GORDON AND THE MAHDI. 90 British detachments furnished astrength of 1900 men, and, in addition, 3500 Egyptian troops had been supplied for the defence of Upper Egypt, together with two camel batteries,six Catlings, and ten Krupp guns. The chiefcommand was vested in General Grcnfell, who,early inJuly,started up the Nile to fortify Wady Haifa and Korosko. Aboutthemiddle of July theMudir ofDongola telegraphed the contents of a letterin Arabic whichhe had°received from General Gordon. This note,the first ofits kind sent out fromKhartoum, was writtenonboth sides of a very small piece of paper. A sac-simileof the exact size of the original,together with anEnglish translation, is givenbelow:— ____ Mudir of Dongola! %|l« Khartoum and Senaar inperyQ>}f£> fect security; and Mohammed tfVcr) \1/*SJ>~£ Ahrncd carrieB this» t0 give *&j <S\.Z you news; and, on his reach-&£ ijW&eP ing y°u' give him a11 uews a* $&*j2&**'***... to direction and position of ' mC%PJ ' relievingforce, and their nunifj<tr'jr**\ =% ber. As for Khartoum, in it S \"@!b' are eight thousandsoldiers,and. tae rsenrapidly. On. f)\Kt3r<S arrival of messenger,give him t'V\ a jjr»r> one hundred reals Medjidieh, *tfJJT** from the State. 1— — ! ' C. G. Gordon. 1301 Shaban 28. (June 22, 1884).

Si-NAi t The concluding portion 3,/ OsIpZ'JJ«JV *-\\ of the note was written °<&\y$TL.'f*' >P6 at the back, diagonally; JP ft *<\ T ' as here shown. * Jp A blue stamp with the-W _J lettersL.S., was affixed! rt. J tke document. ' Soon after the receipt of this diminutive despatch Major Kitchener pushed forward to Dongola, whichhereachedon August 3. The Mudir had previously telegraphedto Cairo that he had won a great victory over? the rebels, commandedby the Sheikh Ahmet El Hoda. The Arabs, 13,000 strong,had attacked the fortress of" Debbeh,garrisoned by 500 Bashi-Bazouks, but had been completely defeated and compelled to retreat towards Ambukol. The Mudir thereuponpursued them withthe Bashi-Bazouks, two companies of infantry, 4000 armed volunteers, and twomountain guns,and gained a signal victory, the sheikh El Hoda flying into theprovince of" Berber with his remaining partisans. On reaching Dongola Major Kitchener proceeded to the battlefield and reported that the Mudir's statements, concerning which great doubts had been entertained by the Cairoauthorities,were true.

hour therebels werein full retreat. FortsEuryalusand Carysfort had already beengarrisoned withmarines, and, as an extraprecaution,additional marines and a number ofblue-jackets werelandedeverynight. Theexpediency of this course was soonshown,for the rebels becamemore andmoreaggressive, and duringthe earlierpart of June night attacks were ofregular occurrence.

Meanwhile the Rabatab tribe, which had carried off Mr. Cuzzi, again threatened Korosko, although a considerable force wasstationed there,aud fears wereentertained that Major Kitchener's Bishareen Arabs, located at the same place, would go over to the enemy. They at first certainly refused to proceed beyond Korosko, or to engage in any kind of warfare; but ultimately the major prevailed upon them to accompanyhim through the desert on a reconnaissance, which he extended to within two days' journey of the Red Sea. On this occasion hearing that Shamyun, one of the principal rebel leaders, was near Akheimer Wells with a large force trying to induce some loyal Abbabdah to join the :\Iahdi, the major endeavoured to capture him with the help of the friendly sheikh, Jibran, but Shamyun got wind of the advance and fled precipitately. The major having little confidence in the Bishareen Arabs who accompanied him,did not hazardapursuit, for fear that hisescort might join therebel ranks.

At this juncture fears were not merely entertained concerning the loyalty of the few Arab tribes, which, for love or money,had so far remained faithful to the Khedive. The Turkish battalion dispatched fromCairo to Upper Egypt fairly mutinied at Assiout on July 16, and, out for the resolutionof theEnglishofficers, serious consequences might have ensued. The men had been paidup tothe end of June, but whenorderedto proceed to Assouan, they stipulated for an advance of three months, which was refused. Eventually their officers, with the sanction of theEgyptian government,promised onemonth's payin advance on arrivalat Assiout. This offer was apparently not tempting enough, for only eighty men reached that town out of two hundred paraded at Cairo. Influenced by a fewringleaders,they immediately refusedto embarkfor Assouan,and informed ColonelGrant that they would seize the ammunition if he didnot comply with their demandfor athree months' advance. The assistance of the native police was then obtained,and all the ammunition-boxeswere transferred from the trainto the station. The mutineers did not, however, carry out their threat, but thirty of them bolted to the right bank of the river, where Colonel Grant, accompanied by five native police, eventually foundthem, installedinthe sheikh's house inthe village of Beninun. The colonel boldlyenteredthe house, and as the men made a rush for their arms he fired at them withhis revolver, woundingtwo of them. The deserters thereupondeliberatelyformedinskirmishing orderinthe open, and fired at their colonel, who meantimequietlyreturned the fireuntil themutineerslaiddowntheirarms.

They were at once lodged in prison, but their fate seemingly had no terrors for their comrades, who, after remainingquieton this occasion, thought fit to mutiny the next day. They refused point blank to proceed to Assouan, until twenty-five soldiersof the Duke of Cornwall'sLight Infantry appearedon the scene andrestored order. The ringleaders having been sent to Cairo, two of them werecondemnedto death, andshot, and six were sentenced to penalservitude for life.

The messenger who brought Gordon's letter to the Mudir— the onlyone receivedfor several months past— hadbeenpreviously sent toBerber withaletterforHussein. Pasha Khalifa. He had witnessed the fall of the town, which he declared was due to the treachery of the governor, whohad"placed a number of Arabs on apart of the fortifications and had let the enemy in that way." Hussein did not appear during the fight, but when the messengersubsequently askedhim foraletter forGordon, he replied,"The town is taken; tell Gordon: what youi have seen;Iwillwrite tohimno more." Themessenger then returned to Khartoum, which, according to his* The Cornwall regiment which has just been referred to, was at thisperiod stationed at Assouan, together with part of the Sussex regiment and the 35th. The various