Colonel Lewis Determined To Attack What Part Of Ahmed Fedil's Force Still
Remained On The East Bank Of The River, And On Christmas Day, At Five
O'clock In The Afternoon, He Marched With Every Man He Could Muster In The
Direction Of Dakhila.
Moving in single file along a track which led through a dense forest of
thorny trees, the column reached Adu Zogholi, a village thought to be half,
but really not one-third, of the way to Dakhila, at eleven o'clock on
Christmas night.
Here they bivouacked until 3 A.M. on the 26th, when the
march was resumed in the same straggling order through the same tangled
scrub. Daylight found them still several miles from the Dervish position,
and it was not until eight o'clock that the enemy's outposts were
discovered. After a few shots the Arab picket fell back, and the advance
guard, hurrying after them, emerged from the forest upon the open ground of
the river bank, broken only by palms and patches of high grass. Into this
space the whole column gradually debouched. Before them the Blue Nile,
shining in the early sunlight like a silver band, flowed swiftly;
and beyond its nearest waters rose a long, bare, gravel island crowned
with clumps of sandhills, to the shelter of which several hundred Dervishes,
surprised by the sudden arrival of the troops, were scampering. Beyond the
island, on the tall tree-clad cliff of the further bank, other minute
figures moved and bustled. The discordant sound of horns and drums floating
across the waters, and the unfurling of many bright flags, proclaimed the
presence and the intention of the hostile force.
The Dervish position was well chosen and of great defensive strength.
A little to the north of Dakhila the Blue Nile bifurcates - one rapid but
shallow stream flowing fairly straight under the east bank; another very
deep stream running in a wide curve under the west bank, cutting into it so
that it is precipitous. These two branches of the river enclose an island
a mile and a quarter long by 1,400 yards wide, and on this island,
surrounded by a natural moat of swiftly flowing water, was the Dervish dem.
The western side of the island rose into a line of low sandhills covered
with scrub and grass, with a steep reverse slope towards the foreshore of
the river-bank; and here, in this excellent cover, what eventually proved
to be three-quarters of the force of Ahmed Fedil were drawn up.
Backed against the deep arm of the river they had no choice, nor indeed
any other wish, but to fight. Before them stretched a bare slope of heavy
shingle, 1,000 yards wide, over which their enemies must advance to
the attack, Behind them the high precipitous west bank of the river,
which rose in some places to a height of fifty feet, was lined with the
300 riflemen who had already crossed; and from this secure position
Ahmed Fedil and four of his Emirs were able to watch, assist, and direct
the defence of the island.
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