76 EGYPT AND THE SOUDAN.

between Khartum and Sennar had been effected by the agents of the false prophet, but the hostility of the Hadendowas had been instigated by the old grievance — the nefarious conduct of Egyptian officials. The Hadendowas, who were employed to find the camels for conveying the Egyptian troops from Suakim to Berber, and had actually fulfilled their contract by taking 10,000 men on the route, a description of which we have read, were to have been paid seven dollars for each transport camel for the journey; but the pasha and the bey who had that little contract in hand, following out the evil traditions of their race, had the villainous effrontery to put six out of the seven dollars, or, at all events, by far the chief proportion of the money, into their own pockets. The Hadendowas had no immediate redress; but it was not long before Osman Digma appeared, and they were then ready to take vengeance at Tokar, at Sinkat, and in the defeat of Baker which led to the necessity for the battles at El Teb and Tamai.

The same kind of story was told at Assouan, where the employes of the Soudan railway were three months in arrear of pay. They were ready for revolt, and Gordon telegraphed to Sir Evelyn Wood to send them their money without delay. At Korosko, where he arrived on the 2d of February, he heard of the state of affairs in the district between Khartum and Sennar.

There was no time to be lost. Gordon had already despatched a letter to the Mahdi from Assouan demanding that the Europeans at Obeid should be sent down to Khartum. This was after his old manner. He spoke and acted always as a man whose authority was beyond cavil ; and even if he had not underestimated the hold which the rebellion had taken and the power exercised by the false prophet, he would have abated nothing of his orders. Fugitives escaping from the Soudan were arriving at Korosko, as they continued to arrive for months afterwards, when the English government had officers at Assouan and Korosko to relieve their needs and expedite their journey, and when we had established a river patrol on the Nile and a force had been sent for the protection of Upper Egypt. Gordon immediately on hearing the condition of affairs between Sennar and Khartum had appointed