Chapter 10: Afloat.
The first three days' journey passed without any adventure. From thenatives who still remained in the little villages they passed, theylearned that the report that the Dervishes had left Berber wasgenerally believed; but whether they had marched for Metemmeh, or forsome other point, was unknown. The people were delighted to see thegunboat; as, until its arrival, they had been in hourly fear of raidingparties. They had heard of the capture of Abu Hamed, by the British,from horsemen who had escaped; but all these had said, confidently,that Mahmud would speedily drive them out again; and they had been inhourly fear that the Dervishes would swoop down upon them, and carryoff the few possessions still remaining to them.
When within thirty miles of Berber the Arabs had halted on the bank,watching the gunboat as, with great difficulty, it made its way up acataract. Suddenly it was seen to stop, and a great bustle was observedon board. An exclamation of grief burst from the Arabs.
"She has struck on a rock!" Ahmed Bey exclaimed.
"I am afraid she has," said Gregory; who had, all along, ridden by hisside at the head of the party. "I am afraid so. I hope she is notinjured."
Unfortunately, the damage was serious. A hole had been knocked throughher side, under water, and the water poured in, in volumes. A rush wasmade by those on board; and beds, pillows, and blankets were stuffedinto the hole. This succeeded, to some extent, and she was broughtalongside the bank.
The sheik and Gregory went down to meet her. General Hunter came to theside.
"A large hole has been knocked in her," he said, to the sheik. "Weshall have to get the guns and stores on shore, to lighten her; andthen heel her over, to get at the hole. It will certainly take two orthree days; by that time, I hope, the other gunboat will be up.
"In the meantime, you must go on to Berber. I think there can be nodoubt that the Dervishes have all left, but it is most important thatwe should know it, for certain. You must push straight on, and as soonas you arrive there, send word on to me by the fastest camel you have.If you are attacked, you will, of course, defend yourselves. Take up aposition close to the river, and hold it until you are relieved. If youcan send off news to me by a camel, do so; if not, seize a boat--thereare some at every village--and send the news down by water. I will comeon at once, with everyone here, to assist you."
"I will do as you order," the sheik said; "and if you see us no more,you will know that we died as brave men."
"I hope there is no fear of that," the General said, cheerfully. "Youwill defend yourselves as brave men if you are attacked, I am sure; butas I am convinced that the Dervishes have left Berber, I think there islittle fear of your falling in with them."
Then he went on, in English, to Gregory.
"Keep them moving, Mr. Hilliard. Let them go as fast as they can. Theyare less likely to get nervous, if they are riding hard, than theywould be if they dawdled along. If they press their camels, they willbe in Berber this afternoon. See that a man starts at once, to bring methe news."
"Very well, sir. I will keep them at it, if I can."
The sheik rejoined his band, which gathered round to hear the result ofhis interview with the white general.
"The steamer is injured," he said, "but she will soon be made right,and will follow us. We are to have the honour of going on and occupyingBerber, and will show ourselves worthy of it. There is little chance ofour meeting the Dervishes. Had they been in Berber, we should haveheard of them before this. If we meet them we will fight; and you, Abu,who have the fastest camel among us, will ride back here at all speed,and the General and his soldiers will come up to help us.
"Now, let us not waste a moment, but push forward. In five hours weshall be at Berber; and throughout your lives, you will be proud to saythat you were the first to enter the town that the Dervishes have solong held."
A few of the men waved their guns, and shouted. The rest looked grave.However, they obeyed their chief's orders, and the cavalcade at oncestarted. As they did so, Gregory drew his horse up alongside Zaki.
"Look here," he said, "if we see the Dervishes coming in force, I shallcome to you, at once. You shall take my horse, it is faster than yours.I shall give you a note for the General, and you will ride back at fullgallop, and give it to him. The horse is fast, and there will be nofear of their catching you, even if they chase; which they will not belikely to do, as they will be thinking of attacking us."
"Very well, master. I will do as you order me, but I would rather stopand fight, by your side."
"That you may be able to do some other time, Zaki. This time, you havegot to fetch aid."
