was impossible to say.
The position was, moreover, of great strength, being surrounded by deep
ravines and pools of water.

The news was startling. The small force were 125 miles from their base;
behind them lay an almost waterless country, and in front was a powerful
enemy. An informal council of war was held. The Sirdar had distinctly
ordered that, whatever happened, there was to be no waiting; the troops
were either to attack or retire. Colonel Kitchener decided to retire.
The decision having been taken, the next step was to get beyond the
enemy's reach as quickly as possible, and the force began their retreat
on the same night. The homeward march was not less long and trying than
the advance, and neither hopes of distinction nor glamour of excitement
cheered the weary soldiers. As they toiled gloomily back towards the
Nile, the horror of the accursed land grew upon all. Hideous spectacles
of human misery were added to the desolation of the hot, thorny scrub
and stinking pools of mud. The starving inhabitants had been lured from
their holes and corners by the outward passage of the troops, and hoped
to snatch some food from the field of battle. Disappointed, they
now approached the camps at night in twos and threes, making piteous
entreaties for any kind of nourishment. Their appeals were perforce
unregarded; not an ounce of spare food remained.

Towards the end of the journey the camels, terribly strained by their
privation of water, began to die, and it was evident that the force
would have no time to spare. One young camel, though not apparently
exhausted, refused to proceed, and even when a fire was lighted round
him remained stubborn and motionless; so that, after being terribly
scorched, he had to be shot. Others fell and died all along the route.
Their deaths brought some relief to the starving inhabitants. For as
each animal was left behind, the officers, looking back, might see first
one, then another furtive figure emerge from the bush and pounce on
the body like a vulture; and in many cases before life was extinct the
famished natives were devouring the flesh.

On the 5th of February the column reached Kohi, and the Kordofan Field
Force, having overcome many difficulties and suffered many hardships,
was broken up, unsuccessful through no fault of its commander, its
officers, or its men.

For nearly a year no further operations were undertaken against the
Khalifa, and he remained all through the spring