With Kitchener in the Soudan: A Story of Atbara and Omdurman

by G. A. Henty

  Chapter 21: Gedareh.

  "Abdul Azim was right about the camels," Gregory said, as soon as theywere fairly off. "I have never ridden on one like this, before. What adifference there is between them and the ordinary camel! It is not onlythat they go twice as fast, but the motion is so pleasant, and easy."

  "Yes, Master, these are riding camels of good breed. They cost twentytimes as much as the others. They think nothing of keeping up this ratefor twelve hours, without a stop."

  "If they do that, we shall be near the Atbara before it is dark. It isten o'clock now, and if General Hunter's map is right, we have onlyabout eighty miles to go, and I should think they are trotting sevenmiles an hour."

  They carried their rifles slung behind them and across the shoulders,rather than upright, as was the Arab fashion. The spears were held intheir right hands.

  "We must see if we can't fasten the spears in some other way, Zaki. Weshould find them a nuisance, if we held them in our hands all the way.I should say it would be easy to fasten them across the saddle in frontof us. If we see horsemen in the distance, we can take them into ourhands."

  "I think, Master, it would be easier to fasten them behind the saddles,where there is more width, and rings on the saddle on both sides."

  A short halt was made, and the spears fixed. Gregory then looked at hiscompass.

  "We must make for that rise, two or three miles away. I see exactly thepoint we must aim for. When we get there, we must look at the compassagain."

  They kept steadily on for six hours. They had seen no human figure,since they started.

  "We will stop here for half an hour," Gregory said. "Give the animals adrink of water, and a handful or two of grain."

  "I don't think they will want water, Master. They had as much as theycould drink, before starting, and they are accustomed to drink whentheir work is over."

  "Very well. At any rate, we will take something."

  They opened one of the water skins, and poured some of the contentsinto a gourd. Then, sitting down in the shadow of the camels, they atesome dates and bread. They had only brought native food with them sothat, if captured and examined, there should be nothing to show thatthey had been in contact with Europeans. Gregory had even left hisrevolver behind him as, being armed with so good a weapon as aRemington, it was hardly likely that it would be needed; and if foundupon them, it would be accepted as a proof that he was in theemployment of the infidels.

  It was dusk when they arrived at the bank of the river. No incident hadmarked the journey, nor had they seen any sign that Dervishes were inthe neighbourhood. The Atbara was in full flood, and was rushing downat six or seven miles an hour.

  "Colonel Parsons must have had great difficulty in crossing, Zaki. Heis hardly likely to have brought any boats across, from Kassala. Idon't know whether he has any guns with him, but if he has, I don'tthink he can have crossed, even if they made rafts enough to carrythem."

  They kept along the bank, until they reached a spot where the river hadoverflowed. Here the camels drank their fill. A little grain was givento them, and then they were turned loose, to browse on the bushes.

  "There is no fear of their straying, I suppose, Zaki?"

  "No, Master. They are always turned loose at night. As there are plentyof bushes here, they will not go far."

  After another meal, they both lay down to sleep; and, as soon as it waslight, Zaki fetched in the camels and they continued their journey. Inan hour, they arrived at a village. The people were already astir, andlooked with evident apprehension at the seeming Dervishes.

  "Has a party of infidels passed along here?" Gregory asked the villagesheik, who came out and salaamed humbly.

  "Yes, my lord, a party of soldiers, with some white officers, camethrough here three days ago."

  "How many were there of them?"

  "There must have been more than a thousand of them."

  "Many more?"

  "Not many; perhaps a hundred more. Your servant did not count them."

  "Had they any cannon with them?"

  "No, my lord. They were all on foot. They all carried guns, but therewere no mounted men, or cannon."

  "Where is Fadil and his army, that they thus allowed so small a forceto march along, unmolested?"

  "They say that he is still near the Nile. Two of his scouts were here,the day before the Turks came along. They stayed here for some hours,but as they said nothing about the Turks coming from Kassala, I supposethey did not know they had crossed the river."

  "Well, we must go on, and see where they are. They must be mad to comewith so small a force, when they must have known that Fadil has a largearmy. They will never go back again."

