Moslems, usual formula of salutation, 413;

as to dealing with brother, 415;

safety of, in Kartoum, 430;

and messengers, 433;

and capture of Government stores, 434.

Mouse at table, 188.

Mousra Bey, 166;

in charge of _Bordeen_ and _Ismailia_, 179;

made Mudir, 188.

Moussa Bey, 117.

Mudir, the old, released, 272.

Mudir of Dongola, 439.

Mudirat, no sentries at, 222.

Mushra el Koweh’, Mahdi says he is at, 529.

Muslims, toleration of, for Christian religion, 19;

self-sacrifice of, 19.

N.

Najoomi, the son of, 403, 429.

Napoleon at Jaffa, 179, 187.

National honour, 93.

Navy, advent of, looked for, 97.

Negro soldiers, cleanliness of, 17.

Nerves, constant explosions strain, 96.

Nesgel to Om Halfa, time to get from, 261.

Newspapers like gold, 289;

Gordon on contents of, 290.

Nile, right bank of, reported quiet, 15;

steamers, frailty of, 44;

the only way of access to Soudan, 52;

plan for utilising the, 52;

no difficulty in making flying bridges across, 87;

people removing from right bank, 229;

hot months and low Nile, 236;

valley, Metemma as a base for all operations in the, 257;

route the best, 262;

is cheaper, 262.

Nordenfeldts and the Arabs, 342.

Northbrook, Lord, 77;

the farce of, asking Towfik for assistance, 306.

North Fort, no sentry on, 265;

hate the telescope, 265;

sentries off roof again, 271;

no sentries at, 272;

reports from, 314.

North side like a market, 194.

Notes, expiration of six months for which, were issued, 224.

Notice published by Gordon, 552.

November, must be relieved or fall before the end of, 245.

Nubar Pasha, telegram from, to Gordon, 102.

Nuchranza, 178.

Nuehr Bey Angara, 146.

Nuns in Kartoum, 28;

said to have married Greeks, 28;

walked from Kordofan, 221.

Nutzer Bey, made Pasha, 109, 253;

should not be sent further than Dongola, 262;

Gordon’s order disobeyed by, 351, 354, 359.

Nzasi at Kartoum, 486.

O.

Obdallah en Noor, 432, 440.

Obeyed, two priests in, 312;

Mahdi brought ammunition from, 329.

Om Ali, Stewart at, 443.

Omar Bey, 444.

Om Ghirka, Stewart anchored opposite, 442.

Om Halfa to Gakdal, time to get from, 261.

Omdurman, forces at, 69;

Mahdi expected at, 158;

strength of men at, 173;

two hundred men sent to, 180;

levelled, 201;

meditated attack on by Arabs, 244;

and the taking of by Arabs, 294;

distance of Mahdi from, 295;

Mahdi intends to attack, 295;

fort, Arabs north of, 312;

fire and fusillade at, 315;

telegraph interrupted between, and Khartoum, 317;

over eager to fire on enemy, 317;

month and a half supply for, 322, 324;

communication by bugle, 328;

casualties at, 332;

fort, anxiety of Gordon for, 351, 355;

Arabs retiring near, 356, 362, 365, 367, 370, 371, 375, 381, 383;

attempt to relieve, 384;

number of wounded at, 384;

idea of landing at, given up, 384;

reported safe, 385, 387, 391;

fort of, Arab shelling of, 340, 342;

communication with, with flags, 345.

Oshman Ibn Aboo Bekr Digna, 435.

Osman Digna reported as writing to Berber, 14.

Ottoman Dominion, integrity of, guaranteed by the Powers, 221.

P.

Palace, prepared to clear out of the, 210;

Gordon’s arrangement for blowing up, 287;

bullets fall on, 330;

under fire, 369, 374, 375;

illustration of roof of, 377;

built by Momtoz Pasha, 377;

shelled by Arabs, 378, 381;

band on roof of, 383;

Arab fire on, 384;

pet detachment of Mahdi opposite the, 384;

fired on, 385;

building next to, struck, 386;

fired on, 387, 388, 392, 393.

Paper money, troops prefer, 343.

Parentage of Mahdi, 545.

Pashas, treachery of, cause of a defeat, 62;

death of Stewart, nemesis of the death of two, 282.

Patriotism, 340.

Paul, St., cited, 194.

Pauncefote, Sir Julian, letter from, to Roth, 548.

Pay of soldiers, 248.

Peace route and small forces, small stations along Nile best for, 262.

Peasant, Arab, a determined warrior, 90.

Penny steamers, 387.

People, fidelity of, gauged by Gordon, 171;

reasoning of, if Gordon left, 307.

Peter or Paul, SS., Stewart, Power, and Herbin compared to, 285.

Plot, 187.

‘Plutarch’s Lives’ as a handbook for officers, 64, 163, 240.

Policy being acted, detrimental to army, 304.

Porte must give permission in ceding Egyptian territory, 221.

Post-office officials and increase of pay, 281.

Potentates, Eastern, their strength lies in their seclusion, 33.

Potion, Gordon in favour of numbing, 179.

Powder hose instead of “matches” for mines, 5, 67.

Power left Kartoum for Dongola, 3;

and Herbin, Slatin says nothing of, 217;

on board the _Abbas_, 273;

left of their own free will, 274;

had daily Journal, 284;

as a martyr, 285; over-rashness of, 286;

no despatch written by Gordon concerning, 310;

a chivalrous, brave, honest gentleman, 310;

his telegrams in _Times_, 39.

Powers appealed to for auxiliary force, 338.

Prayers and the Arabs, 223.

Press, the province of the, 62.

Priests, two at Obeyed, 312.

Prisoners sent to the Arabs, September 10, 7.

Proclamation from Gordon to people of Kartoum, 425.

Prout, Colonel, 35.

Provisions, amount of, 328.

Psalms cited, 50, 60.

Psalmist and Gordon as to liars, 101.

Public officials and their personality, 233.

Q.

‘Queen’s Messenger,’ pleasure in reading the, 43.

R.

Rahad, Mahdi still at, September 10, 5.

_Rammer_, the, 216.

Rapid “retreat”, 236;

decisions in event of, 298.

“Rapport Militaire”, 217.

Ras Aloula, on defeat of, 290.

Rashid Bey, defeat of, at Jebel Gadir, 460;

appointed Governor of Kordofan, 464.

Rations, row as to troops’, 346, 347;

robbed by officers, 367, 368, 385.

Razagat, Slatin commanded against the, 454.

Rebellion, causes of, 458;

spread of the, 462.

Reconnoitring party feared, 311.

Redemption did not take place through our merits, 245.

Red Sea, Arabs captured dhows in, 299.

Regulars, number with the Mahdi, 177.

Reinforcements for Soudan, nine people, 252.

Renan, 144, 145, 392.

Rescued lamb, Gordon not the, 93, 118.

Resign, not insubordinate to, 234.

Revelation cited, 12.

Rice issued as pay to troops, 111.

Rockets, 302.

Roman Catholic Mission, garden of, 37;

with Mahdi, 129;

house of, set fire to, 132;

King John will drive out the, 219.

Roth, letter to Gordon from, 547;

from Pauncefote to, 548.

Rothchilds causing bother about finance question, 224.

Royal Navy, _Ismailia_ compared with, 319.

Ruckdi sent to reinforce, 252;

robbery by, discovered, 349.

Russia, kind of warfare to be used against, 90.

S.

Sakkeyer Arabs, meditate raid on, 192.

Sakkéyés, 443.

Salaries, reduction of, 245.

Salehh Lik, 423.

Saleh Pasha, a prisoner with the Mahdi, 30-31;

his son, 141;

message from, 160;

in chains, 215, 299.

Saleh Bey, of Gabalat, men from, 213, 214, 511;

attitude of, to Government, 513;

the four tribes who besieged it, 514.

Samuel, Book of, cited, 376.

Sanderson, 89.

Sandjak Saleh Bey, 455.

Santels, Arabs fired on, 244.

Saphia, Mahdi will not fight during, 268;

and Stewart, 442;

_Mansowrah,_ men on, 444.

Sarakhna camp, 504.

Scene in Desert, 168, 169.

Schatt, an inland town mentioned, 31;

Mahdi not at, 109.

Schiller, Gordon’s admiration for, 96.

Seid Gjoma and Slatin Bey trying to enter Omdurman, 520;

Mohamed Ebn Seid Abdullah, Slatin’s new name, 454.

Sekhedy, defeat of rebels at, 485.

Senheit, the only place King John could occupy, 219.

Sennaar, useless to send to, for dhoora, 106;

means of opening road to, 126;

despatch of force to, 137;

all right, 214;

expedition towards, 231, 236, 246;

party of Arabs at, 282;

and the relief of, 284;

and Kassala, and abandonment of, 297, 299;

evacuation and Zubair, 300;

still holding out, 392;

defeat of garrison, 461;

inhabitants of, for Gordon, 521.

Sepoys useless, 189.

Sept. 10, of losses up to, 283.

Serail and Turkey cock, 49.

Service of Mahdi gratuitous, 245.

Sevastopol and Kartoum, 390.

Seyd Mahomet Osman, his confidence in Gordon, 28;

little boy of, a hero, 88;

with English, 192;

and Abyssinian question, 214;

house of, pulled down by Arabs, 345.

Shaggyeh, the defection of, 30;

both sides despise the, 68;

family quarrels of, 78;

questions put to Gordon by, 94;

at Halfeyeh, 108;

troublesome again, 130;

trouble of the, 166;

worry of the, 185;

at North Fort, 185;

pulling down Goba and Hogali, 201;

want more dhoora, 208;

Bashi Bazouks and English chastisement, 241;

losses of the, 259;

Gordon laments the, 259;

to pay for the lost Remingtons, 266;

to be backed for cowardice, 267;

arrant braggadocios, 267;

problem what to do with, 314;

the absurdity of paying for the, 342;

desertion of, to Arabs, 347, 351;

for the Government, 442.

Shakir Effendi, 420.

Shareef Mahhmood, 428.

Sheikh el Emin Mahomed, 420;

el Islam, supposed present from Mahdi to, 187, 188;

threatened, 203;

Mahdi declares he will execute, 264;

release of, 272.

Sheikh el Obeyed, killed prisoners of Kartoum, 166;

quietude of forces of, 197;

the man and the city, 201, 246;

reported dead, 274;

dead, 291, 292, 293;

people of, dispersing, 293;

men of, and second blockade of Kartoum, 343.

Sheikh Hussein el Mahdi, 420.

Sheikh Ibrahim put in chains by Abou Gugliz, 174.

Shells, the reason they do not prove fatal, 183.

Shendy, road to, still open, 110;

steamers leave for, 111, 115;

steamers bombarding, 208;

steamers left for, 213;

reported looting of, by steamers, 246;

brought into subjection by steamers, 247;

Stewart escorted past, 280;

Arabs at, 359;

Stewart reached, 443.

Shendy-Metemma, chief strategical point of Soudan, 262.

Shepheard’s Hotel, prediction as to forces being at, 38.

Shereef Mohammed, 434, 439.

Shimei dusting David, 376.

Ships no good against land batteries, 204.

Shoboloha, endeavour by Arab chief to raise people of, 16;

no Arabs at, 358.

Shoboloha Pass and Stewart, 442.

Sikhs and Belochees, 189.

Simmons, General Sir Lintorn, 130.

Sinkat, defeat of rebels at, 499.

Sirdar, the, 163.

Skeleton, living, in hospital, dead, 264.

Slatin Bey, in Kordofan, 21;

ammunition and stores surrendered by, 23;

Arabic name of, Abdel Kadi, 24;

with Mahdi, 129;

and Elias Pasha with Mahdi, 170;

not with Faki Mustapha, 198;

not a Spartan, 200;

and his coming to stay with Gordon, 202;

men like, wanted, 209;

curious part of letter of, 217;

and paper from, 227;

reported to be in chains, 243;

good friends with Mahdi, 263;

a prisoner, 272;

surrender of, 283;

on best terms with Mahdi, 283;

in chains, 295, 298;

reported release from chains, 312;

in chains, 314, 391;

offers to join Gordon, 453;

letter from, 495, 519;

three years since, had news from family, 520.

