GORDON AND THE MAHDI. 35

of a handful of British officers. The whitehelmet made itself conspicuous,and the fellah soldierglanced now and again overhis shoulder to this reassuringrallying point.

Colonel Farquhar, accompanied byCaptain Massey and four Bashi-Bazouks, raced in to report the enemy's ad- vance. So rapid was this thatin fifteenminutes they were on us in a cloud. About one thousand yards to our front andright was a wood out of which spearmen

were pouring in their thousands, led by their chiefs carrying gaily coloured banners. There they arein the opening of the woodin front, there they are, aconfused crowd of horsemen and footmen,breakingwithno effort at organization from their cover. Zuish!fly a couple of rockets followedby the sharp bang of a sectionof howit-

zers. Eagerly we watched the effect, but the rockets burstupon our ownmen, andthough the shells hadbeen nicely timed they seemed to makebut littleimpression. Breaking from cover the enemy sweeps with an inward

curve right and left, his extreme flanks converging to-

wards the opposingangles of our square. Now file-firing commences from the front directly assailed, the men havingbeen cautioned to aimlow. Nearer they swept, horse and foot closingon either flank, but as they came

withinour zoneof fire, theybuttedforward,hit to death. The Nordenfeldts have now got to work, and withina fewminutes theleading mob, for it wasbut that, fellin piles. But fanaticism knows no check. The chosen chiefs of the Mahdi were there, followedby their own chosenhenchmen. Theystaggeredto the front,to break into a furious gallopstraight for ourdeath-dealingsquare,

while in their rear swiftly sped the faithful spearmen. "Onward they came, waving their banners inscribed with the Mahdi's own renderingof the Koran;but the

hordes waver, and are greeted with a tremendous howl

from our troops, who had stood as steadily as any troops could. Now the enemymove off* to their right, amongthelong grass, and our front is cleared. Shells are bursting among them. All are soon out of sight, except afew whowalk aboutunconcernedly,and actually comeup singly,after the rest have retreated, to within

a few yards, brandishing their spears in defiance. One after another these poor fanatics are knocked over. When the smoke had rolled awayit was seen that the

ground was strewn with corpses, most of them within four hundredyards. " A strangeepisode occurred then. Within six yards two men werelying with one of the standards before spoken of. An Egyptian captain was sent out by his colonelto secure it. No sooner had he taken hold of it thanup rose the standard-bearer, who wasonly wounded in theleg, and dashed a spear into his left hand, while

the other,not wounded at all, also attacked him. The officer cut over the first with a blowon the neck, and the other was shot,but not before a desperate struggle had taken place. And now, when victory was secured, it wasa curious sight to see the Bashi-Bazouks, who, on camels, had been acting as scouts, show their joy by brandishingtheirrifles over their heads, whiletheir band of music struck up a wildtriumphalair, accompaniedby 'tam-tamming.' Three cheers were now given for the Khedive, then for Hicks Pasha, and then for Suleiman Pasha. The joy and enthusiasm of the troops at their first victory were intense. Their officers came up and warmlyshook hands with the Englishofficers. "The exuberant joy of our little Soudanese was ex- cessive, andinits demonstration they displayed all the childish glee of semi-savage natures. Perched on the backs of camels or astride their ponies, they tossed

their lances spinning into the air, waved their arms, and chanted withwild abandona sort of Soudanese 'lo Triumphe.' This was accompanied by furious volleys of tam-tamming and ear-splitting blasts from the horns of buffaloes and hollowed tusks. The scene— a mix- ture as it was of infantine delight and demoniacal

savagery— was thoroughlyAfrican and characteristicof a rudimentaiy formof socialexistence. No regret for the

loss of life,no compunctionfor the shedding of blood,no ethicalabstraction marred the pure pleasure which the sense of victory conveyed to thesesimple warriors."

The forces under Amr-el-Makashef were estimated at from 4000 to 5000, and their loss could not havebeen less than 500 slain on the field, irrespective of those carried offbytheir friends. The Egyptianslost onlytwo killed and a few wounded. They continued to advance onGebelAin. This positionwas howeverfound to have been abandoned by the rebels, the bulk of whom had either fled further south or crossed over intoKordofan. All, however, who essayed the latter course were not equally fortunate,forGeneralHicks andhissteamerscame upona partyof some hundreds crossing the riveronrafts, aud, opening fire with the Nordenfeldts, slew a large number. Several chiefs tendered their submission, and by the close of the summer the insurrection was virtually crushed in Senaar, though Darfour and Kordofan were stillin the hands of theMahdi.

Khedive'stroops, encouragedby their Englishofficers,had no fear. Theyhad seen the charm-protected enemybite the dust under their fire. Allah and the true prophet were with them, and they hurled defiance in answer to the fanatical apostrophising of the rebellious sheikhs. Still the chiefs ledon their men withall the reckless and romanticchivalry of the old Saracen knights. One by one they fell dismounted, twoor three to rise againand dashforward on foot,wavingtheirstandards,only to drop andrise no more.

"Andwhatgallantmentheywere!Rightup to thecan- non's mouth,right up to the rifle muzzle dauntless they rode,encouragingtheirfollowerswith thepromiseof para- dise, to break oursquare. ButNordenfeldts andReming-

tons arenorespecters of creedsor fanaticalidiosyncrasies. Sheikh after sheikh wentdown withhis banner, although the Mahdi had assured each thathe was invulnerable;

and their faithful,but misguided followersfell in circles around the chiefs they blindlyfollowed. Twelve of the most prominent leaders— nine from Senaar aud three

from Kordofan— have left their bones to whiten onthe battlefield amidst threehundred of their followers. These

werethemen whomtheMahdihad declared proof against the Turkish bullets.

"The rebels were commanded by Amr-el-Makashef, who, with another leader, the Sheikh ElArakee,hadbeen only recently sent from Kordofan by Mahomed Ahmed,

the so-called Mahdi. Calmly, and apparently without the slightest fear, did these Arab cavaliers ride about fromright to left,as if seekingto pick out a weak point at which to charge andbreak into ourcompact body.

"Their devotedness was in vain. One after another they bit the ground, the first-named chieftain being- rolledoverby the Nordenfeldt at ourleft corner. After half anhour's continued rattle of musketry, seeingtheir chiefs fallen, and the bannersin the dust,the advancing

After a sojourn of a few days at GebelAin,General Hicks and his forces returned to Khartoum, a sti-ona.

garrisoncontinuingto occupy Duem. The reconquestof Kordofan was determinedupon* the annihilation of the Mahdi having now become a matter of paramount impor-

tance in the eyes of the Egyptian authorities,from the fact of his emissaries seeking to foment a revolt in