It is rumored that the results of this campaign are very unsatisfactory
to the English people. The hill-fighting, however, turned out to be so
much more severe than the English expected, and the tribesmen proved
such formidable foes, that they were glad to make peace on whatever
terms they could.
To punish the natives as they had intended would have taken such a large
sum of money, and employed such a number of troops, that the Government
finally decided that the wisest thing was to put a speedy end to the
difficulty.
* * * * *
The Soudan campaign has also been brought to a close.
The English people are also indignant about this.
They think that the Government ought not to have allowed such a good
opportunity for punishing the Mahdists to slip through its fingers.
With a little more perseverance, the lower Soudan would have been opened
up to the world and Gordon avenged.
As it was, no decisive battle was fought; the Mahdists, under Osman
Digna, steadily retreated before the advance of the British.
After the brilliant reconnoitring trip to Khartoum, and the shelling of
the city by the two little gunboats, it was expected that something
decisive was about to be done.
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