Slave battalions, formation of, 465.

Slave circular, indignation at, 40, 54.

Slave Convention Treaty and Zubair, 380.

Slave-holding and abolition of, 135.

Slave-hunting by Mahdi and Zubair, 55.

Slave-trade cannot be helped, 137;

restoration of by Government, 235.

Slave traffic and Gordon, 425.

Slavery, Gordon on abolition of, 104;

Mahdi will end, in Soudan, 386.

Slaves made soldiers, 64;

and Lord Palmerston, 389;

trade in, to be stopped, 559.

Slippers, to strike with, a Moslem insult, 133.

Soldier, the place of a, the field, 64, 65;

their pay, 248.

Soudan, ex-Khedive’s view of governing, 52;

Nile only way of access to, 52;

garrisons only obstacle to abandonment of, 55;

artillery not needed in the, 83;

future of, cannot be hurried, 84;

heavy column no use in the, 89;

best solution of the difficulties in the, 124;

a useless country, 125;

must not be given to Egypt, 135;

for Turks, 136;

cannot be governed by men in Cairo, 139;

cost of holding, 143;

Gordon does not question Government policy as to, 150;

all soldiers in, know Gordon, 158;

no quarter given on either side in engagements, 232;

cruel to our conscripts to go up to, 233;

politically unwise, 233;

Egypt unable to govern, 235;

way out of the, not seen by Gordon, 235;

prediction as to the, 236;

useless to us, 238;

getting out of, 238;

nobler to keep, 240;

Shendy-Metemma chief strategical point of, 262;

private cost of, business to Gordon, 304;

emphatic statement of Gordon not to leave, 307;

Towfik’s Firman as to abandonment, 309;

no aid has come to, since defeat of Hicks, 348;

Gordon and the evacuation of, 353;

Towfik’s Firman as to, cancelled, 359;

legal authority over, only from Towfik, 372;

“Fiction” not held good in, 372;

and quiet of, 375;

Ismail Ayoub best administrator the, has had, 378;

“Fiction” as having nought to do with, 379;

Mahdi will be end of slavery, in 386;

and slavery, 389;

despatch of reinforcements for, 470;

organization of, 557;

boundaries of, 558.

Soudanese, and their property, _note_, 19;

not worth any great sacrifice, 51.

Spies, none from outsiders, 92;

of Seyd Mahomet Osman, captured and executed, 247;

liking to get more, 344, 403.

Spy, important, captured, 176.

Standard and telegrams, 308.

“Standing order”, absurd in Egypt, 160.

Stanley, letters received by Gordon from, 274.

Statement of troops, arms, ammunition, and grain in Kartoum, 206.

Steamer, trial trip of small, 178.

Steamers, Mr. Bond and, on the Nile, 54;

from Berber, 72;

Stewart’s left for Berber Sept. 11, 8;

expected at Berber, 22;

frailty of, 44;

value of, 97;

compared to Thames steamers, 107;

bad state of, 107, 108;

take two Journals, 111;

leave for Shendy, 115;

left for Berber, 121;

Gordon has nine, 60;

hopes by Gordon as to return of, 308;

fears for, 316;

Gordon unfortunate with, 324;

four at Berber, 351;

in sight, 358;

reported at Shoboloha, 382;

fire on Arabs at Omdurman, 384;

engaged, 387;

ordered to stay at Bourré, 391;

attack at Bourré, 393;

at Omdurman, 395.

Stewart, Col., left Kartoum for Dongola, 3;

his expedition passed Shendy, 34, 43;

and communication with Europe, 39;

Journal, fear as to non-publication of, 41;

mention of, 43;

capture by, with steamers, 43;

as witness of Gordon’s efforts, 56;

why Gordon did not escape with, 56;

steamers of, recapture steamers, 66;

and Hewitt’s mission, 76;

hard on men, 78;

receives note from Kitchener, 92;

charges troops with cowardice, 99;

sent up by Government, 124;

does not suspect Awaan, 133;

and Ibrahim Ruckdi, 167;

Gordon desires, to obtain information, 186;

mouse takes place of, at table, 188;

reported capture of, with _Abbas_, 193, 200;

and pay of Egyptian soldiers, 205;

death of, 214;

sent to reinforce, 252;

and the giving up of Berber, 263;

on board _Abbas,_ 273;

left of his own free will, 274;

what Gordon wrote for, concerning his going, 274;

great service done by, in leaving Kartoum, 280;

escorted pass dangerous places, 280;

captured below Abou Hamed, 280;

did not chew the cud, nor suspicious, 281;

Gordon’s account of the landing of, 281;

Mudir’s account of the landing of, 281;

his death ordained, 282;

Gordon wishes for examination into death of, 282;

amount of gold and papers with, 283;

wounded near the Palace, 284;

at lowest ebb when left, 284;

took both copies of Journal, 285;

a martyr, 285;

contempt of for Soudanese, 286;

should have escaped in boats, 286;

Gordon’s defence for letting go, 287;

Gordon declined to order, 287;

on the Government, 288;

questions written by before leaving, 289;

Gordon, and money, to secure Journal of, 305;

Gordon hopes for revenge for the death of, 308;

every document but one went with, 309;

no dispatch written by Gordon concerning, 310;

brave, just, upright gentleman, 310;

wrote full details of Hicks’s army and defeat, 344;

left three months, 389;

account of voyage of, 442;

spares some Arabs, 443;

sanguine of getting through, 444;

arrival of, at Kartoum, 471;

departure of, for Egypt, 487;

reported dead by Slatin Bey, 520;

Mahdi tells of capture of, 522.

Stokes, of Suez Canal, 43.

Stomach governs the world, 14, 184.

Stores, returns of, 383, 393, 395;

Mahdi tells Gordon of, in Kartoum, 523.

Suakin, reported arrival of English at, 14;

to Berber, route from, 225-227;

and Massowah useless if Mahdi holds Soudan, 242;

besiege of, miraculous, 294;

meaning of non-firing on, 296;

useless if Mahdi holds Soudan, 296;

spread of rebellion to, 499;

reinforcements sent to, 500.

Suleiman, reply to Gordon sent by, 402.

Suleiman Pasha, removal of, 494;

Wady Goun, steamer fell into hands of, 546.

Sultan, give over the country to the, 48, 49;

Gordon’s promises as to, 433;

Haroun and Slatin Bey, 453.

Sun, partial eclipse of, 194.

Suspicion, Stewart and Gordon compared with regard to, 281.

T.

_Talataween_ struck, 106;

in from Shendy, 205;

for Shendy, 206;

summary of reports brought by, 207.

Telegram, December, 1883, 311;

Gordon cannot decipher, 359, 360.

Telegrams, two sets of, sent off by spy, September 10, 3;

from Floyer, 92;

humility in, from Baring, 102;

from Nubar Pasha to Gordon, 102;

from Gordon to Baring, 103;

cannot decipher, from Lord Wolseley, 273;

Gordon captured all European, 284;

received in Soudan, 345;

Mahdi details contents of the captured, 523.

Telegraph forms used for Journal, 250.

Tel-el-Kebir, 60.

Thirst, Hicks’s army perished from, 344.

_Times’_ correspondent, charge against, 22;

Powers’ telegrams in, 39;

confusion in, as to the Wilsons, 61;

and execution of the Pashas, 62;

extract from, _note_, 86;

and Gordon’s Journals, 283;

to have first offer of Doctor’s Journal, 283.

Tokar, relief of, 146;

Mahdi gained confidence by victory of, 296.

Tongi, sent to reinforce, 252;

and Co., 272.

Towfik Pasha, 117, 118;

and Gordon not friends, 123;

wish law, 125;

and the Porte, 221;

Firman of, 285, 309;

farce of Northbrook asking, for assistance, 306;

telegram from, explained, 371;

Wolseley and Baring subordinate to, 371;

and authority over Soudan, 372;

expeditionary force, allies of, 373;

and death of Hicks, 348;

cancels his Firman, 359;

telegram to Ulemas from, 359;

Gordon publishes telegram of, 362;

telegram to Ulemas from, 364;

and appointment of Governor-General, 369.

_Towfikia_, fell on the Arabs, 30;

above Giraffe, 35;

up Blue Nile, 38, 41;

fighting against Arabs, 47;

at Giraffe, 67;

fight with Arabs, 79;

at Giraffe, 94;

attacked Arabs on White Nile, 121;

went up White Nile, 130;

up the White Nile, 153;

at Omdurman, 157;

up White Nile, 158;

to replace _Ismailia_, 170;

post left by, for Metemma, 183;

left for Metemma, 188.

Trafalgar, Mussulman year begins on anniversary of, 175.

Transport arrangements, trouble in, 259.

Treachery never succeeds, 6;

question of, weighed before sending _Abbas_, 280, 282.

Treasury Funds in, 117;

amount in, 253.

Treaty of Paris guarantees integrity of Ottoman dominion, 221.

Treaty Powers, who are the, 293.

Troops, impossible to keep, after January, 48;

determined as ever, 98.

Troy, siege of, Kartoum compared to, 224.

Turkey and Mecca, 299.

Turkey cock of the Palace, 184.

Turks, and the evacuation of Soudan, 37;

give the country to the, 86;

hand over Soudan to, 135;

or Zubair, 135, 136, 138.

Turk solution, Hobson’s choice, 242.

Turkish Government, 418;

soldiers, uncleanliness of, 17.

Turks and Government of Soudan, 235;

expensive, 239;

Suakin and Massowah, nothing to the, 242;

and keeping of Soudan, 363;

and the taking over of the Soudan, 363.

Tuti, runaways of, wish to come back, 5;

Isle of, 337;

troops, sent to, 339;

breast works at, bother to Arabs, 350;

Arabs want to attack, 354;

Arabs at, 357.

U.

Ulema of Kartoum, 423.

Ulemas protest to Arab chiefs, 16;

Gordon’s interview with, 18;

letter to Mahdi, 22;

visit of, to Gordon, 167;

reply to Towfik, 364.

United Service Club, 88.

Uriah the Hittite and David and Gordon, 305.

V.

“Venuses”, Black, 42.

Victoria Cross, reasons for giving, 64;

a mistake generally, 64.

W.

Wadji Barra, letter from, to Gordon, 388;

the cause of letter being written, 389.

Wady Abou Gir, water might be found along, 261.

Wady Halfa railway, 54;

route to, a picnic party, 104;

return of troops to, 137;

estimated time by Gordon for troops to reach, 225;

question as to _Abbas_ reaching, 287.

Waled a Goun, force with, according to Cuzzi, 8;

captured soldier came in from, 15;

letter from, 20;

letter from Gordon to, 95;

brings a Krupp out, 63;

and black troops, 129;

meditates coming over to Dem, 161;

and Sheikh el Obeyed, 178;

family at Gitana, 208, 224, 229, 246;

pretends to send merchants to, 269;

men of, passing to Mahdi, 375.

Waled Mocashee, caught with Gordon’s letters, 29.

War, the cause of the, 418;

estimate of expenses of, 492.

Water to be found along Wadi Abou Gir, 261;

found at Kambok, 261.

Wellington, 64;

and Collingwood, Dispatches of, 175.

Wells from Ambukol to Metemma well supplied, 261.

White flag, Arabs fire on, 3;

Arab use and abuse of, 3;

respected by Arabs, 14.

White Nile, Arabs retiring towards, 47;

Arab ferry across the, 225;

operation on, 230;

end of lines the weakest part, 303;

Arab gun on left bank of, 345;

reconnaisance up, 488.

Wilfrid Lawson, Sir, 60.

Wilson of Anatolia, 43.

Wilson, Sir Charles, 61.

Wilson, R. E., 61.

Wilson, Rivers, 61.

Wolseley and Wellington, 64.

