WARS OF THE NINETIES. 22

orspear wounds received in the charge,and six werebullet wounds. Six horses werebadly hit. When the Soudanese infantry came up they

were terribly disappointed at finding that the fight was over. They had had a trying march through the blazing summer heat of the desert valleys,and one of them had died of sunstroke on the way. Deserters afterwards told how the Dervishes,whenthey arrivedat Ferkeh, showed

that they, too,had suffered from heat and ex- haustion. Many of the horsemen dismounted, flung down their spears, and stretched them-

selves on theground beside their horses,unable even to speak for a while.

to reconnoitre,saw from the top of a ridge the

enemy, about a thousand strong, posted in a position where no cavalry in the world could charge them. He rejoined his force, and was retiring along the valley to pick up his infantry before taking further action, when the Dervish cavalry, misinterpreting his motives, came after

him. He faced his squadrons about, and the enemy promptly retreated. As the two masses of horsemen, Egyptian and Dervish, wheeled

round, their flanks came in contact in a dense cloud of sand and dust;only a few on each side,

however,got close enough to use their weapons, and some Dervish desperadoes,who refused to retire, wereridden down. The enemy's cavalry

took refuge behind their infantry, which now advanced,firing wildly. Burn-Murdoch stopped them by dismounting his men amongthe rocks, and pouring volleys into the enemy with the carbines of his troopers. The Dervishes then drew off, never stopping till they regained Ferkeh camp.

The fight was a very small affair,but it had its importance as one more proof that the Dervishes were no longer the reckless warriors

who had broken the squares at Abu Klea and Tamai. A thousand Mahdists of the old type would not have retired before a handful of Egyptian troops. On the other hand,it gave

very satisfactory proof of the improvement that had taken place in the Egyptian army. He would have been a venturesome man who, in the first days of our early Nile campaigns,

would have advanced with 250 Egyptians against four times their number of Mahdists.

About a score of the enemy'shorsemen fellin the charge, and during the firing they wereseen to be carrying off dead and wounded men. The Egyptians had only one man killed and eight

wounded. Of the casualties, three were sword

THE SIRUM AND HIS STAFF CROSSING THE DESERT.