145 GORDON AND THE MAHDI.

away, but in the evening as provisions were running short— and it was desired to let Lord Wolseley know what had happened— a convoy of camels was sent out after dark to return to Gakdul with instructions to bring stores up from there. An escort of 300 men, composed of Guards, Heavies, and Mounted Infantry, under the command of Colonel Talbot, accompanied the convoy, which wasguided onits wayby Lord Cochrane andsome natives.* On the morrow,January 24,thatis threedays after the receipt of Gordon's communication, Sir Charles Wilson at last thought fit to start for Khartoum. He might have done so on the afternoon of the 21st, for LordCharles Beresfordhad already hadthe twoprincipal steamers examined and the necessary repairs done to them,but procrastination seems to have beenthe allbut invariable rule throughout the expedition. The force selected to accompany Sir Charles Wilson consisted of twentymenof the Royal Sussex,and acouple ofhundred Soudanese troops who embarked on board the Bordein and the Tellhoweiya,thetwo bestof the five steamers. Sir Charles Wilson was on the former vessel together with Captain Gascoigne and Khasm-el-Moos Bey; while the latterwascommandedbyAbdulHamad Bey,withCaptain Trafford and Lieutenant Stuart Wortley. The newspaper correspondents applied for leave to accompany the expedition,but this was peremptorily- refused in accordance with Lord Wolseley's orders. Starting from the British camp at 8 a.m., the vessels reached the village of Gandatu three hours later and stoppedto take in wood for firing. A messenger here came onboardthe Bordein from the Sheikh of the Shagiya tribe, who sent wordthat his menwere ready- to join the English as soon as their power was established. The victories at Abu Klea and Gubat had produced great effect, the enemy estimating their total loss at 3,000men. The steamers stopped for thenight nearDerrera, starting off again at 5.30 a.m.on January25. Another stoppagewas made at nine o'clock for wood, and then the vessels went on their way again, passing Wad-el-Habeshi at the foot of the sixth cataract, wherethe enemy-hadmade embrasuresfor guns. They were,how-everallunoccupied.

, At three o'clock the steamers entered the cataract,and onnearingone ofthe islands of Hassan a couple of hours afterwards theBordeinranuponarock. Sheonlycleared it on the followingmorning,andthe water wasso shallow that all the men had to be landed to lighten the vessel and enable her to pass over a rapid. However, she soon went aground again,and the expedition wasdelayed for the wholeday. Two Arabs of the Shagiya tribe who came on board reported that GeneralGordon had been fighting for a fortnight, and that the advance of the English wits greatly feared. They addedthattheir tribe was only waiting for a positive turn of affairs to declare either one wayor the other. A fresh start was made early on the morningof January 27, and onreachingthe villageof Gos-Nefisa some morewoodwastaken onboard-While this operationproceeded an Arab informed Lieutenant Stuart Wortley that a camel-driver from Omdurmanhad passed thatday, reporting the fall of Khartoum and deathof GeneralGordon,but this was generally disbelieved. The vessels continued on their way up the Nile, and throughout the afternoonthey werefired upon by Arabs stationed on the western bank. Theystopped for the night at a village on the east bank opposite Tamaniat, and at six o'clock on the following morning they were once more under steam proceeding at the utmost speed towardsKhartoum.

Gebel-seg-et-Taib, a steep point of a hill near the river's edge, where gunshad formerly beeninposition to fire on Gordon's vessels, was reached at an earlyhour andfound unoccupied. Shortly afterwards, however, a manof the Shagiya tribe shouted fromthe easternbank, thatKhartoumhad fallen two daysbefore. Discredited at first, these reportsrepeatedat every bendin theriver, now filled all hearts with alarm. Who can tell what passedin the minds of these men hurrying to the relief of Gordon, anddreading every moment to discover that the statements of the nativeswere true, that blood and treasure hadbeen poured forth in vain, and that they were destined to arrive too late. For months and months the valiant hero had battled with the foe, abandoned to his own resources, treated with derision whenhe appealed for Zebehror the Turks,denied every request,told to abandon his post of honour when abandonmenthadbecomeanimpossibility,evenif it hadbeen compatiblewithhischivalrousideas, andnowthatsuccour was sent,it was perhaps destinedto prove unavailing The crews of theBordein and the Tellhoweiyawerenot left long in doubt. At nine o'clock they passed the island and villageof Vakeel Amin, which were found to be in the occupation of Sheikh Mustapha, one of Mohamed Ahmed'shead ameers. Running thegauntlet of the rebel fire the vessels steamed onwards, and when just belowFighiaiha, a glimpse was caught ofKhartoum through a telescope. Shortly after eleven o'clock an island was reached, andhere therebelshiddenamongthe grass and bushes on thelow banks, opened a veryhot rifle fire. The Bordein was in front with the Tellhoweiya close behind,and at noon they- werebothabreastof Halfaya, where the enemyoccupied an entrenched position with four guns. Both vessels respondedto the rebelfire with their howitzers and rifle volleysat arange of five hundredyards, and still steaming up the river, they at last came abreastof Tutiisland, which theyhoped tofind occupied by Gordon's troops. But a heavy fusillade was opened upon themat a distance of a hundred and fifty yards, andtwo guns began to shellthemapparently from Khartoum. As the southern extremityof Tuti island wasapproached,anotherheavy fire was openeduponthem fromfourKrupp guns stationedat thefort of Omdurman, which was evidently in the Mahdi's possession. Meanwhile thousands of rebels swarming on the banks blazed awayat thesteamers with their Remingtons,butfortunately withlittle effect. Those on boardcouldnow see Gordon's troop-barges drawn up, together with a large fleet ofnuggars and native craft, on theKhartoumshore, opposite the Omdurman ferry. Nothing couldbe seen however of the two steamers that the General was re ported to have retained. Looking towardsKhartoum the north-westshore outside the city was swarming with rebels; whilst men with Mahdi flags and in Mahdi uniformsthrongedthe streets,housetops,andforts. Thousands ofothers,many of them dervishes, disdaining the cover of trenches, ran down the low ground to the * Sir CharlesWilson, in a despatchaddressed to Lord Wolseley, gave the following reasons for the delay on January 23. He observed:— "General Gordon, in a most characteristic letter, addressed to the chief of the staff or to the officer commanding the British advanced guard, insisted strongly onour taking actual command of the steamers, and removing from them all Pashas, Beys, and men of Turkish or Egyptian origin. He wrote in strong terms of the uselessness of these meninaction, and begged that, if the boats were not manned by British sailors, they should be sent back to him with none but Soudanese crews and soldiers. It was originally intended that the steamers should be manned by the Naval Brigade, but Lord Charles Beresford was in hospitalunable to walk, and all the other officers of the 1-rigai.le, and several of the best petty officers and menhadbeen killed or wounded. It was therefore necessary to select Soudanese officers crews, and soldiers from the four ships, and to transfer them to the two steamers going toKhartoum."