686 
THE SUDAN PAST AND PRESENT. 
Digna makes the most capital. He says :— 
t( At the end of Jamad el awal, the English returned with a force of 
13,000 men, but before they reached us God struck fear into their 
hearts, and they returned again to Sawakin without fighting, but only 
5000 or 6000 of them reached Sawakin, the remainder were destroyed 
on the road, by what calamity is not exactly known, unless it was that 
the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up.” 
He disposes of the final withdrawal of General Graham’s force in a 
very summary manner :—“ In short the English Army, with the excep¬ 
tion of 5000 or 6000 men, was completely destroyed. They had about 
28 steamers waiting for them in harbour, but on their return they only 
filled five of them, and the rest returned to their country empty.” 
Such evidence as the above is but one more instance which may be 
added to innumerable past experiences, all tending to prove that, no 
matter how complete a victory may be gained in fighting against 
savages, it is little better than useless if the victorious army retires. 
After the victory of Tamai it was thought an attempt might be 
made to assist Gordon, telegraphing earnestly from Khartum that the 
road might be kept open. The weather was cool, the wells on the road 
were full, and everything pointed to an advance to Berber, which was 
still held by Egyptian troops. There was, however, considerable con¬ 
troversy as to the feasibility of the march, and the idea was eventually 
abandoned. At this period the retention of the town of Berber, for 
Gordon’s plan of operations, was indispensable, but it was unfortunate 
that on his way up to Khartum he had communicated to the Mudir 
Hussein Pasha Khalifa, the terms of the proclamation authorising the 
abandonment of the Sudan ; that the knowledge of this proclamation 
had the effect of turning the already wavering tribes in the neighbour¬ 
hood over to the Mahdi, cannot be doubted. On 26th May the town 
was stormed and carried, and a horrible massacre of men, women, 
and children followed. 
All this time the Mahdi was still at El Obeid, but in Father Ohrwal- 
der’s words “ The news that Berber had fallen and that General 
Graham had returned to Sawakin, decided the Mahdi to advance on 
Khartum.” 
The refusal to send up Zubeir Pasha and the fall of Berber, by 
which telegraphic communication with Khartum was cut off, practically 
sealed the failure of Gordon’s mission, and from this date a veil closed 
down on him, Stewart, and Power, cheerfully setting to work to hold 
out till Providence should relieve them. Baffled on all sides, Gordon 
and his long-suffering troops sustained a siege with a courage that 
soldiers of all nations have admired. 
The details of this memorable siege are too well known to need 
repetition, the story has already been summed up in the following 
words, “ To innumerable enemies flushed with victory and ardent 
fanaticism, Gordon opposed a skill and experience in savage warfare 
which few could equal. Ill-provisioned in a place naturally and arti¬ 
ficially weak, Gordon alone (for his colleague Stewart had been 
treacherously murdered) for months preserved an undaunted front. 
Neither treachery in the besieged nor the stratagems of the besiegers 