Wolseley, Lord, 113, 117;

instructions conveyed to, 124, 175;

and Gordon, 238;

the recall of, and the _Times_, _note_, 263;

cannot decipher telegram from, 273;

and relief of Kartoum, 304;

without Firman from Towfik, 368;

will settle Soudan question, 371;

and Firman, 371;

subordinate to Towfik, 371;

Mitzakis concerning, 517;

and Kitchener, 546.

Wood, 163;

to take, from isolated spots, 280.

Wood’s army to be done away with, 139.

Y.

Yakoobat, 423.

Yussuf Pasha, defeat of, 464.

Z.

Zubair Pasha, 37;

and saving of Berber, 46, 56;

reasons for non-employment of, 46;

argument for installing, 49;

refusal of, to come up, 58;

to establish, 86;

Gordon will keep Equator from, 87, 173, 238;

expense of, 239;

as Governor-General, 300;

Mahdi “ten times” worse than, as to slave trade, 300;

people would never rise against, 300;

and fall of Berber, 301;

Gordon wishes for, 308;

and Soudan, 364;

steamer named after, 333;

launched, 364;

at Kartoum as private individual, 379, 380;

to be governor of Soudan, 557.

LONDON:

PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,

STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.

[Illustration:

MAP

to illustrate

GENERAL GORDON’S

JOURNALS

_E. Weller lith._

_London; Kegan Paul, Trench & Co._]

]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Hill’s ‘Colonel Gordon in Central Africa,’ p. 373.

[2] See Appendix.

[3] From _Pall Mall Gazette_ extra, “Too Late,” No. 14.

[4] _Egypt_, No. 9, Encl. 3, 43.

[5] General Gordon had been incorrectly informed by his spies about

Abdel Kader, who had not left Cairo.

[6] This department must not be confounded with the one associated with

the Quartermaster-General at the War Office.

[7] The military, civilians, Ulemas, inhabitants and settlers in

Kartoum telegraphed on August 19th to the Khedive as follows: “Weakened

and reduced to extremities, God in His mercy sent Gordon Pasha to

us in the midst of our calamities of the siege, and we should all

have perished of hunger and been destroyed. But we, sustained by his

intelligence and great military skill, have been preserved in Kartoum

until now.”—_Egypt, No. 35_, _p._ 112; see also _Appendix AB_.—ED.

[8] In this passage we have an example of the old and perfect fairness

with which General Gordon dealt with others. Before allowing Mustapha

Faki, the neutral, to join his ranks and aid him against the Mahdi, he

must first himself be satisfied that such a step would not endanger

Faki Mustapha’s life. Success or failure was still doubtful. This, of

course, he could not tell Mustapha, but would it be right and just to

use him while such a doubt existed? Gordon was of opinion that it would

not, and thus he bade Mustapha wait events, and do for him that only

which involved no risks.—ED.

[9] Tuti is an island at the junction of the White and Blue Nile.—ED.

[10] Near El Obeyed and about 200 miles from Kartoum.—ED.

[11] _Vide_ Sir Henry Gordon’s Prefatory Note.—ED.

[12] A small town eight miles north of Kartoum.—ED.

[13] Berber is about 200 miles from Kartoum.—ED.

[14] English Consular Agent at Berber. According to M. Herbin’s

telegram from Kartoum received by M. Barrère on 22nd September, 1884,

Cuzzi had gone to Kordofan, but whether free or as a prisoner was not

stated.—_Egypt, No.35_ (1884), _No.142._—ED.

[15] Duem is a town on the White Nile about 100 miles from Kartoum.—ED.

[16] A cereal very much resembling Indian corn.—ED.

[17] The Sheikh el Obeyed declared for the Mahdi in March 1884.

[18] At first sight there might seem something of a contradiction in

these sentiments, but, when weighed, they will be found consistent and

sound. They convey an idea which was constantly at work in General

Gordon’s mind, and this to the effect that man should make every effort

towards the attainment of perfection, and then, and not till then,

leave the issue to God; that he should, in fact, draw on all earthly

resources—as the instrument of God—and that, these exhausted, he

should then look to Heaven for aid not to be drawn from earth.—ED.

[19] “Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and

I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the

tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia.

“No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass

through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.

“And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the

countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that

are laid waste shall be desolate forty years; and I will scatter

the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the

countries.”

“Yet thus saith the Lord God; at the end of forty years will I gather

the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered:

“And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to

return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and

they shall be there a base kingdom.”—ED.

[20] Appendix A and A 1.

[21] Appendix B.

[22] “Go, and with ghouls and afrits rave.”—_The Giaour._

[23] These words may be taken literally. Such was Gordon’s power and

influence in 1879, when he resigned the Governor-Generalship of the

Soudan.—ED.

[24] “And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee

shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”—ED.

[25] “Everything one does is known, and the only regret is that I am

a Christian. Yet they would be the first to despise me if I recanted

and became a Mussulman.”—_Extract from General Gordon’s Letter, dated

Kassala, December 7th, 1877._—ED.

[26] “I have upset so many vested interests, that the only people I

can count on are the Ulemas, to whom I gave back all their ancient

privileges, which had been taken away from them by Ismail Pasha

Yacoub.”—_Extract from General Gordon’s letter dated Kartoum, May 4th,

1877._—ED.

[27] “If fighting occurs, it is the Soudanese conservative of their

property fighting the Soudanese communists, who desire to rob

them.”—_Extract from General Gordon’s Memorandum received by Sir E.

Baring, February 4th, 1884.—Egypt, No. 12._—ED.

[28] “We have, thank God, passed our dangers. Whether they were

imaginary or not I do not know, but we were threatened by an attack

from thousands of determined blacks, who knew I was here. Now very few

Englishmen know what it is to be with troops they have not a bit of

confidence in. I prayed heartily for an issue, but it gave me a pain

in the heart like that I had when surrounded at Masindi. I do not fear

death, but I fear, from want of faith, the results of my death—for the

whole country would have risen.”—_Extract from General Gordon’s letter

dated Toashia, July 11th, 1877._ ED.

[29] Appendix C.

[30] Appendix C 1.

[31] Lupton Bey was Governor of the Bahr el Gazelle.

[32] According to a telegram from M. Herbin to M. Barrère, Slatin Bey,

formerly Governor of Darfour, had by this time joined the Mahdi, and

by him had been placed in command of the Kordofan cavalry, which force

was supposed to represent the most formidable contingent of the Mahdi’s

army.—ED.

[33] Appendix D.

[34] Dollars.

[35] An ardeb is equal to five bushels.

[36] THE NAMES OF MISSION AT OBEYED.

_Prétres à Kordofan._

1. Don Luigi Bonorni, _Superior_.

2. Don Guiseppe Ohrwalder.

3. Don Paulo Nusignoli.

4. Fra Isodoro Locatelli.

5. Fra Guiseppe Regusto.

_Sœurs._

1. Teresa Grigolini, _Superioress_.

2. Fortunata Corce.

3. Catarina Chincherini.

4. Cometta Corsi.

5. Elizabetta Venturini.

6. Maria Caprini.

[37] Kings of Egypt.—ED.

[38] The commander of a company.—ED.

[39] “Surviving Soudanese declared that the two Pashas in command

charged back into their own square; the soldiers, recognising them,

opened their ranks to let them through; and into the gap thus made the

rebel cavalry followed. The treachery, doubtless pre-arranged, was

complete in its success, but retribution was close at hand. When the

battle was over these two traitors, Said and Hassan, came into Gordon’s

tent, and the General offered them drink. They refused; Gordon’s

secretary, divining the reason, drank first, and the Pashas, who had

suspected poison, followed suit. During the remainder of that day they

lay hidden in their homes, for the soldiers were crying aloud for

vengeance, and would have murdered them at once had they appeared in

the streets. The next day they were tried by court-martial, and found

guilty of communication with the enemy and of having treacherously

murdered their own men. In the house of Hassan a great store of rifles

and ammunition was discovered; and it was proved that both he and

his colleague had stolen the two months’ pay given to the troops on

account of six months’ arrears. They had also taken into the field with

them seventy rounds of cannon ammunition, instead of eight, the usual

number, so that the rebels’ guns might be well supplied for future

attacks on Kartoum. The trial was long and patient, but the verdict was

apparent from the beginning. Hassan and Said were found guilty, and on

the same evening, amid expressions of universal delight, they were shot

by the men they had betrayed.”—_The Story of Chinese Gordon_, _pp._

92-3, v. ii.—ED.

[40] _i.e._ Natives from Halfeyeh report.—ED.

[41] Those for, and those against the Mahdi.—ED.

[42] “I strongly suspect that he (the Mahdi) is a mere puppet put

forward by Elyas, Zubair’s father-in-law, and the largest slave-owner

in Obeyed, and that he has assumed a religious title to give colour

to the defence of the popular rights.”—_General Gordon’s view as

expressed to the Editor of “Pall Mall Gazette” on Jan. 8, 1884._—ED.

[43] A woman.—ED.

[44] Shendy is ninety-five miles from Kartoum.—ED.

[45] Colonel Prout was appointed by General Gordon to the command of

the Equatorial Provinces at the date of the latter’s resignation in the

autumn of 1876.—ED.

[46] “The eye that mocketh at his father and despiseth to obey his

mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young

eagles shall eat it.”—Prov. xxx. 17.

[47] Zubair is the correct spelling. It must not be forgotten that

Zubair is of very high family, being a direct descendant of the

“Abbassides.”—ED.

[48] Appendix E.

[49] Lord Wolseley and staff left Cairo for Wady Halfa ten days after

Gordon wrote those words.—ED.

[50] Lord Granville on May 17, 1884, instructed Mr. Egerton to

communicate the following message from Her Majesty’s Government to

General Gordon:—

“Having regard to the time which has elapsed, Her Majesty’s Government

desire to add to their communication of the 23rd April as follows:—As

the original plan for the evacuation of the Soudan has been dropped,

and as aggressive operations cannot be undertaken with the countenance

of Her Majesty’s Government, General Gordon is enjoined to consider and

either to report upon, or, if feasible, to adopt, at the first proper

moment, measures for his own removal and for that of the Egyptians at

Kartoum who have suffered for him or who have served him faithfully,

including their wives and children, by whatever route he may consider

best, having especial regard to his own safety and that of the other

British subjects.

“With regard to the Egyptians above referred to, General Gordon is

authorised to make free use of money rewards or promises at his

discretion. For example, he is at liberty to assign to Egyptian

soldiers at Kartoum sums for themselves and for persons brought with

them per head, contingent on their safe arrival at Korosko, or whatever

point he may consider a place of safety; or he may employ and pay the

tribes in the neighbourhood to escort them. Her Majesty’s Government

presume that the Soudanese at Kartoum are not in danger. In the event

of General Gordon having dispatched any persons or agents to other

points, he is authorised to spend any money required for the purpose

of recalling them or securing their safety.”—_Egypt, 22, 1884, No.

22._—ED.

[51] Appendix E.

[52] _i.e._ The telegram given on page 39.—ED.

[53] See _ante_, note on page 39.—ED.

[54] “The danger to be feared is not that the Mahdi will march

northward through Wady Halfa; on the contrary, it is very improbable

that he will ever go so far north. The danger is altogether of a

different nature. It arises from the influence which the spectacle of a

conquering Mahommedan Power, established close to your frontiers, will

exercise upon the population which you govern. In all the cities in

Egypt it will be felt that what the Mahdi has done they may do; and, as

he has driven out the intruder and the infidel, they may do the same.

Nor is it only England that has to face this danger. The success of the

Mahdi has already excited dangerous fermentation in Arabia and Syria.

Placards have been posted in Damascus calling upon the population to

rise and drive out the Turks. If the whole of the Eastern Soudan is

surrendered to the Mahdi, the Arab tribes on both sides the Red Sea

will take fire. In self-defence the Turks are bound to do something

to cope with so formidable a danger, for it is quite possible that if

nothing is done the whole of the Eastern Question may be reopened by

the triumph of the Mahdi.”—_General Gordon’s views, as expressed to

the Editor of the “Pall Mall Gazette._”—ED.

