e capture of Omdurman fort, but their
violent natures and predatory instincts made them an undesirable
garrison even for the Dervish capital, and they were despatched under
their general to Kordofan, where they increased their reputation by a
series of bloody fights with the Nubas, an aboriginal mountain people
who cared for nothing but their independence.

At the end of June Abu Anga reached Omdurman with an army variously
estimated at from 22,000 to 31,000 men, of whom at least 10,000 were
armed with Remington rifles. The Khalifa received him with the utmost
honour. After a private interview, which lasted for several hours, a
formal entry into the town was arranged. At daybreak on the following
morning the whole force marched into the city and camped along the
northern suburbs, applauded and welcomed alike by the population and
their ruler. A few days after this a great review was held under the
Kerreri hills, on the very ground where the Dervish Empire was doomed
to be shattered. But the fateful place oppressed the Khalifa with no
forebodings. He exulted in his power: and well he might, for after the
cannon had thundered indefinite salutes, no fewer than 100,000 armed men
defiled to the music of the war-drums and the ombyas before the famous
Black Flag. The spectacle of the enormous numbers provoked their
enthusiasm. The triumphant Khalifa was cheered by his mighty host, who
pressed upon him in their exuberant loyalty until he was almost crushed.
It was indeed a stirring scene. The whole plain was filled with the
throng. Banners of every hue and shape waved gaily in the breeze,
and the sunlight glinted from innumerable spear-points. The swarming
Dervishes displayed their bright parti-coloured jibbas. The wild Baggara
cavalry circled on the flanks of the array. The brown dome of the
Mahdi's tomb, rising above the city, seemed to assure the warriors of
supernatural aid. Abdullah was at the summit of his power. The movement
initiated by the priest of Abba island had attained its climax. Behind,
in the plain, the frowning rocks of Surgham Hill rose ragged and gloomy,
as if their silence guarded the secrets of the future.

After the feast of Bairam had been celebrated on a gigantic scale,
Abu Anga was despatched to Gallabat with his army and considerable
reinforcements from the troops in Omdurman, and it became evident that
war with Abyssinia was imminent. The great leader relieved the Emir
Yunes, much to the latter's di