Shortly After Daybreak On The
5th The Egyptian Flag Was Hoisted Over The Town.
Having disembarked the
infantry detachment, the flotilla steamed south to try to harass the
retreating Emir.
They succeeded; for on the next day they caught him,
moving along the bank in considerable disorder, and, opening a heavy fire,
soon drove the mixed crowd of fugitives, horse and foot, away from the
river into the desert. The gunboats then returned to Berber, towing a dozen
captured grain-boats. Meanwhile the Sirdar had started for the front
himself. Riding swiftly with a small escort across the desert from Merawi,
he crossed the Nile at the Baggara Cataract and reached Berber on the 10th
of September. Having inspected the immediate arrangements for defence,
he withdrew to Abu Hamed, and there busily prepared to meet the
developments which he well knew might follow at once, and must follow
in the course of a few months.
CHAPTER X: BERBER
The town of Berber stands at a little distance from the Nile,
on the right bank of a channel which is full only when the river is in
flood. Between this occasional stream and the regular waterway there runs
a long strip of rich alluvial soil, covered during the greater part of the
year with the abundant crops which result from its annual submersion and
the thick coating of Nile mud which it then receives. The situation of
Berber is fixed by this fertile tract, and the houses stretch for more
than seven miles along it and the channel by which it is caused. The town,
as is usual on the Nile, is comparatively narrow, and in all its length
it is only at one point broader than three-quarters of a mile. Two wide
streets run longitudinally north and south from end to end, and from these
many narrow twisting alleys lead to the desert or the river. The Berber of
Egyptian days lies in ruins at the southern end of the main roads. The new
town built by the Dervishes stands at the north. Both are foul and
unhealthy; and if Old Berber is the more dilapidated, New Berber seemed to
the British officers who visited it to be in a more active state of decay.
The architectural style of both was similar. The houses were constructed
by a simple method. A hole was dug in the ground. The excavated mud formed
the walls of the building. The roof consisted of palm-leaves and thorn
bushes. The hole became a convenient cesspool. Such was Berber, and this
'emporium of Soudan trade,' as it has been called by enthusiasts, contained
at the time of its recapture by the Egyptian forces a miserable population
of 5,000 males and 7,000 females, as destitute of property as their
dwellings were of elegance.
The Egyptian garrison of Berber at first consisted only of the 350 men
of the IXth Soudanese, and two companies of the Camel Corps, who arrived on
the 16th of September, having marched across the desert from Merawi.
But the proximity of Osman Digna at Adarama made it necessary speedily to
strengthen the force.
During the latter part of September MacDonald's brigade, with the exception
of half the 3rd Egyptians, was moved south from Abu Hamed, and by the end
of the month the infantry in Berber were swollen to three and a half
battalions. This was further increased on the 11th of October by the
arrival of the XIIIth Soudanese and the remaining half of the 3rd
Egyptians, and thereafter the place was held by five battalions (3rd, IXth,
Xth, XIth, XIIIth), No. 2 Field Battery, and two companies of the Camel
Corps. As all the Dervishes on the right bank of the Nile had fled to the
south of the Atbara, it was found possible to establish a small advanced
post of Camel Corps and friendly Arabs in the village of Dakhila, at the
confluence of the rivers. From this humble beginning the Atbara fort with
its great entrenchment was soon to develop.
The effect of the occupation of Berber upon the tribes around Suakin
was decisive, and the whole country between these towns became at once
tranquil and loyal. Osman Digna's influence was destroyed. The friendly
villages were no longer raided. The Governor of the town became in reality,
as well as in name, the Governor of the Red Sea Littoral. The route from
Suakin to Berber was opened; and a Camel Corps patrol, several small
caravans of traders, and a party of war correspondents - who might boast
that they were the first Europeans to make the journey for thirteen
years - passed safely along it.
It is now necessary to look to the enemy. Had the Khalifa allowed the Emir
Mahmud to march north immediately after the destruction of the Dervish
outpost in Abu Hamed, the course of the operations would have been very
different. Mahmud would certainly have defended Berber with his whole army.
The advance of the Expeditionary Force must have been delayed until the
Desert Railway reached the river, and probably for another year.
But, as the last chapter has described, the sudden seizure of Abu Hamed,
the defection of the riverain tribes, and the appearance of the gunboats
above the Fourth Cataract persuaded Abdullah that the climax of the war
approached, and that he was about to be attacked in his capital.
He accordingly devoted himself to his preparations for defence, and forbade
his lieutenant to advance north of Metemma or attempt any offensive
operations. In consequence Berber fell, and its fall convinced the Khalifa
that his belief was well founded. He worked with redoubled energy.
An elaborate system of forts armed with artillery was constructed outside
the great wall of Omdurman along the river-bank. The concentration of Arab
and black soldiery from Gedaref, Kordofan, and Darfur continued. Large
quantities of grain, of camels and other supplies, were requisitioned from
the people of the Ghezira (the country lying between the Blue and White
Niles) and stored or stabled in the city.
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