The British at Darmali were made as comfortable as possible, and no effort was spared to keep them in good health, during the ensuing hot weather.

A small theatre was constructed, and here smoking concerts were held.

There was also a race meeting, and one of the steamers took parties, of the men who were most affected by the heat, for a trip down the Nile.

They were practised in long marches early in the morning, and although, of course, there was some illness, the troops on the whole bore the heat well.
Had there been a prospect of an indefinitely long stay, the result might have been otherwise; but they knew that, in a few months, they would be engaged in even sterner work than the last battle, that Khartoum was their goal, and with its capture the power of the Khalifa would be broken for ever, and Gordon avenged.
Early in April the railway reached Abadia, a few miles from Berber, and in a short time a wonderful transformation took place here.

From a sandy desert, with scarce a human being in sight, it became the scene of a busy industry.