THE ATTACK ON SMEXDY. 95 may not have been true, but it was soon obvious that Shendy could not be taken with so small a force as that on the steamers.

Verner in the Bordem, seeing the first steamer stopping, had brought up near the end of the town and had let some of his Soudanese men land and occupy a ruined house, from which they began to fire at some men in houses opposite.

Sir Charles Wilson, however, refused to land his men and attack the town itself, for Shendy was, he said, twice as big as Metammeh, and being on the opposite side of the river to the camp, could not be held even if it were to be taken.

The decision was justified by the sudden appearance of the Emir Wad Hazma, riding in with a number of followers soon after Sir Charles Wilson's boat hauled off. It was evident that he had been watching, and had followed the boats, and by the time Sir Charles Wilson's steamer reached the Bordein, Verner and his men were retiring from the fire of the enemy. At a ruined store farther down another man—one of the Shagiyeh was signalled, and he confirmed what had been said by the first one, so that it was concluded there need be no fear of anj' large force coming from the north for several days. Shendy was not to be left undisturbed, however, for the steamers having hauled off into mid-stream, ten rounds of shell from each of the six guns were fired into the town as a parting salute, after which the boats went up stream. As they slowly approached the lower end of the island opposite the camp, those on board could see men crossing in boats to the right bank. The presence of men in the island was dangerous, as they might harass the camp by stealing up to it and firing into it, and therefore a number of the Soudanese soldiers were landed with orders to clear the place, a work which they effected by means of a wild and furious discharge of their rifles without much effort to aim at anybody, but with the result of frightening everybody who may have been there, to such an extent that, it was believed, not a soul remained for a longer time than it took to reach the water's edge.

In the camp an attack had been expected, and the work of adding to its defences had been going on pretty briskly, and