When the Sirdar heard of the evacuation of Adarama he immediately determined to assure himself of the fact, to reconnoitre the unmapped country in that region, and to destroy any property that Osman might have left behind him.  On the 23rd of October, therefore, a flying column started from Berber under the command of General Hunter, and formed as follows:  XIth Soudanese (Major Jackson), two guns, one company of the Camel Corps, and Abdel-Azim and 150 irregulars.  Lightly equipped, and carrying the supplies on a train of 500 camels, the small force moved rapidly along the Nile and reached the post at the confluence on the 24th, and arrived at Adarama on the 29th, after a journey of eighty-four miles.  The report that Osman Digna had returned to the Nile proved to be correct.  His former headquarters were deserted, and although a patrol of sixty of the Camel Corps and the Arab irregulars scouted for forty miles further up the river, not a single Dervish was to be seen.  Having thus collected a great deal of negative information, and delaying only to burn Adarama to the ground, the column returned to Berber.

It was now November.  The Nile was falling fast, and an impassable rapid began to appear at Um Tiur, four miles north of the confluence.  The Sirdar had a few days in which to make up his mind whether he would keep his gunboats on the upper or lower reach.  As in the latter case their patrolling limits would have been restricted, and they would no longer have been able to watch the army at Metemma, he determined to leave them on the enemy’s side of the obstruction.  This involved the formation of a depot at Dakhila [’Atbara Fort’], where simple repairs could be executed and wood and other necessities stored.  To guard this little dockyard half the 3rd Egyptian battalion was moved from Berber and posted in a small entrenchment.  The other half-battalion followed in a few weeks.  The post at the confluence was gradually growing into the great camp of a few months later.

A regular system of gunboat patrolling was established on the upper reach, and on the 1st of November the Zafir, Naser, and Metemma, under Commander Keppel, again steamed south to reconnoitre Mahmud’s position.  The next day they were joined by the Fateh, and on the 3rd the three larger boats ran the gauntlet of the forts.  A brisk artillery duel ensued, but the Dervish aim was, as usual, erratic, and the vessels received no injury.  It was observed that the position of the Dervish force was unchanged, but that three new forts had been constructed to the south of the town.  The gunboats continued on their way and proceeded as far as Wad Habeshi.  The Arab cavalry kept pace with them along the bank, ready to prevent any landing.  Having seen all there was to be seen, the flotilla returned and again passed the batteries at Metemma.  But this time they were not unscathed, and a shell struck the Fateh, slightly wounding three men.