Stuart-Wortley's friendlies had a sharp
brush with some Dervishes, whom they had come upon raiding a village,
whose inhabitants had not obeyed the Khalifa's orders to move into
Omdurman.

As the rainstorms continued, it was decided, by a council of war, that
the health of the troops would suffer by a longer stay. On the 29th,
therefore, the army set out in order of battle, ready to encounter the
Khalifa's attack, but arrived without molestation at Um Teref, a short
distance from Kerreri, where it was expected the enemy would give
battle.

The camp was smaller than those hitherto made, and was protected by a
strong zareba. The sentries were doubled, and patrols thrown out. Heavy
rain set in after sunset, and almost a deluge poured down. The tents
had been left behind, and as the little blanket shelters were soon
soaked through, their occupants were speedily wet to the skin.

It was still raining when, at half-past five, the force again started.
As before, the army was marching in fighting order. The day was cool
and cloudy, and at one o'clock they halted at a village called Merreh,
or Seg. The cavalry had come into touch with the Dervish patrols, but
the latter, although numerous, avoided combat.

In one of the deserted villages was found one of Wingate's spies, in
Dervish attire. He had left Omdurman thirty hours before, and brought
the news that the Khalifa intended to attack at Kerreri. This place had
been chosen because there was current an old prophecy, by a Persian
sheik, to the effect that English soldiers would one day fight at
Kerreri, and be destroyed there. It had, therefore, become an almost
holy place to the Mahdists, and was called the death place of all the
infidels; and, once a year, the Khalifa and his followers made a
pilgrimage to it.

A few shots were fired during the night, and fires blazed on the hills
to notify, to Omdurman, our precise position. The troops started again
soon after daylight, facing now to the right and marching westward, to
leave the bush and broken ground, and get out in the open desert,
stretching away to Omdurman. The cavalry were widely spread out, and
the Lancers ascended to the top of the hill of El Teb, from which a
view of the Dervish camp was obtained.

It lay some ten miles due south. The Dervishes were disposed in three
long lines, stretching from within two thousand yards of the Nile out
into the desert, being careful to get, as they believed, beyond the
range