s staff. These were in charge of a sergeant and three
privates, of one of the Soudanese battalions. Gregory had got up a case
of whisky, one of bottled fruit, and a stock of tea and sugar from
Berber. No tents could be carried, and he left his tente d'abri at the
stores with his canteen; taking on board, in his own luggage, a plate,
knife, fork, and spoon, and a couple of tumblers. When the camels had
started, he saw his horse put on board, and then took a final stroll
round the encampment.

The change that had occurred there, during the past fortnight, was
striking. Then none but black faces could be seen. Now it was the
encampment of a British force, with its white tents and all their
belongings.

The contrast between the newly-arrived brigade, and the hardy veterans
who had fought at the Atbara, was striking. Bronzed and hearty, inured
to heat and fatigue, the latter looked fit to go anywhere and do
anything, and there was hardly a sick man in the four regiments. On the
other hand, the newcomers looked white and exhausted with the heat.
Numbers had already broken down, and the doctors at the hospital had
their hands full of fever patients. They had scarcely marched a mile
since they landed in Egypt, and were so palpably unfit for hard work
that they were, if possible, to proceed the whole way in boats, in
order to be in fighting condition when the hour of battle arrived.

The voyage up the river was an uneventful one. It seemed all too short
to Gregory, who enjoyed immensely the rest, quiet, and comparative
coolness. The Sirdar had gone up a week before they landed at Wady
Hamed. Here the whole Egyptian portion of the army, with the exception
of the brigade that was to arrive the next day, was assembled. The
blacks had constructed straw huts; the Egyptians erected shelters,
extemporized from their blankets; while the British were to be
installed in tents, which had been brought up in sailing boats. The
camp was two miles in length and half a mile wide, surrounded by a
strong zareba.

The Egyptian cavalry and the camel corps had arrived. On the opposite
side of the river was a strong body of friendly Arabs, nominally under
the Abadar sheik, but in reality commanded by Major Montague
Stuart-Wortley. By the 23rd of August the whole force had arrived; and
the Sirdar reviewed them, drawn up in battle array, and put them
through a few manoeuvres, as if in action. General Gatacre commanded
the British division--Colonel