The halt was welcome for another reason. The camp itself was well worth
looking at. It lay lengthways along the river-bank, and was nearly two
miles from end to end. The Nile secured it from attack towards the east.
On the western and southern sides were strong lines of thorn bushes,
staked down and forming a zeriba; and the north face was protected by a
deep artificial watercourse which allowed the waters of the river to make
a considerable inundation. From the bank of this work the whole camp could
be seen. Far away to the southward the white tents of the British division;
a little nearer rows and rows of grass huts and blanket shelters,
the bivouacs of the Egyptian and Soudanese brigades; the Sirdar's large
white tent, with the red flag of Egypt flying from a high staff, on a small
eminence; and to the right the grove of palm-trees in which the officers of
the Egyptian cavalry had established themselves. The whole riverside was
filled by a forest of masts. Crowds of gyassas, barges, and steamers were
moored closely together; and while looking at the furled sails, the tangled
riggings, and the tall funnels it was easy for the spectator to imagine
that this was the docks of some populous city in a well-developed
and civilised land.
But the significance of the picture grew when the mind, outstripping the
eye, passed beyond the long, low heights of the gorge and cataract of
Shabluka and contemplated the ruins of Khartoum and the city of Omdurman.
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