GORDON AND THE MAHDI. 39
cept bydigging wells. . . The healthof the troops is good. This is fortunate,as there are no sick to carry. The heatis intense."
Then came a long period of silence. Suddenlynews of a startlingly favourable character was received. A
telegram arrived from Khartoum dated October 31, stating thatanArabhad come in the daybeforebringing important intelligence, which had been since confirmed by two soldiers who had arrived from Duem. It was alleged that Hicks Pasha found from 25,000 to 30,000 Arabs encamped near him,on the Khor-el-Nil, a torrent three leagues fromEl Obeid. Next morning the Arabs divided themselves into two columns, and attacked the Egyptian square on two sides, thus permitting Hicks Pasha to make use of his 6000 Remingtons and all his Krupp, Nordenfclt, and rocket batteries. The Arabs, who werearmed withlances only,failingafter some time to reach the square, fled, leaving8000 of their number killed, and all their women, food, and baggage animals.
The Mahdi himself wasnot presentat the battle. Hicks Pashapursued the mainbody of the fugitives,and over-
took themat Melbeis, where he found the Mahdi posted
with the fugitives, and 2000 cavalry, his bodyguard. The Arabs again attacked, and were defeated with great
loss, the horse of the Mahdi being killed. The Mahdi
wasreported to have been cut down by the light cavalry sent outin pursuit. The Arabs then fled to El Obeid, which was at once closely invested by Hicks Pasha, who was master of the country around, and had estab- lished his head-quarters at Melbeis,two miles from the besieged city. On November 4, accordingto the Arabs'
story, divested as far as possible of conflictingincidents, seems to have been as follows. Onleaving Duem for El Obeid, the troops came across the rebels, and had
several skirmishes with them, the Egyptian loss being confined to a few Bashi-Bazouks and Soudanese irre- gulars, and the result beingmagnified into the victories first reported. On arriving at Birkct Kahad, where they found alake and tookin a supply of water, Hicks Pasha appears to have formed the army into two divisions. The first, under himself, was to strike direct at El Obeid, whilst the second, the leadership of which he had entrusted to Aladeen Pasha, was intended to hold
theMahdi in check at Kaz, to the east of that town. The armymarched on Alouba, where it spent thenight, meeting numerous detachments of the enemy on the
road,but easily putting them to flight. The next day, which,as far as canbe made outin faceof the difficulties the Orientalmindseemsto suffer from regardingaccurate chronology,was November 2, the troops continued their march, taking with them the necessary supply of water
for twenty-four hours. It would seem that the guides were treacherous, and led them towards the rocky and woodeddefiles of Kashgil. Three hours were occupied in crossing a forest, and theyweresubsequentlysurprised by a strong force of the enemy, who checked their ad-
vance. The square was formed, and, after fighting the wholeday long the rebels were defeated, and the Egyp- tians passed the night on the field of battle. As far as can be ascertained, bothdivisions of the Egyptian army hadre-united during the day.
The following day, presumably November 3, the report, Hicks Pasha was in full possession of the town and of the Government trea- sury, the Egyptian loss having been nil.
Colonel de Coetlogon,
while patrolling the White Nile, was said to have capturedmany of the fugitives, who
were trying to cross to Senaar by means of shalloopcanoes.
Soon doubts were aroused regarding the accuracy of this intel- ligence.It waspointed out that at the dateon
whichHicksPasha was said tohave entered El Obeid, he must have been, according to his calculatedrate of pro- gress, at least seven days march from that
town. Days went by, bringing no confirma-
tion of the allegedsuc- cess, but in its stead the story of an appall- ing disaster.
The full details of that disaster we have yet to learn, and pos- sibly they will remain
for ever untold. In its bolder outline the
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