The Reception Of The
Expedition When Places Of Importance Were Passed, And The Crowd Amounted To
Several Thousands, Is Described As Very Stirring, And, We Are Told,
Such Was The Enthusiasm Of The Natives That They Even Broke Up Their
Houses To Supply The Gunboats With Wood For Fuel.
Whether this be true
or not I cannot tell, but it is in any case certain that the vessels were
duly supplied, and that the expedition in its progress was well received
by the negroid tribes, who had long resented the tyranny of the Arabs.
On the 22nd of September a considerable part of the army of Osman Digna,
which had not been present at the battle of Omdurman, was found encamped on
the Ghezira, a few miles north of Rufaa. The Sheikhs and Emirs, on being
summoned by General Hunter, surrendered, and a force of about 2,000 men
laid down their arms. Musa Digna, a nephew of Osman and the commander of
his forces, was put in irons and held prisoner. The rest, who were mostly
from the Suakin district, were given a safe-conduct, and told to return
to their homes - an order they lost no time in obeying.
The next day the general arrived at Wad Medina, where the Dervish
garrison - 1,000 strong - had already surrendered to the gunboat Sheikh.
These men, who were regular Dervishes, were transported in sailing-boats
to Omdurman; and augmented the number of prisoners of war already
collected. On the 29th of September General Hunter reached Rosaires,
400 miles south of Khartoum, and the extreme limit of steam navigation on
the Blue Nile.
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