north. As sheep are an inappreciable item, nothing will remain but "bully-beef," which, though palatable enough by judicious management in the present comparatively cool weather, is neither wholesome nor inviting when eaten in a temperature of 130° in the shade. "Thoroughly cool the tin" are the mocking instructions which then will meet the eye; and it is to be feared the "resources of civilisation," as known in the Soudan, will hardly serve the occasion. Vegetables at present are pretty plentiful at many stations, remarkably so at Dongola, but their reign does not long survive the advent of the burning winds; so, taken as a whole, the culinary horizon may be said to be obscured. Farther south, indeed, among the flesh-pots of Khartoum, the troops would have been better off, and even the possession of Berber would have ensured a good supply of food for the force which occupied it.
The chances, however, of an advance in that direction are now, unfortunately, small; and though the various posts along the line may be called upon to defend themselves from attacks of hostile bands during the summer, it is improbable that serious fighting will take place before the autumn. The frequent wells, hitherto unknown to us, which have already been accidentally lighted upon, point to the probable existence of many more, which, though insufficient for the supply of a large force of men or convoys of cattle and camels, would still be enough to enable small bands of mobile Arabs to harass us uncomfortably during the next few months. The advocates of an advance, though mostly to be found among the cushioned scribes at home, argue truly enough that our troops during the Mutiny fought well under a burning Indian sun; and so they did: but it must be remembered that that was in a country fairly well supplied with water, and a veritable garden compared with the howling waste which is now the arena of war. Our warriors, too, at that period, though animated by no better spirit than that which took our men lately to Metammeh and Kerbekan and back again, were nevertheless of a more lasting and a harder stamp – men impervious to fatigue, and who bore up against the terrible heat of that ever-memorable campaign with the enduring patience of seasoned veterans. That this cannot be said (all the same, it certainly will be said, although not the case) with regard to our present generation of soldiers, admits of no doubt; and, were proof necessary, a glance hereafter at the medical returns of the next few months will probably show the invaliding home of men suffering from no wound or traceable ailment, but merely from debility engendered by over-exertion and unwonted hardships.
The possible advance of General Brackenbury's column to Abu Hamed was another move that commended itself to many, especially if it could have preceded a further advance on Berber, and a junction there with a force from Korti; but the obstacles to river navigation became more and more apparent, while the impossibility of manoeuvring boats in dangerous water in an openly hostile country was, fortunately, never practically demonstrated.
Want of troops may have been at the bottom of the double retreat from Metammeh and Birti; but more troops means more camels, – and that has been, and will be,
