Preceded by the gunboats, the main body of the expedition after the capture of Dongola proceeded southwards, leaving detachments behind to guard the line of communication. Debbeh, Korti, and Merawi were successively seized and occupied.

The Sirdar also went south to inspect the different positions and receive the submissions of the most important sheikhs, after which he returned to Cairo, leaving his forces stationed at the three strategic posts above mentioned.

On Kitchener's departure the province was placed under military law, Major-General Hunter, who had fixed his head-quarters at Merawi, being in command.

Courts of justice and a police force were established in the province of Dongola, the rebuilding of the town was begun, and the railway was continued along the Nile to Kermeh, forty miles to the north, and which now became the southern terminus. The former inhabitants were invited to return to their lands, and cultivation was gradually resumed.

The principal difficulty in the way of progress was the lack of population, which since 1885 had fallen off from 75,000 to 56,000, and of these a large proportion consisted of women and children. The number of cattle had also diminished from 36,000 to less than 12,000 in the same period.

Whilst Dongola was being put in order, the Khalifa, who expected that the capture of that province would be followed by a further advance, hastily took steps to fortify Omdurman, where he gathered all his available warriors, and awaited events.

This was the situation at the end of 1896.

We now arrive at the year 1897, when the intended reconquest of the Soudan, by the aid of British money and arms, was announced in the House of Commons. This took place on the 5th February, when the "Dongola Expedition vote" of £798,802 was moved by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Sir Michael Hicks-Beach declared on this occasion 'that, since the Dongola Expedition was undertaken, the British Government had never concealed, either from Parliament or the country, that, in their view, there should be a further advance in the same direction; that Egypt could never be held to be permanently secured so long as a hostile Power was in occupation of the Nile Valley up to Khartoum; and that England, having compelled the Egyptian Government to abandon the Soudan, had incurred towards its inhabitants responsibilities for the fulfilment of which the moment had arrived now that the baleful rule of the Khalifa was crumbling to decay.'

The Sirdar's policy of advancing gradually and consolidating at every step the authority of the Egyptian Government continued to be pursued in 1897.

The work of getting up supplies for the large force at the front occupied the first few months of the year, and this was a task of no small magnitude, considering that the country contained little or no produce, and that everything required had to be forwarded from the base in Cairo.

The necessity for the construction of a new railway for military purposes from Wady Halfa across the desert vi Murad Wells to Abu Hamid now impressed itself on the Sirdar's mind. Such a line was almost indispensable in the event of operations being extended in the direction of Berber and Omdurman. The existing line to Kermeh had served its purpose in bringing up supplies and otherwise until the time of the capture of Dongola, but its further extension would have to be made through a difficult country, and at a great sacrifice of time and money. It was therefore determined to discard it so far as the expedition was concerned.

The immense advantage of making a short cut across the eastern desert instead of following the tortuous windings of the Nile Valley will be evident to any one who studies the map and notes the respective positions of Wady Halfa, Kermeh, and Abu Hamid. The saving in distance is about 330 miles.

Influenced by these considerations, the authorities sanctioned the new line, and the materials having been got together at Wady Halfa, the work was promptly taken in hand.

Once commenced, the line, laid for the greater part on the desert sand by working parties from Wady Halfa, progressed with almost inconceivable rapidity, under the able direction of Captain Girouard. The country over which the railway passed consisted mostly of undulating desert. There were no bridges, and but few cuttings, and the average rate of progress was a mile and a half a day.

Although it was known that there was a Dervish force at Abu Hamid, no opposition was encountered from it.

In order to present the history of events in chronological order, it is here necessary to make a slight digression and refer to what happened about this period in another part of the Soudan.

In the month of June the Khalifa was compelled to detach a portion of his army from Omdurman, and send it, under the orders of his cousin and principal emir Mahmoud, to suppress a revolt of the Jaalin Arabs at Metammeh. This tribe, which had long been kept under the Khalifa's rule by the terrorism of the Baggara, was anxious to join hands with the Egyptians, and now struck for freedom. They fortified Metammeh, and courageously awaited Mahmoud's attack. On the 1st July it came, and, hemmed in and outnumbered by the Dervish horde, the brave Jaalins, after three days' resistance, in which all their ammunition was exhausted, were utterly routed. Metammeh was captured and burnt, and the country round devastated by the victors, who killed men, women and children indiscriminately.

