ty. The strength and tenacity of the ruler were surprisingly
displayed. The Khalifa Sherif, who had been suspected of sympathising
with the Jaalin, was made a prisoner at large. The direst penalties
attended the appearance of sedition. A close cordon around the city, and
especially towards the north, prevented much information from reaching
the Egyptian troops; and though small revolts broke out in Kordofan in
consequence of the withdrawal of Mahmud's army, the Dervish Empire as
a whole remained submissive, and the Khalifa was able to muster all its
remaining force to meet the expected onslaught of his enemies.

During the first week in October the Sirdar decided to send the
gunboats--which now plied, though with some difficulty, up and down the
Fifth Cataract--to reconnoitre Metemma and discover the actual strength
and position of Mahmud's army. On the 14th the Zafir, Fateh, and Naser
steamed south from Berber, under Commander Keppel, each carrying,
besides its ordinary native crew, fifty men of the IXth Soudanese and
two British sergeants of Marine Artillery. Shortly after daybreak on the
16th the flotilla approached the enemy's position. So silently had they
moved that a small Dervish outpost a few miles to the north of Shendi
was surprised still sleeping, and the negligent guards, aroused by a
splutter of firing from the Maxim guns, awoke to find three terrible
machines close upon them. The gunboats pursued their way, and,
disdaining a few shots which were fired from the ruins of Shendi,
arrived, at about seven o'clock, within range of Metemma. The town
itself stood more than a thousand yards from the Nile, but six
substantial mud forts, armed with artillery, lined and defended the
riverside. Creeping leisurely forward along the east bank, remote from
the Dervish works, the flotilla came into action at a range of 4,000
yards. The fire was at first concentrated on the two northern forts, and
the shells, striking the mud walls in rapid succession or bursting
in the interior, soon enveloped them in dust and smoke. The Dervishes
immediately replied, but the inferiority of their skill and weapons was
marked, and, although their projectiles reached the flotilla, very few
took effect. One shell, however, crashed through the deck of the Zafir,
mortally wounding a Soudanese soldier, and two struck the Fateh. After
the long-range bombardment had continued for about an hour the gunboats
moved forward opposite to the enemy's pos