudanese
+battalions were created during his term, and the army was strengthened
+and better equipped for its duties in many other respects. Sir Francis
+had the satisfaction of leading his untried soldiers against the
+dervishes, and winning brilliant victories and, in at least one
+instance, over superior numbers. He it was, who, at Toski in August
+1889, routed an invading army of dervishes, whereat was killed their
+famous leader Wad en Nejumi. That battle put an end to the dream of
+the Mahdists to overrun and conquer Egypt and the world. The Khalifa
+thereafter found his safest policy, unless attacked, was to let the
+regular Egyptian forces severely alone.
+
+It was shown that, when well handled, the fellaheen and the blacks
+could defeat the dervishes. Lord Kitchener of Khartoum became Sirdar
+in the spring of 1892. His career in the land of the Nile may be
+briefly summarised: first as a Lieutenant, then successively as
+Captain, Major, Colonel and General, that Royal Engineer Officer from
+1882 has been actively employed either in Egypt proper or the Soudan.
+He has, during that interval, been entrusted with many perilous and
+delicate missions and independent commands. Whatever was given him to
+do was carried through with zeal and resolution. In his time also
+little by little the Khedivial forces have been increased. A sixth
+Soudanese battalion was raised in 1896, and in that and the following
+year four additional fellaheen battalions were added to the army. When
+the Khartoum campaign began, the total muster-roll of the regular
+troops was eighteen battalions of infantry, ten squadrons of cavalry,
+a camel corps of eight companies, five batteries of artillery,
+together with the customary quota of engineers, medical staff,
+transport, and other departmental troops. There was a railway
+construction battalion numbering at least 2000 men, but they were
+non-combatants. As the whole armed strength of Egypt was, for the
+occasion, practically called into the field, the peace of the Delta
+had to be secured by other means. A small armed body called the Coast
+Guard and the ordinary police, apart from the meagre British garrison,
+were responsible for public tranquillity. The re-organisation and
+increase of the Coast Guard, which was decided on, into an army of
+8000 men, was a brilliant idea, and one of the recent master-strokes
+of Lord Cromer and the Sirdar. It is ostensibly a quasi-civil force,
+and it was formed and equipped without the worry of international
+queries and interference. The Coast Guard is mainly composed of picked
+men, including old soldiers and reservists. Their duties carry them
+into the interior as well as along the sea-coast, for, partly on
+account of the salt tax, there are revenue defaulters along the
+borders of the Nile as well as by the Mediterranean and Red Sea. They
+are dressed like soldiers and are armed with Remingtons.
+
+Mohammed Achmed, who called himself the Mahdi, or the last of the
+prophets, whose mission was to convert the world to Islamism, was a
+native of Dongola. He was born near El Ordeh, or New Dongola, in 1848,
+and was the son of a carpenter. In person, he was above the medium
+height, robust, and with a rather handsome Arab cast of features.
+During 1884 I saw his brother and two of his nephews in a village
+south of El Ordeh. All of them were tall stalwart men, light of
+complexion for Dongolese, courteous and hospitable to strangers.
+Mohammed Achmed, from his youth, evinced a taste for religious studies
+coupled with the ascetic extravagances of a too emotional nature. From
+Khartoum to Fashoda he acquired a great reputation for sanctity.
+Religious devotees gathered around him and followed him to his retreat
+upon the island of Abba. There he, in May 1881, first announced his
+claims as the true Mahdi. His barefaced assertions of special divine
+command and guidance found credulous believers. With the wisdom of the
+serpent he had added to his influence and security as a prophet by
+marrying daughters of Baggara sheiks, _i.e._ chiefs. Mohammed Achmed
+was a vigorous and captivating preacher, learned in all the literature
+of the Koran, ever ready with apt and telling quotations. His early
+teaching was decidedly socialistic, including a command for the
+overthrow of the then existing civil state. His principles have been
+summed up officially as "an insistence upon universal law and
+religion--his own--with community of goods, and death to all who
+refused adherence to his tenets." Unfortunately, "opportunity" played
+into his hands. The misrule of the Pashas, the burden of over-taxation
+coupled with the legal suppression of the slave trade, and the
+demoralisation of the Egyptian forces enabled Mohammed Achmed to rebel
+successfully. Troops sent against him were defeated and annihilated.
+Towns capitulated to his arms and within a period of two years the
+inhabitants of the Soudan were hailing him as the true Mahdi, their
+invincible deliverer. With the capture of Khartoum, on the morning of
+the 26th of January 1885, and the abandonment of the Soudan and its
+population--the Egyptian frontier being fixed by British Government
+order at Wady Halfa--the over-lordship of that immense region from the
+Second Cataract to the Equatorial Lakes was yielded to the so-called
+Mahdi Mohammed Achmed did not long enjoy his conquests. Success killed
+him as it has done many a lesser man. For a season he gave himself up
+to a life of indolence and the grossest lust. On the 22nd of June
+1885, less than six months after Gordon's head had been struck off and
+brought to him, the Mahdi suddenly died. It is said by some that his
+death was due to smallpox, by others that one of his women captives
+poisoned him in revenge for the murder of her relatives. His demise
+was kept secret for a time by his successor Abdullah, the chief
+Khalifa, and the other dervish leaders. It was given out that the
+Mahdi's spirit had been called to Heaven for a space but would soon
+return to lead his hosts to fresh triumphs and further fat spoils. A
+tomb was erected over the place where his body lay, and the legend of
+his mission was taken over by Abdullah, who also in due season had
+visions and communicated reputed divine ordinances to the dervishes.
+Abdullah, who was ignorant, illiterate and cruel, far beyond his dead
+master--"the cruellest man on earth," Slatin Pasha dubbed him,--by his
+exactions and treacheries soon overreached himself. Events were
+hastening to the overthrow of Mahdism. Sheiks and tribes fell away
+from the Khalifa and returned to the fold of orthodox Mohammedanism.
+By 1889, as an aggressive force seeking to enlarge its boundaries,
+Mahdism was spent. Thereafter, stage by stage, its power dwindled,
+although Omdurman, the dervish capital, remained the headquarters of
+the strongest native military power that North Africa has ever known.
+
+Lord Cromer has been blamed for many things he did, and much that he
+left undone, during the earlier days of Mahdism. A fuller knowledge of
+the whole circumstances justifies my saying that, as custodian of
+_British interests_, he acted throughout with singular prudence and
+great forbearance. It was not with his wish or approval that several
+of the untoward expeditions against the dervishes were undertaken. It
+is permissible to regret that, from a variety of causes, the British
+Government engaged in more than one ill-considered and irresolute
+campaign for the destruction of Mahdism. Much treasure and countless
+thousands of lives were foolishly squandered and all without the
+least compensating advantage. The barren results of the Soudan
+campaigns directed from the War Office in Pall Mall form too painful a
+subject for discussion. It is only fair to say, that the military
+officials' hands may have been much hampered from Downing Street.
+
+[Illustration: HEADQUARTERS, WADY HALFA.]
+
+As I have stated elsewhere, it was not until 1896 that the serious
+reconquest of the Soudan was begun. Before then there had been, as Mr
+Gladstone after all appropriately termed them, "military operations,"
+but not a state of war. He might have called them "blood-spilling
+enterprises," for they were only that and no more. The re-occupation
+of the province of Dongola in 1896, freed the Nile up to Merawi, and
+gave the disaffected Kababish, Jaalin and riverain tribesmen a chance
+of reverting to their allegiance to the Khedive. It also enabled the
+Sirdar to pass his gunboats farther up the river. Another gain issuing
+from the forward movement was that his right was secured from serious
+attack. Then followed the building of the wonderful Wady Halfa direct
+desert railway towards Abu Hamid, Berber, and Dakhala at the mouth of
+the Atbara. It was the 1897 campaign which put all these places into
+the Sirdar's hands. During that year's high Nile, he passed his
+gunboats over the long stretch of cataracts betwixt Merawi and Abu
+Hamid, and ran them up the river where they co-operated with the land
+forces, regulars and friendlies. Nay more, the steamers were set to do
+a double duty: convey stores to the advanced posts and assail and
+harass the dervishes, pushing as far south as Shendy and Shabluka,
+the Sixth Cataract. By prodigies of labour and enterprise the railroad
+was speedily constructed to Abu Hamid, then on to Berber, and thence
+to Dakhala. The whole situation became greatly simplified the moment
+the line reached Abu Hamid. From the first, the question of dealing a
+death-blow to Mahdism with British-led troops had turned upon the
+solution of the transport problem. The through rail and river
+connection once established from Cairo _via_ Wady Halfa to Abu Hamid
+put an end forever to all serious difficulty of providing adequate
+supplies for the troops. From Abu Hamid the Nile is navigable far
+south for many months during the year. Then again, the occupation of
+Abu Hamid unlocked the Korosko desert caravan route and drew more wary
+and recanting dervishes away from the Khalifa. Following the capture
+of Abu Hamid, Berber was promptly taken for Egypt by the friendlies,
+and the Suakim-Berber trade route, which had been closed for many
+years, was re-opened.
+
+The end was slowly drawing near, for the Sirdar was closing the lines
+and mustering his forces for a final blow. Railroad construction went
+forward apace. At the rate of from one to two miles a day track was
+laid so as to get the line up to Dakhala. Meanwhile, workshops were
+being erected at suitable points, and three additional screw gunboats,
+built in England, were re-fitted for launching. The flotilla was
+becoming formidable; it comprised 13 vessels, stern-wheelers and
+screw-steamers, all armed with cannon and machine guns and protected
+by bullet-proof shields.
+
+Believing there was a chance to wreck the railroad and capture
+outposts and stores, Mahmoud, a nephew and favourite general of the
+Khalifa's, led a powerful dervish army from Shendy north to raid the
+country to and beyond Berber. In spite of the gunboats, after
+disposing of the recalcitrant Jaalins, Mahmoud crossed the Nile at
+Metemmeh to the opposite bank. Accompanied by the veteran rebel, Osman
+Digna, he quitted Aliab, marching to the north-east with 10,000
+infantry, riflemen and spearmen, ten small rifled brass guns and 4000
+cavalry. It was his intention to cross the Atbara about 30 miles up
+from the Nile, and fall upon the flank and rear of the Sirdar's
+detached and outlying troops, killing them in detail. He reckoned too
+confidently and without full knowledge. Using the steamers and the
+railways the Sirdar quickly concentrated his whole force, bringing men
+rapidly up from Wady Halfa and the province of Dongola. The entrenched
+Egyptian camp at the junction of the Atbara with the Nile was
+strengthened, and General Gatacre's brigade of British troops was
+moved on to Kunur, where Macdonald's and Maxwell's brigades also
+repaired. Mahmoud had ultimately to be attacked in his own chosen
+fortified camp. His army was destroyed and he himself was taken
+prisoner. So closed the unexpected Atbara campaign in March last.
+Thereafter, as the Khalifa showed no intention of inviting fresh
+disaster by sending down another army to attack, the Sirdar despatched
+his troops into summer rest-camps. Dry and shady spots were selected
+by the banks of the Nile between Berber and Dakhala. One or another of
+the numberless deserted mud villages was usually chosen for
+headquarters and offices. With these for a nucleus, the battalion or
+brigade encampment was pitched in front and the quarters were fenced
+about with cut mimosa thorn-bush, forming a zereba. All along the
+Upper Nile, wherever there is a strip of cultivable land, or where
+water can be easily lifted from the river or wells for irrigation,
+there the natives had villages of mud and straw huts. In many places,
+for miles following miles, these hamlets fringe the river's banks,
+sheltered amidst groves of mimosa and palms. The fiendish cruelty and
+wanton destructiveness of the dervishes, who, not satiated with
+slaughtering the villagers--men, women and children--further glutted
+their fury by firing the homesteads and cutting down the date palms,
+resulted in depopulating the country. Ignorant and fanatical in their
+religious frenzy to convert mankind to their new-found creed, the
+Mahdists held that the surest way to rid the world forthwith of all
+unbelievers lay in making earth too intolerable to be lived in.
+
+These native dwellings, when cleaned, were not uncomfortable abodes.
+As the flat roofs were thickly covered with mats and grass whilst,
+except the doorway, the openings in the mud-walls were small, they
+were even in the glare of noontide heat, pleasantly cool and shady.
+The troops found that straw huts or tukals afforded far better
+protection than the tents from the sun and from dust-storms. So it
+came about that, copying the example set by the fellaheen and black
+soldiers, "Tommy Atkins" also built himself shelters, and "lean-to's"
+of reeds, palm leaves and straw. Drills and field exercises were
+relaxed, and the troops had time to rig up alfresco stages and
+theatres and to enjoy variety entertainments provided by comrades with
+talent for minstrelsy and the histrionic arts. Meanwhile the
+preparations for the final campaign against Mahdism were not
+slackened. Vast quantities of supplies and material of war were stored
+at Dakhala. Outposts were pushed forward and Shendy was occupied,
+whilst Metemmeh was held by friendly Jaalin tribesmen, who had
+suffered much at the Khalifa's hands. The Bayuda desert route also had
+been cleared of dervishes by these and by neighbouring tribesmen. On
+the direct track from Korti to Omdurman, outlying wells and oases were
+in possession of the Kababish and their allies who had broken away
+from Abdullah's tyranny. The whirligig of time had transformed the
+equality preachings, and "unity in the faith" of Mahdism into the
+unbridled supremacy of the Baggara and especially the Taaisha branch
+of that sept over all the people of the Soudan. They alone were
+licensed to rob, ravish and murder with impunity. It was the natural
+sequence of lawless society. Once the foe they leagued to plunder and
+kill had been disposed of, they turned and rent each other. Abdullah
+being a Taaisha, he, as a prop to his own pretensions, set them in
+authority over all the races of the Soudan. One by one, however, Arab
+clansmen and blacks repented and deserted Mahdism.
+
+The time was ripe for ending the mad mutiny against government and
+civilisation. July is the period of high Nile in the upper reaches,
+and the Sirdar planned that his army should be ready to move forward
+by then. At that date all was in readiness. The Egyptian army which
+was to take the field consisted of one division of four brigades, each
+of four battalions with artillery, cavalry and camelry. Besides these
+there were two brigades of British infantry--Gatacre's division--a
+regiment of British cavalry, the 21st Lancers, and two and a half
+English batteries, with many Maxims. It was known that Abdullah had
+called into Omdurman all his best men and meant giving battle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+DAYS OF WAITING AND PREPARATION.
+
+
+"Everything comes to him who waits," but the weariness of it is
+sometimes terrible. Oftentimes waiting is vain, without accompaniment
+of hard work. The Sirdar made deliberate choice to carve out a career
+in Egypt. He did so in the dark days when the outlook was the reverse
+of promising, in nearly every aspect, to a man of action. Abdication
+of our task of reconstruction was in the air, the withdrawal of the
+British army of occupation a much-talked-of calamity. Through every
+phase of the situation, Kitchener stuck to his guns, keeping to
+himself his plans for the reconquest of the Soudan. He wrought and
+watched while he waited, selecting and surrounding himself with able
+officers, and exacting from each diligence and obedience in the
+discharge of their duties. The Dongola campaign and the fortuitous one
+of the Atbara against Mahmoud greatly strengthened his position. There
+might be further delay, but his triumphal entry into Omdurman and the
+downfall of the Khalifa were certain. The Sirdar had but to ask, to
+receive all the material and men he wished for. He adhered to his
+early decision to employ only as many British troops as were actually
+necessary to stiffen the Khedivial army, and no more.
+
+After the battle and victory of the Atbara in the spring, the British
+troops, or Gatacre's brigade, marched back from Omdabiya by easy
+stages to the Nile. The wounded and sick were conveyed into the base
+hospital at Dakhala, whence they were afterwards sent down to
+Ginenetta or, as it then was, Rail-head. From that point they were, as
+each case required, forwarded by train and steamboat to Wady Halfa and
+Cairo. It was at Darmali, 12 miles or more north of Dakhala, that the
+British soldiers went into summer-quarters. On the 14th of April the
+brigade mustered 3818 strong, made up as follows:--833 Camerons, 826
+Seaforths, 969 Lincolns, and 665 Warwicks. Two companies of Warwicks
+had been left in the Dongola province when the advance was made.
+Besides the muster of battalions enumerated, the brigade included a
+Maxim battery, detachments of the Army Service Corps, and other
+details. The "Tommies" settled down in camp, living under peace
+conditions, for with the rout of Mahmoud's men, the nearest dervish
+force worth considering was as far off as Shabluka Cataract. Everybody
+was bidden to make himself as snug as possible. Outlying houses and
+walls were thrown down to secure a free circulation of air. As for
+sunlight, that was shut out wherever practicable. The first home
+drafts to make up for losses arrived at Darmali on the 23rd of April.
+About 130 men then joined. It was thought desirable to maintain the
+British battalions at their full strength, and some of them mustered
+nearly one thousand strong. As the percentage of sick was continuous,
+and the rate increased as the campaign progressed, the actual roll of
+men "fit for duty" grew less as we neared Omdurman. Of course,
+"youths," and all the "weedy ones," were in the first instance
+rejected by the army doctors, and were never permitted to go to the
+front. Men over 25 years of age were preferred, and it so happened
+that both the Grenadier Guards and the Northumberland Fusiliers had a
+high average of relatively old soldiers, and consequently few sick.
+From the end of April until the end of May, dull hot days in the
+Soudan, leave was granted to officers to run down to Alexandria and
+have a "blow" at San Stefano, by the sea-side. There were quite a
+number of deaths in the brigade shortly after the men got into camp,
+the customary reaction having set in on account of the exposure and
+strain precedent to the victory of the Atbara. To reduce the numbers
+quartered at Darmali, the Lincolns and Warwicks, on the 19th of April,
+were marched a mile farther north along the Nile, to Es Selim, where
+they formed a separate encampment, the Camerons and Seaforths
+remaining at the first-named place. The average daily number of sick
+in the brigade at that period was 100 to 150. On one occasion there
+were 190 men reported unfit for duty. Most of the cases were not of a
+serious nature, and the patients speedily recovered and returned to
+their places in the ranks. There was no lack of stores and even
+dainties at the camps, for supplies were carried up by caravan,
+escorted by Jaalin friendlies, from Berber and elsewhere. Much of the
+sickness in the army was probably due to the men recklessly drinking
+unboiled and unfiltered Nile water. At that season the river had sunk
+into its narrowest bed, and there were backwashes and sluggish
+channels full of light-green tinted water. More filters were procured,
+and extra care was taken with all the water used for domestic
+purposes.
+
+In May there were route marches twice a week, the brigade going off at
+5.30 a.m. and returning about 7.30 a.m., all in the cool of the
+morning or such bearable temperature as there was in the 24 hours'
+daily round in that month. During these exercises the troops had
+plenty of firing practice, being taught to blaze away at bushes, and
+occasionally at targets representing dervishes. In that way the
+remainder of the million of tip-filed Lee-Metford bullets were
+disposed of, for it had been arranged that there was to be a new
+cartridge case for the Omdurman campaign. The latest pattern
+"man-stopper" was a bullet fashioned with a hollow or crater at the
+point, the nickel casing being perforated.
+
+So the days droned past for the British soldiers, with little to do
+beyond essaying the impossible of trying to keep cool. It was often
+otherwise with the Egyptians, for they had to assist in getting the
+railroad through to Dakhala from Ginenetta, in forwarding boats and
+stores, and later on in establishing wood stations and cutting fuel
+for the steamers. The first of the tropical summer rain showers fell
+at Darmali on the 27th of May. On the 18th of June Major-General
+Gatacre went off on a shooting excursion up the Atbara, taking with
+him a party of ten officers and a few orderlies. They found relatively
+little big game but plenty of gazelle and birds. The bodies of the
+slain in Mahmoud's zereba at Omdabiya still lay where they fell,
+unburied, but dried up and mummified by the sun. Natives had stripped
+the place and carried off everything left behind by us. A number of
+dervishes were seen lurking about, part of the defeated army of the
+enemy, who were afraid to return to Omdurman, anticipating that the
+Khalifa would have them killed. Indeed, it appeared that numbers of
+the runaways had settled down at New Hilgi, and were attempting to
+cultivate. As for the four or five thousand dervish cavalry that
+Mahmoud had with him, they also never returned to Omdurman. Quite
+probably they made their way back to their original homes in small
+bands, rightly believing that Mahdism was doomed. Assured of pardon
+and good treatment at our hands, fourteen of the Mahdists and a number
+of women came in with General Gatacre's people. No attempt was made by
+the dervishes in the neighbourhood to "snipe" the party. They returned
+to Darmali on the 27th of June. With the sun gone north came the
+rising of the Nile and fresh breezes. The gunboats kept diligently
+patrolling the river, watching for any signs of movement on the part
+of the Khalifa and his forces. The enemy were reported to be gathering
+in large numbers at Omdurman for the coming conflict. As Shendy was
+held by a small force of Egyptians, and Metemmeh nominally by the
+Jaalin for us, frequent visits were made to those posts. Later on,
+other shooting parties went up to Omdabiya and found that there was an
+increase in the numbers of natives about, and that flocks and herds
+were to be seen grazing in the vicinity. The tribesmen showed that
+they had abandoned the Khalifa by tearing the dervish patches off
+their clothing. All being quiet, and peace assured in the Dongola
+province, the two detached companies of the Warwickshire left Korti
+and joined their comrades in Es Selim camp.
+
+July was a very busy month. The river flotilla and transport service
+had all to be thoroughly organised for the impending advance. Gunboats
+received the final touches and completed their armament. The steamers,
+barges and giassas, native sailing craft, underwent thorough repair.
+More and still more munitions of war and provisions were sent forward
+and stored at Dakhala. That post grew into a formidable camp. The
+three new twin-screw gunboats built on the Thames, besides other
+ship-work reconstruction, were put together near Abadia, a village
+above the Fifth Cataract and north of Berber. The railroad had been
+hastily laid and completed to Abadia after the battle of Atbara.
+Thither the sections of the barges and steamers needed for the
+campaign had been sent by rail from Wady Halfa. Before that date,
+engineering and other workshops had been erected at Abadia, which,
+because of its favourable position, was chosen for a permanent camp
+and industrial centre. Base-hospitals, too, were built there, in order
+that the wounded and sick might travel as far as possible by water.
+Astonishing as had been the rapidity with which the Wady Halfa Abu
+Hamid portion of the desert railroad was laid, smarter work still was
+done carrying the line through to the Atbara. The utmost energy was
+put forth, after the defeat of Mahmoud, by the Director of Railways,
+Major Girouard, R.E., to get the track completed to Dakhala, the
+junction of the Atbara with the Nile. Not only the railroad battalion,
+which was nearly 3000 strong, but every available Khedivial soldier,
+laboured in some way or other at the task. They put their hearts and
+thews to the toil, for it was recognised that its completion not only
+solved the transport problem, but was a swift and sure means of return
+to Egypt. The railroad battalion worked wonders in grading and laying.
+Fellaheen and negro, they showed a vim and intelligence in
+track-making that Europeans could not surpass. Native lads, some in
+their early teens, clothed with little beyond a sense of their own
+importance and "army ammunition boots," many sizes too big for their
+feet, adjusted the fish-plates and put on the screw nuts. Then, for
+those who bore the heavy burden of rails and sleepers and carried
+material for the road bed, there were licensed fools, mummers, and
+droll mimics, who by their antics revived the lagging spirits of the
+gangs. There is an unsuspected capacity for mimicry in what are called
+savage men. I have seen Red Indians give excellent pantomimic
+entertainments, and aborigines in other lands exhibit high mumming
+talent. In the railroad battalion there was an eccentric negro who was
+a very king of jesters. From the Sirdar and the Khalifa downwards--for
+he was an ex-dervish and had played pranks in Omdurman--none escaped
+a parodying portrayal of their mannerisms. He imitated the tones of
+their voice and twisted and contorted his face and body to resemble
+the originals. Nothing was sacred from that mimic any more than from a
+sapper. He showed us Osman Digna's little ways, and gave ghastly
+imitations of trials, mutilations and executions by hanging in the
+Mahdist camps. And these things were for relaxation, though maybe they
+served as a reminder of the dervishes' brutal rule. There were
+vexations and jokes of another sort for Major Girouard and those held
+tightly responsible for the rapid construction and regular running of
+the material trains, as indeed all trains were. When the line had been
+laid beyond Abu Dis, for a time known as Rail-head, the camp and
+quarters were moved on to the next station. Abu Dis sank in dignity
+and population until only a corporal and two men were left to guard
+the place and work the sidings. The desert railway being a single
+track, frequent sidings are indispensable for the better running of
+trains. All the control for working the system was vested in the Wady
+Halfa officials. One night there came to them over the wires an
+alarmist message to send no more trains to Abu Dis. It was the
+corporal who urgently rang up his chiefs. What could it mean? Had they
+deserted, or, more likely, were the dervishes raiding the district? A
+demand was made from Wady Halfa for the corporal to explain what had
+happened. His answer was naive, if not satisfactory: "The wild beasts
+have come down from the hills, and we really cannot accept any trains
+from any direction." "What do you mean?" was again queried back. So
+the corporal and his two men responded: "Sir, there are wild beasts
+all around the hut and tent; what can we do? We dare not stir out."
+"Light fires, you magnoons," (fools), was the final rejoinder, and the
+train service went forward as usual. It appeared that the hyenas and
+wolves, wont to snap up a living around the men's camp, bereft of
+their pickings were in a state of howling starvation, and had turned
+up and made an appeal, by no means mute, to the station guard, which
+the latter failed to understand or appreciate. In a remarkably short
+space of time the hyenas and pariah dogs had adopted the habit of
+scavengering around all the camps and snifting along the track, after
+the trains, for stray scraps.
+
+[Illustration: DARMALI (BRITISH BRIGADE SUMMER QUARTERS).]
+
+I returned to Cairo early in July, where, having paid into the
+Financial Military Secretary's hands the L50 security required of war
+correspondents, intended to cover cost of railway fares south of Wady
+Halfa, and for any forage drawn from the stores, I received the
+official permit to proceed to the front. All the restrictions as to
+the number of correspondents allowed up, which were imposed during the
+Atbara campaign, were singularly enough removed, and the "very open
+door" policy substituted. In consequence, there was a large number,
+over sixteen in all, of so-called representatives of the press at the
+front. As an old correspondent aptly observed, some of them
+represented anything but journals or journalism, the name of a
+newspaper being used merely as a cover for notoriety and medal
+hunting. Having secured my warrant to join the Sirdar's army, I
+started from Cairo for Assouan and Wady Halfa. The headquarters at
+that date were still in Wady Halfa. On the 21st of July the first
+detachments of the reinforcements that were to make up the British
+force to a division, which Major-General Gatacre was to command, left
+Cairo for the south. Thereafter, nearly day by day up to the 9th of
+August inclusive, troops were sent forward. These consisted of
+artillery, cavalry, the 21st Lancers, baggage animals, Royal
+Engineers, Army Service Corps, Medical Corps, and the four battalions
+of infantry which were to form the second British brigade. The brigade
+in question comprised 1st Battalion of the Grenadier Guards, the 1st
+Northumberland Fusiliers, the 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers, and the 2nd
+Battalion Rifle Brigade, together with a battery of Maxims manned by a
+detachment of the Royal Irish Fusiliers. Brigadier-General the
+Honourable N. G. Lyttelton, C.B., commanded the second brigade, whilst
+Major-General Gatacre's former command, the 1st British Brigade, was
+taken over by Brigadier-General J. Wauchope. The first brigade was
+made up of the Lincolns, Warwicks, Seaforths, and Camerons, with six
+Maxims. To prepare for eventualities, and clench the special training
+he had bestowed upon his men, Major-General Gatacre issued a printed
+slip of notes, or hints, to his men. I give the salient points of that
+production:--
+
+"1. As the strength of a European force lies in the occupation of and
+in movement over open ground, which gives it advantage of fire, so the
+strength of a dervish force lies in fighting in depressions of the
+ground, or in a jungle country out of which they can pour suddenly and
+quickly their thousands of spear-armed warriors, who, unless checked
+by a murderous fire, constitute a grave danger, even to a perfectly
+disciplined force.
+
+"It follows, then, that a force halted for the night must always be
+protected where possible by a zereba, which will check under fire the
+attacking dervishes.
+
+"2. That a cleared zone be prepared along outer edge of the zereba.
+
+"3. That a force, when moving, should march at a respectful distance
+from jungle cover.
+
+"4. It should have the ground in its front and on its flanks searched
+out by cavalry, mounted infantry, or native levies.
+
+"5. That when mounted troops have found the enemy, they must
+invariably clear the front of the infantry to enable the latter to use
+their rifles.
+
+"6. That brigades must be so trained that each battalion and
+individual soldier must know how to get into the best formation with
+the least possible delay for meeting the attack of the spearmen, who,
+it must be remembered, can move at least three times as quickly as a
+British soldier can double.
+
+"To carry out the above, a high standard of training and steadiness is
+required, and battalions must be provided with a liberal supply of
+cutting tools, felling axes, hand axes and bill hooks to enable them,
+the instant the battalion marches into bivouac, to cut down small
+trees or strong branches of prickly trees with which to construct a
+thorn fence.
+
+"Piquets must be withdrawn at dusk, otherwise they might get
+surrounded and cut off, or, in falling back, would possibly suffer
+from the defenders of the zereba.
+
+"The protection of the zereba against surprise must depend on the
+vigilance of its sentries and piquets which line the fence, and whose
+strength will naturally depend on the proximity of the dervishes to
+the force. With reliable information, and the ground properly
+reconnoitred, a patrol of ten men per company, patrolling constantly
+and noiselessly along the inner edge of the zereba, is adequate, so
+long as the enemy's dem is say 15 miles distant (a day's march); when
+nearer than this, the strength of the piquets to remain awake and
+under arms will depend upon the circumstances of the moment.
+
+"All night duties of this nature should be found by companies, so that
+portions of the line along its whole length shall be on duty. Words of
+command and orders must be given in a low tone; there must be no
+shouting and no fires burning till the hour arrives for making the
+morning tea. Men should always be allowed to smoke, but should be
+warned of the danger of fire in zereba by a cigarette or match-end
+thrown into dry grass.
+
+"Officers must sleep immediately behind their men; a certain number
+will always be on duty.
+
+"All, officers and men, must sleep in their clothes, boots and
+accoutrements, and each man must have his rifle with him. None but
+sentries' should be loaded, and bayonets should not be fixed, even by
+the patrols, except when there is expectancy of attack. Under no
+circumstances should men sleep with their bayonets fixed, or serious
+accidents will occur.
+
+"And here, one word about 'alarms.' I do not refer to the assembly by
+bugle sound, but what is ordinarily called a panic, in other words a
+disgraceful absence of discipline and self-control, which, while
+ruining the reputation of the corps concerned as a reliable battalion,
+may be the cause of serious mischief, and must be disastrous to the
+confidence the General Officer places in its officers and men.
+
+"One of the great advantages accruing to an army on service is the
+close association of the officer with the man; each learns something
+from the other, and the officer will, in after years, appreciate the
+value of the habit he gets into of talking to his men and of storing
+up in his mind all sorts of dodges and hints, which assist troops in
+the field to make themselves comfortable; more than this, it is in the
+field only that the officer can get the opportunity of instilling into
+the men's minds the necessity for deliberation under fire, the high
+standard of the regiment, its past history, its superiority in
+everything to all other regiments in the division, and his confidence
+in his men to maintain such a standard of excellence. In many
+expeditions it has happened that shots have been fired at nothing,
+night after night, thus disturbing the whole force; such bad habits
+must be firmly checked."
+
+Before leaving Cairo I had the opportunity of witnessing a trial of
+the new siege guns that were to be used in levelling the walls and
+defences of Omdurman. To the eastward of Abbassieh barracks, near the
+rifle ranges, 150 feet of stone wall had been erected. It was a
+replica of part of the structure which the Khalifa had built around
+the tomb of the Mahdi, his own grounds, that of his body-guard, and
+the more important buildings situated in the centre of the dervish
+capital.
+
+The stout rectangular wall at Omdurman stood with its narrowest side
+facing the Nile, and its longest sides ran inland from the river for
+about a mile. It was twelve feet in height, and even more in places,
+ten feet in thickness at the base, tapering to six feet at the top. It
+was a well-made structure, laid in mortar and faced on either side
+with dressed limestone blocks.
+
+Shortly after six a.m. on the morning of 22nd July, a large number of
+officers assembled at the Abbassieh ranges to watch the result of the
+experiments of the sham bombardment. Lieutenant-General Sir Francis
+Grenfell and staff, Major-General Lyttelton, and many others were
+present. It was arranged that the new 5-inch howitzer battery, with
+the "Lyddite" or high explosive shells, was to make the first attempt
+to breach or throw down the wall. There were six of these new
+howitzers, and they were worked by the 37th Field Battery, commanded
+by Major Elmslie. Except that the bore was larger, there was little to
+distinguish the pieces from the 15-lb. Maxim-Nordenfeldt automatic
+recoil guns used at the battle of the Atbara. The latter cannon,
+however, only used cordite, whereas the 5-inch howitzer shells are
+filled with a picric compound resembling M. Turpin's melinite. For
+over ten years Russia has had 100-lb. howitzer batteries in the field,
+firing high explosives. It was the Sirdar who insisted upon the
+necessity of being supplied with these light and handy cannon. Neither
+the velocity nor the range of their shell-fire is great, but it is
+enough--4000 yards or thereby--for all practical purposes, and is
+fairly accurate. The explosion of the picric shells was very violent,
+and the danger area about 300 yards from where they burst. It has been
+found that, with about six or eight mules to draw the guns, the
+battery was quite mobile. Egyptian drivers were employed, though the
+men serving the guns were all British artillerymen. Even the drivers
+of the 32nd Field Battery, commanded by Major Williams, had "gippy"
+teamsters. Both batteries were drawn by smart Cyprus mules. The
+howitzers opened fire at 750 yards from the wall. With few exceptions,
+the Lyddite shells hit the mark. Range is given more by increase or
+diminution of the charge than elevation or depression of the
+howitzers. The guns kicked viciously and ran back at each discharge.
+Bursting violently, the shells threw out big sheets of tawny flame,
+followed by showers of stones and a cloud of dust and brownish smoke.
+It was possible to see the missiles in their flight and note where
+they struck. As each shell rushed through the air it made a noise not
+unlike an express train passing under a bridge. There were salvoes of
+two or three guns, and huge chunks were knocked out of the wall.
+Pieces of flying debris frequently dropped at no great distance from
+the gunners. It was plain that the shells were bursting upon impact,
+and only blowing away the face of the wall to the depth of but a foot
+or two. Had there been thick shells with retarding fuses the structure
+might have been breached in two or three rounds.
+
+After a preliminary ten rounds had been fired, the wall was closely
+inspected. It was seen that infantry might have clambered over the
+debris to the top of the structure and jumped down upon the other
+side. A strange feature was that wherever the "Lyddite" explosive
+failed to detonate the stones and ground around had been transformed
+to a deep chrome colour. The battery was moved closer, to about 350
+yards from the wall, and the firing was recommenced at that range.
+Much better results were obtained, and the upper part of the wall was
+knocked away, and easy, practicable breaches made. One of the other
+advantages of these new guns is that with reduced firing charges they
+become reliable mortars, and the high explosive shells can be dropped
+over a wall or building, so as to drive the defenders from their
+works. Not a man would have escaped injury had there been an enemy
+behind the wall, for blocks of stone were scattered in all directions.
+When the howitzers had finished their practice, six rounds were fired
+from two 40-lb. Armstrong guns, which were also ordered to assist in
+breaching Omdurman's walls. Next to the 7-lb. screw guns the 40-lb.
+Armstrong is reputed to be the most accurate shooting cannon in the
+British service. Mounted on lofty carriages, these siege guns were
+laid to fire at 800 yards range. Oddly enough, one of the 40-lbs.
+scored as high a percentage of misses as the howitzers. The great
+velocity of the 40-lb. shells, filled with the slower-bursting
+gunpowder, carried them well into the part of the wall aimed at, with
+the result that, in a few seconds, they made a good breach. The
+morning's experiments were concluded by a detachment of the Royal
+Irish Fusiliers, under Captain Churches, firing their Maxims against
+targets representing bands of dervishes, the dummy enemy being, as
+usual, riddled with bullets.
+
+From Cairo to Dakhala, evidence was not lacking that the form and
+movement of preparations for the general advance were growing apace.
+Every train and boat going south was overloaded with officers, men,
+and transport animals, together with munitions of war galore for the
+campaign. The gunboats and deserters brought in reports that the
+dervishes were concentrating at Omdurman. The strongly defensible
+positions of Shabluka, together with the mud forts, had been evacuated
+by the dervishes. Very quickly the Sirdar sent small bodies of troops
+up stream to occupy suitable positions for wood-cutting and forming
+advance camps. In that way the river pass at the Sixth Cataract was
+seized without the long anticipated fight for that difficult bit of
+country. The Nile highway was at length in the Sirdar's undisputed
+possession up to within thirty miles of Omdurman.
+
+There is no dustier journey by rail, or one of an altogether more
+uncomfortable nature, than from Cairo to Shellal. It is bad enough in
+the so-called winter season, for you have to breathe an atmosphere of
+dust the whole way, and are powdered and almost suffocated before you
+reach Luxor. The same trip taken in midsummer, in the stuffy, crowded
+carriages of the Egyptian lines, is real martyrdom, or something akin
+thereto. High speed or over twenty-five miles an hour is not
+attempted. Although the journey ordinarily occupies thirty-two hours,
+I was forty hours _en route_. There are no refreshment-bars or
+restaurants for the supply of palatable food or drink for the fierce
+needs of the passengers. I made some provision for the trip, and
+managed to survive it, as I have done before, but I cannot forget its
+tortures any more than the newest of new-comers. Not until we reached
+Assouan could we secure a fair supply of water and get a bath and an
+enjoyable meal. That same afternoon, I, with three other
+correspondents, was allowed to take passage on barge No. 9, which,
+with two giassas, was taken in tow up to Wady Halfa by a sternwheeler.
+Among others proceeding on the craft to join the army were
+Major-General Wauchope and Surgeon-General Taylor, and a number of
+other army medicoes, fresh in their new dignity as officers of the
+"Royal Army Medical Corps." Under the instruction of Surgeon-General
+Taylor, Surgeon-Major Wilson was good enough to present each of us
+with a packet of first field dressings, a kindness which I
+appreciated, but of which I hoped not to have need.
+
+[Illustration: GROUP OF STAFF OFFICERS.--COLONEL WINGATE IN CENTRE.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+MUSTERING FOR THE OVERTHROW OF MAHDISM.
+
+
+A hackneyism lacks the picturesqueness of originality, but is as
+useful in its way as a public road to a desired destination. The
+quotation which I am at the moment anxious to make use of is, "The
+mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small." Time
+the avenger had all but fulfilled the meed of punishment for the evil
+day of 26th January 1885, when the streets of Khartoum ran with blood,
+and the headless body of General Gordon was left to be hacked and hewn
+by ferocious hordes of dervishes. Major-General Sir Herbert H.
+Kitchener had so managed that the decisive blow should be delivered in
+the most effective manner. Stage by stage he had moved forward and
+improved his lines of communication. The advanced base, or point of
+departure for the campaign, was no longer Wady Halfa, or Korti in the
+province of Dongola, as in 1884, but Dakhala. Nay, with the
+unassailable power and command of the Nile his flotilla gave him, it
+might be said the real base of the Sirdar's army was where he chose to
+fix it, even hard by Omdurman. As for the Khalifa, ruined to some
+extent by years of successes and easy victories, he was committing the
+fatal military error of over-confidence. He had drawn around him from
+all parts of the Soudan the best of his trusty warriors, the pick of
+the fighting tribes of Africa. The leaders were mostly sheiks who were
+too far committed to hope for pardon and restoration, in the event of
+defeat, from the Khedivial Government. Besides, there were still
+plenty of ignorant fanatics amongst the chosen "Ansar," or servants of
+God, to fire the naturally truculent mass of armed men.
+
+To ensure the smashing of the Mahdists, the Sirdar was leading the
+largest and best equipped expedition ever seen south of Wady Halfa.
+The river flotilla comprised eleven well-armed steam gunboats. For the
+transport of troops and stores beyond Dakhala he had numberless native
+craft, giassas, nuggars, several steamers, and specially constructed
+iron barges. What with their crews and detachments of British gunners,
+engineers, and infantry, each gunboat had a fighting force of about
+100 men aboard. These vessels could easily have carried many more
+hands; indeed, the newest type of Nile men-o'-war, the twin-screw
+steamers, were built to convey a thousand soldiers. The land forces
+included over 8000 British troops and fully 15,000 Egyptian and
+Soudanese soldiery. In artillery the army was exceptionally strong.
+Lieut.-Colonel C. J. Long, R.A., commanding that arm, had practically
+eight batteries and ten Maxims at his disposal, not counting the
+machine guns, Maxims, attached to the British division. The artillery
+included the 32nd Field Battery R.A. of six 15-pounders under Major
+Williams; the 37th Field Battery R.A. of six 5-inch howitzers under
+Major Elmslie, and two 40-pounders R.A. Armstrong guns under Lieut.
+Weymouth. There were also, No. 1 Egyptian Horse Artillery Battery
+(Krupps) under Major Young, R.A., of six guns; No. 2 Egyptian Field
+(mule) Battery under Major Peake, consisting of six 12 1/2-pounder
+Maxim-Nordenfeldt automatic recoil guns, firing when necessary a
+double shell, and Egyptian Field Batteries Nos. 3, 4, and 5, each of
+six of the same type of guns, under Captain C. G. Stewart, R.A., Major
+Lawrie, R.A., and Major de Rougemont, R.A., and two 6-centimetres
+Krupps on mules. The ten Maxims, or at least six of them, were mounted
+upon galloping carriages drawn by horses. On these vehicles or limbers
+the gunners could remain in position and bring the weapons into action
+at any moment. Captain Franks had the control of these machine guns,
+two of which were, nominally, attached to each Egyptian battery.
+Besides the four brigades of Khedivial infantry, together with
+artillery, cavalry, and camelry, and minor details, the Egyptian army
+also included a large transport column of some 2800 camels and about
+as many men.
+
+A new solar-hat, a poke-bonnet sort of head-gear, was designed and
+tied on the pates of one thousand transport camels as an experiment to
+prevent sickness and sunstroke. Although the brutes have the smallest
+modicum of brains, they are very liable to attacks of illness from
+heat-exhaustion. That they are born in the tropics confers no
+immunity. Strange to say, on the march south from Assouan, of a
+thousand and odd only one animal succumbed to sunstroke, and that was
+a camel that had no sun-bonnet. If anything could have added to the
+naturally lugubrious expression of those lumbering freight carriers,
+it was the jaunty poke-bonnets with the attenuated "Oh, let us be
+joyful" visages grinning beneath. The transport department was managed
+by Colonel F. W. Kitchener, brother of the Sirdar. His care it was,
+when the army actually took the field, to see that the supplies of
+food, forage, and ammunition advanced with the columns. As a matter of
+fact, in that respect the campaign, as at the Atbara, was admirably
+ordered, and the troops lacked for nothing in reason. There were few
+mules and donkeys employed in the baggage trains, the bulk of the
+stores being camel-borne. It was the free and full use of water
+transport, by the Nile, that enabled supplies to be sent on rapidly
+and regularly with the army when the troops advanced beyond Rail-head.
+Besides the regular army which was to proceed up the left or west bank
+and attack Omdurman, there was a column of armed friendlies who were
+to operate against the dervishes quartered between Shendy and
+Khartoum, by the east or right bank of the Nile. Nor were the bands of
+tribesmen upon that shore the only auxiliaries who had volunteered to
+assist in overthrowing Mahdism. Jaalin scouts and runners put
+themselves under the Sirdar's orders to scour the front and flanks of
+the army, at least up to Kerreri. Colonel Parsons, R.A., was to lead
+a mixed force of fellaheen soldiers, Abyssinian levies, ex-Italian
+Ascari, and Arabs from Kassala to attack Gedarif and menace Khartoum
+from the east.
+
+There was a degree of soreness in several British battalions at not
+being allowed to bear part in the campaign. The troops forming the
+Army of Occupation believed that they should have had the first call.
+Among these were the Royal Irish Fusiliers. It had been anticipated
+that as they were next on the army list for active foreign service,
+they would certainly not be passed over. Instead of receiving orders
+to march, they were left severely alone, another Fusilier battalion
+being sent in their place. The proceeding gave rise to much bickering
+and bitterness in certain quarters. An attempt, I believe, was made to
+send half of the Royal Irish Fusiliers to the front, but that fell
+through owing to various causes. According to the War Office
+requirements, the Royal Irish Fusiliers were not in a satisfactory
+condition. There were serious drawbacks which would have terribly
+militated against the effective employment of the battalion as a
+first-class fighting unit. Individually, the men were all right, but
+the battalion record in certain respects was held to be very faulty. I
+have no wish to cavil at the War Office authorities' honest desire to
+serve the public and yet temper their judgment with mercy to
+individuals. But the case was one where they should not have
+temporised in any way. As matters turned out, the Royal Irish
+Fusiliers were very angry at being passed over at the eleventh hour
+for another regiment. For several generations they have never had a
+chance of being in action. They were fairly spoiling for a fight, and
+it was hard, at the last moment, to have the road to glory closed in
+their faces for the deficiencies of the few.
+
+He whom Arabs and blacks of the whole Soudan call the "Grand Master of
+the Art of Flight," our old friend Osman Digna, was with the Khalifa
+in Omdurman. Osman was wily and experienced, and his counsel, had it
+been listened to by his chief, would have added to the difficulties of
+carrying the Mahdist stronghold by assault. I have some knowledge of
+that astute ex-slavedealer and trader's ways in the Eastern Soudan and
+elsewhere. He, many years ago, even condescended to honour me with his
+correspondence and an invitation to join the true believers, _i.e._,
+the Mahdists. I have no doubt he meant well, but the land and the
+dervishes were alike abhorrent to me. Osman had quietly come to the
+wise conclusion that Mahdism was near its end. With his usual
+prescience he made his own arrangements without consulting the
+Khalifa. Early in the year he had all his women and children and such
+wealth as he could smuggle out of the country sent over to Jeddah.
+There his family are now living under the protection of some of his
+old friends and kinsmen. When Omdurman fell he had no intention, the
+Hadendowas said, of sharing the Khalifa's further fortunes in hiding
+among the wilds of Kordofan. He would instead try and escape across
+the Red Sea and rejoin his family. The Arab clansmen are like the
+Hielan' caterans; they may fight and quarrel with one another, but
+unless there is a blood feud it is unlikely they will help either the
+English or the Egyptians to bag old Osman Digna. If the Turk gets him
+for a subject, well, the Sublime Porte is likely to be deeply sorry
+for it later on. "Fresh troubles in Yemen," or elsewhere in the
+Arabian Peninsula, will be amongst the headlines of news from that
+quarter once Osman the plotter finds his feet again after his last
+flight. After the Atbara he just missed being taken by the skin of his
+teeth, so to speak. His camp letters and private correspondence were
+all secured. It was in this way: When the news of the Atbara victory
+reached Kassala, Captain Benson and a party of about 200 Abyssinian
+irregulars set out to see whether Osman Digna and his more immediate
+followers were not trying to make their way back to Omdurman, via
+Aderamat and Abu Delek. It may be recollected that the fugitive Shiekh
+had established a camp at the last-named place after he had been
+driven out of the Eastern Soudan. Sure enough, Captain Benson and the
+irregulars came up with Osman Digna and 400 of his people encamped
+near the Atbara. They called on them to surrender, but that they would
+not do. A running fight began, in the course of which Osman, his
+nephew Mousa and many more escaped. The Abyssinians, however, killed
+and captured over 200 of the dervish leader's followers, and returned
+in triumph with the captives and spoils. I am told that Mousa Digna,
+though he watched the fight in question, never fired a shot. The tale
+goes, that he has never drawn sword or trigger against us since we
+gave him his life at the battle of Gemaizeh, near Suakin. That
+morning I found Mousa, shot through the stomach, reclining upon the
+ground. He was still truculent, and brandishing his spear. The
+Soudanese were anxious to despatch him forthwith, and fired several
+shots at him, the aim of which I spoiled by direct interference. I had
+even then difficulty in getting Mousa to lie down quietly, having to
+show him my revolver. Finally, he partly realised the situation. He
+was taken up, carried into Suakin, carefully attended to, fed upon a
+milk diet, and, in the end, recovered and returned to his Uncle Osman
+and the dervishes. It has always been upon my mind that I was therein
+instrumental in furnishing a dervish recruit to the cause of furious
+anarchy, and I am relieved to think Mousa is not without compunction,
+if not a decent modicum of conscience. But your proper Hadendowa is
+not a Baggara.
+
+"Three removals are worse than a fire," and it is much the same in
+campaigning. Constant trudging to and fro, making and breaking camps
+with the hardships of marches and raw ground for bivouacs, furnish a
+bigger mortality bill than an ordinary battle. One of the smart things
+done by the Sirdar, which served to show that he had closely knit all
+the ends of the new frontier lines together, was to bring troops up
+from the Dongola province and the Red Sea Littoral, to swell the
+strength of his army in the field. The 5th Egyptian battalion under
+Colonel Abd El Borham marched across from Suakin to Berber in eighteen
+days. It was not by any means sought to make it a forced march. The
+Fifth was accompanied by a company, 100 men and animals, of the Camel
+Corps and had 40 baggage camels for ordinary transport. Leisurely, day
+by day, they tramped along over the 250 odd miles of rock and sand
+that intervene betwixt the Nile and the sea. Hadendowa and Bishaim
+tribesmen were friendly, and scouts led them in the best tracks
+whether they tramped by night or by day. At one place they had to make
+a long forced march as the water in the wells had been exhausted by a
+previous caravan. In time to come, with a little outlay, new wells
+will be dug and an abundant supply of water provided along the whole
+route. Later on, the 5th Egyptian battalion marched up from Berber to
+Dakhala camp. The men were tall, muscular fellaheen. They were, as has
+become the custom in Egypt since the army has been officered by the
+Queen's soldiers, played into quarters on this occasion by a native
+Soudanese band to the swinging tune of "O, dem Golden Slippers."
+
+It is warm enough in Lower Egypt in July to be uncomfortable, and to
+turn the most obdurate into a melting mood. Assouan has the deserved
+reputation of being hotter in that month than Aden, the Persian Gulf,
+or--well, any other hot place. So, as I have said before, the British
+troops were not required to do more than the minimum of duty at that
+period. Decidedly "circumstances alter cases," even in matters
+military. I hope I may be pardoned for these recurring quotations and
+saws. The intolerably fervent solar heat of the Soudan at that season
+did not admit of much originality in thought, expression, or act. One
+of my companions was a veritable modern Sancho Panza, and in one's
+limp, mental, noontide condition his sapient "instances" were
+catching. When he left Cairo, as he confided to me, though it was warm
+enough there, he decided not to buy too thin clothing lest he might
+catch cold. He therefore purchased articles that even in England would
+be called woolly and comfortable. Later on, as he reclined upon his
+couch in a thrice-raised Turkish bath temperature, he lamented that he
+"could not catch cold" even in a state of nature or next to it. He no
+longer wondered at Sydney Smith's wish to sit in his bones, and
+thought that expression would have acquired additional force if the
+witty divine had added "packed in ice."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+BY THE WAY--FROM CAIRO TO DAKHALA.
+
+
+Ten days from London to the junction of the Atbara with the Nile: so
+far from England and yet so near. By-and-by, no doubt, the Brindisi
+mail, speeding in connection with the Khartoum express, will make the
+run in seven or eight days. From England to Port Said is now but a
+matter of four days by the new Peninsular and Oriental service. It
+took me six days from Cairo to reach Dakhala. The officials prefer to
+know the place as "Atbara Camp." There is no absolute rule for the
+bestowal of proper names, or at least no practice one need care about
+in the Soudan, so I prefer to dub the locality by its native title of
+Dakhala, or Dakhelha. It saves a word in telegraphing, and there is
+more fitness in calling that dusty, dirty enclosure by the less
+euphonious name.
+
+One could not but note what a wondrous change in the military and
+political situation had been wrought in the land since 1884-85.
+Railways had solved every difficulty of dealing with the dervishes.
