s had been carried on with
the attack, opened a murderous fire on these fugitives. Since they would
not run their loss was heavy, and it was a strange sight--the last vivid
impression of the day--to watch them struggling through the deep sand,
with the dust knocked up into clouds by the bullets which struck all
round them. Very few escaped, and the bodies of the killed lay thickly
dotting the river-bed with heaps of dirty-white. Then at 8.25 the 'Cease
fire' sounded, and the battle of the Atbara ended.

Forthwith the battalions began to re-form, and in every company the roll
was called. The losses had been severe. In the assault--a period not
exceeding half an hour--eighteen British, sixteen native officers and
525 men had been killed or wounded, the greater part during the passage
of the zeriba.

The actual pursuit was abortive. Colonel Lewis, with his two battalions,
followed a line of advance which led south of the zeriba, and just
before reaching the river bank found and fired upon a few Dervishes
retreating through the scrub. All the cavalry and the Camel Corps
crossed the Atbara and plunged into the bush on the further side. But
so dense and tangled was the country that after three miles of peril
and perplexity they abandoned he attempt, and the routed Arabs fled
unmolested. The Baggara horse had ridden off during the action,
headed by the prudent Osman Digna--whose position in the zeriba
was conveniently suited to such a manoeuvre--and under that careful
leadership suffered little loss. The rest of the army was, however,
destroyed or dispersed. The fugitives fled up the Atbara river, leaving
many wounded to die in the scrub, all along their line of retreat. Of
the powerful force of 12,000 fighting men which Mahmud had gathered at
Metemma, scarcely 4,000 reached Gedaret in safety. These survivors were
added to the army of Ahmed Fedil, and thus prevented from spreading
their evil tidings among the populace at Omdurman. Osman Digna, Wad
Bishara, and other important Emirs whose devotion and discretion were
undoubted, alone returned to the capital.

As soon as the troops were re-formed, the zeriba was evacuated and the
army drew up in line along the neighbouring ridge. It was then only nine
o'clock, and the air was still cool and fresh. The soldiers lit fires,
made some tea, and ate their rations of biscuits and meat. Then they
lay down and waited for evening. Gradually, as the hours passed, the
sun became powerful