As may be supposed, there was no slight trouble in forwarding the stores which had been collected at Wady Halfa to Dongola. From Wady Halfa they went a little way by rail, and then to Ambigol by camel; between Ambigol and Tangour, and thence to Korti, by native boats and by whalers.
The Camel Corps, above referred to, which had been formed in accordance with Lord Wolseley's instructions at an early stage, numbered in all some 1,500 men, and consisted of detachments from the Household Cavalry, and other mounted regiments, and from the Guards, each forming a separate division—Heavy Cavalry, Light Cavalry, and Guards, with a fourth regiment of Mounted Infantry. The detachment of Marines was attached to the Guards.
The idea of forming such a corps was by no means novel, having been adopted by Napoleon I., who, when in Egypt, organized a similar force, mounted on dromedaries. This French Dromedary Corps, it is said, would march ninety miles in a day over the desert, without provisions or water. The practice, when in action, was for the animals to lie down, and for the men to fire over them.
Lord Wolseley's Camel Corps met on the road from Wady Halfa to Dongola with frequent mishaps and delays. The camels, only really at home on their native sands, often got so entangled amongst the rocks and blocks of granite that they could with difficulty be persuaded to advance. As the march was made along the east bank of the Nile, it became necessary to ferry the animals over the river at Dongola, and considerable time was spent in this operation, as boats were not always ready at the crossing places.
On the 28th October Wolseley and his staff left Wady Halfa by train for Sarras, whence they proceeded by camels to Hannek, escorted by a small detachment of Egyptian troops, and guided by Arab sheikhs. En route they met the Guards' Camel Corps, under Colonel Sir William Cummings, and pushed forward to the point where the steamer Nassif-el-Kheir was waiting to convey them to Dongola.
On the 3rd November Wolseley arrived at Dongola,[104] and was received by Sir Herbert Stewart and the Mudir, or Governor. The native troops lined the avenue from the river bank to the Mudirieh, and a detachment from the Sussex Regiment formed a guard of honour.
A firman from the Khedive to the Mudirs, the notables, and the people was read, ordering them to obey Lord Wolseley, "who had been sent to the Soudan to carry out such military operations as he might consider necessary."
His Lordship conferred on the Mudir the Order of the Second Class of St. Michael and St. George. It is said that the Mudir subsequently underwent a process of purification to rid himself from the contamination thus caused. The same Mudir was afterwards found to be in direct communication with the enemy.