s against brick walls a third time;
and on the 1st of October Ahmed Fedil was forced to retire to a more
convenient camp eight miles to the southward. Here for the next three
weeks he remained, savage and sulky; and the Kassala column were content
to keep to their defences. A few convoys from Mugatta made their way
into the forts under the cover of darkness, but for all practical
purposes the blockade of the garrison was complete. Their losses in
action had reduced their strength. They were not abundantly supplied
with ammunition. The smell of the putrefying corpses which lay around
the walls and in the doura crop, together with the unhealthy climate and
the filth of the town, was a fertile source of disease. A painful and
racking fever afflicted all ranks, and at one time as many as 270 of the
400 regular soldiers were prostrated. The recurring night alarms added
to the fatigues of the troops and the anxieties of the seven officers.
The situation was indeed so unsatisfactory that Colonel Parsons was
compelled to ask for assistance.

Major-General Rundle, who in the Sirdar's absence held the chief
command, immediately organised a relief expedition. The IXth, XIIth, and
half of the XIIIth Soudanese, with three companies of the Camel Corps,
under Colonel Collinson, were at once sent from Omdurman to the mouth of
the Rahad river. The infantry were conveyed in steamers; the Camel Corps
marched along the bank, completing the whole distance of 130 miles in
fifty-six hours. The Blue Nile garrisons, with the exception of the post
at Rosaires, were also concentrated. By the 8th of October the whole
force was collected at Abu Haraz. Five hundred camels, which had marched
from Omdurman, and every available local beast of burden joined the
transport of the column. On the 9th the XIIth Soudanese started up the
Rahad river for Ain el Owega. From this point the road leaves the river
and strikes across the desert to Gedaref, a distance of 100 miles; and
in the whole distance water is only found at the wells of El Kau. Owing
to this scarcity of water it was necessary to carry a supply with the
troops. The transport being insufficient to provide for the whole force,
the march had to be made in two columns. The Camel Corps and the XIIth
Soudanese, about 1,200 strong, set forth under Colonel Collinson from
Ain el Owega on the 17th, and reached Gedaref safely on the 22nd. Warned
of their arrival, Ahmed Fedil, having made a feeble night attac