The Jaalins had exasperated their foes by their determined resistance, and when the town was taken no less than 2,000 of its defenders were massacred. The prisoners were drawn up in line and treated thus: the first was beheaded, the second had his right hand cut off, the third his feet, and so on in succession until they had all been-dealt with. Their chief, Abdullah Wad Sud, the head of the Jaalin tribe, was taken a prisoner to Omdurman, and walled in in such a position that he could neither stand nor sit, and was thus left to die of hunger and thirst.

Such of the Jaalins as escaped declared their allegiance to the Khedive, and, being supplied with firearms, and subsidized, joined the ranks of the "friendlies" and became useful allies. One of their first acts, when they had time to reorganize a little, was to seize and hold Gakdul Wells, a move which not only covered the Egyptian right on the subsequent advance, but also saved the province of Dongola from the danger of surprise by Dervish raiders. Towards the end of July the desert railway line had advanced as far as it was deemed prudent to go whilst Abu Hamid remained in the enemy's possession, and it was determined to take the place by means of troops co-operating from what may be considered the opposite direction, viz., Merawi.

On the 29th July, General Hunter, with four battalions of Soudanese infantry and some artillery,155 started from Merawi for Abu Hamid.

Following the route taken by the River Column under General Earle in 1885, and passing the battlefield of Kirbekan, Hunter arrived on the night of the 6th August within a few miles of Abu Hamid. The march, which covered 132 miles, made in the hottest time of the year, was accomplished in eight days.

At daylight on the 7th, the troops moved up to attack the enemy, who occupied an intrenched position in front of and within the village. Their centre was a rectangular mud-walled inclosure, extending over six acres, and in this were contained the wells, military stores, and quarters for the soldiers. The mud huts of the village were connected by walls, and these, as well as the walls of the inclosure, were loopholed for musketry. The whole position was held by about 1,500 men, one-third of whom were armed with rifles, and 150 were mounted.

The infantry deployed for the attack, and, as soon as the movement was completed, advanced in line covered by the fire of the artillery on their right. Some high ground overlooking the village was first carried with but little resistance. When the troops had approached within 300 yards of the walls they were met by a furious fusillade, and many of the Egyptians fell. The rest rushed onwards, and a stubborn house-to-house fight, in which several lives were lost, ensued. In some cases so determined was the resistance that the artillery were obliged to advance before a position could be carried. Eventually, when the enemy's mounted men had lost about half their number, the residue fled. They were followed by about 100 of the foot-soldiers, all that was left of the garrison, and Abu Hamid was then taken and occupied. Many prisoners were captured, including the Dervish leader, Mohammed Zein.

The serious nature of the fighting may be gathered from the fact that on the Egyptian side there were twenty-three killed and sixty-four wounded. Amongst the killed were two English officers: Major Sidney and Lieutenant FitzClarence. The Dervish loss must have been much heavier, quite four-fifths of the garrison being either killed or taken prisoners.

The fugitives continued their flight to Omdurman, spreading as they went the news of the defeat.156

Abu Hamid having fallen, every effort was now made to hurry up the rest of the army from Merawi, Debbeh, and Dongola with a view to an advance upon Berber, the next Dervish stronghold on the river.

The Nile having by this time risen sufficiently, the gunboats with further troops were enabled to pass the Fourth Cataract, and by the 29th August, with the exception of one which came to grief in the cataract, arrived at Abu Hamid. The sailing boats with more men and stores were also successfully hauled through, and reached Abu Hamid shortly after.

Before, however, they had time to arrive, intelligence was received to the effect that the Dervishes were evacuating Berber, the next stronghold on the river. The importance of this move was at once realized, and a party of "friendlies," under Ahmed Bey Khalifa, were sent on ahead of General Hunter's troops to seize the place. Meeting with no resistance, the "friendlies" entered Berber, where on the 6th September Ahmed was joined by the gunboat flotilla. Hunter, with the greater part of his army, entered Berber on the 13th. Berber, formerly a large and prosperous town and an important centre of trade, but now sacked and destroyed, was represented by a big Dervish village, built on a site some miles north of the original place, and some two miles from the river.

On the day that Ahmed Bey reached Berber, two of the gunboats went on to Ed Damer, a few miles beyond the junction of the river Atbara with the Nile. Here they exchanged some shots with the Dervish force which had retreated from Berber, and they also succeeded in capturing several boat-loads of grain. Ed Damer, now become the Egyptian advanced post, was occupied by a half battalion of infantry; a fort was erected, and other steps were taken for putting the place in a state of defence.157