The experiences of the battalion holding Tokar Fort were even
worse than those of the troops in Suakin. At length the longed-for time of
departure arrived. With feelings of relief and delight the Indian
contingent shook the dust of Suakin off their feet and returned to India.
It is a satisfaction to pass from the dismal narrative of events in the
Eastern Soudan to the successful campaign on the Nile.
By the middle of April the concentration on the frontier was completed.
The communications were cleared of their human freight, and occupied only
by supplies and railway material, which continued to pour south at the
utmost capacity of the transport. Eleven thousand troops had been massed
at and beyond Wady Halfa. But no serious operations could take place until
a strong reserve of stores had been accumulated at the front. Meanwhile the
army waited, and the railway grew steadily. The battalions were distributed
in three principal fortified camps--Halfa, Sarras, and Akasha--and
detachments held the chain of small posts which linked them together.
Including the North Staffordshire Regiment, the garrison of Wady Halfa
numbered about 3,000 men. The town and cantonment, nowhere more than 400
yards in width, straggle along the river-bank, squeezed in between
the water and the desert, for nearly three miles. The houses, offices,
and barracks are all built of mud, and the aspect of the place is brown
and squalid.
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