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One of the Arab sheiks of the irregulars was sent to examine the spot, and reported that the Khalifa himself, and almost all his great emirs, lay there dead. With the Khalifa were Ali Wad, Helu, Fadil, two of his brothers, the Mahdi's son, and many other leaders.
No doubt the Arabs who got off in the skirmish, yesterday, carried the news there; and probably some of them would go direct to Fadil, and if he came down upon us here, with his eight thousand men, our position would be a desperate one. It cost us four days to cross the river at El Fasher, and would take us as much to build boats and recross here; and before that time, he might be upon us.
Two thousand one hundred and seventy-five fighting men surrendered, and several hundred women and children. Fadil, with the force that had escaped, crossed the desert to Rung, on the White Nile, where on the 22nd of January they surrendered to the English gunboats; their leader, with ten or twelve of his followers only, escaping to join the Khalifa. Our casualties were heavy.
Omdurman and Atbara, to say nothing of previous campaigns, had shown how desperately the Dervishes fought; and the order, for the garrison of Kassala to undertake it, can only have been given under an entire misconception of the circumstances, and of the strength of the army under Fadil, that they would almost certainly be called upon to encounter.
Not a moment was lost in preparing for defence, for it was certain that Fadil, on hearing the news, would at once march to retake the town. The position was naturally a strong one. Standing on rising ground was Fadil's house, surrounded by a brick wall, twelve feet high. Here the Egyptian battalion and camel corps were placed, with the hospital, and two brass guns which had been found there.
The place, it seems, is well supplied with provisions and stores; and in the event of Fadil opposing you, it would be far safer for you to defend it than to be attacked in the open, or during a retreat." "It is certainly important news, Mr. Hilliard. Hitherto we have supposed that Fadil had joined the Khalifa before the fight at Omdurman, and there was therefore no fear of his reappearing here.
The place is unhealthy and, although it can be defended, Colonel Parsons has asked for reinforcements, to enable him to attack Fadil." "That is good news, indeed. We have all been extremely anxious, for there was no doubt that Colonel Parsons' force was wholly inadequate for the purpose. How long is it since you left?" "About forty-six hours, sir." "Indeed! That seems almost impossible, Mr.
Gedareh is said to be a strong place, and once there, Parsons might hold it against Fadil until we can send him reinforcements. "In order to convey this information to him, we require someone on whom we can absolutely rely. I said that, if you were here, I felt sure that you would volunteer for the service.
At eight a village was sighted, and the force advanced upon it, in fighting order. It was found, however, to have been deserted, except by a few old people. These, on being questioned, said that the Emir Saadalla, who commanded, had but two hundred rifles and six hundred spearmen, and had received orders from Fadil to surrender.
As the distance from Gedareh to this point was a hundred miles, and as water was only to be found at one point, it was necessary to carry up a supply for the troops. Colonel Collinson, who was in command, pushed forward at once with the 12th Soudanese and the camel corps. When Fadil heard of their approach, he made a night attack on Gedareh. This, however, was easily repulsed by the garrison.
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