Creeping along through the dense bush by the bank
and evading the vedettes, these suddenly fell on the picket line and
drove in all the outposts. In this affair eight troopers were killed and
seven wounded. Thirteen horses were also lost, as, having rid themselves
of their riders on the broken ground, they galloped off after the Arab
mares on which the Dervishes were mostly mounted.
The news of an attack on Adarama was received on this same afternoon.
It appeared that the Arabs had been repulsed by the Abyssinian irregulars
raised by Colonel Parsons. Glowing details were forthcoming, but I do not
propose to recount the Homeric struggles of the 'friendlies.'
Little in them is worthy of remembrance; much seeks oblivion.
For more than a week the Anglo-Egyptian force remained halted at
Ras-el-Hudi, waiting for privation to demoralise Mahmud's army or to
exasperate him into making an attack. Every morning the cavalry rode out
towards the enemy's camp. All day long they skirmished with or watched
the Baggara horse, and at night they returned wearily to camp. Each morning
the army awoke full of the hopes of battle, waited during the long hours,
and finally retired to sleep in deep disgust and profound peace. And while
the army halted, the camp began to assume a more homely appearance.
The zeriba grew stronger and thicker, the glacis wider, the field kitchens
more elaborate, the pools of the Atbara more dirty. Over all the sun
beat down in merciless persistence, till all white men quivered with weary
suffering when in the open air, and even under the grass huts or improvised
tents the temperature always registered 115 degrees during the hottest hours of
the day. The nights were, however, cool and pleasant.
But although the main part of the force found the days long and tedious,
the time which the army spent at Ras-el-Hudi was by no means uneventful.
The work of the squadrons was hard, and ceased only with the night.
The continual patrolling told severely on men and horses; and the fact
that the Dervishes were far stronger in the mounted arm than the Sirdar's
army necessitated the utmost vigilance of the cavalry commander.
Employment was also found for the gunboats.
When Mahmud had left the Nile he had established a sort of depot at Shendi,
in which the wives of the Emirs and the surplus stores had been deposited.
This treasure house was protected only by a slender garrison of 700
riflemen and twenty-five horsemen. On ordinary military grounds, and also
since the event might infuriate the Arabs, it was decided to capture this
place and disperse its defenders. Accordingly, on the afternoon of the 24th
the 3rd Egyptian Battalion from Lewis's brigade marched from Ras-el-Hudi
to Atbara fort and relieved the 15th Egyptians then in garrison, and a
small force under Commander Keppel - consisting of the 15th Egyptians under
Major Hickman, two field-guns of Peake's battery, and 150 Jaalin
irregulars - was embarked on, or in boats towed by, the three gunboats
Zafir, Naser, and Fateh, and started the same night for Shendi.
At dawn on the 27th the flotilla appeared off Shendi. The Dervishes
had been apprised of its approach and prepared to offer resistance.
But the force against them was overwhelming. Under cover of the gunboats
the infantry and guns were landed. The artillery then came into action,
but after they had discharged two shells, the Arabs fled, firing their
rifles with little effect. Shendi was occupied by the Egyptians.
The pursuit was left to the Jaalin, and in it they are said to have killed
160 men - a revenge which must have been doubly sweet since it was
consummated so near to the scene of the destruction of their tribe,
and was also attended by scarcely any danger. Loot of all kinds fell to
the victors, and the gunboats were soon laden with a miscellaneous spoil.
The wives of the important Emirs made their escape to Omdurman,
but upwards of 650 women and children of inferior rank were taken prisoners
and transported to the Atbara, where in due course they contracted new
family ties with the Soudanese soldiery and, as far as can be ascertained,
lived happily ever afterwards. There were no casualties among the troops,
but the Jaalin lost a few men in their pursuit. The force then returned
to the Atbara.
The 3rd of April was the last day the army spent at Ras-el-Hudi.
The period of waiting was over. The enemy's position had been duly
reconnoitred. His strength was believed to be sufficiently impaired for
a successful attack to be made. The camp at Hudi was becoming very
insanitary. Moreover, the situation, satisfactory though it was, was not
one which the commander could view without anxiety. All the time that
the army was operating on the Atbara it drew its supplies from the fort
at the confluence. Between this and the camp, convoys, protected only by
a handful of Camel Corps, passed once in every four days. Only the idiotic
apathy of the Dervishes allowed the communications to remain uninterrupted.
Mahmud was strong in cavalry. It will be evident to anyone who looks at
the map how easily a force might have moved along the left bank to attack
the convoys. Such tactics would have occurred to most savage tribes.
But in their last campaigns the Dervishes thought only of battles,
and disregarded all smaller enterprises. Had they assailed the
communications, the Sirdar might have been forced to build a chain of forts
and to guard his convoys with strong infantry escorts.
