s abandoned and people collected round their emirs' flags,
so that in a short time an enormous camp was formed in anticipation of
the great battle. Couriers were sent in all directions to proclaim that
anyone who refused to follow the Mahdi would have his hand and foot cut
off; all men joined willingly, the Mahdi's camp daily grew larger, and
straw huts (or tokuls) soon covered the plain, though the people were
allowed in turns to go back to the town at night. Detachments of troops
were sent to various parts of Kordofan to collect the Dervishes, and
whole tribes streamed from all directions towards El Obeid. Daily
manoeuvres and reviews were held, and guns fired repeatedly so that
the horses should get accustomed to the noise. Thus the Mahdi instilled
great enthusiasm into the masses, and we began to have some fear for
Hicks.

The Mahdi now despatched the three emirs, Abdel Halim Wad el Hashmi,
Hajji Mohammed Abu Girgeh, and Omar Elias Pasha, with their followers,
to Duem. They were instructed to watch the movements of Hicks's force,
and when it left the White Nile, to cut his communication; they were
then to harass his march as much as possible, but not to bring on a
general engagement. All these orders were admirably carried out.

General Hicks left Duem on the 24th of September, 1883, and marched in a
south-westerly direction through Shatt, Zeregga, Aigella, Shirkeleh,
and Rahad, which he reached on the 20th of October, leaving Tagalla and
Jebel Dair on the left. The inhabitants of the districts through which
the troops passed, quitted their villages and carried off all their
goods, so that when the troops arrived they found nothing but straw
huts, which the soldiers at first set fire to; but General Hicks soon
forbade this practice. The ill-fated army scarcely met a living soul,
but flocks of vultures followed them as if waiting for their prey.
Shortly after the annihilation of the army, a small and incomplete diary
belonging to an Austrian officer, Major Herlth, came into my hands, but
it was sufficient to give me an insight into the wretched condition of
this force. The facts were briefly as follows: It was expected that on
the arrival of the army at Shirkeleh, it would be joined by several
thousand Tagalla people, and it was hoped that this reinforcement would
inspire the troops with some life and energy, which they entirely
lacked; but these reinforcements never appeared.

Major Herlth described the troops as