rength of his army were for
ever broken on the 2nd of September, and the battle of Omdurman is the
natural climax of this tale of war. To those who fought, and still more
to those who fell, in the subsequent actions the climax came somewhat
later. After the victory the public interest was no longer centred in
the Soudan. The last British battalion had been carried north of Assuan;
the last Press correspondent had hurried back to Cairo or London. But
the military operations were by no means over.

The enemy had been defeated. It remained to reconquer the territory. The
Dervishes of the provincial garrisons still preserved their allegiance
to the Khalifa. Several strong Arab forces kept the field. Distant
Kordofan and even more distant Darfur were as yet quite unaffected by
the great battle at the confluence of the Niles. There were rumours of
Europeans in the Far South.

The unquestioned command of the waterways which the Sirdar enjoyed
enabled the greater part of the Egyptian Soudan to be at once formally
re-occupied. All towns or stations on the main rivers and their
tributaries were at the mercy of the gunboats. It was only necessary to
send troops to occupy them and to hoist the British and Egyptian flags.
Two expeditions were forthwith sent up the White and Blue Niles to
establish garrisons, and as far as possible to subdue the country. The
first, under the personal command of the Sirdar, left Omdurman on the
8th of September, and steamed up the White Nile towards Fashoda. The
events which followed that momentous journey have already been related.
The second expedition consisted of the gunboats Sheikh and Hafir,
together with two companies and the brass band of the Xth Soudanese
and a Maxim battery, all under the command of General Hunter. Leaving
Omdurman on the 19th of September, they started up the Blue Nile to Abu
Haraz. The rest of the Xth Battalion followed as soon as other steamers
were set free from the business of taking the British division to the
Atbara and bringing supplies to Omdurman. The progress of the expedition
up the river resembled a triumphal procession. The people of the
riparian villages assembled on the banks, and, partly from satisfaction
at being relieved from the oppression of the Khalifa and the scourge
of war, partly from fear, and partly from wonder, gave vent to loud and
long-continued cheers. As the gunboats advanced the inhabitants escorted
them along the bank, the men dancing and w