+Quite easily nowadays the remote provinces of the whilom great
+Egyptian equatorial empire can be reached and governed. With ordinary
+care under the altered conditions millions of Arabs and blacks can be
+transformed from chronic-rebellious into trusty loyal subjects. There
+has been bloodguiltiness and to spare in the Soudan since 1883-84,
+therefore the rehabilitation of the country through the setting up of
+just government will be in the nature of discharging a duty long
+incumbent upon Great Britain. From the Atbara southward, the Niles and
+their tributaries are open to steam navigation the year round. The
+possession of these noble waterways, which extend over thousands of
+miles, includes the fee-simple of sovereignty in the fertile lands of
+the two Nile basins and their commerce. By admirable foresight and
+indomitable Anglo-Saxon persistence the Sirdar had achieved a unique
+position in African conquest. He had got together an armed force "fit
+to go anywhere and to do anything." The heart of Africa was his, to
+loose or to bind. Of all the terrible railway rides in the world, for
+dirt and discomfort, none compares with the trip from Cairo to Luxor
+and Assouan. The carriages are stuffy and unclean, and during the
+whole journey one stifles in an opaque atmosphere of grit mixed with
+the sweepings of the ages. The calcined earths quickly cushion the
+seats, powder you from head to foot, and fill your pockets and every
+other receptacle with soil enough to make you feel like a landed
+proprietor--or, at any rate, rich enough in loam to lay out a suburban
+garden. With all the accessories at hand for the creation of an acrid
+and measureless thirst, neither the railway authorities nor private
+enterprise have had the wit as yet to provide travellers with the
+means of mitigating their sufferings. It is little short of a horror
+to think of that journey of over forty hours' duration, which had to
+be endured without the succour to be found in a refreshment-room
+where, for a consideration, could be got a sparkling cool drink or a
+mouthful of passable victuals. Were it to take me a month to travel
+the distance by river, if time permitted I had rather adventure next
+time upon the Nile than ever go by train over that line again. I
+confess I have made the journey by rail frequently but it becomes
+really more unendurable each trip. Of course I laid in stores of
+liquids and solids for the voyage. I ought to have known better, but
+one thinks nothing of the toothache when it is past. The mineral
+waters became too hot to drink, and not quite near enough the
+boiling-point to make good tea of, whilst, as for the provisions, such
+as got not too high, were so swathed in layers of questionable dust
+and grit as to be repulsive. Keeping even passably tidy was
+impossible, and in personal cleanliness a London scavenger could give
+a traveller by rail from Cairo to Assouan many points. It was at Wady
+Halfa that I got booked in the way-bill for Dakhala, or Atbara Camp,
+390 miles away. The construction of the Halfa-Atbara line was, as I
+have said before, a masterpiece of military strategy, the credit for
+which is due to the Sirdar. By-and-by a railway bridge will span the
+Atbara at Dakhala, and the iron way will be laid into Khartoum. The
+170 miles betwixt the Atbara and Khartoum offer no difficulties, and
+the line will be laid within a year from the time when the money is
+granted the Sirdar for its construction.
+
+Since the foregoing was written, the requisite amount has been voted
+Lord Kitchener of Khartoum, and the contracts for material have been
+issued and signed. About a quarter of a million sleepers have to be
+delivered in Egypt before the end of June 1899. The Atbara and forty
+small khors will be bridged, and the work be completed in twelve
+months. It is intended that the terminus shall be on the east bank
+opposite Khartoum.
+
+All the trains on the Halfa-Atbara line carried goods, ordinary
+passengers being incidental. Four of my colleagues, Major Sitwell, of
+the Egyptian army, and myself got places in a horse-box. In the next
+truck to us, likewise a horse-box, were five English officers,
+returning to duty with Gatacre's, or rather Wauchope's, brigade at
+Darmali. In that same horse-box truck we five contrived to cook, eat,
+sleep, and dress for two round days, for, as I have stated, there were
+no restaurants or buffets within 1000 miles of the desert railway. The
+wayside stations were but sidings or halting-places where the
+locomotives drew coal and water, of which small supplies were usually
+stored under an Egyptian corporal's guard. Ours was a long and heavy
+train, and more than once on the up grade to No. 6 or Summit station
+out from Halfa the engine came to a standstill, "to recover its
+breath," as the negroes said. In the horse-box we got along together
+for the most part very comfortably, accommodating ourselves to the
+situation. Such a picnic as we had then made it less of a puzzle to
+the common understanding how certain creatures are able to do with a
+tight-fitting shell for their house and home. If Major Girouard, R.E.,
+had not left the direction of the Soudan military railways--which
+under the Sirdar he built--to join the Board of the Egyptian lines, we
+should, I believe, have had better provision made for passengers.
+Ziehs, or porous native clay-jars to hold cool drinking water, and
+various other little accessories to lighten the hardships of the trip
+would surely have been provided. Later on, the officials took care to
+have ziehs and plenty of cool drinking water in the carriages and
+trucks of all trains carrying troops, so that the men had at least
+plenty to drink.
+
+On our way up we passed Wauchope's brigade encamped at Es Selim and
+Darmali. Colonel Macdonald's 1st and Colonel Maxwell's 2nd Khedivial
+Brigades started to march from Berber to Dakhala about that time, the
+end of July. Many of the British soldiers, so as not to sleep upon the
+ground, had built for themselves benches of mud or sun-dried bricks,
+whereon they spread their blankets. The plan secured some immunity
+from such crawling things as scorpions and snakes. Sun-baked mud in
+the Soudan is a hard and decently clean material for bench or bed. The
+Theatres Royal, Darmali and Es Selim, were in full swing, though it
+was very 'dog-days' weather. Officers liberally patronised the men's
+entertainments and occasionally held jollifications of their own.
+There were a good many who exercised the cheerful spirit of Mark
+Tapley under the trials of the Soudan. Lively and original skits and
+verses were given at these symposiums. Here are a few verses of a
+topical song on the refractory blacks and fellaheen fallen under the
+condemnation of either the civil or military law and forced to hard
+labour. It was written and frequently sung by a clever young engineer
+officer:--
+
+    We're convicts at work in the Noozle,
+      We carry great loads on our backs,
+    And often our warders bamboozle,
+      And sleep 'neath mountains of sacks.
+
+                                Chorus: Ri-tooral il looral, &c.
+
+(The Noozle is the commissariat depot.)
+
+    We convicts start work at day dawning,
+      Boilers we mount about noon,
+    Sleepers we load in the morning,
+      And rails by the light of the moon.
+
+    Our warders are blacks, who cry Masha! (march),
+      And strike us if we don't obey,
+    Or else he's a Hamla Ombashi,
+      Who allows us to fuddle all day.
+
+Hamla Ombashi is a corporal of the transport service, and "fuddle" is
+to sit down. It was the chorus with spoken words interlarded that
+caught on astonishingly, and showed that the men's lungs were in
+magnificent condition. Another howler, but by another author, was
+"Roll on to Khartoum." Here is a specimen verse and the chorus:--
+
+    Come, forward march, and do your duty,
+      Though poor your grub, no rum, bad 'bacca,
+    Step out, for fighting and no booty,
+      To trace a free red line thro' Africa.
+
+    No barney, boys, give over mousing,
+      True Britons are ye from hill and fen,
+    Now rally lads, and drop all grousing,
+      And pull together like soldier-men.
+
+                                Chorus.
+
+    Then roll on, boys, roll on to Khartoum,
+      March ye and fight by night or by day,
+    Hasten the hour of the Dervishes' doom,
+      Gordon avenge in old England's way.
+
+"Grousing" is Tommy Atkins for grumbling, which is an Englishman's
+birthright. As for no rum, subsequently the men were allowed two tots
+a week; Wednesdays and Saturdays were, I think, the days of issue.
+Less than half a gill was each man's share. I am inclined to believe
+had there been a daily issue of the same quantity of rum it had been
+better, and the young soldiers might have escaped with less fever.
+
+Dakhala had undergone many changes since March. It was bigger in every
+respect, but no better as a camping-ground. Truth to tell, it was so
+bad as to be well-nigh intolerable. The correspondents' quarters were
+exceptionally vile, the location being the worst possible within the
+lines. We had no option, and so had to pitch our tents behind the
+noozle in a ten-acre waste of dirtiest, lightest loam, which swished
+around in clouds by day and night, making us grimy as coal-heavers,
+powdering everything, even our food and drink, with gritty dust and
+covering us in our blankets inches deep. The river breeze was barred
+from us, and the green and fresher banks of the Atbara and the Nile,
+beyond the fort, were for other than correspondents' camps. Many rows
+of mud huts had been built in the interior. As for the sun-dried brick
+parapets and ramparts of the fortifications, these were already
+crumbling to ruin or being cast down for use in newer structures. The
+lofty wooden lookout staging, called the Eiffel Tower, had been
+removed, and its timbers converted to other purposes. On the
+completion of the railway to Dakhala, Abadia had become but a
+secondary workshop centre. Newer and larger shipbuilding yards and
+engine works were erected by the Atbara. Under Lieutenant Bond, R.N.,
+and Mr Haig gunboats, steamers, barges and sailing craft were put in
+thorough order, native artisans toiling day and night. The clang of
+hammermen, riveters, carpenters and caulkers resounded along the river
+front. The Dakhala noozle was an immense depot, stuffed full of grain,
+provisions, ammunition boxes, ropes, wires, iron, medical stores and
+other material, like one of the great London docks. As usual the
+indefatigable Greek trader had adventured upon the scene. North of the
+fortified lines, with the help of the natives he had run up a mud
+town. It consisted of a double row of one-storeyed houses, between
+which ran a street of nearly 300 yards. The place, known as the
+bazaar, was a hive of stores, wretched cafes, and the like. As the
+Sirdar had had all the beer and liquor in the place seized and put
+under seal before the advent of Mr T. Atkins, there was little to be
+had in Dakhala bazaar besides a not too pure soda-water, coffee,
+sardines, beans, maccaroni, oil, tobacco and matches.
+
+[Illustration: STREET IN DAKHALA.]
+
+For six weeks southerly winds blew almost daily. South of 17 degrees,
+the northerly breeze does not commence to blow before the end of
+August. It was warm, extremely warm, under the burning tropical sun.
+The heat bore down like a load upon head and shoulders and enveloped
+us like a blast from a roaring furnace. About noontide it was
+ordinarily 120 degrees Fahr. in my tent. Still, I am sure it was by no
+means so oppressive as at Korti in March 1885. The Atbara and the Nile
+helped to temper the fiery glow that radiated from the desert rocks
+and sands. At best, the heat is a sore trial, but to be borne with
+more patience than the "devils" and sand storms that bother by night
+as well as by day. Snow-drifts are mild visitations of Providence
+compared with a dust storm or whirlwind. These latter would smother
+you, if you would let them, quicker and less respectably than a shroud
+of snow. Jack Frost bites mildly, preferring to do his serious work by
+dulling the nerves; but the Dust Devil is a cruel tormentor from first
+to last. You may bury your head in folds of cloth and mosquito
+netting, and sweat and stifle in the attempt, but he snuffs you and
+powders you all the same. He puffs his finest clouds in your face, and
+round and round you till you find bedding and clothing are no more
+protection against him than they are against the Roentgen ray. One
+particular night he came in great strength to Dakhala, heaped waves of
+sand over us, dug great hollows around our quarters, and completed his
+diabolical games by completely overturning two of my colleagues'
+tents. I saw my friends emerge from the ruins of canvas, bedding, and
+boxes, wild, half-clad, terra-cotta figures, such as may have escaped
+from the destruction of Pompeii. But the human mind is a curious
+thing. It does not acknowledge defeat easily, and so a victim said to
+me he had pulled his tent down to keep it from falling. The Dust Devil
+had nothing to do with it.
+
+Early in August the situation assumed a peculiar interest to us of the
+fourth estate. We were told that the troops were shortly going forward
+to rendezvous at Nasri Island, whereas it was a matter of notoriety
+that Wad Habeshi, which was further south, had been selected as the
+advanced camp for the army on leaving Dakhala. Of course, not one word
+of the true state of matters were we permitted to wire home.
+Detachments, true enough, had been sent ahead to "cut wood" and set up
+a camp upon Nasri Island. But that was merely to have a secure
+secondary depot and hospital station. It had been ascertained after
+the occupation of Shendy that the dervishes were in no great strength
+at Shabluka or the Sixth Cataract. They occasionally sent down about a
+thousand Baggara horsemen to that place, and their riders scouted
+around the bluff rocks and hills bordering the Nile on either side of
+the "bab," or water-gateway and rapids of Shabluka. As a rule, only
+about two hundred of them ever crossed to the east bank. The others
+hung around on the west bank, and built low walls for riflemen and dug
+a number of trenches and then returned to Omdurman. A few hundred only
+remained to guard the forts and the narrow fairway. Much labour had
+been expended and considerable rude skill shown by the enemy in
+building bastions and other defensive works at various places on the
+river,--particularly in the Shabluka gorge and before Omdurman. Why
+the Khalifa committed the blunder of making no adequate preparation
+for defending the pass at Shabluka it is difficult to understand. Only
+one conclusion suggests itself. He was probably afraid to trust his
+followers so far from his sight, lest the negroes should desert. We
+continually heard from our own blacks that most of Abdullah's
+_jehadieh_ Soudani riflemen would come over to us the first chance
+they got. Major-Generals Hunter and Gatacre, having learned that the
+dervish infantry had been withdrawn from Shabluka, scouted south up to
+the cataract and selected Wad Habeshi as a suitable camp and
+rendezvous. That village, or rather district, is on the west bank,
+south of Nasri Island and but fifteen miles north of Shabluka.
+
+A big zereba was made at Wad Habeshi and trenches were dug. The place,
+in short, long before the British troops stirred south beyond Dakhala,
+was turned into a fortified post and made the real rendezvous of the
+Sirdar's army.
+
+[Illustration: TROOPS GOING TO WAD HABESHI.]
+
+On 2nd August, in the face of a strong south wind, the 1st and 2nd
+Khedivial brigades, respectively Colonel Macdonald's and Colonel
+Maxwell's, embarked in very close order on steamers and giassas for
+Wad Habeshi. The distance was about 140 miles by water from Dakhala,
+but it took the gunboats and their tows over three days to get there,
+for the craft were deeply ladened with men and stores. The soupy
+whirling Nile flood washed the decks of the steamers almost from stem
+to stern. It was little short of the rarest good fortune there was no
+accident by the way. Everybody turned out to see the brigades off.
+Merrily stepped the black battalions, their women-folk raising the
+usual shrill cry of jubilation, whilst the bands played the favourite
+air, "O, dem Golden Slippers." Regimental bands do droll things
+occasionally. I remember in the year of the Dongola Campaign and the
+cholera visitation, 1896, a grim blunder made by a native battalion's
+band. The serious surroundings of those days led me to say nothing of
+the matter at that time. Military interments, in cholera cases, were
+ordinarily made very early in the morning or late in the afternoon,
+just before sunset. A popular native Egyptian officer fell a victim to
+the epidemic one afternoon. The sun had but set when the funeral
+party, headed by the full regimental band, were seen hastening towards
+the cemetery, for there was no time to lose. The tune actually being
+played was not the "Dead March in Saul" but "Up I came with my little
+lot." When the gunboats started up the Nile for Wad Habeshi, towing
+alongside barges and giassas, all the crafts crammed with men and
+stores, more than one of the fellaheen battalions were regaled with
+the full strains of "'E dunno were 'e are."
+
+By the end of July the Egyptian cavalry--nine squadrons--under Colonel
+Broadwood, with the camel corps under Major Tudway, the horse
+artillery and one or two batteries, had been ferried across from
+Dakhala to the west bank. On the 4th of August the whole of the
+mounted force named, about 2000 strong, started to march along the
+bank to Wad Habeshi. Going along the bank means, at high Nile, leading
+the troops upon a course half to a full mile from the river so as to
+avoid creeks and overflows and, at same time, secure the advantage of
+moving upon the more open ground beyond the zone of cultivation, out
+upon the edge of the bare desert. It was also early in August that the
+last of the fourteen double-decked iron barges, designed for the
+conveyance of troops, was finished at Dakhala. Except the surplus and
+reserve stores everything was put to instant service. As good a march
+in its way, if not better in some respects than that of the 5th
+Egyptian battalion from Suakin to Berber, was the tramp of the 17th
+Egyptian--also a fellaheen regiment--from Merawi to Dakhala. They
+made a record rapid tramp, following the Nile, up to Dakhala.
+
+At Dakhala I frequently saw and conversed with the Sirdar, Generals
+Rundle and Gatacre, Colonels Wingate and Slatin Pasha. There seemed no
+reason to doubt but that the Khalifa would remain at Omdurman and give
+us a fight. Abdullah the Taaisha gave out as widely as he could that
+he meant actual business and dying if necessary at the Mahdi's tomb.
+His women-folk had not then been sent away, and that looked promising
+for battle. We heard that he was building more stout walls and digging
+numberless trenches for defence. Of ammunition for small arms and his
+ordinary brass rifled guns we were told he had no lack. For the three
+or four excellent batteries of Krupps he possessed he had but sixty
+rounds per cannon--enough, with good common and shrapnel shell, had he
+made right use of his means, to have made matters unpleasant for us
+until our gunners and Maxims found the range. It was regarded as
+doubtful whether he would be able to employ any of the machine guns in
+the dervish armoury. Of all Gordon's "penny steamers" only one, it was
+said, was serviceable, and she was kept under steam night and day at
+Omdurman.
+
+Though he kept a bold front, blustered, and promised his adherents no
+end of good things, and told them that, as in 1884-85, it was God's
+will to turn the English back at the eleventh hour, Khalifa Abdullah
+was truly in a parlous state. With all the Sirdar's care, we could not
+keep from the dervish leader the extent of our preparations or
+forwardness for the advance. As usual, Sir Herbert Kitchener was well
+ahead of the time planned for moving on. We learned that, bar
+unforeseen accidents and delays, the whole of his army would be in
+front of Omdurman in a little over one month from the 1st of August.
+Two dates in September were given for the fall of that stronghold. It
+turned out to be neither. Kordofan had become openly rebellious
+against the Khalifa. A caravan of over 1140 people, with women,
+children and cattle marching overland, had arrived from that remote
+region at Korti in the Dongola province. The multitude, who were
+accompanied by many influential sheikhs flying from Mahdist misrule,
+sent a deputation to the Sirdar asking his assistance to take and hold
+El Obeid. As if that were not enough in the way of shutting the door
+behind the Khalifa, sheikhs came down from the Blue Nile provinces,
+seeking protection. Help was given to them, and bodies of friendlies
+were got together to seize Senaar and other important places. The Nile
+was running very swift and full in August, the current moving at fully
+six miles an hour past Dakhala. In July the Atbara, which had again
+begun slowly to flow, suddenly rose, the muddy water roaring along in
+a series of terraced wave-walls. Its 300-yards wide bed, where it
+joined the Nile, was within a few minutes choked with the tawny flood
+up to nearly the top of the 30-foot banks on either side. Bursting
+into the Nile the sea of soup seemed to push its way in a well-defined
+stream nearly across the 1200-yards broad bosom of the Father of
+Waters.
+
+The first half of the 2nd Battalion of the Rifle Brigade arrived on
+the 2nd of August at Dakhala, during a blustering dust-storm. For all
+that, black and travel-stained, they were glad to detrain, and to plod
+through the sand, and breast the laden atmosphere, in order to get
+into camp hard by the Atbara. The following day the remainder of the
+battalion marched in under somewhat pleasanter conditions. Everybody
+turned out to cheer the smart, soldierlike detachments. On the 6th
+inst. the first half of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards arrived,
+and later on the remainder. The Sirdar and Generals Rundle and
+Gatacre, and the staffs went to greet them. A finer and more stalwart
+body of troops was never seen in the Soudan. Native opinion was more
+than favourable respecting them, and I heard observations on all sides
+that the Khalifa had no men he could set against them. The Sirdar and
+General Gatacre also expressed themselves much pleased with the
+appearance of the Grenadiers, who looked like seasoned soldiers and
+came in without a sick man in their ranks.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+DAKHALA CAMP: GOSSIP AND DUTY.
+
+
+Dirt is the essence of savagery, and there is a superfluity of both in
+the Soudan. I have no desperate wish so to describe the vileness of
+the surroundings of the correspondents' camp at Dakhala that even
+casual thinkers will sniff at it. The place was bad enough in all
+conscience, and, mayhap, therein I have said all that is necessary. As
+for the worry of our lives, squatted as we were in the least agreeable
+quarter of the big rectangular fort, long will the memory of those
+days and nights burden our existence. What a time I had on those sand
+and dust heaps, where every puff of wind and every footfall raised
+clouds of pulverised cosmos. For two weeks, amid the wretched scene,
+hideous by night as by day, I persisted in existing. It was a huge pen
+with men, horses, camels, donkeys, dogs and poultry hobnobbing amid a
+daily wreckage of old provision tins, garbage of soiled forage and
+stable-sweepings and whatnot. All that, with a temperature of 116
+degrees to 120 degrees Fahr. in the shade, wore the temper and added
+amazingly to the consumption of wet things. At the Grenadier Guards'
+mess one sultry evening they consumed twenty-eight dozen of sodas, and
+it was not a record night. Without giving anybody's secret away, I may
+say I know a gentleman who could polish off three dozen at a sitting,
+and unblushingly call for more. These are details of more interest to
+teetotalers than to the general public. Yet, not to let the subject
+pass without a word of caution to afflicted future travellers in the
+Soudan, the inordinate use of undiluted mineral waters of native
+manufacture is most dangerous to health.
+
+We correspondents had to wink both eyes in much of our telegraphic
+news from the front, for military reasons. The press censor was
+Colonel Wingate, chief of the Intelligence Department. In his absence,
+Major-General Rundle, chief of staff, usually acted. Personally,
+either gentleman was all that could be desired. Both were alike ready
+and courteous in the discharge of their at all times rather onerous
+duty, giving frequent audience to the numerous contingent of eager
+newsmen, garrulous and prodigal with pencil and pen. Some of the
+new-comers to the business felt sorely hit, because they were
+precluded from writing at large upon all subjects connected with the
+campaign. The excision of their copy grieved and hurt them as much as
+if they had been subjected to a real surgical amputation. Yet those
+two officers but obeyed orders, for after all, and under every
+circumstance, the Sirdar, as I am well aware, was the real censor. It
+is perhaps fairly open to argument whether the course adopted in
+dealing with correspondents' copy was wise or necessary in a war
+against an ignorant and savage foe. There was, at least, one official
+blunder which gave occasion for much annoyance, and ought to have been
+promptly remedied, or better still, never committed. It was expected
+of Colonel Wingate, the censor, that amid multifarious important
+responsibilities as chief of the Intelligence branch he should find
+time daily to peruse and correct tens of thousands of words, often
+crabbedly written, in press messages. With the approach of the day of
+battle, his own department taxed more and more his entire attention,
+and side by side the correspondents' telegrams grew in length and
+importance. The task of proper censorship under such conditions was
+impossible for any human being to discharge adequately. On that
+account the public interest suffered, for press matters were often
+neither promptly nor fully despatched. As a rule, the correspondents
+were left in blissful ignorance of what had been cut out of their
+copy, as well as of the exact nature of the residuum transmitted.
+Besides these grievances there was one of favouritism alleged, but of
+that there is always more or less in every phase of life and
+association. All told, it may be thought that the correspondents'
+complaints were of no very serious character. That depends on how they
+are looked at. I have no taste for cavilling or grumbling over events
+that are past. Surely, however, there is a middle way somewhere to be
+found between the absolutism of a general in the field, who may gag
+the correspondents or treat them as camp followers, and the clear
+right of the British public under our free institutions to have news
+dealing with the progress of their arms rapidly transmitted home. I
+am well aware of the grave responsibilities that hedge a
+commander-in-chief, and the cruel injury that an unrestrained
+non-combatant may do him by recklessly writing on subjects calculated
+to jeopardise the success of a campaign and hazard countless lives and
+fortunes. The latter is an remote possibility. A commander-in-chief
+has to consider that any enemy worth his salt is usually kept informed
+by spies and deserters, and press-men who are known and cognisant of
+their duty are no more likely to betray secrets to their country's
+enemies than any officer or soldier in the Queen's service. And
+nowadays the private correspondence from troops in the field cannot be
+suppressed, and it is often published. Commanders of armies will
+either have to accept the presence of recognised writers, over whom
+they can exercise some control, or instead stand powerless before a
+dangerous flood of random army letters poured into the public press.
+The case can be met with judgment and care--plus penalties where
+deserved. I am bringing no charges here, but discussing a vexed and
+withal important question. I am glad to say that during the Omdurman
+Campaign there was no attempt, within my knowledge, of muzzling the
+press. This does not bear upon the Fashoda incident, but that came
+later.
+
+Nasri Island as a base of concentration was, as I have intimated, a
+blind. Although we correspondents were not permitted to go up the
+river, or indeed move beyond the Atbara, until the Sirdar and
+headquarters had started, yet we kept ourselves fully informed of all
+that was happening at the front. There had been one or two little
+skirmishes between bands of mounted dervishes and our wood-cutting
+parties of Khedivial infantry. In these encounters our men had
+generally the best of the fighting, and the Baggara horsemen
+invariably retreated with a few empty saddles. In July Major-Generals
+Hunter and Gatacre had, during a small reconnaissance, proceeded as
+far up as Shabluka Cataract or Rapid on one of the gunboats. The
+enemy, it was seen, were in no great strength there, and the seven
+well-planned, thick-walled mud forts blocking the passage were weakly
+held. Those two officers landed with a small body of troops and
+surveyed a suitable camping site, at what they called Wad Hamid, but
+which, in reality, was north of that place and close to Wad Habeshi.
+The object was to find a spot easily accessible by river and land, and
+with not too much bush about. At that season, the Nile having in many
+places overflowed its lower borders, marshes extended for miles along
+the ordinarily solid river banks. Wad Habeshi was merely a native
+wood-cutting station at first, but little by little troops appeared on
+the scene, and a large entrenched camp, with lines extending for
+several miles, was duly formed. At the end of July two steamers, which
+had made the perilous voyage up the Nile from the province of Dongola,
+came in and made fast alongside the mud bars at Dakhala.
+
+It was still early in August when all the four battalions of
+Major-General Hon. N. G. Lyttelton's Second British Brigade reached
+Dakhala. They were quartered in a cool and cleanly camp by the Atbara,
+to the south-east of the fortified lines. The 21st Lancers also
+arrived at Dakhala in due course. Major Williams' Field Battery, the
+32nd R.A. of 15-pounders; Major Elmslie's 37th R.A., with the new
+50-pounder Howitzers firing Lyddite shells; and Lieut. Weymouth's two
+40-pounder Armstrong guns, besides other cannon and Maxims, were
+likewise on time. Very smartly the batteries and Maxims were stowed
+aboard native craft, which were taken in tow by gunboats to Wad Hamid.
+Detachments of gunners accompanied the pieces and carriages, but the
+majority of the artillerymen were ferried to the west bank, whence
+they marched overland to the new camp. It was at Wad Habeshi that the
+army was first actually marshalled as a concrete force, and forthwith
+took the field. Not a moment was lost by day or night in moving men
+and supplies onward. The little paddle steamer captured from the
+dervishes during the 1896 Dongola Expedition, which had been repaired
+and sent to Dakhala, was continually carrying troops and stores from
+the east to the west bank. As the Nile was running at the rate of six
+miles an hour in its wide bed, the "El Tahara," as the craft was
+called, had to make a big circuit to effect a passage. The "El Tahara"
+was one of the boats General Gordon built at Khartoum but never lived
+to launch. As she was a new craft, the Mahdi changed her name, calling
+her "The Maid," instead of "Khartoum," as it had been intended to dub
+her. She was an excellent vessel, with fine engines much too powerful
+for her frame.
+
+[Illustration: WOOD STATION (EN ROUTE TO OMDURMAN).]
+
+Both Surgeon-General Taylor, on behalf of the British division, and
+Surgeon-Colonel Gallwey, for the Egyptian troops, completed their
+arrangements for succouring the sick and wounded upon the march from
+Shabluka to the attack upon Omdurman. Adequate provision was made for
+field hospitals, floating hospitals and relief stations, for medical
+officers, and attendants, with cradlets and stretchers, to follow each
+military unit into action. For the British infantry it meant,
+substantially, that behind each battalion a medical officer and two
+non-commissioned officers should march, accompanied by six camels
+bearing cacolets, and men with nine stretchers. A somewhat modified
+scheme was got out for the cavalry and artillery, as well as for the
+other Khedivial troops. In the anticipated action before Omdurman,
+temporary operating stations were to be set up, out of ordinary
+rifle-range, and native craft, which had been fitted up with cots,
+were to be brought as near the scene as practicable to receive the
+wounded.
+
+An attempt made to lay a cable from Dakhala to the west bank was not
+over successful. It was found that the great sag, caused by the
+current, carried the cable down stream, so the whole length ran out
+before the opposite bank was reached. The steamer "Melik" was the
+telegraph ship, and paid the cable out from a wooden reel placed on
+her stern quarter. A few days after the failure she was employed
+picking up the wire, most of which was recovered by Captain Manifold,
+R.E., who was the director of military telegraphs in the last as in
+the three previous expeditions against the dervishes. The recovered
+line was relaid across the Atbara, which is barely a third of the
+width of the Nile. From the south bank of the Atbara two land lines
+pass up the east shore of the Nile. Upon a lofty corresponding pair of
+trestles an overhead wire was also hung across the smaller river. A
+few miles south of Dakhala a cable had been laid to an island and
+thence to the west bank. From the latter point an ordinary land wire
+ran along the desert to Metemmeh. Later on it was laid to Omdurman.
+The line was put down step by step as the troops advanced. Thus an
+alternative system of telegraphic communication with Khartoum was
+early provided for.
+
+It stirred the blood of everybody in our dull camp to see detachment
+after detachment of the second British brigade detrain. Most of us
+turned out and like schoolboys followed the drums and fifes as they
+played the troops to their camping-ground. A half-battalion of the
+Grenadier Guards, led by Colonel Villiers-Hatton, arrived at Dakhala
+on the 6th of August. Hale and strong the big fellows looked in their
+campaigning khaki. "First-class fighting material," as Arabs and
+negroes, who are by no means poor judges, were openly heard to confess
+in their interchange of confidences. There is always much camp chaff
+and yarning amongst "Tommies"--and their officers, too, for that
+matter--at the expense of England's picked battalions. "Have you seen
+the 'Queen's Company,' my man," asked a subaltern of the Grenadiers
+one day of a private in the Northumberland Fusiliers. Now the "Queen's
+Company" are all over six feet in stature, and there was a friendly
+rivalry in grenadiership between them and certain Fusilier regiments.
+The question was asked when the troops were marching over undulating
+but rather bare ground where the tufted grass was little over knee
+high. It happened the officer had been detached on other duty, and was
+anxious to rejoin his command. "I think, sir," said the Northumbrian,
+saluting respectfully, "that they have got lost in the long grass."
+The subaltern looked unutterable things, but the "Tommy" held a
+stoical face and said not a word more till the officer went off to
+hunt anew for his men. For all the chaff, every one was glad to see
+the Guards, and to speak of them as the Queen's soldiers. Of the
+second brigade General Gatacre said that a better body of troops could
+not be wished for by any general.
+
+I rode out to several of the brigade field-days, or rather, mornings,
+for there was plenty of drilling and field exercises for Lyttelton's
+men. The brigade was repeatedly practised in attack formation against
+imaginary bodies of dervishes, as well as at assaulting supposed
+works. On more than one of these occasions the gallant Colonel of the
+Guards, not having his charger up at that date, led his Grenadiers
+afoot, and once, at any rate, was mounted on donkey-back.
+Particularism gets lost in the desert. In the manoeuvres the troops
+were usually led in line, the flanks being supported by two or three
+companies in quarter column, and the centre having in rear a few
+sections of companies ready to fill gaps. Save for a little noise in
+passing orders, the result of a fast-becoming obsolete school of
+training, even captious criticism could find no actual fault with
+their work. Advancing across wadies and scaling knolls upon the
+desert, the troops were instructed to open fire with ball cartridge.
+The range given was 500 yards, and the ammunition used was the
+tip-filed Lee-Metford bullets. As at the Atbara, without halting, the
+line moved slowly on, the front rank firing as at a battue, each man
+independently. There were a few section volleys tried, the soldiers
+pausing for an instant to deliver their fire. Once or twice also, the
+rear rank was closed up, and joined in the fusilade. One effect was to
+paralyse the deer and birds within range. I noticed that the tip-filed
+bullets did not usually spread, and that their man-stopping quality
+was something of a myth. Even the dum-dum does not invariably "set up"
+on striking an object. For the Omdurman Campaign a new hollow-nosed
+bullet was issued for the Lee-Metfords. So far as I was able to
+judge, it generally spread on hitting, and made a deadly wound,
+tearing away bone and flesh at the point of exit.
+
+On the 12th of August the 21st Lancers, together with camel and mule
+transport animals, were crossed to the west bank in readiness for
+marching to Wad Hamid. Saturday, the 13th August, was a very busy day
+at Dakhala. On that date the Sirdar went by steamer to the front,
+direct to Wad Habeshi. It was given out he was merely going on a
+flying visit for inspection. There was renewed active drilling of
+troops. Eight steamers that came down were reloaded and sent back with
+troops and stores in the course of twenty-four hours. General Gatacre
+went to Darmali, and there assisted in the embarkation of his old
+brigade, Major-General A. Wauchope's. The task was effected within the
+course of twelve hours, the Camerons, Seaforths, Lincolns and
+Warwicks, with their kits and supplies, being densely packed upon the
+steamers "Zafir," "Nazir," "Fatah," and the barges and giassas, which
+these craft towed. Had the Thames Conservancy writs run on the Nile
+there would have been terrible fines exacted for unlawful
+overcrowding. On the 14th August these stern-wheelers, heavily laden
+with Wauchope's men, steamed at a fast rate past the Atbara camp, on
+their way south. These craft, the first of which took part in the 1896
+Dongola Expedition, turned out to be really the most useful and
+dependable of the whole Nile flotilla. They steamed remarkably well,
+towed splendidly, and were, besides, good fighting craft. The three
+Admiralty-designed twin-screw steamers, "Sheikh" "Sultan" and "Melik,"
+were not as fast as had been expected; they could not tow any
+reasonably big load, and, though they were stuffed with many
+novelties, few of the innovations were of the least practical value.
+They needed all their engine power to steam and when under weigh had
+none to spare for driving the circular saws to cut firewood for fuel,
+or to start the dynamos to work the search lights with which they were
+fitted. Major Collinson, commanding the 4th Khedivial Brigade, left
+Atbara camp for the front with the 17th and 18th Battalions, or half
+his force, the 1st and 5th Battalions having preceded him some time
+previously.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+MARCHING IN THE SOUDAN--FROM DAKHALA TO WAD HABESHI.
+
+
+What a land the Soudan is! As a sorely-tried friend said to me, after
+passing a succession of sleepless nights owing to the dust and rain
+storms, and overburdened days because of the heat, "What do the
+British want in this country? Is it the intention of the Government to
+do away with capital punishment and send all felons here? I am not
+surprised the camel has the hump. I would develop one here myself.
+What an accursed country!" Yes, it is not an elysium; and when one
+allows the dirt, heat, and discomfort to wither all power of
+endurance, the Soudan becomes a horror and anathema, particularly in
+the summer time. Now, the camel is to me the personification of animal
+wretchedness, a fit creature for the wilderness. The Arabs have a
+legend that the Archangel Michael, anxious to try his skill at
+creative work, received permission to make an attempt, and the camel
+was the issue of his bungling handiwork. Poor brute, his capacity for
+enjoyment is, perhaps, the most restricted of the whole animal
+kingdom. Ferocious of aspect, with a terrible voice, he is
+nevertheless the most timid of beasts, and his fine air of haughty
+superciliousness is, like the rest, but a sham. It might be fancied
+that he is for ever nursing some secret grief, for he takes you
+unawares by lying down and suddenly dying. Yet that is ordinarily but
+his method of proclaiming an attack of indigestion.
+
+[Illustration: LOADING UP--BREAKING CAMP.]
+
+I struck my tent at Dakhala on the 15th of August, packed my gear, and
+during the course of the day crossed over to the west bank with my
+servants, horses, camels and other belongings. Having obtained
+permission from headquarters to go up to the front, I decided to go by
+land, marching with the cavalry and guns, for I was not free to travel
+except in their company, at least until we reached Metemmeh but of
+that anon. The column in question was under Colonel Martin of the 21st
+Lancers, and comprised three squadrons of that regiment, or about 300
+men mounted upon Arab horses; three batteries, the 32nd R.A., the 37th
+R.A. (howitzers), and the Egyptian Horse Artillery; two Maxims with
+division and transport trains, and a number of officers' led horses.
+As I have already explained, the guns of the 32nd and 37th field
+batteries, together with the limbers and ammunition, were sent on to
+Wad Habeshi by water. There was much merrymaking as usual that
+evening, for we were to start on the morrow. I squatted like many more
+in the low rough scrub by the river's brink with my caravan around me.
+During the evening I went out to dine with some officer friends. As I
+had over a mile to walk to their pitch, the poor glare of the camp
+fires made the darkness more inky, and I had sundry narrow escapes
+from tumbling into ditches and water holes. Our bivouac was an
+ill-omened beginning to the route march of the column under Colonel
+Martin. One of the periodical summer gales came on, raising whirlwinds
+of dust and sand. To complete our discomfiture a thunderstorm
+followed, and there was a heavy sprinkling of rain for herbage, but
+too much for men. Truly, misfortunes rarely befall singly. It was a
+big Nile year, not a flood, but enough and to spare. A blessing, no
+doubt, for Lower Egypt, but a calamity for us, for during the night
+the river rose 2 feet, and overflowed its low, level banks. The water
+overran part of the camping ground, compelling many a drenched soldier
+to shift his quarters hurriedly. We got through the dark and troublous
+night somehow, though keenly vexed by the muttered discontent of the
+camels, and the persistent, blatant, variegated amorous braying of 500
+donkeys. A cat upon the tiles, a Romeo, was to this as a tin whistle
+to a trombone. Sleep was a nightmare. It was after six a.m. before the
+head of the column moved out towards the desert track. The rear did
+not get away before eight o'clock, much too late an hour for marching
+in the Soudan. The weather was hot, the sun scorching despite a brisk
+southerly breeze. Lieutenant H. M. Grenfell had charge of the fine
+Cyprus mule train for carrying the British divisional baggage. There
+was with the column a great following of native servants mounted upon
+sturdy Soudan donkeys. The gawky camel shuffles along, a picture of
+woe with a load of 2 cwt. to 4 cwt., whilst the little moke trips
+smartly with almost an equal weight upon his back. Two Jaalin guides
+were supposed to show us the shortest and best track. Major Mahan, of
+the Egyptian Cavalry, had been told off to keep an eye on them and to
+assist us generally during the march. Two squadrons of Lancers rode in
+front, whilst the rest of the troopers were supposed to protect the
+flanks and act as "whippers-in" to the column. Fortunately, there was
+no enemy nearer than Kerreri or Omdurman, for our line was usually
+stretched out for a great distance; two, three, and four miles often
+intervened between the head and rear of the column.
+
+After a few days of such marching as we had, straggling became the
+normal condition of affairs, except so far as the leading squadrons of
+Lancers were concerned. The last three days of the journey, in fact,
+became a sort of "go-as-you-please" tramp. To inexperience and want of
+wise forethought may be set down most of the difficulties, hardships,
+and losses that befell that column on its 140-mile march south,
+whereof later.
+
+During the earlier portion of our first day's march (16th August) the
+track lay along the edge of a pebbly desert, which left but a skirting
+of one to three miles of loam and rank vegetation between its
+measureless sterility and the tawny Nile waters. The small rounded
+pebbles and the fine sand of the Nubian wilderness were surely
+fashioned in some great lake or sea of a prehistoric past. Far as we
+were from the dervishes, a childish terror of them was entertained by
+the servants. At the last moment several domestics decamped, my cook
+among them. I rode back three miles to catch the rascal. With unwonted
+alacrity and prescience he had recrossed to the opposite bank before I
+arrived at the place of bivouac, and, having no time, I had to retrace
+my steps without his enforced attendance. It had been arranged that
+the column should only go fifteen miles the first day. What with
+winding and twisting to avoid flooded khors or shallow gulleys we
+marched over twenty miles I fancy. At any rate, with no protracted
+halting for meals or for baiting the animals, we trudged on throughout
+the heat and worry of the day until sunset. It was putting both men
+and animals to the severest possible strain, and few of the soldiers,
+at least, had had any preliminary hardening, for they had been
+travelling for days by boat and train and were out of condition. As a
+rule, the Lancers trotted a few miles ahead, halted, dismounted, and
+waited for the convoy to come up. Then they would ride on again, halt,
+and so on, repeating the proceeding many times during each day's
+march. From start to finish the column was ever a loosely-jointed
+body. The pace was slow, little more than 2 1/4 miles an hour, though Sir
+Herbert Stewart's Bayuda desert column managed to average upon a
+longer and almost waterless route, from Korti to Metemmeh, 2 3/4 miles an
+hour. In that campaign, however, most of our marching was done during
+the cooler hours of very early morning and late eventide.
+
+The head of the column turned in towards the river about three p.m. on
+the 16th, at Makaberab, or, as the natives call it, Omdabiya--_i.e._,
+the place of hyenas. For over a mile, men and animals had to make
+their way through halfa-grass scrub, and then over bare alluvial land,
+deeply sun-cracked and scored in all directions. The ground was
+cris-crossed like a chessboard, the lines being a foot to two feet
+apart, and four to six inches wide, and several feet in depth. There
+were numberless spills through these pitfalls. One camel snapped his
+leg, and many mules and horses were strained and lamed. It was indeed
+fat land, and had formerly grown cotton. The cracks, as we found
+later, were full of scorpions. During that night's bivouac, and in the
+early morning, very many men and animals were stung by these venomous
+pests. Only one soldier succumbed from a scorpion sting during the
+campaign. The pain of the wound is as an intense burning or wounding,
+and continues troublesome for hours. Ammonia was freely used by the
+doctors when the stings were severe, but where whisky could be got,
+that was preferred.
+
+[Illustration: 21ST LANCERS--ADVANCE GUARD.]
+
+We were early astir on the 17th inst., but it was not until daylight
+or 5.30 a.m. that it was safe for the column to pick its way out of
+the field of cracks. Why the spot was selected, except as an earthly
+trial, I am unable to state, officially or otherwise. Hard by, on
+either hand, there was solid and most passable ground for bivouacking.
+We had a good many stragglers on the 16th inst., most of whom came
+rather late tumbling and grumbling to supper and bed on the rough dank
+ground. Others lost their way and wandered to the Nile, where they
+were guided by natives, and later were lucky to get a lift to the
+front upon gunboats. Two men of the 21st Lancers left upon the desert
+with a sick comrade down with sunstroke, watched him die, and,
+scraping a grave, buried him where he expired. Lieutenant Winston
+Churchill, who was detained until late at Dakhala, in trying to follow
+us, lost his way, and had to pass the night alone upon the desert. He
+sat holding his horse till daybreak, and then, burning with thirst,
+made his way to the Nile. Subsequently he hired a native guide and was
+enabled to come up with the column on the afternoon of the 17th.
+Spending the night alone upon the desert has been many times my lot in
+Soudan campaigns.
+
+During Wednesday's march, 17th August, we crossed the low shoulders of
+many rocky ridges. They are called "jebels" (hills), but most of them,
+including Jebel Egeda, which we passed, are little, if any, higher
+than Primrose-Hill, London, though it is not a conical, but a long,
+barn-roofed range. Near there I saw an enormous native cemetery. It
+extended to perhaps fifty acres, the pebble-covered mounds over the
+graves dotting the bare desert and the sides of the hills. I have an
+impression that there are ancient funeral mounds near there, and that
+the burying-place of Aliab is older than the invasion of the Arab
+Jaalin. There were fragments of sculptured stones, granite, and blocks
+of sandstone, and I noticed one broken memorial slab covered with
+Greek characters. Farther on we had to turn aside to avoid wadies and
+khors, up which the Nile had flowed. We were able to water the animals
+at some of those places. The mules and horses buried their noses in
+the flood and drank greedily, and the camels also had a fine,
+long-necked thirst. We were ourselves too parched to care about the
+impurities of the Nile, and soldiers and officers swallowed great
+draughts of the soupy stuff.
+
+Late in the afternoon of the 17th the column turned to the river to
+bivouac at Kitaib, a twenty-two miles journey for the day. Too late it
+was found that the ration depot there, from which the column was to
+draw fresh supplies, was upon the farther side of a newly-made inlet.
+The column had to repack, and turn west to round the creek. We reached
+Kitaib No. 2 about six p.m. Part of the battery mules and transport,
+however, got leave to remain at the first halting-place, as they stood
+in no need of supplies, and I unpacked by myself, bivouacking under a
+clump of tall mimosa trees hard by a vast deserted village and a long
+grove of date palms. I believe that over a score of men lost the road
+that night and ultimately wandered to the river and got to the front
+by steamer. There were several cases of heat exhaustion and sunstroke,
+but happily few of a serious nature. Two troopers, who floundered
+through the marshy land, got taken aboard a gunboat when they were
+utterly prostrate. Others, whose horses went lame or had to be killed,
+were ordered down to the Nile to secure passage on as best they could.
+In the darkness, as I was eating my evening meal by candle-light, two
+Lancers shouted and rode up. They had the too common but true story to
+tell of having missed the track. I found supper and breakfast for
+them, and started them off with their troop at eight o'clock next
+morning, the 18th August, for the column left Kitaib at a late hour.
+My servants were glad of the soldiers' arrival, for they were terribly
+afraid of robbers, the district being infested with marauding natives.
+During the night several fugitives from Omdurman passed us going
+north. Eighteen Shaggieh, who had escaped in a sail-boat, were but
+four days out from Khartoum. They professed to be delighted to get
+away. The Khalifa, they said, had ordered every sail-boat to go south
+of Khartoum. Taking advantage of a thunderstorm, they headed down
+stream and got away. According to them, the dervishes were killing all
+the Jaalin who were suspected of trying to escape north, and the
+Shaggieh and other northern tribesmen stood in little better plight.
+All natives, other than blacks and Baggara, who could get away from
+Omdurman were running off, as they believed the fall of the dervish
+rule was assured. The Khalifa's son, Osman, whose title was Sheikh
+Ed-Din, wanted to make terms. For months the youth had been in
+disgrace, but his father had reinstated him in the position of
+Commander-in-Chief of the Forces. Osman openly declared that fighting
+against the Sirdar and the English was hopeless, and that it was wiser
+to try and treat with us. Khalifa Abdullah and his brother Yacoub,
+however, would not hear of treating for peace, urging that their own
+people in that event would kill them. The only possible course was war
+to the death. From an excellent source I learned that the dervishes
+were well supplied with guns and ammunition, and that the Khalifa had
+about five millions sterling of treasure laid by.
+
+From Kitaib can be seen the dozen pyramids of Meroe, part of the
+kingdom of the famous Queen of Sheba. To right and left upon the
+opposite bank are catacombs, ruins of old temples, towns and forts of
+a bygone civilisation. The country on both sides of the Nile in that
+region has spacious alluvial belts, big as the Fayoum and as
+susceptible to the arts of the cultivator. Such hills as there are
+rise for the most part abruptly from flat land capable of limitless
+irrigation. To anticipate somewhat: the region, south of Abu Hamed, up
+to and even beyond Khartoum, has all the natural advantages of Lower
+Egypt and something more. Berber is but 245 miles from Suakin. The
+Nubian kingdom of antiquity, or that of the Queen of Sheba, must have
+been of enormous extent, marvellous fertility and great richness.
+Ethiopia may yet fulfil the prophecy. From Kitaib we marched about
+eighteen miles to Maguia, passing through a forest of mimosa bush, the
+track but rarely branching out amongst the halfa-grass upon the more
+open country. About three p.m. the column turned in towards a side
+stream and settled down near the village of Maguia. The wind rose as
+usual at night, yet for all that the bivouac was fairly good, and
+there was plenty of grazing. Next day, the 19th, we managed to make an
+early start, getting away about 5.30 a.m. The distance to be traversed
+was but fourteen or sixteen miles, and the column reached the
+halting-place, Magawiya, about two p.m. We made our way over broken,
+cracked ground to the river's edge, and there bivouacked under the
+shade of a magnificent forest of stately date palms. The ripening
+fruit had been extensively plucked by thieving natives, but there was
+enough left for our men. It was a most picturesque scene for a camp,
+but an unwholesome place for all that. It was given out that the
+column was to rest a day at Magawiya, as the place was a wood and food
+supply depot. During the course of the evening the sternwheeler
+"Kaibur" came in, and a sick officer, Lieutenant Russell, and about a
+score or more of men were sent back upon her to Dakhala, or Atbara
+camp. It merits record that a party of Egyptian gunners carried upon a
+native bed or angreeb a sick British artilleryman from Maguia to
+Magawiya, from bivouac to bivouac. That was something like good
+comradeship and _esprit de corps_.
+
+[Illustration: HALT BY THE WAY.]
+
+At nightfall the column was formed up so that the men slept upon the
+ground within supporting distance of each other. Sentries and patrols
+also were set, but the force was not one, I fancy, that would have
+been able to offer a stubborn resistance to a surprise party of
+dervishes. On Saturday, the 20th of August, as was anticipated, the
+troops remained in camp and enjoyed much needed rest and opportunities
+for washing. Several gunboats and steamers passed us during the day
+going south, including one upon which were a number of correspondents
+who were enjoying their _dolce far niente_ under awnings in a breezy
+draught with inexhaustible supplies of filtered and mineral waters. We
+saw the Grenadier Guards, the Lincolns, and other battalions pass us,
+and steam slowly up stream towards Wady Hamed. On Sunday, the 21st, a
+really early start for the first time was effected. We were to march
+as far as Abu Kru that day, and encamp near the spot held by Stewart's
+handful of men in 1885. Major Williams, R.A., went off with his
+battery, the 32nd, at 3.30 a.m., and the 37th battery accompanied him.
+Lieutenant H. Grenfell got away at four a.m., and the Lancers at 5.20
+a.m. I pushed ahead of the troops in order to have time to revisit
+some of the old ground I had been over with the Desert Column in
+1884-85. It was odd, that though hundreds still survived who marched
+with Sir Herbert Stewart, there were but fifteen persons in the whole
+of the Sirdar's army who got through to Metemmeh. Of those still less
+went in and left with the force that fought at Abu Klea and Abu Kru.
+Of the very numerous body of correspondents there were but two. I
+regretted that there were not several score or more of old officers
+and men who went through the terrible Bayuda Desert campaign. Most of
+them would have sacrificed much to have been in at the death of
+Mahdism.
+
+[Illustration: SLATIN PASHA (ON FOOT).]
+
+Metemmeh had been made a slaughter-pen by the dervishes under Mahmoud.
+It was truly an awful Golgotha. Dead animals lay about in all
+directions in thousands, without and within the long, straggling,
+deserted town. I rode up and looked at the remains of the little fort
+and the loopholed walls on the south end of Metemmeh, close to which I
+had ridden on 21st January 1885, and got hotly fired at for my pains.
+Then I walked over the ruins of the Guards' triangular fort at Gubat.
+The place was still capable of defence, and the trenches and
+rifle-pits were much as we left them on 13th February with General
+Buller. As for the graves, they were intact. The big earthwork we all
+helped to raise near the river was covered with water, except a corner
+of the western parapet. It was, however, partly thrown down, and the
+ditch and slopes were overgrown with grass and bushes. Then I rode
+away to Abu Kru battle-field and had a look at what remained of the
+zereba, the little detached fort I had asked might be built, and the
+graves of our dead. Some of these had been rifled. Heaps of dead
+animal bones lay about, for we lost many camels that 19th January
+1885. The enemy had gathered up and buried all their own dead. So
+overgrown was the place that it was barely recognisable. I stood,
+however, again where Stewart received his fatal wound, where Cameron,
+of the _Standard_, and St Leger Herbert lay with soldier comrades,
+and I wandered round to where Lord Charles Beresford worked the
+Gardners against the dervishes outside Metemmeh, whilst I found the
+range for him through my glasses, by watching the spatter of the
+bullets upon the sand. That night my thoughts were full of bygone
+scenes and doings in the most heroic campaign of modern history,
+Stewart's magnificent ride from Korti to Metemmeh. There came back to
+me the pain felt on the receipt of the evil news of Gordon's death,
+brought to us by Stuart Wortley, and of the slaughter at Khartoum, all
+of which might so easily have been averted but for----
+
+On Monday, 22nd August, the batteries again got away before the
+Lancers, starting at 3.30 and four a.m. The day's march was to Agaba,
+about twenty-six miles, and the next day's about nineteen to Wad
+Habeshi. Wady Hamed, which is nearer Jebel Atshan, was where one of
+Gordon's steamers, the "Tal Howeiya," returning with Sir Charles
+Wilson's party, was wrecked on 29th January 1885. Making a detour into
+the desert on quitting Abu Kru, I left Colonel Martin's column, and
+rode on with one native servant to Wady Hamed. As a matter of fact,
+the camp was neither at Wad Habeshi nor Wady Hamed, but between the
+two. The latter, however, was the official name. But that my man was
+very apprehensive of meeting patrolling dervishes, I would have ridden
+direct across country, starting from a point opposite Nasri Island,
+where the depot of supplies was. On the pretext of watering the horses
+he got me back to the river. The consequence was that I rode over
+fifty miles on Monday. However, I managed to reach Wady Hamed before
+sunset. On my way in I met the Sirdar, out, as usual, on an inspecting
+tour. He was good enough to greet me kindly and direct me to the
+correspondents' camp; those of my comrades of the Press who voyaged by
+steamer had just arrived. The new camp was an immense place over three
+miles long. It was a zerebaed enclosure lying along the margin of the
+Nile in a field of halfa-grass broken up with clumps of palms and
+mimosa. The country all around was as a vast prairie. Beyond the reach
+of the Nile's overflow the sand and loam was bare of vegetation. The
+river was studded with scores of verdant islands, and to the south we
+could see the peaks and ridges of Shabluka, through which the Nile,
+when in flood, surges like a mill race between narrow rocky barriers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+WITH THE ARMY IN THE FIELD--WAD HAMID TO EL HEJIR.
