Sarras Fort Is An Extensive Building, Perched On A Crag Of Black Rock
Rising On The Banks Of The Nile About Thirty Miles South Of Halfa.
During
the long years of preparation it had been Egypt's most advanced outpost
and the southern terminus of the military railway.
The beginning of the
expedition swelled it into an entrenched camp, holding nearly 6,000 men.
From each end of the black rock on which the fort stood a strong stone wall
and wire entanglement ran back to the river. The space thus enclosed was
crowded with rows of tents and lines of animals and horses; and in the fort
Colonel Hunter, commanding the district known as 'Sarras and the South,'
had his headquarters.
From Sarras the army seemed to have chosen a double line of advance.
The railway reconstruction followed the old track which had been prepared
through the desert in 1885. The convoy route wound along by the river.
Both were protected from attack. The 7th Egyptians guarded Railhead,
while the chain of small posts secured the road by the Nile to Akasha.
The advanced base grew during the months of April and May into a strong
position. Only once did the Arabs venture to approach within artillery
range. A small body of horse and camel men made a sort of haphazard
reconnaissance, and, being seen from the outpost line, were fired on at a
great distance by a field-gun. They fell back immediately, but it was
believed that the range was too great for the projectile to have harmed
them; and it was not until two days later that the discovery on the spot
of a swollen, blistering corpse, clad in bright jibba, apprised the
delighted gunners of the effect of their fire.
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