SIX CHARLES WILSON'S RETURN. 203 finding any trace of the Irish except a drummer and a couple of men, who had got lost, and didn't know where their battalion was, or in fact anything about themselves or the country. Immediately afterwards we espied a small party in the distance trotting rapidly towards us; on coming up they proved to be Sir Charles Wilson, Stuart Wortley, and V-- D , with some Coldstream as escort. They could not stop long, but we gathered from them that Beresford had gone up in his steamer to rescue Sir Charles and his party off their island, and after a very plucky fight (during which he had got a round-shot through his boiler) had succeeded in taking them off. They also brought certain news of Gordon's death, he having been murdered coming out of his room on the 26th. And the steamers arrived at Khartoum on the 28th ! It was too disgusting ! Sir Charles was making his way to Korti, and had already done a good record sixty- four miles in twenty-seven hours, on decaying camels. No signs of the Irish, so at five we halted for the night. Next day we caught up the Irish in the sand drifts