The Victim, As If Petrified,
Was Powerless To Fly.
The tiger crept forward two measured strides -
from Ras-el-Hudi to Abadar, from Abadar to Umdabia - crouched for a moment,
and then bounded with irresistible fury upon its prey
and tore it to pieces.
Such is a brief strategic account of the Atbara campaign;
but the tale must be told in full.
On the 23rd of January the Khalifa, having learned of the arrival of
British troops near Abu Hamed, and baffled by the disputes about the
command of his army, ordered Kerreri camp to be broken up, and permitted
his forces to return within the city, which he continued to fortify.
A few days later he authorised Mahmud to advance against Berber. What he
had not dared with 60,000 men he now attempted with 20,000. The course of
action which had for three months offered a good hope of success he
resolved to pursue only when it led to ruin. He forbade the advance while
it was advisable. When it was already become mad and fatal he commanded it.
And this was a man whose reputation for intelligence and military skill
had been bloodily demonstrated!
The gunboats ceaselessly patrolled the river, and exchanged shots with
the Dervish forts. Throughout January nothing of note had happened.
The reports of spies showed the Khalifa to be at Kerreri or in Omdurman.
Ahmed Fedil held the Shabluka Gorge, Osman Digna was at Shendi, and his
presence was proved by the construction of two new forts on that side of
the river. But beyond this the Dervishes had remained passive. On the 12th
of February, however, it was noticed that their small outpost at Khulli
had been withdrawn. This event seemed to point to a renewal of activity.
It was felt that some important movement impended. But it was not until
the 15th that its nature was apparent, and the gunboats were able to report
definitely that Mahmud was crossing to the east bank of the Nile.
The flotilla exerted itself to harass the Dervishes and impede the
transportation; but although several sailing-boats and other river craft
were captured, Mahmud succeeded in moving his whole army to Shendi by the
28th of February. His own headquarters were established at Hosh-ben-Naga,
a little village about five miles further south. A delay of more than a
fortnight followed, during which the gunboats exercised the utmost
vigilance. The Suakin-Berber road was again closed for caravans, and the
Sirdar himself proceeded to Berber. On the 11th of March the remnants of
the Jaalin tribe, having collected at Gakdul, re-occupied the now abandoned
Metemma, to find its streets and houses choked with the decaying bodies
of their relations. On the 13th the Egyptian look-out station, which had
been established on Shebaliya island, was attacked by the Dervishes,
and in the skirmish that ensued Major Sitwell was wounded. On the same day
the enemy were reported moving northwards to Aliab, and it became evident
that Mahmud had begun his advance.
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