. There was no shade, and only a few thin, leafless
bushes rose from the sand. The hours of a day, peculiarly hot, even for
the country and season, dragged wearily away. The sandy ridge beat back
the rays till the air above was like the breath of a furnace and the
pebbly ground burned. The water in the fantasses and bottles was hot
and scarce. The pool of the Atbara was foul and tainted. In spite of
the devoted efforts of the few medical officers who had been allowed
to accompany the force, the wounded officers and soldiers endured the
greatest miseries, and it is certain that several died of their wounds
who might in happier circumstances have been saved.

Several hundred prisoners were taken. They were mostly negroes--for the
Arabs refused to surrender, and fought to the last or tried to escape.
The captive blacks, who fight with equal willingness on either side,
were content to be enlisted in the Soudanese regiments; so that many
of those who served the Khalifa on the Atbara helped to destroy him at
Omdurman. The most notable prisoner was the Emir Mahmud--a tall, strong
Arab, about thirty years old. Immediately after his capture he was
dragged before the Sirdar. 'Why,' inquired the General, 'have you come
into my country to burn and kill?' 'I have to obey my orders, and so
have you,' retorted the captive sullenly, yet not without a certain
dignity. To other questions he returned curt or evasive answers, and
volunteered the opinion that all this slaughter would be avenged at
Omdurman. He was removed in custody--a fine specimen of proud brutality,
worthy perhaps of some better fate than to linger indefinitely in the
gaol at Rosetta.

With the cool of the evening the army left its bed of torment on the
ridge and returned to Umdabia. The homeward march was a severe trial;
the troops were exhausted; the ground was broken; the guides, less
careful or less fortunate than on the previous night, lost their way.
The columns were encumbered with wounded, most of whom were already in
a high state of fever, and whose sufferings were painful to witness. It
was not until after midnight that the camp was reached. The infantry had
been continuously under arms--marching, fighting, or sweltering in the
sun--for thirty hours, and most of them had hardly closed their eyes
for two days. Officers and soldiers--British, Soudanese, and
Egyptian--struggled into their bivouacs, and fell asleep, very weary but
victorious.

British and Egypti