40 EGYPT AND THE SOUDAN.

the property of M. Godard. In March, 1882, he went up alone ill the Edipse balloon from Dover, and actually crossed the Channel, and after a perilous voyage descended at Envermeau in Normandy. This feat was much commented on, and drew attention to his disregard of the authorities and an alleged neglect of regular military duties, so that the commander-in-chief reprimanded him in a mild way for not having asked for permission to leave the country before crossing the Channel. In 1882 he became seriously ill, and though he went to Gibraltar and there slowly recovered a fair degree of health and much of his enormous strength, he continued to suffer from weak or imperfect action of the heart. The man who seemed to have gone out to meet death face to face was now liable to die at any moment; but it made little or no difference in his restless energy, nor in his desire to be in the midst of any conflict that might be going on.

He was again interesting himself in politics when the war in the Soudan roused him to action, and he was on his way to Suakim, where, as we have seen, he joined his friend Valentine Baker, and was soon in command of a detachment. We already know that in 1884 he became attached to the intelligence department under General Graham, and was badly wounded at El-Teb by the fragment of a shell striking him in the face. This necessitated his return to England, where the report of his determined courage had preceded him. For some months he was quiet, but his wound had healed; he w-as growing too stout, and his heart trouble increased. He believed that he needed more active exercise, and again he was looking somewhat eagerly to Egypt, and volunteered his services to Lord Wolseley for the expedition to rescue Gordon. The authorities had apparently grown rather tired of his erratic disregard of all ordinary responsibilities towards them, and he did not obtain a nomination for service in Egypt, so he carried out his previous plan, and went without permission, leaving those who were not in the secret to suppose that he was on his way to the Transvaal. His destination was only known when he telegraphed from Korti, and he then left that place to follow General Stewart with a