Then he rode on to join the chief. There was no talking along the line,every man had his rifle unslung and in his hand, every eye scanned thecountry. Hitherto, they had had unlimited faith in the power of thegunboat to protect them; now that they might have to face the Dervishesunaided, they felt the danger a serious one. They had come to fight theDervishes, and were ready to do so, in anything like equal numbers; butthe force they might meet would possibly be greatly stronger than theirown--so strong that, although they might sell their lives dearly; theywould, in the end, be overpowered.
For the first three hours, the camels were kept going at the top oftheir speed; but as they neared Berber, there was a perceptibleslackness. Ahmed Bey and Gregory rode backwards and forwards along theline, keeping them together, and encouraging them.
"We shall get in without fighting," the Bey said. "We should have heardbefore this, had they been there. Do you think that they would haveremained so long in the town, if they had learned that there are buttwo hundred of us, and one steamer? Mahmud would never have forgiventhem, had they not fallen upon us and annihilated us. I only hope thattwo hundred will have been left there. It will add to our glory, tohave won a battle, as well as taken the town. Your children will talkof it in their tents. Your women will be proud of you, and the men ofthe black regiments will say that we have shown ourselves to be asbrave as they are.
"We will halt for half an hour, rest the camels, and then push on atfull speed again; but mind, you have my orders: if you should see theenemy coming in force, you are to ride at once to the river bank,dismount, and make the camels lie down in a semicircle; then we havebut to keep calm, and shoot straight, and we need not fear theDervishes, however many of them there may be."
After the halt they again pushed forward. Gregory saw, with pleasure,that the Arabs were now thoroughly wound up to fighting point. The samevigilant watch was kept up as before; but the air of gloom that hadhung over them, when they first started, had now disappeared; each manwas ready to fight to the last. As the town was seen, the tension wasat its highest; but the pace quickened, rather than relaxed.
"Now is the moment!" the Bey shouted. "If they are there, they willcome out to fight us. If, in five minutes, they do not appear; it willbe because they have all gone."
But there were no signs of the enemy, no clouds of dust rising in thetown, that would tell of a hasty gathering. At last, they entered astraggling street. The women looked timidly from the windows; and then,on seeing that their robes did not bear the black patches worn by theDervishes, they broke into loud cries of welcome.
"Are the Dervishes all gone?" Ahmed Bey asked, reining in his camel.
"They are all gone. The last left four days ago."
The sheik waved his rifle over his head; and his followers burst intoloud shouts of triumph, and pressed on, firing their muskets in theair. As they proceeded, the natives poured out from their houses inwild delight. The Arabs kept on, till they reached the house formerlyoccupied by the Egyptian governor.
"I should say that you had better take possession of this, Bey. Thereseems to be a large courtyard, where you can put your camels. It is notlikely that the Dervishes will return, but it is as well to beprepared. The house is strong, and we could hold out here against ahost, unless they were provided with cannon.
"I have money, and you had better buy up as much food as possible, sothat we cou
ld stand a siege for some time. I shall give my horse a goodfeed and an hour's rest, and then send my man down to the General,telling him that the Dervishes have deserted the town, and that we havetaken possession of the place, and can defend it for a long time shouldthey return."
An hour later, Zaki started with Gregory's report. The inhabitants,finding that they would be paid, brought out their hidden stores; andby evening, enough was collected to last the garrison ten days.
Zaki returned at noon next day, with a letter from General Hunter tothe sheik, praising him highly for the energy and courage of his menand himself. He also brought a note for Gregory, saying that he hopedto get the repairs finished the next day; and that he expected, by thattime, the other two steamers would be up, when he should at onceadvance to Berber.
On the third day the smoke of the steamers was seen in the distance;and an hour later the gunboats arrived, and were greeted with cries ofwelcome by the natives, who thronged the bank. The three boats carriedbetween three and four hundred men. These were disembarked on anisland, opposite the town, and the gunboats moored alongside.
General Hunter at once landed, with those of his staff who hadaccompanied him. He shook hands, very cordially, with the sheik.
"You have done well, indeed!" he said. "It was a dangerous enterpriseand, had I not known your courage, and that of your men, I should nothave ventured to send you forward. You have fully justified myconfidence in you.
