248 EGYPT AND THE SOUDAN.

I was directed to arrange next for the military occupation of the Hadendowa territory, lying near the Suakim-Berber route, so as to enable the contractors to proceed with the railway which it was proposed to construct from Suakim to Berber. In the secretary of state's letter of the 27th February, 1885, my attention was again drawn to the necessity for rapidly constructing this railway. The direction of the works was to be entirely under my orders, their details and execution being in the hands of the contractors."

The destruction of the power of Osman Digma was the first consideration, and it was understood that General Graham was directed to attack all the positions occupied by the enemy and to disperse Osman Digma's troops. Lord Wolseley had at the end of February telegraphed to Lord Hartington: "It is important to crush Osman Digma and restore peace to the country now under his influence in order to push forward the railway, and, by a brilliant success near Suakim, to make the Soudanese realize what they must expect when we move forward in the autumn."

It may be taken for granted that the success of pressing operations by advancing against Osman Digma would depend on whether he would accept a battle which might be decisive, instead of retreating before our force and reoccupying the ground as far as possible when we retired after a fight which only temporarily dispersed his followers. Instead of coming to a decisive engagement, however, he appeared to adopt the plan of endeavouring to draw us further and further in pursuit until we reached the mountains, where he could engage us in harassing warfare, and make repeated attacks for the purpose of cutting off supplies and indefinitely prolonging hostilities throughout the hot season. At anyrate, the necessity for endeavouring to strike a decisive blow led to preparations for an advance in force, to the temporary abandonment of the construction of the railway, of which on the 6th of April, when work was recommenced, only two miles and a half of permanent way had been laid, that is to say, a month had necessarily elapsed before the work had extended beyond our own lines.

A seriba had been formed at Hasheen by the engineers and Madras Sappers, three small redoubts occupied the top of the long hill at one end of it, and a fourth a conical hill at the other end, where a heliograph station kept up communication with Suakim; but after the fight the enemy gradually occupied their former position on the Dihilbat Hill, where they were fired at by the guns in the redoubts whenever they showed themselves. The East Surrey Regiment, under Colonel Ralston, was left with five days' supplies to hold the seriba and the redoubts, from which, however, they were recalled on the 25 th of March when the Arabs came back, and Osman Digma was reported to have made out that we were obliged to retire and leave him in possession, so that he claimed a