resumed.  The steamer kept pace along the river.  The boggy ground delayed the columns, but by two o’clock seven more miles had been covered.  Only the flag at the masthead was now visible; and an impassable morass separated the force from the river bank.  It was impossible to obtain supplies.  Without food it was out of the question to go on.  Indeed, great privations must, as it was, accompany the return march.  The necessity was emphasised by the reports of captured fugitives, who all told the same tale.  The Khalifa had pushed on swiftly, and was trying to reorganise his army.  Colonel Broadwood thereupon rested his horses till the heat of the day was over, and then began the homeward march.  It was not until eleven o’clock on the 4th of September that the worn-out and famished cavalry reached their camp near Omdurman.

Such was the pursuit as conducted by the regular troops.  Abdel-Azim, with 750 Arabs, persisted still further in the chase.  Lightly equipped, and acquainted with the country, they reached Shegeig, nearly a hundred miles south of Khartoum, on the 7th.  Here they obtained definite information.  The Khalifa had two days’ start, plenty of food and water, and many camels.  He had organised a bodyguard of 500 Jehadia, and was, besides, surrounded by a large force of Arabs of various tribes.  With this numerous and powerful following he was travelling day and night towards El Obeid, which town was held by an unbeaten Dervish garrison of nearly 3,000 men.  On hearing these things the friendly Arabs determined —­not unwisely—­to abandon the pursuit, and came boastfully back to Omdurman.

In the battle and capture of Omdurman the losses of the Expeditionary Force included the following British officers killed:  Capt.  G. Caldecott, 1st Royal Warwickshire Regiment; Lieut.  R.G.  Grenfell, 12th Royal Lancers, attached 21st Lancers; Hon. H. Howard, correspondent of the times.  In total, the British Division and Egyptian Army suffered 482 men killed or wounded.

The Dervish losses were, from computations made on the field and corrected at a later date, ascertained to be 9,700 killed, and wounded variously estimated at from 10,000 to 16,000.  There were, besides, 5,000 prisoners.

CHAPTER XVII:  ‘THE FASHODA INCIDENT’

The long succession of events, of which I have attempted to give some account, has not hitherto affected to any great extent other countries than those which are drained by the Nile.  But this chapter demands a wider view, since it must describe an incident which might easily have convulsed Europe, and from which far-reaching consequences have arisen.  It is unlikely that the world will ever learn the details of the subtle scheme of which the Marchand Mission was a famous part.  We may say with certainty that the French Government did not intend a small expedition, at great peril to itself, to seize and hold an obscure