THE BATTLE OF ATBARA 191 Mahmuds wife, whom you will point out, is to be treated with respect, and that her people may be allowed to make her an arbour of some sort until the Sirdar decides what is to be done with her. Probably she will be sent down to Berber. No doubt we shall all fall back.”

Then you will not pursue, sir ? ” No. The cavalry ha!ve already gone off in pursuit of their horsemen, but they are not likely to catch them, for we hear that Osman Digna is with them, and he seems to enjoy a special immunity from capture. As for the other poor beggars, we could not do it if we wanted to. I expect the campaign is over for the present ; certainly nothing can be done till the railway is completed, then the gun-boats can tow the native craft abreast of us as we march along the river bank.

Shendy has been captured, and we found twelve thousand Jaalin prisoners there, women and children, and a large quantity of stores. That is what makes the position of the Dervish fugitives so hopeless. There is nothing before them but to find their way across the desert to Omdurman, and I fancy that few of them will get there alive.

No doubt some will keep along by the Atbara, and others by the Nile. The latter will have the best chance, for the friendlies at Kassala will be on the look-out for fugitives. I am sorry for the poor wretches, though they richly deserve the worst that can befall them. They have never shown mercy. For twenty years they have murdered, plundered, and desolated the whole land, and have shown themselves more ferocious and merciless than wild beasts.

He took out his pocket-book, wrote the order to Colonel Lewis, and then, tearing the leaf out, handed it to Gregory, who at once made his way, followed closely by Zaki, to the spot where two Egyptian battalions had halted. They had no difficulty in finding Colonel Lewis, who was receiving a report from the officers of the two battalions of the casualties they had sustained. Gregory had met the Coloriel several times at Berber, and the latter recognized him at once.