GORDON AND THE MAHDI.

143 mass in the distant gloaming. It was the Nile at last. The square thenhaltedfor abrief rest, and the wounded were lifted from their litters to see the river they were longing for; the precious liquid that wasto soften their caking woundsand quench their feverish thirst. After a few- minutes'repose the column advanced to theNile,and encampedin a sheltered ravine,near the straggling little villageof Abu Kru. Themendrank freelyof the refreshing water,and then lay down with their arms, strongoutposts beingon the alertagainst anysurprise.

Early the nextmorning, leavingthe woundedunder a strongguard at Abu Kru, the column set out for the zerebaagain. The village of Gubat was passed on the way and set on fire, and at eight o'clock— the enemy offering but little resistance onthe way— the entrenched positionwas reached once more. There had been considerable fighting at the zereba, while the square was on themarch, but the enemyhadeventuallybeen compelled to retreatbefore the fierce fire fromguns andrifles alike. Breakfast wasjustready in themorning whenthe column was seen returning, Colonel Talbot, commanding the Life Guards, walking as composedly in advance through the scrub as though he were returningfrom a field-day inQueen Anne'sWalk. When the columncameupit was received with befitting cheers, for it had done a really plucky thing well,or"tastefully," as anIrishmanin the Sussex regiment observed.

Such was the battle of Gubat or Abu Kru. Despite the repeatedcharges of the enemy,they had been kept so well at bay on allsides that the casualties of the expeditionary force were comparativelyfew. Two officers hadbeen killed, andnine wounded,includingthe gallant commander, Sir Herbert Stewart, who, unhappily was destined neverto recover. Among thenon-commissioned officers and the men there were twenty-two killed and ninety-two wounded, and two-thirds of the latter cases were severe, a large number of operations being deemed necessaryby the medicalstaff*. If the flying column had waveredfor one moment it wouldno doubt have been annihilated,but it met every charge unflinchingly, and the Arabs fell to the ground ere they coulddealdestruction with their spears.* The officialreportof the action stated that they came onless fiercely than at AbuKlea, so it isprobable that theresult of the first engagement had already shaken theirfaithin theomnipotence which was supposed to attendthe banner of the Mahdi.

Nile. First of all,however,it was necessary to bury the dead, andthe engineersimmediately set to w-ork digging along trench for thenon-commissioned officers andmen, and a single large grave for the remains of Mr. Cameron, Mr. Herbert, and the two officers who had fallen in the fight. At noon, the bodiesof the two unfortunate journalistswere placed on stretchers and carried by Colonel Barrow andthe various newspapercorrespondents in the camp,to the desertspot which was to be their last restingplace. LordCharles Beresfordimpressively read the burial service, and then the remains of Cameron and Herbert werereverently consigned to their mother earth.

An hour afterwards, the whole force moved awayin column ofregiments from the zereba, taking as large a quantityof stores as possible, andleaving behindonly a guard of fifty men. There were fifty-five wounded soldiersto be carried on hand-stretchers,for the loss in camelshad been by hundreds. Fortunatelythe enemydidnot again attempt to attack the force which reached theriver-village of AbuKru at night-fall. The wounded were placed under cover in the huts, and the outlying houses were loop-holed for defence, whilst the troops settleddown for the night, sleeping on the ground outside, therebeing not more than a score of small mud buildingsin theplace.

According to native reports Matamah was garrisoned bysome of the Mahdi's most trusted troops under an Ameer of high militaryreputation,to whom Sir Charles Wilson made an offer of terms through a prisoner captured at Abu Klea. The Ameer— theonly one of his rank, who had survived the recent battles— vouchsafed no answer to this offer, and it was then decidedthat a column about 1000 strong should reconnoitre the town. The troopssallied forth on the morning of January 21st, and marching along the low ground to the west, they were allowed to approach within a hundred yards of a thick cluster ofmudhouses loop-holed and stronglyfortified, when the eniemy suddenly opened fire from an advancedbattery. All the morning,streamsof nativeson foot anddonkey back had been seenmakingoff towards the river andBerber, so thatthe column was rather surprised at being receivedby volleys ofbullets, aud some rounds of solid shot from a Krupp gun. The latter passed over the square,but several men were hit by the bullets, andamong themMajor Poe of theMarines. The column thereupon drewback,halting to the west of the town, where a desultory fire was kept up until ten o'clock, whensome sentinelsreported that threesteamers flying the Egyptian flag were approaching down the river.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Burial of the Dead who fell at AbuKlea.— A generaladvance ordered to theNile.— Attack onMatamah.— Arrivalof some of Gordon's steamers.— Landing of Native troops.— Despatch from Gordon, "Khartoum all right: could hold out for yeai-s."—Gloomy account given by the Egyptian soldiers.—Private letter from Gordon.— Treachery at Khartoum.— Sir Charles Wilson's unaccountable delay.— Formation of a newcamp.— Shelling of Shendy. —Sir Charles Wilson at length departs for Khartoum with two steamers.— Difficulties at the Sixth Cataract.— Reports current that Khartoum had fallen.— The first glimpse of the city.— Engagement with the enemy'sbatteries.— Runningthe gauntlet— Khartoum in the hands of the Mahdi.— The steamers ordered to retreat.— Various native reports of the fall of Khartoum.— The Mahdi's account of the capture of the city.— The tieachery of Fara"h Pasha universally believed in.— Gordon killed on the threshold of his palace.—Death of ConsulHansal.— Two thousand other victims said to have fallen.— Reported massacre of women and children.— Fate of the remaining European residents at Khartoum.— Gordon's misplacedfaith in being timely succoured.

The news caused great commotion among the troops, and as the vessels came in view three ringing cheers weregiven. It was evidentenoughthatthese weresome of the steamers which Gordonhad turned to such good account in his river warfare, and that they had been sent by him to convey a portion of the British column to Khartoum. They soonstopped abreast of the village of Abu Kru, and at once proceeded to land 250 Bashi-Bazouks and Egyptians, together with four brass guns.

The men, who were armedwith serviceable Remingtous andbayonets, with waist and shoulder belts full of cartridges, proved a somewhat ragged lot as regards attire, but they werehearty and jovial and apparently fit for any amount of hard work. The British soldiers fraternized with themat once, and on their side they seemed delighted to find that the columnhad reached the Nile.

But a short time had elapsed and greetings were still beingexchanged whena fourth steamer was reported to bein sight, and as it approached slowly down the river On the return of the flying column to the zereba,Sir Charles Wilson gaveorders for ageneral advance to the " Accordin"to a statement subsequently made bythe Sheikhof the Shaiya tribe, thelosses of the enemyin killed and wounded at Abu Kleaapd Guliat wereupwards of 3,000 men.