112 GORDON AND THE MAHDI. "Mounting," remarks ColonelColborne, "is a ticklish operation;itlooksplausible enoughwhilethe animalis recumbent. Unless you are very nimble,however,yourisk abroken limb,or at the least an ugly fall. No sooner does the seemingly impassive brute feel your touch,than he rises suddenlyand rapidly,andyouaresent sprawling.

don't get much "foreder." Natives even never acquire perfection and comfort at it. To the ordinary mortal, beingon the back of ajogging camelis likebeingonabig see-saw, upon which you always find yourself going the wrongway."

However uncomfortable the men may have found themselvesand however difficult their task, they nevertheless received orders to proceed to Wady Haifa as speedily as possible, and they were thenpushed on to Dongola. There were frequent delays andmishaps on the road, for the poorbeasts, who are onlyreally at home ontheir native sands, often got so entangledamong the rocks andblocksof granite, thattheycould withdifficulty bepersuaded to advance. Inthe steeperparts the men often dismounted and fairly applied the whip, at the sametime holdingup the animal's neck, while an Arab guide raisedits hind quarters by pullingvigorously atits tail. As the march was made alongthe right bank of the Nile,it became necessary at Dongola,to ferry the animalsover the river, and considerable time was spent in this operation,as boats were not always readyat the erossingplaces. As a rule not more than four camels, and sometimesless, could beplacedin oneboat, andthe animals had to be previously unloaded and unsaddled, both to save damage to their saddles and burdens, and to avoid the risk of strain to the beasts themselves.

Early on the morning of October 28,Lord Wolseley and Colonel Swaine, with their aides-de-camp,left Wady Haifa by train for Sarras, whence they proceeded on camels to Hannek, escortedby a small detachment of Egyptian troops, and guarded hj Arab sheikhs. En route theymet the Guards' Camel Corps under Colonel Sir G. W.Cummings at ahalting place in the desert, and after an exchange of greetings pushed forward to the point where the Nassif-el-Kheir steamer was waiting to convey themto Dongola.

Major Kitchener, who was still stationed there, had during the last two months telegraphedvarious reports concerningthe defence of Khartoum,and the movements of the Mahdi. Some short despatcheshad also come to hand fromGeneralGordon, the more important of which have already been quoted. From a merchant who left Khartoum shortly after Colonel Stewart's departure, Major Kitchener learnt that General Gordon never absented himself fromthe city, as he waspresident of the council,whichconsisted of all theleadingmerchants. The same informant stated that meat and money were very scarce; and that notes varying in value from one to a thousandpiastres hadbeenissuedby GeneralGordon to the amountof £60,000. Thenotes werefrom 4inches to 2 inches in size, and were worded as follows :— "This sum is accepted,and we willpay it at the Khartoum or Cairotreasuryaftersix months." At thetop was Gordon's seal,his signaturebeingappended at the footof the note.

Some interesting particulars concerning the Mahdi's doings at this period were subsequently furnished by Herr Hansal, who for many years hadbeen the Austrian consul at Khartoum. Before the rebellion broke out this gentlemanon official occasions was accustomedto be the cynosure of neighbouring eyes,acircumstance which is scarcelyastonishing, as he was in the habit of arraying himself in a most fantastic uniform. This comprised a red coat with epaulettes of enormous growth, a lono* white waistcoat a la Sir Charles Grandison, and blue overalls. "He might have stepped out of a scene in a comedy of the last century," says Colonel Colborne, "or he might have been a generalofficer on theboards of atranspontine theatre." Writing to his government in September Herr Hansal stated that during the earlier The bestplan, and the oneusually adopted,is to get the driver to plant his foot firmly on the left foreleg 01 the camel whileyou are mounting. Then you find yourself pitchedbackwardsas the animal springs onits forelegs. Before you havetime to recover your balance you are thrown forwards, receivinga violentblowin the stomach from the pommel, as the hind legs are raised, then once morebackwards— receivingthistimea thumpin theback — as the camelraises the lowerportionof theforelegsand stands on its feet. In dismounting these shakings naturally occur inreverseorder."

When the would-be rider was some officer fresh from home, " spotless and clean, andhung aboutwith trinkets and fancy camp-life requisites, thick as on aChristmas tree," the whole force often turned out to watch the performance. "A couple of Egyptian soldiers," wrote a special correspondent,"standonthe camel'sknees,and three on each side of the officer grasp his arms andlegs to keephim from falling whilethe animalgetsup. With many lurches and much noise the brute is induced to rise, andtheofficerisstillin thesaddle. Thenthey"give the camel his head." Away he shuffles,after his kind, cuttingpossibly a pirouette overarailor tent rope, and invariably rolling the be-bumped and astounded rider upon the ground. Sometimesa veryplucky fellow tries, and hasit allover again;but usually the convoy starts with our camels carrying baggage only, officers and soldiers allpreferringto walk." It wouldcertainly seem to be noeasy task to witchthe world withnoble"camelmanship," noris thereanything agreeable about riding the hump-backed palfrey of the desert. The writer we have already quoted remarked " that he hadridden over one thousand miles on camel back, and triedevery sort of saddleandposition,but had not yet learnedto like the brutes nor theirgait." And, he adds, " Nor haveIfound anybody who wouldnot exchange the bestcamelfor the worstof horses. Learning to ride camelsis an art at which,even after a time, you