ON THE ROAD TO KHARTOUM. 489 On the 6th of September, Berber was reached and occupied without opposition. Any further advance was then postponed till the end of the year, and the remaining months were employed as usual in pushing on the railway with all possible speed. Even now very little is known of the campaign, as seen from the side of the Dervishes, and the long inaction of the Khalifa and his Generals can only be accounted for by the personal quarrels, tribal disputes, and local animosities which in all times have paralyzed the action of semi-barbarous armies, however great may be their courage or however fervent their fanaticism. But, with the commencement of 1898, the Khalifa seems to have determined upon assuming the offensive. Mahmoud, the ablest of his Generals, was reported to be marching upon Berber ; and as the Egyptian contingents, in the opinion of the Sirdar, required reinforcing, a British brigade was despatched to their assistance from Cairo and Malta, and arrived at Berber in the first days of March, 1898. The battle of Atbara was fought and won on the 8th of April. The Dervishes, though they fought with their old courage, were routed after their zareba had been stormed by the British troops, supported by the native forces. Mahmoud was taken prisoner, and his army was practically broken up. With this, the most important fight of the whole campaign, the way lay open to Khartoum, as the Khalifa had resolved to reserve his whole strength for the defence of his fortified stronghold of Omdurman, and to await the advance of the