[132] The troops at Korti about this time received a visit from some emissaries of the Mahdi, who interviewed General Dormer and pointed out the wonderful things which their leader could do. He could, they said, even interfere with the forces of nature, and drying up rivers and causing floods were only some of the trifling miracles which he was capable of bringing about. The General, who wore a glass eye, promptly took it out, spun it into the air, and replaced it. "Can the Mahdi do that?" he asked, at the same time winking with the restored eye. The astonished Dervishes made no reply, but quietly "salaamed" and retired, as if unwilling to continue longer in the society of one so evidently in league with evil spirits.
[133] According to the account of an eye-witness the Horse Artillery was stationed at one period at a point where the underwood grew so thickly that the gunners could not see seventy yards away from the guns.
[134] Much of the narrative which follows is taken from "The Battle of Tofrek," by William Galloway (1887).
[135] The salient for the guns was so far advanced that the remaining Gardner guns had been brought up ready to be placed in position. The other half battalion of the Berkshires remained outside in its original position, the men engaged in having their dinners.
[136] Osman wrote to the Mahdi that "God struck fear into the hearts of the English, and they went away."
[137] A return of the approximate cost, as nearly as can be ascertained, of the military expeditions, has been issued. The extra cost of the first expedition to Souakim, in 1884, was £352,352; the extra cost of the second expedition, in 1885, was £2,127,762; and the cost of the Souakim-Berber railway, including pipe line and water supply, was £865,369; making a total of £3,345,483. This is the cost incurred over and above the normal charge for the maintenance of the troops concerned.
[138] Lord Wolseley was created a Viscount for his services with the Expedition.
[139] For much of the information contained in the present chapter the author is indebted to the excellent work "Mahdism and the Egyptian Soudan," already referred to.
[140] Frequently spelt "Delligo."
[141] Ginnis and Kosheh are two villages on the east bank of the Nile, and are only separated by a short distance.