"In the first place, I will go and see the house you have occupied. Ishall leave you still in possession of it, but I do not intend that youshould hold it. In case Mahmud comes down upon you, at once embark inboats, and cross to the islands. It will be some time before I cangather, here, a force strong enough to hold the town against attack.Indeed, it will probably be some weeks; for, until the railway isfinished to Abu Hamed, I can only get up stores sufficient for the menhere; certainly we have no transport that could keep up the supply forthe whole force. However, all this will be settled by the Sirdar, whowill very shortly be with us."
It was now the 6th of September and, the same afternoon, two gunboatswere sent up to Ed Damer, an important position lying a mile or twobeyond the junction of Atbara river with the Nile. On the opposite bankof the Nile, they found encamped the Dervishes who had retired fromBerber. The guns opened fire upon them, and they retired inland;leaving behind them fourteen large boats, laden with grain. These wereat once sent down to Berber, where they were most welcome; and aportion of the grain was distributed among the almost starvingpopulation, nearly five thousand in number, principally women andchildren.
Supplies soon began to arrive from below, being brought up in nativecraft, from Abu Hamed, as far as the cataract; then unloaded andcarried up past the rapids on camels; then again placed in boats, andso brought to Berber. Macdonald's brigade started a fortnight after theoccupation, their place at Abu Hamed having been taken by a brigadefrom Kassinger, each battalion having towed up boats carrying twomonths' supply of provisions.
A fort was now erected at the junction of the two rivers, and occupiedby a small force, under an English officer. Two small steamers wereemployed in towing the native craft from Abu Hamed to Berber. Still, itwas evident that it would be impossible to accumulate the necessarystores for the whole force that would take the field; accordingly, assoon as the railway reached Abu Hamed, the Sirdar ordered it to becarried on as far as Berber. He himself came up with Colonel Wingate,the head of the Intelligence Department; and, diligently as all hadworked before, their exertions were now redoubled.
On the morning after the Sirdar's arrival, an orderly came across toGeneral Hunter's quarters, with a request that Mr. Hilliard should atonce be sent to headquarters. Gregory had to wait nearly half an hour,until the officers who had been there before him had had theiraudience, and received their orders. He was then shown in.
"You have done very valuable service, Mr. Hilliard," the Sirdar said."Exceptionally valuable, and obtained at extraordinary risk. Icertainly did not expect, when I saw you a few months ago in Cairo,that you would so speedily distinguish yourself. I was then struck withyour manner, and thought that you would do well, and you have much morethan fulfilled my expectations. I shall keep my eye upon you, and shallsee that you have every opportunity of continuing as you have begun."
That evening, General Hunter suggested to Colonel Wingate that Gregoryshould be handed over to him.
"There will be nothing for him to do with me, at present," he said;"and I am sure that you will find him very useful. Putting aside theexpedition he undertook to Metemmeh, he is a most zealous youngofficer. Although his wound was scarcely healed, he took charge of thebaggage animals on the way up from Merawi to Abu Hamed, and cameforward here with Ahmed Bey and his followers, and in both cases he wasmost useful. But at the present, I cannot find any employment for him."
"I will have a talk with him," Colonel Wingate said. "I think I canmake good use of him. Captain Keppel asked me, this morning, if I couldfurnish him with a good interpreter. He is going up the river in a dayor two, and as neither he nor the other naval officers know muchArabic, Mr. Hilliard would be of considerable service to them, inquestioning any prisoners who may be captured as to hidden guns, orother matters. I should think, from what you tell me, Mr. Hilliard willbe very suitable for the post."
"The very man for it. He is a very pleasant lad--for he is not morethan that--quiet and gentlemanly, and yet full of life and go, and willbe certain to get on well with a naval man."
On returning to his quarters, General Hunter sent for Gregory.
"You will please go to Colonel Wingate, Mr. Hilliard. I have beenspeaking to him about you; and, as it may be months before things areready for the final advance, and I am sure you would prefer to beactively employed, I proposed to him that he should utilize yourservices; and it happens, fortunately, that he is able to do so. Thegunboats will be running up and down the river, stirring up theDervishes at Metemmeh and other places; and as neither Keppel, nor thecommanders of the other two boats can speak Arabic with anything likefluency, it is important that he should have an interpreter.
