No accident, however, occurred,
and the six other vessels accomplished the ascent on successive days.
In a week the whole flotilla steamed safely in the open water
of the upper reach.
And now for a moment it seemed that the luck of the expedition
had returned. The cholera was practically extinct. The new gunboat Zafir
was nearly ready at Kosheh, and her imposing appearance delighted and
impressed the army. On the 23rd of August all the seven steamers which had
passed the Cataract arrived in a stately procession opposite the camp.
Almost at the same time the wind changed to the north, and a cool and
delicious breeze refreshed the weary men and bore southward to Suarda
a whole fleet of sailing boats laden with supplies, which had been lying
weather-bound during the previous six weeks at the head of the rapids.
The preparatory orders for the advance tinkled along the telegraph.
The North Staffordshire Regiment were, to the intense relief of officers
and men, warned to hold themselves in readiness for an immediate move.
The mounted troops had already returned to the front from the camps
in which they had been distributed. At last the miserable delay was over.
From Kosheh to Kerma, the first Dervish position, the distance by river
is 127 miles. A study of the map shows that by land marches this can be
shortened by nearly forty-one miles; thirty miles being saved by cutting
across the great loop of the Nile from Kosheh to Sadin Fanti, and eleven
miles by avoiding the angle from Fereig to Abu Fatmeh.
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