He Deplored The Fact
That Certain Of The Jehadia Had Surrendered, And Reminded His Listeners
With A Grim Satisfaction Of The Horrible Tortures Which It Was The Practice
Of The English And Egyptians To Inflict Upon Their Captives.
He bewailed
the lack of faith in God which had allowed even the meanest of the Ansar
to abandon the Jehad against the infidel, and he condemned the lack of
piety which disgraced the age.
But he proclaimed his confidence in the
loyalty of his subjects and his enjoyment of the favour of God and the
counsels of the late Mahdi; and having by his oratory raised the fanatical
multitude to a high pitch of excitement, he thus concluded his long
harangue: 'It is true that our chiefs have retired from Dongola. Yet they
are not defeated. Only they that disobeyed me have perished. I instructed
the faithful to refrain from fighting and return to Metemma. It was by my
command that they have done what they have done. For the angel of the Lord
and the spirit of the Mahdi have warned me in a vision that the souls of
the accursed Egyptians and of the miserable English shall leave their
bodies between Dongola and Omdurman, at some spot which their bones shall
whiten. Thus shall the infidels be conquered.' Then, drawing his sword,
he cried with a loud voice: 'Ed din mansur! The religion is victorious!
Islam shall triumph!' Whereupon the worshippers, who to the number of
20,000 filled the great quadrangle - although they could not all hear his
voice - saw his sword flashing in the sunlight, and with one accord
imitated him, waving their swords and spears, and raising a mighty shout
of fury and defiance. When the tumult had subsided, the Khalifa announced
that those who did not wish to remain faithful might go where they liked,
but that he for his part would remain, knowing that God would vindicate
the faith. Public confidence was thus restored.
In order that the divine favour might be assisted by human effort,
Abdullah adopted every measure or precaution that energy or prudence could
suggest. At first he seems to have apprehended that the Sirdar's army
would advance at once upon Omdurman, following the route of the Desert
Column in 1885 from Korti to Metemma. He therefore ordered Osman Azrak -
in spite of his severe wound - to hold Abu Klea Wells with the survivors of
his flag. Bishara, who had rallied and reorganised the remains of the
Dongola army, was instructed to occupy Metemma, the headquarters of the
Jaalin. Messengers were despatched to the most distant garrisons to arrange
for a general concentration upon Omdurman. The Emir Ibrahim Khalil was
recalled from the Ghezira, or the land between the Blue and White Niles,
and with his force of about 4,000 Jehadia and Baggara soon reached
the city. Another chief, Ahmed Fedil, who was actually on his way to
Gedaref, was ordered to return to the capital. Thither also Osman Digna
repaired from Adarama. But it appears that the Khalifa only required the
advice of that wily councillor, for he did not reduce the number of
Dervishes in the small forts along the line of the Atbara - Ed Darner,
Adarama, Asubri, El Fasher - and after a short visit and a long consultation
Osman Digna returned to his post at Adarama. Last of all, but not least in
importance, Mahmud, who commanded the 'Army of the West,' was ordered to
leave very reduced garrisons in Kordofan and Darfur, and march with his
whole remaining force, which may have numbered 10,000 fighting men,
to the Nile, and so to Omdurman. Mahmud, who was as daring and ambitious
as he was conceited and incapable, received the summons with delight,
and began forthwith to collect his troops.
The Khalifa saw very clearly that he could not trust the riverain tribes.
The Jaalin and Barabra were discontented. He knew that they were weary of
his rule and of war. In proportion as the Egyptian army advanced, so their
loyalty and the taxes they paid decreased. He therefore abandoned all idea
of making a stand at Berber. The Emir Yunes - who, since he had been
transferred from Dongola in 1895, had ruled the district - was directed to
collect all the camels, boats, grain, and other things that might assist
an invading army and send them to Metemma. The duty was most thoroughly
performed. The inhabitants were soon relieved of all their property and of
most of their means of livelihood, and their naturally bitter resentment at
this merciless treatment explains to some extent the astonishing events
which followed the capture of Abu Hamed. This last place Abdullah never
regarded as more than an outpost. Its garrison was not large, and although
it had now become the most northerly Dervish position, only a slender
reinforcement was added to the force under the command of Mohammed-ez-Zein.
The power of the gunboats and their effect in the Dongola campaign
were fully appreciated by the Arabs; and the Khalifa, in the hopes of
closing the Sixth Cataract, began to construct several forts at the
northern end of the Shabluka gorge. The Bordein, one of Gordon's old
steamers, plied busily between Omdurman and Wad Hamed, transporting guns
and stores; and Ahmed Fedil was sent with a sufficient force to hold the
works when they were made. But the prophecy of the Mahdi exercised a
powerful effect on the Khalifa's mind, and while he neglected no detail
he based his hopes on the issue of a great battle on the plains of Kerreri,
when the invaders should come to the walls of the city. With this prospect
continually before him he drilled and organised the increasing army at
Omdurman with the utmost regularity, and every day the savage soldiery
practised their evolutions upon the plain they were presently to strew
with their bodies.
But after a while it became apparent that the 'Turks' were not advancing.
They tarried on the lands they had won.
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