"I think you will find the berth a pleasant one. Of course, I don'tknow what arrangements will be made, or whether you would permanentlylive on board one of the boats. If so, I think you would be envied byall of us, as you would get away from the dust, and all the discomfortsof the encampment."
"Thank you very much, sir! It would indeed be pleasant, and I wasbeginning to feel that I was very useless here."
"You have not been useless at all, Mr. Hilliard. The Sirdar asked meabout you, and I was able to give him a very favourable report of yourreadiness to be of service, for whatever work I have found for you todo. I have told him that I had great doubts whether Ahmed Bey wouldhave pushed forward to this place, after he had lost the protection ofthe gunboats, if you had not been with him."
Gregory at once went to the quarters of Colonel Wingate, and sent inhis name. In two or three minutes he was shown in. A naval officer wasin the room with the colonel.
"You have come at the right time, Mr. Hilliard. I was just speaking ofyou to Captain Keppel. I suppose General Hunter has told you how Iproposed utilizing your services?"
"Yes, sir, he was good enough to tell me."
"You speak both Arabic and the Negro dialect perfectly, I am told?"
"I speak them very fluently, almost as well as English."
"Just at present, you could not be of much use to me, Mr. Hilliard. Ofcourse, I get all my intelligence from natives, and have no occasion tosend white officers out as scouts. Otherwise, from the very favourablereport that I have received from General Hunter, I should have beenglad to have you with me; but I have no doubt that you would prefer tobe in one of the gunboats. They are certain to have a more stirringtime of it, for the next few weeks, than we shall have here."
"I should like it greatly, sir, if Captain Keppel thinks I shall do."
"I have no doubt about that," the officer said, with a smile. "I shallrate
you as a first lieutenant and midshipman, all in one; and I maysay that I shall be very glad to have a white officer with me. Thereare one or two spare cabins, aft, and you had better have your trapsmoved in, at once. I may be starting tomorrow."
"Shall I take my servant with me, sir?"
"Yes, you may take him if you like. I suppose you have a horse?"
"Yes, sir, a horse and a camel; but I shall have no difficulty inmanaging about them. Excuse my asking, sir, but I have a few stores.Shall I bring them on board?"
"No, there is no occasion for that. You will mess with me. Thankgoodness, we left naval etiquette behind us when we came up the Nile,and it is not imperative that I should dine in solitary state. Besides,you have been on Hunter's staff, have you not?"
"Yes."
"I know his staff all mess together. I shall be very glad to have youwith me. It is lonely work, always messing alone.
"My boat is the Zafir, you know. You had better come on board beforeeight o'clock, tomorrow morning. That is my breakfast hour."
Gregory needed but little time to make his arrangements. The transportdepartment took over Zaki's horse and camel, and gave him a receipt forthem; so that, when he returned, those or others could be handed overto him. One of the staff, who wanted a second horse, was glad to takecharge of his mount. The tent, and the big case, and his otherbelongings were handed over to the stores.
Zaki was delighted, when he heard that he was going up in a gunboatthat would probably shell Metemmeh, and knock some of the Dervishfortifications to pieces.
"What shall I have to do, master?" he asked.
"Not much, Zaki. You will brush my clothes, and make my bed, and doanything that I want done; but beyond that I cannot tell you. I amreally taking you, not because I think you will be of much use, butbecause I like to have you with me. Besides, I sha'n't have much to do,and the English officer who commands will have plenty to look after, sothat I shall be glad to talk, occasionally, with you.
"However, as I know the gunboats carry Maxim guns, and each have twosergeants of the marine artillery, I will hand you over to them, andask them to put you in the Maxim crew. Then you will have thesatisfaction of helping to fire at your old enemies."
Zaki's eyes glistened at the prospect.
"They killed my mother," he said, "and carried off my sisters, andburned our house. It will be good to fire at them. Much better this,bey, than to load stores at Merawi."
