THE RECONOUEST OF THE SOUDAN. 41 well worth while to make an effort to secure, if not his friendship, at least his benevolent neutrality during the struggle lor Khartoum.

Accordingly, in the spring of 1897, a diplomatic mission was dispatched by the British Government to his court at Addis Abeba, his new capital in the south-east of his kingdom. The chief of the mission was Mr. Rennell Rodd, C.M.G., the First Secretary of our Consulate-General at Cairo. His principal colleague was Lieut.-Colonel Wingate, the chief oi theEgyptian Intelligence Department. Landing at Zeilla in Somaliland, the envoys, accompanied by an escort of Indian troopers and a large caravan of porters and baggage animals, marched throughHarrar to Addis Abeba, where they arrived on April 28th. Next day they were receivedin state by Menelek, to whom they presented a letter from the Queen, and a number of valuable gifts sent by the British Government. Count GJeichen, in his record of themission,tells how, on the day of the public reception, it was escorted to the palace by some thousands ofMenelek's troops. After passing through an outer enclosure,where the roval drums were being beaten in their honour, the envoys" wended their way throughlinesof troop-, to thesecondenclosure, where a formidable array of nearly seventy mountain guns was drawn up just outside the great reception hall. About forty-nine of these had been captured at the battle of Adowa, and beside each gun was its detachment of artillerymen, in a distinctive dress of scarlet or green,and silk embroidery. Dismounting at the door of theoblongreception building, the mission was conducted across a large and almostdark hall,throngedwithpeople, into the presence of the Emperor, who was seatedat the farther end in Oriental fashion, on a daiscovered withsilks and carpets, and under a canopy ornamented with silken hangings. He wore on his head the usual white muslin handbreech-loadingrifles,a quantity of other weapons, two large magazines full of ammunition, and a number of war-drums and banners. Eight of their Emirs were killedin the fight, among them being Omar Saleh, whohad occupiedRegaf for the Khalifain 1888.

A few days after the battle Captain Chaltin made a reconnaissance to the northward. The remnant of the Dervisharmy had fledalong the Nile and disappeared from the district. He pushed on as far as the site of Lado, the goal of \t.,;,,,.. r>„.Lij,. "" /~\„...,,,".. * Major " Roddy Owen s brilliant attempt to secure the Upper Nile for England in the days of the first Uganda war. The town of Lado had been destroyed since then, and Chaltin describes its site as"a solitudein the midst of widemarshes."

The easy conquest of Regaf was one sign of the collapse of Mahdism. Further evidence of the same fact was afforded by the unopposed advance of French expeditions into the Bahr-el-Ghazal. and of Abyssinian raiders into the country east of the BlueNile.

This activity of the Abyssinians, the undoubted influence of Kus-ia and France at Menelck's court, and the vague claims he put for-CAPTAIN COUNT CLEICHEN.

(Photo:Hill&f Sausteilrs, Eton ) wardto territorialrights in the L ppcr .Nileregion which had once belonged to Egypt, all led t> some anxiety on the part of the British as to tht attitude he would assume in reference to ou advance toKhartoum. If he wereactivelyhostilt to us he could easily makeour enterprise a mucl more serious piece of business than it actualh was. On the other hand, it was not his interes to openly thwart us so long as we were engagec in breaking up the Dervish power, which hac been so lately a serious danger to Abyssini; He was only likely to be unfriendb if he was induced to make himself the tool o our European rivals, or if he thought he wai to be left out of the reckoning when the fina settlement of the conquered territories,was tt be arranged. It was therefore considered to bt