by G. A. Henty
Chapter 9: Safely Back.
As soon as the sun was up they pursued their journey, Gregory's compassbeing now available.
In half an hour, Zaki said, "There is a sign of the track, my lord,"and he pointed to the skeleton of a camel.
"How many more miles do you think we have to go, Zaki?"
"We must be a good half way, my lord."
"Yes, quite that, I should think. Looking at the map, I should say thatwe must be about abreast of the line of Gakdul. This route is only justindicated, and there are no halting places marked upon it. Still, theremust be water, otherwise caravans could not use it. We have about sixtymiles farther to go, so that if the horses were fresh we might be therethis evening; but as it is, we have still two, if not three days'journey before us.
"Well, we must hope that we shall find some water. Just let the horseswet their mouths; we can keep on for a bit, before we have a drink.
"How much more is there left?" he asked, after the lad had given alittle water to each horse.
"Not above two gourdfuls."
"Well, we must ride as far as we can and, at any rate, must keep onegourdful for tomorrow. If we cover twenty-five miles today--and I don'tthink the horses can do more--we can manage, if they are entirely doneup, to walk the other thirty-five miles. However, as I said, there mustbe wells, and even if they are dry, we may be able to scratch the sandout and find a little water. What food have we got?"
"Only about two pounds of dates."
"That is a poor supply for two days, Zaki, but we must make the best ofthem. We will only eat a few today, so as to have a fair meal in themorning. We shall want it, if we have to walk thirty-five miles overthe sand."
"It will not be all sand," Zaki said; "there is grass for the lastfifteen miles, near the river; and there were cultivated fields aboutten miles out, before the Dervishes came."
"That is better. Now we will be moving."
The herbage the horses had cropped during the halt had served, to acertain degree, to supply the place of water; and they proceeded at abrisker pace than Gregory had expected.
"Keep a sharp lookout for water. Even if the wells are dry, you willsee a difference in the growth of the bushes round them; and as it iscertain that this route has not been used for some time, there may evenbe grass."
They rode on at an easy canter, and avoided pressing the horses in theslightest degree, allowing them to walk whenever they chose. The heatwas very great, and after four hours' riding Gregory called a halt.
"We must have done twenty miles," he said. "The bushes look green abouthere, and the horses have got something of a feed."
"I think this must be one of the old halting places," Zaki said,looking round as they dismounted. "See, my lord, there are some brokengourds, and some rags scattered about."
"So there are," Gregory said. "We will take the bridles out of thehorses' mouths, so that they can chew the leaves up better; and then wewill see if we can find where the wells were."
Twenty yards farther away they found a deep hole.
"This was one of them," the lad said, "but it is quite dry. See, thereis an old bucket lying at the bottom. I will look about; there may besome more of them."
Two others were discovered, and the sand at the bottom of one of themlooked a somewhat darker colour than the others.
"Well, we will dig here," Gregory said. "Bring down those two halfgourds; they will help us to shovel the sand aside."
The bottom of the hole was some six feet across, and they set to workin the middle of it. By the time they had got down two feet, the sandwas soft and clammy.
"We will get to water, Zaki, if we have to stay here all day!" saidGregory.
It was hard work, and it was not until after four hours' toil that, totheir delight, they found the sand wet under their feet. They had takenit by turns to use the scoop, for the labour of making the hole largeenough for them both to work at once would have been excessive.
In another hour there was half an inch of water in the hole. Gregorytook a gourd, and buried it in the soft soil until the water flowed inover the brim.
"Give me the other one down, Zaki. I will fill that, too, and then wewill both start drinking together."
Five minutes later, the two took a long draught. The scoops were thenrefilled and carried to the horses, who drank with an eagerness thatshowed how great was their thirst. Three times the gourds were filled,and emptied.
"Now hand me down that water bag."
This was half filled, and then, exhausted with their work, they threwthemselves down and slept for some hours. When they awoke, the sun wassetting.
"Bring up the horses, Zaki. Let them drink as much as they like."
The gourds had each to be filled six times, before the animals weresatisfied. The riders then took another deep drink, ate a handful ofdates, and mounted.
"We are safe now, and only have to fear a band of marauding Arabs; andit would be hard luck, were we to fall in with them. We had better rideslowly for the first hour or so. We must not press the horses, afterthey have had such a drink."