Gregory was much gratified, that evening after mess, at the kindlymanner in which the members of the staff all shook hands with him, andsaid that they were sorry that he was going to leave them. GeneralHunter was dining with the Sirdar. The next morning, when Gregory wentto say "Goodbye" to him, he said:
"I was telling Sir Herbert Kitchener, yesterday evening, that you weretransferred to the naval branch. He said:
"'The gunboats will all take up troops, and there will be nativeofficers on board. It is a rule in our army, you know, that all whiteofficers have the honorary rank of major, so as to make them senior toall Egyptian officers. Will you tell Mr. Hilliard that I authorize himto call himself Bimbashi? There is no occasion to put it in orders. Myauthorization is sufficient. As long as he was on your staff it did notmatter; but as, presently, he may be attached to an Egyptian regiment,it is as well that he should bear the usual rank, and it may savemisunderstanding in communicating with the natives. He will be muchmore respected, as Bimbashi, than he would be as lieutenant, a titlethat they would not understand.'
"A good many lieutenants in the British Army are Bimbashis, here, sothat there is nothing unusual in your holding that honorary rank."
"I would just as soon be lieutenant, sir, so far as I am concernedmyself; but of course, I feel honoured at receiving the title. No doubtit would be much more pleasant, if I were attached to an Egyptianregiment. I do not know whether it is the proper thing to thank theSirdar. If it is, I shall be greatly obliged if you will convey mythanks to him."
"I will tell him that you are greatly gratified, Hilliard. I have nodoubt you owe it, not only to your ride to Metemmeh, but to my reportthat I did not think Ahmed Bey would have ventured to ride on intoBerber, had you not been with him; and that you advised him as to thedefensive position he took up here, and prepared for a stout defence,until the boats could come up to his assistance. He said as much tome."
At the hour named, Gregory went on board the Zafir; Zaki accompanyinghim, with his small portmanteau and blanket.
"I see you are punctual, Mr. Hilliard," the commander said, cheerily;"a great virtue everywhere, but especially on board ship, whereeverything goes by clockwork. Eight bells will sound in two minutes,and as they do so, my black fellow will come up and announce the meal.It is your breakfast, as much as mine; for I have shipped you on thebooks this morning, and of course you will be rationed. Happily, we arenot confined to that fare. I knew what it was going to be, and laid ina good stock of stores. Fortunately, we have the advantage over themilitary, that we are not limited as to baggage."
The breakfast was an excellent one. After it was over, Commander Keppelasked Gregory how it was that he had--while still so young--obtained acommission, and expressed much interest when he had heard his story.
"Then you do not intend to remain in the Egyptian Army?" he said. "Ifyou have not any fixed career before you, I should have thought thatyou could not do better. The Sirdar and General Hunter have both takena great interest in you. It might be necessary, perhaps, for you toenter the British Army and serve for two or three years, so as to get aknowledge of drill and discipline; then, from your acquaintance withthe languages here you could, of course, get transferred to theEgyptian Army, where you would rank as a major, at once."
"I have hardly thought of the future yet, sir; but of course, I shallhave to do so, as soon as I am absolutely convinced of my father'sdeath. Really, I have no hope now; but I promised my mother to doeverything in my power to ascertain it, for a certainty. She placed apacket in my hands, which was not to be opened until I had so satisfiedmyself. I do not know what it contains, but I believe it relates to myfather's family.
"I do not see that that can make any difference to me, for I certainlyshould not care to go home to see relations to whom my coming might beunwelcome. I should greatly prefer to stay out here, for a few years,until I had obtained such a position as would make me absolutelyindependent of them."
"I can quite understand that," Captain Keppel said. "Poor relationsseldom get a warm welcome, and as you were born in Alexandria, they maybe altogether unaware of your existence. You have certainly beenextremely fortunate, so far; and if you preferred a civil appointment,you would be pretty certain of getting one when the war is over.
"There will be a big job in organizing this country, after theDervishes are smashed up; and a biggish staff of officials will bewanted. No doubt most of these will be Egyptians, but Egyptianofficials want looking after, so that a good many berths must be filledby Englishmen; and Englishmen with a knowledge of Arabic and the Negrodialect are not very easily found. I should say that there will beexcellent openings, for young men of capacity."
