This was further increased on the 11th of October by the
arrival of the XIIIth Soudanese and the remaining half of the 3rd
Egyptians, and thereafter the place was held by five battalions (3rd, IXth,
Xth, XIth, XIIIth), No. 2 Field Battery, and two companies of the Camel
Corps. As all the Dervishes on the right bank of the Nile had fled to the
south of the Atbara, it was found possible to establish a small advanced
post of Camel Corps and friendly Arabs in the village of Dakhila, at the
confluence of the rivers. From this humble beginning the Atbara fort with
its great entrenchment was soon to develop.
The effect of the occupation of Berber upon the tribes around Suakin
was decisive, and the whole country between these towns became at once
tranquil and loyal. Osman Digna's influence was destroyed. The friendly
villages were no longer raided. The Governor of the town became in reality,
as well as in name, the Governor of the Red Sea Littoral. The route from
Suakin to Berber was opened; and a Camel Corps patrol, several small
caravans of traders, and a party of war correspondents--who might boast
that they were the first Europeans to make the journey for thirteen
years--passed safely along it.
It is now necessary to look to the enemy. Had the Khalifa allowed the Emir
Mahmud to march north immediately after the destruction of the Dervish
outpost in Abu Hamed, the course of the operations would have been very
different.
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