As a whole, however, they had
not been badly treated here, and had been allowed to continue to
cultivate their land, subject only to about the same taxation as they
had paid to Egypt. Of course, from what they have done elsewhere, the
comparative mildness of the conduct of the Dervishes was not due to any
feeling of mercy, but to policy. As the most advanced position, with
the exception of scattered and temporary posts lower down the river, it
was necessary that there should be food for the considerable body of
tribesmen encamped at Dongola; especially as an army invading Egypt
would provide itself, there, with stores for the journey. It was
therefore good policy to encourage the cultivators of land to stay
there."

"Thank you very much!" Gregory said, when the officer had concluded his
sketch of the previous campaign. "Of course, I heard that we had beaten
the Khalifa's men, and had taken Dongola, but the papers at Cairo gave
no details. The Staffordshire regiment went down, directly the place
was taken, did they not?"

"Yes. They had suffered heavily from cholera; and as there was now no
fear that the Egyptians and Soudanese would prove unequal to
withstanding a Dervish rush, there was no necessity for keeping them
here."

At Abu Fetmeh they left the train, and embarked in a steamer. Of the
party that had left Assouan, only four or five remained. The rest had
been dropped at other stations on the road.

The boat stopped but a few hours at Dongola, which had for a time been
the headquarters of the advanced force. Great changes had been made,
since the place was captured from the Dervishes. At that time the
population had been reduced to a handful, and the natives who remained
tilled but enough ground for their own necessities; for they knew that,
at any time, a Dervish force might come along and sweep everything
clear. But with the advent of the British, the fugitives who had
scattered among the villages along the river soon poured in.

Numbers of Greek traders arrived, with camels and goods, and the town
assumed an aspect of life and business. The General established a court
of justice, and appointed authorities for the proper regulation of
affairs; and by the time Gregory came up, the town was showing signs of
renewed prosperity.

But the steamer stopped at Dongola only to land stores needed for the
regiment stationed there. The headquarters had, months before, been
moved to Merawi, some eighty miles higher