  Without further talk, Gregory rode farther on. At each village throughwhich they passed, they had some news of the passage of ColonelParsons' command. The camels had been resting, from the time whenOmdurman was taken; and, having been well fed that morning, Gregory didnot hesitate to press them. The troops would not march abovetwenty-five miles a day, and two days would take them to Mugatta, sothat if they halted there but for a day, he should be able to overtakethem that night.

  The character of the country was now greatly changed. The bush wasthick and high, and a passage through it would be very difficult formounted men. There was no fear, therefore, that they would turn offbefore arriving at Mugatta; from which place there would probably be atrack, of some sort, to Gedareh. It was but a thirty-mile ride and, onarriving near the village, Gregory saw that a considerable number ofmen were assembled there. He checked his camel.

  "What do you make them out to be, Zaki? Your eyes are better than mine.They may be Colonel Parsons' force, and on the other hand they may beDervishes, who have closed in behind him to cut off his retreat."

  "They are not Dervishes, master," Zaki said, after a long, steady look."They have not white turbans. Some of their clothes are light, and somedark; but all have dark caps, like those the Soudanese troops wear."

  "That is good enough, Zaki. We will turn our robes inside out, so as tohide the patches, as otherwise we might have a hot reception."

  When they were a quarter of a mile from the village, several menstarted out from the bushes, rifle in hand. They were all in Egyptianuniform.

  "We are friends!" Gregory shouted in Arabic. "I am an officer of theKhedive, and have come from Omdurman, with a message to yourcommander."

  A native officer, one of the party, at once saluted.

  "You will find the bey in the village, Bimbashi."

  "How long have you been here?"

  "We came in yesterday, and I hear that we shall start tomorrow, but Iknow not whether that is so."

  "Are there any Dervishes about?"

  "Yes; forty of them yesterday afternoon, coming from Gedareh, andignorant that we were here, rode in among our outposts on that hill tothe west. Three of them were killed, and three made prisoners. The restrode away."

  With a word of thanks, Gregory rode on. He dismounted when he reachedthe village, and was directed to a neighbouring hut. Here ColonelParsons and the six white officers with him were assembled. A nativesoldier was on sentry, at the door.

  "I want to speak to Parsons Bey."

  The Colonel, hearing the words, came to the door.

  "Colonel Parsons," Gregory said in English, "I am Major Hilliard of theEgyptian Army, and have the honour to be the bearer of a message toyou, from General Rundle, now in command at Omdurman."

  "You are well disguised, indeed, sir," the Colonel said with a smile,as he held out his hand. "I should never have taken you for anythingbut a native. Where did you spring from? You can never have ridden,much less walked, across the desert from Omdurman?"

  "No, sir. I was landed from one of the gunboats in which GeneralHunter, with fifteen hundred Soudanese troops, is ascending the BlueNile, to prevent Fadil from crossing and joining the Khalifa."

  "Have you a written despatch?"

  "It was thought better that I should carry nothing, so that even thestrictes
t search would not show that I was a messenger."

  "Is your message of a private character?"

  "No, sir, I think not."

  "Then will you come in?"

  Gregory followed Colonel Parsons into the hut, which contained but oneroom.

  "Gentlemen," the former said with a smile, "allow me to introduceBimbashi Hilliard, who is the bearer of a message to me from GeneralRundle, now in command at Omdurman.

  "Major Hilliard, these are Captain MacKerrel, commanding four hundredand fifty men of the 16th Egyptians; Captain Wilkinson, an equal numberof the Arab battalion; Major Lawson, who has under his command threehundred and seventy Arab irregulars; Captain the Honorable H. Ruthven,who has under him eighty camel men; also Captain Fleming of the RoyalArmy Medical Corps, who is at once our medical officer, and in commandof the baggage column; and Captain Dwyer. They are all, like yourself,officers in the Egyptian Army; and rank, like yourself, as Bimbashis.

  "Now, sir, will you deliver your message to me?"

  "It is of a somewhat grave character, sir, but General Rundle thoughtit very important that you should be acquainted with the last news. TheSirdar has gone up the White Nile, with some of the gunboats and the11th Soudanese. He deemed it necessary to go himself, because a body offoreign troops--believed to be French--have established themselves atFashoda."

  An exclamation of surprise broke from all the officers.

