A question of considerable difficulty and some anxiety now arose.  It was learned from the prisoners that the Khalifa, with about 5,000 fighting men, was moving northwards towards the wells of Gedid, of which we have already heard in the Shirkela reconnaissance, and which were some twenty-five miles from the scene of the fight.  The troops were already fatigued by their severe exertions.  The water pool was so foul that even the thirsty camels refused to drink of it, and moreover scarcely any water remained in the tanks.  It was therefore of vital importance to reach the wells of Gedid.  But supposing exhausted troops famishing for water reached them only to be confronted by a powerful Dervish force already in possession!  Sir Reginald Wingate decided, however, to face the risk, and at a few minutes before midnight the column set out again on its road.  The ground was broken; the night was sultry:  and as the hours passed by the sufferings of the infantry began to be most acute.  Many piteous appeals were made for water.  All had perforce to be refused by the commander, who dared not diminish by a mouthful his slender store until he knew the true situation at Gedid.  In these circumstances the infantry, in spite of their admirable patience, became very restive.  Many men fell exhausted to the ground; and it was with a feeling of immense relief that at nine o’clock on the morning of the 24th news was received from the cavalry that the wells had been occupied by them without opposition.  All the water in the tanks was at once distributed, and thus refreshed the infantry struggled on and settled down at midday around a fine pool of comparatively pure water.

At Gedid, as at Nefisa, a single Dervish, and this time a sullen fellow, was captured, and from him it was learned that the Khalifa’s army was encamped seven miles to the south-east.  It was now clear that his position was strategically most unfavourable.  His route to the north was barred; his retreat to the south lay through waterless and densely wooded districts; and as the seizure of the grain supplies which had resulted from Fedil’s foraging excursions rendered his advance or retirement a matter of difficulty, it seemed probable he would stand.  Wingate, therefore, decided to attack him at dawn.  Leaving the transport under guard by the water with instructions to follow at four o’clock, the troops moved off at midnight, screened in front at a distance of half a mile by the cavalry and their flanks protected by the Camel Corps.  The road was in places so thickly wooded that a path had to be cut by the infantry pioneers and the artillery.  At three o’clock, when about three miles from the enemy’s position, the force was deployed into fighting formation.  The irregular riflemen covered the front; behind them the XIIIth and IXth Soudanese; and behind these, again, the Maxims and the artillery were disposed.  Cautiously and silently the advance was resumed, and now in the distance the