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The Khalifa did not receive his letter until the 27th of June. But he acted with even greater promptitude. Part of Mahmud's army had already started for the north. Mahmud and the rest followed on the 28th. On the 30th the advanced guard arrived before Metemma. The Jaalin prepared to resist desperately.
Some must remain to guard the baggage and the wounded; the others must fight their way to the water. At three o'clock in the afternoon of the 19th, 900 men left the hastily made zeriba and marched towards the river. Without their camels or those of the transport they appeared insignificant, a mere speck on the broad plain of Metemma. The Dervishes hastened to clinch the matter.
The Atbara exploration was completed, and I looked forward to the fresh enterprise of exploring new rivers and lower latitudes, that should unravel the mystery of the Nile! Abyssinian slave-girls Khartoum The Soudan under Egyptian rule Slave-trade in the Soudan The obstacles ahead. A rapid march of sixteen miles brought us to Metemma or Gallabat.
The rest of the army was, however, destroyed or dispersed. The fugitives fled up the Atbara river, leaving many wounded to die in the scrub, all along their line of retreat. Of the powerful force of 12,000 fighting men which Mahmud had gathered at Metemma, scarcely 4,000 reached Gedaret in safety.
Dropping their communications, they set forth along the caravan route towards Metemma. The knowledge which we have since gained of the resources of the Mahdists enables the peril of their desperate venture to be fully appreciated. Although the Dervishes were neither so well armed nor trained as at a later date, they were nearly as numerous and equally devoid of fear.
Ahmed Fedil, indeed, escaped with a numerous following across the Ghezira, but so disheartened were the Dervishes by this crushing defeat that the whole force surrendered to the gunboat Metemma at Reng, on the White Nile, on the 22nd of January, and their leader was content to fly with scarcely a dozen followers to join the Khalifa.
Abdalla expected that the Dervishes would make their heaviest attack on the south side of Metemma, and he therefore disposed his few riflemen along that front. The defence of the rest of the town had perforce to be entrusted to the valour of the spearmen. On the morning of the 1st of July, Mahmud, with a force variously estimated at 10,000 or 12,000 men, began his assault.
Victory followed victory, and after a few years, from Shoa to Metemma, from Godjam to Bogos, all feared and obeyed the commands of the Emperor Theodore; for under that name he desired to be crowned, after he had by the battle of Deraskie, fought in February, 1855, subdued Tigre, and conquered his most formidable opponent, Dejatch Oubie.
Departure from Kassala Sheik Abu Sin Rumours of Theodore's Defeat by Tisso Gobaze Arrival at Metemma Weekly Market The Takruries at Drill Their Foray into Abyssinia Arrival of Letters from Theodore. On the afternoon of the 10th November we started for Kedaref. Our route now lay in a more southerly direction.
Hearing of our arrival at Mahaber, he came to thank me, bringing as an offering a small skin of milk. I may as well mention here that a young commercial traveller, Mr. Marcopoli, had accompanied us from Massowah. He was going to Metemma, via Kassala, to be present at the annual fairs held at that place in winter.
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