ubsequent to the fall of Khartum--Capture of Gedaref and
Galabat--Dervishes defeated by Abyssinians at Galabat--Abu Anga's
victorious expedition to Tagalla--His triumphant return to
Omdurman--The Khalifa's grand review--Destruction of the Gehena
tribe--The Khalifa decides to send Abu Anga's army to conquer
Abyssinia--The battle of Dabra Sin--Abu Anga sacks Gondar--The
victorious Dervishes return to Galabat--Rejoicings at Omdurman.

The preceding pages have given a glimpse of Omdurman, the new Dervish
capital of the Sudan; let us now turn briefly to the military events
which had occurred since the fall of Khartum.

Whilst Khartum was besieged on all sides, so also were the various other
garrisons still holding out, closely beset. Gedaref, also known as Suk
Abu Sin, the name of the patriarchal sheikh of the Shukrieh tribe, was
situated in the midst of a fertile plain which produced such quantities
of corn that it was the common saying, three camel-loads could be sold
for half a dollar. The ground was so productive that anything could be
grown. There was no want of water. The Greeks and several Egyptians had
made gardens, in which there was found every description of fruit-tree;
grapes grew in abundance, and were of particularly good quality; they
were to be had all the year round; for it was of no consequence in what
month the vines were pruned. Quantities of sesame were also grown as
well as a special kind of dhurra, with a sweet stalk, from which a
substance something like honey was extracted. Water-melons, cotton,
tobacco, and all sorts of vegetables were grown in the greatest
profusion, and everything was of exceptionally good quality.

The garrison of Gedaref consisted of only two hundred men, and on being
summoned by the Jaalin to surrender, they did so, in April 1884. This is
hardly to be wondered at, for the inhabitants of Gedaref are, for the
most part, Jaalin, and resistance would, under such circumstances, have
been next to impossible. The principal merchants were permitted to keep
their goods, and the change of hands did not, for the moment, greatly
alter the situation; but we shall see, later, what became of this rich
and valuable province after a prolonged Dervish occupation.

As regards Galabat, the difficulties were considerably greater. This
town was situated about six days' journey from Gedaref, and was the
residence of the well-known Takruri, Saleh Bey Shanga, who was M