"Very well, master."
"There is no particular reason for hurry, and even if we miss the trailwe know that, by keeping straight on, we shall strike the riversomewhere near Korti or Ambukol."
For an hour they went at a walk, and then the horses broke into theirusual pace, of their own accord. It was getting dark, now, and sooneven Zaki could not make out the track.
"The horses will keep to it, my lord," he said; "their sight is a greatdeal better than ours, and I dare say their smell may have something todo with it. Besides, the track is clear of bushes, so we should know atonce, if they strayed from it."
They rode for five hours, and then felt that the horses were beginningto fag.
"We will halt here," Gregory said. "We certainly cannot be more thanfive-and-twenty miles from the river; and, if we start at dawn, shallbe there before the heat of the day begins. We can have another handfulof dates, and give the horses a handful each, and that will leave us afew for the morning."
The horses, after being given the dates, were again turned loose; andit was not long before they were heard pulling the leaves off bushes.
"Our case is a good deal better this evening than it was yesterday,"Gregory said. "Then it looked as if it would be rather a close thing,for I am sure the horses could not have gone much farther, if we hadnot found the water. I wish we had a good feed to give them."
"They will do very well on the bushes, my lord. They get little else,when they are with the Arabs; a handful of durra, occasionally, whenthey are at work; but at other times they only get what they can pickup. If their master is a good one, they may get a few dates. They willcarry us briskly enough to the river, tomorrow."
They did not talk long, and were soon sound asleep. Zaki was the firstto wake.
"Day is just breaking, master."
"You don't say so!" Gregory grumbled, sleepily. "It seems to me that wehave only just lain down."
They ate the remainder of their dates, took a drink of water, and gavetwo gourdfuls to the horses; and, in a quarter of an hour, were ontheir way again. They had ridden but two or three miles, when Zakiexclaimed:
"There are some horsemen!"
"Eight of them, Zaki, and they are evidently riding to cut us off! Asfar as I can see, only four of them have guns; the others have spears.
"I think we can manage them. With my breech-loader I can fire two shotsto their one, and we have pistols, as well."
The Arabs drew up ahead of them, and remained quiet there until theothers came to within fifty yards, and checked their horses. A man whoappeared to be the leader of the party shouted the usual salutation, towhich Gregory replied.
The leader said, "Where are my friends going and why do they halt?"
"We are on a mission. We wish to see if the infidels are still atAmbukol."
"For that you will not want guns," the man said, "and we need thembadly. I beg of you to give them to us
."
"They may be of use to us. We may come upon infidel scouts."
"Nevertheless, my friends, you must hand them over to us. We are, asyou see, eight, and you are only two. The law of the desert is that thestronger take, and the weaker lose."
"It may be so, sometimes," Gregory said quietly, "but not in this case.I advise you to ride your way, and we will ride ours."
Then he said to Zaki, "Dismount and stand behind your horse, and fireover the saddle; but don't fire the first shot now."
He threw himself from his saddle. Scarcely had he done so when fourshots were fired, and Gregory took a steady aim at the chief. Thelatter threw up his arms, and fell. With a yell of fury, the othersdashed forward. Zaki did not fire until they were within twenty yards,and directly afterwards Gregory fired again. There were now but fiveassailants.
"Now for your pistols, Zaki!" he cried, glancing round for the firsttime.
He then saw why Zaki had not fired when he first did so--his horse waslying dead in front of him, shot through the head.
"Stand by me! Don't throw away a shot! You take the man on the otherside of the horse. I will take the others."
Steadily the four pistols were fired. As the Arabs rode up, two of themfell, and another was wounded. Dismayed at the loss of so many of theirnumber, the three survivors rode off at full speed.
"Are you hurt, Zaki?"
"A spear grazed my cheek, my lord; that is all. It was my own fault. Ikept my last barrel too long. However, it tumbled him over.
"Are you hurt, master?"
"I have got a ball in the shoulder. That fellow without a spear has gotpistols, and fired just as I did; or rather, an instant before. Thatshook my aim, but he has a ball in him, somewhere.
"Just see if they have got some dates on their saddles," for the horsesof the fallen men had remained by the side of their masters' bodies.
"Yes, my lord," Zaki said, examining them. "Two bags, nearly full."
