GORDON AND THE MAHDI. 45

moved by their relatives. It was bitterly observed at Suakim, that MahmoudTahir,the man whoaban- doned Commander Moncrieff to his

fate, stayed idly in the town doing nothing, while he might have led

1,200 men to therescue. Baker Pasha started from Cairo for Suakim onDecember 18, having been preceded by Colonel Sartorius, his chief of the staff The rebels were already threatening Eewayeh, a townnorthof Suakimandbetween

that place and Kosseir, and an Egyptian gunboathad to be sent to

carry off the garrison and inhabi- tants. The new commander and his staff embarkedat Suez onboard

the Red Sea steamer Munsourah, some of the ordinary incidents on the voyage of which to Suakim, in- cluding the gamblingof the officers,

the praying of the men, and the poundingof the coffee for the pasha are shown in the accompanying illustrations. At the timeof Baker Pasha's arrival, H.M.S. Euryalus,

flying the flag of Rear-Admiral Sir William Hewitt, and several gun- boats, were anchoredoff Suakim.

With the objectof entering into relations with some of the Arab and

Abyssinian chiefs and arranging, if possible,for the retreat of the Khar-

toum garrison by way of Kassala, STEERING THE STEAMER " MANSOURAH."

Baker Pasha proceeded in company with Admiral Hewitt to Massowah, ar- rivingthereonDecember 31. DuringtheirstaytheGeneral dispatchedanumberofblack

troops belongingtothe Mas- sowah garrison by steamer to Suakim, eventually re- placing them by Egyptians

from the latter place. On his return to Suakim early hiJanuaryBaker Pasha set

to workto organizehisforces,

thefirstobjecthehadinview being the relief of Sinkat,

where Tewfik Bey, though Still holding out gallantly, could not hope to do so

much longer,owing to lack ofprovisions. This informa- tion wasbrought by acouple of Soudanese employed as spiesontherebelmovements, and who were subjected to the usual close questioning in orderto test the truth of

their story. Negotiations, from which at the outset great hopes were enter- tained, but which subse- quently turned out to be

futile,were thereuponopened with a number of tribuj A DISCUSSION ABOUT THE HORSES' FODDER, Lv