第38章

Inowdeterminedtodevotemyselfspeciallytotheworkofcollectingcorn。Ithereforeplacedallmyluggageinthemagazine，clearedoutthediahbeeah，andtowedherupstreamfrommylittlestationtohead-quarters，readytostartonthefollowingday。

On17thOctoberIstartedat6a。m。，andreachedtheislandat4p。m。

ThereIfoundRaoufBey，andthevesselsthatIhadleftinhischarge。

Hehadonlyoccupiedoneisland，andthenativeswerehardatworkcarryingofftheircornfromtheislandstothesouth。Iimmediatelysenttroopstotakepossession。

On18thOctoberIsentRaoufBeytoGondokoro，withorderstodespatchtoKhartoumallthereallysickandincapable，butuponnoaccounttopermitanymantoreturnunlesshewashopelesslyinvalided。

On19thOctober，havingnoticedthatthestreambroughtdownnumerousstemsofdhurra，Iconcludedthatcultivatedislandsexistedfurtheruptheriver。IthereforeinstructedLieutenantBakertosailupandexplore；atthesametimehewastotakepossessionshouldsuchislandsbediscovered。

On21stthedingyreturnedwithaletterfromLieutenantBaker，whohad，withonlytenmenof”TheForty，”drivenouttheenemy，andoccupiedanisland，richincorn，furthersouth。ThedingyhadbeenattackedonherwaybytheBaris，whohadshotarrows，allofwhichhadfallenshort。I

immediatelystartedwithmydiahbeeahandreinforcements，andunitedwithLieutenantBaker。Ihadnowthreelargeislandsinpossession。Thefertilityofthesoilwasextraordinary。Thecultivationwasconfinedtotherimorsidesoftheislands，asthecentrewasswampyinthewetseason，buttheextremerichnessofthesoilproducedtheheaviestcrops，andthegranarieswerefullthroughouttheverynumerouslittlevillages，thatwerestationedaroundtheislands。

Havingworkedfortwelvedays，duringwhichtimenumerousvesselshadenlivenedtheriverbypassingtoandfroheavilyladenwithcorn，betweenourgranariesandGondokoro，IreceivednoticefromthemainlandthattheworkofthetwostationsunderLieutenant-ColonelAchmetandMajorAbdullahwasconcluded。Achmethadthrashedoutallhiscorn，andwaswaitingforboatstoconveyit；andAbdullahhadshippedallthathehadcollected，andwaswaitingfororders。

Isentinstructions，thatAbdullahshouldmarchhisdetachmentalongthemainland，towardsthesouth，andoccupythevillagesonthehighland，exactlyoppositemyvessels。Thecountrywasbeautifullyopen，likeafinepark，inlong，rollingundulations，whichterminatedinrockyhills，aboutfourorfivemilesfromtheriver。

On24thOctober，havingloadedalineofvesselsthatlayalongsidetheislandassnuglyasthoughbyanartificialquay，Iwasamusingmyself，togetherwithLieutenantBaker，inshootingducks，whichswarmedintheneighbouringpondsandswamps。Atabout4。30p。m。Iheardrapidfile-firinginthedistance，andIconcludedthatMajorAbdullah’sdetachment，thatwashourlyexpected，wasattackedbythenatives。Iatoncereturnedtothediahbeeah，wheremywifewasstationedonthehighpoop-deck，havingagoodviewofaveryprettylittleengagement。

Thetroopswereaboutamiledistant，andwhilesteadilyonthemarchaccordingtomyinstructions，theyweresuddenlyattackedbythenativesingreatforce。Thiswasafairstand-upfightintheopen。Thebigdrumsandhornsweresoundingthroughoutthecountry，andthenativeswerepouringfromalldirectionstothebattle。

Th

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