"That is satisfactory. Pick out the best horse for yourself, and thenwe will ride on. But before we go, we will break the stocks of thesefour guns, and carry the barrels off, and throw them into the bushes, amile or two away."
As soon as this was done, they mounted and rode on. They halted in aquarter of an hour and, after Gregory's arm had been bound tightly tohis side with his sash, both they and their horses had a good meal ofdates. Then they rode on again, and in three hours saw some white tentsahead.
There was a slight stir as they were seen coming, and a dozen blacksoldiers sprang up and ran forward, fixing bayonets as they did so.
"We are friends!" Gregory shouted, in Arabic; and Zaki repeated theshout in his own language.
The soldiers looked doubtful, and stood together in a group. They knewthat the Dervishes were sometimes ready to throw away their own lives,if they could but kill some of their enemy.
One of them shouted back, "Stay where you are until I call an officer!"
He went back to the tents, and returned with a white officer, whomGregory at once recognized as one of those who had come up with himfrom Wady Halfa.
"Leslie," he shouted in English, "will you kindly call off yoursoldiers? One of their muskets might go off, accidentally. I supposeyou don't remember me. I am Hilliard, who came up with you in thesteamer."
The officer had stopped in astonishment, at hearing this seemingDervish address him, by name, in English. He then advanced, giving anorder to his men to fall back.
"Is it really you, Hilliard?" he said, as he approached the horsemen,who were coming forward at a walk. "Which of you is it? For I don't seeany resemblance, in either of you."
"It is I, Leslie. I am not surprised that you don't know me."
"But what are you masquerading for, in this dress; and where have youcome from?"
"Perhaps I had better not say, Leslie. I have been doing some scoutingacross the desert, with my boy here. We have had a long ride. In thefirst place, my arm wants attending to. I have a bullet in theshoulder. The next thing we need is something to eat; for the lastthree days we have had nothing but dates, and not too many of them.
"Is there any chance of getting taken up to Merawi? We came down fromthere to Korti, in a native vessel."
"Yes; a gunboat with some native craft will be going up this afternoon.I will give orders, at once, that your horses shall be put on board."
When the ball had been extracted from his shoulder, and the wounddressed and bandaged by the surgeon in charge, Gregory went up to thetents again, where he was warmly received by the three white officersof the Negro regiment. Breakfast already had been prepared, Zaki beinghanded over to the native officers. After having made a hearty meal,Gregory related the adventure with the Arabs in the desert, merelysaying that they had found there were no Dervishes at Gakdul.
"But why didn't you go straight back, instead of coming down here?"
"I wanted to see whether this line was open, and whether there were anywells on it. We only found one, and it took us four or five hours' hardwork to get at the water. It is lucky, indeed, that we did so; for ourhorses were getting very done up, and I had begun to think that theywould not reach our destination alive."
In the afternoon, the adventurers started with the boats going up toMerawi and, the next morning, arrived at the camp. The Dervish patcheshad been removed from their clothes, as soon as they arrived atAmbukol. Gregory could have borrowed a white suit there; but as thestain on his skin, although somewhat lighter than when first put on,was too dark, he declined the offer.
"No one may notice me as I land, now," he said, "but everyone wouldstare at a man with a brown face and white uniform."
Leaving Zaki to get the horses on shore, Gregory went straight to theGeneral's quarters. He told the sentry that he wished to see theGeneral, on business.
"You cannot go in," the man said. "The General is engaged."
"If you send in word to him that his messenger has returned, I am surehe will see me."
"You can sit down here, then," the sentry said. "When the officer withhim comes out, I will give your message to his orderly."
Gregory, however, was in no humour to be stopped; and in anauthoritative voice called, "Orderly!"
A soldier came down directly from the guard room.
"Tell the General, at once, that Mr. Hilliard has returned."
With a look of wonder, the orderly went into the tent. Half a minutelater, he returned.
"You are to come in," he said.
As the General had seen Gregory in his disguise, before starting, he ofcourse recognized him.
"My dear Hilliard," he said, getting up and shaking him cordially bythe hand, "I am heartily glad to see you back. You have been frequentlyin my thoughts; and though I had every confidence in your sharpness, Ihave regretted, more than once, that I allowed you to go.
