A. C. B.
Fenwick, went out to look for Sidney's force, and were surprised by a
large number of dervishes. Fenwick, with some 40 officers and men,
seized an isolated hill and held it through the night, repulsing the
dervishes, who were the same night driven back with such heavy loss in
attacking Lloyd's zeriba that they retired to the hills, and comparative
quiet again reigned at Suakin. At the end of May an Indian brigade
arrived for garrison duty, and the Egyptian troops were released for
service on the Nile.

The dervishes first came in contact with the Egyptian cavalry on the
Nile near Akasha, on the 1st of May, and were repulsed. The army
concentrated at Akasha early in June, and on the 6th Kitchener moved to
the attack of Firket 16 m. away, where the amir Hamuda, with 3000 men,
was encamped. The attack was made in two columns: one, under Colonel
Hunter, marching along the river-bank, approached Firket from the north;
while the other, under Major Burn-Murdoch, making a detour through the
desert, approached it from the south. The co-operation of the two
columns was admirably timed, and on the morning of the 7th the dervish
camp was surrounded, and, after a sharp fight, Hamuda and many amirs and
about 1000 men were killed, and 500 prisoners taken. The dash and
discipline of the Egyptian troops in this victory were a good augury for
the future.

By the end of June the railway was advanced beyond Akasha, and
headquarters were at Kosha, 10 m. farther south. Cholera and fever were
busy both with the North Staffordshire regiment at Gemai, whither they
had been moved on its approach, and with the Egyptian troops at the
front, and carried off many officers and men. The railway reached Kosha
early in August; the cholera disappeared, and stores were collected and
arrangements steadily made for a farther advance. The North
Staffordshire moved up to the front, and in September the army moved on
Kerma, which was found to be evacuated, the dervishes having crossed the
river to Hafir. There they were attacked by the gunboats and Kitchener's
artillery from the opposite bank, and forced to retire, with their
commander, Wad Bishara, seriously wounded. Dongola was bombarded by the
gunboats and captured by the army on the 23rd of September. Bishara and
his men retreated, but were pursued by the Egyptians until the retreat
became a hopeless rout. Guns, small arms and ammunition, with large
stores of grain and dates, were captured, man