Abyssinia had leagued itself against them.
The insurrection of the Jaalin had been crushed, but there were signs of unrest in Kordofan, and other parts.
Of course, all this would be put right.

An army of sixty thousand men was at Omdurman; and this, with Mahmud's command, would suffice to sweep away all their enemies.

Their enthusiasm would never have wavered, had they been called upon for action; but these months of weary waiting, and of semi-starvation, without the acquisition of any booty or plunder--for little, indeed, had been obtained at the capture of Metemmeh--sapped their energy; and the force that crossed the Nile for an advance upon Berber was far less formidable than it would have been, had it been led forward against Merawi and Dongola directly after the capture of Metemmeh.

Still, it needed only the prospect of a battle to restore its spirits.
A fortnight after Gregory's capture, the Dervish army was set in motion.

A few thousand men had already been sent forward, along the banks of the river, to check any advance that might be made from Fort Atbara.