"I suppose you failed to get there. It is hardly possible that youshould have done so, in the time. I suppose, when you got to Gakdul,you learned that the Dervishes were at Abu Klea."
"They were at Abu Klea, General; but I made a detour, and got intotheir camp at Metemmeh."
"You did, and have returned safely! I congratulate you, most warmly.
"I told you, Macdonald," he said, turning to the officer with whom hehad been engaged, "that I had the greatest hope that Mr. Hilliard wouldget through. He felt so confident in himself that I could scarce helpfeeling confidence in him, too."
"He has done well, indeed!" Colonel Macdonald said. "I should not haveliked to send any of my officers on such an adventure, though they havebeen here for years."
"Well, will you sit down, Mr. Hilliard," the General said, "and give usa full account? In the first place, what you have learned? And in thesecond, how you have learned it?"
Gregory related the conversations he had heard among the soldiers; andthen that of Mahmud's brother and the commander of the Dervish cavalry.Then he described the events of his journey there, his narrow escapefrom capture, and the pursuit by the Dervishes at Abu Klea; how h
e gavethem the slip, struck the Ambukol caravan road, had a fight with a bandof robber Arabs, and finally reached the Egyptian camp.
"An excellently managed business!" the General said, warmly. "You havecertainly had some narrow escapes, and seem to have adopted the onlycourse by which you could have got off safely. The information you havebrought is of the highest importance. I shall telegraph, at once, tothe Sirdar that there will assuredly be no advance on the part ofMahmud from Metemmeh; which will leave him free to carry out the planshe has formed. I shall of course, in my written despatch, give him fullparticulars of the manner in which I have obtained that information."
"It was a very fine action," Macdonald agreed. "The lad has shown thathe has a good head, as well as great courage.
"You will make your way, Mr. Hilliard--that is, if you don't try thissort of thing again. A man may get through it once, but it would bejust tempting providence to try it a second time."
"Now, Mr. Hilliard," the General said, "you had best go to yourquarters. I will ask the surgeon to attend to you, at once. You mustkeep quiet, and do no more duty until you are discharged from the sicklist."
Ten days later, orders were issued that the brigade under Macdonald;consisting of the 3rd Egyptians, and the 9th, 10th, and 11th Soudanese,together with a mule battery; were to move forward the next day toKassinger, the advanced post some ten miles higher up the river. Thisseemed only a preliminary step, and the general opinion was thatanother fortnight would elapse before there would be a generalmovement.
A reconnaissance with friendly Arabs had, however, been made aheadtowards Abu Hamed, and had obtained certain information that thegarrison at that place was by no means a strong one. The informationGregory had gathered had shown that Mahmud had no intention ofadvancing against Merawi; and that no reinforcements had, as yet,started to join the force at Abu Hamed; the Dervish leader beingconvinced that the Nile was not yet high enough to admit of boats goingup the cataract.
Thus, everything favoured the Sirdar's plan to capture Abu Hamed, andenable the railway to be constructed to that place before Mahmud couldreceive the news that the troops were in motion. He therefore directedGeneral Hunter to push forward, with only one brigade, leaving the restto hold Merawi; and ordered the camel corps, and the friendly Arabs, toadvance across the desert as far as the Gakdul wells, where theirappearance would lead Mahmud to believe that they were the advanceguard of the coming army.
Two days later Gregory, on going to the headquarters tent, was toldthat General Hunter and his staff would start, in an hour's time, toinspect the camp at Kassinger.
"Do you think you are fit to ride?" the chief of the staff asked him.
"Perfectly, sir. The doctor discharged me yesterday as fit for duty,but advised me to keep my arm in a sling, for a time."
"In that case, you may accompany us.
"It is a little uncertain when we shall return," the officer said, witha smile; "therefore I advise you to take all your belongings with you.Have them packed up quietly. We do not wish any suspicions to arisethat we are not returning this evening."
"Thank you, sir!" Gregory said, gratefully. "I shall be ready to startin an hour."
He returned in high glee to his hut, for he felt certain that animmediate advance was about to take place.
"Zaki," he said, "I am going to ride with the General; and, as it ispossible I may be stationed at Kassinger for a short time, you hadbetter get the camel brought up, and start as soon as you have packedthe things on it. I am going to ride over with the staff, in an hour,and shall overtake you by the way. How long will you be?"
