GORDON AND THE MAHDI. 38

inourmidst, lest the enemy's cavalry surprise us. In this we

can march only ten miles a day, for after twelve the heat becomes frightful, as we are not far from the equator. Thusit takes us four

daysto get from one set of wells to another. Then, perhaps, when

weget to where water ought to be, we find the wells filled up with

stonesand earth, or, mayhap, rottingbodiesof menand camels. Then wehave togoright-about-faceback again to where wecamefrom, with the enemy's cavalryhanging on our flank all the time, and watching anopportunity to make a dash at us. You knowIam by this time, after anexperienceof many years,pretty well accustomed todangers of most kinds, evensome extra. YetIassure youIfeel it terrible to face deadly peril far awayfrom civilised ideas and where nomercy is tobemet with, incompan withcravens that you expect to seerunat everymoment, and who willleave youbehind to face the worst."

those worn in the middle ages. They had with them four Krupp guns, six Nordenfelts, and ten mountain howitzers. On the following day they marched from Omdurman onthe Kordofanside of theNile where their camp had been formed, and in twelve days reached Duem, a distanceusually covered by caravansin a third

of the time. Reinforced bythe garrisons of Duem and Kawa theynumbered 10,500 men. With GeneralHicks wereAladeen Pasha, Governor General of the Soudan, Abbas Bey,Colonel Farquhar,chief of the staff,Majors Seckendorff, Massey and Warner, Mr. Evans, chief of

the intelligence department, Captains Herlth and Anatyagna, Surgeon-General Georges Bey, Surgeon Rosenberg, Mr. Cheyne, a civil engineer, Mr. Frank

Vizetelly,artist of The Graphic, who when attached to the staff of the IllustratedLondonNews, for many years previously, had gone through the various campaigns

in Italy, and been with the Confederates throughout the American Civil War. He had marched with the

OnSeptember 27 thehapless armymarched forth from Duem to its doom. Its path from the outset was beset by the Mahdi's spies, who faithfully reported to himits every movement, whilst General Hicks had to trust to treacherousguidesand false reports. There was dissen- sion,too,in the Egyptian ranks, for Aladeen Pasha was bitterly jealous that hehadnot been entrusted with the

supreme command, and rumour afterwards credited him

witha wilful share in the impending disaster. Military critics shook their heads ominously as they read of the decisiontaken by the council of war, called at the first halting place, to give up the proposed series of posts connecting* the army with its base, and to leave the line of retreat to be crowded in byhordes of savages. One of the last messages receivedfrom the army was penned by Mr.Evans, and dated September 30. The followingpassage occurs init :— *-

expedition all the way on foot from Suakim to Berber,a

feat noEuropeanhad everaccomplished before. Finally there wasMr. O'Donovan,the able correspondent of the DailyNeics, who asrepresentativeof that paperhad been present with the Turkish army in Armenia in 1877-8, and had afterwards followed the Carlist Civil War in Spain, and who in 1879 visited the land of the Tekke

Turcomans, sojourning in close intimacy with these marauding tribes for a period of five months at Merv. Colonel de Coetlogondid not accompany General Hicks's expedition, being engaged in patrolling the Nile and

hindering the further passage of rebels into Kordofan, andColonelColborne,MajorMartin,andCaptainForestier- Walker wereabsent onsick leave.

"Theheat is terrible. About thirty menhare died from exhaustion, and dozens of the camels die daily . . . We halted at this miser- ablevillage of twenty huts to give the men aud beasts alittle rest—

the water is horrible. The enemy is said to be ingreat force thirty miles in front of us, so that we shall meet in four days. The road behind usis closed ;and, after this communication, nothingmore can be sent to Khartoum till wehave defeatedtherebels." Gloomy forebodings as to their possible fate had already seized on some of the stoutest hearts in the expedition. Major Seckendorff, writing from Duem, on September22, said:— Writing on the same day, and dating from the entrenched camp thirty miles south-west of Duem, Mr. O'Donovanrecordedthatthe armywasadvancingasrapidly as possible to El Obeid in order to press on adecided action. After describingthe great precautionstakenon thelineof march to prevent surprise, the letterproceeds: — " There will be no communication with the external world for the next few weeks, as for the moment we practicallyburn ourships." His last message was dated fromSange Hamferid camp, 45 miles south-west of El Duem,Oct.10, andwas as follows:— "Wehavehaltedfor

the past three days, owing to the uncertainty of the water supplyin front. Here we are entirelydependent on surface pools. A reconnaissance of thirty miles for- wardyesterdayby ColonelFarquhar ascertained that the poolswere barely sufficient for arapidmarch to the vil- lage of Sarakhua, now deserted, where there are a few-

wells. The enemy is still retiring, and sweeping the country bare of cattle." A portion of a private letter from Mr. O'Donovan, written at this period, and to which, in common with the above extracts, amelancholy interestnow attaches,is givenin sac-simile, togetherwith aportrait of the writer, on the oppositepage.

The last telegramreceivedfromHicks Pasha was dated October 17. Init he said:— "The army is twenty miles

fromNourabi. We have depended on the poolsof rain- water. Fortunately we have found by reconnaissances that water is ensured as far as Sarakhua. The guides' informationis vague. Iregret abandoning the intention of establishingposts and a line of communication. The Governor-General informs me that the Arabs will close in after the army has passed andpreventsupplies— be-

sides the pools willdry up. Water is not obtainable ex-

"Pleasant timesare certainly notin store for us. TheFalseProphet will give endless trouble. He musters a great force, aud disposes of over15,000 goodbreechloaders and fourteen cannons, besides holding two fortified cities, Bara andEl Obeid. The most important thing is thathe commands well-mounted cavalry, and fanaticism makes heroes ofall his people— a description which certainly does not apply to out- troops. IhaveseenEgyptians in threebattles, and shouldbe ataloss to find onehero among them. The lack of water is terrible. All the wells ontheroad are destroyed. When wemarch from here we leave theNile, and other rivers there arenone. We cannot carrymore water than we need for twenty-fourhours, and how much thatis, youknow when youremember thatweare11,000 men,with6000 camels, horses, and mules Ifour cavalry gives timely notice of attack from the Arabs then all will go well, but if they succeed in taking us by surprise then we must be prepared for the worst. If they defeat us once, not oneof us will return home, forthen the entire Soudan will i*ise as one man. Khartoumandall will be lost. The peoplewillthen place unbounded faithin theFalse Prophet."

Mr. O'Donovan in a letter from the same place, dated September 23, after referringto the death of anintimate friend, continues:—

"Iam writing this under circumstances which bring me almost near to death as it is possible to bewithout being under absolute .sentenceof executionor in the throes of some deadly malady;and yet Ispeak of poor asifIweregoing tolive for ever. It wouldbe oddif thenext intelligence from this partof the worldtold that I,too, had gone the wayof all flesh. However, to die evenout here, with a lance-head as big as a shovel through me will meet my viewsbetter than the slow, gradual sinking into the grave which is the lot of so many. You must know thathere we are 1500 miles awaysouth of "Cairo, inthemidst of awild, almost unexploredcountry. The Egyptian army, with which Iam here camped on the banks of the Nile, will have but one chance given them, one tremendous pitchedbattle. " The enemy we have to meet are as courageous and fierce as the Zulus, and muchbetter armed:and our army is that which ran away before ahandful of British troops at Tel-el-Kebir. We are obliged to tnarchin square, with our baggage and water camels, 5000innumber,