  "In the next place, sir, Fadil, who had arrived with his force withinforty miles of Khartoum, has retired up the banks of the Blue Nile, onhearing of the defeat of the Khalifa. Major General Hunter hastherefore gone up that river, with three gunboats and another Soudanesebattalion, to prevent him, if possible, from crossing it and joiningthe Khalifa, who is reported to be collecting the remains of hisdefeated army.

  "It is possible--indeed the General thinks it is probable--that Fadil,if unable to cross, may return with his army to Gedareh. It is to warnyou of this possibility that he sent me here. Gedareh is reported to bea defensible position, and therefore he thinks that, if you capture it,it would be advisable to maintain yourself there until reinforcementscan be sent to you, either from the Blue Nile or the Atbara. The place,it seems, is well supplied with provisions and stores; and in the eventof Fadil opposing you, it would be far safer for you to defend it thanto be attacked in the open, or during a retreat."

  "It is certainly important news, Mr. Hilliard. Hitherto we havesupposed that Fadil had joined the Khalifa before the fight atOmdurman, and there was therefore no fear of his reappearing here. Weknow very little of the force at Gedareh. We took some prisonersyesterday, but their accounts are very conflicting. Still, there isevery reason to believe that the garrison is not strong. Certainly, asGeneral Rundle says, we should be in a much better position there thanif we were attacked in the open. No doubt the Arabs who got off in theskirmish, yesterday, carried the news there; and probably some of themwould go direct to Fadil, and if he came down upon us here, with hiseight thousand men, our position would be a desperate one. It cost usfour days to cross the river at El Fasher, and would take us as much tobuild boats and recross here; and before that time, he might be uponus.

  "It is evident, gentlemen, that we have only the choice of thesealternatives--either to march, at once, against Gedareh; or to retreatimmediately, crossing the river here, or at El Fasher. As to remaininghere, of course, it is out of the question."

  The consultation was a short one. All the officers were in favour ofpushing forward, pointing out that, as only the 16th Egyptians could beconsidered as fairly disciplined, the troops would lose heart if theyretired; and could not be relied upon to keep steady, if attacked by alargely superior force; while, at present, they would probably fightbravely. The Arab battalion had been raised by the Italians, and wereat present full of confidence, as they had defeated the Mahdists whohad been besieging Kassala. The Arab irregulars had, of course, thefighting instincts of their race, and would assault an enemy bravely;but in a defensive battle, against greatly superior numbers, couldscarcely be expected to stand well. As for the eighty camel men, theywere all Soudanese soldiers, discharged from the army for old age andphysical unfitness. They could be relied upon to fight but, small innumber as they were, could but have little effect on the issue of abattle. All therefore agreed that, having come thus far, the safest, aswell as the most honourable course, would be to endeavour to fight theenemy in a strong position.

  Although it may be said that success justified it, no wilder enterprisewas ever undertaken than that of sending thirteen hundred only partlydisciplined men into the heart of the enemy's country. Omdurman andAtbara, to say nothing of previous campaigns, had shown how desperatelythe Dervishes fought; and the order, for the garrison of Kassala toundertake it, can only have been given under an entire misconception ofthe circumstances, and of the strength of the army under Fadil, thatthey would almost certainly be called upon to encounter. This was themore probable, as all the women and the property of his soldiers hadbeen left at Gedareh, when he marched away; and his men would,therefore, naturally wish to go there, before they made any endeavourto join the Khalifa.

  Such, indeed, was the fact. Fadil concealed from them the news of thedisaster at Omdurman, for some days; and, when it became known, he haddifficulty in restraining his troops from marching straight forGedareh.

  "Do you go on with us, Mr. Hilliard?" Colonel Parsons asked, when theyhad decided to start for Gedareh.

  "Yes, sir. My instructions are to go on with you and, if the town isbesieged, to endeavour to get through their lines, and carry the newsto General Hunter, if I can ascertain his whereabouts. If not, to makestraight for Omdurman. I have two fast camels, which I shall leavehere, and return for them with my black boy, when we start."

  "We shall be glad to have you with us," the Colonel said. "Every whiteofficer is worth a couple of hundred men."

  As they sat and chatted, Gregory asked how the force had crossed theAtbara.

