A Few Convoys From Mugatta Made Their Way Into The Forts
Under The Cover Of Darkness, But For All Practical Purposes The Blockade Of
The Garrison Was Complete.
Their losses in action had reduced their
strength.
They were not abundantly supplied with ammunition. The smell of
the putrefying corpses which lay around the walls and in the doura crop,
together with the unhealthy climate and the filth of the town, was a
fertile source of disease. A painful and racking fever afflicted all ranks,
and at one time as many as 270 of the 400 regular soldiers were prostrated.
The recurring night alarms added to the fatigues of the troops and the
anxieties of the seven officers. The situation was indeed so unsatisfactory
that Colonel Parsons was compelled to ask for assistance.
Major-General Rundle, who in the Sirdar's absence held the chief command,
immediately organised a relief expedition. The IXth, XIIth, and half of the
XIIIth Soudanese, with three companies of the Camel Corps, under Colonel
Collinson, were at once sent from Omdurman to the mouth of the Rahad river.
The infantry were conveyed in steamers; the Camel Corps marched along
the bank, completing the whole distance of 130 miles in fifty-six hours.
The Blue Nile garrisons, with the exception of the post at Rosaires,
were also concentrated. By the 8th of October the whole force was collected
at Abu Haraz. Five hundred camels, which had marched from Omdurman,
and every available local beast of burden joined the transport of the
column.
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