+
+
+Wad Hamid was a camp of magnificent distances, restful to the eyes but
+distressful to the feet. The soil was rich loam, and at no remote date
+had been mostly under cultivation. There were several pretty clumps of
+dhoum palms, and a few scraggy mimosa by the river's margin. Of
+tree-shade for the troops there was practically none. Much of the
+thorny bush had been cut to form a zereba. In fact, there were two
+zerebas, the British division having a dividing line between their
+quarters and those of the Khedivial force. There was also a semblance
+of cleared roadways about the camp, but the ground was too spacious to
+be easily made snug and tidy. Wad Hamid camp was quite five miles
+nearer to Omdurman than Wad Habeshi. We were within the long stretch
+known as the Shabluka or Sixth Cataract. For 15 miles or thereabouts
+the Nile pours in deep, strong flood through a narrow valley, which in
+places contracts to a gorge or canyon. The channel is studded with
+islets and rocks, and at one point the river races through a
+wedge-shaped cleft, apparently little more than 100 yards in width.
+
+After my long ride in from Metemmeh I had to let my horse rest for two
+days. So until my servants arrived with my spare led horses I had to
+go about afoot. My camels and baggage were with the column. It was
+more of a hardship tramping from place to place in the hot dusty camp
+than roughing it upon the bare ground and living upon scratch and
+scrappy meals of biscuit, "bully beef," and sardines, till my men came
+in, put up my tent, and cooked my food. The British division was at
+the south end of the long rectangular encampment. An interval of a
+mile or more separated the divisional headquarters, whilst some of the
+battalions had their lines 2 miles apart. Beyond all, another 2 miles
+off, was the camel corps bivouacking by the rocks and foothills of the
+Shabluka range. Their only shade from the noon-day glare was such as
+they could get behind detached black granitic boulders and blocks. Wad
+Hamid camp, viewed not too closely, was a pleasing picture set in a
+background of dark hills with a bordering of wide tawny river flowing
+in front. There were a good many tents in the British lines, but
+relatively few in the Khedivial, for there fellaheen and Soudani had
+sheltered themselves as usual under palm leaf and grass huts, or
+beneath their brown soldier blankets. It was one of the clever
+campaigning dodges recently taught the native soldiers by our
+officers, to attach loops of twine or tape along the edges of their
+spare blankets, so that these coverings could be quickly laced
+together and spread over light bamboos or sticks, forming very
+comfortable quarters. The Sirdar's headquarters tents were always
+distinguishable by the big waving Egyptian flag, a crescent and star
+on a red ground, and near it a bigger "drapeau rouge" flaunted the
+talismanic lettering--"Intelligence Headquarters." Before
+Major-General Gatacre's divisional headquarters flapped Britain's
+emblem, a full-sized Union Jack. Major-General A. Hunter's tent had an
+Egyptian flag dangling from a native spear, and the Brigade-Commanders
+all had their respective colours planted before their quarters.
+Colonel H. A. Macdonald, "Fighting Mac," had a characteristic brigade
+banner, readily distinguishable. It was an ensign made up of four
+squares or blocks of different colours, the colours of the respective
+battalions of the command. To descend to particulars, besides the
+Sirdar's and the Generals' flags, there were battalion and company
+colours, and hospital, artillery, engineer, and various other flags.
+In the Khedivial army the battalions were known by numerals from 1 to
+18. The Arabic numeral of each native battalion was worn by the men on
+their tall fezes and the khaki covers for the head-gear. It was found
+necessary to devise a head-covering to shield the men from sunstroke.
+That worn over the fez could be so adjusted as to afford shade for the
+nape of the neck, and in front a scoop for the eyes, so that the
+article became transmogrified into something between a kepi and a
+helmet. The British "Tommies'" khaki helmet-covers were ornamented
+with coloured cotton patches and regimental badges. Of course the
+object of the patches was to enable officers and men to identify
+easily their respective commands. The Rifles wore a square dark green
+patch, which the Soudan sun bleached to a pea green. The Lancashire
+Fusiliers wore a yellow square patch, and the Northumberland Fusiliers
+a red diagonal band round the helmet. As for the Grenadier Guards
+their insignia was a jaunty red and blue rosette. In Wauchope's
+brigade the Lincolns sported a plain square white patch, the Warwicks
+a red square, the Seaforths a white plume, nicknamed the "duck's
+tuft," and the Camerons a "true blue" square patch.
+
+The rapid thrusting forward of his whole army from Darmali and Dakhala
+within a period of ten days was not the least astonishing and
+brilliant strategical feat achieved by the Sirdar. In that space of
+time troops, stores, and all the impedimenta for an army of 25,000 men
+had been moved forward about 150 miles in an enemy's country. No doubt
+he knew his foe; he certainly always had them under the closest
+observation. For that reason the Sirdar was able to do things, and did
+do them, that other Generals would have blundered over. The great
+river before the camp, with its flotilla of gunboats, looking like
+American river-steamers, the forest of masts, the lofty poles of the
+lateen-rigged giassas, and the abundance of commodious barges gave a
+broad hint how the transport of so many men and so much material had
+been so smartly effected. Provisions, forage, ammunition, all on the
+most liberal scale, he had got together. With the troops there were to
+be carried supplies for fifteen days, and enough to last as long
+again were to be accumulated upon Royan Island at the south end of the
+Sixth Cataract. Placing the reserve supplies and base hospitals upon
+islands meant that both would be safe from any raiding dervishes.
+Beyond Wad Hamid everybody was to move in the lightest possible order.
+Officers had to limit their baggage, so that it should not weigh more
+than 60 lbs., and the men were to march in the lightest of kits. Camel
+transport was cut down, and all animals not absolutely necessary were
+to be left behind. For the conveyance of the baggage of each British
+battalion 32 camels were allowed. All the men's heavy baggage,
+overcoats, knapsacks, kit bags were sent on by river transport in
+native craft. A blanket a-piece was what the men had, and that was
+carried for them by the baggage camels. Quite enough for any European
+to carry in the Soudan in August were his clothes, rifle,
+accoutrements, and 100 rounds of ball cartridge. The native battalions
+had assigned to each command 39 to 42 camels, as well as two giassas
+or nuggars. These carried all the regimental belongings, and also most
+of the men's things, for the Khedivial troops never marched with kits,
+blankets, or any encumbrances upon them. Clad in comfortable knitted
+jerseys, with breeches, putties, and good serviceable high-lows, the
+men of the native regiments stride freely along, each bearing only
+rifle, bayonet, and ammunition.
+
+The massing of the forces at Wad Hamid was all but complete. Part of
+the Rifle Brigade, detained on the river by storms and contrary head
+winds, were the only absentees. On the opposite bank of the Nile had
+been mustered the mixed body of friendly natives, who, accompanied and
+supported by a gunboat, were to clear that side of the dervishes when
+the Sirdar advanced. It was known that they would have to deal with,
+probably, 1000 Mahdists under Zeki Osman. Our allies included Ababdeh,
+Bisharin, Jaalin, Shaggieh, Shukrieh, Aburin, and other tribesmen led
+nominally by Abdul Azim, the brave Ababdeh Sheikh. They were armed
+with Remington rifles, but carried in addition their own swords and
+spears. That they might be better led and prove to be of real value,
+Major Stuart-Wortley, with Lieut. Charles Wood as his A.D.C., was sent
+across to take the command. Wortley was received with every
+demonstration of heartiness by the Sheikhs, who placed themselves and
+their followers entirely under that able officer's orders. The
+friendlies were most enthusiastic and eagerly asked to be led against
+their dervish enemies. As these allies and the Sirdar's forces were to
+march by the river's margin when possible, signalling would be nearly
+always practicable between them. Telegraphic communication was opened
+to Wad Hamid from Dakhala by Captain Manifold, R.E., and his sappers
+almost as soon as the troops got into camp. With much hard work the
+line had been put upon poles as far south as Nasri. When the army
+subsequently advanced, as poles were not readily procurable the bare
+iron telegraphic wire was laid upon the ground. In the crisp, hot
+atmosphere of the Soudan, as there is little leakage, long distances
+can be worked through an unprotected wire laid upon the desert. When
+there were rain-storms of course telegraphic communication over such
+lines became impossible.
+
+On 23rd August, the day following my arrival at Wad Hamid, the Sirdar
+held a great review of his army. At 6 o'clock in the morning the force
+was paraded upon the open desert a mile and half inland from the Nile.
+Reveille had been at an hour before sunrise. It was a pleasant
+morning, for a fresh breeze was blowing, and the air was agreeably
+cool. Several of the younger soldiers, however, succumbed to the
+effects of the tropical sun during the few hours the troops were kept
+employed, and they had to be carried back to camp. Although the
+cavalry, with part of the artillery and Maxims, did not parade, there
+was a big enough force upon the ground to make an imposing display.
+The army was drawn up in line with a front over a mile in length.
+Major-General Gatacre's division was upon the left, with the Grenadier
+Guards forming his right. The Queen's soldiers were ranged in mass of
+companies, column of fours right, whilst the native soldiery were
+brigaded in line, Macdonald upon the extreme right, with Collinson's
+brigade in reserve. The troops wheeled into column, deployed, changed
+front, and engaged in firing exercise. As might have been expected,
+there was more celerity and accuracy in changing formation displayed
+by the British than in the native brigades. All the men were very keen
+at their work, the expectation of being about to engage the enemy
+doubtless lending special interest to their field-day. The camp, as
+all camps ever were, was full of strange yarns--"shaves" about what
+was going on at Omdurman, and the Khalifa's intentions. "Abdullah
+would fight? No, he would run away; he was laying down mines in the
+Nile to blow up our gunboats. A Tunisian had devised a torpedo, but as
+it was being lowered from a dervish boat, the machine exploded, and
+the engineer was hoisted with his own petard." Then there were stories
+of extraordinary discoveries of precious minerals--gold mines by the
+score. Two young officers, who wished some fun with a distinguished
+military gentleman not unconnected with South Africa, persisted in
+finding diamonds, pieces of rock-crystal, which, with an air of
+mystery and importance, they submitted to his contemptuous inspection.
+But a Major had the better of the expert on one occasion. He vowed he
+had found diamonds, genuine diamonds, upon the open desert, as good as
+any in South Africa or anywhere else; that he would be sworn to
+forfeit L50 if the expert did not endorse his judgment. He had picked
+up in one small spot no less than five. Burning with impatience to see
+these precious jewels, the expert begged for just one peep at them.
+The Major gratified him with some feigned reluctance; produced a "five
+of diamonds," a castaway from some "Tommy's" pack of cards.
+
+On the night of the 23rd of August Wad Hamid camp was swept by a
+fierce storm of wind and rain. The temperature dropped 22 deg., and it
+became positively chilly. As we were within the rainy belt, which
+extends up to 17 deg. North, visitations of that sort during the summer
+were to be expected. The troops bore the discomfort of cold and wet
+clothes uncomplainingly, waiting for daybreak, and the tardy sun, to
+get dry and warm. Bugle calls were a work of supererogation on the
+morning of Wednesday, 24th August, everybody having been astir long
+before reveille. It had been given out in general orders--one of those
+gracious niceties of military courtesy never exhibited to the
+correspondents in these later Soudan campaigns--that the Khedivial
+troops were to proceed that day to the south of Shabluka Cataract. The
+journey thither was to be made by the army in two stages, and the
+British division was to follow on Thursday. Wad Bishari, about
+half-way, was the first portion, and there the men were to bivouac one
+night. Next day they were to complete the distance, making a detour to
+avoid the rough hills of Shabluka, and going into a new camp laid out
+at El Hejir. At 5 a.m. Macdonald's and Lewis's brigades paraded, and
+under the command of Major-General Hunter, stepped off. So the end at
+last began to loom in sight. Major-General Gatacre wished to go part
+of the way the same day, in order to reduce the distance to be
+marched, but the Sirdar put his veto thereon, observing that if the
+"Tommies" could not do a little march of 13 miles, they could not walk
+any distance. In the afternoon, at 4 o'clock, the remainder of the
+Khedivial division--Maxwell's and Collinson's brigades--set out for
+Wad Bishari to join their comrades. The men were in fine spirits as
+they left, cheering and singing to the strains of their bands as they
+gaily marched away. Some of the Egyptian soldiers were told off to
+remain at the worst places of the Cataract to assist in towing the
+native craft through the rapids.
+
+The bugles called the men of Lyttelton's brigade to duty at 3 a.m. on
+Thursday, the 25th of August. I cannot say that the call awoke them
+from slumber, for all night there had been most disturbing noises
+coming from the riverside, where native soldiers were reloading
+giassas with stores going forward to Royan Island, for that new depot.
+Royan occupies a position at the south gateway of Shabluka. It is a
+finely conspicuous island, for upon the north end there is a lofty
+barn-roofed jebel or hill. From the summit of Jebel Royan, at an
+altitude of 600 feet, can be seen 40 miles away the outlines of
+Omdurman and Khartoum--that is in the morning or evening, when the
+distorting freaks of the mirage are not in evidence. The steamboat
+skippers who had ten-horse power steam sirens, used them, after the
+manner of their kind, and made night doubly hideous. At 3 a.m. began
+our orchestra in the 2nd British brigade lines. All the camels, horses
+and mules had to be watered and fed. The cheerful camels then had to
+be loaded, that operation being carried on as usual with a terrible
+grunting chorus, all the brutes taking part. The gunboats got off
+before daylight. At five o'clock sharp, ere it was full daylight,
+Lyttelton's men started, marching off in three parallel columns, each
+battalion having its own advance guard. Four Maxims were with the
+brigade. Behind the infantry was part of the Egyptian transport
+train. The Sirdar inspected the column, and saw them started fairly on
+the way to Wad Bishari. Major-General Gatacre, as usual, rode out with
+them to the bivouac, and then galloped back to camp. The troops were
+in great glee at setting off. The men marched briskly, their officers
+tramping beside them. On the whole, the track was tolerable, mostly
+compact sand and gravel. In some places, however, it was rough and
+full of loose stones, and the sand lay deep and soft in several khors
+and wadies that had to be crossed. The worst bit was in the second
+day's march into El Hejir, where a detour had to be made to avoid the
+Shabluka Hills.
+
+At 5 in the afternoon of the 25th of August the 1st British brigade,
+Major-General Wauchope's men, also left for El Hejir _via_ Bishari.
+The "Rifles" or, rather, half the battalion, marched with them. Owing
+to various causes, the "Rifles" were not all assembled with the
+British division until the army reached El Hejir. In the end, the
+second half of the battalion of that crack corps was transported by
+water direct to El Hejir. They had quite a grievous mishap at Wad
+Hamid. The upper part of a barge, on which many of the men's kits and
+coats were stored, collapsed, and most of the articles fell into the
+river and were lost. Wauchope's brigade marched forward in five
+parallel columns, with intervals for deploying between each. The men
+turned towards the west to get clear of the cultivable belt, for the
+track afforded easier going along the margin of the desert. Behind the
+brigade, protected by the usual rear-guard, were six Maxims, the
+medica corps, a transport column, and a numerous following of native
+servants riding on heavily laden donkeys. The battalion bands played
+favourite regimental tunes as the men marched away. The pipers of the
+Camerons gave the "Earl of Mansfield," whilst, with fifes and drums,
+the Seaforths' pipers skirled "Black Donald of Balloch." News was
+heliographed into Wad Hamid headquarters before we left that the
+gunboats had seized Royan Island and established a post there, the
+natives not disputing possession.
+
+By the end of that week, 27th August, Wad Hamid camp was evacuated.
+Nasri Island, however, was retained as a depot, and a small force was
+left there. On Friday, the 26th of August, after a great fantasia and
+war-dance, Stuart Wortley's column of armed friendlies moved south.
+That evening they encountered and drove back a small body of dervish
+horsemen. On our side of the Nile, part of the cavalry had been
+scouting up to 10 miles south of El Hejir. Captain Haig, with a
+squadron of Egyptian horse, fell in with a small body of Baggara under
+Sheikh Yunis, and had a brush with them, one or two being wounded on
+either side. The Sirdar and headquarters embarked at 9 a.m., 27th
+August, on the gunboat "Fatah," to steam through Shabluka. I left Wad
+Hamid the same day with one servant, rode through to El Hejir, 22
+miles, and arrived in the afternoon, having ridden out of my way to
+see the narrower gorges of the Cataract. The spaciousness of the
+previous camp was conspicuously absent at El Hejir. In rather thick
+bush and on partly overflowed alluvial ground, the lines were drawn
+closely together. As the river kept rising, it soon became difficult,
+without making a considerable detour, to pass from one part to another
+of the ground by the water's margin.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+EL HEJIR TO UM TERIF--INCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTS.
+
+
+Your Arab is picturesque but poisonous: a fine specimen of a man,
+though his usefulness in the economy of things is not apparent, at
+least upon the surface. He dislikes steady, hard work, is a dreamer
+with a deeply religious tinge, but all the same cruel and remorseless
+in the pursuit of any object. We were well into the region that he had
+ruled and ruined: a country capable of easily producing wealth,
+charred and laid waste. The indigenous negro, on the other hand, is
+not averse to toil,--nay, generally delights in it under normal
+conditions,--is simple in his tastes, true in his conduct according to
+his lights, and readily turned to better things. Your Arab seems to be
+the reverse of all that, and yet he is a delightful person in his way,
+though a belated savage. Burned villages, blackened hearths,
+destruction on every hand, these were the telltale evidences before
+our eyes of what the Khalifa and his hordes had achieved. Behind all
+that there were the ruins of a great and long departed civilisation
+that the early flood of Arab invasion doubtless did something to
+destroy. Once again, as in the Atbara campaign, was the army closely
+followed by bands of the faithful wives of the black soldiers. These
+women as aforetime pitched their camp ordinarily half a mile or so in
+rear of the men's, choosing broken ground and thick bush through which
+they could escape if attacked by dervish raiders. In rude huts and
+shelters built with their own hands amid the thorny mimosa and dhoum
+palms, they washed, ground corn, made bread, cooked food, patched and
+mended, and waited upon their uxorious soldier lords. "If handsome
+were what handsome does," these negresses would have been beautiful,
+but they were very far from it, poor creatures, except as I hope in
+the eyes of their husbands. Talk of the cares of a young family, not
+even that vexed their stout hearts and merry natures nor made them lag
+in marching to war with their spouses. Alas! even the pains and toils
+of maternity were fought down by young negro mothers, and I had my
+attention called more than once to women with almost new-born babies
+in their arms trudging along to keep up with the army. In such cases
+the women and men generously did all in their power to lighten the
+burden of the new mothers. Their household goods were borne upon other
+already overloaded backs, and if a donkey was procurable the mother
+and child were set to ride upon its back.
+
+El Hejir camp was fenced about with a stout hedge of cut mimosa.
+Besides that there were several smaller zerebas enclosing different
+commands and several of the headquarters. There was plenty of halfa
+grass for grazing and an abundance of mimosa for firewood for the
+men's cooking pots and the steamers' boilers. Roads had been laid out,
+and troughs of mud were built, at which the horses and camels were
+watered, for the river's bank was unsafe. The site of the camp was not
+unattractive. In front the great river was dotted with luxuriant
+islands. On the left hand rose Jebel Royan, a Bass-rock-like hill
+rising from Royan island around which the Nile flowed like a sea.
+Again the Khedivial division had sheltered itself in straw huts,
+tukals and under blanket shelters. The British soldier had a few tents
+and much uncovered ground at his disposal for bivouac. It may be added
+that the health and general spirits of the army were splendid.
+
+At El Hejir the press correspondents, or at any rate those
+representing the big dailies, except the _Times_, discovered they had
+a grievance. The news agencies shared that feeling with their
+colleagues. Even into war the affairs of business life obtrude. It is
+not an unmixed evil to have a grievance; trouble and ridicule come of
+having too many at the same time. I drafted a letter to Colonel
+Wingate on the subject--a sort of "Round Robin" which the majority of
+the correspondents signed, after which it was given to that gentleman,
+who stood in a sort of god-fatherly position to us. A form of telegram
+was also written and handed him for his vise, that it might be
+forwarded, though in somewhat slightly altered phraseology, to each of
+our journals. These papers explain themselves, and as they have never
+seen the light and the incident is as yet one of the unrecorded events
+of the campaign, I append them:--
+
+                               "(CABLEGRAM) _Daily Telegraph_, LONDON.
+
+    "Matter-Notoriety, _Times_ has two correspondents here although
+    one, Howard, ostensibly represents _New York Herald_, but all his
+    messages are addressed _Times_, London, where read. I suggest your
+    getting _World_ or other American newspaper, which would give
+    advantage additional correspondent. Recollect all telegrams are
+    despatched in sections of 200 words. _Times_ therefore gets 400
+    words messages. Correspondents have lodged formal complaint.
+
+                                                            "BURLEIGH.
+    "El Hejir."
+
+
+
+The following is a copy of the letter handed in:--
+
+                                                 "_28th August, 1898_,
+                                                       "EL HEJIR CAMP.
+
+    "Sir,--It has been a matter of notoriety for some days that the
+    _London Times_ has two correspondents with the Sirdar's army,
+    Colonel F. Rhodes and the Hon. Hubert Howard. No doubt it may be
+    said that the latter represents the _New York Herald_ to which he
+    is nominally accredited. We are, however, well aware that his
+    dispatches are forwarded directly to the _Times_ Office where it
+    is not over-straining the question to say that they are there read
+    and used. Under the rules, all telegraphic messages must be
+    delivered in sections of 200 words, each correspondent being only
+    permitted to send in rotation that number of words and no more.
+
+    "The fact that the _Times_ has practically two representatives to
+    other newspapers' one gives them a manifestly unfair advantage.
+
+    "We need scarcely state, that in a campaign of this importance the
+    British public are most keenly interested. Our Editors would have
+    sent out, had not the military regulations precluded their doing
+    so, more than one representative from each newspaper or agency to
+    accompany the army. We respectfully submit that it is our duty to
+    claim equal facilities with the _Times_, and we ask you to take
+    such action as may be necessary, that our employers shall not be
+    placed at any disadvantage.--Yours respectfully,
+
+    "To Colonel Wingate,
+    "Chief Intelligence Department."
+
+
+
+It was a fine way of spending the Sunday, but really we were all too
+busy to bear the troops company at any of the services that day.
+Colonel Wingate laid the matter before the Sirdar, who struck with the
+justice of our plea summoned us all before him, when we stated our
+case anew. He gave his decision, that the _Times_ correspondents twain
+should only have the right to send 100 words each by telegram. We
+disclaimed having any desire to curtail their letter-writing. That did
+not matter. The affair I am glad to say was conducted throughout with
+much good feeling, both Colonel Frank Rhodes and Mr Hubert Howard
+acknowledging the right of our contention, and the affair gave rise to
+no break in friendship. Colonel F. Rhodes acted very promptly and
+generously, for before the Sirdar gave his decision he came to us and
+offered his individual undertaking, that he would decline to send a
+line by telegraph, leaving to Mr Howard the sole right to wire.
+
+On Saturday the 27th August, whilst the deeply laden stern gunboat
+"Zafir" with giassas in tow alongside was coming up the river, she
+suddenly commenced to sink. The water rushed over her fore-deck, and
+the officers, soldiers and crew were unable to beach her on the east
+bank before she went down. Indeed there was a scurry to get into the
+giassas and cut them loose lest they also should be lost. The vessel
+went down about ten miles north of Shendy, subsiding in water 30 feet
+deep, and only part of her funnel and upper structure remained
+visible. With her there was temporarily lost over 70 tons of stores,
+including much ammunition and many bales of clothing. She had been
+chosen by Commander Keppel, R.N., as the flag-ship of the flotilla and
+was rightly regarded by the "Admiral" as a fine vessel. It appeared
+that through over-loading and rough weather water got into the hold,
+and within two minutes, or before anything could be done to save her,
+she sank. Captain Prince Christian Victor was aboard, he having been
+assigned to duty with the "Admiral," for the craft carried a number of
+soldiers as well as an ordinary crew. Both the Prince and Commander
+Keppel had narrow escapes. Providentially, no lives were lost,
+everybody being picked up by the giassas or managing to scramble
+ashore. As soon as possible afterwards operations were commenced to
+recover part of the cargo. The ship was secured from drifting by a
+hawser being passed around her standing gear, and made fast to stout
+trees ashore. Then some of the natives dived and several of the Maxims
+and boxes of ammunition were salved. As for the craft there was
+nothing to be done under the circumstances but to place a guard and
+wait until the fall of the Nile enabled her to be unloaded and
+refloated. Whilst Commander Keppel and his officers and crew were
+making the best of it, the little ex-dervish steamer "El Tahara" hove
+in sight with Major-General Rundle and several officers on board. She
+lent all the assistance possible and then taking in tow the giassas
+with Prince Christian Victor, Commander Keppel and the rest of the
+shipwrecked crew, except the guard left behind, the "Tahara" with an
+extra head of steam, churned up to El Hejir.
+
+I think there had been an intention at headquarters to make a few
+days' stay at El Hejir, and get the army well in hand before going
+closer to the enemy. The gunboats began embarking all their ammunition
+and commenced putting up their extra bullet proof protecting shields.
+But the Nile persisted in rising and again flooding part of our camp,
+interposing once more between the British and Egyptian lines a broad
+arm of water. So again the army was ordered to "move on." Drills and
+sundry other plans for exercises fell through and special precautions
+were taken to guard camps and convoys from surprise as the army drew
+nearer to Omdurman.
+
+On Sunday, 28th August, at 3.40 a.m., the bugles were sounding in the
+Egyptian portion of El Hejir camp. It was nearly an hour later before
+reveille went in the British lines and the Lincolns made us think of
+our sins and forswear all sleep by playing their awakening air, "Old
+Man Barry." By 5 a.m., Major-General Hunter's division of four
+brigades, with bands playing, were streaming out of their zereba
+openings and taking the broad, well-worn tracks across the sand and
+gravel ridges towards Um Terif. Macdonald's brigade was in the van,
+and was followed in order by Lewis's, Maxwell's, and Collinson's, with
+the baggage of each brigade behind the command. The guns were upon the
+right of the division, the steamers covering the left. As for the
+cavalry and camelry, spread over a wide front, their duty was to
+search for the enemy and make sure the troops should have ample
+warning of the approach of any dervishes. The two military attaches,
+Major Calderari, Italian, and Captain Von Tiedmann, German, rode on
+with the native troops. It was a cool morning and the battalions
+headed by their bands playing all the while marched as if going to a
+review. The Soudan soldiers' wives turned out again and mustered along
+the line of route just beyond the camp confines. As the battalions
+passed them, they shouted and gesticulated to their husbands, calling
+on them to behave like men and not turn back in battle. Yet probably
+over half of these same doughty black soldiers had been dervishes
+before they came over to us. "Victory or death," was the cry of these
+fiery Amazons to their warrior lovers. He would have been recreant
+indeed or a marvellously brave man that would have returned to one of
+them a confessed runaway from battle. It was not surprising that the
+Sirdar did not object to their presence in the field, and occasionally
+saw that they were helped with rations when food was not otherwise
+procurable.
+
+The desertion of El Hejir proceeded apace. In the afternoon of Sunday
+at four o'clock, when the fierce heat of day had declined,
+Major-General Gatacre's division in its turn marched off to Um Terif.
+The brigades moved onward in parallel columns, with the artillery in
+the interval and the 21st Lancers covering the front, flanks and rear
+of the infantry. Tommy was jubilant and carolled, as he tramped,
+topical songs and patriotic ditties. He heeded not the boisterous
+south wind that ladened the atmosphere with dust till there was
+darkness as of a city fog. Battle-day and settling of old scores was
+near, and withal the end of the campaign, so he pounded along. It was
+a rough tramp by the light of a growing moon. About 9 p.m. they
+reached their camping and were assigned their usual position, facing
+south, the side nearest the enemy. There was necessarily some delay as
+the battalions were being told off to their assigned limits where each
+had to pass the night ready to spring to arms. Detachments were
+detailed to cut bush and form a zereba, whilst others attended to the
+indispensable culinary department.
+
+Each day our cavalry had seen slowly retiring before them a few of the
+mounted dervish patrols. Nearing Um Terif, the enemy's scouts became
+more numerous and inquisitive. Whilst a company of the Lancashire
+Fusiliers stood on guard during the making of the zereba the infantry
+had their first encounter with a dervish. From the desert there came a
+rush and rattling over the gravel and loose stones, as from a
+stampeded horse or mule. It was coming in their direction but neither
+sentry nor main body thought of challenging. In an instant a mounted
+Baggara dashed past the sentries and ran plump against a corner of the
+company bowling over two or three men. Whether it was a deliberate
+madcap charge, or the fellow was bolting from the other battalions and
+lost his way is never likely to be known. Possibly he did not
+anticipate finding British troops three-quarters of a mile from the
+river. At any rate he dropped or threw his spear wildly, then,
+wheeling about, galloped back into darkness almost before the fact
+that he was an enemy had been realised. The men's rifles were
+unloaded, so the dervish was not fired upon. And had they been
+loaded, under the circumstances even then the officer, as he informed
+me, would have hesitated to shoot, lest he should unnecessarily alarm
+the whole camp. The spear left behind by the dervish horseman was one
+of the lighter barbed-edge kind.
+
+Um Terif camp was not a pleasant location. There was overflowed land
+between the troops and the river, and the ground we had to bivouac
+upon was rough. On Monday morning, the 29th August, before full dawn,
+four squadrons of Egyptian horse and four companies of Tudway's Camel
+Corps proceeded on a reconnaissance towards the Kerreri. The
+twin-screw gunboat "Melik" also steamed up the river a few miles, but
+neither quest resulted in adding much to the information already
+possessed as to the Khalifa's intentions and exact whereabouts.
+Whether or not we were to have our first battle at Kerreri none knew.
+The fact was that during the night there had been a violent
+thunderstorm accompanied by wind and rain. Daylight came with a
+cessation of rain but the gale blew steadily from the south, raising
+quite a sea on the Nile and a fog of sand and dust on land. It was
+impossible to see or move any distance with security, and that was no
+doubt the cause why the reconnaissances in both instances drew blank.
+
+Formal councils of war were rare events during the campaign. A chat
+with his officers, the eliciting of their opinions off-hand and a
+watchful pair of eyes in every direction early and late, was enough
+for the Sirdar. The delays caused by the storms however were becoming
+embarrassing, and it was certain the men's health would suffer if
+they were compelled to linger much longer _en route_. Still it was
+well to be quite ready before pushing in to attack the Khalifa whose
+large army, it was reported, would fight desperately. At a council of
+war held on Monday, August 29th, at which all the Generals, including
+the Brigadiers, were present, it was decided to remain until the next
+day in Um Terif. The flotilla had been unable to concentrate in time,
+the strong current and head wind making most of the vessels unduly
+late in arriving from El Hejir. A piece of good news came to us from
+the friendlies over the river. They were wont to march abreast with
+us, moving up the east bank. We could usually see them across the half
+mile or more of water that intervened, streaming along in their
+conspicuous garments under the mimosa and palms, or treading through
+the bush and long grass. On their way to their encampment opposite
+they had fallen in with a small band of dervishes who were busily
+looting a village. The natives of the place had offended the Khalifa
+by absenting themselves from Omdurman, and so were being cruelly
+maltreated. Major Stuart-Wortley's Arabs ran forward and opened a
+sharp rifle fire upon the raiders, who replied with a few shots and
+then bolted. A hot pursuit was instituted and five of the dervish
+footmen were caught. The friendlies also had the luck to capture a
+dervish sailing boat laden with grain. That evening at sunset, a few
+Baggara horsemen and footmen were seen upon the nearest hills watching
+the Sirdar's camp.
+
+It was at Um Terif that the army, with all its equipment, was for the
+first time got together within the confines of the same encampment.
+From there also it set out next day in battle array, ready to
+encounter the Khalifa's full strength. In the clear atmosphere of the
+early morning and in the late afternoon when the bewildering mirage
+and dancing haze had vanished, from any knoll could be seen the large
+village of Kerreri. There the Mahdists had built a strong mud-walled
+fort by the bank of the Nile. They had besides blocked the road with a
+military camp big enough to shelter in huts and tukals several
+thousand men. Information brought us by natives, spies and deserters,
+was to the effect, that only a small body of dervishes had been left
+at Kerreri under Emir Yunis for the purpose of observing the movements
+of our army. Kerreri, which the Arabs pronounce with a prolonged Doric
+or Northumbrian roll of the r's, as though there were at least a dozen
+of them in the word, is upon the margin of a belt of rough gravel,
+stone, and low detached hills that extend to the southward, to
+Omdurman and beyond. The alluvial strip by the Nile, along which we
+had marched so many days, gave place to ridges and hummocks of sand,
+gravel, and rock.
+
+So we waited impatiently at Um Terif for the flotilla with the fifteen
+days' supplies on board. Meanwhile the axes of an army of soldier
+wood-choppers were clanging upon the hard timber, which was being
+felled for firewood. The ruin of agriculture had meant the growth of
+bush, and there was an abundance of useful mimosa and sunt growing on
+the alluvial lands by the river.
+
+I ought to reproach myself, but I don't, for not having written of the
+aggravating southern gale with its accompaniment of drifts of horrid
+dust and sand as the "terrible khamseen" or sirocco. Travellers' tales
+about having to bury yourself in the sand, or at least swathe head and
+body in folds of cloth, in order to avoid being choked with grit, I
+know. The real thing is bad enough without resorting to poetic or
+journalistic licence, though some will do that anyhow. It is
+sufficiently trying to grow hot and perspire so freely that the
+driving dust, the scavenger drift of chaos and the ages, caught by the
+moisture, courses down the features and trickles from the hands in so
+many miniature turbid streamlets. During a dust-storm everybody has
+the appearance of a toiling hodman. Feminine relations would have wept
+had they seen and recognised their soldier lads in that sorry state.
+Even the dashing officers and men of the Grenadier Guards ceased to be
+objects of admiration, and the War Office would have howled with
+exquisite torture at sight of their hair and clothes. Speak of
+wrapping clothes around head or body to keep out the dust? It is sheer
+nonsense to prate so. Why it is hard enough to gape and gasp and catch
+a mouthful of sanded breath, without that added worry. There is
+nothing for it, but to grin and bear it and get through with the
+swallowing of that proverbial peck of dust in a life-time, as quickly
+and quietly as possible.
+
+The fighting gunboats or armed flotilla consisted of the "Sultan,"
+Lieutenant Cowan, R.N.; "Sheik," Lieutenant Sparks, R.N.; "Melik,"
+Major Gordon, R.E.; "Fatah," Lieutenant Beatty, R.N.; "Nazir,"
+Lieutenant Hon. Hood, R.N.; "El Hafir" ("El Teb"), Lieutenant Stavely,
+R.N.; "Tamai," Lieutenant Talbot, R.N.; "Metemmeh," Lieutenant
+Stevenson, R.E.; and "Abu Klea," Captain Newcombe, R.E. On the loss of
+the "Zafir," Commander Keppel, R.N., transferred his flag to the
+"Sultan," one of the new twin-screw gunboats.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+ADVANCE TO KERRERI--SKIRMISHING WITH THE ENEMY.
+
+
+"Death and his brother sleep" can only be staved off; they overcome in
+the end. The tired soldiers dropped into profound slumber, although
+the night of the 29th August at Um Terif was boisterous and the cruel
+enemy near. It was one of the real surprises of the campaign, that the
+Mahdists never really harassed us, or ventured to rush our lines under
+cover of night, or in the fog of a dust storm. It has often been too
+hastily assumed that the dervishes never attacked by night. By the
+Nile and in the Eastern Soudan they repeatedly pushed attacks under
+cover of darkness, or worried their opponents by persistent
+sniping,--as for instance at Tamai, before Suakin and Abu Klea. Then
+again, their final and successful assault upon Khartoum was delivered
+at dawn. Hicks Pasha's force was hammered early and late. It is all
+the more strange, therefore, that they left the Sirdar's army severely
+alone, never practising their familiar harassing tactics and seeking
+to secure an advantage. Numerous, swift of foot, with spears and
+swords, the odds would have been much more in their favour had they
+come down like wolves in the night. It is difficult to say exactly
+what would have happened, and it is not pleasant to contemplate what
+might have befallen. In such a conflict the Sirdar's losses would have
+been great. Could it have been that the Khalifa believed some of the
+stories set about that our army intended paying him a surprise visit
+by night, as we did Mahmoud, and so he kept his men in camp quietly
+waiting for us. The utmost precautions were taken by the Sirdar and
+his generals to protect the lines. A strong zereba surrounded the
+camp; sentries were doubled, and active patrols were on the alert all
+night. The gale continued until after sunset, when heavy rain clouds
+gathered, obscuring the moonlight. By and by there came on a violent
+and protracted thunderstorm, accompanied by an almost continuous
+deluge. There was nothing to be done but to lie fast wrapped in great
+coat or blanket and await the passing of the hours, wet, chilled,
+ruminating on all sorts of queer subjects. I managed to undo a corner
+of my packed tent and under it obtained relative warmth, and dryness
+in spots.
+
+The persistence of that storm bred despair. It was nearly 8 a.m. on
+Tuesday the 30th August, when, having drenched us all to the marrow,
+the rain ceased. The sun, although two hours high, was battling with a
+fine mist. It was in a perfect downpour of rain at four o'clock in the
+morning, that reveille had been sounded. And it was in sludge and
+slush camels and mules were fed and loaded, and horses baited and
+saddled. By 5.20 a.m. the army was at length on the march out of
+camp, our faces set towards a village called Merreh, best indicated
+upon the maps as Seg or Sheikh el Taib, the latter being the name of a
+low hill. The distance the force was expected to trudge was about
+eight miles, but the overflowed land put two miles more on. When
+daylight came we could see Abdul Azim's friendlies upon the opposite
+side of the Nile. Led by Major Stuart-Wortley, with whom were
+Lieutenant R. Wood and Captain Buckle, the camels of their column kept
+pace with ours. Closely skirting the east bank that day, Abdul Azim's
+warriors had their right supported by one of the gunboats.
+
+With the Sirdar and staff riding at the head of the infantry columns,
+the army advanced in the formation in which it had been determined to
+attack the enemy at Kerreri. Once more our mounted troops pushed far
+ahead, covering a wide stretch of country, the 21st Lancers under
+Colonel Martin on the left, the Egyptian cavalry under Colonel
+Broadwood and eight companies of the Camel Corps under Major Tudway on
+the extreme right. The infantry presented a front of three brigades
+marching in echelon. A battery of artillery was attached to each
+infantry brigade except Collinson's brigade. Three battalions were
+detached from the whole force to guard the baggage and transport which
+followed in the rear. In front on the left, or nearest the Nile, was
+Wauchope's brigade. The four British battalions thereof marched side
+by side in column, the Lincolns upon the right, the Warwicks on the
+left, with the Seaforths and Camerons between them. To the right of
+Wauchope's brigade was Maxwell's, and next it Lewis's Khedivial
+brigades. Behind each of the three leading brigades above named
+(reading from left to right) were Lyttelton's, Collinson's, and
+Macdonald's commands. Seen upon the desert the army had the appearance
+of a huge square with front a mile broad. The day being cloudy, and
+cooler than usual for the season, General Gatacre and his brigadiers
+voted at a council to extend the march. That course was adopted, the
+army keeping on, but with very many brief halts for the brigades to
+regain their formation. By the extra tramp the troops were enabled to
+pass beyond the broad margin of thick bush out upon the comparatively
+open, pebbly, and rocky ground, which sloped to a narrow strip of
+soft, wet loam fringing the river. About 1 p.m., when still fully one
+mile north of the hill of Sheikh el Taib, the army halted and a camp
+was made. Access to the Nile was very difficult, for overflowed, boggy
+land interposed. Roads, however, were made with cut bush, and the
+animals were led over them to be watered. During the army's march the
+Lancers scoured the country far in front. They managed to get into
+touch with some dervish patrols whilst scouting. The opposing troopers
+looked at each other from relatively open ground, and standing
+separated by only a few hundred yards. One Baggara horseman came
+within 150 yards of our men. The Lancers, keen to engage with steel,
+did not attempt to fire upon their intrusive foemen, but innocently
+tried instead to bag them. Several times our troopers advanced to the
+charge, but the enemy, when the Lancers sought to put hands upon them,
+were gone. That day the Baggara horsemen were met with in far greater
+numbers than previously. By instructions, the Lancers rushed one of
+the many small villages, or groups of native mud-dwellings and beehive
+straw huts that dotted the sparse bush-land a mile or more inland from
+the river beyond Sheikh el Taib. Several of the enemy hastened away,
+and in one of the huts a man in dervish dress was found awaiting the
+troops. He turned out to be a secret agent of Colonel Wingate's
+Intelligence Department. The spy in question was a Shaggieh, named
+Eshanni, and but thirty hours out from Omdurman. I was led to
+understand that he gave much valuable information as to the position
+and strength of the Khalifa's force and the state of affairs in
+Omdurman. We were told that the Khalifa meant to attack us at or near
+Kerreri. There was an old-time prophecy of the Persian Sheikh
+Morghani, whose tomb is near Kassala, that the English soldiers would
+one day fight at Kerreri. Mahomed Achmed and Abdullah had further
+added to the prediction that there they were to be attacked and
+defeated by the dervishes under the Khalifa. Kerreri plain, therefore,
+had become a sort of holy place of pilgrimage to the Mahdists. It was
+called the "death place of all the infidels," and thither at least
+once a year repaired the Khalifa and his following to look over the
+coming battle-ground and render thanks in anticipation for the
+wholesale slaughter of the unbelievers and the triumph of the true
+Moslems.
+
+All except those on duty were abed by last post on 30th August at
+Sheikh el Taib camp. Lights were ordered out, and the camp for a time
+relapsed into darkness and silence. Headquarters and all other tents
+had been struck and packed. During the night there was shooting, the
+crack of the musketry sounding relatively near, but occasioning little
+annoyance. The bullets were badly aimed if directed against the
+British quarters. Whether the firing was really meant for "sniping" by
+the dervishes, or was only a note of warning to their friends of our
+presence, was not easy to decide with any degree of certainty. There
+was no big roll of wounded to test the enemy's intent by, and a later
+incipient alarm caused in another part of the camp in the small hours
+was possibly all a mistake. One thing the dervishes did do. After the
+manner of hill-men, they lit beacon fires on the rocky ridges around
+us to warn the Khalifa of our whereabouts.
+
+[Illustration: ARTILLERY GOING TOWARDS OMDURMAN.]
+
+That night the camp lines had been drawn still closer than ever, only
+260 yards' front being given to each battalion. On the morning of 31st
+the troops were early astir. By 5.30 a.m. the main body, following the
+mounted troops, had faced to the right, and were marching to the
+westward so as to clear the bush and get out upon the open desert
+tracks leading to Omdurman. The ground the army passed over was
+broken, and there was scrub with several small khors to cross, so the
+force proceeded slowly and cautiously. Four of the gunboats steamed up
+the river, keeping abreast of our widely spread out cavalry. About six
+o'clock the Lancers had again ascended to the top of El Taib, a hill
+from which at that hour I was enabled to get a view of the dervish
+camp. It appeared to be about ten miles due south. The Mahdists were
+disposed in three long dense lines, at almost right angle to the
+river. They were partly hidden among the low scrub west of Kerreri
+town or village, their right being quite 2000 yards from the Nile,
+which showed they had a wholesome respect for the gunboats. Flags and
+helios were speedily busy in the hands of our signalmen sending back
+information to the Sirdar. Seeing groups of dervishes within range, as
+well as bands of Baggara horsemen, the gunboats opened fire from their
+15-pounders and Maxims shortly after 7 a.m., driving the enemy's
+nearest patrols into hiding or out of range.
+
+In one of the numberless villages passed, there were several mutilated
+and charred human bodies, victims of dervish suspicion, greed and
+cruelty. Pushing well ahead on our right the Khedivial mounted force
+got a chance to send a few volleys into groups of Abd el Baki's
+scouts. That Emir commanded the dervish outlying forces. It was still
+quite early when after an easy journey of eight miles the infantry
+turned aside towards the river. The army was halted at a place called
+Sururab, a few miles north of Kerreri. Why it was called Sururab I
+know not, nor have I found the name on any map; but that was the
+official designation given to the place where the force subsequently
+bivouacked. The only reasonable fault to be found with Sururab was
+that the river banks were exceedingly difficult of access. Our camps
+were getting from bad to worse. That day flocks of huge vultures were
+to be seen circling overhead as the army advanced. It may have been
+our approach that disturbed them from their carrion feasts in the
+devastated villages and the abandoned dervish camps. Omdurman itself
+must also have long been a choice feeding place for them.
+
+Once more the Sirdar's army had to spend an uncomfortable night. The
+few tents that had been carried so far afield belonged to
+headquarters, generals, commanding officers, and correspondents. They
+were more of a burden than a comfort, for all canvas had to be struck
+by last post, and thereafter neither lights nor loud talking were
+permitted. The native troops' low shelter tents made out of their
+spare rough blankets were allowed to pass unchallenged. It was another
+night to be remembered which the army passed at Sururab. Early in the
+evening the clouds gathered, and a series of violent thunderstorms,
+accompanied by heavy rain, continued almost without cessation through
+the weary, lagging hours. Rolled in their blankets, the soldiers,
+wetted through, lay upon the sodden ground. Such of us as could
+crawled under sheets of canvas or waterproofs, but these afforded
+little protection from the driving sheets of falling water. From
+Sirdar to private none escaped a thorough wetting. The enemy, had he
+chosen, might have advanced from Kerreri or Omdurman, and been upon us
+ere an alarm could have been given. Shortly after sunset everybody had
+to be within the zereba. All openings in the hedge were thereafter
+stopped up, and no one was allowed outside before reveille. Officers
+and men of Gatacre's division had as usual to sleep in their places
+lying down in the ranks fully dressed, with their arms beside them,
+ready to spring to attention. Sentinels and patrols, watchful and
+observant, moved noiselessly about throughout the whole night. True,
+there were outside a few of Slatin's most trusted native friends,
+chiefly Jaalin, set to listen and raise an outcry if the Khalifa's
+dervishes came down upon us under cover of the inky night. But I had
+grave doubts whether these native allies would have been of any
+service, as the likelihood was that they were huddled under some rock
+or tree, shivering in their wraps and sheepskins. Had the Khalifa been
+astute or a tactician he would have attacked our camp at Sururab that
+night or early next morning. He must have succeeded, at any rate, in
+getting close enough to us without our hearing a note of warning to
+have placed his army upon a practical equality with ours in point of
+value of rifle fire. The Remington at 300 yards is as good as the
+Lee-Metford for killing or wounding. His superiority in numbers and
+mobility would have been all in his favour. Luckily, it was not to be.
+We were again allowed to sleep in such peace as the elements would
+permit. The fact remains that the dervishes lost another of the
+several excellent chances they had to do us signal hurt.
+
+Reveille went at 3.45 a.m. on 1st September. Little need of it there
+was, for the men were astir, trying to keep warm by stamping about. In
+the driving rain and slush the army got ready to march forward. The
+boats, as usual, were sent on with the surplus stores, whilst the men
+carried one day's emergency rations in their haversacks, and two days'
+ordinary food was taken upon the camels of each battalion. Once more
+the brigades marched in echelon. Gatacre's division was leading as
+before on the left, with Wauchope's brigade in front, and Lyttelton's
+behind. Steadily, deliberately, the armed tide of men flowed over the
+undulating plain, down into shallow khors, swelling through the scrub,
+their serried ranks always plainly to be seen. I went forward again
+with the cavalry, accompanying the 21st Lancers, who were upon the
+left front. The Egyptian troopers and the camelry went to their usual
+place upon the right. In a short time we found that the dervish
+advanced camp west of Kerreri had been abandoned, the enemy having
+fallen back and joined their main force under the Khalifa nearer
+Omdurman. Word was sent back to the Sirdar that the track was clear of
+the enemy, and so the skirmish before getting into camp, which all the
+infantry expected with some degree of confidence and elation, did not
+happen. By 10 a.m. the army had wheeled into the lines assigned it in
+the southward portion of the scattered village of Kerreri. Once more
+both wings rested upon the Nile, Gatacre's division in front (south),
+Macdonald's brigade at the north, with Collinson's brigade within and
+in reserve. The army encamped in an irregular triangular enclosure, on
+one side being the river, our flanks and face being protected by the
+gunboats. Our zereba outline was something like a broken-backed
+pyramid.
+
+Whilst the infantry were settling down in camp at Kerreri the cavalry
+were pushing in the enemy's outposts. The British division cut and
+built around their front a good stout thorny zereba. Lyttelton's
+brigade and three batteries were placed nearest the river. Upon their
+right was Wauchope's brigade, next to it was Maxwell's and Lewis's
+brigades, and then to the right, Macdonald's crack command.
+Collinson's brigade was held in reserve within the zereba; Colonels
+Maxwell, Lewis and Macdonald had their front protected by a double
+line of ordinary shelter-trenches dug in the loose sand and gravel.
+The British Tommies had no trench. Going forward a mile or so to
+rejoin the cavalry I climbed the rugged granitic slopes of Surgham
+Hill. Like most of the "jebels," or mounts, in this region, compared
+with the spacious wilderness about them they are but toy hills. Few
+of them are much over 150 feet high, large as they often loom in the
+deceiving light of the Soudan. Many are but 50 feet in height, and
+there are regular, peaky, and prettily-shaped little mountain ranges,
+the summits of which overtop the plain but five to ten yards. Such
+hills children might build in play by the sea-shore. Surgham was quite
+a big one, and the signallers soon took possession of it, flagging and
+"helioing" back to camp. From its top I was enabled to see Omdurman,
+with Khartoum in the distance. The Mahdi's white, cone-shaped tomb,
+its dome girt with rings, and ornamented with brazen finials, globe
+and crescent, shone not six miles away in the midst of miles of mud
+and straw huts. Four arabesque finials rose, one from each corner of
+the supporting wall. Before the town was a wall of white tents, the
+original camping ground of the Khalifa's levies and reinforcements
+drawn from distant garrisons. Midway to Omdurman, or within three
+miles of where I stood, was the whole dervish army. Clearly they had
+moved out from the city, and were organised as a force prepared for
+instant battle. Their tents, camels, and impedimenta had been left
+behind. Only a few low shelter-tents marked the lines in which the
+Khalifa's army lay in the sparse bush. There were flags and banners by
+hundreds, indicating the position of the leaders, chiefs and lesser
+emirs. The Khalifa's great black banner, with its Arabic lettering
+sewn in the same material, was displayed from a lofty bamboo pole,
+planted in the dense central part of the force. To the left of it,
+our right, were green and blue flags of the Shereef, or second
+Khalifa, and Osman or Sheikh Ed Din, the Khalifa's son and
+generalissimo of his army. Osman, we heard, had been reinstated in
+parental favour, for he had fallen from grace for advising his father
+to make peace with the Sirdar. As in a daisy-pied field, there were
+dervish battle flags everywhere among the thick, swart lines that in
+rows barred our way to Omdurman. The banners were in all colours and
+shades, shapes, and sizes, but only the Khalifa's was black. The force
+was apparently drawn up in five bodies or divisions. Abdullah's, in
+the centre, must have numbered fully 10,000 men. Counting as carefully
+as I could, I estimated the enemy who were to be seen as at least
+numbering 30,000, and, perhaps, 35,000 men. Horsemen and camelmen
+could be seen moving about their lines, and here and there others
+riding, native fashion, on donkey-back. It seemed to be a
+well-organised, intelligently-handled enemy we had in front.
+
+Thereafter I rode onward and joined the farthest Lancers' outposts.
+Small parties of dervishes, mostly Jaalin and blacks, who were caught
+by the troopers, but had perhaps purposely given the Khalifa the slip,
+were rounded up and sent back under escort as prisoners. Meanwhile
+both the British and Khedivial mounted troops kept pushing on, driving
+in the enemy's scouts. By noon there had been a series of attempts on
+our side to charge, but the foemen always gave way. The Egyptian
+cavalry under Colonel Broadwood and the camelry under Major Tudway,
+making a wide detour, got close to the dervish left, and engaged the
+enemy occasionally with rifles and Maxims. But the enemy's horse came
+out in strength, supported by footmen, and threatened them, so
+Broadwood's men had to fall back.
+
+Four of the Sirdar's gunboats, which had meanwhile steamed ahead, were
+briskly battering the Mahdist riverside forts. These works, like those
+abandoned to us at Shabluka Cataract and Kerreri, were strong,
+well-built earthen bastions, with flanking curtains. The central
+semicircular portion was pierced with three embrasures for ordnance,
+but so badly made as to admit of but a limited area of fire. Each
+curtain was loopholed for musketry. There was a deep, wide trench
+before the works, the parapet of which was about ten feet high, whilst
+the walls of earth were about three yards in thickness. Despite the
+skill shown in the construction and placing of the forts, the
+gunboats, by bringing their Maxims and quick-firing guns to bear,
+passed them unscathed. There were Krupp guns mounted in most of these
+works, but not a steamer was hit. Another event of even greater
+importance was meanwhile happening. From the first it had been planned
+that the Lyddite guns and the 40-pounder Armstrong cannon should be
+employed to batter down or breach the Khalifa's walls. The howitzers
+were sent on by one of the gunboats to be landed on Tuti Island, which
+is opposite Khartoum, for that purpose. But it was found the maps were
+wrong, and a better position was selected within suitable range on the
+solid land of the east bank. As for the 40-pounders it was found too
+inconvenient to tranship such heavy ordnance.
