At the moment when the fighting was deemed finished, a loaded camel, surrounded by about forty men, was observed following the line of retreat, and was fired upon by a troop of cavalry. The camel and most of the men fell apparently killed. The cavalry then approached and summoned the survivors to surrender. This was met by the Arabs springing to their feet and making a charge on the cavalry, in which all the Dervish warriors were killed except one, who escaped on a stray horse. The load carried on the camel turned out to be the body of the brave Wad-en-Nejumi, who, though badly wounded early in the day, had refused to fly, and devoted his last moments to an heroic attempt to rally his dispersed followers.[147]
The defeat amounted practically to annihilation, and Wad-en-Nejumi's force as an army ceased to exist. On the day of the fight and during the three days following 4,000 prisoners were taken, and the enemy's loss in killed was estimated at over 1,200. The Egyptian loss was but 25 killed and 140 wounded.
In this, as in many of the other fights, it was simply the same old story: on the one side a mass of reckless, fanatical, and courageous savages; on the other trained and disciplined troops, acting under the orders of a skilful general. In a conflict conducted under such conditions, there could be but one result, and nothing remains but to regret the appalling loss of life which formed one of its inevitable concomitants.
On the 9th August, as soon as arrangements had been made for the disposal of the numerous prisoners, the troops returned to Assouan, and the Nile field force was distributed amongst the various points where it was deemed necessary to retain garrisons. The British brigade, which had not succeeded in arriving in time to participate in the fight, was gradually moved down to Cairo.
The victory at Toski marked the turning point in the invasion, and was a shock to the cause of Mahdism which it took years to recover. The reinforcements, which were on their way down the Nile to join Nejumi, beat an immediate retreat, and all further operations for the invasion of Egypt were suspended. Numerous deserters from the Dervish force, as well as hundreds of destitute refugees, crowded into Wady Halfa, and were provided with relief. Though there was no longer any talk of invasion, as a protection for the frontier a battalion of Egyptian infantry reoccupied and held Sarras, and peace and tranquillity now reigned once more.
CHAPTER LVIII.
THE EASTERN SOUDAN AGAIN.
In January, 1889, things at Souakim had drifted back pretty much into the same old groove, and the petty attacks of Osman Digna's followers were constantly renewed. The enemy's mounted men used, time after time, to approach the outlying forts, fire a few shots, and then retire.
The military authorities, not feeling themselves equal to the task of clearing the neighbourhood of the hostile Arabs, hit upon the expedient of inviting the tribes suspected of being unfriendly to the Mahdist cause to do so. The invitation, which took the form of a Proclamation issued by General Grenfell, was not favourably responded to. The attitude of the tribes was one of expectancy, and all the Sheikhs who responded stated pretty much the same thing, namely, that they would come in and help as soon as Osman Digna's power should be broken, and that they were perfectly willing to assist in cutting off stragglers, but they declined for the present to compromise themselves further.