The Action Of Gedaref,
As Has Been Shown, Was, Through No Fault Of The Officers Or Men Of The
Expedition, Within An Ace Of Being A Disaster.
But there were other
critical occasions when only the extraordinary good fortune which attended
the force saved it from destruction.
First, the column was not discovered
until it reached Mugatta; secondly, it was not attacked in the thick bush;
thirdly, the Dervishes gave battle in the open instead of remaining within
their walls, whence the troops could not have driven them without artillery;
and, fourthly, the reserve ammunition arrived before the attack
of Ahmed Fedil.
After his defeat before Gedaref, Ahmed Fedil reverted to his intention
of joining the Khalifa in Kordofan, and he withdrew southwards towards the
Dinder river with a following that still numbered more than 5,000.
To pass the Nile in the face of the gunboats appeared impossible. He did
not, however, believe that steamers could navigate the higher reaches of
the rivers, and in the hopes of finding a safe crossing-place he directed
his march so as to strike the Blue Nile south of Karkoj. Moving leisurely,
and with frequent delays to pillage the inhabitants, he arrived on the
Dinder, twenty-five miles to the east of Karkoj, on the 7th of November.
Here he halted to reconnoitre. He had trusted in the Karkoj-Rosaires reach
being too shallow for the gunboats; but he found two powerful vessels
already patrolling it. Again frustrated, he turned southwards, meaning to
cross above the Rosaires Cataract, which was without doubt impassable
to steamers.
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