WARS OF THE NINETIES. 40 against the exposed left of Chaltin's line of battle. He brought up two companies from the reserve to support it, the Mahdist charge was checked, and at the same time they were attacked on their own exposed flank by the Friendlies, 500 spear-men, who poured out of the bush and closed with the Dervishes.

Chaltin now ordered a general advance. On his left four companies andthemass of irregulars followed close on the defeated Dervishes, and reached the hills on the right of the enemy's line. Thus outflanked, and with their line of retreat threatened, theMahdists gave way,abanbeatentracks amongthe tangled bush. In this way,afteralong and difficultmarch,the Nilewas reached at Bedden, to the south of Regaf, on February 14th. Here Chaltin halted for three days to rest his men. So far nothing had been seen of the Dervishes, but during this halt at Bedden they put in an appearance. On the afternoon of the 16th bands of Mahdists with numerous banners were seenon the hills to the north of thecamp,but they retired on a couple of shells being fired at them from the mountain gun. Next day the advance on Regaf began. The Nile covered the right of the column, and doning the whole of their position. "At first," writes Captain Chaltin, " the Dervishes retired in perfect order, moving at a walk and stonping now and then to fire, but confusion soon began to spread through their ranks, andthe retreat became a rout." The fight was over by half-past eight. Prisoners said that the enemy was 2,000 strong. They had lost heavily, and among the dead was found the Emir Adi Badi, who had commanded on the field. One of the Belgian the irregulars scouted on the left. At seven a.m.theadvanceguard reported that the enemywerein position on a range of low hills in front, their line extending from the river to a wide stream on which their right rested. The line was nearly two miles long, divided in the middle by a deepravine.Rocks and bush supplied abundant cover for its defenders. Chaltin decided that it was much too strong for direct assault by his small force, and tried to tempt the Mahdists into coming out of it MR. RENNELL RODD. (Photo: Elliott&Fry.)

and attacking him, when all the advantage would be on the side of his regulars with their repeating rifles. He therefore deployed four companies, holding back the rest of his force, and firing some shell into the Dervish position with his single piece of artillery.

For about half an hour the Dervishes replied with their rifles to the shells and bullets of the Belgians. As usual, the Mahdist fire was wild andhigh. "It is a fact worth noting," says the official report, "that in the first part of the action the reserves and the porters lost much more heavily than the fighting line by the enemy's fire." After about half an hour the Dervishes saw that while they were making no impression on the Belgians, the bursting shells were doing themselves a lot of harm, and they attempted at last to close with the weak line opposed to them. They came on with a rush officers, Lieutenant Sarolea, was killed in the action.

After a rest of two hours the advance was resumed, and at half-past oneRegaf wasinsight, and another Dervish force was found inposition in front ot it, their left on the Nile, their line running along a low swell of the ground, with their artilleryin the centre (three guns,just as Slatin noted in his estimate of the Dervish forces). They met the Belgian advance with an ill-aimedand nearly harmless shell-fire. Then they tried a rush against the Belgian left, and after the failure of their charge they were easily driven from the ridge, and fell back into the town. Parties of them held out here and there in the houses till after nightfall, when they abandoned the place. They left in the hands of the victors their three cannon (two of them rilled Krupps, the third an old smoothbore),700