GORDON AND THE MAHDI. 62 were onlyarmed with lances and swords, dashed along, cutting down the flying Egyptians. The rebel infantry thenappeared,andrushed aboutin all directions,hacking at the men disabled by the cavalry charge. This slaughtercontinued for nearly two miles, Gordon's men not stopping to fire a shot. Then the Arabs halted, and anofficer rallied some of the troops and they commenced a dropping but harmless fire at the enemy, who seemed content not to advance,but treated the Egyptians with the greatest contempt, some riding quietly on camels in front of the muzzles of their rifles. This continued till midday, men occasion.ally dropping from stray bullets firedby therebels. The latter then drew off to their old position,carrying with them a number of rifles and cartridgesand two mountain guns abandoned by theEgyptians. The irregulars, instead of returning into camp, coolly adjourned to aneighbouring friendly villageopposite the palace and, when they had completely looted this andkilled some of the inhabitants,strolled back to the camp.

ing. They, however, did not fire, and the steamers, having waited some time,making signals with the flags of truce without effect, returned, as the limit of time named by General Gordon had expired. On the way back ColonelStew-artlandedon the easternbank, which was quiet, and held a large meetingof sheikhs. Here he learned that Tuk Ibrahimhad lately returned from Obeid, with a firman from Mohamed Ahmed Mahdi, appointing himchief of the other bank, and authorising himtolevy the hostofmen seenwithhimso as to prevent any landing,butinstructing himnot to cross the river.

On March 2 ColonelStewartagain ascended the White Nile,and again issued proclamations of peace, with no good result however. Ten days afterwards the rebel attackagainstKhartoumcommenced. Some 4,000 of the Mahdi'smeninarched to theNile and cut off 800 soldiers posted at Halfaya, a village to the north of the city. A steamer was sent to reconnoitre, and the moment she reached the front of the rebel position a volley was fired into her,woundingan officer and asoldier. The steamer returned the fire, killing five rebels. It was thus hostilities began. The rebelsnext cut off three companiesof Gordon's troops whohad gone out to cut wood, capturing eight of their boats, andkillingor dispersing 100 to 150 men. They entrenched themselves along the Nile, and kept up a heavy rifle fire. Retreat for the garrison was obviously impossible when the rebel force covered the river, the only line of retreat, with their fire. "Our only justification for assuming the offensive," wrote Gordon, "is the extrication of the Halfaya garrison.

Were it not for this it is questionablewhether we ought to fight against those whohave thrown in their lot with the only possible leader they cansee, beingcompelled to act thus in order to preserve their property,which our Governmentcannotsecureto them." Gordoncommenced offensive operations by dispatching 1200 men on board two grainbarges, towedby three steamers defended with boiler-plates and carrying mountain-guns protected by wooden mantlets, with the loss of merely two killed. This force succeeded in extricatingthe 500 menleft of the Halfaya garrison, and in capturing seventy camels, eighteen horses, and a quantity of arms and cattle, returning with them to Khartoum.

Therebelshowever stillheldHalfaya,and onMarch 16 Gordondetermined to drive themaway. Their lines,two miles long, about eight distant,andparallelto the Blue Nile, stretched from Halfaya to some wooded sandhills.

At an early hour Gordon's troops, about 2,000 strong, marched. The Bashi-Bazouks and Egyptian regulars wereinalong linefacing the enemy, and also parallel to the BlueNile. On the left flank was a small square of regularSoudan troops with onefieldgun. Onthe right front flank was a handful of mounted troops. As Gordon's men drew near the rebels, the latter beganto file awayto the right of the line,disappearing behind the sandhills. Thissupposedretreat commencedshortlybeforeten o'clock. Three-quarters of anhour afterwards the rebelshadalldisappearedbehind thesandhills. Theirrear was coveredby aboutsixty Arabs,mounted onhorses and camels. Gordon's troopsstill advanced,and the artillery fired two shells at the retiring rebels. The horsemen havingentered thewoodsat thefootof thesandhills,tothe astonishment of the five principal officers of the force, whohadbeenriding alittle ahead,suddenlydashed back, breaking through their ownranks. At that moment the rebel cavalry shot out at full gallop from behind the sandhills on the right. Their appearance was the signal for a disgraceful flight. The men broke up andrushed back without firing a shot. Some sixtyhorsemen, who Theforegoingaccount is that of aneyewitness who saw everyincident of the battle from the roofof the palaceat Khartoum, and who afterwards crossed the river tothe fort opposite. Here he encountered a fearful scene of confusion. Men of the Egyptian regulars and Bashi-Bazouks were crying out that their generals had betrayed them. These were two Soudanese blacks, named Hassan andSaid, whomGordon had created pashas, and whohadbroken through their ownlines,and were then hidden in a house, afraid to move out lest they should be murdered by their own soldiers. "There is no lack ofevidence," observedthe narrator,"that as theygalloped back Said Pasha rode towards a gun and slashed the sergeantin charge through to the brain. At the same time Hassan Pasha cut down twoartillerymen."

Aftersuch adisaster as theforegoing— withsomething like 2,000 men defeatedby sixty rebel horsemen, with the loss of two mountain guns and their ammunition, and with a couple of hundred left dead upon the field— Gordon felt convinced that he must remain on the defensive at Khartoum, and waituntil the Nile rose for more active operations. An Egyptian soldier who had takenpart in the battle, statedthat"on the two traitorous pashasbeingbrought beforeGordon bound handand foot, the latter, who was much grieved,spake never a word,except 'Away with them.' He was readingHoly Writ at the time." The pashas were triedby a military court, which, after two days' deliberation, found them guilty of being in communication with the enemy, of breaking the ranks and the squarein therecentbattle, and of cutting down an officer and some gunners, with other murders. It was said that the two pashas took out with them seventy rounds of cannon ammunition, although eight was the usualnumber * also thatin the house ofHassan Pasha a store of rifles and ammunition wasdiscovered, and that the pair had stolen twomonths' pay giventhem for the troops onaccount of six months' arrears.

OnMarch 22 the condemned pashas were "executedin the inner yard, near the large square of the prison. They were hewn in pieces by a halbert. Isaw the execution,"said the soldier above mentioned, " so it is of no use your saying, 'they were shot.' Itell you, according to Turkish military law, a military traitor is .always sentenced to be cut to pieces. The two were bound up against the wallby chains and rings. Two soldiers armed with sharp hatchets approached them from out of the sides of a square we hadformed. The prisoners' crime was read out and their sentence. A