n
ordering the assault to continue; but it was impossible to stand up
against the well-directed fire from the defences, and consequently
towards the afternoon he was forced to retire. The gallant little
garrison seeing this, could not be restrained, and dashing out over the
heaps of slain they made a fierce onslaught on the houses in the town,
which were filled with Dervishes in search of loot. In their fury they
killed all who came in their way, and perhaps they may be excused, for
they were in a state of the wildest excitement, occasioned by this
fearful scene of bloodshed.

It was impossible not to admire the reckless bravery of these fanatics
who, dancing and shouting, rushed up to the very muzzles of the rifles
with nothing but a knotty stick in their hands, only to fall dead one
over the other. Numbers of them carried large bundles of dhurra stalk,
which they threw into the ditch, hoping to fill it up and then cross
over. When the town was cleared, the victorious troops had a great feast
and general rejoicing. Amongst the dead bodies of the Dervishes were
found a near relative of the Mahdi's named Said Mohammed, also Wad
Gubara; the latter was a Turk who, with his two brothers, had joined the
Mahdi at Gedir; he was one of the fiercest of the emirs. He had fought
with the greatest pertinacity in front of the Mudirieh, and, mounted on
a horse, he was urging on his followers; but the soldiers, noticing his
fair face, persistently aimed at him, and at length he and his horse
fell on the top of a heap of dead bodies. When the soldiers subsequently
found his body, they were so annoyed that a Turk should have joined the
Mahdi that they cut off his head and hacked his body to pieces.

Whilst the soldiers were clearing out the enemy from the houses, the
Mahdi was retiring on Kaba with a loss of 10,000 men. Said Pasha then
held a council to consider whether they should pursue; but he himself
was against pursuit, for he thought that possibly Fiki Minneh might then
fall on the defenceless town; besides, in all he had not more than 3,000
men. As for the Mahdi, he and his principal emirs were greatly alarmed,
and it is very probable that if they had been pursued, the result would
have been a complete victory for Said Pasha. As it was, the Mahdi was on
the point of retreating to the mountains, and would have done so had
not the inhabitants of El Obeid, who still thought of their houses and
property, dissuaded him. The latter st