ON THE MARCH. 269 with a convoy of iooo camels, and on the following day Sir Herbert Stewart's force was on its way.

Having halted at Howeiyat and Abu Haifa, on the morning of January 12th they started for Gakdul, a short march, at the end of which they found that the guards had done admirable work in building a couple of stone forts, and laying out the ground for the camp on such a convenient plan, with paths made and signboards with directions put up, that the men fell into their proper places without confusion. Colonels Dorward and Lawson of the engineers had been busy ordering a small canal to be made, into which water was pumped for the camels : while a reservoir formed of biscuit-tins was filled by a pump from a higher level — a pool above the rock — for the use of the men, who, however, were too thirsty to wait for its coming, and drew the water from the pool itself with buckets and ropes. Here there was a short stay for rest, the formation of a complete station, and the organization of the convoy for the march on the following day. Major Kitchener, who had taken up his quarters in a cave on the hillside, received his orders to return to Korti with Colonel Stanley Clarke's convoy. The officers of the guards had prepared an excellent dinner for their friends, including oazelle and sand-grouse, which had been added to the larder as a delightful change from bully beef and canned vegetables. It had been understood that Colonel Fred. Burnaby was on the way, and the general had much desired to have him with the expedition, though he was, in reality, unattached, and had no regular command. He came in with a convoy, and brought with him Captain Gascoigne, who had been travelling in the Eastern Soudan and the Abyssinian frontier and reporting his observations to the war department. Colonel Stuart Wortley also came in to join Sir Charles Wilson for service with Gordon at Khartum.

At Gakdul Wells the column had reached a point to which public attention had followed it in imagination. It was the point from which succour was to be carried as rapidly as might be to Gordon — the point beyond which the greatest danger was to be apprehended from the hostile forces of the Mahdi.