+
+The battery firing the 50-lb. Lyddite shells having found the range,
+about 3000 yards, opened fire upon Omdurman. In quick succession rapid
+splashes of lurid flame burst in the town, followed by great clouds of
+dust and whirling stones. I watched them training the howitzers on the
+great wall and the whited sepulchre of the false prophet. With the
+third shot they struck the base and anon the top of the Mahdi's tomb,
+smashing the structure, and bringing down the uppermost cap of it. The
+nature of the bombardment and its success was galling to the dervish
+force, as could be seen by the commotion it excited in the city and
+their camp. Our cavalry on the left got to skirmishing again with the
+enemy's outposts, on which we had closed to within 800 yards. Bodies
+of their horsemen came out and drove our advanced scouts in. Then,
+three squadrons of the Lancers were led forward by Colonel Martin, and
+the enemy once more retired. This, seemingly, was too much for the
+Khalifa, so his whole army was set in motion against us. They came on
+deliberately, but smartly, their infantry trying to surround and cut
+our troopers off. Dismounting part of his men, Colonel Martin
+materially delayed the enemy's advance, for the dervishes sent out
+lines of black riflemen to deal with the Lancers. A rattling skirmish
+at 500 to 800 yards ranges was in a few minutes in full progress. News
+was sent back to the Sirdar that the enemy's army were coming on _en
+masse_, and step by step Colonel Martin's troops were retired towards
+Mount Surgham and the river. Our retreat was pressed, and the regiment
+had to mount and trot off behind the shelter of Surgham to avoid the
+vigorous advance of the dervishes. Among our mounted troops there were
+relatively few losses, although the enemy must have suffered
+considerably. I noticed many of them being knocked over by the
+Lancers' fire. Before 3 p.m. the Sirdar had all his infantry and guns
+in position, awaiting the expected attack within his lines at Kerreri.
+A few mud-huts on the south face of the zereba materially added to the
+strength of the position. Our cavalry had all to continue retiring,
+and ultimately the Lancers went down to the river so as to clear the
+front of the army. Surgham Hill was occupied by a few of the
+dervishes. From there they must have had an excellent view of our
+camp; indeed, they had as good a panoramic peep at us as we had at
+them. For some reason the Khalifa thought better of attacking us that
+day, and so halted with his main body quite out of range. Towards
+sunset his men gradually retired, going back to their former position.
+They had left their camp-fires burning, and their chunks of meat and
+cakes of rough grain cooking under the supervision of slaves and
+followers when they came out against the Lancers. So it happened on
+the eve of the coming battle both armies rested quietly in their
+respective camps, eating, sleeping, and the devout praying, within a
+five miles' march of each other. For supper our men had stringy bully
+beef and biscuit or bread. The dervishes had hunks of freshly roasted
+mutton, goat and cattle, done on the embers, and bannocks of dhura
+meal. Extra precautions were again observed to secure the Sirdar's
+army from any night attack.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE BATTLE OF OMDURMAN--FIRST PHASE OF THE FIGHT.
+
+
+In this and the succeeding chapter, the account given of the victory
+of Omdurman is substantially the same as that which appeared in the
+columns of various issues of the _Daily Telegraph_. The narrative,
+although hastily prepared, gives an accurate description of the fight,
+and copies of it not being now procurable, I venture to make use of
+it, adding only here and there lines of new matter. I have reserved to
+a later chapter the personal narratives of officers who were in the
+action, and who have kindly supplied me with particulars of the part
+borne by the gunboats, the cavalry, and Major Stuart-Wortley's
+friendlies. With these I have coupled various details drawn from my
+own observation. I found that through errors in transmission of the
+messages, or mistakes in dealing with them, part of my copy had got
+credited to other sources.
+
+                                       OMDURMAN, _2nd September 1898_.
+
+The supreme and greatest victory ever achieved by British arms in the
+Soudan has been won by the Sirdar's ever-victorious forces, after one
+of the most picturesque battles of the century. At last! After fifteen
+vexatious years spent in trying to get here, an Anglo-Egyptian army
+has recovered Khartoum and occupied Omdurman. Gordon has been avenged
+and justified. The dervishes have been overwhelmingly routed, Mahdism
+has been "smashed," whilst the Khalifa's capital of Omdurman has been
+stripped of its barbaric halo of sanctity and invulnerability.
+Striking and dramatic as has been the manner in which the ending of
+the curse of the Soudan has come about, the tale need lose none of its
+force by being simply told. The grandeur of the plain story requires
+no straining after catchwords. Of those who with Sir Herbert Stewart's
+desert column toiled and fought to reach Metemmeh in January 1885,
+less than a dozen are with the Sirdar's army, and of these but three,
+including the writer, were correspondents. But to the narrative of the
+battle which, at a stroke, has broken down the potent savage barriers
+of blood and cruelty, and re-opened the heart of the great African
+continent to the sweetening influences of civilised government.
+
+Storm and cloud had passed. The moon rose early on the night of 1st
+September. It shone brightly over and around our bivouac, south of
+Kerreri village, or near Um Mutragan, according to the cartographers.
+The north end of our camp lines approached the river just 500 yards
+south of the ruined dervish redoubt of Kerreri. Sentinels were posted
+along the irregular-shaped triangle, or, shall I call it, broken
+semi-circle, within which the army lay. The sentries had a fair range
+of view to their front. Men on the lookout also occupied the roofs of
+the few native mud-huts at the south-western corner of the camp. Four
+Jaalin scouts were sent forward to Surgham Hill to listen, and to
+apprise the troops of any movement on the part of the Khalifa's army.
+Other friendlies lay about outside, hearkening and watching, to warn
+us of any attempt of the enemy to surprise the zereba. The sentries
+were bid to shoot at any man rushing singly upon him, and to fire upon
+large bodies advancing at the double. Men running in, however, in
+pairs, were either to be challenged or allowed to come in without
+being fired on. Such was the simple yet ample arrangement. To
+anticipate somewhat, it so happened that about midnight there was some
+firing, and the four Jaalin "smellers of danger and dervishes" upon
+Jebel Surgham came sprinting in, a four-in-hand, and cleared the broad
+cut mimosa hedge that was piled before the lines of Gatacre's
+division, at a bound. The time they made broke all records.
+
+From the north to the south end along the river the camp was about one
+mile in length, and its greatest width about 1200 yards. There were a
+few mud-huts within the space enclosed by mimosa and the double line
+of shallow shelter-trenches. The cut bushes were piled in front of the
+British troops, who were facing Omdurman and the south; the trenches
+covered the approach from the west and north where the Khedivial
+troops stood on guard. Neither extremity of the lines of defence,
+zereba or trench, quite extended to the river. Openings of about
+thirty to fifty yards were left. Besides these there were other small
+passage-ways left open during daylight, but closed at night. Near the
+river facing south the ground was rough, and there were several huts,
+so that the security of the camp was not imperilled by the failure to
+carry the hedge or trenches to the Nile's brink. Lyttelton's brigade
+were placed upon the left south front. Wauchope's men continued the
+line to the right. In the south gap were three companies of the 2nd
+Battalion Rifle Brigade, their left resting on the river. On their
+immediate right were three batteries--the 32nd Field Battery of
+English 15-pounders, under Major Williams; two Maxim-Nordenfeldt
+mountain batteries, 12 1/2-pounders, respectively under Captains Stewart
+and de Rougemont; and six Maxims under Captain Smeaton. Later on these
+guns and Maxims during the first stage of the battle--for the action
+resolved itself into a double event ere the combat ceased--were
+wheeled out until they were firing almost at right angles to the
+zereba line. On the right of the guns, in succession, were the
+remainder of the Rifles, the Lancashire Fusiliers, the Northumberland
+Fusiliers, and the Grenadier Guards. In the interval between General
+Lyttelton's brigade and General Wauchope's, which stood next to it,
+were two Maxims. Then came the Warwicks, Camerons, Seaforths, and
+Lincolns. To the Lincolns' right, where the trenches began and the
+line faced nearly west, was Colonel Maxwell's brigade. Between
+Wauchope's and Maxwell's brigades were two Maxims, and, I think, for a
+time during the first attack made by the dervishes, the two-gun mule
+battery of six-centimetre Krupp guns. To complete the tale of the guns
+placed for defending the camp, there was Major Lawrie's battery of
+Maxim-Nordenfeldts on the right of Maxwell's brigade next Macdonald's,
+and on the north side, near the right of the position facing west,
+Major Peake's battery of Maxim-Nordenfeldts. These guns had done so
+well at the Atbara, that the Sirdar promptly increased his artillery
+by adding three batteries of that class. Maxwell's brigade was
+composed of three Soudanese and one Egyptian battalion, viz., 8th
+Egyptian, and 12th, 13th, and 14th Soudanese. Farther north, to the
+right of Colonel Maxwell's men, was Lewis Bey's brigade of Egyptian
+troops--the 3rd, 4th, 7th, and 15th Battalions. The 15th Battalion was
+a fine lot, mostly reservists. Upon the farthest west and northern
+face of the protected camp was. Colonel Macdonald's oft-tried and
+famous fighting brigade, made up of the 9th, 10th, and 11th Soudanese,
+with the true-as-steel 2nd Egyptians. Within the wall of hedge,
+trenches, and armed infantry, in reserve, was another brigade, the 4th
+Khedivial, commanded by Major Collinson. It was made up of the 1st,
+5th, 17th, and 18th Egyptian battalions. The two last-named were
+relatively newly-raised regiments, but were composed of fine
+soldierly-looking fellaheen. The divisional brigade and battalion
+commanders and staff were:--British division, Major-General Gatacre
+commanding; staff: Major Robb, D.A.G.; Captain R. Brooke, A.D.C.;
+Lieuts. Cox and Ingle, orderly officers; Surgeon-Colonel MacNamara,
+P.M.O. First British Infantry brigade, Brigadier-General A. Wauchope;
+staff: Major Doyle Snow, brigade-major; Captain Rennie, A.D.C.;
+Surgeon-Lieut.-Colonel Sloggett, P.M.O. Second brigade,
+Brigadier-General, Hon. N. G. Lyttelton; staff: Major A Court,
+brigade-major; Captain Henderson, A.D.C. Surgeon-General W. Taylor was
+the principal medical officer of the British division. Lieut.-Colonel
+C. J. Long, R.A., commanded all the artillery. Khedivial
+troops--Infantry division, Major-General A. Hunter, commanding; staff:
+Surgeon-Colonel Gallwey, P.M.O.; Captain Kincaid, D.A.G.; Lieut.
+Smythe, A.D.C. 1st brigade, Brigadier H. A. Macdonald; Major C. Keith
+Falconer, brigade-major. 2nd brigade, Brigadier Lewis; 3rd brigade,
+Brigadier Maxwell; 4th brigade, Brigadier Collinson.
+
+The battalion commanders of British troops were:--Grenadier Guards,
+Lieut.-Colonel Villiers-Hatton; Lancashire Fusiliers, Lieut.-Colonel
+Collingwood; Northumberland Fusiliers, Lieut.-Colonel C. G. C. Money;
+Rifle Brigade, Colonel Howard; Warwickshires, Lieut.-Colonel Forbes;
+Lincolns, Lieut.-Colonel Louth; Camerons, Lieut.-Colonel G. L. C.
+Money; Seaforths, Lieut.-Colonel Murray. Those of the Khedivial
+battalions were:--Macdonald's brigade, Majors Pink, 2nd Egyptian;
+Walter, 9th Soudanese; Nason, 10th Soudanese; Jackson, 11th Soudanese.
+Lewis's brigade, Majors Sellem, 3rd Egyptian; Sparkes, 4th Egyptian;
+Fatby Bey, 7th Egyptian; and Major Hickman, 15th Egyptian. Maxwell's
+brigade, Majors Kalousie, 8th Egyptian; Townsend, 12th Soudanese;
+Smith-Dorian, 13th Soudanese; Shekleton, 14th Soudanese. Collinson's
+brigade, Captains (O.C.'s) Bainbridge, 1st Egyptian; Abd El Gervad
+Borham, 5th Egyptian; Bunbury, 17th Egyptian; and Matchell, 18th
+Egyptian.
+
+The troops were ranged two deep in front with a partial second double
+line or supports placed twenty yards or so behind them. These assisted
+in the fight to pass ammunition to the firing line and carry back the
+dead and wounded. Somewhat removed from the zereba and trenches, and
+nearer the Nile were the hospitals, the transport, the stores, nearly
+3000 camels, and about 500 mules. The Egyptian cavalry and camelry
+were picketed at the north of the camp, and the 21st Lancers at the
+south end, both being within the lines. All along the river's bank
+beside the camp were moored the gunboats, steamers and barges, with a
+fleet of a hundred or more native sailing boats, at once a means of
+defence and a supply column. The gunboat "Melik" was moored a few
+hundred yards south of where the Rifles were posted. Occasionally the
+flotilla flashed their search-lights upon Jebel Surgham, and swept the
+scrub and desert in front of the troops. The enemy's scouts, however,
+were never disclosed in the radii of the electric beams. In fact, the
+first notice we had that the dervishes were about to inspect our
+environment was the impetuous incoming of our friendlies from Jebel
+Surgham and the cracking of snipers' guns in the bush mingled with the
+buzzing of bullets overhead. A battalion rose quietly from the ground,
+for the troops slept clear of the hedge, and went forward a few paces
+to man the zereba. On learning what was actually taking place they
+returned to their blankets and to sleep.
+
+For all the row the dervish spies, snipers and others made, the army
+was not really disturbed. Once more we had to thank fortune that the
+enemy made no vigorous attempt to assail the camp during the night.
+True, earlier in the evening a few badly-directed rifle-shots had come
+whistling across the zereba. Prowling dervish scouts had even
+occasionally crept close enough to draw upon themselves the attention
+of our double sentries and alert patrols. A small section volley at
+one period of the night was fired at a knot of the enemy's would-be
+bush-whackers. The unusual rattle of musketry caused an incipient
+alarm in one of the battalions. Tommy, however, behaved well,
+collectively, never stirring, but waiting "for orders." The peace of
+the night hours was, I repeat, never seriously broken, the
+Anglo-Egyptian army enjoying their needed sleep. After midnight things
+quieted down and from the dervish camp no sound was carried to us by
+the soft south wind. All was absolutely still in that direction. The
+noggara or war-drum was a dead thing, beating not to quarters, as we
+had heard it during the day when out with the cavalry. Nor was the
+deep-bayed booming of the ombeyas, or elephant horns, re-echoing to
+rally the tribesmen under their leaders' banners.
+
+It was 3.40 a.m. on 2nd September when the bugles called the 22,000
+men of the Sirdar's army from slumber. Quickly the troops were astir,
+and the camp full of bustling preparation. It was given out that we
+were not to move forward quite as early as usual. But circumstances
+alter cases, and very soon loads and saddles were adjusted with extra
+care. Everything was made as trim as possible, and belts were buckled
+tightly for action. There was a sense and expectancy of coming battle
+abroad, and an eager desire permeating all ranks to have it out with
+the dervishes then or never. It had come at length to be generally
+accepted that the enemy would not bolt nor slip through our fingers,
+but would accept the gage of battle which the Sirdar meant shortly to
+give him. We were going to march out, attack, and storm the Khalifa
+and his great army in their chosen lines and trenches. In a way we
+felt half-heartedly grateful to our sportsmanlike enemy for not having
+harassed our marches or bivouacs. We were, within the next hour or so,
+to have yet more to thank the dervishes and their Khalifa for. Truly
+Abdullah was amazingly ignorant of war tactics, or astoundingly
+confident in the prowess of his arms. From the reckless, magnificent
+manner in which the dervishes comported themselves in the earlier
+stages of the fight that ensued, I incline to the belief that the
+Khalifa and his men, true to their crass, credulous notions, were
+overweeningly confident in themselves. A fatal fault, they underrated
+their opponents. His Emirs, Jehadieh, and Baggara had so often proved
+themselves invincible in their combats against natives of the Soudan,
+that they had come to hold that none would face their battle shock.
+There was pride of countless triumphs, and the long enjoyment of
+despotic lordship that hardened their wills and thews to win victory
+or perish. I failed later to see the old fanaticism that once made
+them, though pierced through and through with bayonet or sword, fight
+till the last heart-throb ceased. Let me not be misunderstood. Despite
+their possible doubts about the Khalifa's divine mission, the dervish
+army fought with courage and dash until they were absolutely broken.
+Their personal hardihood bravely compared with the days of Tamai and
+Abu Klea. It was when the fight was nearly over that there were
+evidences of that of which there was so little in the old days, viz.,
+that a large remnant would accept life at our hands. Again, as the
+sequel showed, the Sirdar's star was in the ascendant.
+
+Everything was in readiness in our camp by 5 a.m. Camels, horses,
+mules, and donkeys had been watered and fed, and the men had disposed
+of an early breakfast of cocoa or tea, coarse biscuit, and tinned
+meat. Infantry and artillery had made sure of their full supply of
+ammunition, and the reserve was handy to draw more from. Tommy Atkins
+carried 100 rounds of the new hollow-nosed Lee-Metford cartridges.
+Behind him were mules loaded with a further twenty rounds for him. The
+Khedivial soldiers had 120 rounds of Martini-Henry cartridges. To hark
+back: at 4.30 a.m., ere dawn had tinged the east, the Sirdar bade
+Colonel Broadwood, commanding the Egyptian cavalry, send out two
+squadrons to ascertain what the enemy was about. Thereupon one
+squadron rode off to the hills on the west--known locally as South
+Kerreri jebels, but marked on most maps as Um Mutragan. Besides being
+misnamed, they are plotted in out of place and as if the range trended
+east and west. It runs nearly north and south. Kerreri hills were low
+and black, like most of the jebels thereabout. They stand fully two
+miles west of the Nile. Another squadron, under Captain Hon. E.
+Baring, proceeded south to Jebel Surgham, the low hill, about one mile
+in front of the British division. I have written about it before.
+Surgham was used for heliograph and flag signalling on the 1st, the
+previous day, and is the last of the detached hills or ranges lying
+near the river on the north towards Omdurman. The squadron going west
+soon reached South Kerreri hill, and reported that the enemy were
+still in camp. It was early, and not clear daylight, and the distance
+to the Khalifa's encampment was greater from South Kerreri hill than
+that from Jebel Surgham to where the dervishes lay in the bush and
+hollows around Wady Shamba. Captain Baring's party, on the other hand,
+met with small patrols of the enemy near Jebel Surgham. Turning the
+hill at a few minutes past five o'clock, in the yet slanting daylight,
+he at once detected that the Khalifa's army, which had apparently been
+largely reinforced during the night, was marching forward to attack
+us. Gallopers and orderlies came riding back furiously with the news
+for the Sirdar. Sir Herbert Kitchener, Major-General Rundle, and the
+whole headquarters staff were already mounted. Colonel Broadwood was
+despatched to verify the startling report, and to bring in further
+particulars. Meantime the preparations on our side for an advance
+were suspended, and guns, Maxims, and infantry moved up and wheeled
+into positions upon the firing line. Ominous was that silent march of
+six paces to their front made by the British infantry to get close to
+the zereba and the clearing for action of Maxims and cannon, and the
+examining of the breeches of the Lee-Metfords. For the first time the
+magazines were to be used. The Khedivial soldiers swarmed into their
+trenches. Anon, the Tommy Atkinses were ordered to lie down behind
+their hedge of cut mimosa to rest and wait. From a little distance, no
+doubt, our camp looked silent, deserted, and as void of danger as any
+other part of the plain. Standing a few yards behind each command were
+placed in reserve sometimes two, sometimes three companies, which had
+been withdrawn from the battalion on their immediate front. These
+reserves were to fill gaps or stiffen the firing line, should it be
+too closely pressed. With the companies in reserve were the stretchers
+and bearers. A little farther back was the British divisional field
+hospital, planted in a congeries of native dirt-huts. The scattered
+mud-huts within the lines afforded excellent cover to the sick and
+wounded, as well as a degree of protection for the camels, horses,
+mules, and donkeys picketed near the middle ground of the camp.
+
+Colonel Broadwood returned swiftly with the news that the whole
+dervish army was really in motion, and that if it held upon its
+apparent course its right wing would pass about 500 yards to the west
+of Jebel Surgham. That hill was within easy shelling distance from
+the gunboats, and the solitary instance of prudence that the dervishes
+had so far shown was to keep far enough inland to render the
+assistance of the flotilla of as little help as possible to us. Some
+there were who thought that Jebel Surgham should have been made the
+central stronghold of our camp, and that the army ought to have slept
+behind it on the previous night. The wisdom of that suggestion was
+most doubtful. Where we were the gunboats could more easily cover the
+whole position.
+
+It was about 5 a.m. when the 21st Lancers started forward to undertake
+their daily task of scouting and covering the left flank of the
+Sirdar's army. They reached Jebel Surgham a few minutes later and
+relieved Captain Baring's squadron, which at once rode away and joined
+the remaining squadrons of Egyptian cavalry on South Kerreri hill,
+whither Colonel Broadwood had by that time gone with his troopers.
+Every inch of Surgham hill and the yellow sand ridges, gravel mounds,
+and shallow khors to the south and west of it had been explored by the
+Lancers the day before. Riding straight out from the zereba ere the
+faintly-glowing dawn had come, I joined the Lancers on Surgham. A
+dismounted squadron occupied part of the southern slopes, a troop or
+more were on the higher points and summit keeping sharp eyes on the
+enemy. Flag-signallers were preparing for work at the place where the
+day before helios had been busy flashing news from gunboats and
+cavalry to the headquarters. As I climbed the rugged slopes of Jebel
+Surgham leading my horse, I heard a mighty rumbling as of tempestuous
+rollers and surf bearing down upon a rock-bound shore. When I had gone
+but a few strides farther there burst upon my sight a moving,
+undulating plain of men, flecked with banners and glistening steel.
+Who should count them? They were compact, not to be numbered. Their
+front from east to west extended over three miles, a dense mass
+flowing towards us. It was a great, deep-bodied flood, rather than an
+avalanche, advancing without flurry, solidly, with presage of power.
+The sound of their coming grew each instant louder, and became
+articulate. It was not alone the reverberation of the tread of horses
+and men's feet I heard and seemed to feel as well as hear, but a
+voiced continuous shouting and chanting--the dervish invocation and
+battle challenge, "Allah el Allah! Rasool Allah el Mahdi!" they
+reiterated in vociferous rhymed rising measure, as they swept over the
+intervening ground. Their ranks were well kept, the serried lines
+marching with military regularity, with swaying of flags and
+brandishing of big-bladed, cruel spears and two-edged swords. Emirs
+and chiefs on horseback rode in front and along the lines,
+gesticulating and marshalling their commands. Mounted Baggara trotted
+about along the inner lines of footmen. There were apparently as
+before five great divisions in the dervish army. The Khalifa's corps
+was near the right centre, with his son, Sheikh Ed Din's division on
+his left. The relative positions of the great chiefs were readily
+recognisable by their banners, which were carried in the midst of
+their chosen body-guards. Khalifa Abdullah's great black banner,
+black-lettered with texts from the Koran and the Mahdi's sayings, was
+upheld by his Mulazimin. It flew, spread out, flaunting in the wind,
+acclaimed by his followers. The flag was about two yards square, and
+was supported on a 20-feet bamboo pole, ornamented at top with a
+silver bowl and spandrel, as well as a tassel. The force marching with
+it must have numbered 20,000 armed men, besides servants and
+followers. His son, Osman, known as Sheikh Ed Din, and the nominal
+commander-in-chief of the dervish armies, led into battle a division
+of the Jehadieh (riflemen) and spearmen, together 15,000 strong. His
+force was ranged under blue, green, yellow, and white banners. With
+him was Khalil, the second Khalifa, Osman Azrak, Emir Yunis, Abdel
+Baki, and other noted chiefs of the Baggara. Yacoub, the notorious
+brother of the Khalifa Abdullah, commanded the big column upon his
+relative's right hand. Still farther to their right were the divisions
+led by Wad Helu and Wad Melik. The joint forces of these twain
+probably numbered 12,000 or 14,000 men. Besides the main army there
+was a second line, possibly made up from the Omdurman populace, with a
+baggage train of camels and donkeys. I found out subsequently that the
+enemy were amply provisioned. Camels and donkeys carried water and
+grain, mostly dhura, for the Khalifa's army. The dervishes, as a rule,
+had their goatskin wallets filled with grain, onions, and a piece of
+roasted meat.
+
+The battle of Omdurman began at 5.30 a.m. with a salvo of six guns
+from Major Elmslie's battery on the east Nile bank. They were fired
+from the 5-inch howitzers, which sent a half-dozen of 50-lb. Lyddite
+shells hurtling around the tomb and the Khalifa's quarters. Like a
+spouting volcano, clouds of flame, stones, and dust burst from out the
+city. The line of strong forts before the town and upon Tuti island
+had been silenced by them and the gunboats the previous day. Although
+the dervishes had built stout works, and had plenty of cannon and
+ammunition, they made a wretchedly bad stand against the gunboats,
+injuring none of them. The overpowering weight as well as the accuracy
+of our steamers' fire ended the naval part of the battle almost as
+soon as it was begun. Quick-firers and Maxims were trained to bear
+into the embrasures of the Khalifa's forts. As a consequence, the
+enemy's gunners were only able to fire a few wild rounds at the
+vessels. Jealous and suspicious of everyone, Abdullah left his arsenal
+full of unemployed batteries, Krupps, and machine guns, and only took
+three of either of the latter weapons with him into the field against
+us. After the labour too of taking them there, he made but little use
+of them. As I learned, the Greeks, some thirty-five, and all
+able-bodied men, had to march out of Omdurman and follow the Khalifa
+to battle. I by no means, I think, over-estimate the enemy's numbers
+when I state that there were 50,000 dervishes of sorts who advanced
+against us, sworn to leave not a single soul alive in the Sirdar's
+army. Abdullah, professedly sanguine of success, had bade the mollahs
+and others attend him at noon prayers in the mosque and Mahdi's tomb,
+where he would go to worship immediately after his victory. He had
+returned into town, and spent part of the night of 1st and 2nd
+September in his own house.
+
+[Illustration: BATTLE OF OMDURMAN--ZEREBA ACTION.]
+
+The gunboats, which had gone on that morning, joined in the renewed
+bombardment of Omdurman, begun by Major Elmslie. But it was only for a
+short space, for the Sirdar recalled the steamers by signal to assist
+in repelling the attack when it was seen the Khalifa meant giving
+battle. Three squadrons of Lancers halted on the northern side of
+Jebel Surgham. A troop of them pushed on to the sandy ridges
+south-west of Surgham hill. Part of them dismounted, and with much
+hardihood began firing at about 1000 yards' range at the oncoming
+dervishes. It was as if a few men afoot were seeking to interpose to
+hold back the invading ocean. Instantly dervish riflemen and horsemen
+shot out from the Khalifa's lines and came streaming to engage the
+handful of troopers. The skirmishing Lancers desisted, mounted, and
+rode back to their main body. Of those of the Lancers who stood it out
+longest were the groups upon the top of Surgham and upon its eastern
+side. Colonel Martin got his four squadrons together as the dervishes
+drew in towards him. The enemy's right was now thrown forward, facing
+straight for the angle of the camp where the British division stood.
+At a swinging gait came the vast army of Mahdism. I was still near
+Surgham and believed that I could discern the Khalifa himself in the
+centre of a jostling, excited throng of footmen and horsemen. He was
+seated upon a richly caparisoned Arab steed, guarded on all sides by
+stalwart natives armed with rifles and swords. A troop of mounted
+Emirs in front and a big retinue of Baggara and other chiefs on
+horseback riding behind surely proclaimed him to be Abdullah, the
+Mahdi's successor. Far before him was borne his terrible black banner.
+Around him religious dervishes screamed, gesticulated, and shouted
+"Allah's" name, confident that they had come out to see the
+annihilation of the invading infidels. Had it not been long foretold
+that the victorious battle would be fought at Kerreri, which ever
+after should be known among the faithful as "the death-field of the
+infidels"? Were not the white stones there already to mark our graves?
+I was fortunate to be able to scan the nearest of the dervish columns,
+from a distance of but 800 yards. The battle was about to open in
+fierce earnest. Away went the Lancers at the gallop, back to the
+zereba, but, edging towards the river, to clear our infantry's front
+and line of fire. It was around the left of the 2nd battalion of the
+Rifle Brigade that the troopers passed in. I took a somewhat shorter,
+hasty cut, entering the zereba near where the three batteries stood,
+on the British left. Away off upon and under Um Mutragan, the Egyptian
+mounted troops, the nine squadrons of cavalry, eight companies of the
+Camel Corps, and the horse artillery, all under Colonel Broadwood,
+were pluckily endeavouring to tackle the left wing of the Khalifa's
+forces. They held on, perhaps, too long; at any rate, until most of
+them were in a position of serious danger. As their fight and the more
+important general action happened at the same time, I must defer
+further description of it for the moment.
+
+It was a magnificent spectacle that rose before the Sirdar's army as
+the dervish columns came sweeping into view, filling the landscape
+between Surgham and Um Mutragan. In that great multitude were gathered
+the fiercest, most sanguinary body of savage warriors the world has
+ever held or known. Arabs and blacks, chosen by Abdullah himself,
+picked out because of their tried courage, strength, and devotion--the
+flower of the fighting Soudan tribes. Under other conditions
+Abdullah's army might have matched itself to win against double their
+number of any men similarly armed. Fearless of danger, agile yet
+strong, each man carried with him into the fight the conviction that
+the Khalifa would conquer. A great shout of exultation went up from
+the dervish legions when they saw, ranged in the low ground before
+them, the Sirdar's, small army, their imagined prey. There was a
+mighty waving of banners and flashing of steel when, breaking into a
+run, they bent forward to close upon us. The British division rose to
+their feet to be ready, and the Khedivial troops closed up their
+ranks. There was a murmur of satisfaction from Gatacre's division and
+real cries of delight from the black troops on seeing the enemy were
+coming to attack. Never was there a grander, more imposing militant
+display seen than when the great dervish army rushed to engage,
+heedless of life or death. In an instant the Sirdar, who stood near
+the right of Wauchope's brigade, passed an order for the three
+batteries on the left--Major Williams', Stewart's, de Rougemont's--to
+open fire. The guns were laid at 2800 yards, a range the delight of
+gunners, and sighted to the west of Surgham, where the black flag and
+the largest mass of the enemy were. The hour was 6.35 a.m. Almost at
+the first shot the true range was found. Quick as thought thereafter
+the eighteen guns on our left began raining fire, iron, and lead upon
+the leading and main columns of the enemy. Two batteries to the right
+and many of the Maxims added to the fury of the fearful death-dealing
+storm bursting over and amongst the dervish ranks. The long 15-pounder
+English field cannon hit with the precision of match rifles, and were
+discharged as though they had been quick-firing guns. As for the
+stinging Maxim-Nordenfeldts, with their big single and bigger double
+shells, they bucked and jumped like kicking horses, yet were fired so
+fast that the barrels must have been well-nigh red-hot. The air was
+torn with hurtling shell at the first awful salvo, when shrapnel burst
+in all directions, smiting the dervishes as with Heaven's
+thunderbolts, and strewing the ground with maimed and dead. The
+leading columns paused as if they had received a shock, or had stopped
+to catch breath. Hundreds had been slain in that one discharge, and
+the fire was rapidly increasing, not slackening. Disregarding their
+dead and wounded, the dervishes closed their ranks as with one accord,
+and came on with fresh energy. Their banner-bearers and the Baggara
+horsemen pushed to the front, doubtless to further encourage the still
+dauntless footmen. Surely there never was wilder courage displayed.
+In the face of a fire that mowed down battalions and smashed great
+gaps into their columns they flinched not nor turned. Noticing the
+enemy's persistency, the Sirdar sent bidding General Lyttelton try
+them with long-range volleys from the Lee-Metfords. Major Lord Edward
+Cecil took the message, and Lieutenant H. M. Grenfell got the range
+from the gunners. The Grenadier Guards, who had the honour of being
+the first of our infantry to engage, were ordered to fire section
+volleys to their right at the Khalifa's division; the range 2700
+yards. Standing up and pointing their rifles over the hedge they
+blazed away very steadily at the dervishes. Occasionally they caught
+and slew a group, but at that period it was difficult to make out,
+even through good field-glasses, whether the infantry fire was really
+effective. There was no doubt about what the gunners were doing, for
+horses and riders and footmen were bowled over or sank to the ground
+as shrapnel and common shell struck their ranks. The artillerymen
+invariably trained their weapons to bear upon the front of the densest
+of the dervish columns, seeking to pulverise them. As for the
+Maxims--and I closely watched the effect of their fire through my
+glasses--I am compelled to say that they often failed to settle upon
+the swarming foe. At any rate, their effectiveness was not equal to
+what might have been expected. Would the Khalifa succeed, in the face
+of such an awful cannonade, in reaching the zereba with a corporal's
+guard? But after all, it usually takes tons of iron and lead to kill a
+man. There was marvellous vitality in the dervish masses. Thousands
+were knocked over by the screaming, bursting shells, which made hills
+and plain ring with thunderous uproar. But numbers of the apparently
+killed were merely wounded, and they speedily rose and truculently
+hastened forward anew with their fellow-tribesmen. A diversion that
+told momentarily in the enemy's favour occurred. The extreme dervish
+right at that moment appeared climbing the slopes of Jebel Surgham.
+Emir Melik's wing, hidden from view by that intervening high ground,
+had, as it came on, been reinforced by a part of Yacoub's division. By
+other accounts Osman Digna, as well, had united forces with Melik.
+There suddenly sprang into threatening proximity before us, a force of
+at least fifteen odd thousand men, with a wide surf-line of white,
+red, and gold lettered banners, less than a mile away. Brandishing
+their weapons and shouting "Allah!" down the slopes they ran towards
+the zereba. Emirs rode in front, and gaunt, black riflemen sped like
+hounds, keeping pace with the horses. The guns of one battery, then
+another, and finally all three, upon General Lyttelton's left, were
+turned upon them. Maxims also were swung round, and the long-distance
+volleys were dropped for shorter ranges. The dervish main columns
+which had got shelter in low khors re-appeared, and without pause
+joined in the hot rush for our zereba. Our elated foemen evidently
+thought they would at last be able to close with us. In their
+ignorance they reckoned not with the accuracy and discipline of the
+British infantry fire. Nor had they then learned to dread the
+terrible bullets of our men's Lee-Metford rifles. Later in the day, as
+well as on the following one, I heard many expressions of regret from
+wounded and unwounded dervishes that they were so mad as to charge the
+white soldiers, whose bullets rarely missed. The light was good, the
+hour about 7 a.m., and the ranges shifted rapidly from 1700 yards to
+1500 yards, 1200 yards down to 1000 yards. Guns, Maxims, and rifles
+were blazing in fullest fury at the enemy, as, in their heroic effort,
+they sought to charge home upon us. From wing to wing Gatacre's
+division was firing sharply, a blaze of flame, section volleys and
+independently. The Grenadier Guardsmen's shooting was noted as
+conspicuously steady and deadly effective. Except the two companies of
+the Rifles on the left, who, owing to the nature of the ground on
+their front, could do little, the British infantry were hotly
+occupied. Rifles became too warm to be held, and were in some cases
+changed for those of rear-rank men's. In one or two instances the
+reserves closed up, to give every soldier an opportunity of being
+actually engaged. They took the place of sections in the firing lines,
+whilst their comrades fell back and refilled their cartridge pouches.
+The Lancers sent forward a dismounted squadron or two which filled the
+gap between the zereba and the Nile, whilst the gunboats "Melik" and
+"Sultan" moved in and took part in that stage of the battle. And still
+the dervishes got nearer, swinging up their left, for their right was
+now fairly held by the British fire. Colonels Maxwell's and Lewis's
+brigades had to address themselves to the task of checking the
+Khalifa's attack. Colonel Long had so disposed the cannon and Maxims
+that the guns rendered invaluable help. At that period the main body
+of the dervishes moved forward more carefully, taking cover and
+evidently watching the issue of Yacoub's and Wad Melik's assaulting
+columns.
+
+The army of white flags, led by Yacoub and Wad Melik, exhibited dash,
+courage, and persistence. Never was a column of men so hammered and
+mutilated and probably so surprised. They were torn and thrown about
+as puppets before the hurricane of shell fire, and laid in windrows
+like cut grain before the hail of the Lee-Metfords. Twelve hundred
+short yards away, Surgham's bare slopes were being literally covered
+with corpses and writhing wounded. In sheer blundering brutishness,
+the ferocious dervishes tried to stem the storm. Wave followed wave of
+men, they surged together, inviting greater disaster, but always
+striving to get nearer us. Their front had covered the whole slopes of
+Jebel Surgham and their left overlapped part of the Khalifa's right.
+Death was reaping a gigantic harvest. Hecatombs of slain were being
+spread everywhere in front. The fight was terrible, the slaughter
+dreadful. So far we had scarcely suffered loss, only a few of the
+enemy's riflemen having paused and thought of firing at us. Muskets
+they had discharged in the air, after their manner, when advancing
+from their encampment. But that is one of their customs, employed to
+work up a proper warlike ardour. Viewed from our side, it had been so
+far the least dangerous battle ever soldier bore part in. For five,
+ten minutes, less or more--the drama being enacted was too fearful and
+fascinating for one to take note of time--Yacoub and his legions still
+strove to breast the whirlwind of destruction involving them.
+Battered, torn, rent into groups, the survivors at length began to
+move off rapidly across our front, to their left. As yet there was no
+running away, they were but changing direction and massing at another
+point. With, if possible, swifter, deadlier fire they were followed
+and driven. Maxims, Lee-Metfords, and Martini-Henrys from Maxwell's
+brigade shattered the loose and weakened dervish columns. The few
+rounds fired back at us by the enemy from their Krupp gun and rifled
+cannon, which were stationed near the Khalifa's banner during the
+first part of the action, did no harm. In fact, their shells burst two
+or three hundred yards short of the zereba. At first they were
+mistaken for badly-aimed shells fired by the gunboats, from which a
+few pitched near us, or by the batteries upon our left. For a moment
+the Sirdar was wroth at what was fancied to be our gunners' blundering
+practice. It was quickly discovered, however, that the particular
+shells in question were aimed by the dervishes. Very soon,--whether
+settled by our guns, our Maxims, or by infantry volleys, I know
+not,--the dervish cannon and their foolish efforts to shell our lines
+troubled us no more. We knew afterwards that they had also got one of
+their 5-barrelled Nordenfeldts to work for a while. Nobody in our
+ranks, I think, was actually aware of the fact at the time, so
+indifferent was the aiming and so bad the handling of the gun.
+
+Still, the crucial stage of the first action was not over. The Sheikh
+Ed Din had driven the Egyptian cavalry and Camel Corps from Um
+Mutragan, inflicting loss upon them and getting temporary possession
+of several guns of the horse battery. He was following them up
+vigorously, and the Camel Corps, protected by the gunboats' fire, was
+seeking shelter near the river and close to the north end of the
+zereba, where it luckily succeeded in getting. It was after seven
+a.m., and Colonel Broadwood's troopers were trying to shake off
+flanking parties of the enemy as they rode to the north, towards our
+previous camp. Our batteries were still pounding the Khalifa's main
+body, which had got to within 1400 yards of the south-western angle of
+the zereba. Wavering, and driven before the murderous tornado of
+exploding bombs and pitiless lead, they too swung round and made for
+cover beyond range, flying towards the west and slightly to the rear.
+Yacoub and Melik followed the black flag in the same direction, and
+the dervish left wing edged off to Um Mutragan. They had come, first
+of all, direct, as if intending to assault the western angles of the
+zereba. Then Yacoub and Melik had led them to the right, so that they
+covered Surgham and came on in front of the British division. Blindly
+they had stumbled into the impassable fire from the south face of our
+lines and ultimately relinquishing the task had hastened, as I have
+stated, across our front towards their main body. The guns and Maxims
+withal of Wauchope's and Maxwell's infantry, must have weakened the
+hope in the Khalifa's breast of closing with us. Although the range
+was longer, the central columns had been subjected to almost as
+destructive a cannonading as the dervishes on Surgham's slopes got. So
+far it had been a gunner's day, and to the artillery in the
+preliminary stages, if not--with one exception--in the later, belonged
+the full honours of the fight. At length with one mind, banner-bearers
+and all, swiftly the dervish columns, remaining intact, faced to the
+left, and moved behind the western hills. There was a pause, a respite
+for some minutes, which their jehadieh and others left upon the field
+of battle profited by to crawl upon their stomachs to within 800 yards
+less or more of the zereba, and open a sharp rifle fire upon us.
+Volley firing and shell firing dislodged many of them, but others kept
+potting away, increasing our casualty returns, particularly in the
+1st, or Wauchope's brigade. Just then the battle broke out with
+greater fury than ever. What happened in the dervish army may be
+guessed. Out of immediate danger and re-formed, the Khalifa and Yacoub
+determined upon a second attack. With a rush like a mountain torrent
+three columns spouted from shallow ravines, and at a break-neck run
+came forward. Part of Wad Melik's men uprose from the west sides of
+Surgham, the Khalifa and Yacoub came upon us from the south-west, and
+a smaller body from the west. In half delirium and full frenzy on
+rushed the dervishes. Our guns, knowing the range to a nicety--for
+they were able to see landmarks put down the day before--hurled at
+them avalanches of shell. The vivid air blazed and shook, and the
+hail of Lee-Metfords cut, like mighty scythes, lanes in the columns
+massed ten-deep. Greater resolution and bravery no men ever possessed.
+In face of destruction and death they continued their wild race. But
+they were thinning or being thinned as they drew nearer. When about
+1100 yards away a body of horsemen, two hundred or so, the Khalifa's
+own tribesmen, Taaisha Baggara, chiefs and Emirs, setting spurs to
+their horses charged direct for the zereba. Cannon and Maxims smashed
+them, infantry bullets beat against and pierced through them. At every
+stride their numbers diminished, horses and riders being literally
+blown over or cut and thrown down. Undaunted a remnant held on to
+within two or three hundred yards of Colonel Maxwell's line, where the
+last of the gallant foemen tumbled and bit the dust. Partly encouraged
+by the self-sacrificing devotion of the horsemen, the footmen
+followed. The black flag was carried to within 900 yards of Colonel
+Maxwell's left. Learning from their earlier failure, the Khalifa's men
+directed their attack upon the Egyptian troops. But the British
+division's cross-fire smote them, and the guns and Maxims knocked all
+cohesion out of their ranks. Still defiantly they set their standards
+and died around them. Then I noted there were again signs of wavering
+amongst the main body, who were hanging back. The big black flag was
+stuck in a heap of stones, and the more devoted sought to rally there.
+Abdullah himself and his chiefs endeavoured to collect the broken
+columns. It was attempted in the face of a bombardment that would have
+shaken a city, and a fusilade that ought to have mown down every
+blade of halfa-grass near. But Maxwell's men seemed not quite to get
+the range. The flag and flagstaff were riddled with bullet holes, and
+the dead were being piled around. Still, dervish after dervish sprang
+to uphold the black banner of Mahdism. A herculean black grasped the
+staff in one hand, and leaned negligently against it for what appeared
+to be the space of five or ten minutes,--probably less than one
+minute,--ere the soldiers managed to give him his final quietus. Then
+it was that the remnant of the army of the Khalifa began to melt away.
+It was more than human nature could bear. The dense columns had shrunk
+to companies, the companies to driblets, which finally fled westward
+to the hills, leaving the field white with jibbeh-clad corpses like a
+landscape dotted with snowdrifts.
+
+It was about eight o'clock, and the first action was virtually over
+and won. Good fortune, as the Sirdar admitted, had in many respects
+attended him. With a trifling loss of a few hundred men he had
+discomfited and slain 10,000 of the great dervish army. Presumably,
+Abdullah had lost the flower of his brave and devoted troops. There
+were yet a thousand or more of Jehadieh lying about under cover
+potting at the zereba. Many of them shammed being wounded to get
+closer to us. Sharp volleys and more shell-fire duly disposed of those
+determined snipers. It was from that source, during the critical
+stages of the battle when the infantry were stopping the Khalifa's
+columns, that our chief casualties occurred. Some of these
+sharpshooters crept to within 800 yards of the British lines, and up
+to 400 yards from Maxwell's. It was from them that Captain Caldecott
+received his death-wound and the Cameron losses came. I could not but
+observe the fact, as I walked and rode about behind the firing lines
+during the action. Still, the battle of Omdurman has the right to be
+considered from the victor's point of view the safest action ever
+fought. The Warwick loss in the first action was one officer killed
+and two men wounded; the Camerons, one man killed and two officers and
+eighteen men wounded--Colonel Money had two horses shot under him, as
+at the Atbara; the Seaforths had eighteen men wounded; and the
+Lincolns ten men wounded. In General Lyttelton's brigade the Grenadier
+Guards had one officer, Captain Bagshot, and four men wounded; the
+Northumberland Fusiliers had but one man wounded; the Lancashire
+Fusiliers four men wounded; and the Rifles six men wounded.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE BATTLE OF OMDURMAN--_Continued._
+
+THE CAVALRY FIGHTS--MACDONALD'S SAVING ACTION.
+
+
+Before I deal with the second phase of the battle, there is something
+more to be said of the first. So far I have but written of the
+infantry and the artillery. It is no easy task to give a succinct
+account of a whole catalogue of events happening at the same time over
+so widespread a field. The battle of Omdurman was full of incident and
+of Homeric combats. Whilst we in the zereba were awaiting, ready and
+confident of the issue, the oncoming of the enemy, the two regiments
+of Egyptian cavalry and the Camel Corps, which had advanced on the
+right to Um Mutragan hills,--South Kerreri jebels,--like the 21st
+Lancers at El Surgham on the left were opposing the dervish advance.
+Their orders were to check the dervish left. The nine squadrons of
+troopers with Colonel Broadwood remained on the plain, but the Camel
+Corps, seven companies, with four Maxims, and the horse battery went
+up the west shoulder of one of the Um Mutragan hills. As the dervishes
+were advancing very rapidly, the four Maxims under Captain Franks
+were recalled into the zereba before they had fired a shot, or ere
+the mounted troops got into action. Three dismounted squadrons of
+Egyptian troopers thereupon went forward and temporarily occupied the
+position which had been assigned to the Maxims. The Camel Corps were
+already afoot, and had lined the crest and slopes of the hill, waiting
+to fire as soon as the Mahdists came within range. When the big
+columns of the dervishes, led by the Sheikh Ed Din, Khalifa Khalil and
+Ali Wad Helu, approached nearer, Major Young's horse battery of six
+guns began shelling them at 1500 yards range. The Camel Corps then
+opened a sharp fusilade, and within a few minutes a brisk fight was
+going on. But the enemy neither halted nor stayed in face of the fire.
+It only served to quicken their pace, and they ran forward shooting
+rapidly the while. An order was sent to the Camel Corps to retire at
+once, as the dervishes were seen to be trying to cut them off by
+advancing on both sides of the hill. Before the order carried by
+Lieutenant Lord Tullibardine actually reached them, they had suffered
+severely and were falling back. A large number of men and camels had
+been hit. The cavalry endeavoured to relieve the pressure. Ultimately,
+though hotly pressed by the dervishes who got to within a few hundred
+yards, the Horse Artillery and the Camel Corps took up a second
+position upon a ridge fully half a mile to the rear. From the zereba
+we could see that the mounted troops were being hurried, and that the
+action taking place was an exceedingly sharp one. In fact, before the
+guns and the Camel Corps got into position upon the second ridge, the
+dervishes were firing at them from the summit and slopes of Um
+Mutragan. Major Young had only fired a round or two from his guns when
+the enemy were but 600 yards off. The dervishes were swarming along
+the eastern sides of Um Mutragan, running direct for the guns and the
+Camel Corps. Colonel Broadwood formed his cavalry up to charge, and
+Major Mahan led his regiment of "Gippy" troopers forward. But a
+detachment of the Camel Corps under Captain Hopkinson pluckily stood
+their ground, covering the retirement of their comrades and the
+batteries down the very rough slope. Unfortunately, Captain Hopkinson
+was severely wounded, and a native officer and a number of men were
+killed. Falling back along the east and north sides of the hill the
+force was sorely pressed by the enemy, and a series of brave and
+bristling hand-to-hand encounters took place. Near the crest of a
+hill, one of the "wheelers" of the horse battery was shot. The traces
+could not be cut in time, so the gun had to be abandoned. At the
+critical moment another gun collided with it, and was upset beside the
+first, so both pieces, with, later on, a third, fell temporarily into
+the dervishes' hands. They did nothing with them. Colonel Broadwood,
+on finding the enemy pushing so determinedly, as though they had
+struck the whole of the Sirdar's army, directed the Camel Corps to
+retire to the zereba. Luckily, two of the gunboats, getting sight and
+range of the eager dervishes who were hunting the camelmen, began
+firing with every piece of armament they could bring to bear. I
+assume they saved the situation, for the Camel Corps were hard
+pressed, and lost eighty men before they got to the river and into a
+safe position under the shelter of the gunboats and Macdonald's
+brigade, which was at the north end of the zereba. The myth of a Camel
+Corps as a useful fighting unit had been exploded. Meantime, Colonel
+Broadwood's troopers rode away to the north, trying to shake off
+outflanking parties of dervishes. The Sheikh Ed Din and Khalil
+continued to pursue the cavalry with great eagerness and venom.
+Several times bodies of 200 and 300 Baggara horsemen threatened to
+charge, but Majors Mahan and Le Gallias turning upon these riders sent
+them flying back helter-skelter. For five miles the cavalry was, so to
+speak, driven from pillar to post by the dervish infantry. When the
+pursuit had been pressed four miles, and more, north of the zereba,
+Major Mahan succeeded in clearing the flanks, whereupon the dervishes
+gave up the chase and sat down to rest. One advantage came of the
+hot-headed pursuit; it led two columns of the enemy away, and only a
+portion of those dervish commands got back in time to engage in the
+assault upon the zereba.
+
+When the Khalifa Abdullah, who escaped being killed, retired with his
+shattered army after their futile attack behind the western hills a
+little south of Um Mutragan, it was thought that the fighting spirit
+had been knocked out of the enemy. There was no assurance that if the
+Sirdar and his men followed after the Khalifa the dervishes would risk
+a second battle. They had the legs of us, and would presumably use
+them to run away, or to harass us if we went after them into the
+wilderness. Discreetly and shrewdly the Sirdar decided to march his
+army straight into Omdurman, but six miles distant. We were able to
+move upon inside lines and over open ground, so that if the Khalifa
+meant to race us for the place he would have to fight at a
+disadvantage. The command was issued about 8.30 to prepare to march
+out of camp for Omdurman. Our wounded, who had been borne from the
+field on stretchers, were put upon the floating hospitals. Colonel
+Collinson's brigade was told off to guard stores and material to be
+left behind for a time. Ammunition was drawn from the reserve stores
+afloat, and the supply columns' boxes were refilled, as well as the
+battery limbers and the men's pouches. The army was again equipped for
+action as though it had not fired a shot. Camels were reloaded, and
+all was in readiness for a start. We could see bodies of the enemy
+still flaunting their banners, and watching our every movement from
+the western hills. Wounded dervishes were crawling and dragging
+wearily back from their fated field towards Omdurman. There was the
+occasional crack of a rifle as some dervish sniped us, or invited a
+shot from the Egyptian battalions. Many of our black soldiers actually
+wept with vexation on being withdrawn from the firing line to make
+room for guns and Maxims. One man, who declared he had not fired a
+shot, was only comforted on being assured that the battle was not
+altogether over, that his chance would come later.
+
+I think it was about 9 a.m. when the Sirdar's army, re-formed for
+marching, stepped clear of the zereba and the trenches. The order of
+advance for the infantry was as before, in echelon of brigades, the
+British being on the left and in front. Lyttelton's 2nd brigade was
+leading, Wauchope's was behind it. On the right were Maxwell's and
+Lewis's brigades. Macdonald was to look after our extreme right rear
+flank, whilst Collinson followed in the gap nearer the river.
+Lyttelton's brigade was directed to pass to the left, east of Jebel
+Surgham, Maxwell's left was to extend to and pass over the hill,
+whilst Lewis and Macdonald would sweep part of the valley between
+Surgham and South Kerreri. Such was the general direction to be taken,
+exposing a front measured on the bias, of fully one mile. Once more
+the 21st Lancers trotted out towards Jebel Surgham to make sure there
+were no large bodies of the enemy in hiding. Keeping somewhat closer
+to the river than previously, and avoiding the main field of battle,
+they passed to the east of the hill. Part of their duty was to check,
+if possible, any attempt of the enemy to fall back into Omdurman, or
+at least delay such an operation. Great numbers of scattered dervishes
+were seen, some of whom fired at the troopers. Keeping on until about
+half a mile or more south of Surgham, a small party of dervish
+cavalry, about thirty, and what was thought to be a few footmen, were
+seen hiding in a depression or khor. Colonel Martin determined to push
+the party back and interpose his regiment between them and Omdurman. A
+few spattering shots came from the khor, as the four squadrons formed
+in line to charge. "A" squadron, under Major Finn, was on the
+right, next it was "B" squadron, commanded by Major Fowle. On the left
+of "B" was "D," or the made-up squadron, led by Captain Eadon, and "C"
+squadron, under Captain Doyne, was on the extreme left.
+
+[Illustration: A.
+
+GENERAL VIEW PLAN.
+
+MACDONALD'S FIGHT AND 21ST LANCERS' CHARGE.]