"I have no doubt there will," Gregory said. "I have really neverthought much about the future. My attention, from childhood, has beenfixed upon this journey to the Soudan; and I never looked beyond it,nor did my mother discuss the future with me. Doubtless she would havedone so, had she lived; and these papers I have may give me her adviceand opinion about it."
"Well, I must be going on deck," Captain Keppel said. "We shall startin half an hour."
The three gunboats were all of the same design. They were flatbottomed, so as to draw as little water as possible; and had been builtand sent out, in sections, from England. They were constructed entirelyof steel, and had three decks, the lower one having loophole shuttersfor infantry fire. On the upper deck, which was extended over the wholelength of the boat, was a conning tower. In the after portion of theboat, and beneath the upper deck, were cabins for officers. Each boatcarried a twelve-poun
der quick-firing gun forward, a howitzer, and fourMaxims. The craft were a hundred and thirty-five feet long, with a beamof twenty-four feet, and drew only three feet and a half of water. Theywere propelled by a stern wheel.
At half-past nine the Zafir's whistle gave the signal, and she and herconsorts--the Nazie and Fatteh--cast off their warps, and steamed outinto the river. Each boat had on board two European engineers, fiftymen of the 9th Soudanese, two sergeants of royal marine artillery, anda small native crew.
"I expect that we shall not make many more trips down to Berber," theCommander said, when they were once fairly off. "The camp at Atbarawill be our headquarters, unless indeed Mahmud advances; in which case,of course, we shall be recalled. Until then we shall be patrolling theriver up to Metemmeh; and making, I hope, an occasional rush as far asthe next cataract."
When evening came on, the steamer tied up to an island, a few milesnorth of Shendy. So far they had seen no hostile parties--indeed, thecountry was wholly deserted.
Next morning they started before daybreak. Shendy seemed to be inruins. Two Arabs, only, were seen on the bank. A few shots were firedinto the town, but there was no reply.
Half an hour later, Metemmeh was seen. It stood half a mile from theriver. Along the bank were seven mud forts, with extremely thick andsolid walls. Keeping near the opposite bank, the gunboats, led by theZafir, made their way up the river. Dervish horsemen could be seen,riding from fort to fort, doubtless carrying orders.
The river was some four thousand yards wide and, at this distance, thegunboats opened fire at the two nearest forts. The range was soonobtained to a nicety, and the white sergeants and native gunners madesplendid practice, every shell bursting upon the forts, while theMaxims speedily sent the Dervish horsemen galloping off to the distanthills, on which could be made out a large camp.
The Dervish gunners replied promptly, but the range was too great fortheir old brass guns. Most of the shot fell short, though a few, firedat a great elevation, fell beyond the boats. One shell, however, struckthe Zafir, passing through the deck and killing a Soudanese; and ashrapnel shell burst over the Fatteh.
After an hour's fire, at this range, the gunboats moved up opposite theposition; and again opened fire with shell and shrapnel, committingterrible havoc on the forts, whose fire presently slackened suddenly.This was explained by the fact that, as the gunboats passed up, theysaw that the embrasures of the forts only commanded the approach fromthe north; and that, once past them, the enemy were unable to bring agun to bear upon the boats. Doubtless the Dervishes had considered itwas impossible for any steamer to pass up, under their fire; and thatit was therefore unnecessary to widen the embrasures, so that the gunscould fire upon them when facing the forts, or going beyond them.
Suddenly, as all on board were watching the effect of their fire, anoutburst of musketry broke out from the bushes that lined the easternbank, a hundred yards away. Fortunately, the greater part of thebullets flew overhead, but many rattled against the side. The Maximswere instantly turned upon the unseen enemy, the Soudanese firedvolleys, and their rash assailants went at once into the thicker bush,many dropping before they gained it.
The gunboats now steamed slowly up the river; and then, turning,retired downstream again, shelling the enemy's position as they passed.As they were going down they came upon a number of Dervishes, who werebusy unloading half a dozen native craft. The Maxim soon sent themflying; and the boats, which contained horses, donkeys, grain, andother goods, were taken in tow by the gunboats, which anchored at thesame island as on the previous night.
