490 THE STORY OF THE KHEDIVATE.

invaders. With his usual caution, the Sirdar, on his side, determined to wait at Atbara till the Nile was at its flood, and till further British reinforcements had joined the expedition. The final stage of the advance was only commenced about the middle of August, and on the I St of September our troops arrived within sight of Omdurman without having been molested on their march by any other difficulties than those presented by the nature of the country and the intense heat of the season. In front of the fortress the Dervish army — numbering, it is calculated, over 40,000 men, as against the 12,500 under the Sirdar's command — were drawn up ready for action. The night passed, contrary to expectation, without any attack from the Dervishes. At daybreak the fight commenced. Its story, as I have heard it told by those who were present, is a very simple one. Time after time the Dervishes charged against our troops, and time after time they were mowed down by our artillery and rifle fire. As the front ranks of the Dervishes fell dead or wounded upon the ground, the rear ranks rushed into the vacant places, shouting as they came on, "There is but one God, and Mahomet is his Prophet ! " The numbers of the killed on either side tell their own tale. The bodies of 10,800 dead Dervishes are said to have been counted on the field of battle, and 27,000 were found wounded. Against this enormous death-roll, the casualties of the English and Egyptian troops, namely, of 48 killed and 382 wounded, seem almost trifling. I confess, however, I