But he intended that history be a wise judge between them and him, and that the responsibility for the destruction of thousands of Khartoum's inhabitants not fall upon him, before the Khedive and the Khedivate. But, alas, those messages would hardly reach Khartoum before the Mahdi's rebellion began.

After the killing of Colonel Stewart, he benefited from it. His government in England and Egypt decided to send a force to Gordon. Gordon was determined to march on Khartoum and finally crush the Mahdist authority in Sudan. His intention was to fulfill England's objective. Gordon was merely a tool for Sudan.

The steamer Abbas was appointed to transport Colonel Stewart and his entourage, along with four Egyptian soldiers. Colonel Stewart was accompanied by Hassan Effendi Hussein, a Khedivial officer in Khartoum, as interpreter. He was also accompanied by Mudir Helmy Effendi Ghurab Pasha, the provincial secretary, as scribe.

And from Gordon, thirty Europeans and Syrians who were merchants in Khartoum were asked to travel with their belongings on sailing boats towed by two steamers escorting Stewart's steamer. They were to cross Berber and then the cataracts, reaching the borders of Dongola. The Khedive agreed and appointed two large steamers with about a thousand soldiers and cannons under the command of Major Han Hashmat Bey. He issued orders to him to proceed with Stewart's steamer, which was to be a transport boat towed behind the two steamers. When they crossed Berber, they were to leave the boats and proceed with the two steamers to a place called "Gineita." Then, they were to remain in Berber for twenty-four hours, by which time Colonel Stewart's steamer would have passed the cataracts. The Mahdists had two large steamers in Berber, from which it was feared that Stewart's steamer would be affected.