24 GORDON AND THE MAHDI.

check a trade that in the eyes of the Soudanese, and notably of the Dongolawis, was legitimate and justified by theKoran, coupled with the fact ofhundreds of those engaged in it having been shot down by his orders, rankled deeply in many minds, and intensified the bitterfeeling that already existedagainstEgypt.

After Gordon's departure,Raouf Pasha, whom he had twice removed from governorships on account of his extortions, was appointed his successor. When Gordon's policy was reversed, his old officials becamemarkedmen, and a horde of Turks, Circassians, and Bashi-Bazouks

were oncemore letloose toharry the hapless Soudanese. Taxation returned with heavy pressure, and Baouf managednot only to fill the government treasury, but his own pocket w7ith surprising celerity7. Anything and everythingwas tixed, and after such a fashion that most of the products of the soil were made to pay four and five timesover,tillit wasno wonderthatthe inhabitants in sheer despair allowed their fields to lie fallow, and

wandered off as traders, slave dealers, or mere robbers. It wasnot alone the taxes themselves,but the mannerin

which they were collected, that roused suchbitter hatred against the Egyptian rule. One of the most important was the poll tax, which was levied on the nomad tribes. As the Bedouins never paidit willingly, it was collected by Bashi-Bazouks, who were quartered on the tribe till

the money w7as forthcoming. These collectors lived at free quartersin the camp, exactinga luxurious mainten- ance, and freely appropriating to themselves the wives and daughtersof their unwillinghosts. Shouldthelatter hesitate to pay,they were scourged with the kourbash,

tied up by the thumbs, exposed naked to the sun, or otherwisetortured. As aresult the feelingof the native Soudanese for these agentsof Egyptiantyranny was one of the bitteresthatred.

persed. The pacification of the Soudan seemed com- plete, and the final extinction of the slave trade only a

matter of time. But in July7, onhis wayback to Khar- toum, Gordon received the news of Khedive Ismail's abdication, and startedat once for Cairo.

He told Tewfik, the new Khedive, that he did not intend to go back, but he neverthelessaccepted a mission to Abyssinia to settle matterswithJohannes that entailed

some hardships and personal discomfort. Physically- worn out fromhis intense exertions,he came to England for a time, visitingonhis way7 thither the ex-Khediveat Naples, whoseguest he was for eight days. Gordon, on this occasion, did not disguise his opinion that the Powers in deposing Ismail had not only committed a

greatinjustice,but also apolitical blunder, which they

would soon have cause to regret. With characteristic outspokenness, he said to the ex-Khedive, "All your efforts for humanity have been misunderstood. But take courage. Some day, sooner or later, the day of justice will arrive, and itwillbe you who willrestore to Egypt her prosperity,and complete thesacred work you have commenced."

On the appointment of Earl Ripon to the Governor- Generalshipof India,Gordon accepted the post ofprivate

secretary to the Earl, but resigned it on his arrival at Bombay,feeling, as he expressedit, " the hopelessness of doing anything to the purpose in face of the vested interests out there." On the invitation of the Chinese authorities he soon afterwards left India for China, betweenwhich countryand Russia differenceshadarisen, andsuccessfully exerted his influence in the maintenance of peace. In the spring of 1881, Gordon went to the Mauritius as Commanding Boyal Engineer,and in the following May he proceeded to the Cape to aid the Colonial authorities in solving the Basuto difficulty. Shortly after hisreturn to Englandhe leftfor Palestine,

wherehe spent a year in retirement outside Jerusalem, devotingmuch time to proving, to the horror of pious tourists, that thereceived "holy places" arenot the right ones after all,and workingout the scheme of the Jordan canal.

Arabi's rebellionannihilatedthe authority ofthe Khe- dive Tewfik in the Soudan. With thesuppressionof the slave trade thecommerce of Khartoumhad declined. In Darfour, its realcentre, the occupationof thousands had beeninterferedwith,and at heart every slave-hunter was arebel. Turks,Circassians,andBashi-Bazouksplundered and oppressed in the Soudan, the same as inBulgaria. Oppression begat discontent; discontent necessitatedan increasein the armedforce at the disposalof the authori-

ties, and this increasehad to be supportedby7 augmented taxation. So things went onin adismal circle till they culminated,afterrepeatedfinancialdeficits,inadisastrous rebellion. Hard times, the failure of crops, universal extortion and general discontent prepared a soil most favourable to the germinationof the seed cast forth from thehands of theMahdi.

For it must be notedthat the mostcompetent authori- ties fail to recognizethe present movement as essentially areligiousone. Gordon stated that the treatment the people received, justified them in rebelling, and instead

of regarding theMahdi as a religiousleader, said thathe personified popular discontent, and wasprobably a mere puppet put forward by Ilyas, Zebehr's father-in-law,and the largest slave-owner in El Obeid, only assuminc a religioustitlein order to give colour to his defence of popular rights. Lieut.-Colonel Stewart ascribed the rebellion to the venality and weakness of the officials, particularly in the Southern Soudan,the suppression of the slavetrade, andmilitary weakness,combined w*iththe oppressionpractisedbytheBashi-Bazouks. ConsulHansal, atwentyyears'residentat Khartoum, wrote,"The frustra- tion of the slave trade, the government monopoly of the chiefarticles of commerce, the universal looseness in the management of affairs, and the barbarous treatment of

CHAPTER V.

KaoufPasha succeeds Gordon inthe Soudan,andrenews the old system of oppression and torture.— The Khedive's authority destroyed by Arabi's rebellion.— The Soudan ready for the seed sownby the Mahdi.— The promised Mahdiand the date of his coming.—

Mahomed Ahmed, the pretendedMahdi.—

His originand personal appearance.— His early knowledge of the Koran.— Is apprenticed to aboat-builder.— Runs awayand joins afakir school near Khar- toum.— Completes hisreligious education andis ordained a fakir. — Prays and fasts incessantly in a cave at Aba.— Acquires a great reputation for sanctity.— Assembles numerous fanatical dervishes around him.— Makeshis pretensions known to his fakir brethren, and then publicly proclaims his mission.— Raouf Pasha dispatches an emissary toremonstrate with him withill-success. — Successive defeatofvarious expeditionsundertakenagainst the Mahdi,— The rebellion rapidly spreads. During his administration of the Soudan, General Gordon had established a system of just and equitable government, which after his departure led to inevitable revolt against the misrule of his successors. He had warned the Khedive on his appointment that he would renderit for everimpossible for Turks andCircassians to govern the Soudan again. By treating the people justly, andby mercilessly repressing all who defied the laws,he had establisheda much higher standardof government

than had ever prevailed in that region before. At the same time he himself had to some extent contributed to further the hatred against the Egyptian rule by his policy as regardedthe slave dealers. His endeavours to