"Half an hour, bey."
"I will be there by that time, and will take my horse; then you can goon with the camel."
Behind the headquarter camp the work of packing up was also going on;the camels being sent off in threes and fours, as they were laden, soas to attract no attention. Half an hour later the General came out,and without delay started with the staff, Captain Fitton remainingbehind to see that the rest of the stores were sent off, and a smalltent for the use of the General. All heavy packages were to be taken upby water.
The arrival of the General at Kassinger excited no surprise, as he hadridden over the day before; but when, in the afternoon, orders wereissued that the camels should all be laden, in preparation for a marchthat evening; the Soudanese could with difficulty be restrained fromgiving vent to their exuberant joy that, at length, their long halt wasat an end, and they were to have another chance of getting at theenemy.
A large train of camels had been quietly collected at Kassinger,sufficient to carry the necessary supplies for the use of the column,for some three weeks' time; and it was hoped that, before long, thegunboats and many of the native craft, with stores, would join them atAbu Hamed.
The force started at sunset. The distance to be travelled was a hundredand eighteen miles, and the road was a very difficult one. The groundrose steeply, almost from the edge of the river; and at times had to betraversed in single file.
As night came on, the scene was a weird one. On one side the rockyascent rose, black and threatening. On the other, the river rushedfoaming, only broken by the rocks and little islands of the cataract.
Gregory had been ordered to remain with the camel train; to keep them,as much as possible, together, and prevent wide gaps from occurring inthe ranks. It was tedious work; and the end of the train did notarrive, until broad daylight, at the spot where the infantry halted. Heat once told Zaki to pitch his little tent, which he had already shownhim how to do, while he went to see if there were any orders atheadquarters.
He found the staff were just sitting down to a rough breakfast. Beingtold, after the meal, that he would not be wanted during the day; butthat at night he was to continue his work with the camels; he went backto his tent, and threw himself on his bed. But, in spite of the flybeing fastened up, and a blanket thrown over the tent, the heat was sogreat that he was only able to doze off occasionally.
He observed that even the black troops suffered from the heat. They haderected screens, with their blankets placed end to end, supported bytheir guns; and lay there, getting what air there was, and shelteredfrom the direct rays of the sun. Few slept. Most of them talked, orsmoked.
There was some argument, among the officers, as to the relativeadvantages of night and day marches. All agreed that, if only one marchhad to be done, it was better to do it at night; but when, as in thepresent case, it would last for seven or eight days, many thought that,terrible as would be the heat, it would be better to march in the day,and permit the troops to sleep at night. This opinion certainly seemedto be justified; for, at the end of the third day, the men were socompletely worn out from want of sleep that they stumbled as theymarched; and were with difficulty restrained from throwing themselvesdown, to get the much-needed rest.
Gregory always went down, as soon as the column arrived at its haltingplace, as he did before starting in the evening, to bathe in some quietpool or backwater; and, much as he had set himself against takingspirits, he found that he was unable to eat his meals, unless he took aspoonful or two with his water, or cold tea.
On the evening of the third day, they passed the battlefield ofKirkeban, where General Earle fell when the River Expedition wasattacked by the Dervishes. Next day they halted at Hebbeh, whereColonel Stewart, on his way down with a number of refugees fromKhartoum, was treacherously murdered. A portion of the steamer wasstill visible in the river.
Day after day the column plodded on, for the most part strung out insingle file, the line extending over many miles; and, late on theevening of the 6th of August, they reached a spot within a mile and ahalf of Abu Hamed, the hundred and eighteen miles having beenaccomplished in seven days and a half.
So far as they knew, the enemy had, as yet, received no news of theirapproach. Three hours' rest was given the troops, and then they marchedout, in order of battle.
A fair idea of the position had been obtained from the friendlynatives. Abu Hamed lay on the ri
ver. The desert sloped gradually downto it, on all sides; with a sharp, deep descent within two hundredyards of the town. The houses were all loopholed, for defence.
When within a mile of the town, they must have been sighted by theDervish sentries on a lofty watchtower. No movement, however, wasvisible, and there was a general feeling of disappointment, as theimpression gained ground that the enemy had retreated. The 9th and 10thSoudanese made a sweep round, to attack from the desert side. The 11th,and half of the Egyptian battalion--the other half having been left toguard the baggage--followed the course of the river.