  "It was a big job," Colonel Parsons said. "The river was wider than theThames, below London Bridge; and running something like seven miles anhour. We brought with us some barrels to construct a raft. When thiswas built, it supported the ten men who started on it; but they were,in spite of their efforts, carried ten miles down the stream, and itwas not until five hours after they embarked that they managed to land.The raft did not get back from its journey till the next afternoon,being towed along the opposite bank by the men.

  "It was evident that this would not do. The Egyptian soldiers then tookthe matter in hand. They made frameworks with the wood of the mimosascrub, and covered these with tarpaulins, which we had fortunatelybrought with us. They turned out one boat a day, capable of carryingtwo tons; and, six days after we reached the river, we all got across.

  "The delay was a terrible nuisance at the time, but it has enabled youto come up here and warn us about Fadil. Fortunately no Dervishes camealong while we were crossing, and indeed we learned, from the prisonerswe took yesterday, that the fact that a force from Kassala had crossedthe river was entirely unknown, so no harm was done."

  The sheik of the little village took charge of Gregory's camels. Somestores were also left there, under a small guard, as it was advisableto reduce the transport to the smallest possible amount.

  The next morning the start was made. The bush was so thick that it wasnecessary to march in single file. In the evening, the force halted ina comparatively open country. The camel men reconnoitred the ground,for some little distance round, and saw no signs of the enemy. Theycamped, however, in the form of a square; and lay with their armsbeside them, in readiness to resist an attack.

  The night passed quietly, and at early dawn they moved forward again.At six o'clock the camel men exchanged a few shots with the Dervishscouts, who fell back at once. At eight a village was sighted, and theforce advanced upon it, in fighting order.

  It was found, however, to have been deserted, except by a few oldpeople. These, on being questioned, said that the Emir Saadalla, whocom
manded, had but two hundred rifles and six hundred spearmen, and hadreceived orders from Fadil to surrender. Subsequent events showed thatthey had been carefully tutored as to the reply to be given.

  The force halted here, as Gedareh was still twelve miles away; and itwas thought better that, if there was fighting, they should be fresh.At midnight, a deserter from the Dervishes came in, with the grave newsthat the Emir had three thousand five hundred men, and was awaitingthem two miles outside the town. There was another informal council ofwar, but all agreed that a retreat, through this difficult country,would bring about the total annihilation of the force; and that therewas nothing to do but to fight.

  Early in the morning, they started again. For the first two hours, theroad led through grass so high that even the men on camels could notsee above it. They pushed on till eight o'clock, when they reached asmall knoll. At the foot of this they halted, and Colonel Parsons andthe officers ascended it, to reconnoitre.

  They saw, at once, that the deserter's news was true. A mile away fourlines of Dervishes, marching in excellent order, were making their waytowards them. Colonel Parsons considered that their numbers could notbe less than four thousand, and at once decided to occupy a saddle-backhill, half a mile away; and the troops were hurried across. TheDervishes also quickened their movements, but were too late to preventthe hill from being seized.

  The Arab battalion had been leading, followed by the Egyptians; whilethe irregulars, divided into two bodies under Arab chiefs, guarded thehospital and baggage. The Dervishes at once advanced to the attack ofthe hill, and the column wheeled into line, to meet it. Even on thecrest of the hill, the grass was breast high, but it did not impede theview of the advancing lines of the Dervishes. Into these a heavy anddestructive fire was at once poured. The enemy, however, pushed on,firing in return; but being somewhat out of breath, from the rapiditywith which they had marched; and seeing nothing of the defenders of thehill, save their heads, they inflicted far less loss than they werethemselves suffering.

  The fight was continuing, when Colonel Parsons saw that a force ofabout three hundred Dervishes had worked round the back of the hill,with the intention of falling upon the baggage. He at once sent one ofthe Arab sheiks to warn Captain Fleming; who, from his position, wasunable to see the approaching foe. Colonel Parsons had asked Gregory totake up his position with the baggage, as he foresaw that, with theirvastly greater numbers, it was likely that the Dervishes might sweepround and attack it.

  Scarcely had the messenger arrived with the news, when the Dervishescame rushing on through the high grass. In spite of the shouts ofDoctor Fleming and Gregory, the escort of one hundred and twentyirregular Arabs, stationed at this point, at once broke and fled.Happily, a portion of the camel corps, with its commander, CaptainRuthven, a militia officer, was close at hand. Though he had butthirty-four of these old soldiers with him, he rushed forward to meetthe enemy. Doctor Fleming and Gregory joined him and, all cheering toencourage the Soudanese, made a determined stand.

