GORDON AND THE MAHDI. 93 Soudan has received since 27Nov., '83, the date when Hicks' defeat wasknown at Cairo, are sevenpersons, including myself!and we have sent downover 600 soldiers and 2,000 people. The people here and Arabs laugh over it. Ishall not leaveKhartoum untilIcan put some one in. If the Europeanslike to go to theEquator,Iwill give them steamers, butIwill not leave these people after all they have gone through. As for routes Ihave told you that the one from Wadi Haifa along right bank of Nile to Berber is the best, and, had not Berber fallen, would have been a picnic ; the other route is from Senheit to Kassala, and to AbouHaraz onBlue Nile, which would be safe, up to Kassala, but Ifear it is too late. We must fightit out with our own means;if blessed by God, we shall succeed,if notHis will, sobe it.

embarked in theMalwa,whilethe Goorka took out drafts of the Commissariat, Transport, and Army Hospital Corps, togetherwith a part of the 1st Sussex and the Black Watch. To carrythe menup theNilenearly 800 river boats were ordered,and, owing to the difficulties attendant upon the navigation,Lord Wolseley, who remembered his Red River experiences,insisted upon the engagement of some 400 Canadian boatmen. At the same time 300 Kroomen were obtained from the West Coast of Africa to carry stores round the cataracts. Eight steampinnaceswere,moreover,equippedfor towing purposes,and a novel" stern-wheel paddle-boat," which afterwards did good service, waspurchased from Messrs.

Yarrowit Co.,shipbuilders, ofPoplar.

Amid the cheers and good wishes of a compact crowd, Lord Wolseley left London on the eveningof Sunday, August 31, to take possessionof his command. He was accompanied as far as Cairo by the EarlofNorthbrook, whom theGovernmenthad sent outonafinancialmission. In Upper Egypt the troops were now hurrying to the front;at Suakim the Mahdi's partisans were becomingmore and more venturesome, advancing close to the forts, and only kept at bay by the marines and bluejacketslanded from the fleet; atDongola shortmessages were arriving from Gordon, saying that"all was well, bothsoldiersandpeople;" and at Khartoumthe gallant garrisonhadbut a week previously achieved a brilliant victory over the rebels. " We have (thank God!)" wrote Gordonon August 26, "succeeded in taking Arabcamp and killing Arab commander-in-chief (R. I.P.). This victory clears our vicinityin these parts of the circle." As the commander at Kassala subsequently reported, GeneralGordon had gaineda complete victory over the rebels and captured their arms and ammunition;"also their heads," added the report, which moreover stated that Abou Karia, one of the Mahdi's sheikhs, had fled with his entire force at a critical moment, abandoning about 7,000 ardebs of dhurra (maize) and two guns. Gordon also totally annihilatedWeled Magawi's contingent and Magawi himself, carrying off eight guns and seventy-two boxes of ammunition; and he destroyed Sheikh Abou Haraj and his force, capturing from them 17,000 ardebsof dhurra, 220 cantars of coffee, and three vesselsfull of sesame. Sheikh el Obeid too was killed, his possessions seized, andall these trophies were taken into Khartoum.

"Why writein cypher, itis useless, for Arabs haveno interpreter. Yousay yourpolicy is to abandon Soudan; so be it, butbefore youdo that youmust take down Egyptian populations,and this the Arabs do not see. All is for thebest. Iwill conclude in saying we will defend ourselves to the last;thatIwill not leaveKhartoum, thatIwill try and persuade all Europeans to escape, and thatIam still sanguine that, by some meansnot clear, God will giveus anissue." Ina first postscript to thisremarkable letter Gordon added;— "The Arabs captured the money you gave me atBerber,but it is only the money which the Egyptian Pashas have ground out of the Soudan since their occupation." In a second one he said:— "Reading over your telegram of May 5, you ask me to state cause and intention in staying at Khartoum, knowing Government means to abandon Soudan, and inanswerIsay :Istay at Khartoum because Arabs have shut us up and will notlet usout. Ialso add that even if the road was open the people would not let me go, unless Igave them some Government or took them with me, whichIcould not do. No one wouldleave more willingly thanIwould ifit waspossible."

Five days afterthis letterhadbeen written,and while it was journeying towards Cairo, Mr. Gladstone at last rose in the House of Commons to movea voteof credit of £300,000 to enable the Government to undertakeoperationsfor the relief ofGeneralGordon. TheCabinethadso far persistentlyshirkedthis duty, and thePrimeMinister had repeatedly expressed his conviction that no danger threatened the defender of Khartoum. On July 8 Lord Hartington had formally declared to the House of Commons that it was not the intention of the Government to dispatch an expeditionfor the relief of Gordon,unless it were clearlyshown that such was the only means by which the General and those dependent on him could be relieved. " We have received," added the Secretary of State for War, " noinformationmakingit desirable that we should depart from th.at decision." Urgedon,however,by the public press, andplied, week after week, and almost dayafter day, with questions in the House of Commons, the Governmentat lastbrought forwardthe vote ofcredit. The money wasgranted,and the War Office immediatelystrained every nerveto make up for all the time which had been lost:but it was commonly believedthat it was not until August 22 that Mr. Gladstonefinally consentedto order a relief expedition to depart. It had originally beenintendedto leave the directionof theoperations to Lieut.-GeneralStephenson, butlater on Major General Earle was selected, and finally, at the eleventhhour, when theGovernmentbegan to realise what a stupendous task awaited the expeditionary force, Lord Wolseley was sent for and entrusted with the command.

Throughout the month of August the arsenals and dockyards were in a state of busy activity. It was decided that the expedition should take the route of the Nile, and thatsome 7,000 men should beplaced at Lord Wolseley's disposal. Two regiments were immediately dispatched from India to Egypt. Sevenhundred men of theRoyalScots weresummonedfromBarbadocs,andthree battalions were sent from Cyprus, Malta, and Gibraltar. Detachments of the Staffordshireregiment, the Cameron Highlanders, the 19th Hussars, the Royal Artillery, and the King's RoyalRifles sailedfromPortsmouth on board thePoonah Several companiesof the Royal Engineers