The loss on the gunboats was limited to the single Soudanese soldier,
who died of his wounds, and a few trifling damages.
The Arab slaughter
is variously estimated, one account rating it at 1,000 men; but half that
number would probably be no exaggeration. The gunboats fired in the two
days' bombardment 650 shells and several thousand rounds of Maxim-gun
ammunition. They then returned to Berber, reporting fully on the enemy's
position and army.
As soon as Berber had been strongly occupied by the Egyptian troops,
Osman Digna realised that his position at Adarama was not only useless but
very dangerous. Mahmud had long been imperiously summoning him to join the
forces at Metemma; and although he hated the Kordofan general, and resented
his superior authority, the wary and cunning Osman decided that in this
case it would be convenient to obey and make a virtue of necessity.
Accordingly about the same time that the gunboats were making their first
reconnaissance and bombardment of Metemma, he withdrew with his two
thousand Hadendoa from Adarama, moved along the left bank of the Atbara
until the tongue of desert between the rivers became sufficiently narrow
for it to be crossed in a day, and so made his way by easy stages
to Shendi.
When the Sirdar heard of the evacuation of Adarama he immediately
determined to assure himself of the fact, to reconnoitre the unmapped
country in that region, and to destroy any property that Osman might have
left behind him. On the 23rd of October, therefore, a flying column started
from Berber under the command of General Hunter, and formed as follows:
XIth Soudanese (Major Jackson), two guns, one company of the Camel Corps,
and Abdel-Azim and 150 irregulars. Lightly equipped, and carrying the
supplies on a train of 500 camels, the small force moved rapidly along
the Nile and reached the post at the confluence on the 24th, and arrived at
Adarama on the 29th, after a journey of eighty-four miles. The report that
Osman Digna had returned to the Nile proved to be correct. His former
headquarters were deserted, and although a patrol of sixty of the Camel
Corps and the Arab irregulars scouted for forty miles further up the river,
not a single Dervish was to be seen. Having thus collected a great deal of
negative information, and delaying only to burn Adarama to the ground,
the column returned to Berber.
It was now November. The Nile was falling fast, and an impassable rapid
began to appear at Um Tiur, four miles north of the confluence. The Sirdar
had a few days in which to make up his mind whether he would keep his
gunboats on the upper or lower reach. As in the latter case their
patrolling limits would have been restricted, and they would no longer have
been able to watch the army at Metemma, he determined to leave them on the
enemy's side of the obstruction. This involved the formation of a depot at
Dakhila ['Atbara Fort'], where simple repairs could be executed and wood
and other necessities stored. To guard this little dockyard half the 3rd
Egyptian battalion was moved from Berber and posted in a small
entrenchment. The other half-battalion followed in a few weeks.
The post at the confluence was gradually growing into
the great camp of a few months later.
A regular system of gunboat patrolling was established on the upper reach,
and on the 1st of November the Zafir, Naser, and Metemma, under Commander
Keppel, again steamed south to reconnoitre Mahmud's position. The next day
they were joined by the Fateh, and on the 3rd the three larger boats ran
the gauntlet of the forts. A brisk artillery duel ensued, but the Dervish
aim was, as usual, erratic, and the vessels received no injury. It was
observed that the position of the Dervish force was unchanged, but that
three new forts had been constructed to the south of the town. The gunboats
continued on their way and proceeded as far as Wad Habeshi. The Arab
cavalry kept pace with them along the bank, ready to prevent any landing.
Having seen all there was to be seen, the flotilla returned and again
passed the batteries at Metemma. But this time they were not unscathed,
and a shell struck the Fateh, slightly wounding three men.
No other incident enlivened the monotony of November. The Khalifa
continued his defensive preparations. Mahmud remained motionless at Metemma;
and although he repeatedly begged to be allowed to advance against the
force near Berber he was steadily refused, and had to content himself with
sending raiding parties along the left bank of the Nile, and collecting
large stores of grain from all the villages within his reach. Meanwhile the
railway was stretching further and further to the south, and the great
strain which the sudden occupation of Berber had thrown upon the transport
was to some extent relieved. The tranquillity which had followed the
advance to Berber was as opportune as it was unexpected. The Sirdar,
delighted that no evil consequences had followed his daring move,
and finding that he was neither attacked nor harassed in any way,
journeyed to Kassala to arrange the details of its retrocession.
The convenient situation of Kassala - almost equally distant from Omdurman,
Berber, Suakin, Massowa, and Rosaires - and the fertility of the surrounding
region raise it to the dignity of the most important place in the Eastern
Soudan. The soil is rich; the climate, except in the rainy season,
not unhealthy. A cool night breeze relieves the heat of the day, and the
presence of abundant water at the depth of a few feet below the surface
supplies the deficiency of a river. In the year 1883 the population is said
to have numbered more than 60,000. The Egyptians considered the town of
sufficient value to require a garrison of 3,900 soldiers. A cotton mill
adequately fitted with machinery and a factory chimney gave promise of
the future development of manufacture.
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