  Gregory and Zaki kept up a steady fire with their Remingtons, andpicked off several of the most determined of their assailants. Thefight, however, was too unequal; the Dervishes got in behind them, andcut off the rear portion of the transport; and the little band,fighting obstinately, fell back, with their faces to the foe, towardsthe main body.

  One of the native officers of the Soudanese fell. Captain Ruthven, avery powerful man, ran back and lifted the wounded soldier, and madehis way towards his friends. So closely pressed was he, by theDervishes, that three times he had to lay his burden down and defendhimself with his revolver; while Gregory and Zaki aided his retreat, byturning their fire upon his assailants. For this splendid act ofbravery, Captain Ruthven afterwards received the Victoria Cross.

  Flushed by their success, the Dervishes pushed on. Fortunately, at thistime the main force of the Dervishes was beginning to waver, unable towithstand the steady fire of the defenders of the hill; and as theydrew back a little, the Egyptian and Arab battalions rushed forward.

  Shaken as they were, the Dervishes were unable to resist the attack;and broke and fled, pursued by the Arab battalion. The Egyptians,however, obeyed the orders of Captain MacKerrel and, halting, facedabout to encounter the attack from the rear. Their volleys caused theDervishes to hesitate, and Captain Ruthven and his party reached thesummit of the hill in safety.

  The enemy, however, maintained a heavy fire for a few minutes; but thevolleys of the Egyptians, at a distance of only a hundred yards, wereso deadly that they soon took to flight.

  The first shot had been fired at half-past eight. At ten, the wholeDervish force was scattered in headlong rout. Had Colonel Parsonspossessed a cavalry force, the enemy would have been completely cut up.As it was, pursuit was out of the question.

  The force therefore advanced, in good order, to Gedareh. Here a DervishEmir, who had been left in charge when the rest of the garrison movedout, surrendered at once, with the two hundred black riflemen underhim. He had long been suspected of disloyalty by the Khalifa, and atonce declared his hatred of Mahdism; declaring that, though he had notdared to declare himself openly, he had always been friendly toEgyptian rule.

  The men with him at once fraternized with the Arabs of Colonel Parsons'force, and were formally received into their ranks. The Emir showed hissincerity by giving them all the information in his power, as toFadil's position and movements, and by pointing out the most defensiblepositions.

  None of the British officers had been wounded, but fifty-one of the menhad been killed, and eighty wounded. Five hundred of the Dervishes wereleft dead upon the field, including four Emirs.

  Not a moment was lost in preparing for defence, for it was certain thatFadil, on hearing the news, would at once march to retake the town. Theposition was naturally a strong one. Standing on rising ground wasFadil's house, surrounded by a brick wall, twelve feet high. Here theEgyptian battalion and camel corps were placed, with the hospital, andtwo brass guns which had been found there.

  A hundred yards away was another enclosure, with a five-foot wall, andtwo hundred yards away a smaller one. The Arab battalion was stationedto the rear of this, in a square enclosure with a brick wall, twelvefeet high, in which was situated a well. These four buildings were soplaced, that the fire from each covered the approaches to the other.Two hundred yards from the well enclosure was a fortified house,surrounded by a high wall. As the latter would need too many men forits defence, the wall was pulled down, and a detachment placed in thehouse.

  No time was lost. The whole force was at once employed in pulling downhuts, clearing the ground of the high grass, and forming a zareba roundthe town. The greatest cause for anxiety was ammunition. A largeproportion of that carried in the pouches had been expended during thebattle, and the next morning Colonel Parsons, with a small force,hurried back to Mugatta to fetch up the reserve ammunition, which hadbeen left there under a guard. He returned with it, three days later.

  An abundant supply of provisions had been found in Gedareh, for herewere the magazines, not only of the four thousand men of the garrisonand the women who had been left there, but sufficient for Fadil's army,on their return. There were three or four wells, and a good supply ofwater.

