ets
fell in the streets of Khartum. There were upwards of 10,000 Dervishes,
extending from Kalakala to Buri. Wad Gubara and Wad Sheikh el Obeid had
their camp at Khojali, on the right bank of the Nile, to the north. Thus
was Khartum surrounded by hordes of fanatical Arabs, who attacked the
starved and forsaken town from morning till night.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE SIEGE AND FALL OF KHARTUM.

The surrender of Omdurman fort--Gordon's dispositions for
defence--His great personal influence--The night before the
assault--The attack and entry of the Dervishes--Gordon's death--The
adventures of Domenico Polinari--The massacre in Khartum--How most
of the Europeans died--Ruthless cruelty and bloodshed--The fate of
the wives and daughters of Khartum--Ohrwalder's views on the
situation in Khartum and the chances of relief by the British
Expeditionary Force--His description of the town three months after
the fall.

The Mahdi camped on the south side of Omdurman fort, and at once began
to direct the siege, the command of his troops was vested in Abu Anga;
but he did not dare to send his black troops, who had previously fought
in the Egyptian service under Gordon, against Khartum, fearing that,
owing to the influence which Gordon had formerly exercised over them,
they might desert to him.

Omdurman Fort, which was then under the command of Faragallah Pasha, was
soon reduced to great straits, and the Mahdiists threw up trenches, in
which they were comparatively safe from the continuous fire. Eventually
they succeeded in entrenching themselves between the fort and the river,
thus cutting the communications, which Gordon was unable to restore.
Consequently, the garrison soon began to starve; but they still fought
courageously, and inflicted great loss on the Dervishes. Amongst the
latter was a certain emir, named Mohammed Wad el Areik, who, while in
the act of laying a gun at Omdurman, was struck in the back of the neck
by a bullet. He was visited by the Khalifa Abdullah, who promised that
he should recover; but, in spite of this promise, he died the following
day.

Faragallah, having now no food left, was obliged to surrender, and thus
the Mahdi was enabled to press the siege of Khartum more closely than
ever.

The town itself was full of traitors; almost all the important townsmen
had written to the Mahdi from time to time, to the effect that they
wished to submit to him, and t