of rich alluvial soil, covered during the greater part of the
year with the abundant crops which result from its annual submersion and
the thick coating of Nile mud which it then receives. The situation of
Berber is fixed by this fertile tract, and the houses stretch for more
than seven miles along it and the channel by which it is caused. The
town, as is usual on the Nile, is comparatively narrow, and in all its
length it is only at one point broader than three-quarters of a mile.
Two wide streets run longitudinally north and south from end to end, and
from these many narrow twisting alleys lead to the desert or the river.
The Berber of Egyptian days lies in ruins at the southern end of the
main roads. The new town built by the Dervishes stands at the north.
Both are foul and unhealthy; and if Old Berber is the more dilapidated,
New Berber seemed to the British officers who visited it to be in a more
active state of decay. The architectural style of both was similar.
The houses were constructed by a simple method. A hole was dug in the
ground. The excavated mud formed the walls of the building. The roof
consisted of palm-leaves and thorn bushes. The hole became a convenient
cesspool. Such was Berber, and this 'emporium of Soudan trade,' as it
has been called by enthusiasts, contained at the time of its recapture
by the Egyptian forces a miserable population of 5,000 males and 7,000
females, as destitute of property as their dwellings were of elegance.

The Egyptian garrison of Berber at first consisted only of the 350 men
of the IXth Soudanese, and two companies of the Camel Corps, who arrived
on the 16th of September, having marched across the desert from Merawi.
But the proximity of Osman Digna at Adarama made it necessary speedily
to strengthen the force.

During the latter part of September MacDonald's brigade, with the
exception of half the 3rd Egyptians, was moved south from Abu Hamed, and
by the end of the month the infantry in Berber were swollen to three and
a half battalions. This was further increased on the 11th of October by
the arrival of the XIIIth Soudanese and the remaining half of the 3rd
Egyptians, and thereafter the place was held by five battalions (3rd,
IXth, Xth, XIth, XIIIth), No. 2 Field Battery, and two companies of the
Camel Corps. As all the Dervishes on the right bank of the Nile had fled
to the south of the Atbara, it was found possible to establish a small
advanced post of Camel Corps an