Major Kincaid rode forward, to the edge of the steep slope that lookeddown to the town. He could see no one moving about. The Dervishtrenches, about eighty yards away, appeared empty; and he was about towrite a message to the General, saying that the place was deserted,when a sharp fire suddenly opened upon him. He turned to ride back towarn the General, but he was too late; for, at the same moment, Hunterwith his staff galloped up to the edge of the slope, and wasimmediately saluted by a heavy volley; which, however, was fired sowildly that none of the party was hit.
The artillery were now ordered to bombard the place. At first, theycould only fire at the tops of the houses; but, changing theirposition, they found a spot where they could command the town. For halfan hour this continued. The infantry were drawn up just beyond thebrow, where they could not be seen by the defenders. The Dervishes gaveno signs of life, and as the artillery could not depress their gunssufficiently to enable them to rake the trenches, the infantry wereordered to charge.
As soon as they reached the edge of the dip, a storm of musketry brokeout from the Dervish trenches, but, fortunately, the greater portion ofthe bullets flew overhead. Macdonald had intended to carry the place atthe point of the bayonet, without firing; but the troops, suddenlyexposed to such a storm of musketry, halted and opened fire withoutorders; the result being that they suffered a great deal more than theywould have done, had they crossed the eighty yards, which divided themfrom the trench, by a rush. Standing, as they did, against the skyline,the Dervishes were able to pick them off; they themselves showing onlytheir heads above the trenches. Two of the mounted officers of the 10thwere killed, and two had their horses shot under them.
Macdonald and his officers rushed along in front of the line, knockingup the men's muskets; and abusing them, in the strongest terms, fortheir disobedience to orders. The moment the fire ceased, the troopsrushed forward; and the Dervishes at once abandoned their trenches, andran back to the line of houses. These were crowded together, divided bynarrow winding lanes, and here a desperate struggle took place.
The Dervishes defended themselves with the greatest tenacity, sometimesrushing out and hurling themselves upon their assailants, and defendingthe houses to the last, making a stand when the doors were burst open,until the last of the inmates were either shot or bayoneted. Sodetermined was the defense of some of the larger houses, that it wasnecessary to bring up the guns and batter an entrance. Many of thehouses were found, when the troops burst in, to be tenanted only bydead; for the Soudanese always heralded their attack by firing severalvolleys, and the bullets made their way through and through the mudwalls, as if they had been paper.
About seventy or eighty horsemen and a hundred Dervish infantryescaped, but the rest were either killed or made prisoners, togetherwith Mahomed Zein, the governor. A quantity of arms, camels, and horseswere also captured. The loss on our side was two British officerskilled, and twenty-one of the black troops; and three Egyptianofficers, and sixty-one men wounded.
When the convoy halted, previous to the troops marching to the attack,Gregory, whose duties with the baggage had now ended, joined theGeneral's staff and rode forward with them. Hunter had glanced round,as he rode up, and answered with a nod when he saluted, and asked if hecould come.
He felt rather scared on the Dervishes opening fire so suddenly, whenthe General's impatience had led him to ride forward, without waitingfor Major Kincaid's report. After the troops rushed into the town, theGeneral maintained his position at the edge of the dip, for the narrowstreets were so crowded with men that a group of horsemen could hardlyhave forced their way in, and it would be impossible to see what wasgoing on, and to issue orders.
Mahomed Zein had not followed the example of some of his followers, anddied fighting to the last. He was found hiding under a bed, and wasbrought before General Hunter; who asked him why he fought, when hemust have known that it was useless; to which he replied:
"I knew that you had only three times as many as I had, and every oneof my men is worth four of yours. You could not fire till you werequite close up, and at that range our rifles are as good as yours."
The General asked what he thought Mahmud would do, to which he replied:
"He will be down here in five days, and wipe you out!"
It was necessary to halt at Abu Hamed, until stores came up. CaptainKeppel, Royal Navy, and the officers commanding the gunboats weretoiling at the cataracts to bring them up. Nevertheless one of thesewas capsized, and only three got through safely. Major Pink, with alarge number of troops from Merawi, succeeded in hauling the sailingboats through.
