At 1.30 p.m. the village of Abut was reached. It is a small military station, and had a garrison of 350 men, who were encamped in a zeriba with trench near the well. When attacked on the 31st December, only 150 of the garrison were present, 200 men under Osman Agha had arrived since then. Two new zeribas were at once constructed, one for the regular troops, and another for the irregulars. Reconnaissances were pushed in all directions, but especially along the roads leading to Kawa viâ Waliya, and to Manasra, south of Sibel.
Finding then that the quelling of the insurrection in the province of Sennaar would be a more difficult task than he had anticipated, the Pasha determined to call up the battalion from Shawal,[301] and to send for another from Kartoum.
10th January.
The 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment, left Kartoum accordingly on the afternoon of the 10th January, and proceeded up the Blue Nile in twelve sailing boats.
11th January.
On the 11th January, Abdel Kader was still at Abut. On that date his attention was to await the arrival of the 3rd Battalion, and then march on Sennaar. Reports had come in that that town was hard pressed by a large body of rebels, that Karkoj was again in their hands, that the tribe of Rufaa el Sherk,[302] under Sheikh Sherif el Hindi, was in full revolt, and the last mentioned was doing his best to induce Aud el Kerim Bey, the powerful Sheikh of the Shukuriyeh, to join the movement.
12th January.
1883.
On the 12th, however, it was reported that the Sheikh Wad el Kerif, at the head of a large force, was marching from Maatuk to attack Abdel Kader, that he was forcing all the men of the districts through which he passed to join him, and that Fakir Moosa, who was commanding the rebels in the neighbourhood of Kawa, would co-operate with him.
This news compelled the Pasha to reconsider his decision, and, instead of advancing on Sennaar, he resolved to await the approach of the Wad el Kerif.