  The ammunition arrived just in time; for, on the following morning,Captain Ruthven's camel men brought in news that Fadil was close athand. At half-past eight the Dervishes began the attack, on three sidesof the defences. Sheltered by the long grass, they were able to maketheir way to within three hundred yards of the dwellings occupied bythe troops. But the intervening ground had all been cleared, and thoughtime after time they made rushes forward, they were unable to withstandthe withering fire to which they were exposed.

  After an hour's vain efforts their musketry fire ceased; but, half anhour later, strong reinforcements came up, and the attack recommenced.This was accompanied with no greater success than the first attack, andFadil retired to a palm grove, two miles away. Of the defenders fivemen were killed, and Captain Dwyer and
thirteen men wounded.

  For two days, Fadil endeavoured to persuade his troops to make anotherattack; but although they surrounded the town, and maintained ascattered fire, they could not be brought to attempt another assault,having lost over five hundred men in the two attacks the first day. Hethen fell back, eight miles.

  Three days later, Colonel Parsons said to Gregory:

  "I think the time has come, Mr. Hilliard, when I must apply forreinforcements. I am convinced that we can repel all attacks, but weare virtually prisoners here. Were we to endeavour to retreat, Fadilwould probably annihilate us. Our men have behaved admirably; but it isone thing to fight well, when you are advancing; and another to be firmin retreat.

  "But our most serious enemy, at present, is fever. Already, the stinkof the unburied bodies of the Dervishes is overpowering, and every dayit will become worse. Doctor Fleming reports to me that he has a greatmany sick on his hands, and that he fears the conditions that surroundus will bring about an epidemic. Therefore I have decided to send toGeneral Rundle, for a reinforcement that will enable us to move out toattack Fadil."

  "Very well, sir, I will start at once."

  "I will write my despatch. It will be ready for you to carry in anhour's time. You had better pick out a couple of good donkeys, fromthose we captured here. As it is only nine o'clock, you will be able toget to Mugatta this evening. I don't think there is any fear of yourbeing interfered with, by the Dervishes. We may be sure that Fadil isnot allowing his men to roam over the country, for there can be littledoubt that a good many of them would desert, as soon as they got fairlybeyond his camp."

  "I don't think there is any fear of that, sir; and as my camels willhave had ten days' rest, I should have very little fear of beingovertaken, even if they did sight us."

  "We are off again, Zaki," Gregory said. "We will go down to the yardwhere the animals we captured are kept, and choose a couple of gooddonkeys. I am to carry a despatch to Omdurman, and as time is precious,we will make a straight line across the desert; it will save us fiftyor sixty miles."

  "I am glad to be gone, Master. The smells here are as bad as they wereat Omdurman, when we went in there."

  "Yes, I am very glad to be off, too."

  An hour later they started, and arrived at Mugatta at eight o'clock inthe evening. The native with whom the camels had been left had takengood care of them; and, after rewarding him and taking a meal, Gregorydetermined to start at once. The stars were bright, and there was quitelight enough for the camels to travel.

  The water was emptied from the skins, and filled again. They hadbrought with them sufficient food for four days' travel, and a sack ofgrain for the camels. An hour after arriving at the village they againstarted.

  "We will follow the river bank, till we get past the country where thebushes are so thick, and then strike west by north. I saw, by ColonelParsons' map, that that is about the line we should take."

  They left the river before they reached El Fasher, and continued theirjourney all night, and onward till the sun was well up. Then theywatered the camels (they had, this time, brought with them a large halfgourd for the purpose), ate a good meal themselves; and, after placingtwo piles of grain before the camels, lay down and slept until fiveo'clock in the afternoon.

  "We ought to be opposite Omdurman, tomorrow morning. I expect we shallstrike the river, tonight. I have kept our course rather to the west ofthe direct line, on purpose. It would be very awkward if we were tomiss it. I believe the compass is right, and I have struck a matchevery hour to look at it; but a very slight deviation would make a bigdifference, at the end of a hundred and fifty miles."

  It was just midnight when they saw the river before them.

  "We can't go wrong now, Zaki."

  "That is a comfort. How many miles are we above its junction with theWhite Nile?"

  "I don't know."

  They rode steadily on, and day was just breaking when he exclaimed:

  "There are some buildings opposite. That must be Khartoum. We shall beopposite Omdurman in another hour."

