The wells were few, and held against him. Further
advance was impossible. So he waited and entrenched himself, sorely
troubled, but uncertain what to do. Supplies were running short.
His magazines at Shendi had been destroyed as soon as he had left the Nile.
The Dervishes might exist, but they did not thrive, on the nuts of the
dom palms. Soldiers began to desert. Osman Digna, although his advice
had been followed, was at open enmity. His army dwindled.
And all this time his terrible antagonist watched him as a tiger gloats on
a helpless and certain prey - silent, merciless, inexorable. Then the end
came suddenly. As soon as the process of attrition was sufficiently far
advanced to demoralise the Dervish host, without completely dissolving
them, the Sirdar and his army moved. 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.