[55] A town nearly opposite to Shendy, on the left bank of the

Nile.—ED.

[56] An old hot-bed of slavery on the White Nile.—ED.

[57] “Ismail, the ex-Khedive, fully considered that to maintain his

hold of the Soudan, he must improve his communications with it and

Egypt proper. Unfortunately, in his wish to bring the Soudan trade

down the Nile through Egypt proper, he was led to abandon its natural

outlet by the route from Berber to Suakin, across the 280-mile desert,

and determined to make a railway through the desert along the Nile past

the Cataracts from Wady Halfa to Hanneck, a distance of 180 miles.

Contracts were made, and some £450,000 were spent on the line; but

financial difficulties arose, and in 1877 it came to a standstill some

fifty or sixty kilometres south of Wady Halfa. It was evident that on

this grand scale the continuation of the line could not be hoped for,

so I studied the question. There was the line made from Wady Halfa

for say fifty miles; and therefore 130 miles remained to be got over

before this barrier of desert was passed. By the researches of Colonel

Mason and Mr. Gooding, and also by my own personal examination, the

river for this 130 miles was shown to be not continuously encumbered

by rocks. There were, as it were, long strips of open, water between

the ridges of rocks,—one of these strips was forty miles in length.

Now steamers built in England had in full flood been hauled up every

one of these ridges, and had thus been brought to Kartoum and had plied

to Gondokoro. My idea was to bring up small steamers during high Nile,

place them on all the open strips of water of any reasonable extent;

and thus work them from ridge to ridge in these open spaces. I proposed

further to have only one crew, and to ship them from steamer to steamer

so as to save expense. At those places where the ridge was of any great

length, I proposed to use tramways to get over the space between the

debarking landing-place of one open water-way to the embarking wharf

of the other open water-way. Thus, by using the water-way where open,

and tramways where the river was encumbered, I should get over these

130 miles. I calculated that the cost of all this work, steamers, and

tramways, &c., would be £70,000, while the railway, if carried, would

have cost over a million and a half. However, the revolts, troubles

of different kinds, and other things, prevented this being carried

out, and the controllers would not take it up; so, after an expense of

nearly half-a-million, the railway exists with its end _en l’air_, with

its valuable stores perishing, while Egypt proper has no more hold over

the Soudan than was had by Ancient Egypt.”—_See “Colonel Gordon in

Central Africa,” p. 315._—ED.

[58] “On the 18th Feb., the day General Gordon arrived at Kartoum, he

recommended in the strongest manner that Zubair should be sent up, and

gave his reasons in detail.”—_Egypt, No. 12, 1884. Enclosure in No.

114._

“On March 9, Sir Evelyn Baring recommended that Zubair should go

up, such a recommendation being in harmony with the policy of

evacuation.”—_Egypt, No. 12, 1884, in 115 & 222._—ED.

[59] This cannot be traced—ED.

[60] Egypt, 1884, Nos. 201-56. See also Egypt, 1884, Nos. 35-166.

[61] Appendix F.

[62] About 180 miles from Kartoum.—ED.

[63] Appendix G.

[64] Appendix E.

[65] Between forty and fifty miles west of Duem.—ED.

[66] A pass about midway between Shendy and Halfeyeh.—ED.

[67] “_London, 12th._—Debates on Egypt, House of Commons, subject

Egypt. Gladstone declined communicate Northbrook’s instructions.

Declared Anglo-French accord dead letter.

“_13th._—Financiers—German, Austrian, Russian—attack England’s

attitude. Conference considered must lead coalition against England.

Fitzmaurice stated British Government not prepared change advice given

Egypt withdraw from Kartoum.

“_13th._—Parliament closed till 15th September. Message hopes mission

Northbrook suggest useful counsels. England will continue to fulfil

public duties imposed upon her by events in Egypt.

“_17th August._—The 88th, 46th, and 56th regiments, with expedition of

19th Hussars and corps of Mounted Infantry, go to Halfa.

“_London, 19th._—General Erle commands expedition Halfa. Buller chief

of staff.”

“DEAR GENERAL GORDON,

“I send you the above as the last public news we have heard. I have

been appointed Inspector General of the Soudan Telegraph, but at

present I can’t get beyond Debba to inspect them, as Mr. Hudai has

captured the Merowi telegraph office, and the Sirdar will not let

us advance. I am ordered back to Halfa, and am leaving by boat this

morning. With kind regards to Colonel Stewart,

“Yours sincerely,

“E. A. FLOYER.”

“Debba, 22nd August, 1884.”

[68]

“DEAR STEWART,

“Can I do anything for you or General Gordon? I should be awfully

glad if you will let me know. The relief expedition is evidently

coming up this way, but whether they will go by Berber or attempt the

direct road from here I do not know. The Mahdi is in a bad way; he has

abandoned Parfur, and has no reinforcements to send to Kartoum and

Sennaar, which are asked for.

“Yours always,

“H. H. KITCHENER.”

[69] Appendices K and L.

[70] Appendix M.

[71]

“DEAR GENERAL GORDON,

“Mr. Egerton has asked me to send you the following:—August 30th.

Tell Gordon steamers are being passed over second cataracts, and that

we wish to be informed through Dongola exactly when he expects to be

in difficulties as to provisions and ammunition.” Message ends, “Lord

Wolseley is coming out to command. The 35th Regiment is now being

sent from Halfa to Dongola. Sir E. Wood is at Halfa. General Earle,

Dormer, Buller, and Freemantle are coming up Nile with troops. I think

an expedition will be sent across from here to Kartoum, while another

goes with steamer to Berber. A few words about what you wish done

would be very acceptable.”

“Yours,

“H. H. KITCHENER, R.E.

“Debbeh, August 31st.”

[72]

“Cairo, August 20th, 10.30 P.M.

“TO GENERAL GORDON,

“445737—905309—185115—417291—552676—792996—271381—511906—689363—945242—226739—648255—102037—626054—535222—672318—277535—134971—467430—203151—804960—483289—681510.”

The following was written on the back of this cipher telegram:—

“Your letters of 13/7/84 and 20/7/84 have been received, and their

contents telegraphed on. The last news here is the 35th Regiment has

been ordered to advance from Halfa to Dongola at once. General Earle

commands expedition, Buller C. of S., Dormer and Freemantle brigades.

All coming up. Lord Wolseley leaves London directly to take over

supreme command. All well here. Mudir working well. No danger. Sir E.

Wood is at Halfa sending on troops.

“H. H. KITCHENER.

“Debbeh, 29th August, 1884.”

[73] Telegram Mudir of Dongola, saying Cairo Government had shown

pressing benevolence for him to evacuate and thus _rivet_ the

“_tombstone_” over Kartoum.—ED.

[74] The two black Pashas condemned to death by court-martial for

treachery on March 20th.

[75] _I.e._, the future of the Soudan.—ED.

[76] _I.e._, 4th Cataract.—ED.

[77] _I.e._, p. 52.—ED.

[78] “In Colonel Coetlogon’s opinion the rebels will retire south

on the approach of the British, and await events. General Gordon

would certainly refuse to go unless the population and garrison were

guaranteed safe departure. The population and garrisons of Kartoum and

Sennaar amount to about 40,000 to 50,000 souls, and it would take two

years to remove them. As the places become evacuated the rebels would

enter and become hostile in front and in the rear.”—_Times, 13 Sept.,

1884._—ED.

[79] General Gordon proposed to the Government to give to the King of

the Belgians the Bahr Gazelle and Equatorial provinces, and from the

first time he suggested the appointment of Zubair, he had determined to

defend those provinces from all slave raids.—ED.

[80] The Gabra wells are about thirty miles to the north-west of

Kartoum.—ED.

[81] United Service Club.—ED.

[82] The blanks are General Gordon’s.—ED.

[83] The following extract from Herodotus is pasted on the opposite

side of page in the original journal:—“The spies having seen

everything returned home; and when they reported all they had passed,

Cambyses marched against the Ethiopians without making any provision

for the subsistence of his army, or once considering that he was

going to carry his arms to the remotest parts of the world; but as a

madman and not in possession of his senses, as soon as he heard the

reports of the Icthyophagi he set out on his march ... but before the

army had passed over a fifth part of the way all the provisions were

exhausted, and after the provisions the beasts of burden were eaten.

Now if Cambyses had then led back his army he would have proved himself

a wise man. He, however, went on; but afterwards none, except the

Ammonians, and those who have heard their reports, are able to give

account of them; for they neither reached the Ammonians or returned

back, but the report was that heaps of sand covered them over and they

disappeared.” General Gordon has written against this extract:—“Hicks’

army disappeared. This expedition was made into these lands.”—ED.

[84] General Gordon was under the impression that Colonel Chermside was

at Debbeh, whereas he was, in fact, at Suakin.—ED.

[85] The primary object of the expedition up the Valley of the Nile is

to bring away General Gordon and Colonel Stewart from Kartoum. When

that object has been secured no further offensive operations of any

kind are to be undertaken.—_Egypt, No. 35, 1884; No. 157._—ED.

[86] Upper part of Nubian Desert.—ED.

[87] From British agent and Nubar Pasha to General Gordon, sent 5th May

from Suakin; reached 29th of July.—ED.

[88] Telegram from General Gordon to Sir E. Baring dated Feb. 27, 1884,

says: “You have to say whether the partial evacuation of the Soudan

fulfils your objects,—if it does not, then you must act by Indian

Moslem troops from Wady Halfa; and do so at once by sending detachments

of troops to Wady Halfa.”—_Egypt, No. 12_ (1884), _Enclosure 1_, in

_No. 229_. And again, on Feb. 29, “Should you wish to intervene, send

200 British troops to Wady Halfa and adjutants to inspect Dongola, and

then open up Suakin-Berber road by Indian Moslem troops. This will

cause an immediate collapse of the revolt. Whether you think it worth

while to do this or not you are, of course, the best judge. I can only

tell you the _modus operandi_ of an expeditious intervention. If you

decide against this you may probably have to decide between Zubair and

the Mahdi. Zubair with £100,000.”—_Egypt, No. 12_ (1884), _Enclosure

5, No. 229_.—ED.

[89] “Nineteenth Century,” August, 1877.—ED.

[90] A telegram from Mudir of Dongola says that “on the 24th July,

the Emir Abou Kanga and his army, who had come from Kordofan, were

slaughtered, and that before the messenger quitted Kartoum another

fight occurred, in which the son of Sheikh Sid and his followers were

killed on the 30th August, and the siege raised. This is confirmed

by a letter sent to me by Cassim-el-Mousse Bey, stating that he and

his soldiers were at Halfeyeh, and that the Shaggyeh tribe and people

had come in and tendered their submission.—_Egypt, No. 35, 1884, No.

133._—ED.

[91] An oke equals 3½ lbs. troy.—ED.

[92] The position of the garrisons in Darfour, the Bahr-el-Gazelle and

Equatorial provinces renders it impossible that you should take any

action which would facilitate their retreat without extending your

operations far beyond the sphere which Her Majesty’s Government is

prepared to sanction.

As regards the Sennaar garrison, Her Majesty’s Government is not

prepared to sanction the dispatch of an expedition of British troops up

the Blue Nile in order to insure its retreat.

From the last telegrams received from General Gordon, there is reason

to hope that he has already taken steps to withdraw the Egyptian

portion of the Sennaar garrison.

You will use your best endeavours to insure the safe retreat of the

Egyptian troops which constitute the Kartoum garrison, and of such of

the civil employés of Kartoum, together with their families, as may

wish to return to Egypt.

As regards the future government of the Soudan, and especially of

Kartoum, Her Majesty’s Government would be glad to see a Government

at Khartoum which, so far as all matters connected with the internal

administration of the country are concerned, would be wholly

independent of Egypt.—_Lord Wolseley’s Instructions, Egypt, No. 35,

1884, No. 157._—ED.