+
+Leading the regiment forward at a gallop from a point 300 yards away,
+the Lancers dashed at the enemy, who at once opened a sharp musketry
+fire upon our troopers. A few casualties occurred before the dervishes
+were reached, but the squadrons closed in and setting the spurs into
+their horses rushed headlong for the enemy. In an instant it was seen
+that, instead of 200 men, the 21st had been called upon to charge
+nearly 1500 fierce Mahdists lying concealed in a narrow, but in places
+deep and rugged, khor. In corners the enemy were packed nearly fifteen
+deep. Down a three-foot drop went the Lancers. There was a moment or
+so of wild work, thrusting of steel, lance, and sword, and rapid
+revolver shooting. Somehow the regiment struggled through, and up the
+bank on the south side. Nigh a score of lances had been left in
+dervish bodies, some broken, others intact. Lieutenant Wormwald made a
+point at a fleeing Baggara, but his sabre bent and had to be laid
+aside. Captain Fair's sword snapped over dervish steel, and he flung
+the hilt in his opponent's face. Major Finn used his revolver, missing
+but two out of six shots. Colonel Martin rode clean through without a
+weapon in his hand. Then the regiment rallied 200 yards beyond the
+slope. Probably 80 dervishes had been cut or knocked down by the
+shock. But the few seconds' bloody work had been almost equally
+disastrous for the Lancers. Lieutenant R. Grenfell and fifteen men had
+been left dead in the khor. It so happened that the squadrons on the
+two wings had comparatively easy going and did not strike the densest
+groups of the enemy. Squadrons "D" and "B" fared badly, and
+particularly Lieutenant Grenfell's troop, of whom ten men fell with
+that officer. In their front was a high rough bank of boulders, almost
+impassable for a horse. They were cut down and hacked by the enemy.
+His brother, Lieutenant H. M. Grenfell, subsequently recovered his
+watch, which had been thrust through by a dervish lance point and had
+stopped at 8.40 a.m. Young Robert Grenfell was probably struck from
+behind with a Mahdist sword blade, and killed instantly as his charger
+was endeavouring to scramble up the wall of loose stones and rock.
+Melees were taking place to right and left, every trooper having any
+difficulty in getting out of the khor being instantly surrounded by
+mounted dervishes and footmen. Lieutenant Nesham in leading his troop
+was savagely attacked. His helmet was cut off his head, and he was
+wounded severely upon the left forearm and right leg. The bridle reins
+of his charger were cut, but he piloted the animal safely through. "B"
+and "D" squadrons lost respectively nine killed and eleven wounded,
+and seven killed and eight wounded. Lieutenant Molyneux, R.H.G., had
+his horse knocked over. He called to a trooper not to leave him, and
+the man replied, "All right, sir, I won't leave you." Together they
+had a busy time. Two dervishes attacked the lieutenant; he shot one,
+but the other cut him over the right arm, causing him to drop his
+revolver. He then ran for it and got away. Lieutenants Brinton and
+Pirie received wounds. Private Ives of "A" squadron picked up a
+wounded comrade in the nullah, and got chased and separated from his
+regiment. He reached the infantry covered with his comrade's blood.
+The latter was killed, but Ives was not seriously hurt.
+
+Lieutenant Montmorency, having got through safely, turned back to look
+for his troop-sergeant Carter. Captain Kenna went with him. At the
+moment they were not aware that young Grenfell had fallen. Lieutenants
+T. Connally and Winston Churchill also turned about to rescue two
+non-commissioned officers of their respective troops. They succeeded
+in their laudable task. Surgeon-Captain Pinches, whose horse had been
+shot under him on the north side of the khor, was saved by the pluck
+of his orderly, Private Peddar, who brought him out on his horse.
+Meanwhile, Captain Kenna and Lieutenant Montmorency, who were
+accompanied by Corporal Swarbrick, saw Lieutenant Grenfell's body and
+tried to recover it. They fired at the dervishes with their revolvers,
+and drove them back. Dismounting, Montmorency and Kenna tried to lift
+the body upon the lieutenant's horse. Unluckily, the animal took
+fright and bolted. Swarbrick went after it. Major Wyndham, the second
+in command of the Lancers, had his horse shot in the khor. He was one
+of the few who escaped after such a calamity. The animal fortunately
+carried him across, up, and beyond the slope ere it dropped down
+dead. Lieutenant Smith, who was near, offered him a seat, and the
+Major grasped the stirrup to mount. Just then--for these events have
+taken longer in telling than in happening--Montmorency and Kenna found
+the dervishes pressing them hard, both being in instant danger of
+being killed. Swarbrick had brought back the horse, and Kenna turned
+to Major Wyndham and gave him a seat behind, then leaving Grenfell's
+body they rejoined their command. Proceeding about 300 yards to the
+south-east from the scene of the charge, Colonel Martin dismounted his
+whole regiment, and opened fire upon the dervishes. Getting into
+position where his men could fire down the khor, a detachment of
+troopers soon drove away the last of the enemy. Thereupon a party
+advanced and recovered the bodies of Lieutenant Grenfell and the
+others who had fallen in the khor.
+
+[Illustration: B.
+
+THE ZAREBA BEFORE THE BATTLE.]
+
+It was a daring, a great feat of arms for a weakened regiment of 320
+men to charge in line through a compact body of 1500 dervish footmen,
+packed in a natural earthwork. Perhaps it is even a more remarkable
+feat that they were able to cut their way through with only a loss of
+22 killed and 50 officers and men wounded and 119 casualties in
+horseflesh. Many of the poor beasts only lived long enough to carry
+their riders out of the jaws of death. One cannot refuse to admire the
+gallant deed, which probably had as good an effect upon the enemy as a
+bigger victory of our arms; but the obvious comment will be that made
+about the Balaclava charge--equally heroic, and not, I honestly think,
+less useful--"C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre." On
+searching the ground inside the khor sixty dead dervishes were found
+where the central squadrons passed over. A small heap lay around
+Lieutenant Grenfell and his troop. Four of our men were found alive,
+but died before they could be moved. A sword-cut had cleft young
+Grenfell's head and given him a painless death. The bodies were, as
+usual, full of sword-cuts and spear-thrusts inflicted by the enemy
+before and after the victims had breathed their last.
+
+
+EGYPTIAN HEROISM.
+
+[Illustration: MACDONALD'S BRIGADE ADVANCING.]
+
+It is a long tale I am telling, but yet the most brilliant and heroic
+episode of a day so full of glowing incident remains to be told. About
+9.20 a.m. the Sirdar led his troops slowly forward towards Omdurman.
+Great as the slaughter had been, thousands of dervishes could be seen
+still watching us from the western hills. Behind them they had
+re-formed again into compact divisions. The Sirdar's direction, I have
+said, was that his troops were to swing clear of the zereba and march
+in echelon with the 2nd British brigade leading Moving out a few
+hundred yards, Lyttelton's brigade, which, as before, marched in four
+parallel columns of battalions, the Guards on the right, swung to the
+left. They were making to pass Surgham, leaving it upon their right.
+The 1st British brigade, Major-General Wauchope's, was behind, and had
+turned to the left to follow the 2nd brigade. Behind, in succession,
+were Maxwell's, Lewis's, and Macdonald's Egyptian or Khedivial
+brigades. The nature of the ground forced some of them out of their
+true relative positions. Macdonald had marched out due west. The
+dervishes, like wolves upon the scent for prey, suddenly sprang from
+unexpected lairs. With swifter feet and fiercer courage than ever they
+dashed for the comparatively isolated brigade of Colonel Macdonald.
+Although I was far away at the moment with the 1st or Lyttelton's
+brigade, the shouts, the noise of the descending tornado reached me
+there. From behind the southern slope of Um Mutragan hills the Khalifa
+was charging Macdonald with an intact column of 12,000 men, the
+banner-bearers and mounted Emirs again in the forefront. A broad
+stream, running from the south and the east, of dervishes who had lain
+hidden sprang up and ran to strike in upon the south-east corner of
+Macdonald's brigade. Worse still, Sheikhs Ed Din and Khalifa
+Khalil, returned from chasing the Egyptian cavalry, were hastening
+with their division at full speed to attack him in rear. Scarcely a
+soul in the Sirdar's army, from the leader down, but saw the
+unexpected singular peril of the situation. I turned to a friend and
+said, "Macdonald is in for a terrible time. Will any get out of it?"
+Then I rode at a gallop, disregarding the venomous dervishes hanging
+about, up the slopes of Surgham, where, spread like a picture, the
+scene lay before me. Prompt in execution, the Sirdar rapidly issued
+orders for the artillery and Maxims to open fire upon the Khalifa's
+big column. Eagerly he watched the batteries coming into action. At
+the same moment the remaining brigades were wheeled to face west, and
+Major-General Wauchope's was sent back at the double to help the
+staunch battalions of Colonel Macdonald, now beset on all sides.
+Fortunately Macdonald knew his men thoroughly, for he had had the
+training of all of them, the 9th, 10th, 11th Soudanese, and the 2nd
+Egyptians under Major Pink. No force could have been in time to save
+them had they not fought and saved themselves. Lewis's brigade was
+nearest, but it was almost a mile away, and the dervishes were wont to
+move so that ordinary troops seemed to stand still. And Lewis, for
+reasons of his own, determined to remain where he was.
+
+[Illustration: SIRDAR DIRECTING ADVANCE ON OMDURMAN.]
+
+[Illustration: C.
+
+PLATE I.
+
+MACDONALD'S BRIGADE.
+
+FIRST ATTACK. KHALIFA'S DIVISION.]
+
+Indecision or flurry would have totally wrecked Macdonald's brigade,
+but happily their brigadier well knew his business. An order was sent
+him which, had it been obeyed, would have ensured inevitable disaster
+to the brigade, if not a catastrophe to the army. He was bade to
+retire by, possibly, his division commander. Macdonald knew better
+than attempt a retrograde movement in the face of so fleet and daring
+a foe. It would have spelled annihilation. The sturdy Highlandman
+said, "I'll no do it. I'll see them d----d first. We maun just fight."
+And meanwhile Major-General A. Hunter was scurrying to hurry up
+reinforcements--a wise measure. Other messages which could not reach
+Macdonald in time were being sent to him by the Sirdar to try and hold
+on, that help was coming. Yes; but the surging dervish columns were
+converging upon the brigade upon three sides. Surely it would be
+engulfed and swept away was the fear in most minds. And what other
+wreck would follow? Ah! that could wait for answer. It was a crucial
+moment. A single Khedivial brigade was going to be tested in a way
+from which only British squares had emerged victorious. Most
+fortunately, Colonel Long, R.A., had sent three batteries to accompany
+Colonel Macdonald's brigade, namely, Peake's, Lawrie's, and de
+Rougemont's. The guns were the handy and deadly Maxim-Nordenfeldt
+(12 1/2-pounders). Macdonald had marched out with the 11th Soudanese on
+his left, the 2nd Egyptian, under Major Pink, in the centre, and the
+10th Soudanese on the right, all being in line. Behind the 10th, in
+column, were the 9th Soudanese. Major Walter commanded the 9th, Major
+Nason the 10th, and Major Jackson the 11th Soudanese battalions. Going
+forward to meet the Khalifa's force Colonel Macdonald threw his
+whole brigade practically into line, disregarding for the moment the
+assaulting columns of Sheikh Ed Din, which providentially were a
+little behind in the attack. The batteries went to the front in
+openings between the battalions and smote the faces of the dervish
+columns. Steadily the infantry fired, the blacks in their own pet
+fashion independently, the 2nd Egyptians in careful, well-aimed
+volleys. Afar we could see and rejoice that the brigade was giving a
+magnificent account of itself. The Khalifa's dervishes were being
+hurled broadcast to the ground. Major Williams at last with his
+15-pounders, our other batteries, and the Maxims were finding the
+range and ripping into shreds the solid lines of dervishes. Still the
+enemy pressed on, their footmen reaching to within 200 yards of
+Macdonald's line. Scores of Emirs and lesser leaders, with spearmen
+and swordsmen, fell only a few feet from the guns and the unshaken
+Khedivial infantry. It is said one or two threw spears across the
+indomitable soldiery, and other dervishes turned the flanks, but were
+instantly despatched. A few salvoes and volleys shook the looser
+attacking columns of dervishes. The Khalifa's division had at length
+received such a surfeit of withering fire that the rear lines began to
+hold back, and the desperate rushes of the chiefs and their personal
+retainers grew fewer and feebler. But Sheikh Ed Din was at length
+within 1000 yards running with his confident legions to encompass and
+destroy the 1st Khedivial brigade. Macdonald, as soon as he saw that
+he could hold his own against the whole array of the Khalifa's
+personally commanded divisions, threw back his right, the 9th, and one
+and then another battery. He was now fairly beset on all sides, but
+fighting splendidly, doggedly. The dervishes, taking fresh courage,
+made redoubled efforts to destroy him. It was by far the finest, the
+most heroic struggle of the day. A second battalion, the famous
+fighting 11th Soudanese, under Jackson, which lost so heavily at
+Atbara, swung round and interposed itself to Khalil's and Sheikh Ed
+Din's fierce followers. Furious as was the blast of lead and iron, the
+dervishes had all but forged in between the 9th and 11th battalions,
+when the 2nd Egyptian, wheeling at the double, filled the gap. Without
+hesitation the fellaheen, let it be said, stood their ground, and,
+full of confidence, called to encourage each other, and gave shot and
+bayonet point to the few more truculent dervishes who, escaping shot
+and shell, dashed against their line.
+
+[Illustration: D.
+
+PLATE II.
+
+MACDONALD'S BRIGADE.
+
+SECOND ATTACK. SHEIKH ED DIN'S MEN.]
+
+It was a tough, protracted struggle, but Colonel Macdonald was slowly,
+determinedly, freeing himself and winning all along the line. The
+Camel Corps came out to his assistance, and formed up some distance
+off on the right of the 11th Soudanese. Shells and showers of bullets
+from the Maxims on the gunboats drove back the rear lines of Sheikh Ed
+Din's men. Three battalions of Wauchope's got up to assist in
+completing the rout of the Khalifa. The Lincolns, doubling to the
+right, got in line on the left of the Camel Corps, and assisted in
+finishing off the retreating bands of the Khalifa's son. I then saw
+the dervishes for the first time in all those years of campaigns
+turn tail, stoop, and fairly run for their lives to the shelter of
+the hills. It was a devil-take-the-hindmost race, and the only one I
+ever saw them engage in through half a score of battles. Beyond all
+else the double honours of the day had been won by Colonel Macdonald
+and his Khedivial brigade, and that without any help that need be
+weighed against the glory of his single-handed triumph. He achieved
+the victory entirely off his own bat, so to speak, proving himself a
+tactician and a soldier as well as what he has long been known to be,
+the bravest of the brave. I but repeat the expressions in everybody's
+mouth who saw the wonderful way in which he snatched success from what
+looked like certain disaster. The army has a hero and a thorough
+soldier in Macdonald, and if the public want either they need seek no
+farther. I know that the Sirdar and his staff fully recognised the
+nature of the service he rendered. A non-combatant general officer who
+witnessed the scene declared one might see 500 battles and never such
+another able handling of men in presence of an enemy. When the final
+rout of the dervishes had been achieved it was about 10 a.m. The
+Sirdar wheeled his brigades to the left, into their original position,
+and marched them straightway towards Omdurman. Passing slowly over the
+battle-field the awful extent of the carnage was made evident. In my
+first wires I insisted that our total casualties were about 500, and
+the enemy's over 10,000 slain. Macdonald lost about 128 men. I
+subsequently ascertained that the total of our killed and wounded was
+about 524. The dervish killed certainly numbered over 15,000, and
+their wounded probably as many more. Mahdism had been more than
+"smashed," it had been all but extirpated. So may all plagues end.
+
+[Illustration: KHALIFA'S CAPTURED STANDARD (SIRDAR EXTREME LEFT).]
+
+On the march the British troops having to swing aside from where the
+Khalifa's black flag still stood, it fell into the hands of an
+Egyptian brigade, and was conveyed to the Sirdar by Captain Sir Henry
+Rawlinson and Major Lord Edward Cecil. It was given to an Egyptian
+orderly to carry behind the headquarters staff. Unfortunately, it
+attracted the attention of some of our own people on the gunboats who
+were unaware it had been captured. Several rounds were fired at the
+supposed dervishes following it, and then it was discreetly furled for
+a time. By midday the army had arrived at the northern outskirts of
+Omdurman, where the troops were halted near the Nile to obtain food
+and water. I rode forward and saw that there were thousands of
+dervishes in the town, many of them Baggara. The cavalry were sent as
+speedily as possible, after watering and feeding the horses, towards
+the south side of the town, and the gunboats were ordered up the
+river. Several deputations of citizens, Greeks and natives, came out
+and saw Slatin Pasha and the Sirdar. It was stated that the people
+would surrender, and that there would be no difficulty in occupying
+the place. The Khalifa, it was said, was in his house and must yield.
+Slatin Pasha, by the way, had gone over the battle-field and
+identified many of the slain Emirs. At 4.20 p.m., with two batteries,
+several Maxims and Colonel Maxwell's brigade leading, the Sirdar rode
+down the great north thoroughfare towards the central part of the
+squalid town. The houses, or more accurately huts, were full of
+dervishes, hundreds of whom were severely wounded. Women and children
+flocked into the streets, raising cries of welcome to us. Of all the
+vile, dirty places on earth, Omdurman must rank first. There was no
+effort at sanitary observances, and dead animals, camels, horses,
+donkeys, dogs, goats, sheep, cattle, in all stages of putrefaction,
+lay about the streets and lanes. There were dead men, women, and
+children, too, lying in the open.
+
+[Illustration: CHIEF THOROUGHFARE, OMDURMAN.
+
+(MULAZIM WALL, LEFT. OSMAN DIGNA'S HOUSE, RIGHT.)]
+
+[Illustration: EFFECT OF SHELL FIRE UPON WALL (MULAZIM ENCLOSURE).]
+
+We passed the big rectangular stone wall enclosing the Khalifa's
+special quarters. Within its area were his Mulazimin or body-guards'
+quarters, his granaries, treasuries, arsenal, the Mahdi's tomb, and
+the great praying square, misnamed the Mosque. Except the tomb, the
+Khalifa's and his sons' houses, the town was void of buildings of any
+style or finish. I admit the great stone wall was of good masonry, and
+so was the well-finished praying-square wall. The Sirdar and party
+were frequently shot at, particularly on nearing the Khalifa's
+quarters. Abdullah slipped out with his treasures as the Sirdar
+arrived at his gate. It was long after sunset and dark when, with
+difficulty, the prison was reached, and Charles Neufeld brought out
+of his loathsome den, where he had spent eleven years in chains. He
+looked well, notwithstanding his long and irksome captivity, feeling,
+as he said, like a man drunk with new wine, on account of his release.
+That night I helped to relieve him from his fetters, freeing the limbs
+from the heavy bar and chains. Tired, worn out, without water or food,
+the Sirdar and his staff, as well as many more of us, were glad to
+escape out of Omdurman back to where the British camp was pitched in
+the northern outskirts. There I and others lay down and fell asleep on
+the bare desert, hoping to wake and find that our servants and
+baggage had turned up. Two of my colleagues had fared worse than I
+that day. Colonel F. Rhodes, of the _Times_, had been shot in the
+shoulder within the zereba early in the fight, and the Hon. Hubert
+Howard, of the _New York Herald_, was killed almost under my eyes, in
+the paved courtyard of the Khalifa, opposite the Mahdi's tomb. Such is
+the hasty record of as exciting and interesting a battle and a day's
+campaigning as it ever fell to mortal man to witness. Neither in my
+experience nor in my reading can I recall so strange and picturesque a
+series of incidents happening within the brief period of twelve
+hours.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+STORIES OF THE BATTLE--OMDURMAN.
+
+
+There are numberless incidents and details remaining untold of the
+great battle and the fall of Omdurman. So singular and interesting an
+action is almost without parallel. "That villainous gunpowder" of
+former days was so sparingly used in the fight by the Sirdar's army
+that every part of the battle-field could be plainly seen. In the
+first stage the heaviest firing was by the British; the Lee-Metfords
+with cordite made little or no smoke. Maxwell's men of the Khedivial
+army, with their Martini-Henrys, never fired so fast as to cause any
+thick white cloud to shut out the view and hang between them and the
+enemy. Lewis's and Macdonald's brigades were never very heavily
+engaged whilst the troops remained zerebaed. Perhaps it was the light
+south wind which blew the men's rifle smoke behind us at once, but
+that was not what I thought. There seemed to be none to blow away. I
+recall that in the thick of the battle of Tamai with Davis's square,
+and at Abu Klea, the smoke cloud that hung like a curtain before our
+eyes was a source of danger. Save for the erratic, occasional whizzing
+of the enemy's bullets, the thud of a hit and the dropping, weltering
+in his blood, of a man here and there, watched from our firing lines
+the combat enlisted and fascinated the attention with barely a
+suggestion of danger to the onlooker. Few will ever see again so great
+and brave a show. A vast army, with a front of three miles, covering
+an undulating plain--warriors mounted and afoot, clad in quaint and
+picturesque drapery, with gorgeous barbaric display of banners,
+burnished metal, and sheen of steel--came sweeping upon us with the
+speed of cavalry. Half-a-dozen batteries smote them, a score of Maxims
+and 10,000 rifles unceasingly buffeted them, making great gaps and
+rending their ranks in all directions. With magnificent courage,
+without pause, the survivors invariably drew together, furiously,
+frenziedly running to cross steel with us. Their ardour and mad
+devotion won admiration on all sides in our own ranks. Poor, misguided
+Jehadieh and hocussed Arabs of the spacious and cruel Soudan! With
+such troops disciplined and trained by English officers the policing
+of Africa would be an easy affair. Try and try as they did, they could
+not moving openly pass through our blasts of fire. Some few there were
+who got by subtler means to within 600 yards of the British front and
+200 yards from Maxwell's blacks, there to yield their lives.
+
+Among the earliest, if not the first man, wounded in the zereba on 2nd
+September was Corporal Mackenzie, of "C" Company Seaforth Highlanders.
+About 6.10 a.m. he was hit in the leg by a ricochet. The wound was
+dressed, and Mackenzie stuck to his post. At 6.30 a.m., when the
+action was almost in full swing, as Private Davis and Corporal Taylor,
+R.A.M.C., were carrying a wounded soldier upon a stretcher to the
+dressing hospital, Davis was shot through the head and killed, and
+Taylor was severely wounded in the shoulder.
+
+Whilst our batteries were hurling death and destruction from the
+zereba at the Khalifa's army, Major Elmslie's battery of 50-pounder
+howitzers was battering the Mahdi's tomb to pieces and breaching the
+great stone wall in Omdurman. The practice with the terrible Lyddite
+shells was better than before, and the dervishes, even more clearly
+than we, must have seen from the volcanic upheavals when the missiles
+struck, that their capital was being wrecked. It must have been
+something of a disillusion to many of them to note that the sacred
+tomb of their Mahdi was suffering most of all from the infidels' fire.
+Several of the gunboats assisted in the bombardment, but their chief
+duty was to drive all bodies of the enemy away from the river. Major
+Elmslie threw altogether some 410 Lyddite shells into Omdurman. Most
+of them detonated, but there were a few that merely flared. It was the
+fumes from these that imparted a chrome colour to the surrounding
+earth and stonework. Why the Khalifa did not make greater use of his
+artillery and musketry became more of a puzzle than ever when we saw
+how well provided he was in both respects. He had a battery of
+excellent big Krupps that were never fired, besides eight or ten
+machine guns. As for rifles, his men must have carried at least 25,000
+into action against us. Had they employed these in "sniping" as at
+Abu Kru, the Sirdar would have had to march out and attack them.
+
+The victory of Omdurman owed much to the masterly serving of the
+artillery. Even in Macdonald's severely contested action, the three
+batteries of Maxim-Nordenfeldt 12 1/2-pounders did much to save the
+situation. These were Peake's, Lawrie's, and de Rougemont's, with, in
+the latter part of the fight, three Krupp guns of the horse artillery.
+The Camel Corps also brought up two Maxims to help at the close of the
+battle to repulse Sheikh Ed Din. Macdonald handled his guns as
+superbly as he did his infantry. At the Atbara against Mahmoud, the
+light powerful Maxim-Nordenfeldts had proved that they could be
+successfully fought side by side with infantry. Between the battalion
+intervals, therefore, the dauntless gunners stood firing point-blank
+at the dervish columns. Throughout the battle Major Williams' 32nd
+Field Battery, R.A., fired 420 rounds. Three of the Maxim-Nordenfeldt
+batteries (all Egyptian) fired 100 rounds per gun, whilst Major
+Lawrie's battery, No. 4 Egyptian, also Maxim-Nordenfeldt guns, fired
+over that number, or 900 rounds in all. All these batteries were of
+six guns each. Captain Smeaton fired from his six Maxims, stationed in
+the zereba south-east corner, 54,000 rounds. One of the wants much
+felt by the gunners was the need of more shrapnel during the action.
+Twice at least the allowance supply was temporarily exhausted. Yet it
+is not to be assumed on that account that the reserve ammunition was
+difficult to be got at or that the firing lines were insufficiently
+fed. The arrangements in these respects were admirable. During the
+zereba action, the Grenadier Guards fired the largest number of
+rounds. The Camerons fired 34 rounds per man. Five companies of the
+Lincolns in the firing line, 32 rounds each man. The Northumberland
+Fusiliers fired in all 1200 rounds, and the Lancashire Fusiliers 400
+rounds.
+
+Many of our wounded were hit with bullets from elephant guns, brass
+cased Mausers, Remingtons, and repeating rifles. The great majority of
+the dervishes carried Remingtons, and these, as a rule, were in
+passably good condition. Probably they were officers or crack shots
+among the Jehadieh and Arabs that fired into the zereba with the small
+bore Mausers. Most of their shooting was too high, though the
+direction was right enough. When the first phase of the action ceased
+at 8.30 a.m., hundreds, if not thousands of wounded dervishes upon the
+field rose and moved away. Some of these were seen going back towards
+Omdurman, others walked towards the west to rejoin their friends. No
+attempt was made on our side to molest them, the order to "cease fire"
+having been given. It was either then or a little earlier that the
+large body of natives, possibly camp followers, behind the Khalifa's
+force, melted away, flowing back to the town. At that time some of our
+army camp followers, or servants, went forward from the zereba to pick
+up trophies from the field. A party of four went towards a small group
+of dead dervishes lying about 300 yards on the left front of Maxwell's
+brigade. I noticed them picking up spears and swords. A correspondent
+rode out to join them, Mr Bennett Stanford, who was formerly in the
+"Royals." In company with another colleague I rode out from the
+British lines to join him, curious to see the effect of our fire. At
+the moment a dervish arose, apparently unwounded, and spear in hand
+charged the servants, who incontinently bolted back to the zereba. My
+companion also turned back, but I was yet over 200 yards away, and so
+rode forward. One of the men attacked by the dervish was a native
+non-commissioned officer. He had followed the others out. Dropping
+upon his knee he aimed at the dervish, but his Martini-Henry missed
+fire. He fired again and missed, then, the dervish being very near
+him, ran for the zereba. Mr Bennett Stanford, who was splendidly
+mounted, with a cocked four-barrelled Lancaster pistol aimed
+deliberately at the dervish, who turned towards him. Waiting till the
+jibbeh-clad warrior was but a score of paces or so off, Mr Stanford
+fired, and appeared to miss also, for the dervish without halt rushed
+at him, whereupon he easily avoided him, riding off. Then the dervish
+turned to the soldier who, encumbered with his rifle, did not run
+swiftly. By that time I had drawn up so as to interpose between them,
+passing beyond the dervish. I pulled up my rather sorry nag--my best
+was for carrying despatches--and took deliberate aim. The dervish
+turned upon me as I wished. I fired and believe hit him, and as my
+horse was jibbing about fired a second shot from my revolver with less
+success, then easily got out of the dervish's reach. He had a heavy
+spear and showed no sign of throwing it as I rode away, keeping well
+out of his reach. The camp followers by then were all safe, and so was
+the native soldier, Mr Dervish having the field very much to himself.
+Thereupon an A.D.C., Lieutenant Smyth, came galloping out and riding
+hard past, fired at the fellow but missed. Checking his horse
+Lieutenant Smyth wheeled it about, and he and the dervish collided.
+The man, who by this time appeared somewhat weak, grabbed the
+Lieutenant and strove to drive his lance into him. With great
+hardihood Lieutenant Smyth fired his revolver in the dervish's face,
+killing him instantly. It was a wondrous narrow escape for the
+Lieutenant. The instant afterwards I asked him if he had been badly
+wounded, but he declared that he was untouched, a statement I could
+scarcely credit, and so repeated my question in another form, to
+receive a similar answer. In the excitement of the moment he no doubt
+did not feel the slight spear wound he actually received upon the arm,
+which saved him from the thrust aimed at his body. An examination of
+the dead dervish showed he had received four bullet wounds.
+
+The following is a brief and well-balanced account of the charge of
+the Lancers furnished me by an officer who was present:--"We moved
+along to the left--_i.e._, east of Surgham--following up the enemy on
+that flank. Our object was to prevent them retiring into Omdurman or,
+at any rate, delay their retreat. A body of dervishes were seen
+crouching not far off to the right. Colonel Martin determined to push
+the enemy back and interpose between them and the town. The regiment,
+of four squadrons, was wheeled into line. When 300 yards off we
+started to charge, and were met by a heavy musketry fire from the
+enemy. At first it was ill-directed, but very soon casualties occurred
+in our ranks from it. Instead of a few dervishes, we tumbled upon over
+500 hidden in a fold of the ground. They were in a khor, or nullah,
+into which we had to drop, and they lined it twenty deep in places.
+Our weight, however, carried us through. The dervishes, when we struck
+them, did not break, but "bunched" together, showing no fear of
+cavalry. There was half a minute's hacking, cutting, spearing, and
+shooting in all directions; then we cleared them, and rallied on the
+far side. Halting about 300 yards off, men were dismounted, and we
+opened a sharp fire from our carbines on the enemy, driving them to
+the westward in ten minutes. The charge was really successful in its
+object, as the retirement from that part of the field into Omdurman
+was stopped. We left perhaps sixty dervishes on the field in the
+charge, and killed about 100 more with our subsequent fire." The
+dervish leader who was sitting on a fine black Dongolawi horse was
+killed in the melee. A trooper met him in the khor and ran him through
+with his spear.
+
+By far the finest feature of that morning of battles was the action
+fought by Colonel Macdonald with his brigade. The dervish forces that
+sought to crush him numbered fully 20,000 men. To oppose them he had
+but four battalions, or in all less than 3000 Soudanese and Egyptian
+soldiers. With a tact, coolness, and hardihood I have never seen
+equalled, Colonel Macdonald manoeuvred and fought his men. They
+responded to his call with confidence and alacrity begotten of long
+acquaintance and implicit faith in their leader. He had led several of
+the battalions through a score of fierce fights and skirmishes, always
+emerging and covering himself and his men with glory, honour and
+victory. All of them knew him, they were proud of him, and reposed
+implicit confidence in their general. Unmistakably the Khalifa and his
+son, the Sheikh Ed Din, thought that their fortunate hour had
+come--that, in detail, they would destroy first Macdonald, then one by
+one the other Khedivial brigades. What might have been, had father and
+son arrived at the same time and distance on both sides of Macdonald,
+as they evidently intended, I will not venture to discuss. Happily the
+onslaughts of the wild, angry dervishes did not quite synchronise, and
+Colonel Macdonald was able to devote virtually his whole firing
+strength to the overthrow of the Khalifa's division ere rapidly
+turning about first one then another of his battalions to deal with
+the Sheikh Ed Din's unbroken columns. The enemy on both sides got very
+close in, hundreds of them being killed almost at the feet of the men
+of the 1st Khedivial brigade. Dervish spears were thrown into and over
+the staunch and unyielding Soudanese and Fellaheen soldiery. Peake's,
+Lawrie's, and de Rougemont's batteries stood their ground, side by
+side with the infantry, never wavering, firing point-blank upon the
+dervish masses. Majors Jackson, Nason, and Walter were, as usual,
+proud of the steadiness of their blacks--the 11th, 10th, and 9th
+battalions--whilst Major Pink, of the 2nd Egyptian, was elated with
+the stout way his soldiers doubled, wheeled, and at a critical moment
+rushed to fill up a gap near one of the batteries. The "Gippies"
+looked without flinching straight into the eyes of the dervishes, and
+fired volleys that would have done credit to a British regiment. The
+hulking, physically strong "Fellah" had at last taken the measure of
+his enemy, and meant to prove himself the better man of the two. And
+he did--delighted with himself and his comrades, calling to them,
+chiding the dervishes, and stepping out of the ranks to meet the
+onrush of those of the enemy who came near, to stop it with bullet or
+bayonet. But chief of all was Macdonald, going hither and thither and
+issuing his orders as if on parade, with a sharp snap to each command.
+Two armies saw it all, and one at least admired his intrepid valour.
+One hundred black-flag Taaisha, the Khalifa's own Baggara tribesmen
+and part of his body-guard, charged impetuously. Spurring their horses
+to their utmost speed leading the footmen, down they came straight for
+the brigade. Cannon, Maxims, and rifles roared, and, bold as the
+Taaisha rode, neither horse nor man lived to get within one hundred
+yards of our Soudanese and Gippies. Steady as a gladiator, with what
+to some of us looked like inevitable disaster staring him in the face,
+Colonel Macdonald fought his brigade for all it was worth. He quickly
+moved upon the best available ground, formed up, wheeled about, and
+stood to die or win. He won practically unaided, for the pinch was all
+but over when the Camel Corps, hurrying up, formed upon his right,
+after he had faced about to receive the Sheikh Ed Din's onslaught. The
+Lincolns, who arrived later on, helped to hasten the flight of the
+enemy, whose repulse was assured ere they or any of Wauchope's brigade
+were within 1200 yards of Macdonald. Lewis's brigade were not even
+able to assist so much, and such outside help as came in time to be of
+use was in the first instance from the guns of Major Williams' and
+another battery, and the Maxims upon the left near Surgham hurried
+forward by the Sirdar himself, as I saw. General Hunter came over to
+the headquarters-staff galloping to get assistance, and rode back with
+Wauchope's brigade, which doubled for a considerable distance, so
+serious was the situation and nervous the tension of that thrilling
+ten minutes. Had the brilliant, the splendid deed of arms wrought by
+Macdonald been done under the eyes of a sovereign, or in some other
+armies, he had surely been created a General on the spot. If the
+public are in search of the real hero of the battle of Omdurman there
+he is, ready made--one who committed no blunder to be redeemed by
+courageous conduct afterwards. He boldly exercised his right of
+personal judgment in a moment of extreme peril, and the result amply
+justified the soundness of his decision.
+
+It was about 11.50 a.m. when the Sirdar wheeled his army about to
+resume the march upon Omdurman. The dervishes who had escaped
+slaughter had bent their bodies and run from the fatal field, going
+far off behind the western range of hills. Moving slowly and in
+echelon, as when we first set out, we passed over part of the
+battle-field. Groups of unwounded dervishes, who insisted on fighting
+and sniping the troops, had to be dealt with as well as all others who
+persisted in being truculent. Like everybody else at the head of the
+column, I was shot at repeatedly. All of the enemy, however, who
+showed the least disposition to surrender were left unmolested.
+Hundreds of dervishes who had been wounded hobbled on in front of our
+army. We could see the Khalifa's forces behind the hills watching us
+and streaming upon a parallel line towards Omdurman. But the dervishes
+were no longer in compact military array or ranged in division under
+chiefs. They were mostly scattered in small groups and bands spread
+over a very wide area. It was a rabble, and had lost semblance of
+being an army with power of concerted action. When Macdonald's fight
+was over, the Egyptian cavalry under Colonel Broadwood returned and
+formed up near the camelry. They, with the Camel Corps, moved forward
+on the right as before during the final advance upon the Khalifa's
+capital. Men and horses had done a week of the hardest kind of work,
+but both were yet willing and full of spirit. As for the 21st Lancers,
+the few mounts remaining fit for work scarcely counted as a cavalry
+force. The gunboats and the infantry saw to our left, which was not
+difficult, for upon that hand the country was quite bare. About 2 p.m.
+the army reached the northern outskirts of Omdurman, the British
+division upon the left. Gatacre's men were nearest the Nile, Maxwell
+and Lewis being almost opposite one of the main thoroughfares of the
+town. A halt for water--the great necessity--food, and rest was
+ordered. Parties were instantly detailed to fill water-bottles and
+fantasses, iron tanks. The cooks, too, got to work, and fires were
+kindled with wood torn from neighbouring huts, and a meal was
+prepared. Under the burning sunshine, down upon the loose dirt and
+gravel, officers and men sprawled to rest themselves. There was a very
+muddy creek or inset near, and thither went thousands, parched with
+thirst, to drink, not hesitatingly but gulping down copious draughts
+of water, tough and thick as from a clay puddle. I wandered with my
+horse a little way into the town, and ultimately down towards the main
+stream of the Nile, where the water was cleaner and cooler than by the
+halting-place. There were plenty of dervishes to be seen about,
+looking from lanes and walls, but they were far from being
+particularly aggressive at that part of the town. Indeed, several
+large groups of men, Arabs and negroes, came up bearing white rags on
+sticks in front of them. I went forward and met parties of them, and
+advised them to go into the British lines, where the soldiers would
+receive them as friends. Watering my horse, I let him feed on grass by
+the river's brink, filled my water-bottle, and then returned by a
+circuitous route. The natives were not all inclined to be friendly,
+for a few preferred shooting at the stranger. But their practice was
+very bad.
+
+Returning to where the troops still lay, I found that a fresh movement
+was afoot. Report had been brought that hundreds of lesser sheikhs and
+leaders were in the town ready to surrender with their followers if
+their lives would be spared. The assurance sought was quickly conveyed
+to them. Slatin Pasha, who had been indefatigable on the battle-field,
+watching the course of events and locating the commands of the various
+important dervish chiefs, had received news that the Khalifa was still
+in the town. The Pasha, on passing over the field, had searched around
+the black flag and other noted leaders' banners to see who lay there.
+In the heaped dead about the Khalifa's flag he had seen Yacoub,
+Abdullah's brother, and many more leaders, but the arch head of
+Mahdism, the Sheikh Ed Din and Osman Digna were nowhere to be found.
+Amongst the dead Emirs identified were Osman Azrak, leader of the
+cavalry, Wad el Melik, Ali Wad Helu, Yunis, Ibrahim Khalil, Mahmoud's
+brother, el Fadl, Osman Dekem, Zaki Ferar, Abu Senab, Mousa Zacharia,
+and Abd el Baki. The Khalifa had come into action riding a horse. As
+that did not suit him he changed for a camel and, finding the latter
+position too dangerously conspicuous, rode off the field on
+donkey-back. Perhaps the most concise summing up of the battle fell
+from a "Tommy's" lips: "Them dervishes are good uns, and no mistake.
+They came on in thousands on thousands to lay us out, but we shifted
+them fast enough."
+
+It was not quite four o'clock, afternoon. Slatin Pasha had got news
+from former friends that the fugitives and townspeople would gladly
+surrender, so the sooner the Sirdar marched in and took possession the
+better. True, the Khalifa with several hundreds of followers, or
+mayhap a thousand or more, was yet within the central part of
+Omdurman. Most of his Jehadieh, it was urged, would give in at once if
+an opportunity were afforded them, and Abdullah could be caught. With
+Maxwell's brigade, Major Williams' battery and several Maxims, the
+Sirdar and headquarters staff pushed along the wide thoroughfare that
+leads from the north past the west end of the great rectangular wall,
+towards the Mosque inclosure and Mahdi's tomb. The infantry, guns, and
+Maxims preceded but a few paces in front. Vile beyond description was
+Omdurman, its dwellings, streets, lanes, and spaces. Beasts pay more
+regard to sanitation than dervishes. Pools of slush and stagnant water
+abounded. Dead animals in all stages of decomposition lay there in
+hundreds and thousands. There were besides littering the place camels,
+horses, donkeys, dead and wounded fresh from the battle-field. And
+there were many other ghastly sights. Dead and wounded dervishes lay
+in pools of blood in the roadway. Several of the dying enemy grimly
+saluted the staff as we passed. An Emir who, horribly mauled by a
+shell, lay pinned under his dead horse waved his hand and fell back a
+corpse. Our guns and Maxims had opened once or twice to turn the armed
+fugitives from the town. The compounds and huts were full of wounded
+and unwounded dervishes, most of the latter having Remingtons and
+waist-belts full of cartridges, besides carrying spears and swords.
+In the open thoroughfares there were many bodies of women and children
+lying stark and stiff. The majority of these victims were young girls.
+Many of the poor creatures had evidently been running towards the
+river to try and escape when caught and killed by jealous and cruel
+masters or husbands. The scenes were shocking, the smells abominable
+and quite overpowering to many who sought to ride in with the General.
+
+There was something like a reception for the Sirdar on his entering
+the town. The women and children, mostly slaves, filled the
+thoroughfares, and in their peculiar guinea-fowl cackling fashion
+cheered the troops. Notables in jibbehs, which they had not yet had
+time to turn inside out, as nearly every native did afterwards, came
+and salaamed, smote their breasts, and kissed the hands and even the
+garments' hem of the Sirdar and his staff. In truly Oriental fashion
+they completed the ceremonial of obeisance and fealty by throwing dust
+upon their already frowsy enough heads. It was curious to watch the
+various recognitions extended to Slatin, and how the latter did not
+forget his old friends, who had been kind to him, or his Eastern
+manners in exchanging courtesies. When they realised that we were not
+cannibals, which they did very quickly, and that the Khalifa and
+others must have deceived them, they ran about amongst the troops. It
+was with difficulty at times the ranks were kept clear of them. Our
+Western leniency surprised them. The Sirdar shook hands with certain
+of the notables, including several of the Greeks and Jaalin. One of
+the most extraordinary incidents was the appearance of the Khalifa's
+own band with drums and horns to play in the 13th Soudanese. Evidently
+it was a case of black relations, for they played the battalion, Major
+Smith-Dorian's, out as well as into town on the following day.
+
+The people were ordered to carry the good news about that none who
+gave up their arms would be killed or hurt, and that there was no
+intention on our part to sack the town or injure anybody. What? A
+captured city in the Soudan not to be given over to the victorious
+troops to do with as they liked! I am sure the natives of both sexes
+were amazed. And I cannot say all looked quite satisfied at the
+announcement. The crowd in the streets quickly increased; they
+evidently believed that we meant them no harm, and that they could do
+as they liked. In the bombardment the Lyddite shells had knocked down
+a gateway leading into the buildings and square mile of town enclosed
+by the great rectangular stone wall built by the Khalifa. For a space
+of fifty yards, several big holes had been blown in the structure,
+which was fourteen feet high and over four feet in thickness. Some of
+these breaches led into the beit-el-mal, or public granary. A few
+wretched, hungry slaves ventured to help themselves to the grain,
+chiefly dhura, that had partly poured out into the street. No one
+interfered with them. Within half an hour all the women and children
+in the town apparently, to the number of several thousands, were
+running pell-mell to loot the granary. Men also joined in plundering
+the Khalifa's storehouse. They ran against our horses, tripped over
+each other and fell in their crazy haste to fill sacks, skins, and
+nondescript vessels of all sorts--metal, wood and clay--with grain.
+Women staggered under burdens that would assure their households of
+food for months. It became a saturnalia and jubilee for the long,
+half-starved slaves, men and women. By-and-by looting became more
+general. The houses of Emirs who had run away or been killed were
+entered and plundered by the populace. Donkeys were caught and loaded
+with spoils of war, and driven off to huts on the outskirts near where
+the troops bivouacked after their long and fatiguing day. During the
+earlier part of that night there was much noise and hubbub in Omdurman
+with constant firing of rifles. Maxwell's men, however, assisted by
+numbers of friendly Jaalin, finally succeeded in enforcing something
+like order and peace.
+
+[Illustration: KHALIFA'S HOUSE.]
+
+After the reception near the centre of the town the Sirdar proceeded
+with part of Colonel Maxwell's brigade along the west side of the big
+wall. Osman Digna's house was passed on the way. We got as far as the
+south-west corner into full view of the Mahdi's tomb, which was about
+400 yards to the east. In the same direction and equidistant was the
+Khalifa's house. Beside us was the Praying Square or Mosque, a space
+of bare ground of about ten acres or so in extent. As soon as the
+troops got beyond the big wall and in sight of the tomb and Khalifa's
+house, a brisk fusilade from Remingtons by the Jehadieh body-guard
+protecting Abdullah was opened against us. Fortunately, the big stone
+wall was not loopholed on either side. Indeed there appeared to be no
+provision for its defenders to fire from it unless they mounted to
+the top. The Sirdar and staff fell back, and the guns and Maxims went
+forward a little. Maxwell's men then dealt with the enemy, and the
+Sirdar, still led by Slatin Pasha, whom the dervishes called
+"Saladin," turned back to try and make his way through the breaches in
+the north wall. Troops were sent in to clear the compound of
+dervishes, most of whom surrendered at once. But exit upon the south
+side was barred by interior walls and gates. Then the Sirdar essayed
+going along by the river's margin between the wall, the Nile, and the
+forts, to turn the south-east angle. A sharp and accurate fire from
+the Jehadieh stopped that advance for a time. Gunboats were ordered
+forward to drive the dervishes from their cover. The soldiers pushed
+farther through the compound, and the gunboats swept the Jehadieh with
+Maxims and quick-firing cannon. About 5 p.m., with the shadows rapidly
+lengthening, the rough way between the river and the great wall was
+partly cleared of the enemy. Thereupon the Sirdar and staff forded a
+dirty, wide creek, the crossing being girth high, and trotted a few
+hundred yards up stream. With double teams, four guns of the 32nd
+Battery, Major Williams', were got across the pool, accompanying the
+headquarters.
+
+Entering a gateway through the outer rectangular wall, the force moved
+towards the Mahdi's tomb and the Khalifa's chief residence or palace.
+The Sirdar and staff reined up before Abdullah's doorway, for the
+dervish leader's house was surrounded by an inner wall and various
+small buildings. We were in a higgledy-piggledy looking corner,
+surrounded by rough shelters or stables for animals, horses and
+camels, and the unfinished but covered approaches to the Mahdi's tomb.
+The staff sat on horseback facing the doorway and dwelling; I pulled
+in opposite beside an angle of the wall. Upon the Sirdar's right were
+some corrugated iron roofed sheds, and a little in front the Praying
+Square. Behind was the Mahdi's tomb, and at no great distance various
+important dervish buildings. Abdullah had so planted himself that he
+had easy and private access to all places of public resort as well as
+the official quarters.
+
+[Illustration: MAHDI'S TOMB--EFFECT OF LYDDITE SHELLS.]
+
+Slatin Pasha, Colonel Maxwell, and several soldiers, with one or two
+others, went in and searched for the Khalifa. A few minutes previously
+he had slipped out by a back door with the more important part of his
+personal treasures. His harem had been sent away earlier in the day.
+Mr Hubert Howard, correspondent of the _New York Herald_ and the
+London _Times_, was near the headquarters staff. He came over to where
+I was and chatted. To a companion who had joined me he offered some
+cigarettes. He said it had been a splendid day, and he had seen much.
+Nothing could have been better than the way things turned out, and he
+was glad he had been through it from first to last, cavalry charge
+included. Then he said he would like to get a photograph or two of the
+surroundings and the Khalifa's house. I told him the light was spent
+and he could get no good results. He said he would try, and rode
+inside the courtyard. A minute or less later, there was the roar and
+crash of a shrapnel shell, which burst over our heads in very
+dangerous proximity. The iron and bullets struck the walls and rattled
+upon the corrugated iron roofs alongside. "That," I said to my
+companion and an artillery officer hard by, "was one of our own guns."
+The officer, Major Williams, I think, replied he feared indeed that it
+was so. A similar opinion was apparently entertained by the Sirdar and
+staff, for gallopers were sent to the officer in charge of the two
+guns of the 32nd Battery left on the west side of the wall in the main
+thoroughfare, to cease firing at once. Before riding up to the
+Khalifa's door the Sirdar had hailed the gunboats, and one of them,
+the "Sultan," came near enough inshore for us to converse with those
+on board and for the commander to receive orders to stop all firing at
+Abdullah's quarters. A few seconds after the first shrapnel burst,
+another pitched over our heads, aimed apparently like the previous one
+at the Khalifa's compound. Indeed, it appeared so later, for those of
+our men at the south-west corner of the wall saw a number of armed
+Jehadieh who were gathering behind Abdullah's compound. The Maxims
+also opened fire on what was probably a body of the enemy covering
+Abdullah's retirement, and who, at any rate, were firing at the
+troops. Immediately after the second shell exploded the Sirdar and
+headquarters rode off, returning by the road we entered, to the main
+thoroughfare upon the west side of the enclosing wall. I remained a
+few minutes longer, two shells bursting overhead in the interval, and
+with my companion retraced our steps, rejoining the headquarters'
+following. Mr Hubert Howard was struck upon the side of the head by a
+bullet or fragment of a shell and killed instantly. His body was
+removed and covered up by Colonel Maxwell and his men.
+
+[Illustration: INTERIOR MAHDI'S TOMB (GRILLE AROUND SARCOPHAGUS).]
+
+[Illustration: KHALIFA'S GALLOWS (CUTTING DOWN HIS LAST VICTIM).]
+
+Arrangements were made for the instant pursuit of the Khalifa, who, I
+was told, only left his palace about five o'clock or sometime after we
+had penetrated into Omdurman. Notables and dervishes who came in to us
+were freely used by the staff to run hither and thither conveying
+intimation to all their friends, that the war being over they should
+lay down their arms. In that way the news of the collapse of Mahdism
+was widely spread, and bands of thirty and forty of the Jehadieh and
+even of the Baggara surrendered. The presence of our Soudanese
+soldiers facilitated matters, for they saw in them, at any rate,
+countrymen. I had no difficulty in persuading several large groups of
+dervishes, whom I could see from my horse inside their compounds, to
+come out into the lanes or roadway and lay down their rifles. By such
+means the headquarters' advance through the town was made possible and
+relatively easy. The sun had set and darkness was upon us before the
+Sirdar and staff, going at times in single file, reached the common
+prison where the Assouan merchant, Charles Neufeld, was confined.
+Whilst accompanying a convoy of rifles presented by the Egyptian
+Government in 1886 to Sheikh Saleh of the friendly Kabbabish tribe,
+Neufeld had been captured by a party of dervishes. Like the other
+European prisoners who fell into their hands, he had undergone great
+hardships and experienced all the trials of misfortune. Neufeld and
+several hundred natives who had incurred the Khalifa's ire or distrust
+were found in a pestilential enclosure less than an acre in extent,
+surrounded by mud-walls. All of them wore heavy leg chains, and a
+few were handcuffed besides. The principal jail deliveries were by
+disease and the gallows; the latter were almost daily in use. Three
+rough sets of them stood together near the great wall. Limbs of trees
+stuck into the ground, with a cross-piece overhead, that was how the
+gallows were fashioned. A last victim of the Khalifa was cut down
+shortly after the troops entered Omdurman.
+
+[Illustration: NEUFELD ON GUNBOAT "SHEIK"--CUTTING OFF HIS
+ANKLE-IRONS.]
+
+Neufeld was found under a mat-covered lean-to built against the
+mud-wall. There was no other protection for the prisoners from
+sunshine or rain than coarse worn matting spread upon sticks and laid
+against the walls. The enclosure was without any sanitary arrangements
+whatever. A well had been dug near the middle of the yard and from
+there the prisoners drew all the water they used. The Sirdar conversed
+with the prisoner, and a fruitless effort was made to find the jailer
+and have Neufeld's irons removed. Ultimately, when night had quite
+fallen and it was pitch dark, Neufeld was set upon an officer's horse,
+and the Sirdar and headquarters bringing him with them rode outside to
+where the main body of the army was bivouacking upon the desert, north
+of Omdurman. Later on I found means to have Neufeld's irons removed.
+He had three sets of leg irons fastened round his ankles; a heavy bar
+weighing fourteen pounds, and two thick chains above that. The heavy
+rings upon the legs we could not get off without other appliances than
+a hammer and iron wedge, so they were left to be removed next day on
+the gunboat "Sheik." It was found necessary on that occasion to grip
+the rings in a vice and cut them with a cold chisel. We, however, so
+freed his limbs that he could walk. Having written a second batch of
+despatches by the light of a guttering candle and handed them to the
+press censor, we lay down in our clothes to try and sleep--no easy
+thing to do when you had to hold the bridle of your hungry horse the
+while, and other equally restless Arab steeds were, after their
+manner, seeking to eat him or kick him to pieces. We were without food
+or water, for in the thrice altered camping grounds our servants had
+got lost. In a flurry between dozing and waking we spent the night,
+hoping for the morrow. When it came there was daylight but no
+breakfast. Indeed, it was not until the afternoon of the 3rd September
+that our servants and baggage re-appeared.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+CLOSE OF CAMPAIGN.--GORDON MEMORIAL SERVICE, KHARTOUM.
+
+
+[Illustration: KHALIFA'S CHIEF EUNUCH (SURRENDERS IN BRITISH CAMP).]
+
+Although the beginning of a campaign often drags, the ending is
+usually abrupt. With the defeat and flight of Abdullah, Mahdism became
+a thing of the past. True, there were several minor engagements fought
+later against isolated recalcitrant bodies of dervishes who were too
+loyal to their old leaders. But these affairs in no way affected the
+result achieved upon the battle-field of Omdurman. During the night or
+early morning of the 2nd and 3rd of September, Colonel Macdonald's
+brigade advanced into the city to help to keep the peace, and to
+secure the surrender of all the armed bands of the enemy. Large bodies
+of dervishes were still moving about both within and without Omdurman.
