taken in the
same haphazard fashion. To appreciate the tale it is less necessary to
contemplate the wild scenes and stirring incidents, than thoroughly
to understand the logical sequence of incidents which all tend to and
ultimately culminate in a decisive trial of strength.

The hazards which were courted by the daring occupation of Berber
have been discussed in the last chapter. From October to December the
situation was threatening. In December it suddenly became critical. Had
the Emir Mahmud advanced with the Dervishes at Metemma even as late as
the middle of January, he might possibly have re-captured Berber. If
the great Omdurman army had taken the field, the possibility would have
become a certainty. The young Kordofan general saw his opportunity, and
begged to be allowed to seize it. But it was not until the Khalifa had
sent his own army back into the city that, being very badly informed
of the numbers and disposition of the Egyptian force, he allowed the
Metemma Dervishes to move.

Mahmud received permission to advance at the end of January. He eagerly
obeyed the longed-for order. But the whole situation was now changed.
The Egyptian army was concentrated; the British brigade had arrived; the
railway had reached Geneinetti; the miserable hamlet of Dakhila, at the
confluence, had grown from a small depot to a fort, and from a fort to
an entrenched camp, against which neither Dervish science nor strength
could by any possibility prevail. Perhaps Mahmud did not realise the
amazing power of movement that the railway had given his foes; perhaps
he still believed, with the Khalifa, that Berber was held only by 2,000
Egyptians; or else--and this is the most probable--he was reckless of
danger and strong in his own conceit. At any rate, during the second
week in February he began to transport himself across the Nile, with
the plain design of an advance north. With all the procrastination of an
Arab he crawled leisurely forward towards the confluence of the rivers.
At El Aliab some idea of the strength of the Atbara entrenchment seems
to have dawned upon him. He paused undecided. A council was held.
Mahmud was for a continued advance and for making a direct attack on the
enemy's position. Osman Digna urged a more prudent course. Many years
of hard fighting against disciplined troops had taught the wily Hadendoa
slaver the power of modern rifles, and much sound tactics besides. He
pressed his case with jealous enthusias