[93] “I am strongly against any permanent retention of the Soudan, but

I think we ought to leave it with decency, and give the respectable

people a man to lead them, around whom they can rally, and we ought

to support that man by money and by opening road to Berber. Pray do

not consider me in any way to advocate retention of Soudan; I am quite

averse to it, but you must see that you could not recall me nor could I

possibly obey until the Cairo employés get out from all the places. I

have named men to different places, thus involving them with Mahdi; how

could I look the world in the face if I abandoned them and fled? As a

gentleman, could you advise this course? It may have been a mistake to

send me up, but having been done I have no option but to see evacuation

through, for even if I was mean enough to escape I have no power to

do so. You can easily understand this; would you do so? If you were

the people of Khartoum, you would, like they would, make terms with

Mahdi by making me backsheesh Mahdi.”—_Gen. Gordon to Sir E. Baring,

Kartoum, March 3, 1884; Egypt, No. 12, 1884; No. 231._ This telegram,

forwarded by Sir E. Baring to Lord Granville, was received by H. M.

Ministers on March 11, 1884. On April 3 Mr. Gladstone stated in the

House of Commons that “General Gordon was under no orders and under no

restraint to stay at Kartoum.”—ED.

[94] Abdel Kader was then Minister of War. In March 1882, he was

appointed to succeed Raouf Pasha as Governor-General of the Soudan,

and on the 11th of May he reached Kartoum and assumed his duties. He

carried on an active campaign against the Mahdi until March 26th,

1883, when Al-ed-Din Pasha was publicly proclaimed at Kartoum,

Governor-General of the Soudan, in his place. In January 1884 Abdel

Kader was selected by the Egyptian Government as their envoy to

Kartoum. He at first accepted the position and then declined it.

Upon this the Egyptian Government requested Her Majesty’s Government

to select a well-qualified British officer to go to Kartoum instead

of Abdel Kader. General Gordon was the officer selected. Thus, in

suggesting Abdel Kader as his successor, General Gordon was suggesting

the very man whom he had succeeded.—ED.

[95] The instructions conveyed to Lord Wolseley by Her Majesty’s

Government were to the effect that the _primary object of the

expedition was to bring away General Gordon and Colonel Stewart from

Kartoum_. He was moreover enjoined not to advance further southwards

than was absolutely necessary in order to attain _the primary object of

the expedition_.—ED.

[96] It must be borne in mind that when Gordon wrote this he expected

the expedition to reach Kartoum before the middle of November and not

towards the end of January. The strength of the rebels had materially

increased during December and January.—ED.

[97] General Sir Lintorn Simmons, G.C.B.—ED.

[98] “I have ascertained within the last few weeks that the principal

agent in the surrender of the city was not Ferratch Pasha, as

originally stated, but a certain civilian exile from Egypt who had

acted at one time under Arabi as Secretary of the Ministry of Marine. I

know the history of this man well, and can vouch for its accuracy, as

I often heard it at Cairo when I was there. Four years or so ago Awaan

was an honest and zealous employé in the Cadastral Survey under Sir

Auckland Colvin—a service which of all others under the Control was

the most inefficient, and is now acknowledged to have been so. Awaan,

provoked at the waste and mismanagement, one day had the temerity to

draw up a memorandum of what he knew and to send it to his chief. The

answer was his dismissal. He then appealed to the native press—for

there was some liberty in those days—and his grievance made him a

hero; and when Arabi came to power he gave him this place as secretary,

which he held at Alexandria down to the bombardment. I never heard of

his taking any prominent part in the politics of that eventful time,

but on Sir Auckland Colvin’s landing he was among the first persons

arrested. Lord Charles Beresford tried him by one of his courts-martial

and found him guilty of exciting to rebellion, or some such charge.

He was handed over to the Circassian tender mercies, and, after

seventy-four days in irons in the terrible Borgho prison, he was exiled

to Kartoum. He was clearly a political prisoner if ever there was one;

and when Lord Dufferin promised us the amnesty at the compromise of

Arabi’s trial, I wrote to him recommending Awaan’s case to his special

attention, and I have his answer, with a memorandum, curiously enough,

by the very Sir Charles Wilson who was afterwards to reap such bitter

disappointment at his hands. But Lord Dufferin declined to interfere,

and Awaan was left at Kartoum to his revenge. On January 26 it was he

who, with the English again at his gates, negotiated its surrender to

its Arab deliverer.”—_Mr. Wilfred Blunt in a letter to the ‘Times’ of

May 4, 1884._—ED.

[99] “One of the most painful parts of this business is the constant

and continual reports one hears of the intended treachery of this or

that influential man. I have, though greatly tired, kept my faith in

all men, and have resisted any of those measures which never benefit

and which throw widespread alarm throughout the town. Men who belonged

to the beleaguered Shaggyeh and who had been shut up with them escaped

here without arms, saying that the Shaggyeh had gone over to the enemy,

while others would come from them beseeching for aid. I am glad to

say that without exception the people of the town and the troops have

behaved themselves in a most kind and proper way. This binds me not to

leave them until I can do so under Government which would give them

some hope of peace.”—_General Gordon’s telegram to Sir E. Baring,

received at Cairo end of March, 1884. Egypt, No. 12, No. 287._—ED.

[100] To strike with a slipper during a dispute is with Moslems the

greatest insult one man can offer another.—ED.

[101] On Feb. 11th, 1884, General Gordon telegraphed from Berber to Sir

Evelyn Baring: “I would not, if I were supreme, try again any Egyptian

forces at Suakin, but would engage 3000 Turkish troops in British pay.

That would settle the affair. It would be sufficient for the Padishah’s

troops to appear to cause a collapse of all fanatical feeling.”—ED.

[102] “Several telegrams have been sent from press asking about what I

said respecting slaves. The question asked me was this: Did I insist on

the liberation of slaves in 1889 as per Treaty 1877? I answered that

the Treaty would not be enforced in 1889 by me, which, considering

the determination of Her Majesty’s Government respecting Soudan, was

a self-evident fact. The question is one of slave-holding, not of

slave-hunting, and, in my opinion, that Treaty of 1877 will never be

carried out in Cairo as to slave-holding.”—_General Gordon’s telegram

to Sir E. Baring, received at Cairo Feb. 21, 1884, Egypt 12, No.

132._—ED.

“Let it be known to you all that I have been appointed, in concert

between the Khedive’s Government and the Government of Great Britain,

Governor-General of the whole Soudan; and the Soudan has now become

an independent State, to govern itself without the intervention of

the Egyptian Government in any way whatever.”—_General Gordon’s

Proclamation to All the Notables and Inhabitants in the Soudan, Feb.

13, 1884._—ED.

[103] General Gordon is here probably quoting the views of Herbin, the

French Consul.—ED.

[104] Though, as shown in a previous note, General Gordon was right

in assuming no expedition would have been sent had he not been in

Kartoum with Stewart, he is also right in saying, “The expedition

comes up to deliver the garrisons,” for the avowed policy declared

in the instructions of Her Majesty’s Government to Lord Wolseley was

that steps were to be taken to insure the safe retreat of the Egyptian

troops and civil employés.—ED.

[105] Court of Enquiry.—ED.

[106] This forecast is in a fair way of being fulfilled.—ED.

[107] It seems pretty clear that this is Olivier Pain.

[108] Not received from the Government with these Journals.

[109] “European Consuls came to me to-day with the question whether

Kartoum was menaced. I replied that it was not so, directly, but that

the road to Berber was threatened. They asked me if I could help them

to go to Berber. I replied ‘Yes.’ There is no doubt that when these

Europeans leave, it will be a most significant sign to the people in

this town and in the provinces that no assistance is likely to come to

Kartoum. Under these circumstances, what do you recommend me to say

in order to neutralise the ill-effects of their departure?—_General

Gordon to Sir Evelyn Baring, Kartoum, March 9, 1884_, 11.30 P.M.

_Egypt, No. 12 (1884), Inclosure in No. 242_.

“You know exactly the position of the different garrisons so far as I

can explain it, and that there is no probability of the people rallying

round me, or of paying any attention to my Proclamation.

“If you mean to make the proposed diversion to Berber (of British

troops), and to accept my proposal as to Zebehr, to instal him in the

Soudan and evacuate, then it is worth while to hold on to Kartoum.

“If, on the other hand, you determine on neither of these steps, then I

can see no use in holding on to Kartoum, for it is impossible for me to

help the other garrisons, and I shall only be sacrificing the whole of

the troops and _employés_ here.

“In this latter case, your instructions to me had better be that I

should evacuate Kartoum, and, with all the employés and troops, remove

the seat of government to Berber. You would understand that such a step

would mean the sacrificing of all outlying places except Berber and

Dongola.

“You must give a prompt reply to this, as even the retreat to Berber

may not be in my power in a few days; and, even if carried out at once,

the retreat will be of extreme difficulty.

“I should have to leave large stores, and nine steamers which cannot go

down. Eventually, some question would arise at Berber and Dongola, and

I may utterly fail in getting the Cairo employés to Berber.

“If I attempt it, I could be responsible only for the attempt to do so.

“Once the Mahdi is in Kartoum, operations against him will be very

arduous, and will not serve Sennaar and Kassala.”

“_Kartoum, March 9, 1884_, 11.40 P.M.

“If the immediate evacuation of Kartoum is determined upon,

irrespective of outlying towns, I would propose to send down all the

Cairo employés and white troops with Colonel Stewart to Berber, where

he would await your orders. I would also ask Her Majesty’s Government

to accept the resignation of my commission, and I would take all

steamers and stores up to the Equatorial and Bahr Gazelle Provinces,

and consider those provinces as under the King of the Belgians.

“You would be able to retire all Cairo employés and white troops with

Stewart from Berber to Dongola, and thence to Wady Halfa.

“If you, therefore, determine on the immediate evacuation of Kartoum,

this is my idea. If you object, tell me.

“It is the only solution that I can see if the immediate evacuation

of Kartoum, irrespective of the outlying towns, is determined

upon.”—_Ibid._—ED.

[110] “I have received your telegram of the 9th inst., informing me

that you have received a letter from General Gordon from which it

appears that that officer contemplates proceeding to Bahr Gazelle and

the Equatorial Provinces. I have to state that Her Majesty’s Government

are of opinion that General Gordon should not at present go beyond

Kartoum.—_Earl Granville to Sir E. Baring, Feb. 11th, 1884. Egypt, No.

12 No. 4._—ED.

[111] Romulus Gessi, who was formerly employed as interpreter at the

headquarters of the army before Sebastopol, and who did such excellent

work against the slave-hunters in the Soudan as General Gordon’s

lieutenant in 1878. Gessi was subsequently appointed Governor of the

Bahr Gazelle, but was obliged to retire owing to the intrigues of Raouf

Pasha. He died at the hospital at Suez in 1881.—ED.

[112] General Gordon’s chief complaint against the Intelligence

Department was that they spent no money in bribing natives to try and

get messages through to Kartoum; had they done so, many, he held, would

have volunteered, and some must have succeeded.—ED.

[113] General Gordon to Sir E. Baring, March 1st.—“_Re_ policy. I

maintain firmly policy of eventual evacuation, but I tell you plainly

it is impossible to get Cairo employés out of Kartoum unless the

Government helps in the way I told you.”—_Inclosure 1 in No. 229, No.

12 in Blue Book No. 12._

Sir Evelyn Baring replies in a telegram dated March 2nd, 1884:—“I have

received your eleven telegrams of the last four days on matters of

general policy. I am most anxious to help and support you in every way,

but find it very difficult to understand exactly what you want. I think

your best plan will be to reconsider the whole question carefully and

then state to me in one telegram what it is you recommend, &c.”

[114] Earl Granville to Mr. Egerton, April, 23rd, 1884:—“Gordon should

be at once informed by several messengers ... that we do not propose to

supply him with Turkish or other force for the purpose of undertaking

military expeditions, such being beyond the scope of the commission he

holds, and at variance with the pacific policy which was the purpose of

his mission to the Soudan; that, if with this knowledge, he continues

at Kartoum, he should state to us the cause and intention with which he

so continues.”—_Egypt, No. 12 (1884), No. 36._—ED.

