GORDON AND THE MAHDI. 152 was agreed to pass thenight, as it wasthen nearly dark. Several natives at once came over and talked with the Egyptiansoldiers;and a Soudanese dervish— the same whohad come down to the shore at Khartoum with a white flag— eventually arrived opposite the steamer, having followed the party down the rightbank of the Nile on a camel. He still waved his flag, andon being rowedacross to the sandbank it was found he was the bearerof a letter from theMahdi. This dervish was an intelligent, stalwartnegro, who evidently thoroughly-believedin the False Prophet. He remained for half an hour with Sir Charles AVilson, and added personal persuasionto his master'swrittenappeal. The letter was written in bold,plain Arabic characters, upon tawnywhiteunruledletter paper, and was signed with a large square Arabic seal. It ran as follows: CHAPTER XIX.

Sad effect of the news of the fall of Khartoum on the troops at Gubat. — Rejoicings among the rebels at Matamah.— Wreck of one of Sir Charles Wilson's steamers.— A flag of truce.— Letter from the Mahdi demanding surrender.— Ruse of Khasm-el-Moos.— Wreck of the second steamer.— Sir Charles Wilson and his men inperil. — Lord Charles Beresford comes to the rescue.— Engagement with the foe.— Bravery of Benbow the engineer.— General Earle's expedition up the Nile.— Arrival at Kirbekan.— Attack upon the enemy.— The Black Watch carries the hostile position with the bayonet.— General Earle shot dead.— Capture of the enemy's camp.— The advance to Abou Hammed countermanded.— Lord Wolseley orders a general retreat.— Sir Redvers Buller assumes the command of General Stewart's column.— Attack upon a convoy of wounded.—Mortality among wounded men at Gakdul.— Death and funeral of Sir Herbert Stewart.— The whole force concentrated at Korti.— Lord Wolseley's general order and promise of an autumn campaign.— The Suakim and Berber railway.— A succession of engagements with the tribes in the neighbourhood of Suakim.— The abandonment of the Soudan decided upon.— The anti-Mahdi enters El Obeid.— The Mahdi attacked by smallpoxat Omdurman.— His death.— Contestbetweenhis followers.— Pretended assassinationof Olivier Painbyorderof the BritishStaff.

" Inthename of the merciful God! Thanks for the honourable God and prayersbe to our apostleMahomed. From the poor servant of God, Mohamed El Mahdi. son of Abdullah, to the English officers and the Shagiya and all their followers :— " First thing, surrender yourselves and you will be safe. Ibriefly tell you,perhaps God will direct you in the wayof the righteous. Let it be known to youthat the city of Khartoum and all the neighbourhood thereof has been destroyed by thepower of God Almighty, which no one can oppose. This thing was done throughus;everything is now in our hands. As long as youare a small force, and very likely in our hands you can do whatever you choose, either give yourselves up and preventbloodshed of the servants of the creatures of God, who arein yourhands, and the grace and thepeace of God andhis Apostle will settle upon you. Butif yon donot believe whatIhave written, and you want to know the reality about Khartoum, send a special messenger from yourselves to come here and assure yourselves of the truth of the information, and the peace of God and his Apostle be with your messenger. We shall not kill you till he comes here and seesall about the matter for himself, and we will send him back with a safe escort from us. As God saysin his precious Book, 'If any of the ungodly come to you, youmust keep him safely until helistens to the words of God, and then do for him whateverhe wishes.' If, on the other hand, youlike to fight, we shall not oppose your wish. If it were not thatwepity you, weshould nothave writtenthis letter to you. If you yield, youshould know that thepeace of God will settle upon you, and you willbe savedfrom all hurt. If yon do not wish to yield, you shall bepunished in this world and the next. It is known that victory is for the believers. You must not be proud of your steamers and many other things. If youdonot yield to my advice you shall repent. You must be quick or your wings will be cut. A man who guides the peoplein theright way,God will guidehim also right. " 11thRabbeah Mani, 1302.

While Sir Charles Wilson was proceeding onhis adventurous journey to Khartoum, the troops assembled near AbuKru,had frequent skirmishes with the enemy entrenched at Matamah. With the little steamer to act as aferry, parties of Eg3-ptians were despatched to the low island opposite the camp to cut down the green dhurra and beans for forage. The larger vessel, the Sophia, was in the meantime utilized by Lord Charles Beresford who went tip and down therivershellingrebels and landingdetachments of troops who captured several headof cattle, thus securing rations of fresh meat for themselves and comrades. OnJanuary 27 the force was surprised to hearagreat commotionin Matamah,and at first an attack was anticipated. But although the hubbublastedthroughout theday— thetorntomsbeating incessantly and shots being fired in the air— the rebels showed no signs of sallying forth, and it soon became evident that they were simply rejoicing. Their reasons for doingso couldnot be ascertainedat the time, andthe matterhad wellnigh beenforgotten,whenatdaybreakon February1,intense excitementwas causedinthe campby the appearanceof a smallrow-boatcomingdown theNile. It proved to contain Lieutenant Stuart Wortley, who with four English soldiers and eight natives,had rowed down the river for a distance of forty miles, fortunately without beingmolestedby the enemy. The sad tidings which theybrought werecalculatedtodepresseveryheart. The two steamersdespatched to Khartoumhad bothbeen wrecked on their way down the Nile, SirCharles Wilson and his menhad taken refuge on an island where they wereinimminent danger of arebel attack, and far above aught else Khartoum was in the hands of the Mahdi. The camp was overwhelmedby thefatal announcement. It was so little expected that the men had been comfortingthemselves with the prospect ofbeing able to relieve the long beleagured city, and cheer its heroic defender within a few weeks at the latest. The news now fell like a thunderbolt in the camp, and saddened the stoutest hearts. Eager inquiries were made on all sides about Gordon,but Lieutenant Stuart Wortley and his men could only reply that they had been unable to ascertain anythingpositively. From the statements made respecting the wreck of the steamers it w-as evident that Sir Charles Wilson urgently needed assistance. The Tellhoweiya. had foundered already on January 29, whilepassing over the sixth cataract,thecrewbeingfortunately savedina large nuggar which the vesselhadin tow. The guns also and stores were landedon aneighbouring sandbank, where it " P.S.— No God but oneGod. Mohamedisthe Apostle of God. " MonAMEDElMahdi, Son of Abdullah." Thisletterhad averydepressing effect upon the Arabs, and theEgyptianofficers exhibiteda desireto comply with the Mahdi's demands. In answer to questions from Sir Charles Wilson and others, the messenger replied that theMahdi hadbeen sentby God to convert the world to the Mussulmanreligion,andit washisintentionto march straight upon Stamboul. The dervish then pressed Kashm-el-Moos and Abdul Hamid Bey for a direct answer, whereupon, with the approval of Sir Charles Wilson, and in order to gain time, Kashm-el-Moos wrote to the Mahdi, stating that his intention was to submit withhis men to the Fakir Mustapha, whomhe knew had a force of 4,000 men, together with two or three guns, at the foot ofthe SixthCataract. It was feared that there wouldbe greatdifficulty ingetting past that point,andit washopedthat the letterwouldpartly put the rebelsoff their guard. Indeed,Kashm'sletter satisfied thedervish, as wellas aneighbouring sheikh who accompaniedhim, and who had made preparations to oppose the party's return. The sheikh withdrew his riflemen, and the passageoverthe cataract was thereupon effectedquietly.

On January 31,however, just as the Bordein wasclearing the finalrapids,past the islandof Mernat,she struck on a rock, breaking her bow so badly that the water