GORDON AND THE MAHDI. 100 boats full of men and women. All went well with the party until they approached Abou Hammed, when the rebels swarming along the shore opened so severea fire that,"those onboard the launch had to cast their tows adriftand seek safety in solitaryflight." The boats fell into the hands of the rebels below Abou Hammed, and the Greeks and Egyptians theycontained were takenin captivity to Berber. The Abbas, however, pursued its course through the country inhabited by the Monassir tribe, with forty-four men on board all told. Between September 2-1 and September 28— the precise date is uncertain— while the steamer was approaching Boni island, just below the Kubenat cataract,it ran upon a hidden rock, gotcaught when partly over, and wasbadly hauled towards thestern. What afterwardsoccurred was subsequently related by an Egyptian stoker, named Hussein Ismail, who, taken prisoner at the time, ultimatelyescaped from therebels and joinedGeneralEarle's column.

A large number of the boats had already arrived at Wady Haifa, when on September 27, Lord Wolseley, whohad completedhis planof operations,andprepared himself for the intendedmarchacross the Nubian desert by constant practice in camel riding,left Cairo with his .staff for Upper Egypt. JourneyingalongtheNile inthe yacht Ferouz, which the Khedive had placed at his disposal, he made frequent halts onthe way,inspecting the military arrangements and visiting various points of interest. At Keneh, where it was necessary to coal,he profitedby the opportunity to examine the grandruins of Denderah, partaking of lemonade and cigarettes in the famous temple of Cleopatra. Arriving at Assouan on October 1,heat onceinspectedthe Egyptian andBritish troops encamped on a rocky broken plateauof considerable elevation, situated on the right bank of the Nile, where batteries with alternative embrasures had been erectedto command the town, the railway,andthe main caravanroads. Storm-proof works hadbeen erected for the infantry,andhuts of stone and sun-driedbrick for the English officers. Reservesof ammunitionand stores were kept in barges on the river below the camp. Lord Wolseley expressed his approval of all the arrangements, and after visiting the celebrated temples of Philæ, he again embarked with Sir Redvers Buller and his staff on board the Ferouz. The latter had been got safely through the first cataract in the meantime, and now startedsouthwardsfor Wady Haifa.

"We were passing at the time through Sheikh Wad Gamr'scountry,"hesaid,"andhadseenthepeoplerunning awayintothehills onboth sidesofthe river. When it was fiHind that the steamer couldnot begot off the rock, the smallboat(a dingy with whichthe launch wasprovided) wasfilledwithusefulthings,andsent toa littleislandnear us. Four trips weremade. ThenColonel Stewartdrove a nail into the steamer's guns filed off the projecting head and threw both guns and ammunition overboard. The people now came down to the right bank in great numbers, shouting,'Give us peace and grain.' We answered, 'Peace.' Suleiman Wad Gamr himself wasina small house nearthe bank, andhe came out and called to Colonel Stewart to land withoutfear but he addedthat the soldiersmust be unarmedor the people wouldbe afraid of them. Colonel Stewart, after talking it overwith the others, then crossedin the boat, with the twoEuropeanconsuls (Mr. Power and M. Herbin), andHassanEffendi, and entered a house belonging to a blind man named Fakri Etman, to arrange with Suleiman for thepurchase of camels to takeus all down to Dongola. *None of the four had any arms, with the exceptionofColonelStewart, who carriedasmallrevolver inhispocket. While they were in thehouse the restof us began to land. Shortly afterwards we saw Suleiman come out of the house with a copper water-pot in his hand andmake signs to the people who weregathered near the place. They immediately divided into two parties, one entering the house and the other rushing towardsusonthebank,shoutingand wavingtheir spears. Iwaswiththeparty whichhad landed whenthey charged down. We all threw ourselves into the river,whereupon the natives fired, andkilled some of those in the water; severalothers weredrowned,and therest werespearedas they approachedthe shore. Iswam to the island, and hid there tilldark, whenIwasmadeprisoner with some others, and sent to Berti. Iheard that Colonel Stewart and the two Europeans were killed at once, butHassan Effendi held the blindmanbeforehim,so that theycould not spear him. They accordingly spared his life, and he afterwards escaped to Berber. Two artillerymen, two sailors, and three natives are,Ibelieve, still alive at Berber, where they were sent by Suleiman. All the money found on board and in the pockets of the dead, was divided amongthe murderers, andeverythingelse of value wasplacedin twoboxes and sentunder aguard to Berber. The bodiesof Colonel Stewart and the others werethrownat onceinto the river."

On October 3, while the Commander-in-Chief was proceedingup the Nile to the base of his future operations, the news was flashed from Dongola that a native had seenGordon's flotillaof armoured steamers arrive at Shendy and proceed northwardstowards Berber. It was reported that the latter placehad beenbombarded, that the Mahdi's Ameer hadbeen killed, andthat the terrified rebelshadremovedthe treasuryof theprovince toKurbi. The news was not unexpected by those in .authority, as already on September 17, three cipher telegrams had oome to hand from Gordon, announcinghis intentionof sending Colonel Stewart" withagoodnumber of troops and Bashi-Bazouks to burn Berber and then return to Khartoum." On October 6,Major Kitchener dispatched atelegram confirmingthe reportof the bombardment,but at the same timecamethe grievous tidings thatasteamer withColonel Stewartonboard,had beenwreckedbetween the fourth and fifth cataracts, and that Gordon's gallant coadjutor had been traitorouslymurdered by the Arabs. The statements made by different natives, who subsequently reached Dongola with reports of the murder, varied considerably as to date, time, and place, but as the informantsone and all spoke from hearsay, this was notsurprising. It was ultimately ascertained that the rumours wereperfectly true, and that Colonel Stewart, .after accomplishingtwo-thirdsof his journey fromKhartoum to Dongola, had been foully murdered, together with Mr. Power, the British consul at Khartoum and correspondent of the Times newspaper, M. Herbin, the French consul at Khartoum, and a number of Greeks midEgyptians. FromGeneralGordon'sdespatchesand Sir "Charles Wilson'ssubsequentreport, itappearsthattheexpedition, consisting of three steamers, leftKhartoum on September 11, and proceeded to Shendy, where Stewart ■seemstohavelandedandlefta garrison,andevenrepaired thetelegraph,so far,fromKhartoum. The steamers then went on to Berber, and, after shelling the forts, two H>f them returned southward under the command of "Gordon's admiralKashm-el-Moos, while Colonel Stewart and hiscompanionstriedtoreachDongolawith the steam launch,Abbas, which.carriedonegun,and hadintow two HusseinIsmailthe stoker, did not witness the actual death of Colonel Stewart, but the Arabs themselves ac-