[115] Supposed remarks of British soldiers crossing the desert upon

camels.

[116] Saddles.—ED.

[117] Allusion to images produced on the retina by an excited or

exhausted brain.—ED.

[118] See Appendix, “The Insurrection of the False Prophet.”

[119] Goba is on the right bank of the Blue Nile, to the north of Tuti

Island, and within two miles of Kartoum.—ED.

[120] See p. 141.

[121] Appendix P.

[122] It would be interesting if some Member of Parliament would ask

Her Majesty’s Government for information on this subject.—ED.

[123] Appendix P.

[124] _I.e._, the priest.—ED.

[125] Appendix Q.

[126] Many of General Gordon’s “instincts” have been no less remarkable

than many of his escapes. In a telegram to Sir Evelyn Baring, dated

March 1st, he said, “I will do my best to carry out my instructions,

but feel convinced I shall be caught in Kartoum.”—ED.

[127] It is worth while to note how readily Her Majesty’s Government,

who had declined all General Gordon’s suggestions while he lived,

accepted this posthumous piece of advice.—ED.

[128] In his ‘Wild Tribes of the Soudan,’ Mr. F. L. James gives an

account of how he and his party were treated by Ala-ed-Deen and the Bey

at Senheit. This Bey was no other than Ferratch Pasha, who is said to

have opened the gates of Kartoum. “We had engaged camels at Senheit,”

says Mr. James, “for some weeks’ shooting in the vicinity. On our

return, a steamer was leaving Massowah for Suez, which we could only

catch by taking the same camels on to the coast. Our Shaggyeh drivers

objected, saying the road to the sea was out of their country, and

their camels were tired—perfectly valid excuses. We offered them half

as much again as the proper fare, but they still demurred, fearing

that the Governor of Massowa would take their camels, make them carry

for the Government, and probably never pay them. On obtaining a letter

for the Bey at Senheit (Ferratch), asking (as we fondly imagined)

Ala-ed-Deen, who was at that time Governor of Massowah, to let them go

free, they consented to accompany us. On our arrival we presented the

letter, which, we found, merely stated that the garrison of Senheit was

in want of salt, and that he had better load up the camels with some,

and return them to him.”—ED.

[129] Appendix Q.

[130] The Mahdi declared that the Archangel Gabriel had twice appeared

to him and commanded him to unsheath the sword of faith in order to

reform the bad Moslem and to found a Mussulman Empire which would be

followed by universal peace.—ED.

[131] The action of Her Majesty’s Government had now raised the

question in General Gordon’s mind as to whether he was justified in

punishing any of the inhabitants of Kartoum who were _hedging_ with the

Mahdi. He was almost disposed to let them _hedge_ if it gave them a

better chance of their lives.—ED.

[132] Appendix R.

[133] Hansall.—ED.

[134] These distinctions are in satirical allusion to some mistake made

at the Foreign Office.—ED.

[135] Appendix S.

[136] There is a good-natured, and half playful ring about these

orders, but the fact must not be overlooked that they are distinct

commands. General Gordon, while Governor-General of the Soudan, had

the right to issue orders to anyone in the Soudan, and no one was more

cognizant of this right than he.—ED.

[137] The arrests of the Mudir, Cadi, Sheikh el Islam, &c., who were

supposed to be in communication with the Mahdi.—ED.

[138] _I.e._, Chief of Expeditionary Force.—ED.

[139] Appendix Q.

[140] Appendix Q.

[141] Appendix R.

[142] Eight pages of the diary were cut out.—ED.

[143] General Gordon has just stated that a letter received from the

Greek Consul, dated 17th of August, contained more news than one he

received, dated 31st of August, from an officer in Her Majesty’s

service. He then goes on to say he sees now (_i.e._, after reading the

Greek Consul’s letter) why he was kept in the dark.—ED.

[144] Sir Gerald Graham’s despatch.—ED.

[145] “King John issued an edict that if any of his subjects were found

smoking they should lose hand and foot. General Gordon in his notes

on Abyssinia in 1879, said: ‘I write in haste, but I will sum up my

impression of Abyssinia. The king is rapidly growing mad. He cuts off

the noses of those who take snuff, and the lips of those who smoke. The

king is hated more than Theodore was. Cruel to a degree, he does not,

however, take life. He cuts off the feet and hands of people who offend

him. He puts out their eyes by pouring hot tallow into their ears. No

one can travel without the king’s order if he is a foreigner. You can

buy nothing without his order; no one will shelter you without his

order—in fact no more complete despotism could exist.’

* * * * *

“The cruelties the king and his people committed were atrocious. Forty

Soudan soldiers were mutilated altogether, and sent to Bogos with the

message that, if His Highness the Khedive wanted eunuchs he could have

these.”—_Hill’s Colonel Gordon in Central Africa_, pp. 421-423.—ED.

[146] Mr. F. L. James in his ‘Wild Tribes of the Soudan,’ gives an

excellent and interesting account of this mission station, p. 210,

_seq._

[147] Twaddle.—ED.

[148] Ismail, the Ex-Khedive, who knew King John well, said to General

Gordon, “Never go near him, it is perfectly useless.”— ED.

[149] Of course General Gordon’s contention throughout is that giving

Kassala, Katarif, Galabat and Bogos, to the King of Abyssinia, is in

fact precisely the same thing as abandoning those places.—ED.

[150] Here a page has been cut out by General Gordon himself.—ED.

[151] Appendix U, _a_.

[152] Appendix U, _c_.

[153] U, _b_.

[154] U, _d_.

[155] The Austrian Consul.—ED.

[156] When a Christian becomes a Mahommedan he has to take a Mahommedan

name.—ED.

[157] General Gordon is here evidently thinking of Gessi’s glorious

campaign against Suleiman.—ED.

[158] The Black Watch started from Cairo for Wady Halfa on September

23rd. The Mounted Infantry reached Deel on September 24th, and 150

men under Daubeny got as far as Tangoor on the 26th. The first steam

pinnace arrived at Sarras, which is about twenty miles above the second

cataract, on September 26th. Lord Wolseley did not reach Wady Halfa

until October 5th.—ED.

[159] The paper referred to is the French extract just given.—ED.

[160] _Sir E. Baring to Earl Granville (received March 5th)._

“General Gordon has on several occasions pressed for 200 British troops

to be sent to Wady Halfa. I agree with the military authorities in

thinking that it would not be desirable to comply with this request.”

* * * * *

_Sir Evelyn Baring to Earl Granville (received March 4th)._

“General Gordon and Colonel Stewart strongly urge the desirability,

from the point of view of the success of their present mission, of

opening up the Berber-Suakin route.... I cannot agree with the proposal

mentioned in Colonel Stewart’s telegram, that a force of British or

Indian cavalry should be sent through for Suakin to Berber.”—_Egypt

No. 12 (1884). No. 205._—ED.

[161] Gordon’s intention and desire was to have taken the steamers

to the Bahr Gazelle, and to have protected that country against the

Mahdi.—ED.

[162] The fact that the Fellaheen were dragged in chains from their

huts, and kept in chains in the streets of Cairo, is well known.—ED.

[163] General Gordon intends H.M. Government to understand by this

statement, that, in the position of a Major-General in H.M. service,

he would give all his services to the retreating expedition, were he

ordered to do so, though such an order would be most unwelcome; but

that he would do nothing of the kind until some one replaced him as

Governor-General. He is really applying to himself the remarks he made

a few pages back: “In military affairs it is different: one is ordered

to go here and there, and one obeys (even if one thinks it unwise,

having represented it), but in diplomacy there is no such call.”—ED.

[164] Up to the present we have neither given the Soudan to the Turks

nor have we established Zubair as Governor-General, but we have had

“_a deal of worry and danger_,” and the campaign has been “_entirely

unprofitable and devoid of prestige_.”—ED.

[165] We are at present not only in strict blockade on the land side of

Suakin, but absolutely besieged.—ED.

[166] Barges.—ED.

[167] Appendix T.

[168]

_Sir Evelyn Baring to Earl Granville._

Cairo, February 28th, 1884.

“I have the honour to report to your Lordship that, although I did not

specially consult General Gordon on the subject of sending British

troops to Assouan, he telegraphs to me that if 100 British troops were

sent to Assouan or Wady Halfa, they would run no more risk than Nile

tourists, and would have the best effect.... I certainly would not risk

sending so small a body as 100 men.”—_Egypt No. 12, No. 170._—ED.

[169] The foregoing portion of the Journal is written on tissue

copying-paper.—ED.

[170] This part of the Journal is written on telegraph forms.—ED.

[171] Captured at Berber by the Arabs.—ED.

[172] General Gordon asks in an undated telegram, written after the

fall of Berber: “Is it right that I should have been sent to Kartoum

with only seven followers, after the destruction of Hicks’ army, and no

attention paid to me till communications were cut?”—ED.

[173] Formerly General Gordon’s under secretary and secretary. He was

of old and good family, and greatly respected by General Gordon, who

said in 1879: “A few men like Berzati Bey would regenerate Egypt, but

they are rare.”—ED.

[174] Two of these horses returned to-day; as I expect the riders threw

themselves off and let their horses loose, and that, too, at a distance

so great that the Arabs did not see them!!!

[175] I am going to make them pay for twenty-two of the Remingtons,

for it appears doubtful if they were captured, inasmuch as to-day they

asked me to send the steamer down to look for them. I expect the men

simply threw them down and bolted upon the appearance of the Arabs.

[176] See map on opposite page.—ED.

[177] It was about this date that the recall of Lord Wolseley was

generally rumoured at home and abroad. On the 10th of October this

rumoured recall was officially contradicted. The ‘Times,’ however,

said: “We have every confidence in the veracity and good information of

our correspondent, but so incredible did his statement seem at first

sight that we have made further inquiries, in order to be quite sure

there was no mistake in its transmission.”—ED.

[178] It is interesting to note how often General Gordon breaks away

abruptly from a subject which is irritating him, and deals with one

which has a touch of humour in it. He never does this when he is

discussing or explaining any particular point; it is only when he is

thoroughly annoyed with his subject that he suddenly leaves it.—ED.

[179] General Gordon was in the habit of passing a great part of the

day and of the night on the roof of his palace.—ED.

[180] Appendix V.

[181] Massowah is only 466 miles from Kartoum, and less than half that

distance from Kassala.—ED.

[182] _i.e._ In mutiny or a stampede to the Mahdi. “The belly governs

the whole world.”—ED.

[183] Here again General Gordon is really angry, and breaks off with a

humorous touch about his black soldiers, so that he may, as it were,

hold himself in.—ED.

[184] Appendix X.

[185] List of Greeks who went in the steamer _Abbas_, 10 Sept. ‘84.

Demitrios Kapnoulas. Demosthen Kapilos.

George Kepetzakos. Demitrios Georgopoulos.

Herial Bolanaki. George Kontis.

Alexandre Genacari. Xenophon Apostolidis.

Nasum Abagui. George Tantzos.

Nessim Morinos. Jean Stergiou.

Demitrios Perdicakis. Nicolas Kouvaras.

Michel Nomikos. Jean Dermitrzakis.

Stauros Papadakis. Michel Chatzi Christodoulou.

Jean Prospion.

[186] Appendix X.

[187] See Mahdi’s remarks upon this in Appendix U.

[188] It is impossible to read this without a feeling of admiration for

the thorough way in which General Gordon examined into the minutest

details of everything himself. Every precaution human foresight could

conceive he took to ensure the safety of the _Abbas_ and her crew;

having done this, her _fate_ was in higher hands than his.—ED.

