Loot of all kinds fell to
the victors, and the gunboats were soon laden with a miscellaneous spoil.
The wives of the important Emirs made their escape to Omdurman,
but upwards of 650 women and children of inferior rank were taken prisoners
and transported to the Atbara, where in due course they contracted new
family ties with the Soudanese soldiery and, as far as can be ascertained,
lived happily ever afterwards. There were no casualties among the troops,
but the Jaalin lost a few men in their pursuit. The force then returned
to the Atbara.
The 3rd of April was the last day the army spent at Ras-el-Hudi.
The period of waiting was over. The enemy's position had been duly
reconnoitred. His strength was believed to be sufficiently impaired for
a successful attack to be made. The camp at Hudi was becoming very
insanitary. Moreover, the situation, satisfactory though it was, was not
one which the commander could view without anxiety. All the time that
the army was operating on the Atbara it drew its supplies from the fort
at the confluence. Between this and the camp, convoys, protected only by
a handful of Camel Corps, passed once in every four days. Only the idiotic
apathy of the Dervishes allowed the communications to remain uninterrupted.
Mahmud was strong in cavalry. It will be evident to anyone who looks at
the map how easily a force might have moved along the left bank to attack
the convoys.
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