thorn bushes. An eight
days' march brought the force to a village which was considered sacred,
as it contained the grave of the Khalifa's father, and the house where
the Khalifa himself had been born.

Three days later they reached the abandoned camp of the Khalifa, a wide
tract that had been cleared of bush. A great multitude of dwellings,
constructed of spear grass, stretched away for miles; and at the very
lowest compilation it had contained twenty thousand people, of which it
was calculated that from eight thousand to ten thousand must have been
fighting men, ten times as many as had before been reported to be with
the Khalifa. A reconnaissance showed that a large army was waiting to
give battle, on a hill which was of great strength, surrounded by deep
ravines and pools of water.

The position was an anxious one. The total force was about fourteen
hundred strong, and a defeat would mean annihilation; while even a
victory would scarcely secure the capture of the Khalifa; who, with his
principal emirs, Osman Digna, El Khatim the Sheik of El Obeid, the
Sheik Ed Din, and Fadil, would be able to gallop off if they saw the
battle going against them. Colonel Kitchener had the wisdom to decide
against risking the destruction of his followers by an assault against
so great a force, posted in so strong a position. It was a deep
mortification to him to have to retreat, and the soldiers were bitterly
disappointed; but their commander felt that, brave as the Egyptians and
Soudanese had shown themselves, the odds against victory were too
great. After a terrible march, and great sufferings from thirst and
scanty food, the force reached Koli on the 5th of February, and were
conveyed in steamers down to Omdurman.

After this somewhat unfortunate affair, which naturally added to the
prestige of the Khalifa, the months passed uneventfully; but, late in
October, preparations were made for an attack upon a large scale
against the Khalifa's camp, and eight thousand men were concentrated at
Karla, on the White Nile. It was known that the Khalifa was at Gedir,
eighty miles away; but after proceeding half the distance, it was found
that he had marched away, and the column returned, as pursuit through a
densely-wooded country would have been impracticable.

The gunboats had gone up the river with a flying column, under Colonel
Lewis, to check any of the Khalifa's forces that attempted to establish
themselves on the banks. Mounted troops