GORDON AND THE MAHDI. 36

ENGLISH OFFICERS DRILLINGEGYPTIAN TROOPS.

Khartoum itself, where the following letter of Iskender Bey, who, it will be remembered, had commanded the Khedive's troops in El Obeid, but who had since its

surrender transferredhis allegianceto the FalseProphet, hadbeen circulated:—

use of firearms ;spears and swords are used. In the name of the great God, the Godof all times, he (the Mahdi)has not bidden us to

write this, but we do itourselves with free will,and out of anxietyfor your good."

General Hicks set to work to organize and equip the expeditionary army which was reinforcedfrom Cairo, and at the same timenegotiations wereset on foot to secure the active support of those tribes in Kordofan who as yet preserved their neutrality,and of Adam the Sultan of the Nubian negroes inhabiting the mountainous country of Tekele to the south of Kordofan. The latter promisedhisassistance,offeringto jointheEgyptianswith his troops if they came near enough for him to effect a junction. On August 20th, General Hicks formally assumed the command of the expeditionary force. The first questionto bedecided was the route to be chosen for the advance on El Obeid, and this depended upon the facility of obtaining asupply of water on the march. The wholeof Kordofan dependsupon a few wells lying at long distances apart and nearlyor altogether dry in the summer months. After some deliberation it was decided to take the most southerly route following the Nile as far as Duem and thence striking across the

desert inasouth-westerly directionthrough Gebel Kohn to the Birket Shirkele. According to such information as could be gathered at Khartoum the difficulties as re- garded the water supply on thisroute appeared to be comparatively small, but as a precautionarymeasure it

was resolvedby thegeneral to have sufficient camels to carry asupply for twenty-four hours for the whole army ifneeded.

"From the servants of God, Sheikh Mahomed Iskenderand Sheikh Yussuf Mansnr, formerly officers of the Kordofanarmy, nowhelpers of the Mahdi, with whomis peace, to all the Mohammedanofficers of the

armyin Khartoum. We warnyou, friends, and sincerely advise you, in accordance with the traditions of the Prophet;greeting and peace be with him. We have not been forced to write this warning,but from fear ofyour destruction, andlest you should come to a bad end, we give you our willing counsel. Friends, we are with the Mahdi, and though we have been with him for six months and have during that time heard allhis words, we have not discovered the slightest thing that is evil in him or in his holy mission. We swear by the great God and by the excellent Koranthat he is the true Mahdi, the expected one. A proof of this we findin the fact that the great sums of gold andsilver which havecome intohis possession, havenoattrac- tion for him, but they lie in the Moslem treasury,incharge of atrust- worthy man, who doles them out to widows and orphans, followersand emigrants. The Mahdispeaks politely to everybody (notwithstanding that the contrary has been reported in Khartoum), he abhors false- hood, and his pride is the spread and glory of our religion. He is always smilingand his countenanceisbeaming as thefull moon. His appearanceis like that of the sons of Israel(Ishmael), and onhis right cheek is a wart, and other signs which are written inthe books of the holy law. We all receive a sufficiency out of histreasury, but haveno regular wages. Ifwe were to describe to youall the goodqualitiesof the Mahdi we shouldhave to write you a longletter;butif youare good Moslems, despise earthly thingsand look towards the end and toparadise. The

waythither is bysubmission to theSeyd el Mahdi. Bewareof fighting against Moslems. We and you, God willing, will fight against the un- believers, the enemies of the faith. If you are believers in God and

His prophet, leave off helping unbelievers, and remember that victory comes from God, and that He gives it to whom He will. Together with the Mahdi's large army,consisting of 200,000 fightingmen, we have Remington guns and shells, which have been taken from the Turks. In spite of this the Mahdi, with whom is peace, prevents the

On September 8, General Hicks reviewedhis troops, consisting of 7000 infantry, 400 mountedBashi-Bazouks, and 100 cuirassiers sheathed in coats of mail, recalling