382 THE STORY OF THE KHEDIVATE.

alone, and that the danger to his life was imminent.

The difficulties of a rapid advance were, however, found to be well-nigh insuperable, and it was not till the 5 th of November that Lord Wolseley reached Dongola. On Christmas Day the main force of the expedition had just reached Kosh. At this point it was resolved to divide the army into two parts : one, the smaller of the two, to march across the desert to Metemmeh; the other, and larger, to continue their advance up the Nile valley. On the 17th of January, 1885, our troops reached Abu Klea. Here they were attacked by the Dervishes, who were ultimately driven off, though with heavy loss on our side. On the 21st, after several serious engagements, the British force came in sight of the Nile near Metemmeh, and there sighted four steamers flying the Egyptian standard, which had been sent, or were alleged to have been sent, by General Gordon to meet the British advance guard. On the 24th, Sir Charles Wilson, who had succeeded General Stewart — wounded at Abu Klea — left in the Egyptian steamers for Khartoum. The questions, whether this expedition ought to have been sent at all ; whether, if so, it should have been pushed on with greater energy, all belong to a domain of military controversy, on which I have no wish to enter. To my thinking, as an outsider, the courage evinced by the handful of British troops who embarked in untrustworthy vessels, manned by crews whom they had every reason to suspect of treachery, who exposed themselves to all the risks of a — to them unknown—