A large column of laden camels was, at the same time, being pushedforward by the caravan route from Korosko. It was a time of muchanxiety, till stores began to arrive; for, had Mahmud advanced at once,the passage up the river would have been arrested, and the land columncut off; in which case the little force would have been reduced to sorestraits, as they must have stood on the defensive until reinforcementsreached them.
There was, too, some anxiety as to the safety of the forces at Ambukoland Korti; for Mahmud, on learning that the garrisons had been weakenedby the despatch of troops to Abu Hamed, might have crossed the desertwith all his force and fallen upon them. Mahmud had indeed, as itturned out, believed that the expedition to Abu Hamed was onlyundertaken to cover the flank of the Egyptian army from attack, fromthat quarter; and still believed that it was from Merawi that the mainBritish force would advance against him.
Before the supplies had all arrived, the position changed; as news camethat Berber was being evacuated by the Dervishes. The information wastelegraphed to the Sirdar, who at once ordered that a force of thefriendly Arabs, escorted by a gunboat, should go up to Berber to findif the news was true. One gunboat had already arrived, and GeneralHunter decided on going up in her himself. Two hundred of the Arabs,under Ahmed Bey, were to ride along the bank. They were to be mountedon the fastest camels that could be picked out; so that, if theyencountered the Dervishes, they would have a fair chance of escaping,and getting under cover of the gunboat's fire.
"Mr. Hilliard," the General said, "I shall be obliged if you willaccompany Ahmed Bey. The Arabs are always more steady, if they have anEnglish officer with them. They will be ready to start in an hour. Asignaller from the 11th Soudanese shall go with you; and you cannotify, to us, the approach of any strong party of the enemy, and theirdirection; so that the gunboat can send a shell or two among them, as ahint that they had better keep out of range."
As his baggage camel was by no means a fast one, Gregory at firstdecided to leave it behind in charge of Zaki; but on going across tothe Arab camp, Ahmed Bey at once offered to place a fast one at hisdisposal. He accordingly sent his own animal into the transport yard,committed the heavy wooden case, with the greater portion of hisremaining stores, to the charge of the sergeant of the mess, retainingonly three or four tins of preserved milk, some tea, four or five tinsof meat, a bottle of brandy, and a few other necessaries. To these wereadded half a sheep and a few pounds of rice. These, with his tent andother belongings, were packed on the Arab camel; and Zaki rode besideit with great satisfaction, for he had been greatly cast down when hismaster first told him that he would have to remain behind. All thepreparations were made in great haste, but they were completed just asAhmed Bey moved out of his camp, with his two hundred picked men andcamels.
Five minutes later, a whistle from the steamer told th
em that GeneralHunter, and the party with him, were also on the point of starting. Thedistance to be traversed to Berber was a hundred and thirty miles, andthe expedition was undoubtedly a hazardous one. Even if the news wastrue, that the five thousand Dervishes who had been holding Berber hadevacuated the town, it was quite possible that a part of the force hadbeen sent down the river, to oppose any advance that might be made; or,if unable to do this, to carry the news of the advance to Mahmud. TheArabs were to keep abreast of the gunboat; and would, where the shoreswere flat, be covered by its guns. But at spots where the ground washigh and precipitous, this assistance could scarcely avail them in caseof an attack, unless the hundred soldiers on board the steamer could belanded.
As they rode along, Ahmed Bey explained to Gregory the plan that heshould adopt, if they were attacked in such a position, and found theirretreat cut off.
"The camels will all be made to lie down, and we shall fight behindthem, as in an entrenchment. My men are all armed with rifles thegovernment has given them, and we could beat off an attack by a greatnumber; while, if we were on our camels and pursued, we should soonlose all order, and our shooting would be bad."
"I think that would be by far the best plan, sheik. Your two hundredmen, and the hundred the gunboat could land, ought to be able to make atough fight of it, against any number of the enemy.
"How long do you think we shall be, on the way?"
"About four days. The camels can easily travel thirty-five miles a day.We have six days' provisions with us, in case the gunboat cannot makeits way up. Fortunately we have not to carry water, so that each camelonly takes twenty pounds of food, for its rider; and forty pounds ofgrain, for itself. If we were pursued, we could throw that away, as weshould only have to ride to some point where the gunboat could protectus. We could not hope to escape by speed, for the Dervishes could rideand run quite as fast as the camels could go."