[189] Compare General Gordon’s account with the account given by

the Mudir of Dongola:—“A certain Faki Walad Ahmet, who appears

trustworthy, has arrived here, stating that he has heard that after

General Gordon’s return to Kartoum a steamer, with forty men on board,

partly Europeans and partly Egyptians, besides five negroes and three

servants, arrived at Salamat, where she ran aground, but did not

founder. The population, aware of the fate of Berber, and being much

alarmed, several persons from the steamer went ashore in order to

reassure the natives, declaring that they had not come to make war,

but to purchase camels in order to cross the desert to Merawi. The

Sheikhs Soliman and Abu Noman, and the uncle of Faki Osman, agreed

to see to their conveyance, and provided a guide, who was to conduct

the party. Those on board were so pleased with this attention that

they presented one of the Sheikhs with a gold sword, the uncle with a

silver sword, and the guide with a rich dress, whereupon the Sheikhs

requested them to leave the steamer and accept their hospitality until

preparations had been completed for crossing the desert. The invitation

was accepted, and the party entered a house, where they were all

massacred. The Sheikhs afterwards returned to the steamer and killed

most of them on board. Of forty persons only fourteen were spared, and

these were taken prisoners.” The Sub-Mudir, not knowing if there were

any Europeans among the survivors, had sent messengers for further

intelligence.—ED.

[190] _i.e._, details of the fighting strength of the _Abbas_.—ED.

[191] Who came in.

[192] _i.e._, collected them from the different offices and officials

in Kartoum. They have not been given over by the Government.— ED.

NOTE.—On the opposite page is an extract from Lord Lytton’s speech,

cut from one of the papers: “Ask General Gordon, if he ever comes

safely home to us, what he and his still unrescued garrison have

learned to think of the high sense of national honour, the chivalrous

courage, the unflinching good faith of Mr. Gladstone and his Radical

Cabinet.” (Three cheers were given for Gordon.)—ED.

[193] Appendix Y.

[194] That is to say, the men were depressed by the apparent remoteness

of their chance of escape.—ED.

[195] Egypt, ‘84, No. 22.

[196] On the page opposite the one which contains this paragraph

General Gordon has pasted cuttings from the paper to which he alludes.

One of these cuttings says, “An official telegram received here from

Wady Halfa states that, owing to the unprecedented lowness of the Nile,

no confidence is felt in the practicability of hauling boats over the

cataracts till the end of September.” General Gordon’s comment written

against this is, “It was not a low Nile—it was an average Nile, only

you were _too late_.”— ED.

[197] _See_ ‘Ismailia,’ vol. i., p. 31.—ED.

[198] General Gordon has already fully explained wherein the

responsibility of Her Majesty’s Government towards the Soudan lies.—ED.

[199] Colonel Harrison, C.B., C.M.G., R.E.—ED.

[200] At this point General Gordon refers to the newspaper cuttings he

has made and pasted in on the opposite page. The first reference is a

comment on a telegram in the _Standard_, dated Suakin, August 30th,

which runs as follows: “The _Jaffariyeh_ overtook _not far_ to the

_south_ of Suakin the three dhows _recently captured_ by the rebels.

The latter on being overtaken ran the boats aground, and escaped

inland. The crew of the _Jaffariyeh_ subsequently burned the dhows.”

The italics are General Gordon’s. (_b_) refers to a further telegram

headed “Rebellion in Arabia,” and dated Constantinople, Sunday night:

“Fighting still going on in the Hedjaz between the Ottoman troops

and the Arab tribes which have revolted against the authority of the

Sultan’s Government. Matters must be considered somewhat serious by

the Porte, for the Government have decided to despatch to the seat

of disturbance further reinforcements of Imperial troops to the

extent of some two thousand, &c.” In an account in a London paper of

the departure of Lords Northbrook and Wolseley, General Gordon has

marked certain penny-a-line passages, and in all cases where “Gordon

Relief Expedition” occurs, he has drawn his pen through this and all

expressions indicating that the Expeditionary Force comes to his

relief.—ED.

[201] Suakin was at this time besieged on the land side.—ED.

[202] The lines extended from the Blue to the White Nile, _i.e._ from

Bourré to the Mogrim Fort.—ED.

[203] General Gordon had great admiration and affection for the Black

Regulars.—ED.

[204] _Baring to Lord Granville, March 6th, 1884._

“With reference to General Graham’s message communicated to Her

Majesty’s Secretary of State for War relative to the opening out of the

Berber-Suakin route, I wish to say that I do not recommend any English

troops being sent to Berber.”—_Egypt, No. 12, 1884, No. 214._

[205] _i.e._ to be removed from my position as Governor-General.—ED.

[206] “In fact, things are not serious, although they may become so if

delay occurs in sending Zebehr (Zubair). My weakness is that of being

foreign and Christian and peaceful; and it is only by sending Zebehr

that prejudice can be removed.”—_General Gordon to Sir E. Baring,

Kartoum, March 4th, 1884. Egypt, No. 12. Enclosure 5, in No. 202._

[207] See accounts of slave hunting in the Bahr Gazelle, App. U, _b_.

[208] _I.e._ driving the cows down with the view to their exploding the

mines.—ED.

[209] The steamers General Gordon sent to Metemma to assist the

relieving force.—ED.

[210]

_Sir E. Baring to Lord Granville._

“Cairo, March 13th, 1884.

“I have instructed him (General Gordon) to hold on at Kartoum, until

I can communicate further with Her Majesty’s Government, and have

told him that he should on no account proceed to the Bahr Gazelle and

Equatorial Provinces.”—_Egypt_, 1884, Nos. 12-242.—ED.

[211] The English Government has, in the most liberal manner, stated

it will meet any bills that General Gordon may have drawn upon it on

his private account, and of which General Gordon has given a list. The

Egyptian Government has acted in a similar manner with regard to moneys

spent by General Gordon at Kartoum.—ED.

[212] _i.e._ the Viziers.—ED.

[213] Whenever General Gordon deals with this subject, he shows how

thoroughly angry he is, and his anger increases as he proceeds. Hence

the frequent reiterations of his resolve not to leave.—ED.

[214] Briefly summarised, what General Gordon says is: “If the

expeditionary force has come for me alone, I will not return with it:

it may go back, while I will remain here as Governor-General, and make

the best use I can of the war material which belongs to me while I hold

that position. If I am removed from that position by a Firman from the

Khedive, I will still remain here, in a private capacity, and devote

my life and energy to those people who have devoted their lives to

me.”—ED.

[215] Not received from the Government.

[216] Appendix Y.

[217] The Firman of Towfik respecting the troops withdrawing,

which Gordon received 24th January, 1884, and which he did not

promulgate.—ED.

[218] It is important there should be no misconstruction placed on

these words. Had General Gordon thought their death would benefit

the Soudan, he would never have said when he urged their going down,

“If you go, you do me a great service, _i.e._ do the Soudan a great

service.” When he said, “I dare not, with my views, say their death

is an evil,” he merely meant, “I dare not say that two brave, just,

upright men are not happier in the future life than in the present

one.”—ED.

[219] General Gordon means, in my opinion, “Fairly just in his

political views.” Herbin was the Editor of the _Bosphore Égyptien_.—ED.

[220] This refers to a telegram sent by Colonel Coetlogon to Colonel

Fraser Floyer, at Wady Halfa, at the above date, which runs: “No fresh

news. Anxiously awaiting reinforcements.” Underneath this General

Gordon has written: “If Coetlogon had only been then informed that

there was no intention to send reinforcements (further than nine

persons) for (nearly) a year!”—ED.

[221] Major Kitchener did not know it himself

[222] A soldier previously mentioned, who was thought to have

deserted.—ED.

[223] This recovery of biscuit enabled General Gordon to hold Kartoum

until the gates were treacherously opened to the enemy.—ED.

[224] _Vide_ General Graham’s despatch in _re_ Black Watch.—ED.

[225] Fort Mogrim.—ED.

[226] I expect that this story of _Ismailia_ being again struck twice

is a fib!

[227] _i.e._ 1,200 yards.—ED.

[228] Goba is rather more than a mile from the Palace of Kartoum.—ED.

[229] _i.e._ to escape the guns of the North Fort.—ED.

[230] _i.e._ mounted Arabs.—ED.

[231] _i.e._ it would have been possible had the force started

earlier.—ED.

[232] _i.e._ a bedstead.—ED.

[233] Not because General Gordon held Zubair in esteem, but as a record

of how often he had asked for his presence, and of how closely his

absence was connected with the welfare of the Soudan.—ED.

[234] “The Committee are unanimous in the feeling that countenance in

any shape for such an individual (_i.e._ Zubair) would be a degradation

to England and a scandal to Europe.”—_Mr. Sturge to Earl Granville,

British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, March 10th, 1884._—ED.

[235] _i.e._ Zubair would have been able to obtain it for me.—ED.

[236] “You will bear in mind the main end to be pursued is the

evacuation of the Soudan.

“In undertaking this difficult task which now lies before you, you

may feel assured that no effort will be wanting on the part of the

Cairo authorities, whether English or Egyptian, to afford you all

the co-operation and support in their power.”—_Sir E. Baring to

Major-General Gordon, Inclosure in Egypt No 6._—ED.

[237] General Gordon has here drawn his pen through some dozen lines of

his journal.—ED.

[238] Patriotism does not consist in obedience to an existing

Government, but in love of one’s country, and in devotion to its public

interest and welfare.—ED.

[239] _i.e._ Her Majesty’s Government declined to send troops to the

Soudan, yet ordered Egypt to evacuate it, and would not permit Turkish

troops to assist her.—ED.

[240] Showing how thoroughly they trusted General Gordon.—ED.

[241] See Appendix upon the insurrection of the False Prophet.—ED.

[242] These have not been handed over by the Government.—ED.

[243] If they deserted.—ED.

[244] Here succeed some dozen lines through which General Gordon has

drawn his pen. Underneath is written “Abuse of Baring & Co.”—ED.

[245] Sir E. Baring, in writing to General Gordon on the instructions

of H. M. Government conveyed to him, says: “You will bear in mind the

main end to be pursued is the _evacuation of the Soudan_.”—_Enclosure,

in Egypt No. 6._ Sir E. Baring does not say, “the evacuation of Kartoum

and the abandonment of all the other garrisons in the Soudan.”—ED.

[246] That is to say, the expeditionary force was 185 miles further

from Kartoum than General Gordon expected it to be.—ED.

[247] General Gordon marks on back of this telegram, which is one of

three, “Telegraph of which Colonel Stewart has the key.”

[248] Appendix Y.

[249] The one alluded to in former paragraph.

[250] See last page.

[251] This account of Major Kitchener is in a letter from General

Baker. General Gordon has cut out the portion of the original letter,

and has pasted it in the body of his journal.—ED.

[252] _i.e._ coming up on a camel.—ED.

[253] There is some significance in this. The Mahdi in all probability

knew General Gordon had recommended Turkish troops being dispatched to

the Soudan, and felt he could not hold the country against them, if

they came.—ED.

[254] They were two of the sixteen General Gordon imprisoned for

conspiring with the Mahdi.—ED.

[255] _i.e._ the way in which this battery was directed towards that

part of the Palace which the Arabs knew General Gordon inhabited.—ED.

[256] That is to say, either those who are being robbed and cheated

will in their own interest be forced to give up the town to the enemy,

or the robbers and cheats will be bought over by the Mahdi.—ED.

[257] “It is rather amusing to see the _personality_ of this Arab

battery:” p. 42.—ED.

[258] General Gordon here declines to fight the Khedive’s ministerial

battles.—ED.

[259] _i.e._ General Gordon.—ED.

[260] Title of the Book, ‘The Dissipation of Gloom from all

(Mohammedan) Peoples.’

[261] The Moslems say that the Koran was sent down, every word of it,

by the Angel Gabriel to Mahomed.

[262] This verse is considered to be the _completion_ of God’s final

Revelation through Mahomed.

[263] The Hadiths—the authorised traditional sayings of Mahomed and

those brought down by Gabriel.

[264] In Arabic writing quotation marks are not used, but, at the end

of the quotation, they append the words, “End of his words.”

[265] Saadat—“Felicity”—is used as title of honour, and cannot, of

course, be properly used for one who is a Kāfir and under Divine wrath.

[266] “Peace be on him” (on whom be peace), the usual formula of

salutation to a true believer if alive, and used of prophets when their

names are mentioned.