+I had myself seen many hundreds of natives set out about dusk to
+revisit the battle-field in search of plunder, to rescue wounded
+friends, and to bury their dead kinsmen. Those who showed a peaceable
+disposition were not molested, but all with arms were arrested and
+penned under guards in the Praying Square. Many prisoners were secured
+on the battle-field, but relatively only a few thousands. On 3rd
+September and following days enormous numbers surrendered, coming into
+town or being sent in by the cavalry and friendlies. In fact, they
+became so numerous that it was found almost impossible to deal with
+them. When dervishes of the Jaalin and other tribes that had abandoned
+Mahdism came in they were at once told to behave themselves, and were
+allowed to go where they liked. The townsfolk and others who wished to
+be let alone, turned their jibbehs inside out, at once a renunciation
+of the Khalifa and his works as well as a sanitary gain. Some there
+were who, averse to over-cleanliness, simply tore the dervish patches
+off their dress, thus also resuming their fealty to the Khedive. The
+roll of prisoners, however, in spite of convenient blindness in
+letting all the lesser men who wished to escape do so, swelled to
+about 11,000. In a house to house visitation the more important rebel
+sheikhs and Baggara in hiding were caught and kept under arrest with
+their followers. All the Greeks and the local chiefs whom Slatin Pasha
+knew to be secretly inimical to the dervish rule, were from the first
+secured safe permits and absolute liberty. Among them were many of the
+Mahdi's relatives, former rulers of tribes, and Emirs once high in
+power. Of wounded dervishes over 9000 were treated by the British and
+Egyptian Army Medical Staffs, although the doctors' hands were busy
+enough for two days with our own sick and wounded.
+
+[Illustration: FRESH BATCH WOUNDED AND UNWOUNDED DERVISH PRISONERS,
+OMDURMAN, 4TH SEPT. 1898.]
+
+Within twenty-four hours after the Sirdar's entry Omdurman began to
+assume the signs of orderly government. Thousands of the prisoners as
+well as the natives were set to work to clean up the place. The
+wounded were all carried into temporary hospitals and the dead were
+decently interred in Moslem burial-places out upon the desert. Then
+the thoroughfares were scrupulously scavengered by gangs of
+yesterday's furious foemen, blacks and Baggara. The dead things were
+put under ground, and the stagnant pools were drained or filled in.
+Within a week it became actually possible to walk without an attack of
+violent nausea in Omdurman. Visits were constantly paid to the
+battle-field for the double purpose of rescuing any wounded
+dervishes there might be and counting the dead. The large number of
+the enemy who for days survived shocking wounds, to which a European
+would have instantly or speedily succumbed, was appalling. These
+wretched creatures had been seen crawling or dragging themselves for
+miles to get to the Nile for water or into villages for succour. Food
+and water were sent out to them by the Sirdar's orders on the day
+after the battle, when it was seen that the natives gave neither heed
+nor help to other than their own immediate kinsmen upon the field.
+Even in the town rations were distributed to the needy. The gunboats
+going up and down the river saw many sorry sights. Wounded dervishes
+were lying by hundreds along the river's bank. Some, whose thirst had
+maddened them, had drunk copiously, and then swooned and died, their
+heads and shoulders covered with water and the rest of their bodies
+stretched upon the strand. General Gatacre and Lieut. Wood on riding
+to revisit the zereba near Kerreri, met a dervish, part of one of
+whose legs had been blown off by a shell. The man was hobbling along,
+leaning upon a broken spear handle, making for Omdurman, with his limb
+burned and roughly tied up. They gave him food and water and passed on
+meeting others. A mile away, the mounted orderly drew the General's
+attention to an object upon the ground with the exclamation: "Blest if
+it isn't that bloke's foot!" which sure enough was the case. A number
+of officers were told off to count the enemy's dead upon the
+battle-field. Sections of the ground were assigned to each. The actual
+count was 10,800 dead bodies, which did not include all the slain,
+for there were those who died in Omdurman, and afar upon the desert.
+One of the officers wrote, "I won't enter into details of our day's
+work. It suffices to say, that a piece of cotton-wool soaked in
+eucalyptus placed in the nostrils and an ample supply of neat brandy
+were only just sufficient to keep us on our legs for the six hours
+that we were at the job." He and two others had undertaken to make a
+sketch in addition to helping to count the slain. Unfortunately, the
+sketch was lost.
+
+And all might have been otherwise, for the Sirdar offered before the
+battle to treat with the Khalifa. Here is the copy of the letter, as
+translated and published, bearing upon the subject.
+
+                                                  "_30th August 1898._
+                                                 "Viz., 11 Rabi Akhar,
+                                                          "1316 (M.E.)
+
+    "From the Sirdar of the Troops, Soudan,
+
+    "To Abdulla, son of Mohamed El-Taaishi, Head of the Soudan.
+
+    "Bear in your mind that your evil deeds throughout the Soudan,
+    particularly your murdering a great number of the Mohammedans
+    without cause or excuse, besides oppression and tyranny,
+    necessitated the advance of my troops for the destruction of your
+    throne, in order to save the country from your devilish doings and
+    iniquity. Inasmuch as there are many in your keeping for whose
+    blood you are held responsible--innocent, old, and infirm, women
+    and children and others--abhorring you and your government, who
+    are guilty of nothing; and because we have no desire that they
+    should suffer the least harm, we ask you to have them removed from
+    the Dem (literally, enclosure) to a place where the shells of guns
+    and bullets of rifles shall not reach them. If you do not do so,
+    the shells and bullets cannot recognise them and will
+    consequently kill them, and afterwards you will be responsible
+    before God for their blood.
+
+    "Stand firm you and your helpers only in the field of battle to
+    meet the punishment prepared for you by the praised God. But if
+    you and your Emirs incline to surrender to prevent blood being
+    shed, we shall receive your envoy with due welcome, and be sure
+    that we shall treat you with justice and peace.
+
+                                                  "(Sealed) KITCHENER,
+                                 "Sirdar of the Troops in the Soudan."
+
+Colonel Maxwell was appointed Commandant of Omdurman, and his brigade
+was quartered in the town, detachments occupying the principal
+buildings. Among the places so held were the Arsenal, the Khalifa's
+and his son the Sheikh Ed Din's houses, the Treasury, Tomb and Mosque
+enclosure. The rest of the troops were moved two miles to the north of
+the town, where a camp was formed along the river bank. Omdurman was
+too abominably dirty to risk keeping a single soldier in the place
+other than was absolutely necessary. Not an hour was wasted. The
+Sirdar's practice was--abundant work for each day and all plans
+prepared ahead for the next. The submission of sheikhs and their
+followers had to be received, the pursuit of the Khalifa pressed,
+wounded dervishes and prisoners provided for, as well as the thousands
+of poor in Omdurman helped in various ways. Then there had to be
+arranged-for the disposal of the spoils of war, repatriation for many
+of Abdullah's enforced subjects, the formal re-occupation of Khartoum,
+and the immediate despatch back to Lower Egypt of the British troops
+whose services were no longer required. All this and much more was
+done, nor am I aware that anything was neglected, not even the
+correspondents, who were evidently too seldom far removed from the
+General's thoughts. Hurrying into the town early on Saturday morning,
+3rd September, to attend Howard's funeral, I found that within half an
+hour after sunrise all the dead dervishes, with the murdered women and
+children, had been removed to the native burial-grounds outside
+Omdurman. In my rambles in the capital that day I visited the only two
+passable dwellings in the place, Abdullah's and his son Osman's. Both
+houses had a pretence of tidiness and comfort, particularly the Sheikh
+Ed Din's. There were paved courtyards, doors, windows with shutters,
+plastered walls, cupboards, benches, and ottomans. In each there were
+several rooms furnished in a rude style with articles of European
+manufacture. Of glass-ware, crockery, and large mirrors there was an
+abundance. The Khalifa's favourite reception-room and a chamber in the
+harem were almost covered with big looking-glasses. Angry Jaalin and
+others who had forced an entrance on the previous day, or else mayhap
+the Lyddite bombs, had smashed the mirrors and most of the domestic
+ware into atoms. Spears and swords had been freely used to hack the
+furniture and fittings about. A wealth of printed and manuscript books
+and papers in Arabic characters were scattered, torn, and thrown into
+a shed.
+
+The kitchens, stables and outhouses were odorously barbaric in
+squalor. They were in strange contrast to any of the rooms in the
+rabbit warren of attached dwelling-places within the Khalifa's private
+compound. Around the Mahdi's tomb were great splashes of human blood.
+On the previous evening I had seen many dead dervishes lying in that
+vicinity. In their credulous faith in Mohamed Achmed they had flocked
+there for safety, only to be killed by our fire. Of 120 who were
+praying around the tomb when a 50-lb. Lyddite shell burst, but
+eighteen escaped alive, and these were sorely wounded. The tomb,
+carefully stuccoed over inside and out, was built of stone and
+well-burned bricks. The base of the square wall from which the
+cone-shaped dome sprang was over six feet thick, the vaulted roof
+tapering to about eighteen inches at the apex. Great holes had been
+knocked in the north-east side, and the rubbish had tumbled in,
+breaking the brass and iron grille round the catafalque. Beneath,
+covered by two huge blocks of stone, lay Mohamed Achmed's remains.
+Early that day violent hands were laid on the brass rails in the outer
+windows and grille. The catafalque was stripped of its black and red
+cloth covering, and the wood-work was totally destroyed. All the
+yellow lettered panels, with texts from the Koran and the Mahdi's
+prayer-book, as well as the blue and yellow scroll work, were smashed
+or carried off by relic-hunters. The false prophet was so speedily
+discredited that not a dervish amongst the tens of thousands but
+regarded these and the subsequent proceedings with complete
+indifference. To destroy utterly the legend of Mohamed Achmed's
+mission, when the British troops had returned to Cairo the Mahdi's
+body was disinterred. It had been roughly embalmed and the features
+were said to be recognisable. The common people who saw the remains
+almost doubted their senses, for it had been given out that the Mahdi
+had merely gone off on a visit to heaven and would shortly return.
+That his body was found surprised them, as they thought he had gone
+aloft in the flesh, the object of the tomb being to mark the spot
+where he took leave of the earth and would return to it. Perhaps it
+may be deplored that Mohamed Achmed's remains were broken up, part
+being cast into the Nile, whilst the head and other portions of the
+body were retained for presentation, it is said, to medical colleges.
+There were those who thought that the wisest course would have been to
+expose the remains for all to see them who cared to, and then to hand
+them over to the natives to bury in one of their cemeteries as if he
+had been an ordinary man. But the Soudan is not Europe, nor are its
+inhabitants amenable to measures eminently satisfactory to civilised
+northern races. The tomb was subsequently levelled to the ground by an
+explosion of gun-cotton and the debris was cleared away.
+
+I had a good look over the Khalifa's war arsenal. There were plenty of
+cannon, old and new, as well as machine guns, rifles, pistols, and
+fowling pieces of all kinds. Musical instruments, war-drums,
+elephants' tusks used as horns, coats of chain-mail old and new, and
+steel helmets. Most of the latter are quite modern, being part of 600
+supplied by a London firm of sword makers--Wilkinson & Co., Pall Mall,
+to a former Khedive's body-guard. Somehow these plate and chain
+crusader-like head-pieces seem all to have drifted south. There were
+hundreds of dervish battle flags, including several duplicate black
+silk banners such as the Khalifa carried during the action, and
+thousands of native spears, swords, and shields. In short, it would be
+easier to tell what was not in that extraordinary storehouse than what
+was. Among other articles I saw were: Ivory, powder, percussion caps,
+old lead, copper, tin, bronze, cloth, looms, pianos, sewing machines,
+agricultural implements, boilers, steam-engines, ostrich feathers,
+gum, hippopotamus hides, iron and wooden bedsteads, drums, bugles,
+field glasses--Lieutenant Charles Grenfell's, lost at El Teb in the
+Eastern Soudan in 1883, were found there--bolts, zinc, rivets, paints,
+india-rubber, leather, boots, knapsacks, water-bottles, flags, and
+clothes. There were three state coaches--one of them might at a pinch
+have served for the Lord Mayor--and an American buggy. They needed a
+little retrimming, but there was harness and material enough to have
+rigged out the four vehicles in style. In short, the arsenal held the
+jettisoned cargo of the whole aforetime Egyptian Soudan, with much
+besides drawn from Abyssinia and Central Africa. Truly, the Khalifa
+must have been a strange man, with a fine acquisitive instinct
+abnormally cultivated.
+
+[Illustration: NEUFELD, WITH ABYSSINIAN WIFE AND CHILDREN; ALSO FELLOW
+PRISONER.]
+
+Neufeld, quite contrary to Slatin Pasha's way of speaking, declared to
+me that the Khalifa was not at all a bad sort of man, nor an
+exceptionally cruel Arab task-master, and certainly not a monster. The
+Khalifa, he said, had often come and chatted with him. Abdullah had
+vowed to him, that if he were able to have his own way he would make a
+close friend of him, and have him always near his person. The Khalifa
+asserted he liked white men, admired their knowledge and ability, and
+would, were he permitted, have many of them in Khartoum. As everybody
+knew, he befriended the Greeks, because he could do that with safety,
+for the natives were not so jealous of them as of other white men. The
+Taaisha were, he declared, absurdly suspicious of his intercourse with
+Neufeld, and were always bringing him tales, to try and get him to
+kill all the white men without exception. His countrymen's jealous,
+narrow fanaticism annoyed him, but what, he asked, could he do, for he
+was very much in their power, and unable to afford to fly in their
+faces? Abdullah often spoke thus, according to Neufeld, and, as the
+latter also said, frequently that leader of the fanatical dervishes
+exhibited keen interest in acquiring information about Europe and its
+people. He hoped to make peace some day with the outside world, and be
+allowed thereafter to rule the Soudan. All this, I submit, is rather
+puzzling, in view of the filthy den the Khalifa kept Neufeld shut up
+in, and the manner in which he loaded him with heavy leg-irons. During
+his captivity, Neufeld had with him an Abyssinian girl, or rather
+woman. She was taken prisoner with him. Thereafter she devotedly
+ministered to his wants, fetched water and food, and made, under his
+tuition, really eatable bread. Neufeld, who said he met me in 1884-85,
+up the Nile, when he was attached to the army, gave me a piece of this
+bread, and I found it quite palatable. Yeast is easily made in the
+Soudan with sour dough and sugar.
+
+As arsenals mayhap date back to the eras of Tubal Cain and Vulcan, it
+was to be expected the Khalifa would also have his modern smithy. He
+made his own gunpowder, shells, and bullets, and the metallic cases
+for his troops' Remington rifles. The country was laid under
+contribution to supply copper for that purpose, and he essayed the
+filling of percussion caps with fulminate, not over successfully I
+hope. He had his cartridge manufactory, and a very well equipped
+engineer shop as well. Yea, the potentate was setting up a Zoo,
+wherein I saw three young lions chained to posts by neck collars, as
+though those savage beasts were watch-dogs. As for the engineer shop,
+with foundry and smithy attached, the Beit el Mauna, it was part of a
+cleverly planned square of buildings with a river frontage and a
+spacious yard. The designer was one El Osta Abdullah, a former
+employee of General Gordon's in Khartoum Arsenal. There were several
+steam engines; the principal one driving the main shafting was of 28
+horse-power. The fly-wheel was 4 feet in diameter. There were five
+lathes, one cat-head lathe--36 inch, three drills, and other tools
+including a slotting machine, all in perfect going order. The
+machinery had formed part of the dismantled Khartoum Arsenal, and had
+been removed into Omdurman to be nearer the watchful eyes of Yacoub,
+who superintended the workshops, though destitute of mechanical
+knowledge. El Osta was the foreman and had numbers of natives, free
+and prisoners, under him. There were plenty of crucibles for iron as
+well as brass smelting. The blasts of furnaces and smithy fires were
+served from fanners driven by machinery. There were paint shops and
+stores, the floors of which were laid in bricks. In truth, the arsenal
+was in process of extension. Two more engines for the shop were in
+course of completion. The steamers disabled or wrecked in the 1885
+campaign had all been recovered and overhauled by the dervishes. They
+were sagacious enough to make use of all the skilled labour to be
+found amongst the Turkish and Egyptian prisoners who fell into their
+hands. Although the Khalifa's river steamers, recaptured by the
+Sirdar, could steam fully as well as ever, their hulls and decks were
+dreadfully rotten and dilapidated, not a pound of paint nor any fresh
+timber having been used upon them in all the intervening years.
+
+"Is that mean, dirty compound, with those squalid mud-huts, facing the
+Khalifa's big wall, Osman Digna's house?" I asked. "Yes," said my
+native informant, "that is the house of the robber-chief, Osman
+Digna." I entered and found within only a few wretched slaves and poor
+Hadendowas. Osman, like the Khalifa, had given us the slip, leaving
+behind such of his people as he thought of no value, and hurrying away
+with all his women and treasure towards the south. They had horses and
+camels, and upon the best of them they decamped. Several of the
+notorious Osman Digna's tribal retainers were caught. These wretched
+Hadendowas were, I was told, glad to be permitted subsequently to
+return to their own country. Over 300 Abyssinians were amongst our
+prisoners. They had volunteered or been coerced into joining the
+dervish ranks. All of them were surprised to find themselves kindly
+treated. In due course, those who cared to go--men, women and
+children--were provided with free passages back to Abyssinia. The
+Sirdar held several receptions, whereat the principal native leaders
+and sheikhs attended. Amongst others delighted at the overthrow of the
+Khalifa were all the survivors of the old Khedivial army, who had been
+abandoned to their fate for years. Of these were the whilom Governor
+of Senaar, a native artillery officer who had been with Hicks Pasha,
+and Gordon Pasha's native medical attendant.
+
+During the week after the battle the British and Khedivial troops, by
+brigades, made triumphal marches into and through Omdurman. Proceeding
+from our camp with flags flying and bands playing, they went along the
+main thoroughfares to the Tomb and Mosque, returning by a circuitous
+route to quarters. The ex-dervishes and other natives flocked in
+thousands to see the finely-equipped and well-disciplined battalions
+led by the Sirdar. It was an exhibition of power they quite
+understood, and one which won from them open praise at the gallant
+bearing of our soldiery. The immediate effect was to produce a feeling
+of deep respect for the authority of the new order of things.
+
+When it was found that the Khalifa had escaped by the south end of
+Omdurman, Colonel Broadwood, with his two regiments of Egyptian
+cavalry and the Camel Corps, started in pursuit. Gunboats also
+proceeded up the White Nile to head off the fugitives. Unfortunately
+as there had been a very general rainfall, the desert routes towards
+Kordofan were not absolutely waterless. The cavalry soon found that
+they were upon a hot trail; and men, women, and children, who had been
+unable to keep pace with the flying Khalifa and Osman Digna, were
+picked up. Some of these, no doubt, had purposely given their master
+the slip. It was in that way that Abdullah's chief wife, the Sheikh Ed
+Din's mother, was caught and brought in by the "friendlies." One poor
+woman, just confined, had the babe, a male, taken away by her lord,
+whilst she was left to shift for herself. Happily, her life was saved.
+
+As I have said relatively little about the Egyptian cavalry, I will
+let one of their officers tell what they did. Colonel Broadwood had
+under him a magnificent body of officers, British and Egyptian.
+Captain Legge of the 20th Hussars was the brigade-major. The narrative
+in question was given to me a few days after the victory.
+
+"The Sirdar's orders on the morning of the battle to Colonel Broadwood
+were, to take up successive positions on his (the Sirdar's) right
+flank, and to prevent the enemy's left from overlapping too far. The
+fear was that the dervishes might attack upon the north or weakest
+side of the zereba. After rejoining the infantry towards the end of
+the assault made on Macdonald's brigade we were formed into two lines.
+Turning our backs to the Nile, that is, facing west, we galloped in
+pursuit of the retreating dervishes. For four miles we rode forward
+without check. Then we wheeled to the left, towards Omdurman, and
+swept the country on the right front of the Sirdar over a width of
+four miles. We were shot at repeatedly, and sometimes heavily, by
+bands of fugitives, but we never drew rein, using lance and sword upon
+all who showed fight. In that draw we made 1000 prisoners, breaking
+the Remingtons of those who had rifles and sending our captives under
+escort of a squadron to the Sirdar. When close to Omdurman we came
+across a large body of dervishes full of 'buck.' Four of our squadrons
+went for them. They charged clean through them, wheeled, and charged
+back again. That took the sting out of them, though there were still
+individual dervishes who would keep trying to charge us. Colonel
+Broadwood came up at that juncture with the supports, whereupon the
+enemy all bolted for the hills. At 2 p.m. we reported to headquarters,
+and, following the infantry, went to water our horses at the Nile. The
+same afternoon we passed through part of Omdurman and went out upon
+the open desert to the south-west. At 6.30 p.m. Slatin Pasha brought
+us orders to start immediately in pursuit of the Khalifa. We went on
+as best we could until 8.30 p.m., without food or water. Trying to run
+in towards the river to procure both, for a gunboat was to carry our
+supplies, we found it was impossible to get within two miles of the
+Nile owing to the overflow having turned the margin into boggy land.
+Besides, the bushy inaccessible ground was teeming with hostile
+dervishes. We had missed our way. Without off-saddling, we bivouacked
+where we were, forming square. At 4 a.m. we mounted and rode on,
+going until 8.30 a.m., when we got down to the river. There Slatin
+Pasha quitted us, returning to Omdurman. We halted for an hour,
+watered and fed our poor horses, and had a bite for ourselves. Then we
+remounted and rode fifteen miles farther south. We had reached a point
+just thirty-five miles south of Omdurman. Our horses had been going
+almost continuously for four days previously, the forage was finished,
+and the animals exhausted, so we again halted. Supplies had been
+ordered forward to that spot, but the overflow prevented us from being
+able to get near enough the native boats to draw upon them for stores.
+We decided to bivouac there and take our chance of being able somehow
+to get at the boats. Next morning we were ordered back into Omdurman.
+Slatin Pasha had learned from fugitives and natives that the Khalifa
+was still twenty-five miles ahead of us. Abdullah had with him 100
+Taaisha Baggara, and had procured fresh camels and horses, so was
+'going strong,' too good for us to catch up. The riverside country
+people could not credit that we had defeated the Khalifa and taken
+Omdurman. On our way back we picked up six of Osman Digna's
+Hadendowas. They said Osman was riding with the Khalifa, showing him
+the tracks and bypaths, with all of which he was familiar. We heard
+that neither Osman nor the Khalifa was wounded, and that Sheikh Ed Din
+was likewise untouched."
+
+It has been too readily accepted that the Black, although an
+incomparably fine infantry-man, would not make a good trooper. There
+are Blacks and Blacks as there are "Browns and Browns." Many of the
+negroid races of the Central Soudan are excellent horsemen. The dash
+of the Khalifa's mounted men was superb. So it came about that after
+Omdurman the Sirdar decided to reinforce the Egyptian cavalry with a
+newly raised squadron or two composed entirely of Blacks. Ex-dervishes
+of suitable smartness and physique were permitted to join the new
+body, the ranks of which were filled in a very short time, for
+hundreds eagerly volunteered. The accounts I have since heard of the
+1st Black Cavalry are eminently favourable. There can be no doubt
+about one thing,--whatever may be said of fellaheen troopers, the
+Blacks will charge home.
+
+Another matter that merits a little more detail is the action fought
+by Major Stuart Wortley's "friendlies," and the work accomplished by
+the flotilla under Commander Keppel, R.N. It was the gunboats that
+transported the British infantry from their camps at Dakhala and
+Darmali so smartly to Wad Habeshi. Their assistance in that respect
+reduced the campaign from one of months to days, and lessened the
+risks to the troops. Eight steamers arrived at Dakhala on one
+occasion, and the transport department did its duty so well that they
+were loaded and despatched back up stream within twenty-four hours.
+Royan Island had not only been made a depot of stores, but a
+sanatorium where sick officers and men were sent as a "pick 'em up."
+An order from the Sirdar on the 30th of August was wired to Royan, to
+find 235 men and 8 officers who were well enough to man the gunboats,
+to be in short amateur marines. At that date there were 327 sick upon
+the island. Most of them were eager to get to the front, but the
+doctors would not certify that any of them were able to bear the
+fatigue of marching. There was therefore great rejoicing among the
+more convalescent, for they had begun to despair of seeing the fight.
+The hospital state showed that there were then at Royan 46 men of the
+Warwicks, 69 of the Lincolns, 62 of the Seaforths, 36 of the Camerons,
+19 of the Grenadier Guards, 42 of the Northumberland Fusiliers, 42 of
+the Lancashire Fusiliers, and 21 of the Rifles. From 25 to 40 men were
+marched on board each of the gunboats the same day. Captain Ferguson
+of the Northumberland Fusiliers became marine officer on board the
+"Sultan," Lieutenant Allardice went to the "Sheik," Lieutenant Seymour
+of the Grenadier Guards to the "Melik," Captain Ritchie to the
+"Nazir," Lieutenant Arbuthnot to the "El Hafir," and Lieutenant
+Jackson and other officers respectively to the "Tamai," "Fatah,"
+"Metemmeh," etc.
+
+On the 31st of August the "Melik" kept abreast of the cavalry acting
+as a screen. At noon of the same day the "Sultan" and the "Melik" and
+"Nazir" were sent to shell the dervish tents and tukals seen to the
+east of Kerreri village. The enemy were found in some force, about
+3500 strong. Eight or ten shrapnel were fired into their zerebaed
+camp. Right in the middle of the tents the first shell burst. The
+dervishes struck their camp instantly, and mounted men and footmen ran
+to the hills, their flight quickened by the gunboats' Maxims. Their
+zereba was burned. South Kerreri village was found unoccupied. The
+steamers proceeded a little further up stream, had a look at Tuti
+Island, and on the west bank caught sight of a body of dervishes, Emir
+Zaccharia's men, who also had a taste of shrapnel and Maxims.
+
+On the 1st of September at 5.30 a.m. the steamers "Sultan," "Melik,"
+"Sheik," "Nazir," "Fatah," "Tamai," and "Abu Klea" went again up the
+river to destroy the forts and land the 50-pounder Lyddite howitzer
+battery on Tuti Island, whence it was to shell Omdurman. Major Stuart
+Wortley and part of his force were also to be transferred to that
+island to support Major Elmslie's battery and clear off any dervishes.
+It was found, as I have already stated, that Tuti was unsuitable as a
+position, and the Lyddite guns were landed instead upon the east or
+right bank of the river. The "Sultan" opened the attack, firing at the
+forts and pitching shells into Omdurman. In a short time the other
+gunboats came to her assistance, and the mud forts, of which there
+were a dozen or more, were promptly silenced. Several of the dervish
+gunners' shells, however, only missed the steamers that were their
+target by a very few yards. Happily the embrasures of the forts were
+so badly made, that the enemy had but a small angle of fire. It was in
+more than one instance impossible for the dervish guns to train except
+straight to their front. The flotilla passed down behind Tuti Island,
+going by the east bank, and were brought-to below the island. There
+the 37th R.A. Battery was landed, and the Lyddite shell fire was
+directed against the great wall and the Mahdi's tomb, the range of the
+latter being 3200 yards. Many dervishes were seen in and around
+Omdurman, and a number were noticed upon the right bank. Two of the
+gunboats remained all night to protect the Lyddite battery, using
+their electric search-lights to detect any lurking dervishes. The
+steamers fired that day several hundred shells and 8000 rounds from
+their Maxims. Captain Prince Christian Victor was attached on board
+the "Sultan," and Prince Teck, who had a sharp attack of fever and had
+temporarily to abandon his squadron in the Egyptian cavalry, saw that
+and the next day's battle from one of the other gunboats.
+
+On the 2nd of September the "Melik" ran a little way up stream before
+sunrise and then returned. In the first stage of the battle the
+"Nazir," "Fatah," "Sheik," "El Hafir" and another protected the south
+front of the Sirdar's camp, whilst the "Sultan," "Melik" and "Tamai"
+guarded the north end of it. There were over 100 shells were fired
+from the "Sultan" at 3000 to 2800 yards ranges. The "Melik" found the
+enemy's columns with their quick-firing 15 pounders at under 1500
+yards range on one occasion. During the second phase of the battle,
+the "Melik" dropped again down stream, and struck Sheikh Ed Din's
+column as the enemy advanced to attack Macdonald's brigade, treating
+the dervishes to all her artillery. When Omdurman was occupied by the
+troops the flotilla again rendered valuable help. After the action the
+gunboats were sent, part up the White, part up the Blue Nile, to carry
+the good news and break up any dervish camps. The "Sultan," "Melik,"
+"Sheik," "Nazir," and "Fatah" proceeded up the White Nile. Commander
+Keppel went 115 miles south of Omdurman. He saw but few of the enemy.
+The country was much overflowed, the river was nearly 6 miles wide in
+several places, the wooded banks and bush being under water.
+
+On the 2nd of September Major Stuart Wortley and his friendlies had a
+brisk engagement with Emir Isa Zaccharia. Major Elmslie had begun the
+day's battle at 5.30 a.m. with a salvo of his six guns, throwing the
+50 lb. Lyddite shells into Omdurman. Wortley's friendlies, later on,
+advanced in fine style, in open order, and drove about 800 Jehadieh
+out of a village. About 350 were killed, including their leader. The
+remainder bolted off towards the Blue Nile, pursued by the Jaalin and
+others. At the close of the action Major Wortley, Captain Buckle,
+Lieut. C. Wood, and two non-commissioned English officers walked down
+towards the point from which Major Elmslie's battery was firing. They
+were seen and charged by about twenty-five dervish horsemen. Luckily,
+heavy, boggy land intervened, and Lieut. Wood and Major Wortley
+dropped the leading horsemen, when some of the Jaalin rallied and came
+to their assistance. The rout of the Baggara was completed, the
+dervish horsemen leaving eleven dead upon the field.
+
+On Sunday morning, 4th September, the Press were invited by
+Headquarters to go over by steamer to Khartoum. We were told that an
+official ceremony which we ought not to miss was about to take place.
+There were an unusual number of correspondents. The previous
+restrictions and military objections to their presence had been made
+ridiculous by the widest throwing open of the door to all. The Sirdar
+and Headquarters embarked upon the "Melik." We found that
+representative detachments from all the commands in the army were
+being ferried over in boats and giassas towed by the steamers. From
+every British battalion there were present eighty-one officers and
+men. The 21st Lancers were represented by ten officers and twenty-four
+non-commissioned officers and men. Two officers and seven men were
+sent by each battery of artillery, and two officers and five men from
+the Maxim batteries. There were also representative sections from the
+Khedivial forces. As the steamers drew up alongside the stone-wall
+quay before the ruined Government House where General Gordon made his
+last stand, the soldiers were seen to be already in position. There
+was but little space between the quay wall and the buildings, for the
+debris of bricks and stone from the overturned structure nearly
+blocked up the former open promenade facing the muddy Blue Nile. The
+ruined walls and forts looked picturesque in their deep setting of
+dark-green palms, mimosa, and tall orange-trees. Compared with
+treeless, brown, arid Omdurman, Khartoum wore an air of romance and
+loveliness that well became such historic ground. An odour of blossom
+and fruit was wafted from the wild and spacious Mission and Government
+House gardens, which even the dervishes had not been able to wreck
+totally.
+
+[Illustration: DISTANT VIEW, KHARTOUM (FROM BLUE NILE).]
+
+Two flagstaffs had been erected upon the top of the one-storied wall
+fronting the Blue Nile. The Sirdar ranged facing the building and the
+flagstaffs. Behind him were the Headquarters Staff, the Generals of
+division, and others. To his left, formed up at right angles, were the
+representative detachments of the Egyptian army, the 11th Soudanese,
+with their red heckles in their fezzes, in the front line. Upon the
+Sirdar's right were the detachments of Gatacre's division, each in
+its regimental order of seniority. Standing a few paces in front of
+the Sirdar, but facing him, upon a mound of earth and bricks, were the
+four chaplains attached to the British infantry--Presbyterian, Church
+of England, Roman Catholic, and Wesleyan. _En passant_, though it is
+an army secret, in nothing was the Sirdar's power and strong will more
+manifest than in securing the presence that day in amity of the four
+representatives of religion. One of the reverend gentlemen, presumably
+on the strength of the superior claims of his orthodoxy, refused to
+join in any service in which clergymen of any other denomination bore
+a part. The Sirdar sent a peremptory order, without a word of
+explanation, for that cleric to embark forthwith and return to Cairo.
+Instead, he hastened to Headquarters and made his peace, and had the
+order withdrawn. Upon their right was a small body of Royal Engineer
+officers, Gordon's own corps. A hundred natives or more had gathered
+on the outside, wondering what was going to happen. The Sirdar himself
+had been the first to land upon the quay and walk towards the
+building, the windows of which Gordon had caused to be filled in to
+stop entrance of the dervish bullets from Tuti. There were plenty of
+marks of the enemy's musketry fire, as well as the dents of shell and
+round shot. The former official entrance was within a littered
+courtyard upon the opposite side of the building. It was whilst
+descending the interior stairway to meet the dervishes that Gordon was
+hacked and slain by the fierce fanatics and his body cast into the
+courtyard.
+
+Ten o'clock was the official hour notified for the ceremonial, which
+commenced upon a signal from the Sirdar. A British band played a few
+bars of "God Save the Queen." Whilst all were saluting, Lieutenant
+Stavely, R.N., and Captain J. Watson, A.D.C., standing on the west
+side of the wall ran up a brilliant silk Union Jack to the top of
+their flagstaff, hauling the halyard taut as the flag flapped smartly
+in the breeze. It had barely begun to ascend when Lieutenant Milford
+and Effendi Bakr, at the adjacent pole, ran up the Egyptian flag.
+Thereupon an Egyptian band played at some length the Khedivial hymn.
+At its close the Sirdar called for three cheers for "The Queen," which
+were given voluminously, even the natives shouting, though, perhaps,
+they didn't quite know why. Three cheers for the Khedive were also
+heartily given. Meantime the "Melik's" quick-firing guns were rolling
+out a royal salute, and, as usual with them, making things jump aboard
+the lightly built craft and smashing glass and crockery in all
+directions.
+
+[Illustration: HOISTING FLAGS, KHARTOUM.]
+
+Ere the echo of cannon had died away another ceremony had begun. The
+British band played softly the "Dead March in Saul," and every head
+was bared in memory of Gordon. His funeral obsequies were at last
+taking place upon the spot where he fell. Then the Egyptian band
+played their quaint funeral march, and the native men and women,
+understanding that, and whom it was played for, raised their
+prolonged, shrill, wailing cry. Count Calderai, the Italian Military
+Attache, who stood near the Sirdar, was deeply affected, whilst Count
+von Tiedmann, the German Attache, who appeared in his magnificent
+white Cuirassier uniform on the occasion, was even more keenly
+impressed, a soldier's tears coursing down his cheeks. But there!
+Other eyes were wet, and cheeks too, as well as his, and bronzed
+veterans were not ashamed of it either. Sadness and bitter memories!
+So the Gordon legend, if you will, shall live as long as the English
+name endures. A brief pause, and in gentle voice and manner the Rev.
+John M. Sims, Presbyterian Chaplain--Gordon's faith--broke the
+silence. In his brief prayer he said: "Our help is in the name of the
+Lord who made heaven and earth." Then he observed, "Let us hear God's
+word as written for our instruction," reading from Psalm XV. the
+following verses: "Lord, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle? Who shall
+dwell in Thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh
+righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth
+not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a
+reproach against his neighbour. In whose eyes a vile person is
+contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth
+to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that putteth not out his money
+to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these
+things shall never be moved." "And to God's great name shall be all
+the praise and glory, world without end. Amen." When Mr Sims had
+concluded, the Rev. A. W. B. Watson, Church of England Chaplain,
+recited the Lord's Prayer. Following him the Rev. R. Brindle, Roman
+Catholic Chaplain, prayed, saying: "O Almighty God, by whose
+providence are all things which come into the lives of men, whether of
+suffering which Thou permittest, or of joy and gladness which Thou
+givest, look down, we beseech Thee, with eyes of pity and compassion
+on this land so loved by that heroic soul whose memory we honour
+before Thee this day. Give back to it days of peace. Send to it rulers
+animated by his spirit of justice and righteousness. Strengthen them
+in the might of Thy power, that they may labour in making perfect the
+work to which he devoted and for which he gave his life. And grant to
+us, Thy servants, that we may copy his virtues of self-sacrifice and
+fortitude, so that when Thou callest we may each be able to answer, 'I
+have fought the good fight,'--a blessing which we humbly ask in the
+name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen."
+
+When Father Brindle had concluded, the pipers, accompanied by muffled
+drums, played the Coronach as a lament. The weird Highland minstrelsy
+seemed quite in keeping with the place and solemn scene. Then the
+Khedivial band played a hymn tune, "Thy Will be Done," and the sad
+ceremony was closed to the boom of minute guns. Generals Rundle,
+Gatacre, and Hunter then stepped forward and congratulated the Sirdar
+upon the successful completion of his task, and the commanding
+officers and others, following their example, did the same. Sir
+Herbert acknowledged their greeting, and announced that the men would
+be allowed to break off for half an hour or so to go over the ruins
+and gardens if they wished. Everybody availed himself of the
+opportunity. In a few minutes a throng of officers and men who had
+scrambled over the debris filled the roofless rooms and packed the
+stairway where Gordon was struck down. I was surprised to find that
+even the youngest, most callow soldiers knew their Khartoum and the
+story of Gordon's fight and death. So deep and far had the tale
+travelled. There were speculations and suggestions as to how the end
+exactly came about that were a revelation to me, so full of
+information and pregnant of observation were many of the men's
+remarks. Throng succeeded throng in the rooms and stairways, whilst
+others went to explore the outhouses and the gardens. The passion
+flowers and the pomegranates were in bloom, but the oranges and limes
+were in fruit. Leaves and buds were plucked by all of us as souvenirs.
+Brigade-Major Snow, who was with the Camel Corps in 1884-85 across the
+Bayuda desert, produced a tiny bottle of champagne that was to have
+been drunk in Khartoum when we got there. He opened it, and shared the
+driblet with a few of the old campaigners. By one p.m. we were all
+back again in Omdurman, leaving behind two companies of the 11th
+Battalion to hold Khartoum for the two flags, the hoisting of which,
+side by side, the Egyptians regarded as natural and most proper.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+KHARTOUM MEMORIAL COLLEGE.--THE OFFICIAL DESPATCHES.
+
+
+It was decided by the Sirdar, from whom no successful appeal was
+possible, that, after the occupation of Khartoum, the war
+correspondents had no longer any pretext for remaining in the country.
+There were no questions raised by the military to excuse their ruling.
+No more was heard about the difficulties of transport, the scarcity of
+provisions, and everything being required for the soldiers. Had not
+the keen Greek sutlers, as usual, followed the army in shoals,
+managing somehow to convey themselves and their goods to the front? We
+had not been two days encamped at Omdurman before some of these
+traders arrived, and, dumping their sacks and boxes by the wayside,
+started selling forthwith. The natives, too, speedily reassured,
+brought out and squatted before baskets of dates, onions, and other
+comestibles they were anxious to dispose of for English or Egyptian
+money. Rightly contemning the Khalifa's coinage as practically
+valueless, they refused to accept it in payment, and proffered to sell
+all they possessed at the price of old copper. The British troops
+made their triumphal entry into Omdurman on the 5th of September, and
+several of the correspondents left for England the same day. We who
+remained had a sort of Hobson's choice, either to return to Cairo on
+the 8th September or to remain in Omdurman out of which we should not
+be allowed to stir until all the British troops had gone, when we
+should have to leave with the last batch. Which course we should adopt
+was with fine humour left to be decided by a majority of ourselves.
+For once the Press was practically unanimous and elected to shake the
+dust of the Soudan from their feet, and so it came about that the war
+correspondents had to fold their tents and go, disposing of their
+quadrupeds as best they could. There was no alternative in the case of
+the horses between accepting any price for them or shooting them, for,
+in the Soudan, there being no grazing, a horse must have a master or
+starve. I disposed of a L40 animal for L1 and got but little more for
+three others. The camels and stores fetched somewhat better prices.
+Our servants we took back to their homes.
+
+Yet for sundry reasons I was anxious to be allowed to remain longer in
+the Soudan. There was news of fighting and movement up the Blue Nile.
+Emir Ahmed Fadl bringing a force of 3000 dervishes from Gedarif to
+assist the Khalifa had been driven back by the gunboat "Sultan." More
+important still, rumours had reached us that the French, under
+Marchand, were at Fashoda. I knew that the Sirdar intended sending a
+force upon the gunboats up the White Nile to Fashoda and Sobat, so I
+made both verbal and written requests to the General for permission to
+accompany the expedition. That, I was told, could not be granted. We
+had full confirmation of the fact that Major Marchand was at Fashoda
+brought down to Omdurman on the 7th September by the dervish steamer
+"Tewfikieh." I boarded her and had a long chat with the captain (reis)
+and members of the crew, all of whom wore jibbehs. The little craft
+was an ex-Thames, above-the-bridges, penny steamer with Penn's
+oscillating engines. She was one of the boats Gordon sent from
+Khartoum in 1884 to meet the Desert Column at Metemmeh. She was, if
+possible, more dilapidated-looking than ever. By guarded questioning I
+ascertained that the "Tewfikieh" was three days out from Fashoda. She
+and the "Safieh," another dervish steamer, had been hotly fired upon
+by the French who were occupying the old Egyptian fort with 100
+Senegalese or natives of Timbuctoo. A number of local natives,
+Shilluks, who had long been hostile to the dervishes, were
+co-operating with the strangers. The reis accurately described the
+French flag which was flying over the works and the appearance of the
+Europeans. I was also able to procure several of the Lebel rifle
+bullets that had entered the upper structure of the steamer. The
+censor struck out from my telegrams all allusion to the presence of
+the French at Fashoda, and I had to wait until I returned to Lower
+Egypt to transmit the news to London. I openly held that the Fashoda
+affair should be promptly and fully disclosed to the British public,
+and I acted upon that conviction.
+
+The "Safieh" remained up the Nile, making fast to the bank about 100
+miles north of Fashoda, to await the return of the "Tewfikieh" with
+orders from the Khalifa and reinforcements to destroy the French. No
+doubt there was an attempt made to carry out an Anglophobe idea of
+effecting a friendly alliance with the Mahdists so as to secure to
+France the right of access to the Nile and the Bahr el Ghazal. It was
+an effort to achieve the impossible, to negotiate a treaty with wild
+beasts. Had the dervishes, or even the "Safieh's" people who were
+drumming up recruits, been granted a fortnight to do it in the
+Marchand expedition would have been totally destroyed. The "Tewfikieh"
+arrived in a dust-storm and passed the Sirdar's gunboats unseen, and
+it was not until she got to Omdurman that the dervish reis and crew
+realised what had happened. With quick wit the skipper acted, for
+those who go upon waters are of a catholicity of creed and
+good-fellowship very different from ordinary landsmen. He ran his
+craft to the bank, landed with one of his crew and paid a visit to
+headquarters, where he surrendered himself and his craft. Both were at
+once accepted, and during the course of the same day the "Tewfikieh"
+again hoisted the Khedivial flag and was employed in towing and ferry
+work. The captain and crew stood by their ship working her, and though
+dressed as dervishes were on the flotilla muster-roll for wages and
+rations. The like befell the other dervish steamers that came into
+the Sirdar's hands. For two days there was a sale of the loot
+captured by the army. Arms, drums, flags, and nearly all the smaller
+articles found in the arsenal were auctioned. Some L4000 or more of
+ivory and other merchandise were put aside. On the first day big
+prices were paid by officers and men for trophies, but the following
+day spears and swords were sold for trifling sums. The money derived
+from the sale was set aside for distribution as prize money. All the
+battalions, batteries, and corps had, however, free gifts of guns,
+flags, or other trophies for souvenirs. On the afternoon of the 8th
+September the correspondents and their belongings proceeded on the
+horribly frowsy, rat-overrun, dervish steamer "Bordein" to Dakhala,
+the railhead. The steamer was packed upon and below deck with British
+soldiers, about 50 of whom were sick, whilst several were wounded.
+Stowed almost like cattle, sitting, squatting, lying anywhere, anyhow,
+without shade or shelter, we underwent two days of it on board. It was
+found necessary to tie up occasionally for wood (fuel), and at night
+the steamer was always moored to the bank. These occasions provided
+the needed opportunity to prepare and partake of meals, and find space
+to sleep upon the shore. But it was war-time, and extra roughing-it is
+always an accompaniment of the game in uncivilised countries. Within a
+week, thanks to the desert railway and the post-boats, we were back
+enjoying the delicious flesh-pots of Egypt, first on board Messrs
+Cook's magnificent Nile steamers, and thereafter in Shepheard's hotel,
+Cairo.
+
+On the way down I saw something and heard more of the excellent
+base-hospital established at Abadia, of which Lieut.-Col. Clery,
+R.A.M.C., was in charge. Landing stages had been erected for receiving
+the sick and wounded, and wells were dug from which, owing to
+infiltration, clear water was drawn for use in the hospital. All
+water, however, used for food or drink was in addition filtered and
+boiled. The percentage of recovery by patients was eminently
+satisfactory. Major Battersby, R.A.M.C, had a Roentgen Ray apparatus
+which was employed in twenty-two cases to locate bullets and
+fractures. In connection with the treatment of the sick and wounded,
+it is to be regretted that earlier and greater use was not made of the
+National Aid Society's offer to provide steamers properly fitted for
+carrying invalids. A railway journey in Egypt or the Soudan is, at the
+best, a painful experience for even those who are well. From Assouan
+to Cairo every invalided soldier could and should have been
+transported by water, on just such a craft as the hospital,
+"Mayflower," which the Society promptly and admirably equipped the
+moment the authorities gave their consent. As early as June 1898
+Lieut.-Col. Young, on behalf of the Red Cross Society, wrote
+intimating a desire to assist, entirely at their own expense, in the
+expedition. This application met with a refusal, and it was not until
+the 1st of August 1898 that the Foreign Office replied to a subsequent
+appeal that the Sirdar would gladly accept their proffer. Had the
+matter been settled in June, instead of August, there could have been
+three hospital ships plying, enough to transport every sick soldier
+by water. By the 6th of September the "Mayflower" was ready with a
+crew and a complement of nurses. The army provided their own medical
+staff, the Society running the steamer and supplying the cuisine,
+which was under the direction of a French "chef." The "Mayflower" was
+able to convey, in most comfortable quarters, with every possible
+attention to their needs, seventy-two sick and wounded soldiers.
+Pjamas, socks, shirts and other necessaries were given free to every
+patient. The steamer did good service, making at least three round
+trips to bring down patients.
+
+The wounds received in battle had scarce been dressed before the
+Sirdar was seeking to give effect to his schemes for the well-being of
+the Soudanese. Means were taken for the speedy connecting by telegraph
+of Suakin and Berber, Suakin, Kassala, Gedarif, Khartoum. The wire
+from Dakhala to Nasri was brought on to Omdurman a few days after the
+victory. Arrangements were further made to bridge the Atbara and carry
+forward the Wady Halfa-Abu Hamed-Dakhala line along the east bank to a
+point upon the Blue Nile opposite Khartoum. That railway will be
+completed in 1899, and there will be through train service from Wady
+Halfa to the junction of the two Niles. With the suitable steamers
+already in hand, there should be, all the year round, water
+communication up the Blue Nile for hundreds of miles, and upon the
+White Nile, with a few porterages, to the Great Equatorial Lakes, and
+west through the Bahr el Ghazal country. So much was for commerce, for
+material benefaction, but there was besides recognition of what was
+due to higher needs. I knew the Sirdar had long entertained the idea
+of fitly commemorating General Gordon's glorious self-abnegation in
+striving to help the natives, single-handed, fighting unto death
+ignorance and fanaticism. A scheme that would provide for the
+education of the youth of the Soudan, conveying to them the stores of
+knowledge taught in the colleges of civilised countries, was what he
+aimed at. The desired institution should be founded in Khartoum, which
+was to become a centre of light and guidance for the new nation being
+born to rule Central Africa. As the Mussulman is nothing if not
+fanatical whenever religious questions are introduced, it was to be a
+foundation solely devoted to teaching exact knowledge without any
+"ism."
+
+I had the opportunity afforded me of several conversations with the
+Sirdar upon the subject so dear to him, "a Gordon Memorial College in
+Khartoum." The substance of these interviews I cabled fully to the
+_Daily Telegraph_, which, with most other journals, warmly advocated
+the carrying out of the scheme. It was certain that Gordon and
+Khartoum would remain objects of interest to our race, and that public
+sentiment demanded the erection of some proper memorial of the sad
+past. Nothing better than the founding of a People's College could be
+thought of. Lamentable ignorance of the world and all therein was and
+yet is the direct curse of the land. The natives have had no
+opportunity of learning anything beyond the parrot-smattering of the
+Koran, the one book of Moslem schools. The rudimentary knowledge
+common to British schoolboys transcends all the learning of the wise
+in the Soudan. The people, Arabs and blacks, are docile and capable of
+readily learning everything taught in the ordinary scholastic
+curriculum at home. With a minimum annual income of L1500 a year,
+teachers and apparatus could, it was said, be provided, although in
+addition five or six thousand pounds sterling would be required for
+preliminary outlay. The land and part of the necessary buildings, the
+Sirdar intimated, would probably be presented as a gift by the
+Egyptian Government. It would be futile, as all knew, trying to
+succeed with a staff of native teachers. Tribal relations and other
+causes stood in the way, and unless the college was to be doomed to
+failure it would have to be launched and conducted by virile European
+professors. Much if not all of the food required for the staff and
+scholars could be purchased cheaply or might be raised in the college
+grounds by the pupils themselves. Technical training would be taught
+hand in hand with the ordinary courses. These were the outlines of the
+Sirdar's communications, who, by the way, at that date was already
+being known as Lord Kitchener of Khartoum. It having been noticed that
+certain dignitaries and others were, through the press, ruining the
+scheme by attempts to foist upon it theological and medical schools, a
+complete answer was found for their statements by a near relative of
+Gordon Pasha. In the course of conversation he referred to what I knew
+to be the facts, that the British and Egyptian army doctors wherever
+stationed in the Soudan, or from Assouan south, were wont to give
+medicines and professional services to the civil population free of
+charge. General Gordon, I was authorised to state, was no
+narrow-spirited Christian, for he always put the need of giving
+education before attempts at proselytising. It is not generally known
+amongst strait-laced sectarians or churchmen that Gordon Pasha, at his
+own expense, built a mosque for the devout Mohammedans whom he ruled,
+and that his name, as worthy to be remembered in Moslem annals, is
+inscribed upon the walls of the Mosque at Mecca. That General Gordon
+was a staunch Christian goes without saying, but he was no churl who
+could not esteem and respect the faith of his fellow-men. But the case
+is well summed up in Lord Kitchener's subsequent letter to the press.
+
+The Sirdar wrote:--
+
+    "SIR,--I trust that it will not be thought that I am trespassing
+    too much upon the goodwill of the British public, or that I am
+    exceeding the duties of a soldier, if I call your attention to an
+    issue of very grave importance arising immediately out of the
+    recent campaign in the Soudan. That region now lies in the pathway
+    of our Empire, and a numerous population has become practically
+    dependent upon men of our race.
+
+    "A responsible task is henceforth laid upon us, and those who have
+    conquered are called upon to civilise. In fact, the work
+    interrupted since the death of Gordon must now be resumed.
+
+    "It is with this conviction that I venture to lay before you a
+    proposal which, if it met with the approval and support of the
+    British public and of the English-speaking race, would prove of
+    inestimable benefit to the Soudan and to Africa. The area of the
+    Soudan comprises a population of upwards of three million persons,
+    of whom it may be said that they are wholly uneducated. The
+    dangers arising from that fact are too obvious and have been too
+    painfully felt during many years past for me to dwell upon them.
+    In the course of time, no doubt, an education of some sort, and
+    administered by some hands, will be set on foot. But if Khartoum
+    could be made forthwith the centre of an education supported by
+    British funds and organised from Britain, there would be secured
+    to this country indisputably the first place in Africa as a
+    civilising power, and an effect would be created which would be
+    felt for good throughout the central regions of that continent. I
+    accordingly propose that at Khartoum there should be founded and
+    maintained with British money a college bearing the name of the
+    Gordon Memorial College, to be a pledge that the memory of Gordon
+    is still alive among us, and that his aspirations are at length to
+    be realised.
+
+    "Certain questions will naturally arise as to whom exactly we
+    should educate, and as to the nature of the education to be given.
+    Our system would need to be gradually built up. We should begin by
+    teaching the sons of the leading men, the heads of villages, and
+    the heads of districts. They belong to a race very capable of
+    learning and ready to learn. The teaching, in its early stages,
+    would be devoted to purely elementary subjects, such as reading,
+    writing, geography, and the English language. Later, and after
+    these preliminary stages had been passed, a more advanced course
+    would be instituted, including a training in technical subjects
+    specially adapted to the requirements of those who inhabit the
+    Valley of the Upper Nile. The principal teachers in the college
+    would be British and the supervision of the arrangements would be
+    vested in the Governor-General of the Soudan. I need not add that
+    there would be no interference with the religion of the people.
