oss in killed during
the war of fewer than 15,000 fighting men. The flower of the Dervish
army, the heroic blacks of Abu Anga, were almost destroyed. The Khalifa
had won a Pyrrhic triumph. Never again was he able to put so great
a force in the field, and, although the army which was shattered at
Omdurman was better armed and better drilled, it was less formidable
than that which broke the might of Abyssinia.

During the progress of the struggle with Abyssinia the war against Egypt
languished. The Mahdi, counting upon the support of the population, had
always declared that he would free the Delta from 'the Turks,' and was
already planning its invasion when he and his schemes were interrupted
by death. His successor inherited all the quarrel, but not all the
power. Much of Mohammed Ahmed's influence died with him. Alive, he
might conquer the Moslem world; dead, he was only a saint. All fanatical
feeling in Egypt soon subsided. Nevertheless the Khalifa persisted in
the enterprise. The success of the Abyssinian war encouraged and enabled
him to resume the offensive on his northern frontier, and he immediately
ordered Wad-el-Nejumi, who commanded in Dongola, to march with his
scanty force to the invasion of Egypt. The mad enterprise ended, as
might have been foreseen, in the destruction of both Emir and army at
Toski. The Khalifa received the news with apparent grief, but it is
difficult to avoid suspecting him of dark schemes. He was far too clever
to believe that Egypt could be conquered by five thousand men. He knew
that besides the Egyptians there was a strange white tribe of men,
the same that had so nearly saved Khartoum. 'But for the English,' he
exclaimed on several occasions, 'I would have conquered Egypt.' Yet,
knowing of the British occupation, he deliberately sent an army to its
inevitable ruin. It is difficult to reconcile such conduct with the
character for sagacity and intelligence which Abdullah has deserved.
There is no doubt that he wanted to conquer Egypt. Possibly by some
extraordinary chance Wad-el-Nejumi might succeed, even with his small
force. If so, then the glory of God and the power of the Khalifa would
advance together. If not--and herein lies the true reason for the
venture--the riverain tribes would have received a crippling blow.

The terrible slaughter of the Abyssinian war had fallen mainly on the
Jehadia and the eastern Arabs. The jealous tribes in the north had not
suffered. The balance of