[267] Prince of the Faith—literally, axis or pole.

[268] The argument here rests upon the duty of avoiding force in

dealing with brother Moslems, and of using persuasion only.

[269] The argument here is that true believers are sometimes killed,

though in the right, as the Israelites were by Nebuchadnezzar.

[270] “Yellow-haired Greeks”—the ancient phrase here applied as

“Children of the Yellow (race),” the yellow-haired Russians being meant.

[271] The intention of the writer seems to be to convey reproach of

the Government authorities in Cairo, who were responsible for the fate

of the army and his own desperate condition. But he seems unwilling to

utter a word inconsistent with Moslem resignation or the loyalty of a

soldier, though the detachment to which he belonged had been exposed to

destruction.

[272] The latest accounts from the Soudan state that Ibn en Najoomi has

quarrelled with Mahomed el Khair on account of his peculations.

[273] Query—Does this refer to a veil such as dervishes wear, which

was sent to a renegade by the Mahdi?

[274] Reference is here made to the earthquake mentioned in a former

letter, as being prepared by Gordon.

[275] Evidently a wrong enclosure had been put in by General Gordon.

[276] Slatin’s new name.

[277] This document came down with the fourth Journal. It was compiled

in the Intelligence Branch, Quartermaster-General’s Department of the

War Office.

[278] Powerful nomad tribes inhabiting the country west of the White

Nile, and south east of Kordofan and Darfur.

[279] A body corresponding to the Divines in Christendom, who are

appealed to by the Sultan respecting the right application of precepts

of the Moslem faith, and their decision is known as a _fetua_.

[280] This opinion hardly agrees with that of a military correspondent

of the _Times_, who, writing from Kartoum, on the 24th July, 1883,

states that to preserve tranquillity at ordinary times, 9,000 troops,

exclusive of the garrison of Kartoum, would be necessary, even

supposing the provinces of Kordofan and Darfur to be abandoned, as has

been recommended by several high authorities. He suggests that the

9,000 troops should be distributed as follows—viz., 4,000 between

Kartoum and Jebel Ain, on both sides of the White Nile, 1,000 at

Fashoda to keep the Denka tribes and Shilluks in order, and 4,000 on

the Blue Nile, between Kartoum and Karkoj.

[281] South of Kordofan. This district is principally inhabited by

negro tribes, with a king of their own, nominally subject to Kordofan.

[282] About 150 miles north-west of Kaka on the White Nile.

[283] A tribe above Korti, on the left bank of the Nile.

[284] An Italian of great force of character. He joined Colonel

Gordon’s Staff in the summer of 1874, and subsequently became Governor

of the Bahr-el-Ghazāl province.

[285] A district on the Abyssinian frontier near the sources of the

Atbara.

[286] Sometimes called Suk-abu-Sin.

[287] Above Sennaar on the Blue Nile.

[288] A negro tribe, numbering nearly a million souls, inhabiting the

banks of the White Nile for 200 miles northwards from the mouth of the

Ghazal river.

[289] A powerful Arab tribe, living in the country between the Atbara

and Kartoum.

[290] Capital of Kordofan.

[291] A large town in the south of Darfur.

[292] A district south of Kordofan.

[293] A district called by the Abysrians Bogos, on the road between

Kassala and Massowah.

[294] A pretty town, with a good supply of water, and surrounded by

excellent gardens.

[295] One ardeb = 5⅗ bushels.

[296] A kind of maize.

[297] The information concerning the events of the rebellion up to

the arrival of Lieut.-Colonel Stewart at Kartoum, is derived almost

entirely from native sources, and it is consequently impossible to put

much reliance on the statements as to the extent of the losses in the

various engagements. It is even difficult to ascertain the correct

dates of the principal events. Some accounts state that the assaults on

El Obeyed took place on the 4th, 5th and 6th September.

[298] South of the country of the Baggara Arabs, and west of Bahr

el-Ghazel.

[299] Bara is due north of Obeyed.

[300] The Fakirs are learned pious men. The Dervishes are their

satellites.

[301] The junction between the 1st Battalion and Abdel Kader’s force

was to have taken place on the 15th January, but, for some reason or

other, it did not take place till Abdel Kader’s arrival at Kawa on the

1st February.

[302] An Arab tribe inhabiting the country between Sennaar and Fazokl.

[303] Sometimes written El Gerazeh or Qurassa. A village on the right

bank of the White Nile.

[304] Deputy Governor.

[305] Major.

[306] Lieutenant-Colonel.

[307] Sometimes written Goz Abou Goumeh.

[308] On the left bank of the Nile near Old Dongola.

[309] One ardeb = 5⅗ bushels.

[310] Number not stated.

[311] Late Bombay Staff Corps.

[312] Late 11th Foot.

[313] Late 70th Foot.

[314] Late Captain of Baker’s Horse in South Africa.

[315] Late Guards, and subsequently 15th Foot.

[316] Late Duke of Cambridge’s Own Middlesex Regiment.

[317] Late the Buffs, East Kent Regiment.

[318] Two of the battalions were those of the 2nd Regiment, which had

been ordered by Abdel Kader Pasha to operate against the rebels at

Abu-Djuma, but they had done absolutely nothing. It is not known to

what regiments the other battalions belonged, and whether they had all

been sent up from Kartoum, or if part of the 1st Regiment had been

withdrawn from Sennaar. Owing to the hostility of the Hassanieh Arabs

it had been necessary to reinforce the garrison of Duem by a battalion,

and 2000 troops remained in reserve at the camp of Omdurman.

[319] The column had then marched about five miles, and was close to

the village of Marabiyeh.

[320] The troops both marched and fought, formed up in square, with

camels and baggage in the centre, and a few mounted Bashi Bazouks and

men on dromedaries in front to feel the way. In this formation the army

could hardly accomplish eight miles a day, six being the usual march,

and it could, consequently, only strike a blow when and where the enemy

pleased.

[321] The Nordenfeldts were placed at the angles of the square, and the

guns in the faces. Owing to obstacles thrown in the way by Suleiman

Pasha, who was nominally in chief command, General Hicks had great

difficulty in getting any of them to open fire.

[322] At the battle of Marabiyeh, as the engagement of the 29th April

is called, the Egyptians were formed in four ranks, but the front rank

was never made to lie down, and the fourth or rear rank, not being able

to reach over three men’s shoulders, fired their rifles up into the air.

[323] Of the English officers, Colonels Colborne and de Coetlogan had

marched with the army from Kawa, Colonel Farquhar, Captains Massey

and Evans, and Dr. Rosenberg had accompanied General Hicks on his

reconnaissance up the river.

The others were not present at the battle of Marabiyeh. Major Martin

and Captain Walker had been invalided home, and Major Warner was with

Hussein Pasha on the Blue Nile.

[324] Sixteen miles below Dueim.

[325] Bara is nearer the Nile than El Obeyed, and in a fertile country,

from which General Hicks hoped to be able to procure some supplies.

[326] The distance between Duem and Kartoum is about 110 miles.

[327] The other English officers with the Expeditionary Force are

Colonel Farquhar, Chief of the Staff; Majors Warner, Massey, and Evans;

Captains Heath and Walker, and Surgeon-Major Rosenburg. In addition to

these, there are several Austrians and Germans. Colonel de Coetlogon

remains at Kartoum, and Colonel Colborne and Major Martin have been

invalided home.

[328] On the road from Suakin to Berber, situated in a valley about

three miles in breadth, enclosed by mountains. Many of the inhabitants

of Suakin live there during the hot season.

[329] The lofty mountains of Erkowit lie 20 to 30 miles south-east of

Sinkat. Erkowit is another summer retreat for the people of Suakin.

[330] Tokar is a small town in the centre of a great grain-producing

district. It is a penal settlement for Suakin, from which it is about

45 miles distant.

[331] Commander Lynedoch Needham Moncrieff entered the Royal Navy in

1863, and in February 1865, while Sub-Lieutenant of the _Peloros_, was

engaged in the destruction of piratical junks in Tungroa Bay. He became

Lieutenant in July 1865, and retired with the rank of Commander in

1873. Proceeding to the Cape of Good Hope on the outbreak of the Zulu

war, Commander Moncrieff served with the 2nd battalion of the Native

Contingent from May 1879 till the close of the campaign, during which

he was engaged in the battle of Ulundi, where he was slightly wounded,

afterwards having Commissariat charge at Fort Cambridge. His services

were officially commended at the close of the campaign. In January

1880, the deceased officer was nominated Consul at Cayenne, and, having

passed the examination, was, on the 4th of March, 1880, appointed

Consul for French Guiana, to reside at Cayenne, but did not proceed

thither, being shortly afterwards sent as acting Consul to Jeddah. He

was appointed Consul at Suakin on the 1st of April, 1882, the post

being worth 750_l_. per annum, besides an annual allowance of 250_l._

for office expenses. Commander Moncrieff received the silver medal of

the Royal Humane Society for saving life at sea in 1864.

[332] On the left bank of the White Nile, opposite Kartoum.

[333] After leaving Duem, the formation, with the camels in the centre

of the square, appears to have been adopted.

[334] An important town in Kordofan, north of El Obeyed.

[335] From information received, the army appears to have arrived

at Sangi Hamferid about the 1st October, and not on the date before

mentioned—7th October.

[336] Duem to Melbeis—total 251 miles. These distances are only

approximate.

[337] The existence of these two despatches was not known to Sir

E. Baring till they appeared in the ‘Egyptian Gazette’ of the 27th

November. Chérif Pasha had previously informed him that nothing had

been heard of General Hicks since the 27th September, the date on which

he started from Duem. Chérif Pasha subsequently admitted that he was

mistaken in making that statement.

[338] The undermentioned European officers are believed to have

perished, viz.—Lieut.-General Hicks, Colonel Farquhar, Majors Warner,

Massey, Evans, Alfred Freiherr von Seckendorff, Captains Arthur Herlth,

and Alexander Matyuga, Lieut. Morris Brody, late Sergeant-Major

R.H.A., Surgeon-General Georges Bey, and Surgeon-Major Rosenberg.

And with them, Al-ed-Deen Pasha, Governor-General of the Soudan, and

many Egyptian officers of high rank. Mr. O’Donovan and Mr. Vizetelly,

newspaper correspondents who accompanied the expedition, have not since

been heard of.

[339] The Paris _Temps_ of 23rd November, 1883, states that the Mahdi’s

forces are organised and commanded by a Frenchman named Soulié, who has

lived for many years in Egypt. He went there after having served in the

French Army; and, after the bombardment of Alexandria, went to Kartoum,

whence he proceeded to join the False Prophet, soon making his way into

the latter’s graces, and obtaining his confidence.

[340] Galabat, Kalabat and Metemma are the same place.

[341] This territory is called Bogos by the Abyssinians, and Senheit by

the Egyptians. Its capital is Keren.

[342] Evidently Colonel Stewart’s journal.

[343] Colonel Stewart’s Journal.

[344] Suggests that, in place of the railway from Wady Halfa, the

Cataracts be passed as suggested by General Gordon.

[345] The word Mahdi signifies _guide_.

[346] Lupton Bey’s assumed name.

[347] The term Seyyed (Lord) is given only to the reputed descendants

(or family) of Mahommed.

[348] Shakka is often pronounced Shagga.

[349] The word here used is the one from which Khalif is derived.

[350] This word primarily means the pole or axis of the Universe, &c.

[351] The saint who is supposed to be immortal, and to have appeared

first as Elijah and afterwards as St. George.

[352] The Mohammedans divide the Jinns (or demons) into believers in

Mohammed and unbelievers.

[353] The Angel of Death.

[354] This Hegira is an evident imitation of the Flight of Mahomed.

[355] Verses; usually applied to verses of the Koran.

[356] Inasmuch as Abraham, the Friend of God, was a pilgrim who left

his land and his father’s house by Divine command to escape the

idolators.

[357] This paragraph is thus repeated in the original.

[358] For one of these, see Roth’s letter.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE:

—Obvious print and punctuation errors were corrected.