+
+    "The fund required for the establishment of such a college is
+    L100,000. Of this, L10,000 would be appropriated to the initial
+    outlay, while the remaining L90,000 would be invested, and the
+    revenue thence derived would go to the maintenance of the college
+    and the support of the staff of teachers. It would be clearly
+    impossible at first to require payment from the pupils, but as the
+    college developed and the standard of its teaching rose, it would
+    be fair to demand fees in respect of this higher education, which
+    would thus support itself, and render the college independent of
+    any further call upon the public. It is for the provision of this
+    sum of L100,000 that I now desire to appeal, on behalf of a race
+    dependent upon our mercy, in the name of Gordon, and in the cause
+    of that civilisation which is the life of the Empire of Britain.
+
+    "I am authorised to state that Her Majesty the Queen has been
+    graciously pleased to become the patron of the movement. His Royal
+    Highness the Prince of Wales has graciously consented to become
+    vice-patron.
+
+    "I may state that a general council of the leading men of the
+    country is in course of formation. Lord Hillingdon has kindly
+    consented to accept the post of hon. treasurer. The Hon. George
+    Peel has accepted to act as hon. secretary, and all communications
+    should be addressed to him at 67, Lombard Street, London, E.C.
+    Subscriptions should be paid to the Sirdar's Fund for the 'Gordon
+    Memorial College' at Khartoum, Messrs Glyn, Mills, Currie, & Co.,
+    67, Lombard Street, London, E.C.
+
+    "Enclosed herewith is a letter from the Marquis of Salisbury, in
+    which he states that this scheme represents the only policy by
+    which the civilising mission of this country can effectively be
+    accomplished. His lordship adds that it is only to the rich men of
+    this country that it is possible for me to look, yet I should be
+    glad for this appeal to find its way to all classes of our people.
+
+    "I further enclose a letter from the Baroness Burdett-Coutts,
+    whose devotion to the cause of Africa has been not the least of
+    her magnificent services. I forward, besides, an important
+    telegram from the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, and letters of great
+    weight from the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, and the Lord Provost of
+    Glasgow. I would venture to address myself to the other great
+    municipalities of the Kingdom.
+
+    "Above all, it is in the hands of the Press of this country that I
+    place this cause. I look with confidence to your support in the
+    discharge of this high obligation.--I have the honour to remain,
+    yours faithfully,
+
+                                     "(Signed) KITCHENER OF KHARTOUM."
+
+Lords Salisbury and Rosebery, and many more distinguished personages,
+followed the example of the Sovereign and the Prince of Wales and
+became supporters of the proposed institution. In the Metropolis as
+well as in all the chief towns of the Kingdom the matter was taken up
+enthusiastically. An influential committee was formed. The
+subscriptions were showered in from home and abroad, wherever the
+English tongue was spoken and Gordon had been known. In less than a
+month the L100,000, and considerably more, were subscribed, and the
+establishment of the Memorial College assured.
+
+Lieut.-Colonel C. S. B. Parsons, R.A., Governor of Kassala and the Red
+Sea littoral, to whom I have previously referred when we were
+advancing against Omdurman, was menacing the dervish outpost of
+Gedarif. Later on, when Ahmed Fadl was marching to reinforce his
+master the Khalifa, Colonel Parsons was leading his Egyptians,
+Abyssinian irregulars, and friendlies from Kassala up the head waters
+or khor of the Atbara, far to the southward, and thence to a tributary
+of the Blue Nile where the enemy had long had a garrison. The fifteen
+years' campaign against Mahdism was nigh over, but not quite
+concluded, with the victory of Omdurman. On receiving the check from
+the gunboats, Fadl and his dervishes retreated up the Blue Nile to
+where they had come from, their own country upon the borders of
+Abyssinia. News seems to have reached them of Colonel Parsons'
+advance, and it became a race for Gedarif. The Egyptians had a good
+start, and managed to reach and capture the place and occupy the two
+forts, one on either side of the river, or, what it is more
+frequently, the khor, before the dervishes got back. Fadl was a man
+of mettle and resolutely assaulted the town and forts of which he had
+so long been governor. A desperate action ensued, but Fadl was beaten
+off with a loss of 700, it is said, in killed and wounded. The
+casualties in Colonel Parsons' force were about 100. But the
+dervishes, though severely beaten, soon returned to attack the forts.
+With increased numbers they sat down before the place and began to
+harass sorely the Egyptian troops, cutting their communications with
+Kassala, whence by wire to Massowah over the Italian lines and up the
+Red Sea to Egypt the Sirdar was able to keep in touch with Colonel
+Parsons. They endeavoured again, on several occasions, to storm one or
+other of the forts, which were about half a mile apart, but happily
+they were invariably repulsed. Still they persisted in their tactics
+of worrying, evidently determined to recapture the place. At last
+matters grew so serious that Major-General Rundle was sent with a
+brigade of infantry and several batteries to deal with Ahmed Fadl's
+dervishes. Advancing up the Blue Nile in gunboats, the Egyptian force
+cleared the banks of all the many wandering armed bands of the enemy.
+Through the aid of the wily Abyssinian scouts, information was sent to
+and received from Colonel Parsons and a plan arranged for catching
+Fadl and his men between two attacking columns. Seventeen hundred men
+of the Omdurman force attacked the dervishes on one side, whilst
+Colonel Parsons' garrison assailed them from the other. The enemy were
+completely routed and scattered in all directions. Hundreds of
+dervishes were slain, and ultimately many who escaped were so closely
+pressed by friendlies and Abyssinians that they surrendered. A
+thousand fugitive Baggara or so vainly tried to make their way up the
+Blue Nile, in order to retire to their former country in Kordofan.
+They were caught crossing far up stream, near Rosaires, by Colonel
+Lewis, vigorously attacked, defeated, and finally scattered. Thus the
+last dervish army in the field was destroyed, and the country
+reclaimed to the side of peace, order, and civilised government.
+
+The following are the official despatches of Lieutenant-General Sir
+Francis Grenfell, who commanded the British troops in Egypt, and of
+the Sirdar, relating to the battle of Omdurman:--
+
+    THE OFFICIAL DESPATCHES.
+
+                            Headquarters, Cairo, _September 16, 1898_.
+
+    SIR,--1. I have the honour to forward a despatch from
+    Major-General Sir H. Kitchener, K.C.B., Sirdar, describing the
+    later phases of the Soudan Campaign, and the final action on 2nd
+    September.
+
+    2. The Sirdar, in this despatch, recounts in brief, simple terms
+    the events of the closing phase of one of the most successful
+    campaigns ever conducted by a British General against a savage
+    foe, resulting in the capture of Omdurman, the destruction of the
+    dervish power in the Soudan, and the reopening of the waterway to
+    the Equatorial Provinces.
+
+    3. The concentration of the army on the Atbara was carried out to
+    the hour, and the arrangements for the transport of the force to
+    the vicinity of the battle-field were made by the Sirdar and his
+    staff with consummate ability. All difficulties were foreseen and
+    provided for, and, from the start of the campaign to its close at
+    Omdurman, operations have been conducted with a precision and
+    completeness which have been beyond all praise; while the skill
+    shown in the advance was equalled by the ability with which the
+    army was commanded in the field.
+
+    The Sirdar's admirable disposition of the force, the accurate fire
+    of the artillery and Maxims, and the steady fire discipline of the
+    infantry, assisted by the gunboats, enabled him to destroy his
+    enemy at long range before the bulk of the British and Egyptian
+    force came under any severe rifle fire, and to this cause may be
+    attributed the comparatively small list of casualties. Never were
+    greater results achieved at such a trifling cost.
+
+    4. The heavy loss in killed and wounded in the 21st Lancers is to
+    be deeply regretted. But the charge itself, against an
+    overwhelming force of sword and spear men over difficult ground,
+    and under unfavourable conditions, was worthy of the best
+    traditions of British cavalry.
+
+    5. As regards the force employed, I can say with truth that never,
+    in the course of my service, have I seen a finer body of troops
+    than the British contingent of cavalry, artillery, engineers, and
+    infantry placed at the disposal of the Sirdar, as regards
+    physique, smartness, and soldierlike bearing. The appearance of
+    the men speaks well for the present recruiting department, and was
+    a source of pride to every Englishman who saw them.
+
+    6. While thoroughly endorsing the Sirdar's recommendations, I
+    desire to call attention to the good work done by Major-General
+    Henderson, C.B., and staff at Alexandria, who conducted the
+    disembarkation of the force, and by my own staff at Cairo.
+
+    On Colonel H. Cooper, Assistant Adjutant-General, and
+    Lieut.-Colonel L. A. Hope, Deputy-Assistant Adjutant-General, fell
+    the brunt of the work in the despatch of the British Division to
+    the front.
+
+    I also desire to acknowledge the services of Brevet-Colonel A. O.
+    Green, Commanding Royal Engineer; Surgeon-General H. S. Muir,
+    M.D., Principal Medical Officer; Lieut.-Colonel F. O. Leggett,
+    Army Ordnance Department; Colonel F. Treffry, Army Pay Department;
+    Veterinary-Captain Blenkinsop, and the junior officers of the
+    various departments.
+
+    Major Williams, my C.R.A., was indefatigable in organising the
+    mule transport for the 32nd and 37th Field Batteries.
+
+    7. I have received the greatest assistance from the Egyptian
+    Railway Administration in the movements of the troops both going
+    south and returning.
+
+    Thanks to the admirable system organised by Iskander Bey Fahmy,
+    the traffic manager, all the services were rapidly and punctually
+    carried out.
+
+    8. I am sending this despatch home by my _Aide-de-camp_,
+    Lieutenant H. Grenfell, 1st Life Guards, who acted as Orderly
+    Officer to Brigadier-General Honourable N. G. Lyttelton, C.B.,
+    commanding Second British Brigade in the Soudan.--I have, &c.,
+
+                                 FRANCIS GRENFELL, Lieutenant-General,
+                                                  Commanding in Egypt.
+
+The despatch from Major-General Sir Herbert Kitchener, Sirdar, to
+Lieutenant-General Sir Francis Grenfell, commanding in Egypt, was as
+follows:--
+
+                                        Omdurman, _September 5, 1898_.
+
+    SIR,--It having been decided that an expeditionary force of
+    British and Egyptian troops should be sent against the Khalifa's
+    army in Omdurman, I have the honour to inform you that the
+    following troops were concentrated at the North End of the Sixth
+    Cataract, in close proximity to which an advanced supply depot had
+    been previously formed at Nasri Island.
+
+    BRITISH TROOPS.--21st Lancers; 32nd Field Battery, Royal
+    Artillery; 37th Howitzer Battery, Royal Artillery; 2 40-prs.,
+    Royal Artillery. Infantry Division:--1st Brigade: 1st Battalion
+    Warwickshire Regiment, 1st Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, 1st
+    Battalion Seaforth Highlanders, 1st Battalion Cameron Highlanders,
+    6 Maxims, Detachment Royal Engineers. 2nd Brigade: 1st Battalion
+    Grenadier Guards, 1st Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, 2nd
+    Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade, 4
+    Maxims, Detachment Royal Engineers.
+
+    EGYPTIAN TROOPS.--9 Squadrons, Cavalry; 1 Battery, Horse
+    Artillery; 4 Field Batteries; 10 Maxims; 8 Companies, Camel Corps.
+    1st Brigade: 2nd Egyptian Battalion; 9th, 10th, and 11th
+    Soudanese Battalions. 2nd Brigade: 8th Egyptian Battalion; 12th,
+    13th, and 14th Soudanese Battalions. 3rd Brigade: 3rd, 4th, 7th,
+    and 15th Egyptian Battalions. 4th Brigade: 1st, 5th, 17th, and
+    18th Egyptian Battalions. Camel Transport.
+
+    On 24th August the troops began moving by successive divisions to
+    Jebel Royan, where a depot of supplies and a British communication
+    hospital of two hundred beds were established.
+
+    On 28th August, the army marched to Wadi el Abid, and on the
+    following day proceeded to Sayal, from whence I despatched a
+    letter to the Khalifa, warning him to remove his women and
+    children, as I intended to bombard Omdurman unless he surrendered.
+
+    Next day the army marched to Sururab, and on September 1 reached
+    the village of Egeiga, two miles south of the Kerreri hills, and
+    within six miles of Omdurman. Patrols of the enemy's horsemen were
+    frequently seen during the march falling back before our cavalry,
+    and their outposts being driven in beyond Egeiga, our advanced
+    scouts came in full view of Omdurman, from which large bodies of
+    the enemy were seen streaming out and marching north.
+
+    At noon, from the slopes of Jebel Surgham, I saw the entire
+    dervish army some three miles off advancing towards us, the
+    Khalifa's black flag surrounded by his Mulazimin (body-guard)
+    being plainly discernible. I estimated their numbers at 35,000
+    men, though, from subsequent investigation, this figure was
+    probably under-estimated, their actual strength being between
+    forty and fifty thousand. From information received, I gather that
+    it was the Khalifa's intention to have met us with this force at
+    Kerreri, but our rapid advance surprised him.
+
+    The troops were at once disposed around the village of Egeiga,
+    which formed an excellent position with a clear field of fire in
+    every direction, and shelter-trenches and zerebas were prepared.
+
+    At 2 p.m. our vedettes reported that the enemy had halted, and
+    later on it was observed that they were preparing bivouacs and
+    lighting fires. Information was received that the Khalifa
+    contemplated a night attack on our position, and preparations to
+    repel this were made, at the same time the Egeiga villagers were
+    sent out to obtain information in the direction of the enemy's
+    camp with the idea that we intended a night attack, and, this
+    coming to the Khalifa's knowledge, he decided to remain in his
+    position; consequently, we passed an undisturbed night in the
+    zereba.
+
+    Meanwhile the gunboats, under Commander Keppel, which had shelled
+    the dervish advanced camp near Kerreri on 31st August, proceeded
+    at daylight on 1st September, towing the Howitzer Battery to the
+    right bank, whence, in conjunction with the Irregulars under Major
+    Stuart Wortley, their advance south was continued. After two forts
+    had been destroyed and the villages gallantly cleared by the
+    Irregulars, the Howitzers were landed in a good position on the
+    right bank, from whence an effective fire was opened on Omdurman,
+    and, after a few rounds, the conspicuous dome over the Mahdi's
+    tomb was partially demolished, whilst the gunboats, steaming past
+    the town, also effectually bombarded the forts, which replied with
+    a heavy, but ill-directed fire.
+
+    At dawn on the following morning (2nd September), our mounted
+    patrols reported the enemy advancing to attack, and by 6.30 a.m.
+    the Egyptian Cavalry, which had been driven in, took up a position
+    with the Horse Artillery, Camel Corps, and four Maxims on the
+    Kerreri ridge on our right flank.
+
+    At 6.40 a.m. the shouts of the advancing dervish army became
+    audible, and a few minutes later their flags appeared over the
+    rising ground, forming a semi-circle round our left and front
+    faces. The guns of the 32nd Field Battery opened fire at 6.45 a.m.
+    at a range of two thousand eight hundred yards, and the dervishes,
+    continuing to advance rapidly, delivered their attack with all
+    their accustomed dash and intrepidity. In a short time the troops
+    and Maxims on the left and front were hotly engaged, whilst the
+    enemy's riflemen, taking up positions on the slopes of Jebel
+    Surgham, brought a long-range fire to bear on the zereba, causing
+    some casualties, and their spearmen, continually reinforced from
+    the rear, made attempt after attempt to reach our lines.
+
+    Shortly after 8.0 a.m. the enemy's main attack was repulsed. At
+    this period a large and compact body of dervishes was observed
+    attempting to march round our right, and advancing with great
+    rapidity they soon became engaged with our mounted troops on the
+    Kerreri ridge. One of the gunboats which had been disposed to
+    protect the river flanks at once proceeded down stream to afford
+    assistance to the somewhat hardly-pressed mounted troops, and
+    coming within close range of the dervishes inflicted heavy loss on
+    them, upwards of 450 men being killed in a comparatively
+    circumscribed area. The Artillery and Maxims on the left face of
+    the zereba also co-operated, and the enemy was forced to retire
+    again under cover of the hills.
+
+    All attacks on our position having failed, and the enemy having
+    retired out of range, I sent out the 21st Lancers to clear the
+    ground on our left front and head off any retreating dervishes
+    from the direction of Omdurman. After crossing the slopes of Jebel
+    Surgham they came upon a body of dervishes concealed in a
+    depression of the ground; these they gallantly charged, but
+    finding, too late to withdraw, that a much larger body of the
+    enemy lay hidden, the charge was pressed home through them, and,
+    after rallying on the other side, they rode back, driving off the
+    dervishes, and remaining in possession of the ground. Considerable
+    loss was inflicted on the enemy; but I regret to say that here
+    fell Lieutenant R. Grenfell (12th Lancers) and twenty men.
+
+    Meanwhile I had ordered the army to follow in echelon of brigades
+    from the left. At 9.30 a.m. the front brigades having reached the
+    sand ridge running from the west end of Jebel Surgham towards the
+    river, a halt was ordered to enable the rear brigades to get into
+    position, and I then received information that the Khalifa was
+    still present in force on the left slopes of Surgham; a change of
+    front half-right of the three leading brigades was, therefore,
+    ordered, and it was during this movement that Macdonald's brigade
+    became hotly engaged, whilst taking up position on the right of
+    the echelon.
+
+    Learning from General Hunter, who was with Macdonald's brigade,
+    that he might require support, I despatched Wauchope's brigade to
+    reinforce him, and ordered the remaining brigades to make a
+    further change half-right.
+
+    No sooner had Macdonald repelled the dervish onslaught than the
+    force, which had retired behind the Kerreri hills, emerged again
+    into the plain and rapidly advanced to attack him, necessitating a
+    further complete change of front of his brigade to the right. This
+    movement was admirably executed, and now, supported by a portion
+    of Wauchope's brigade on the right and by Lewis's brigade
+    enfilading the attack on the left, he completely crushed this
+    second most determined dervish charge.
+
+    Meantime Maxwell's and Lyttelton's brigades had been pushed on
+    over the slopes of Jebel Surgham, and driving before them the
+    dervish forces under the Khalifa's son, Osman Sheikh ed Din, they
+    established themselves in a position which cut off the retreat on
+    Omdurman of the bulk of the dervish army, who were soon seen
+    streaming in a disorganised mass towards the high hills many miles
+    to the west, closely pursued by the mounted troops, who cleared
+    the right front and flanks of all hesitating and detached parties
+    of the enemy.
+
+    The battle was now practically over, and Lyttelton's and Maxwell's
+    brigades marched down to Khor Shambat, in the direction of
+    Omdurman, which was reached at 12.30 p.m., and here the troops
+    rested and watered. The remainder of Hunter's division and
+    Wauchope's brigade reached the same place at 3 p.m.
+
+    At 2 p.m. I advanced with Maxwell's brigade and the 32nd Field
+    Battery through the suburbs of Omdurman to the great wall of the
+    Khalifa's enclosure, and, leaving two guns and three battalions to
+    guard the approaches, the 13th Soudanese Battalion and four guns
+    (32nd Field Battery) were pushed down by the north side of the
+    wall to the river, and, accompanied by three gunboats which had
+    been previously ordered to be ready for this movement, these
+    troops penetrated the breaches in the wall made by the howitzers,
+    marched south along the line of forts, and turning in at the main
+    gateway found a straight road leading to the Khalifa's house and
+    Mahdi's tomb; these were speedily occupied, the Khalifa having
+    quitted the town only a short time before our entry, after a vain
+    effort to collect his men for further resistance.
+
+    The gunboats continued up the river clearing the streets of
+    dervishes, and, having returned to the remainder of the brigade
+    left at the corner of the wall, these were pushed forward, and
+    occupied all the main portions of the town. Guards were at once
+    mounted over the principal buildings and Khalifa's stores, and
+    after visiting the prison and releasing the European prisoners,
+    the troops bivouacked at 7 p.m. around the town, after a long and
+    trying day, throughout which all ranks displayed qualities of high
+    courage, discipline, and endurance.
+
+    The gunboats and Egyptian Cavalry and Camel Corps at once started
+    in pursuit south; but owing to the exhausted condition of the
+    animals and the flooded state of the country, which prevented them
+    from communicating with the gunboat carrying their forage and
+    rations, they were reluctantly obliged to abandon the pursuit
+    after following up the flying Khalifa for 30 miles through marshy
+    ground. The gunboats continued south for 90 miles, but were unable
+    to come in touch with the Khalifa, who left the river and fled
+    westward towards Kordofan, followed by the armed friendly tribes
+    who took up the pursuit on the return of the mounted troops.
+
+    Large stores of ammunition, powder, some sixty guns of various
+    sorts, besides vast quantities of rifles, swords, spears, banners,
+    drums, and other war materials, were captured on the battle-field
+    and in Omdurman.
+
+    The result of this battle is the practical annihilation of the
+    Khalifa's army, the consequent extinction of Mahdism in the
+    Soudan, and the submission of the whole country formerly ruled
+    under Egyptian authority. This has re-opened vast territories to
+    the benefits of peace, civilisation, and good government.
+
+    On 4th September the British and Egyptian flags were hoisted with
+    due ceremony on the walls of the ruined Palace of Khartoum, close
+    to the spot where General Gordon fell, and this event is looked
+    upon by the rejoicing populations as marking the commencement of a
+    new era of peace and prosperity for their unfortunate country.
+
+    It would be impossible for any Commander to have been more ably
+    seconded than I was by the General Officers serving under me.
+    Major-Generals Hunter, Rundle, and Gatacre have displayed the
+    highest qualities as daring and skilful leaders, as well as being
+    endowed with administrative capabilities of a high order. It is in
+    the hands of such officers that the Service may rest assured their
+    best interests will, under all circumstances, be honourably
+    upheld, and while expressing to them my sincere thanks for their
+    cordial co-operation with me, I have every confidence in most
+    highly recommending the names of these General Officers for the
+    favourable consideration of Her Majesty's Government.
+
+    The manner in which the Brigadiers handled their respective
+    brigades, their thorough knowledge of their profession, and their
+    proved skill in the field, mark them out, one and all, as fitted
+    for higher rank, and I have great pleasure in submitting their
+    names for favourable consideration:--Brigadier-Generals N. G.
+    Lyttelton and A. G. Wauchope; Lieutenant-Colonels J. G. Maxwell,
+    H. A. Macdonald, D. F. Lewis and J. Collinson.
+
+    Macdonald's brigade was highly tested, bearing the brunt of two
+    severe attacks delivered at very short intervals from different
+    directions, and I am sure it must be a source of the greatest
+    satisfaction to Colonel Macdonald, as it is to myself and the
+    whole army, that the very great care he has for long devoted to
+    the training of his brigade has proved so effectual, enabling his
+    men to behave with the greatest steadiness under most trying
+    circumstances, and repelling most successfully two determined
+    dervish onslaughts.
+
+    I should also mention under this category the excellent services
+    performed by Colonel R. H. Martin, commanding 21st Lancers; by
+    Lieut.-Colonel Long, commanding the combined British and Egyptian
+    Artillery; and by Lieut.-Colonel R. G. Broadwood, commanding the
+    Egyptian Cavalry; as well as by Major R. J. Tudway, commanding the
+    Camel Corps. I consider that these various arms could not have
+    been more efficiently commanded than they were throughout the
+    recent operations. The best result was, I believe, attained, and
+    it is due to the skilful handling of their respective commands
+    that the dervish defeat was so complete.
+
+    The Medical Department was administered with ability and skill by
+    Surgeon-General Taylor, Principal Medical Officer, who was well
+    assisted by Colonel M'Namara, whilst the medical organisation of
+    the Egyptian Army fully maintained its previous excellent
+    reputation under the direction of Lieut.-Colonel Gallwey and his
+    staff. The general medical arrangements were all that could have
+    been desired, and I believe the minimum of pain and maximum of
+    comfort procurable on active service in this country was attained
+    by the unremitting energy, untiring zeal, and devotion to their
+    duty of the entire medical staff.
+
+    Owing to the long line of communications by rail, river, and
+    desert, the work of maintaining a thoroughly efficient supply and
+    transport system, both by land and water, was arduous in the
+    extreme, and that a large British and Egyptian force was brought
+    up to within striking distance of Khartoum, amply supplied with
+    all its requirements, reflects the greatest credit on the supply
+    and transport system. I wish to cordially thank the officers of
+    the Supply, Transport and Railway Departments for the satisfactory
+    results which have attended their labours.
+
+    I consider that the excellent ration which was always provided
+    kept the men strong and healthy and fit to endure all the
+    hardships of an arduous campaign, enabling them, at a critical
+    moment, to support the exceptional fatigue of continuous marching
+    and fighting for some fourteen hours during the height of a Soudan
+    summer.
+
+    The Intelligence Department were, as usual, thoroughly efficient,
+    and their forecasts of the intentions and actions of the enemy
+    were accurate. Colonel Wingate and Slatin Pacha worked
+    indefatigably, and, with their staff, deserve a prominent place
+    amongst those to whom the success of the operations is due.
+
+    The excellent service performed by the gunboats under Commander
+    Keppel and his subordinate officers of the Royal Navy is deserving
+    of special mention. These gunboats have been for a long time past
+    almost constantly under fire; they have made bold reconnaissances
+    past the enemy's forts and rifle pits, and on the 1st and 2nd
+    September, in conjunction with the Irregular levies under Major
+    Stuart Wortley, and the Howitzer Battery, they materially aided in
+    the capture of all the forts on both banks of the Nile, and in
+    making the fortifications of Omdurman untenable. In bringing to
+    notice the readiness of resource, daring, and ability of Commander
+    Keppel and his officers, I wish also to add my appreciation of the
+    services rendered by Engineer E. Bond, Royal Navy, and the
+    engineering staff, as well as of the detachments of the Royal
+    Marine Artillery and the gun crews, who have gained the hearty
+    praise of their commanders.
+
+    The Rev. R. Brindle, the Rev. J. M. Simms, the Rev. A. W. B.
+    Watson, and the Rev. O. S. Watkins won the esteem of all by their
+    untiring devotion to their sacred duties and by their unfailing
+    and cheerful kindness to the sick and wounded at all times.
+
+    To all my personal staff my thanks are specially due for the great
+    assistance they at all times rendered me.
+
+    In conclusion, I have great pleasure in expressing my
+    appreciation of the services rendered by the detachments of the
+    Royal Engineers, Army Ordnance Corps, and Telegraph and Postal
+    Departments.
+
+The names of a large number of officers, non-commissioned officers,
+and men who had been brought to the Sirdar's notice for good service
+were appended to the despatch.
+
+Two other documents call for notice, the Queen's message and the
+Sirdar's general order to his army after the victory.
+
+    "From the Queen to the Sirdar, Khartoum.--I congratulate you and
+    all your brave troops under fire on the brilliant success which
+    you have achieved. I am grieved for the losses which have been
+    sustained, but trust the wounded are doing well.--VICTORIA."
+
+    "The Sirdar congratulates all the troops upon their excellent
+    behaviour during the general action to-day, resulting in the total
+    defeat of the Khalifa's forces and worthily avenging Gordon. The
+    Sirdar regrets the loss that has occurred, and, while warmly
+    thanking the troops, wishes to place on record his admiration for
+    their courage, discipline, and endurance.
+
+                                           "(Signed) H. M. L. RUNDLE."
+
+Long lists of honours and promotions were subsequently published in
+the _Gazette_. Of these, the more prominent officers who received such
+recognition of their distinguished services were as follows: The
+Sirdar was raised to the peerage as Lord Kitchener of Khartoum. In
+addition thereto the dignity G.C.B. was conferred upon the Sirdar, and
+Sir Francis Grenfell. Major-Generals W. F. Gatacre, A. Hunter, and H.
+M. L. Rundle were created K.C.B.'s, and the dignity of Companion of
+the Bath was granted to Surgeon-General William Taylor, Colonel V.
+Hatton, Colonel L. C. Money, Colonel T. E. Verner, Colonel W. H.
+M'Namara, R.A.M.C., Lieut.-Col. R. A. Hope, Lieut.-Col. Collingwood,
+Lieut.-Col. D. F. Lewis, Lieut.-Col. J. Collinson, Lieut.-Col. W. E.
+G. Forbes, Lieut.-Col. M. Q. Jones, Lieut.-Col. F. R. South,
+Lieut.-Col. R. H. Martin, Lieut.-Col. W. G. C. Wyndham, and Commander
+C. R. Keppel, R. N. Colonel F. R. Wingate was made a Knight Commander
+of the Order of St Michael and St George, and a like dignity was
+conferred upon Colonel R. Slatin Pasha. Distinguished Service Orders
+were granted to the Rev. R. Brindle, Lieut.-Col. C. V. F. Townshend,
+Lieut.-Col. G. A. Hughes, Lieut.-Col. C. J. Blomfield, Lieut.-Col. F.
+Lloyd, Major E. J. M. Stuart Wortley, Major E. M. Wilson, R.A.M.C.,
+Major G. Cockburn, Major Hon. C. Lambton, Major N. E. Young, Major C.
+E. Laurie, and Major F. J. Maxse, Captain C. C. Fleming, R.A.M.C.,
+Lieutenant G. C. M. Hall, Lieutenant F. Hubbard. The Khedive conferred
+the Medjidieh and Osmanlieh orders on a large number of officers.
+Others, whose names did not appear in the order list, figured in that
+of army promotions. Victoria Crosses were given to Captain P. A.
+Kenna, 21st Lancers, Lieutenant R. H. L. J. de Montmorency, 21st
+Lancers, Private Thomas Byrne, 21st Lancers (for turning back in the
+charge and rescuing Lieutenant Molyneux), Captain N. M. Smyth, 2nd
+Dragoon Guards.
+
+Lieut.-Col. H. A. Macdonald, C.B., D.S.O., was made an extra A.D.C. to
+the Queen.
+
+The Sirdar on his return to Lower Egypt met with an enthusiastic
+reception. Lord Cromer, Sir Francis Grenfell and all the notables in
+Cairo met him and the troops turned out to escort him to his
+residence. He was entertained in Cairo at a grand banquet. When he
+visited England even a heartier and grander welcome was extended to
+the victor of Omdurman and the destroyer of Mahdism. The public
+acclaimed him, and honours and dignities were showered upon him ere he
+returned to resume his self-imposed task of reconstructing the Soudan.
+
+Colonel Hector A. Macdonald alone seems as yet to have had extended to
+him scant military recognition of his invaluable services. The post of
+A.D.C. to Her Majesty is a coveted dignity, but a mere honorary
+office, carrying neither pay nor emolument. Indeed it is the other
+way, for the accessories required to bedeck the person will cost at
+least L25. But the fact cannot be forgotten, or cried down, that
+Colonel Macdonald saved the situation. He fought a single-handed
+battle against tremendous odds and won. First he faced the Khalifa and
+fought him to a finish, and then faced about and served Sheikh Ed
+Din's unbeaten dervishes in much the same fashion. For reasons that
+could be given, and which reflect no discredit upon the other
+brigadier, Colonel Lewis' force was not moved promptly up to
+Macdonald's support. Honour lists and promotion lists still keep
+cropping up, and possibly the military authorities are yet
+deliberating what is the right thing to do in Macdonald's case. In the
+Scotch press, and particularly in that of the Far North, there has
+been much adverse comment on the ungenerous treatment accorded their
+countryman. The Highlanders, as is their nature, write and speak
+passionately of the matter, and pertinently ask if the authorities
+wish no more Highland recruits. From the paper of his own district,
+the Dingwall _North Star_, I quote the following lines:--
+
+    "In glen and clachan, England's tardy debt
+    The clansmen's pride will adequately pay:
+    Round Nor'land hearths when lamplit nights are long,
+    Thy fame shall ever live in many a tale and song."
+
+The battle of Omdurman was not the only occasion in which Colonel
+Macdonald has exhibited magnificent tactical skill combined with
+soldierly dash and undaunted courage. It is not so long since the
+Atbara was fought, and in half a score of engagements before that he
+quitted himself equally well. He was deservedly promoted from the
+ranks, and to Field-Marshal Lord Roberts is due the credit of having
+discovered and properly appreciated the gallant Highlandman. His
+record is one for any man to be proud of, for to his own hand he owes
+his present distinguished position. I again quote from the _North
+Star_:--
+
+    "Colonel Macdonald was born at Rootfield, in the parish of
+    Urquhart, in the county of Ross and Cromarty, and on the property
+    of Mr Mackenzie of Allangrange. He began life as a stable-boy with
+    Bailie Robertson, of the National Hotel, Dingwall, when tenant of
+    the farm of Kinkell, Conon Bridge. At the age of seventeen he went
+    to Inverness and became an apprentice draper with Mr William
+    Mackay, late of the Clan Tartan Warehouse. In this capacity he
+    served two years, but finding mercantile life distasteful to him,
+    he enlisted in the 92nd Regiment. Here his qualities procured
+    for him rapid promotion. He successively and successfully
+    discharged the duties of drill-instructor, pay-sergeant, and other
+    non-commissioned offices, and held the rank of colour-sergeant at
+    the commencement of the Afghan campaign, wherein he repeatedly so
+    greatly distinguished himself.
+
+    "Macdonald's first engagement with an enemy was at Jagi Thanni. On
+    that occasion General Roberts, escorted by the 9th Lancers and 5th
+    Punjaub Cavalry, advanced from Ali Kheyl to Kushi, and, while
+    passing by Jagi Thanni, he was attacked by about 2000 Mangals and
+    Machalgah Ghilzais, who there lay in ambush. Fortunately, early
+    intimation of the Mangals' hostile intentions reached Fort
+    Karatiga, a mile or two off, and a party of 45 men of the 3rd
+    Sikhs, under Jemander Shere Mahomed Khan, was at once sent out to
+    reconnoitre, and, as firing was soon afterwards heard in the
+    direction the party had gone, Colour-Sergeant Macdonald promptly
+    turned out with 18 men of his own regiment, and overtaking the
+    Sikhs, he took over command of the whole, and, gallantly leading
+    his little force across a difficult river and up a steep hill, he
+    boldly attacked and dislodged the enemy from a strong position on
+    the crest, but not before four of the Sikhs were killed, and
+    Deputy-Surgeon-General Townsend, who rode near General Roberts,
+    severely wounded. The enemy's loss here was about 30 killed.
+    Macdonald's brilliant services on this occasion averted something
+    like a disaster. In a Divisional Order, Roberts wrote:--'The above
+    non-commissioned officer and a native officer, with a handful of
+    soldiers, drove before them a large body of Mangals, who had
+    assembled to stop the road, ... the great coolness, judgment, and
+    gallantry with which they behaved.' In his despatch, dated Cabul,
+    15th October, and published in the _Gazette_, General Roberts
+    further said:--'Meanwhile, a warm engagement had for some time
+    been carried on in the direction of Karatiga, and presently large
+    numbers of the enemy were seen retreating before a small
+    detachment of the 92nd Highlanders and 3rd Sikhs, which had been
+    sent out from Karatiga, and which was, with excellent judgment and
+    boldness, led up a steep spur commanding the defile. The energy
+    and skill with which this party was handled reflected the highest
+    credit on Colour-Sergeant Hector Macdonald, 92nd Highlanders, and
+    Jemander Shere Mahomed, 3rd Sikhs. But for their excellent
+    services on this occasion, it might probably have been impossible
+    to carry out the programme of our march.' In the same _Gazette_
+    was published another despatch from Sir F. Roberts, dated Cabul,
+    20th October, in which he says:--'Colour-Sergeant H. Macdonald, a
+    non-commissioned officer, whose excellent and skilful management
+    of a small detachment when opposed to immensely superior numbers
+    in the Hazardarakht defile was mentioned in my despatch of the
+    16th instant, here again distinguished himself.' This refers to
+    his conduct at Charasiab, at the close of which action our brave
+    countryman was sent for by Roberts, who publicly complimented and
+    thanked him personally for 'the ability and intelligence with
+    which he handled the party under his command' at the battle.
+    Macdonald's commission was conferred on the recommendation of
+    General Roberts, that distinguished officer having witnessed
+    repeated proofs of his valour and capacity."
+
+In 1885 Colonel Macdonald joined the then reorganised Egyptian
+Constabulary and received rapid promotion. From these, on other
+changes being made, he passed into the Khedivial army, drilling and
+training new Soudanese levies. So thorough a soldier is too valuable
+to be longer left in the Soudan now that peace is assured.
+
+[Illustration: COL. H. MACDONALD AT OMDURMAN, WITH OFFICER AND
+NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICER OF 1ST BRIGADE.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE FASHODA AFFAIR.--A RED BRITISH LINE THROUGH AFRICA.
+
+
+France is following in the footsteps of Spain. A fatality dogs her
+schemes of empire and colonisation. In truth she has no colonies--they
+are but military possessions. She has set her face, alone and in
+conjunction with others, in America, Asia, and Africa to hoop our
+enterprises in with bands of iron. Failure attended her policy across
+the Atlantic, in India, in Burmah, and but the other day at Fashoda.
+Her object in that last instance was to connect her possessions in
+West and East Africa, so that the red British lines which are steadily
+extending from North and South Africa should never be joined. France
+is the largest holder of territory upon the Dark Continent, and she
+probably regarded that fact as the best justification for her subtle
+move, through the Marchand and Abyssinian Missions, to add still more
+to her dominions. She had been permitted to hoop us about at Bathurst
+and Sierra Leone upon the West Coast and has all but completed the
+same process round Ashantee and the Niger countries, not to speak of
+elsewhere. Madagascar she had grabbed without a shadow of excuse, but
+time and South African civilisation will make it a bigger Cuba.
+Already her failures at government in that vast African island are
+grievous. Less than five years ago, to use a phrase I have employed
+elsewhere, property and life were ridiculously safe in that country.
+But then the Hovas and Prime Minister Rainilaiarivony ruled the land.
+Other changes predicted have come about there. The one native who
+showed honesty and courage in successfully opposing them at Tamatave
+the French subsequently executed. The Queen and Prime Minister were
+banished. Speaking English, the chief foreign language spoken, has
+been tabooed. Natives who are heard using it, or suspected of
+employing our mother tongue, are thrust into prison and kept there,
+_pour encourager les autres_, until they promise to discontinue
+speaking it. Association of natives with English or Americans renders
+them marked persons. The Protestant missions are regarded as centres
+of treason and enmity to French authority. Quickly, as foretold, has
+come about their reward(?) for non-interference politically in the
+early days of French intrigue. Had they insisted, with the British
+Government of a bygone day, in saving the island for the Malagasy,
+they would have succeeded. Our commerce has also had to suffer, for
+the French _instruct_ the natives that they must only buy articles of
+French manufacture. The native who purchases British or American goods
+soon discovers, from the severe handling he receives through the local
+officials, that he has made a serious mistake. Robbery and
+lawlessness are rife, and in many places neither life nor property is
+safe beyond rifle-shot of the French garrisons. The facts are
+notorious and are in possession of the Foreign Office in Downing
+Street.
+
+It had leaked out a day or two after the battle that the Sirdar
+intended accompanying the expedition to Fashoda. The troops ordered to
+proceed up the Nile with him were paraded outside Omdurman on the
+morning of the 8th of September. These were 600 men of the 11th
+Soudanese under Major Jackson, 600 men of the 13th Soudanese under
+Major Smith Dorrian, 100 men of the Cameron Highlanders under Captain
+the Hon. A. D. Murray, and Captain Peake's battery of 12 1/2-pounder
+Maxim-Nordenfeldt guns. At the same time the force that was to be sent
+across to reoccupy and assist in rebuilding the ruined Government
+buildings in Khartoum also turned out for inspection. Nothing was left
+to chance. Care was taken that only those fit and well should proceed
+on the gunboats and barges to Fashoda. Provision was made that the
+work of reconstruction should go on in his absence, and that Khartoum
+and Omdurman should be left in a proper state of defence. A great air
+of official mystification and secrecy prevailed respecting everything
+that happened at that time. Particulars were difficult to glean of the
+actual condition of affairs up the Blue and White Niles. Even the
+plans for the removal of the military headquarters and the
+re-establishment of the central authority in Khartoum were sealed
+against us. As the telegraph service was in the Sirdar's hands, much
+of the pains bestowed to keep news from us was surely unnecessary.
+But the Sirdar has a way of bestowing confidences on no one--simply
+issuing orders when the occasion arrives.
+
+Since my return to England a reference to the correspondence disclosed
+in the official despatches or Fashoda Blue-book proves the correctness
+of the information that reached me even at that early stage. From the
+summary of the documents which appeared in the _Daily Telegraph_ of
+10th October, we learn that "before the battle of Omdurman Lord
+Salisbury had given instructions to the Sirdar through Lord Cromer,"
+as follows:--
+
+    "It is desirable that you should be placed in possession of the
+    views of Her Majesty's Government in respect to the line of action
+    to be followed in the event of Khartoum being occupied at an early
+    date by the forces now operating in the Soudan under the command
+    of Sir Herbert Kitchener.
+
+    "Her Majesty's Government do not contemplate that after the
+    occupation of Khartoum any further military operations on a large
+    scale, or involving any considerable expense, will be undertaken
+    for the occupation of the provinces to the south. But the Sirdar
+    is authorised to send two flotillas, one up the White and the
+    other up the Blue Nile.
+
+    "You are authorised to settle the composition of these two forces
+    in consultation with the Sirdar.
+
+    "Sir Herbert Kitchener should in person command the White Nile
+    flotilla as far as Fashoda, and may take with him a small body of
+    British troops, should you concur with him in thinking such a
+    course desirable.
+
+    "The officer in command of the Blue Nile flotilla is authorised to
+    go as far as the foot of the cataract, which is believed to
+    commence about Rosaires. He is not to land troops with a view to
+    marching beyond the point on the river navigable for steamers.
+    Should he, before reaching Rosaires, encounter any Abyssinian
+    outposts, he is to halt, report the circumstance, and wait for
+    further instructions.
+
+    "In dealing with any French or Abyssinian authorities who may be
+    encountered, nothing should be said or done which would in any way
+    imply a recognition on behalf of Her Majesty's Government of a
+    title to possession on behalf of France or Abyssinia to any
+    portion of the Nile Valley."
+
+Although everybody engaged in the Fashoda expedition was repeatedly
+warned not to disclose anything about it, and to forget all they had
+seen or heard, I was enabled very shortly after the event to wire, day
+by day, the whole story of the enterprise. It was General Grant, who,
+during the Civil War in the United States of America, terribly vexed
+at the newspaper correspondents, on one occasion vowed he would send
+them all away and not have a press-man in his army. "Then, General,"
+said the American journalist addressed, "may I ask what are you going
+to do without soldiers, every man of them can speak and write?"
+General Grant saw the absurdity of the position and smiled, and there
+was an end of the matter. It was, perhaps, a choice of one of two
+evils, either accepting and making the best of the situation to allow
+the trained journalists to remain, or to prepare to meet a tremendous
+inundation of wild letter-writing from all ranks that would find its
+way into the public press and do incalculable harm. "Other times,
+other manners," and those modern generals discredit themselves who
+fail to recognise at the close of the nineteenth century that the
+schoolmaster and the press must be reckoned with.
+
+The information given me by the reis of the "Tewfikieh" proved
+accurate in almost every detail. I confess that, at the time, knowing
+the Arab indifference to exactness in dates, I did not credit his
+assertion that Marchand had reached Fashoda six weeks before the
+dervishes attacked him. Floating down stream in a small steam launch,
+aluminum row-boats, and other craft, the Frenchmen arrived off Fashoda
+on the 10th of July. In 1892-93 the French Government had begun
+sending military or quasi-scientific missions from the west and east
+African coasts to obtain treaties and pre-emption claims to territory
+in the interior. That the French flag should wave from sea to sea was
+their confessed desire. Their incentive was to forestall and annoy
+Great Britain and render worthless the blood and treasure our country
+might spend in smashing the dervishes. Major Marchand set out from the
+west coast or French Congo in 1896, with a small body of Europeans and
+about 500 Senegalese troops. With indomitable zeal and courage he
+pushed east, reaching the vast basin lands of the Bahr el Ghazal after
+sore hardships and the loss of many of his men, chiefly from sickness.
+The spirit that animated the leader and his followers may be gathered
+from the following lines which were written some time ago by a
+non-commissioned officer of Senegalese Rifles to his relatives.
+
+    "We have no rest, not even for a single day, as a moment's delay
+    might render all our exertions useless. All that we shall have
+    done will be wasted if the English or others occupy our route when
+    we want to pass. When you read this letter we shall either be on
+    the Nile or our bones will be slowly whitening in the Egyptian
+    brushwood under a torrid sun. I verily believe that if we are
+    destroyed I shall retain regret for our failure in another world."
+
+Fashoda is 444 miles by river south of Omdurman. It is situated upon
+the west bank, on a low headland which at high Nile becomes an island.
+Before the Mahdist rising, Fashoda was a fortified Egyptian station
+with a garrison of 1000 men, and a native population of nearly 4000.
+The place was enclosed within a ditch and a sun-dried brick wall. From
+its position it commanded the passage of the Nile, which was less than
+half a mile in width. The dervishes allowed the place to fall into
+ruins, only maintaining a very small garrison--less than 100 men--to
+raid for grain to supply Omdurman with, and to collect revenue from
+the native boats. Like the rest of the Soudan, the Shilluk country, in
+which Fashoda is situated, had suffered terribly and been sadly
+depopulated. The country of the Shilluk negroes used to extend for
+several hundred miles northward down the left bank of the Nile from
+the Bahr el Ghazal. It was but a strip, ten miles or so in width,
+their nearest neighbours, with whom they were usually at war, being
+the Baggara Arabs. Like so many other riverain tracts susceptible of
+cultivation, it once teemed with people, the villages along the banks
+appearing to be one continuous row of dwellings. Helped by the
+Shilluks, Major Marchand had no difficulty in capturing Fashoda. The
+old fortification was built upon the only accessible strip of dry
+land, at high Nile, available for miles along the bank in that
+vicinity. Seen from the river, the works consisted of a rectangular
+mud-wall about 200 yards in length, protected by horse-shoe bastions
+at the corners. The Khalifa being as usual in need of supplies sent
+out a small foraging expedition many weeks before our arrival on the
+scene. Starting in the steamers "Safieh" and "Tewfikieh," they
+collected grain and cattle, shipping them down to Omdurman. Learning
+that Europeans had been seen at Fashoda, part of the force proceeded
+there, and engaged the French, attacking them by land and water. The
+date was the 25th of August. Behaving with great steadiness, and
+helped by Shilluks, after a stiff fight the dervishes were driven off,
+after losing a number of men, by Marchand's little garrison. "If they
+had had cannon," said the dervish skipper to me, "they fired so well
+that they would have sunk our steamers." The dervish captains then ran
+their boats down stream to collect their followers and return to
+assault the position. About 100 miles north the "Safieh" stopped to
+collect the raiders, who numbered about a thousand with four brass
+guns.
+
+At six o'clock on the morning of the 10th September, the Sirdar set
+out from Omdurman with his expeditionary force. The troops were
+embarked upon the gunboats "Sultan," "Sheik," "Fatah," and barges
+towed by these vessels. Colonel Wingate, Major Lord Edward Cecil,
+Captain J. K. Watson, A.D.C., and other officers, accompanied the
+General on the stern-wheel steamer "Dal," which had for armament
+several Maxims. A Union Jack, as well as an Egyptian flag, was hoisted
+on the boat. Abundance of ammunition and two months' provisions for
+the force were carried on the steamers and tows. The steamers went
+along very leisurely, going only by daylight. In the afternoon, or
+towards sunset, the flotilla made fast to some suitable bank. The
+troops then formed a sort of camp, and parties went out with saws and
+axes to cut timber for fuel for the boilers. The hard gummy mimosa and
+sunt, when there is not too much sap in it, burns fiercely with a glow
+almost equal to ordinary coal. South of Omdurman, the river still
+being in full flood, the Nile had overspread the low banks for miles.
+There were places where it resembled a lake, two to six miles wide,
+dotted with islands. Landing was not always easily effected, for the
+banks were frequently marshy. There was plenty of good sizable wood to
+be had all along the river, the only difficulty being to reach and cut
+it. More than once, in order to "fill up" the vessels for next day's
+steaming, the Camerons and Soudanese soldiers laboured far into the
+night, hewing and carrying timber for fuel by candle-light and the
+electric beam. Nearing Fashoda the Nile in places ran through channels
+but 400 yards in width. The water was deep and relatively clear, with
+a current of but two miles or less an hour. Unfortunately, it rained
+heavily nearly every night, and the troops quartered upon the barges
+got drenched to the skin, the water pouring, in so many shower-baths,
+through the cracked boarded coverings. It is a peculiarity of most
+tropical climates, that Jupiter Pluvius does most of his work between
+the hours of sunset and sunrise. The natives met with as a rule were
+disposed to be friendly. Those with whom the men talked would not
+quite credit the statement that the Khalifa had been defeated, his
+army destroyed, and that he had run away. On Saturday the 17th
+September, the gunboat "Abu Klea" caught up with and joined the
+flotilla.
+
+During the same night, dervish deserters, blacks, and Arabs came in.
+They stated that a short way further up there was a camp of the enemy.
+On Sunday morning, 18th September, when near Kaka, some 65 miles north
+of Fashoda, the dervish steamer "Safieh" was sighted, lying at the
+east bank close by the enemy's camp. The "Sultan" forged ahead and
+began shelling the enemy with all her guns, using the Maxims as well.
+With great alacrity the dervishes on shore replied, if indeed they did
+not fire first. A few shots also came from the "Safieh." With their
+rifled guns from behind screens of bushes the enemy bravely stood up,
+making excellent practice at the gunboats. The "Sultan" had several
+very narrow escapes, shells passing close over her bows and stern.
+When the other gunboats got up, what with cannon, quick-firing guns,
+and Maxims brought to bear upon the dervish camp, it was speedily
+wrecked and torn. The enemy bolted into the bush, leaving over 200
+dead and wounded behind, including several Baggara and the chief Emir.
+A few shells from the "Sultan" had hulled and shattered the "Safieh,"
+so the victory was complete. Detachments were landed from the gunboats
+and the dervishes driven still further afield. Their camp was looted
+and burned, and the "Safieh" and several nuggars temporarily repaired
+and sent down to Omdurman. It was found that the patch put upon the
+"Safieh's" boiler by chief-engineer Benbow in 1885 was intact. That
+steamer went to rescue Sir Charles Wilson's party who were wrecked on
+their return from Khartoum. Near Shabluka she was attacked by a
+dervish fort and hulled. Lord Charles Beresford, who was in command,
+stuck to the vessel after the boiler blew up, and during the night it
+was repaired. On Sunday, 18th September, the Sirdar despatched a
+Shilluk runner to go by land with a letter to Major Marchand telling
+him of the approach of the Egyptian flotilla. Next morning a reply was
+brought out to the "Dal" when it was within sight of Fashoda by an
+officer in a row-boat flying the French flag, that the garrison would
+receive him as a friendly visitor. Major Marchand furthermore declared
+that by treaty the territory belonged to France and he had
+communicated the fact to his Government, sending his despatches
+through Abyssinia. Precise details of what had been done were
+included.
+
+It was 10 a.m. of the 19th September when the expedition reached
+Fashoda and saw the French flag flying over the fort. A Senegalese
+sentry was walking beneath the tricolor, and a row of these black
+riflemen's heads peeped from the walls and trenches. All of them had
+evidently been turned out under arms. Apparently there were about 300
+people--not more--in the fortification. Steaming close in without
+being hailed, the vessels hove to opposite the works. A row-boat
+manned by Senegalese pushed from the shore and made for the "Dal."
+From the stern staff drooped the French flag, and by the tiller sat
+Major Marchand and an officer, M. Germain. The Major was dressed in a
+suit of white ducks. Below the medium height, of spare habit, with
+something like Dundreary side whiskers, he looked elderly and worn,
+almost twice his years, for he is still a young man. As he stepped
+aboard the steamer, he was received at the side. He and his companion
+shook hands with the Sirdar and the other members of the headquarters
+staff. A relatively brief conference ensued, at which the Sirdar
+stated the object of his mission and his official instructions to
+recover the lost provinces for Egypt. He intended, he said, to occupy
+and hold them. Major Marchand intimated that he had established a
+prior claim for his Government, and had entered into treaties with the
+local rulers securing rights for France to the country along the Nile
+south and through the Bahr el Ghazal. He had established posts at
+Meshra er Rek and elsewhere in that region. Without express orders to
+the contrary from his Government, he would not abandon the old
+Egyptian fort, nor concede an inch of the territory he had acquired.
+The Sirdar said he meant to land, and although he would avoid a
+collision if possible with the Major and his party, yet he would not
+be dissuaded from carrying out his orders because it might be
+unpleasant. Would, he asked, the Major oppose him with force; his
+means were inadequate to do so with any hope of success. Major
+Marchand replied, "No," he was not in a position to justify any
+attempt to contend with arms against the strong flotilla and land army
+that could be brought against him by the Sirdar. Still, he would
+neither yield nor withdraw without the order of his Government. The
+Sirdar stated he was not adverse to letting the two Governments
+settle the matter, meantime they as soldiers could remain on amicable
+terms. In the course of an hour or so he would land his troops and
+occupy a position as near the fort as possible. Major Marchand
+protested, but said that he, under the circumstances, would have to
+accept the situation.
+
+Refreshments are always in order on board a ship where the Royal Navy
+is in command. Over a friendly glass of champagne Marchand and the
+Sirdar chatted on topics of general interest. The Major intimated that
+he was rather short of ammunition and stores. He had sent his steam
+launch south to try and bring up supplies and reinforcements from his
+other stations. The doctor was anxious to obtain the assistance and
+advice of some of the British medical staff as to the best treatment
+of beri-beri or sleeplessness sickness, which had appeared among them.