"Well, Bimbashi," Captain Keppel said, when the work for the day wasover, "so you have had your first brush with the enemy. What do youthink of it?"
"I would rather that you did not call me Bimbashi, Captain Keppel. Thetitle is ridiculous for me, and it was only given me that it might beuseful when with Egyptian or Soudanese soldiers. I should feel reallyobliged, if you would simply call me Hilliard.
"I felt all right, sir, during the fight; except that I envied thegunners, who were doing something, while I had nothing to do but lookon. It certainly made me jump, when that shell struck the boat, becauseI had quite made up my mind that their guns would not carry so far, andso it was a complete surprise to me."
"Yes, it was a very harmless affair. Still, it was good as apreparation for something more severe. You have got accustomed to thenoise, now, and that is always as great a trial to the nerves as actualdanger."
"I wish I could be doing something, sir. Everyone else had some duty,from yourself down to the black firemen--even my servant made himselfuseful, in carrying up shot."
"I tell you what I will do, Mr. Hilliard. I will get those marinesergeants to instruct you in the working of the Maxim, and in theduties of the men attending on it. Then next time we come up, I willput you in command of one of them. Your duties will not be severe, asyou would simply direct the men as to the object at which they are toaim, watch the effect and direction of the bullets, and see that theychange their aim, as circumstances may direct. The black gunners arewell trained, and know their work; still, if by any chance the gunjams, it will be useful for you to be able to show them what to do;even though they know it as well as, or better than, you do yourself.The blacks like being commanded by a white officer, and will feelpleased, rather than otherwise, at your being appointed to commandtheir gun. Your lessons cannot begin for a day or two, for I have notdone with Metemmeh, yet."
"I am very much obliged to you, indeed," Gregory said warmly. "I willtake care not to interfere with the men's working of the gun."
"No, you will not have to do that; but a word or two of commendation,when they make good practice, pleases them immensely; and they willwork all the better, and faster, for your standing by them."
At daybreak next morning the gunboats went up again, and engaged theforts, as before. The Dervishes had placed more guns in position, butagain the shells fell short, while those of the boats played havoc withthe enemy's defences. Some ten thousand of the Dervish horse and footcame down near the town, in readiness to repel any attempt at alanding.
After some hours' bombardment, the gunboats retired. As they steamedaway, the Dervish host were shouting and waving their banners,evidently considering that they had won a great victory.
Having fulfilled their object, which was to retain Mahmud at Metemmehby showing him that, if he advanced against Merawi and Dongola, we hadit in our power to occupy the town; and so cut off his retreat, andprevent reinforcements or stores from reaching him from Omdurman, thegunboats returned to Berber.
So far, Gregory had had no duties to perform in his capacity ofinterpreter, for no prisoners had been taken. On the way down theriver, one of the artillery sergeants explained the working of theMaxim to him, taking the weapon to pieces, and explaining to him howeach part acted, and then showing him how to put it together again. Thesergeant having done this several times, Gregory was then told toperform the operation himself, and the lessons continued after theirarrival at Berber.
In the course of a week he was able to do this smartly; and hadlearned, in case of a breakdown, which parts of the mechanism wouldmost probably have given way, and how to replace broken parts by spareones, carried up for the purpose.
There was no long rest at Berber, and on the 1st of November thegunboats again went up the river, reinforced by the Metemmeh, which hadnow arrived. Each boat, as before, carried fifty soldiers; and MajorStuart-Wortley went up, as staff officer. The evening before starting,they received the welcome news that the railway line had, that day,reached Abu Hamed.
This time there was but a short pause made opposite Metemmeh, and aftershelling the forts, which had been added to since the last visit, theyproceeded up the river. Shortly after passing the town, a large Dervishcamp was seen in a valley, and this, they afterwards found, wasoccupied by the force that had returned from Berber. A heavy fire ofshell and shrapnel was opened upon it, and it was speedily destroyed.
The gunboats then went u
p as high as the sixth cataract. The countrywas found to be absolutely deserted, neither a peasant nor a Dervishbeing visible. Having thus accomplished the object of theirreconnaissance, the flotilla returned, exchanged fire with the Metemmehbatteries, and then kept on their way down to Berber.