  Soon after six o'clock, they rode down to the river bank opposite thetown; and, in answer to their signals, a large native boat was rowedacross to them. After some trouble the camels were got on board, and ina quarter of an hour they landed.

  "Take the camels up to my house, Zaki. I must go and report myself, atheadquarters."

  General Rundle had not yet gone out, and on Gregory sending in hisname, he was at once admitted.

  "So you are back, Mr. Hilliard!" the General said. "I am heartily gladto see you, for it was a very hazardous mission that you undertook.What news have you?"

  "This is Colonel Parsons' report."

  Before reading the long report, the General said, "Tell me, in a fewwords, what happened."

  "I overtook Colonel Parsons at Mugatta, on the third morning afterleaving. We were attacked by nearly four thousand Dervishes, five milesfrom Gedareh. After a sharp fight they were defeated, and we occupiedthe town without resistance. Four days later, Fadil came up with hisarmy and attacked the town; but was driven off, with a loss of fivehundred men. He is now eight miles from the town. The place isunhealthy and, although it can be defended, Colonel Parsons has askedfor reinforcements, to enable him to attack Fadil."

  "That is good news, indeed. We have all been extremely anxious, forthere was no doubt that Colonel Parsons' force was wholly inadequatefor the purpose. How long is it since you left?"

  "About forty-six hours, sir."

  "Indeed! That seems almost impossible, Mr. Hilliard."

  "We started at eleven o'clock in the morning, sir, and rode on donkeysto Mugatta, where I had left my camels; arrived there at eight, andstarted an hour later on the camels. We rode till nine o'clock the nextday, halted till five, and have just arrived here. The camels wereexcellent beasts, and travelled a good six miles an hour. I did notpress them, as I knew that, if we arrived opposite the town at night,we should have difficulty in getting across the river."

  "It was a great ride, a great achievement! You must be hungry, as wellas tired. I will tell my man to get you some breakfast, at once. Youcan eat it, while I read this despatch. Then I may have a few questionsto ask you. After that, you had better turn in till evening."

  Gregory enjoyed his breakfast, with the luxuries of tinned fruit, afterhis rough fare for the past fortnight. When he went to the General'sroom again, the latter said:

  "Colonel Parsons' despatches are very full, and I think I quiteunderstand the situation. No praise is too high for the conduct of hisofficers and troops. All seemed to have behaved equally well, and hementions the gallant part you took in the defence of the baggage, withCaptain Ruthven and the doctor, and only some thirty-four soldiers ofthe camel corps.

  "Now, I will not detain you longer. I hope you will dine with me thisevening. I should like to hear more of the affair."

  Returning to his hut, Gregory found that Zaki had already got his bed,and other things, from the store; and he was just about to boil thekettle.

  "I have breakfasted, Zaki. Here is a dollar. Go to one of those bigshops, and buy anything you like, and have a good meal. Then you hadbetter take the camels across to Azim's camp. I shall not want youthen, till evening."

  No time was lost. Three battalions and a half of Soudanese were sent upthe Blue Nile, in steamers, and the garrisons stationed at severalpoints on the river were also taken on board. Three companies of camelcorps marched along the bank, and arrived at Abu Haraz, a hundred andthirty miles up the river, in fifty-six hours after starting. Fivehundred baggage camels were also sent up. As the distance from Gedarehto this point was a hundred miles, and as water was only to be found atone point, it was necessary to carry up a supply for the troops.

  Colonel Collinson, who was in command, pushed forward at once with the12th Soudanese and the camel corps. When Fadil heard of their approach,he made a night attack on Gedareh. This, however, was easily repulsedby the garrison. He then broke up his camp and marched away, intendi
ngto cross the Blue Nile, and join the Khalifa.

  His troops were greatly demoralized by their failures, and in spite ofthe precautions he took, the Darfur Sheik, with five hundred of hismen, succeeded in effecting his escape; and at once joined us,actively, in the further operations against Fadil. As there was nofurther danger, the Soudanese marched back again and joined the otherbattalions, the garrisons on the river were re-established, and part ofthe force returned to Omdurman.

  The Sirdar had returned from Fashoda before Gregory came back, and hadleft almost immediately for Cairo. On the day after Gregory's return,he had a sharp attack of fever; the result partly of the evil smells atGedareh, heightened by the fact that the present was the fever season,in the Blue Nile country.