+Several of the mission had succumbed to that weird disease. It is not
+unknown in the United Kingdom, a case having recently occurred at
+Richmond Asylum, Dublin. After spending about half an hour on board,
+Major Marchand and M. Germain, accompanied by Colonel Wingate and
+Commander Keppel, went ashore together in the row-boat. Landing at the
+fort, the party were received by the garrison with military honours.
+The two British officers were shown every courtesy, and escorted over
+the works, which had been considerably strengthened. A morass or small
+lagoon cut the fortification off in rear from the mainland. It was a
+position which could not easily have been carried by assault, but was
+indefensible against cannon. The Senegalese Tirailleurs forming the
+garrison were paraded for their inspection. There appeared to be about
+120 of them, all stalwart, soldierly fellows, beside whom the
+Frenchmen looked shrunken and diminutive. In addition to the
+Senegalese, or rather natives of Timbuctoo, for such they were, about
+150 Shilluks and nondescript natives made up the remainder of the
+garrison. Including Major Marchand there were nine Europeans, or five
+commissioned and four non-commissioned officers. Of four others who
+had succumbed on the way, two died of beri-beri, one was killed by a
+fall from a tree, and a third by a crocodile. The Nile in that
+vicinity was found to be teeming with animal life. Not only crocodiles
+but hippopotami were seen by those on board the flotilla.
+
+Eventually the five steamers crept as close inshore towards the north
+end of the fort as the shallow overflown land admitted. Colonel
+Wingate and Commander Keppel having returned on board, all the troops
+were ordered to disembark. The steamers were made fast to the banks,
+and planks were placed ashore. They were of little use, for officers
+and men had to flounder and wade through the shallows before they
+reached firm ground 300 yards from the bank. Four of the guns of
+Peake's battery were also landed. The force having been formed up was
+marched a short distance to the south. It was halted behind and
+exactly covering the French position from the land side, the flanks
+overlapping and enclosing the old line of Egyptian works. A tall
+flag-pole which was brought ashore was set up on a ruined bastion in
+line with the French tricolor and about 300 yards behind it. Then the
+Sirdar and staff came and stood around the pole. An instant later, the
+order having been given, the Egyptian flag was hoisted to the top, and
+the Soudanese bands played a few bars of the Khedivial anthem. Ere the
+music ceased, the Sirdar, setting the example, called for three cheers
+for His Highness the Khedive. The British flag, the Union Jack, was
+meanwhile flying inshore from the "Dal." None of the French officers
+attended the ceremony, but the Senegalese and the natives watched the
+proceedings with great interest. In fact, as many of the soldiers of
+the 11th and 13th Soudanese battalions were Shilluks, there had been
+numerous greetings and interchanges of courtesy between them. The
+worthy old Lieutenant Ali Gaffoon, a Shilluk, who had been in his
+youth a sheikh and soldier, and who had fought in Mexico for
+Maximilian, and since entered the Khedive's service, soon had crowds
+of his countrymen and countrywomen flocking to see him. Immediately
+after the flag was hoisted, Major Jackson was appointed commandant of
+the Fashoda district, and left with a garrison of the 11th Soudanese
+battalion and four guns of Captain Peake's battery. A large quantity
+of stores of various kinds was landed for their use. Meanwhile E
+Company of the Cameron Highlanders and the rest of the troops returned
+on board ship. The bands and pipers again played as the troops marched
+away, the Highlandmen stepping off to the tune of the "Cameron Men." E
+Company of the Camerons numbered exactly 100 rank and file under five
+officers: Captain Hon. A. Murray, Lieutenants Hoare, Cameron,
+Alderson, and Surgeon-Captain Luther.
+
+The fraternisation of the Soudanese soldiers and the Shilluks became
+thorough. An informal reception of the natives, sheikhs, and headmen,
+some of whom were attended by their wives, was held by the Sirdar
+ashore and afterwards on board the "Dal." It was observed that,
+although hundreds of natives were seen, they were only brought forward
+in batches of less than a dozen to be presented. Besides, a
+considerable interval always elapsed before the arrival of the
+succeeding groups. Ali Gaffoon and his countrymen-comrades in the
+ranks, with pardonable tribal pride, were adverse to bringing their
+relatives and friends forward until the natives put on some clothes.
+For that purpose they had borrowed or got together about a dozen Arab
+dresses of kinds, wherewith to cover the bodies and limbs of the
+unsophisticated Shilluks. The national costume for men is a state of
+nudity, but they occasionally sprinkle their bodies with red or grey
+ashes. The women usually wear scant leather or thong aprons. When the
+Sirdar ascertained the true cause of the delay, time pressing, he
+intimated he would waive for the nonce their putting on of ceremonial
+attire. "Let them all come as they are," and they did. They evinced
+the liveliest interest and pleasure in all they saw and heard in camp
+and aboard ship. The chiefs declared they had signed no treaty with
+the French nor conceded any of their country. All of them asserted
+that they were subjects of the Khedive, to whom they renewed their
+allegiance forthwith. The French mission had been short of food and
+they had helped them only by giving supplies. Incidentally it may be
+stated that the Shilluk country is exceedingly fertile. At one time it
+was the most densely populated region of the Soudan for its acreage,
+containing a population of over 2,000,000 souls, living under an
+ancient dynasty of kings. From 1884 the Shilluks repeatedly warred
+with the dervishes. In 1894 they rose again and fought for a long time
+before their Queen was slain and they were put down. On that occasion
+the Mahdists behaved with more than usual ferocity, putting thousands
+to the sword. Strange to say, great numbers of Shilluks, like other
+Soudan blacks, fought against us under the Khalifa's banners. The
+moment, however, they were captured, with great readiness they
+enlisted in the Khedivial army. Latterly so many deserters and
+prisoners brought by their friends offered themselves as soldiers,
+that only the smartest and strongest were chosen.
+
+That afternoon the "Dal" and two of the gunboats left Fashoda and
+steamed away up the Nile towards Sobat. Before leaving, the Sirdar
+sent a formal written document to Major Marchand, protesting against
+any usurpation by another Power of the rights of Great Britain and
+Egypt to the Nile Valley. He stated that he would refuse to recognise
+in any way French authority in the country. There was found to be
+large quantities of grass weed and sudd in the Nile at no great
+distance from Fashoda. In several places the clear channels were less
+than 150 yards wide. As the steamers made southing, the river became
+narrower and the obstacles to navigation more serious--floating
+islands of weeds and banked sudd blocking the fairway, leaving it but
+50 yards or less in width. It is about 62 miles from Fashoda to the
+Sobat river, that Abyssinian tributary to the Nile. There was formerly
+an Egyptian station and fort on the neck of land at the junction of
+the two rivers. Other stations were also held by Khedivial troops
+further up the river in the old days before the Mahdi's rebellion. It
+was on the 20th September, the date as officially given, that the
+flotilla reached Sobat. The place was overgrown with bush, as compared
+with what had formerly been the case. Only a few natives were seen
+upon the mainland and islands, and they were friendly disposed. The
+Sobat, though but 150 yards or so wide, is 30 feet deep when in flood.
+Its yellow stream runs at two knots an hour, the current driving far
+into the wider and slacker waters of the Nile, which is about
+three-quarters of a mile wide at that point. The banks were
+accessible, and a landing of the troops was much more easily effected
+than had been the case at Fashoda. As soon as the soldiers and the two
+remaining guns of Captain Peake's battery were got ashore, the
+Egyptian flag was formally hoisted and greeted. It was the Sirdar who
+directed the whole proceedings. The ceremonial observance attending
+the re-occupation was precisely similar to that which had taken place
+at Fashoda. Major Smith Dorian was placed in command of the post and
+district. Three companies of the 13th Soudanese were left as a
+garrison together with the two Maxim-Nordenfeldt guns. A gunboat was
+also detailed to proceed a little way up the Sobat and the Bahr el
+Ghazal.
+
+Next morning the vessels having been filled up with fuel, the Sirdar,
+with the Camerons and the remainder of the troops not detached for
+garrison duty, steamed away back towards Omdurman. No news had
+penetrated to that remote region about the overthrow of the dervishes
+and very little was known about the passing mission under Major
+Marchand. The same day, 21st September, Fashoda was reached, and a
+short stay was made. All was quiet and the two flags were flying just
+as the Sirdar had left them. But the place had been transformed all
+the same. A military camp had arisen that looked like a village.
+Tukals and shelters covered the clearing behind the French lines.
+Trenches also had been dug and Marchand's party were completely hemmed
+in from the landward side as well as by water, the gunboats
+controlling the river. The Shilluks had all gone over and put
+themselves under Major Jackson and the Khedivial flag. A sort of
+bazaar had been started and the country was already making for peace.
+There was universal rejoicing at the downfall of the Khalifa. A
+determination was expressed of promptly dealing with him or Osman
+Digna, should either of them pass that way. The new twin-screw
+gunboats "Sultan" and "Sheik" had nine days' rations for troops put
+aboard. They were then detached, being ordered to remain behind for
+patrol duty. Their instructions were to keep the river and banks clear
+of all armed bands of dervishes, and, if necessary, afford assistance
+to the posts at Sobat and Fashoda. They were also bidden to prevent
+the transport of war material, or conveyance of reinforcements, except
+by accredited Khedivial officers. The Sirdar in a note informed Major
+Marchand that he had prohibited the transport of all war material upon
+the Nile. Thereafter the Sirdar resumed the journey downstream. The
+long and fertile island of Abba--it extends for 20 miles--was passed
+without seeing anything of the fugitive Khalifa and his followers. It
+was to Abba island the Mahdi went, and it was there the rebellion
+first broke out. Subsequently it was ascertained that Abdullah and
+Osman Digna with their retainers sought shelter in the heavy woods
+opposite Abba island, and they were stated to be in hiding there at
+the end of December 1898. The Sirdar and headquarters got back to
+Omdurman on the 25th of September.
+
+Popular feeling ran very high at home when it was ascertained that,
+despite repeated notification, the French had tried to grasp the
+fruits of the British victory over the dervishes. A Liberal statesman
+had, years before, declared, that any attempt on the part of France to
+occupy the Upper Nile valley lands would be regarded as an unfriendly
+act by this country. Conservative statesmen had endorsed that official
+pronouncement; yet, in face of these declarations, the thing had been
+done with every evidence of a fine contempt for British feeling and
+self-respect. The enemies of England in Egypt and elsewhere were
+sniggering. Our diplomatic and military chiefs were making unusual
+efforts to keep the Marchand affair a profound secret. At every stage
+down the Nile from Omdurman to Cairo, the Camerons and all who had
+been to Fashoda and Sobat were officially warned to keep the matter a
+profound secret. The case I thought was too serious to be left hidden
+in the breasts of a few where the issues involved were so tremendous.
+So I openly set myself to learning what had happened, and wiring every
+scrap of information for publication. Several officers were sent down
+from Omdurman with special despatches. Long before they arrived even
+in Cairo, cypher messages extending to many folios had been forwarded
+day after day direct from Khartoum to Downing Street.
+
+The Sirdar reached Cairo on the 6th of October and left for England on
+the 21st of the same month. By that time much had happened. The
+official despatches had been published in a Parliamentary paper and
+there were ominous preparations for war in both France and Great
+Britain. Fleets were being got ready for sea and feverish activity
+prevailed in Gallic and British arsenals. The insistence of the
+Parisian Ministers in seeking to have other questions discussed side
+by side with the demand for the evacuation of Fashoda and their
+dilatory tactics but increased the feeling of irritation in the United
+Kingdom. Statesmen seemed to be undecided and diplomacy, as usual,
+revolving in a circle. Happily, this country was never better prepared
+for war, and that in the end, as has so often been the case, proved
+the best advocate for peace. It would be uncharitable to emphasise the
+fact of the French Government slipping away from one after another of
+the positions they had taken up in reference to the whole question.
+That being Frenchmen they felt acutely the false moves they had made
+goes without saying. Whilst war was impending and the French
+Government seemed bent upon driving our Government to that point, the
+anti-British Pashas and the Gallic set in Egypt were jubilant. The
+Turkish Pashas and Beys were openly chuckling and romancing about
+unheard-of things. It is in Egypt, as it is in Armenia and was in the
+Balkans: the Turk is the enemy of good government and freedom for the
+people. A check to British policy and rule meant to them a possible
+return of the old corrupt days when they did as they liked, treating
+fellaheen and negroes as slaves. Had Great Britain in this instance
+yielded a jot of her just rights to the intriguing and bellicose
+spirit of French officialism Egypt would have been made an impossible
+place for our countrymen to remain in. Being in Cairo and Alexandria
+at the time I was privately assured by scores of my countrymen, men in
+business and in public offices, that they would be obliged to quit
+Egypt if France succeeded in her pretensions to the Nile Valley. Petty
+annoyances, tyranny, all manner of injustice and even violence would
+be resorted to, to force them to leave and to drive British interests
+to the wall.
+
+I avail myself again of the excellent synopsis of the official
+despatches dealing with the Fashoda incident, which appeared in the
+_Daily Telegraph_. The Parliamentary papers in question were issued on
+the 9th of October last. The official papers opened with a despatch
+from Sir Edmund Monson to the Foreign Secretary, bearing date December
+10, 1897. Therein the British Ambassador says:--
+
+    "The despatches which I have recently addressed to your lordship
+    respecting the reports of the massacre of the Marchand Expedition,
+    and the comments made in connection with this rumoured disaster by
+    the French Press, will have already shown your lordship how
+    necessary it has become to remind the French Government of the
+    views held by that of Her Majesty as to their sphere of influence
+    in the Upper Nile Valley; and it has been with great satisfaction
+    that I have found myself so promptly authorised to make a
+    communication upon the subject to M. Hanotaux. Made in the way in
+    which it has been suggested by your lordship, I see no reason why
+    this communication should prejudice the chances of our coming to a
+    satisfactory arrangement upon the question with which we are
+    dealing in connection with the situation in West Africa."
+
+Sir Edmund Monson enclosed in the despatch a copy of a note he had
+addressed to M. Hanotaux, at that period French Minister of Foreign
+Affairs, as follows:--
+
+    "The other point to which it is necessary to advert is the
+    proposed recognition of the French claim to the northern and
+    eastern shores of Lake Chad. If other questions are adjusted, Her
+    Majesty's Government will make no difficulty about this condition.
+    But in doing so they cannot forget that the possession of this
+    territory may in the future open up a road to the Nile; and they
+    must not be understood to admit that any other European Power than
+    Great Britain has any claim to occupy any part of the Valley of
+    the Nile. The views of the British Government upon this matter
+    were plainly stated in Parliament by Sir Edward Grey some years
+    ago during the Administration of the Earl of Rosebery, and were
+    formally communicated to the French Government at the time. Her
+    Majesty's present Government entirely adhere to the language that
+    was on this occasion employed by their predecessors."
+
+To this M. Hanotaux replied:--
+
+    "In any case the French Government cannot, under present
+    circumstances, refrain from repeating the reservations which it
+    has never failed to express every time that questions relating to
+    the Valley of the Nile have been brought forward. Thus, in
+    particular, the declarations of Sir Edward Grey, to which the
+    British Government has referred, gave rise to an immediate protest
+    by our representative in London, the terms of which he repeated
+    and developed in the further conversations which he had at the
+    Foreign Office on the subject. I myself had occasion, in the
+    sitting of the Senate on April 5, 1895, to make, in the name of
+    the Government, declarations to which I consider that I am all the
+    more justified in referring from the fact that they have called
+    forth no reply from the British Government."
+
+The speech to which M. Hanotaux refers is published at length in an
+appendix, and, so far from being a reply to Sir Edward Grey, it gives
+the French position completely away.
+
+    "I now come, gentlemen," he said, "to the question of the Upper
+    Nile. I will explain the situation to the Senate in a few words;
+    for I think it will be useful to complete the explanations which
+    M. de Lamarzelle has already given on this subject. Between the
+    country of the lakes and the point of Wady Halfa, on the Nile,
+    extends a vast region, measuring twenty degrees of latitude, or
+    2000 kilometres, that is, more than the breadth of Western Europe
+    from Gibraltar to Dunkirk. In this region there is at this moment,
+    perhaps, not a single European; in any case, there does not exist
+    any power derived, by any title, from a European authority. It is
+    the country of the Mahdi! Now, gentlemen, it is the future of this
+    country which fills with an uneasiness, which we may describe as
+    at least premature, the minds of a certain number of persons
+    interested in Africa. The Egyptians who occupied this vast domain
+    for a considerable time have moved to the north. Emin Pasha
+    himself was compelled to withdraw. The rights of the Sultan and
+    the Khedive alone continue to exist over the regions of the Soudan
+    and of Equatorial Africa."
+
+That is to say, after the Mahdi, who was the _de facto_ ruler, the
+authority over the whole basin of the Upper Nile reverted to the
+Khedive and the Sultan as his suzerain, which is exactly the position
+taken up by Lord Salisbury in his despatch of September 9, 1898.
+
+Major Marchand has had various titles conferred upon him, and in the
+penultimate despatch contained in the papers he is described by Lord
+Salisbury as "a French explorer who is on the Upper Nile in a
+difficult position." To M. Delcasse, however, is reserved the honour
+of giving him an official designation. On September 7 the French
+Foreign Minister, in an interview with Sir E. Monson, after handsomely
+complimenting the British Government on the victory of Omdurman,
+expressed his anxiety about a possible meeting of the Sirdar and M.
+Marchand.
+
+    "Should he (M. Marchand) be met with, his Excellency said that he
+    had received instructions to be most careful to abstain from all
+    action which might cause local difficulties, and that he had been
+    enjoined to consider himself as an 'emissary of civilisation'
+    without any authority whatever to decide upon questions of right,
+    which must properly form the subject of discussion between Her
+    Majesty's Government and that of the French Republic.
+
+    "M. Delcasse therefore begged me to inform your lordship of this
+    fact, and expressed the hope that the commander of Her Majesty's
+    naval forces on the river might be instructed to take no steps
+    which might lead to a local conflict with regard to such questions
+    of right."
+
+It may be remarked, in passing, that this view of the position of the
+emissary of civilisation does not tally with that which M. Marchand
+subsequently gave to the Sirdar, to whom he stated "that he had
+received precise orders for the occupation of the country and the
+hoisting of the French flag over the Government buildings at Fashoda,
+and added that, without the orders of his Government, which, however,
+he expected, would not be delayed, it was impossible for him to retire
+from the place."
+
+The instructions given by Lord Salisbury, through Lord Cromer, to the
+Sirdar, have been given elsewhere in this chapter.
+
+On September 11 our Ambassador informed M. Delcasse of the advance of
+the Sirdar up the Nile, and on the 18th the French Foreign Minister
+stated further:--
+
+    "As a matter of fact, there is no Marchand Mission. In 1892 and
+    1893 M. Liotard was sent to the Upper Ubanghi as Commissioner,
+    with instructions to secure French interests in the north-east. M.
+    Marchand had been appointed one of his subordinates, and received
+    all his orders from M. Liotard. There could be no doubt that for a
+    long time past the whole region of the Bahr-el-Ghazal had been out
+    of the influence of Egypt."
+
+Sir E. Monson left M. Delcasse in no doubt as to the view Her
+Majesty's Government took of the situation. Of the interview referred
+to, he reports to Lord Salisbury as follows, under date September
+22:--
+
+    "Although his Excellency made two or three allusions to the
+    reasons for which, in his opinion, the French might consider that
+    the region in question was open to their advance, he himself
+    volunteered the suggestion that discussion between us would be
+    inopportune.
+
+    "In this I, of course, concurred, reminding him of the terms of
+    your lordship's telegram of the 9th inst.; but I told him, as
+    emphatically as I could, that I looked upon the situation at
+    Fashoda, if M. Marchand had occupied that town, as very serious,
+    inasmuch as Her Majesty's Government would certainly not acquiesce
+    in his remaining there, nor would they consent to relinquishing
+    the claims of Egypt to the restoration of all the country latterly
+    subject to the Khalifa, which had heretofore been a portion of
+    her territory. I felt it to be my duty, I said, to speak with
+    extreme frankness, and to assure him that on this point no
+    compromise would be possible.
+
+    "M. Delcasse listened to me with grave attention, but his reply
+    was chiefly to the effect that if the two Governments discussed
+    the matter with calmness and a sincere desire to avoid a conflict,
+    there could be no doubt of our arriving at a peaceable and
+    satisfactory solution. France does not desire a quarrel. In saying
+    this he could speak with absolute certainty. All his colleagues in
+    the Government are, like himself, anxious for good relations with
+    England. If this anxiety is reciprocated on the other side of the
+    Channel (and the tone of the English Press inspires him with
+    doubts of this) there can be no danger.
+
+    "I replied that Her Majesty's Government have no desire to pick a
+    quarrel with France, but that nothing could be gained by my
+    concealing from him the gravity of the situation as I regarded it,
+    or the fixed determination of Her Majesty's Government to
+    vindicate claims of the absolute justice of which they hold that
+    there can be no question. I, of course, avoided the use of any
+    expression which might sound like a menace, but short of this I
+    did my best to make my declaration of the impossibility of the
+    French being allowed to remain at Fashoda as clear and distinct as
+    could be expressed in words."
+
+On 25th September, the day the expedition returned from Fashoda to
+Omdurman, Mr Rennell Rodd, who during the absence of Lord Cromer in
+Europe was in charge of affairs in Egypt, telegraphed to Lord
+Salisbury the following despatch, which had been received from the
+Sirdar:--
+
+    "I found at Fashoda, whence I have just returned, M. Marchand with
+    8 officers and 120 men. The French flag had been hoisted over the
+    old Government buildings in which they were located. I sent a
+    letter announcing my approach on the day before my arrival at
+    Fashoda. On the following morning, September 19, a reply was
+    brought to me from M. Marchand by a small rowing-boat carrying the
+    French flag. It stated that he had arrived at Fashoda on July 10,
+    having been instructed by his Government to occupy the
+    Bahr-el-Ghazal up to the confluence of the Bahr-el-Jebel, and also
+    the Shilluk country on the left bank of the White Nile as far as
+    Fashoda. It went on to say that he had concluded a treaty with the
+    Shilluk chiefs by which they placed the country under the
+    protection of France, and that he had sent this treaty to his
+    Government for ratification by way of Abyssinia, as well as by the
+    Bahr-el-Ghazal. He described his fight with the dervishes on
+    August 25, and stated that, in anticipation of a second and more
+    serious attack, he had sent his steamer south for reinforcements,
+    but that our arrival had prevented a further attack.
+
+    "When we arrived at Fashoda, M. Marchand and M. Germain came on
+    board our steamer, and I at once informed them that the presence
+    of a French party at Fashoda and in the Nile valley must be
+    considered as a direct infringement of the rights of Egypt and of
+    the British Government, and I protested in the strongest terms
+    against the occupation of Fashoda by M. Marchand and his party,
+    and the hoisting of the French flag in the dominions of his
+    Highness the Khedive. M. Marchand stated, in reply, that he had
+    received precise orders for the occupation of the country and the
+    hoisting of the French flag over the Government buildings at
+    Fashoda, and added that, without the orders of his Government,
+    which, however, he expected would not be delayed, it was
+    impossible for him to retire from the place. I then inquired of
+    him whether, in view of the fact that I was accompanied by a
+    superior force, he was prepared to resist the hoisting of the
+    Egyptian flag at Fashoda. He hesitated, and replied that he could
+    not resist. The Egyptian flag was then hoisted, about 500 yards
+    south of the French flag, on a ruined bastion of the old Egyptian
+    fortifications, commanding the only road which leads into the
+    interior from the French position. The latter is entirely
+    surrounded to the north by impassable marshes.
+
+    "Before leaving for the south I handed to M. Marchand a formal
+    written protest on the part of the Governments of Great Britain
+    and Egypt against any occupation of any part of the Nile valley
+    by France, as being an infringement of the rights of those
+    Governments. I added that I could not recognise the occupation by
+    France of any part of the Nile valley.
+
+    "I left at Fashoda a garrison of one Soudanese battalion, four
+    guns, and a gunboat under Major Jackson, whom I appointed
+    Commandant of the Fashoda district, and I proceeded to Sobat,
+    where the flag was hoisted and a post established on September 20.
+    We did not see or hear anything of the Abyssinians on the Sobat,
+    but were informed that their nearest post was about 350 miles up
+    that river. The Bahr-el-Jebel being entirely blocked by floating
+    weed, I gave orders for a gunboat to patrol up the Bahr-el-Ghazal
+    in the direction of Meshra-er-Rek. As we passed Fashoda on the
+    return journey north, I sent M. Marchand a letter stating that all
+    transport of war material on the Nile was absolutely prohibited,
+    as the country was under military law. The chief of the Shilluk
+    tribe, accompanied by a large number of followers, has come into
+    Major Jackson's camp. He entirely denies having made any treaty
+    with the French, and the entire tribe express the greatest delight
+    at returning to allegiance to us.
+
+    "M. Marchand is in want of ammunition and supplies, and any that
+    may be sent to him must take months to arrive at their
+    destination. He is cut off from the interior, and is quite
+    inadequately provided with water transport. Moreover, he has no
+    following in the country, and nothing could have saved his
+    expedition from being annihilated by the dervishes if we had been
+    a fortnight later in crushing the Khalifa."
+
+The gist of this despatch was communicated to the French Government,
+accompanied by a notification that the Sirdar's "language and
+proceedings" had the complete approval of Lord Salisbury. M. Delcasse
+was evidently at his wits' end to escape from an _impasse_ which was
+chiefly of his own creation.
+
+In an interview with Sir E. Monson on September 27 he wished to put
+off a final decision till he had received the despatches which M.
+Marchand had forwarded in duplicate by way of the French Congo and
+Abyssinia respectively.
+
+    "To gain time, M. Delcasse," writes our Ambassador, "wished that I
+    should request your lordship to consent to a telegram being sent
+    by the French agent at Cairo to Khartoum, to be forwarded from
+    thence up the Nile to Fashoda. The telegram would contain
+    instructions to M. Marchand to send at once one of the French
+    officers serving on his mission to Cairo with a copy of his
+    above-mentioned report, so that the French Government might learn
+    its contents as soon as possible. They were, of course, ready to
+    bear all the expense.
+
+    "Stress was laid by M. Delcasse upon the great desire entertained
+    at Paris to prevent any serious difficulty from arising; at the
+    same time, he felt convinced, especially in view of the conduct of
+    the Sirdar at Fashoda, acting as he undoubtedly was under
+    instructions, that Her Majesty's Government were as anxious as the
+    French Government to avoid a conflict.
+
+    "I told M. Delcasse in reply that I must conclude from the
+    language which he had held that the French Government had decided
+    that they would not recall M. Marchand before receiving his
+    report, and I asked if I was right in this conclusion. I pointed
+    out to his Excellency that M. Marchand himself is stated to be
+    desirous of retiring from his position, which appeared to be a
+    disagreeable one. Such being the case, I must urgently press him
+    to tell me whether he refused at once to recall M. Marchand.
+
+    "After considering his reply for some few minutes, his Excellency
+    said that he himself was ready to discuss the question in the most
+    conciliatory spirit, but I must not ask him for the impossible.
+
+    "I pointed out that your lordship's telegram of the 9th inst.,
+    which I had communicated to him at the time, had made him aware
+    that Her Majesty's Government considered that there could be no
+    discussion upon such questions as the right of Egypt to Fashoda."
+
+To this Lord Salisbury replied next day:
+
+    "Her Majesty's Government cannot decline to assist in forwarding a
+    message from the French Agent in Egypt to a French explorer who
+    is on the Upper Nile in a difficult position, and your Excellency
+    is authorised to inform M. Delcasse that Her Majesty's Acting
+    Agent at Cairo will be instructed to transmit to Omdurman
+    immediately any such message, and at the same time to request Sir
+    H. Kitchener to forward it thence to its destination by any
+    opportunity which may be available.
+
+    "Her Majesty's Government do not desire to be made acquainted with
+    the purport of the message. But you must explain that they are
+    unable to accept any responsibility for the results to the safety
+    or health of the explorer which the delay in quitting his present
+    situation may bring about."
+
+The official papers closed with the following laconic despatch from
+Lord Salisbury to Sir E. Monson, bearing date 3rd October.
+
+    "I request your Excellency to inform the French Minister for
+    Foreign Affairs that, in accordance with his wish, his message for
+    M. Marchand has been transmitted to Khartoum, and will be
+    forwarded thence to its destination. In order to avoid any
+    misunderstanding, you should state to M. Delcasse that the fact of
+    Her Majesty's Government having complied with his Excellency's
+    request in regard to the transmission of the message does not
+    imply the slightest modification of the views previously expressed
+    by them. You should add that, whether in times of Egyptian or
+    Dervish dominion, the region in which M. Marchand was found has
+    never been without an owner, and that, in the view of Her
+    Majesty's Government, his expedition into it with an escort of 100
+    Senegalese troops has no political effect, nor can any political
+    significance be attached to it."
+
+In the appendix were given past speeches and despatches by M. Decrais,
+M. Hanotaux, Lord Kimberley, Sir E. Grey, etc.
+
+The rest can be quickly told. Military and naval preparations for war
+in both countries were redoubled and the public tone was bellicose.
+Consols were affected and war appeared almost inevitable. It was
+an occasion for union among all who rightly set patriotism above
+party. Lord Rosebery, Late Premier, with splendid grace and
+disinterestedness, in a speech, 13th October, voiced the sentiment of
+the masses and classes. His lordship said:--
+
+    "Behind the policy of the British Government in this matter there
+    is the untiring and united strength of the nation itself.
+    (Cheers.) It is the policy of the last Government deliberately
+    adopted and sustained by the present Government. (Cheers.) That is
+    only a matter of form, but it is the policy of the nation itself,
+    and no Government that attempted to recede from or palter with
+    that policy would last a week. (Loud cheers.) I am perfectly
+    certain that no idea or intention of any weakening on this point
+    or this question has entered the head of Her Majesty's present
+    advisers."
+
+Messages were transmitted up the Nile to Major Marchand at Fashoda. In
+response thereto he sent Captain Baratier down with despatches. That
+officer arrived with Slatin Pasha in Cairo on the 20th October. His
+despatches were wired to Paris, for which Baratier himself started
+next day. It happened that the Sirdar, who also left for England on
+that date, was a fellow-traveller with him. Another hitch occurred,
+the French Government stating that Marchand's report made no allusion
+to the meeting with the Sirdar at Fashoda. That they would have to
+wait for before giving an answer. Marchand, it was alleged, had not
+had time to bring his report down to date, when Baratier left him.
+They had not long to wait, for suddenly the announcement was sprung
+that Major Marchand, acting on his own volition, had left Fashoda and
+was coming down by Khedivial transport, to Cairo. He arrived in that
+city on the evening of 3rd November, and got a deservedly hearty
+reception from the English as well as the French community. Prominent
+officials, civil and military, were there to greet the brave and hardy
+explorer. His companion, Captain Baratier, who had been to Paris and
+had hastened back intending to return to Fashoda, met the Major next
+day in Cairo. But on the very day that Major Marchand reached Cairo,
+the French Government had issued an official note stating it had been
+decided to evacuate Fashoda, as the position had been reported
+untenable. So saying "No, no, they would ne'er consent," they
+consented.
+
+At the Mansion House banquet given to the Sirdar, on 4th November,
+Lord Salisbury said:--
+
+    "I received from the French Ambassador this afternoon the
+    information that the French Government had come to the conclusion
+    that the (Fashoda) occupation was of no sort of value to the
+    French Republic, and they thought that under those circumstances,
+    to persist in an occupation which only cost them money and did
+    harm, merely because some of their advisers thought they would be
+    an unwelcome neighbour, would not show the wisdom with which the
+    French Republic has uniformly been guided. They have done what I
+    believe every Government would have done in the same
+    position--they have resolved that the occupation must cease. A
+    formal intimation to that effect was made to me this afternoon,
+    and it has been conveyed to the French authorities at Cairo. I do
+    not wish to be misunderstood as saying that all causes of
+    controversy are by this removed between the French Government and
+    ourselves. It is probably not so, and it may be that we shall have
+    many discussions in the future, but a cause of controversy of a
+    singularly acute and somewhat dangerous character has been
+    removed, and we cannot but congratulate ourselves upon it."
+
+In the same connection it is of interest to learn what Major Marchand
+had to say. The full text of his speech made at a banquet given to him
+and Captain Baratier by the French Club at Cairo on the 7th October
+appeared in the Press. In the presence of the Acting French Diplomatic
+Agent and others, Major Marchand said:--
+
+    "Monsieur le Ministre de France, Monsieur le President,
+    Messieurs--There are two reasons why you will not expect a speech
+    from me. In the first place I am only a soldier and no orator; and
+    then one cannot be talkative on a day of reflection, a day which
+    brings to me personally a great sorrow, the official abandonment
+    of Fashoda. Fashoda! it was only a point--it is true that it
+    synthetised everything. But if we lose the point we abandon
+    nothing of our thesis. To reflect is not to despair--on the
+    contrary. The experiences of this world teach us that the sum of
+    our sorrows is not greater than that of our joys. The more the
+    black period may be prolonged the more quickly will approach the
+    dawn of proud aspirations at length realised. And the granite
+    Sphinx which near at hand dreams on the desert sands, the Sphinx
+    which saw the passage of Bonaparte, which saw Lesseps and his
+    work, has not yet uttered its last word, has not murmured the
+    supreme sentence. The more fiercely evil fortune may pursue us the
+    more should we call to our aid the great hopes which swell the
+    heart and fortify the will. The French colony in Cairo, moreover,
+    has shown more than ten times over already that it knows no
+    discouragement. I should like, my dear and valiant compatriots, to
+    give you some small recompense. Listen! When, nearly three years
+    ago, the Congo-Nile mission left France, it was not in order to
+    make a more or less famous journey of exploration. No, its aim was
+    far higher. You have already guessed it. Why, then, proclaim it
+    here? We desired (here the speaker paused a moment) to carry
+    across French Africa to the French in Egypt a hand-grip from the
+    French of France. The road was long, sometimes hard; we have
+    reached our destination, however, since I have the honour to greet
+    you here to-day. Do you not see a symbol in this? Fortune, which
+    detests broad and easy paths, is perhaps at this moment on her
+    way, bringing you the succour so patiently looked for. We must
+    never despair, and who can say that the Sphinx may not be about to
+    smile? It is for this that I have come to tell you that if we are
+    few to-day we shall be many to-morrow--who forget nothing, who
+    abandon nothing. It is with this thought that I drink to your
+    health, gentlemen, the health of the French colony in Egypt. To
+    the Greater France!"
+
+It is easy to feel great sympathy with so gallant and hardy a soldier,
+who, having successfully accomplished the perilous mission entrusted
+to him by his Government, found support denied him and his work
+fruitless. Major Marchand and Captain Baratier again availed
+themselves of the Egyptian military transport to return to their
+comrades. At half-past 8 a.m., 11th December, the French hauled down
+their flag at Fashoda, and left for the Sobat river. They were
+intending to make their way up that stream to the nearest Abyssinian
+post, and thereafter, striking through Menelik's country, hoped to
+arrive on the East African coast at Djibutil. Their sick comrades they
+entrusted to the Egyptian military authorities to send home by the
+Nile through Lower Egypt. The invalided Frenchmen and Senegalese in
+question reached Cairo at the end of the year.
+
+Perhaps it was only to be expected that the French press and
+politicians would display increased virulence against this country
+over the Fashoda settlement. But their persistence in that course, and
+the fact of their present extraordinary naval expenditure, can only
+mean getting ready for war against Great Britain. This may lead our
+people to consider whether it would not be cheapest and wisest to
+settle the quarrel off-hand. True, delay makes for peace, but a peace
+that is to be a struggle to overtop one another in armaments may be
+more costly in every sense than sharp and decisive warfare. The chief
+cause of the soreness in France against us is our presence in Egypt.
+Yet the French have no such vital interest there as this country has.
+To many of our colonies and dependencies the shortest way lies through
+Egypt. Again, the French form quite a minority in numbers and wealth
+among the foreign communities in Egypt. Since 1882, the year of
+occupation, Great Britain has been careful to avoid interference with
+the privileges and rights of all foreigners. In what community
+controlled by France through sixteen years would it have been allowed
+that an alien language should be maintained in use in public places.
+No official step has been taken to diminish the use of French in
+street nomenclature, or public conveyances, or public departments in
+Egypt until last year. Arabic is the language of the people, and
+English is the language of commerce in the country. A sensible change
+in the direction indicated is at last evident, even in Cairo and
+Alexandria. Shops and warehouses are displaying Anglo-Saxon signs, and
+the natives are discarding French and are speaking English as the one
+foreign language necessary to acquire.
+
+There has been talk among our neighbours of emulating the Sirdar's
+enterprise and founding French colleges at Khartoum and Fashoda. But
+urged by less disinterested motives they may find it necessary instead
+to devote their funds to the cultivation of the Gallic tongue in Lower
+and Upper Egypt, rather than in the Soudan. In the year 1897, in
+Tantah, the third largest town in the Delta, there were 130 scholars
+learning French and but 40 studying English. In 1898 there were 98 at
+the English classes and but a moiety at the French. The scholastic
+year 1899, according to the officials of the Public Instruction
+Department, will see a farther and even more serious decline in the
+study of the French language. The French officials themselves are
+painfully aware that the Gallic speech, for colloquial intercourse
+between educated natives and Europeans, is doomed if matters continue
+as at present. In Assouan, where during 1897 much the same state of
+things prevailed as at Tantah; in 1898 there were 118 scholars
+learning English and but three at the French classes.
+
+Until quite recently, it was wont to be the case in Lower Egypt that
+there were always two pupils learning French to one devoting attention
+to acquiring English. In Upper Egypt of late years the difference had
+not been so marked, the proportion of French and English students
+being about equal. These figures refer to primary classes in Upper
+Egypt, and to secondary, as well as primary, classes in Cairo and
+Alexandria. As a matter of fact, the results of the examinations did
+not follow in quite the same proportion in the Delta. About three
+pupils have passed in French to two in English. Shortly after the
+battle of Omdurman, applications had to be made for entrance into the
+school classes for English and French tuition. In a great number of
+schools, in both Upper and Lower Egypt, especially in the stronghold
+of the French tongue--the Delta--not a single application was made by
+candidates for entrance to the second primaries, in which French
+teaching begins. That means to say that there will a dearth and
+practically a cessation of French teaching in 1899 in the primary
+schools, and subsequently, or in 1900, the year of the Exposition
+Universelle at Paris, a total discontinuance of it in the secondary
+schools. Taking the secondary schools examinations throughout the
+whole of Lower Egypt by themselves, I learn that in 1898, although
+there were a larger proportion of candidates for French certificates
+of proficiency, yet the numbers that actually passed in each language
+were about the same. The Examining Commissioners are Egyptian,
+English, and French.
+
+It is in Egypt as in certain other countries. The great ambition of
+every lad is to get into the Government service, and failing that to
+become a lawyer. Law schools are therefore well attended. Heretofore
+budding lawyers have been taught in French classes only. An
+English-speaking law section was started in 1898. The natives are
+quick to appreciate any change which is to their advantage. Pupils in
+the secondary schools have now opened to them careers which have
+heretofore been closed. There is in truth a silent, but certain to be
+effective, educational and social revolution begun in Egypt. No more
+will every whim and caprice of those who seek to obstruct the advance
+of the Egyptians be tolerated. In 1899 for the first time examining
+educational centres will be established at Assouan and Suakin. All
+those south of Assiut will be for English students only, for French
+will be quite dropped. Not only will there be a college at Khartoum
+but one at Kassala, where English as well as Arabic will be taught. In
+a new and thorough manner has the regeneration of Egypt and the Soudan
+been undertaken. The dream of a red English through-traffic line from
+Cairo to Cape Town will have a speedy realisation. Possibly within
+eighteen months the railway will be carried to the Sobat. Certainly
+before 1899 is ended there will be through communication with
+Khartoum. Mr Cecil Rhodes is busy with his South African lines, which
+by that time should be up to the Zambesi, and within three years after
+there will possibly be open rail and water communication from the
+Mediterranean to Cape Town. But before then the telegraph wire will
+bind North and South Africa together, and to the United Kingdom.
+
+
+
+
+POSTSCRIPT.
+
+
+This volume was written and in the printer's hands when an article by
+a Mr E. N. Bennett appeared in the columns of _The Contemporary
+Review_, entitled "After Omdurman." That gentleman made a series of
+grave charges reflecting upon the Anglo-Egyptian arms, not only during
+the Khartoum Expedition, but also on their conduct in Egypt and the
+Soudan since 1882. In the _Daily Telegraph_ and elsewhere I have
+deservedly stigmatised Mr Bennett's allegations as untrue, stupid, and
+wantonly mischievous.
+
+In the pages of _The Khartoum Campaign, 1898_, can be read the
+detailed version of events which happened in the field "before" as
+well as "after" Omdurman. I venture to think that abundant refutation
+will be found in the Work of most of Mr Bennett's scandalous
+assertions. Although it may seem to lend further temporary importance
+to what that gentleman has written, as his accusations were made
+public under the cover of a respectable magazine, perhaps a few words
+more may not be out of place.
+
+Mr Bennett's article was seemingly framed on the specious pretext of,
+under a discussion of the principles of international law, questions
+of belligerency, Geneva Convention rules, and so forth, to base
+thereon a claim for the treatment of dervishes as combatants entitled
+to all the amenities of civilised warfare. Several pages of his
+composition are given up to treating upon that matter. For instance,
+he says--"Moreover, it is worth remembering that the dervishes were
+not 'savages' in the sense in which the word is applied to the
+followers of a Lobengula or a Samory. On the contrary, they satisfied
+all the requirements for recognition as an armed force." Now, that is
+an aspersion upon Lobengula and Samory in particular. For unredeemed
+devilishness, the dervishes have had no equals. The fact is, that the
+Mahdists made it a constant practice to ruthlessly slaughter all
+prisoners in battle, wounded or unwounded; to enslave, torture, or
+murder their enemies, active or passive; to loot and to burn; to slay
+children and debauch women. To set up a pretext that such monsters are
+entitled to the grace and consideration of the most humane laws, is to
+beggar commonsense and yap intolerable humbug. Yet British
+self-respect was such, Mr Bennett to the contrary notwithstanding,
+that the dervishes were treated as men, and not as wild beasts.
+
+Started upon his false pursuit, Mr Bennett proceeds from error to
+error, abounding in reckless misstatements, atrocious imputations, and
+scattering charges void of truth. As briefly as possible, I will deal
+with his accusations. One of his first deliverances is as
+follows:--"It is, of course, an open secret that in all our Soudan
+battles the enemy's wounded have been killed. The practice has, ever
+since the days of Tel-el-Kebir, become traditional in Soudanese
+warfare. After the battle of Atbara, it was announced that 3000
+dervishes had been killed. There was practically no mention of the
+wounded.... How, then, was it that no wounded were accounted for at
+the Atbara?" Again he writes:--"But I cannot help thinking that if the
+killing of the wounded had been sternly repressed at Tel-el-Kebir and
+during the earlier Soudan campaigns, our dervish enemies would have
+learned to expect civilised treatment," etc. Gaining courage, probably
+from his own audacity, Mr Bennett had the hardihood to virtually
+declare that the cruelties permitted by British officers made the
+dervishes what they were.
+
+Now, I went through the 1882 war in Egypt as well as most of the
+campaigns in the Soudan. I am therefore in a better position than he
+to declare, that his allegations are a perversion of the truth. It was
+neither the practice at Tel-el-Kebir nor subsequent thereto for
+British led troops to kill wounded men. The insinuation that they did
+so, or connived at such slaughter, is a stupid or a malicious
+falsehood. In every battle within the period referred to, large
+numbers of wounded and unwounded prisoners were taken, and invariably
+great lenience was shown. Surgical treatment also was, whenever
+possible, always promptly rendered. Indeed, they were in countless
+cases treated as tenderly as our own wounded. This further: in action
+there are no soldiers less prone to needless blood-spilling, or men
+readier to forgive and forget, than "Tommy Atkins." Official returns
+exist setting at rest the fiction about Tel-el-Kebir and the Soudan
+battles. At Tel-el-Kebir many thousand prisoners were made, and in
+other engagements our hands were always full of dervish wounded. At
+El Teb, Tamai, Abu Klea, Abu Kru, Gemaizeh, Atbara, and elsewhere,
+wounded dervishes fell into our hands, and received every attention
+from the medical staff. And in some of these actions our troops were
+themselves in sore straits. Several hundred dervishes were picked up
+within and without the Atbara dem, including the leader Mahmoud and
+his two cousins. Be it remembered, our troops only remained there a
+few hours, marching back to the Nile.
+
+Still further abominable charges Mr Bennett lays at the door of his
+countrymen who command British and Khedivial troops. The Sirdar
+himself is included in his rigmarole of accusations. But whether
+dealing with particulars or the general course of events, Mr Bennett
+discloses that he has scarcely a nodding acquaintanceship with truth.
+He has said:--"This wholesale slaughter was not confined to Arab
+servants," _i.e._, killing wounded dervishes. "The Soudanese seemed to
+revel in the work, and continually drove their bayonets through men
+who were absolutely unconscious.... This unsoldierly work was not even
+left to the exclusive control of the black troops; our British
+soldiers took part in it."
+
+On whatever ground Mr Bennett may seek to support these assertions,
+they are unwarranted and untruthful libels. There was no wholesale
+slaughter of wounded dervishes, nor was there anything done in the
+least justifying or providing a decent pretext for that ferocious
+accusation. Very many thousands of dervish wounded fell into our hands
+that day and later. Officers have written to the press, denying these
+charges and the rest of Mr Bennett's tale of monstrosity. The Sirdar
+himself has confirmed by a personal cablegram my refutation of them.
+Here is another of Mr Bennett's suggestions of evil-doing, by innuendo
+and assertion:--"It was stated that orders had been given to kill the
+wounded." And, "If the Sirdar really believes that the destruction of
+the wounded was a military necessity," etc. Can colossal crassness go
+further? There is not and never was a scintilla of truth for the
+charge of wholesale slaughtering of wounded dervishes, nor that the
+Sirdar ever issued such an order, or that any reputable person ever
+received it, or ever had it hinted to him. The accusation is an
+unmitigated untruth, and absolutely at variance with all that was said
+and done by the Sirdar before and during the course of the battle and
+the pursuit. I certainly never heard of the matter until Mr Bennett
+made the accusation, and I cannot trace its authorship beyond himself.
+From the Sirdar down, contradictions of the charge have deservedly
+been slapped in Mr Bennett's face.
+
+But it is almost sheer waste of words to follow and refute line by
+line the article "After Omdurman." Other of Mr Bennett's accusations
+were: that the 21st Lancers, on the way to the front, robbed
+hen-roosts and stricken villagers; that once in Omdurman the Soudanese
+troops abandoned discipline, looted, ravished, and murdered the whole
+night long; that on land and water our cannon and Maxims were
+deliberately turned upon unarmed flying inhabitants, massacring,
+without pity, men, women, and children. An these charges had been
+true, I should have hastened to denounce the culprits, whoever they
+were, in the interests of humanity and country. Happily, Mr Bennett's
+tale is utterly without foundation, whatever reflection that casts
+upon his condition. The Lancers passed through nothing but deserted
+villages, where there were neither natives nor roosts to rob, even had
+they been so disposed. As for the Soudanese troops, their discipline
+throughout was perfect; there was no looting, no ravishing nor murder
+done by them or any other divisions of the soldiery. Nor did our
+gunners on shore or afloat ever fire upon unarmed people. Let it be
+recalled that those whom Mr Bennett so flippantly accuses are
+honourable gentlemen and fellow-countrymen. Three things in this
+connection are worthy of special note. When the first dervish attack
+upon our zereba was repulsed and Wad Melik's dead, dying and shamming
+warriors carpeted the north slopes of Jebel Surgham and the plain in
+front. "Cease fire" was sounded. Thereafter the dervishes arose from
+the ground in hundreds and thousands and walked off, without awakening
+a renewal of our fire from cannon, Maxims, or rifles. At the entry
+into Omdurman the artillery and gunboats were ordered to be careful
+how they fired, and grave risks were incurred by the Sirdar and staff
+in personally counselling to friend and foe a cessation of fighting.
+
+Inaccuracy and sensationalism Mr Bennett is welcome to, and to the
+sort of notoriety it has brought him. Cheap maudlin sentiment may
+profess a pity for those "dervish homes ruined" by the successes of
+British arms. The dervishes in their day had no homes. Nay, they made
+honest profession that their mission was to destroy other people's,
+and do without carking domesticity, as that detracted from the merit
+of preparation for paradise. As I have elsewhere said, one of the
+"fads" of the day is to hold that liberalism of mind is always
+characterised by being a friend to every country and race but your
+own. Exact truth is as illusive to discovery by that as other
+pernicious methods. That there may have been one or two instances of
+cruelty practised on the battle-field is possible. Something of the
+kind always takes place in warfare as in everyday life. But only the
+amateur would magnify a few instances into a catalogue of charges.
+Alas! you cannot eliminate from armies, any more than from ordinary
+communities, the foolish, insane, and criminal.
+
+                                                           THE AUTHOR.
+
+LONDON, _February 1899_.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+NEILL AND COMPANY, LTD., PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.
+
+
+
+
+_FOURTH IMPRESSION NOW READY._
+
+SIRDAR AND KHALIFA;
+
+OR THE
+
+RE-CONQUEST OF THE SOUDAN.
+
+BY
+
+BENNET BURLEIGH.
+
+WITH PORTRAITS, NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS, MAPS, AND PLAN OF BATTLE.
+
+DEMY 8vo, 12s.
+
+
+THE DAILY NEWS says:--"Picturesque, spirited, and trustworthy
+narrative.... The book comprises a summary of the military situation,
+and a glance at the probable course of the renewed operations which
+are now on the point of commencing."
+
+THE PALL MALL GAZETTE says:--"Nothing could be more timely. It is
+unnecessary at this time of day to speak of Mr Burleigh's familiar
+style ... always to the point, clear, and vigorous; or of his
+matter--the matter of an experienced, shrewd, and fearless war
+correspondent. The book is just the book for the occasion, and will
+make the tale that is coming directly more real to many of us. Mr
+Burleigh gives a few useful introductory chapters dealing with
+previous events, and a very interesting account of a trip to Kassala,
+'our new possession'; but in the main it is the story of the Atbara
+Campaign. The book makes good reading, entirely apart from its timely
+instructiveness."
+
+THE ST JAMES'S GAZETTE says:--"Its real value to the judicious reader
+lies in the fact that it is a faithful record by a highly skilled
+observer of the day-by-day life of an Anglo-Egyptian Army engaged in
+desert warfare. The country itself--river and wilderness--the rival
+leaders, the soldiery, their appearance, arms, and uniform, their
+eating and drinking, their lying down and their rising up, their
+marching and the final rush of battle--these are all here before us in
+a living picture, making the book in reality an invaluable 'vade
+mecum' for those who wish to realise just what it is that our men are
+doing to-day between the Atbara and Omdurman."
+
+THE WESTMINSTER GAZETTE says:--"The book is profoundly interesting.
+Readers familiar with the author's letters in _The Daily Telegraph_ do
+not need to be told that he is a master of vivid and picturesque
+narrative. Mr Burleigh has been an eye-witness during the course of
+all the campaigns in the Soudan in which British troops have been
+employed, and therefore writes out of full knowledge and experience."
+
+THE MORNING POST says:--"Many chapters are devoted to the Atbara
+Campaign and the incidents connected with it, the storming of
+Mahmoud's entrenched Camp on the 7th of April last, and interviews
+with that Emir after he was taken prisoner. Mr Burleigh's book, it
+will be sufficient to say, should prove very useful to all who follow
+the progress of the Force now advancing on Omdurman. In a
+supplementary chapter will be found official despatches, and the work
+is provided with a map of the Soudan, and plans of the Battle of the
+Atbara and of the Island of Meroe, showing positions before the
+battle. The illustrations are numerous. Among them is a frontispiece
+portrait of the Sirdar."
+
+THE DAILY CHRONICLE says:--"We are given a connected and very
+comprehensible account of all the operations up to the destruction of
+Mahmoud's host and the Sirdar's triumphant return to Berber.... The
+description of the main battle itself is very vivid and complete."
+
+THE SCOTSMAN says:--"Mr Bennet Burleigh's new volume, 'Sirdar and
+Khalifa,' comes just in the nick of time. Its object is to recount the
+story of the reconquest of the Soudan up to the Battle of Atbara.... A
+very readable book."
+
+THE DAILY TELEGRAPH says:--"Readers of _The Daily Telegraph_ will not
+be chary of accepting our estimate of the value of this book when we
+remind them that its author is Mr Bennet Burleigh, who has acted
+throughout the numerous campaigns which have been waged in the Soudan
+as the War Correspondent of this journal, and gained himself a
+well-merited reputation for his pluck in the face of the enemy, his
+endurance of hardship and fatigue, his excellence of judgment, and his
+graphic descriptions of the shock of battle.... It only remains to say
+that this book is well illustrated, handsomely printed, and is in
+every way a worthy record of a brief but memorable campaign."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Khartoum Campaign, 1898, by Bennet Burleigh
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KHARTOUM CAMPAIGN, 1898 ***
+
+***** This file should be named 25504.txt or 25504.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/5/0/25504/
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Chris Logan and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/25504.zip b/25504.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..343aca0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/25504.zip
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8eab1f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #25504 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25504)