The course of the advance on Dongola has been interrupted
by rain-storms such as have been unknown in the memory of man. No rain has fallen in the neighbourhood of Sanas for nine or ten years, but this year the average is being made up. In several places the railway embankments have been swept away by the rush of water, and we read of the water being in one place 6ft. deep on the line, and of six thousand men working day and night to repair the damage. It must not be supposed, however, that the rain is pure evil. It has raised the Nile and cooled the air, and the telegrams speak of the nights being quite cold. The campaign thus will open under favourable auspices, and the last despatch from Kosheh declares that sailing-boats are arriving hourly, and that the prospects of an advance are "greatly improved." The Staffordshire, the English regiment which has been at Haifa all the summer, is being moved up to join in the attack on Dongola. If his usual luck attends the Sirdar he should be in Dongola in October.
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