2 22 EGYPT AND THE SOUDAN.

on a little tobacco. The fact that General Gordon was able to induce, not only the garrison, but the civilians in the city to hold out for a month under such conditions, is one of the most remarkable features of his defence of Khartum, and affords the strongest proof of his wonderful influence over natives of all classes.

On the 25th January General Gordon does not appear to have left the palace, but he transacted business with several people; and one man, a Copt, stated that he saw him there six hours after sunset. Before daylight on the 26th the Arabs attacked the lines of Khartum at the Messalamia gate and met with little or no resistance. Part of the attacking force seems to have passed between Fort Mogrim and the White Nile, over ground left dry by the fall of the river; whilst part crossed the ditch, according to one account, by filling it up with straw, native beds, &c., which the men carried with them as they advanced to the assault; or, according to another account, by filling it up during the night after the connivance of Faragh Pasha and Behnasawi Bey commanding the troops in that quarter. The city was soon in the hands of the Arabs, who, for about three hours, killed every one they met; a crier then went round proclaiming the Aman or General Amnesty, but many Shagiyeh were killed two days afterwards. Some black soldiers held out by the Buri gate until they saw Khartum was in the hands of the Arabs, and the garrison on Tuti island did not surrender until mid-day. The names of Fairagh Pasha and Behnasawi Bey were associated with the act of treachery. Sir Charles Wilson believed that these men, who commanded the troops at the Messalamia gate, knew that an assault was going to be made during the night of the 25th-26th, and that they purposely neglected to take any precautions to resist it; they probably encouraged the soldiers to leave the lines and go into the city to search for food. Sir Charles records that before General Gordon's arrival at Khartum a deputation headed by Mohammed Bey-el-Jazali had visited the Mahdi at Rahad, and presented to him letters and petitions, signed by persons of all classes at Khartum, begging an assurance of safety, and expressing readiness to submit.

He refers to the fact that according to General Gordon's journal