several men dashed up to
the very muzzles of the guns and were blown to pieces. Of course the
Khalifa announced that the souls of these stupid people had gone
straight to paradise. The salutes over, the lines were once more
inspected, and then all the flags were collected in one place, in the
centre of which stood the Khalifa; this was the signal for the whole
force to gather around and vie with one another in their shouts of
loyalty that they would die a hundred times over for him and his cause.
Khalifa Abdullah became so wildly impressed by the enthusiasm of these
savage hordes that he could scarcely contain himself, and it was as much
as his bodyguard could do to keep the impetuous crowds from crushing him
to death. Numbers were bruised and kicked by the horses; but they were
left quite unnoticed--a mere remark, "Umru Khalas" ("It is the end of
his life"), was all the sympathy these heartless men ever offered.

From that day to this I do not think the Khalifa has ever had such an
ovation. At that time Omdurman was unusually full, trade was brisk, and
it was thought that he would now undertake the invasion of Egypt. But,
as it soon transpired, he had still a good deal of work to do in the
Sudan itself. One enemy he undoubtedly had--this was El Merhdi Abu Rof,
a descendant of the ancient Kings of Sennar and sheikh of the great
Gehena tribe, which, amongst the mass of Arabs allied to the Mahdi, had
persistently held aloof. This tribe possessed a large number of camels
of a curious dark-coloured breed, and also quantities of gray-coloured
cows.

El Merhdi had instigated a purely local movement of his own against the
Government, and had once besieged and set fire to Sennar; long before
Abu Anga's arrival he had shown hostility to the Khalifa, and had
annihilated a number of small Dervish garrisons; his power extended as
far as Karkoj, and he levied taxes on all boats going north. For a long
time the Khalifa had let him alone, but now finding himself in
possession of such an enormous force, he decided to attack El Merhdi,
more especially as at this time his audacity considerably endangered the
navigation of the Blue Nile, from whence Omdurman drew its main supplies
of corn. He therefore despatched Ismail Wad el Andok up the Blue Nile,
while Abdullah Wad Ibrahim was sent up the White Nile.

El Merhdi, attacked thus on both sides, was powerless; he was unable to
withstand the advance of the victorious black troops, and he