TUSHKl Mahmud, the Mahdi's uncle, persuaded the Mahdi to order Wad an-Nagumi to reduce his harim by twenty wives, who were afterwards sold as slaves. After the Mahdi's death the Khalifa sent him to invade Egypt, a venture which had been planned by the Dervish leaders since 1886, and in the early summer of 1888 he set out from Dongola to carry out his mission, at the head of six or seven thousand men, and a very large following of women and children. All went well with him until he reached Argin, a village a few miles to the north of Wadi Haifa, whence his men marched in from the desert in order to drink at the Nile. Here he came upon the Egyptian forces under Colonel Wodehouse, who was making a reconnaissance, and who promptly tried to drive the thirsty Dervishes back into the desert without their drink. Now the Sudani men love fighting for fighting's sake, and their love for Nile water at all times is very great ; backed by two such strong incentives, Wad an-Nagumi's men fought with fury, and to such good purpose that half a battalion of Egyptian soldiers found themselves driven gradually towards the river, until the rear rank was actually standing in the water. But the result of this fight was a victory for Colonel Wodehouse, and Wad an-Nagumi lost one thousand of his men.

In spite of his defeat, however. Wad an-Nagumi marched on to Toski, and, knowing that the Dervish army was nearly starving, and that men were deserting from it in considerable numbers. General Grenfell wrote to him and advised him to surrender. The Dervish leader's answer was what was to be expected : If General Grenfell would become a Muhammadan and a true follower of the Khalifa, he would bestow upon him every kind of happiness ; but if not, he would come and destroy the General and his army. General Grenfell attacked Wad an-Nagumi's position at dawn, and before noon twelve hundred Dervishes were slain, four thousand were taken prisoners, and the rest were in full retreat, leaving behind them their whole camp, and Wad an-Nagumi himself was among the slain. This decisive action rendered the invasion of Egypt by the forces of the Khalifa impossible, and such a crushing defeat of the Dervishes was a severe blow to his power ; its importance in assuring victories for the Egyptians subsequently cannot be over-estimated. The relief