THE ADVANCE ON DONGOLA. 479 to march at once southwards, along the right bank of the Nile, under the Sirdar's command, and British troops were to be sent up to Wady Haifa from Cairo to supply the place of the Egyptian garrison.

These orders were executed with extraordinary promptitude, and on the morning following the overnight receipt of these orders, the Anglo-Egyptian forces set out upon the expedition which was to terminate with the capture of Khartoum. It was only after the departure of the troops that the news of their having departed became known at Cairo, and the intelligence was not even communicated to the Khedive till after the advance upon the Soudan had become an accomplished fact. The official explanation given for the advance being considered a matter of such urgency as to render a question of hours of serious importance, was that Kassala was then threatened by the Dervishes, and that, in the interest of the Italian forces, by whom the fortress was held, it was desirable to create a diversion by the advance of Anglo-Egyptian forces from the North. This explanation does not account for the hot haste in which the forward movement was undertaken. The haste is, however, perfectly intelligible, if there was serious reason to suppose a French expedition, supported by an Abyssinian army, might arrive shortly on the White Nile, with the object of establishing a right of occupation over Soudanese territory as against both England and Egypt. The fact that Egypt, conjointly with England, had already commenced military