There have been sensational rumours during the week of revival
of the Khalifa's power and of an advance in force on Omdurman, but they rest on no solid foundation. The facts, as stated in the House on Thursday, are that on February 5th Colonel Kitchener found the Khalifa with some six thousand men in a strong position a hundred and twelve miles from the Nile in the direction of El Obeid. Colonel Kitchener, whose business was reconnaissance, not fighting, thereupon retired. On February 21st the Sirdar reported that a body of Dervishes had left their position, and were advancing in a north-easterly direction. It is devoutly to be hoped, though not likely, that they will hurl themselves on Omdurman, which, with its strong works, its gunboats, and its garrison of some ten thousand men, is impregnable. No direct Dervish attack is in the least to be dreaded, but if Arabs flit about the desert they may prove a great source of annoyance.
Previous page
